CENTRE
for
REFORMATION
and
RENAISSANCE
STUDIES
VICTORIA
UNIVERSITY
TORONTO
BACON'S ESSAYS
R E YNOL DS
TH E ESSAYS
OR
COUNSELS, CIVIL AND MORAL
OF
FRANCIS BACON
LORD VERUI,A,I VISCOUNT ST. ALBANS
EDITED
IVITH INTRODUCTION AND ILLUSTR.-tTIVE NOTI:S
SAMUEL HARVEY REYNOLDS, M.A.
LATE FELLOW AND IUTOR OF BRASENOSE COLLEGE
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1890
[.411 righls rescrv¢d ]
REF. & REr4.
I'RINTED AT THE CLARENDOI' PRESS
CONTENTS.
PREFACE o
INTRODUCTION .
ESSAy
I. O» TUTH
Illustrations
II. O» DA
Illustrations
111. OF Ulrrv 11 RLo .
Illustrations
IV. O- Rzvz6z
Illustrations
V. OF ADVERSlTY
Illustrations
VI OF SIIULATION AND DISSIIULATIO
Illustrations
Vil. OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Illustrations
VHI. Or IARRIAGE AND SIGI.E LIFE
Illustratio
IX. OF Evv
Illustrations
X. OF Lov
Illustrations
XI. OF GRET PLC
Illustrations
XII. O BOLDSS .
IIlustrations
XIII. OF GOODSS, D GoODESS OF NTVRE
Illustrations
IX
xi
15
I9
25
34
35
37
38
4 °
46
48
O
5 =
53
56
67
7 °
77
8=
Sa
85
v CONTENTS.
XIV. OF NomL1r'
Illustrations
XV. OF EDITIONS AND TROUBLES
Illustratios
XVI. OF AHmS
Illustrations
XVII. OF SuPsrro
Illustrations
XVIII. Or
Illustrations
XIX. OF
Illustrations
XX. OF
Illustrations
XXI. OF DELAYS.
Illusttions
XXII. OF
Illustrations
XXlII. OF Wsvom FO a a'S SLF
Illustrations
XXIV. OF Iovaros .
Illustrations
XXV. OF DsParcH
Illustrations
XXVI. Or Sm« Wms
Illustrations
XXVII. OF Fmtvsmr .
Illustrations
XXVIII. OF Exrc.
Illustrations
XX]X. OF TH rRvr GRarss or KGDO D
Illustrations
XXX. OF RGm OF
Illustrations
XXXI. Or Svsrcm
XXXII. OF Dscovs
Illustrations
XXXIII. OF Ptxrxros .
Illustrations
io,
! oç
47
'oa
ao
CONTENTS. vii
'SSAY
XXXIV. Or RicHzs
Illustrations
XXXV. OF PROPHIClIS
Illustrations
XXXVl. Or Annqo
Illustrations
XXXVII. OF MASQU'S AND TRIUMPHS
Illustrations
XXXVlII. Or NA'rURI IN MEN
Illustrations
XXXIX. Or Cusoa ANV EDUCA'roN
I llustrati ons
XL. Or Fogzvz
Illustrations
XLI. Or Usuv
Illustrations
XLII. OF Youn » Aç
Illustrations
XLIII. Or Bu- .
Illustrations
XLIV. O DVOlmv
Illustrations
XLV. OF BUILDING
Illustrations
XLVI. Or GARDIONS
Illustrations
XLVII. Or INEçOTXATXNç
Illustrations
XLVIII. OF FOLLOWIrRS AND FRIIrNDS
Illustrations
XLIX. Or SUXTORS
IIlustrations
L. OF STuvxzs .
Illustrations
Ll. OF FACTION
Illustrations
LII. Or CIrRIrMONIIrS AND RESPECTS
Illustrations
LIII. O PRAISZ
Illustrations
PAGE
246
254
257
:64
268
74
278
284
304
305
308
309
330
333
336
336
339
34
343
345
347
347
35 °
35 °
352
o.o
Vlll
F..SAY
LIV.
LV.
LVI.
LVI1.
LVlll.
I.DEX
CONTENTS.
Or VA G.OR'r
Illustrations
OF HONOUR AND REPUTATtON
Illustration
OF JUDICATURE
Illustrations
OF ANGEK
I tlustration
OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS .
Illustrations
355
357
35=
36t
365
370
378
38I
38=
389
399
PREFACE.
THIS edition of the Essays was undertaken by me at
the suggestion of Nf. J. R. Thursfield, who had put
together materials for notes on the first twenty-three
Essays, but was unable, in the stress of other literary
engagements, to carry out his design. Mr. Thursfield's
naine is sufficient warrant for what the completed edition
would bave been in his hands. His design, as I under-
stand it, was to prepare an edition for the use of scholars
and advanced students, and especially to show from
contemporary translations the sense in which doubtful
passages had been understood in Bacon's own day.
These points I bave kept in mind. But the line followed
in Mr. Thursfield's manuscript notes was hot in many
ways the saine as that which I bave taken. He entered
much more fully than I have done into the history and
derivation of words, and into grammatical and philological
disquisitions. This is a line of research for which I have
no taste, and which I could hot have pursued with any
pleasure. It bas, moreover, been rendered practically
superfluous by the publication of the' English Dictionary.'
This was hot and could hot bave been anticipated by
Mr. Thursfield when he began collecting materials for
his notes.
It is, in any case, seldom possible to use another man's
materials, or to adapt oneself to another man's design.
1 have consequently found myself compelled to do the
x PREFACE.
whole work of this edition for myself, and to take the
entire respo.nsibility for it. It has called chiefly for the
exercise of a patient drudging accuracy. It is at last
finished. It bas been barder work, and has taken more
time, than I expected when I first took it in hand.
The references in the Notes and Illustrations, where
they are not specified, are to the following editions :
BACON: Letters and Life, edited by SPEDDIG AND ELLIS.
7 vols. 1862-74.
lf/'orks, edited by ELLXS AND SPEDmN«. 7 VOIs.
1857--59.
BOI : Commonweal. Knolles' Trans.
EDMUm)ES : Observations upon Caesads Commentaries. London,
16o 9 .
ERASMUS: 24dag[a. Basle, 1551.
,, lpophthegmata. Paris, 1533.
French, i.e. French version of Essays, by Sm ARTHtm GOR«ES,
I619 .
Gt'ICClARDII : London, I821, in lO vols.
I-IAKLVY" : l'oyages. 5 vols. London, 18o9-12.
HOOKER : Keble's ed. 1836.
Italian, i.e. Italian version of Essays, edited by MR. TOBVE
MATTHEW, 1618.
JAItES : lVorks of tl, e most high and mighty lri»,ce James. By
the Bishop of Winchester. 1616, fol.
KUOLLEs : History ofthe Turks. 5th ed. 1638.
MOI'AIGIE : Paris, 18o2. 4 vols.
PARKUSO : Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris, 'c. 1656 , fol.
Patristic references. These are to MmNE'S Patrologiae cursus
completus.
PEUCER : De Divinatione ex Somniis. I6o7, 8vo.
PXKERTOU : l/'oyages. 18o8--14, in 17 vols.
PLeUr, N. H. : Philemon Holland's Trans.
PLUTARCH: Lires. North's Trans. 16o 3.
,, Morals. Holland's Trans. 1657.
SEECA: Lipsius. 4th. ed. 1652, fol.
WILSON : Arte of t?hetoriqu G 'c. 1584, 4to.
INTRODUCTION.
OF all Bacon's writings his Essays have been the most widely
read. They have been, in the best sense of the word, popular.
His most famous work, the Novum Organum, has been accepted
on the verdict of the few ; for one student who has attempted it,
there have been stores and scores who have read and re-read
the Essays. ' Of all my other works," says Bacon himself, ' they
have been the most current;' and this, which was said only of
the earlier and shorter editions, could be said of them more
truly than ever in their final and finished form.
Bacon's scope and object in his Essays, the kind of success
he was aiming at, and the standard by which he wished to be
judged, may be gathered from his ovn words. He terres his
volume 'certain brief notes, set down rather significantly than
curiously, which I have called Essays.' ' The word is late, but
the thing is ancient. For Seneca's Epistles to Lucilius, if one
mark them well, are but Essays, that is, dispersed meditations,
though conveyed in the form of epistles.' His own Essays are
to be 'grains of salt which will rather-give an appetite than
offend with satiety.' 'They handle those things ... whereof
a man shall find much in experience but little in booksl.' This
is a more fit description of the earlier editions of the Essays than
of the latest, but it is in a way applicable to all of them. The
earlier had been well received, because 'they came home to
men's business and bosoms,' and this is the claire ruade for the
i Letters and Lire, iv. 340.
xii INTRODUCTION.
latest. These had more literary art, more curiosity of work-
manship, but the general significance was the same. Their
notes were less brief, but hot less stimulating, not less careful
to avoid offending with satiety. The word, says Bacon, is late
--1Montaigne's Essays had appeared in 58o. The thing is
ancient--Seneca had written Essays in fact though not in name.
There is some art displayed in the suggestion of these two
names. Dispersed meditations they had both written, but little
or nothing that could pass as 'grains of salt, which will rather
give an appetite than offend with satiety.' ' 1Much in experience
but little in books,' might stand true for some parts of 1Mon-
taigne's Essays. With Seneca's Epistle the exact opposite is the
case. 1Much of them will be found in books, but very little in
experience. Itis probable that Bacon had no very high opinion
of either writer, and that he had no doubt that the points which
he was claiming for himself, were just those in which his readers
must have found Seneca and 1Montaigne most signally wanting.
But in the style and manner of the Essays there is a further
implied promise. The Latin title is explicit--' sermones fideles
sire interiora rerum '-the insides of things, by way of contrast
to the outside shows and pretences with which men had pre-
viously been put off. The writer poses as one who has authority
to speak ; as one who bas been behind the scenes in the great
theatre of the world, and who now comes forward to give others
the result of his experience, to tell them the motives from which
men commonly act, and the kind of conduct which may be ex-
pected from them, and to lay down rules and cautions which
may help them to play their part safely and suitably in the
perplexed game of lire. Itis hOt only that he has held a great
place and bas been occupied in great affairs. More impressive
is the manner in which he bas recorded his experience and the
position which he thus asserts for himself. His language in his
best passages bas a singular majesty and force. His weighty
sentences give what appears like the condensed thought of a
lifetime set down in most fit and telling words. They are
uttered with an air of authority, and bear the stamp of a man
who has a right so to speak. Itis the language of a superior
EDITIONS OF THE ESAYS. xlii
being, who condescends to oceupy his leisure moments with the
eoneerns of a lower race, and to impart truths which his unin-
strueted readers eould never have diseovered for themselves.
Three different editions of the Essays in English were pub-
lished during Bacon's lifetime and with his sanction. The first,
the edition of I597, dedicated to his brother, Anthony Bacon,
contained ten Essays :
l. Of Study. 6.
2. Of Discourse. 7-
3. Of Ceremonies and Re- 8.
speets.
4- Of Followers and Friends. 9-
5. Of Suitors. xo.
Two other distinct treatises were
Meditationes Sacrae in Latin, and
Of Expence.
Of Regiment of Health.
Of Honour and Reputa-
tion.
Of Faction.
Of Negociating.
bound up with them, the
the Colours of Good and
Evil. The book was re-published in 1598 , with the Medita-
tiones Sacrae in English, but otherwise vithout change. The
next edition, in 1612, contained thirty-eight Essays, tventy-nine
of them new, and nine from the former edition, the Essay of
Honour and Reputation being left out. The table of contents
gives the titles of forty Essays :--
i. Of Religion. 14. Of Atheism.
2. Of Death. I5. Of Superstition.
3- Of Goodness and Good- i6. Of Wisdom for a Man's
ness of Nature. Self.
4. Of Cunning. 7- Of Regiment of Health.
5- Of Marriage and Single I8. Of Expenees.
Life. 19. Of Diseourse.
6. Of Parents and Children. 2o. Of Seeming Wise.
7. Of Nobility. 2i. Of Riches.
8. Of Great Place. 22. Of Ambition.
9- Of Empire. 23. Of Young bien and Age.
1o. Of Counsel. 24. Of Beauty.
I I. Of Dispateh. 25. Of Deformity.
I2. Of Love. 26. Of Nature in Men.
13. Of Friendship. 27. Of Custom and Edueation.
xiv INTRODUCTION.
28. Of Fortune. 34- Of Faction.
29. Of Studies. 35. Of Praise.
3 o. Of Ceremonies and Re- 36. Of Judicature.
spects. 37- Of Vain GIory.
31. Of Suitors. 38. Of Greatness of Kingdoms,
32. Of Followers. 39. Of the Public.
33. Of Negociating. 4 o. Of War and Peace.
But Essay 38 falls so naturally into three distinct parts, corre-
sponding to the last three titles, that there is no real difference
between the table and the actual contents.
It was Bacon's intention to dedicate this edition to Prince
Henry, but the Prince died before it was published, and it was
dedicated to Bacon's brother-in-law, Sir John Constable.
The third edition, that of 1625, contained fifty-eight Essays,
viz. the thirty-eight with the saine titles as in the edition of
1612, the Essay of Honour and Reputation omitted in that
edition, and nineteen new Essays :--
i. Of Truth. 24. Of Innovations.
The
both
Of Revenge. 3L Of Suspicion.
Of Adversity. 33- Of Plantations.
Of Simulation and Dis- 35- Of Prophecies.
simulation. 37- Of Masks and Triumphs.
Of Env).. 41. Of Usury.
Of Boldness. 45- Of Building.
Of Seditions and Troubles. 46. Of Gardens.
Of Travel. 57- Of Anger.
Of Delays. 58. Of Vicissitude of Things.
Essays in this edition are, in Bacon's own words, ' enlarged
in number and weight, so that they are indeed a new work.'
The dedication is to the Duke of Buckingham.
Besides these three editions, Mr. Arber, in his Harmony
of the Essays, gives the contents of a manuscript (Harleian
lIS. 5IO6 with interlineations in, as he thinks, Bacon's own
hand. Its date is fixed approximately by the title-page, which
describes Bacon as the King's Solicitor-General. This he
became in 1607; and he was raised to be Attorney-General
EDITIONS OF THE ESSAYS. xv
in x6x 3. The manuscript contains thirty-six Essays. It omits
six found in the edition of i612, and adds two, riz. Of Honour
and Reputation, which had appeared in I597, and Of Seditions
and Troubles, which was not published in English before I625.
The manuscript is interesting, but otherwise worthless or nearly
so, since as far as its contents differ from those of the edition of
612, they must be taken to represent Bacon's rejections and
hot his choice.
Of the various copies of the edition of I625, hardly any two
agree in every particular. The variations, unimportant for the
most part, are due to corrections and changes having been
made during the progress of the book through the press. This,
as Dean Church remarks, in his Preface to the first book of the
Ecclesiastical Polity, was the common practice of the time.
Vhen the printing was done, the different sheets were bound
up indiscriminately, and the purchasers were thus left free
to dispute over the authority of their several varying copies.
The text followed in the present edition is that of the volume
presented by Bacon to the Duke of Buckingham, to whom the
book is dedicated. It is likely that this would have been a
copy specially selected. The readings, as far as they differ from
those of other copies, give a better and clearer sense, and in
one or two instances make sense where some other copies
do not. We find, for example (p. 289, 1. x), 'gaine,' not 'gaine ';
on p. I47, 1. 3, 'children,' not 'child'; in 1. io, there is a full
stop after ' the Counsellor,' and a new sentence begins with the
word ' Salomon,' in place of the reading which puts a full stop
after ' his blessed Son,' and goes on - The Counsellor Salomon
hath pronounced,' &c. The presentation copy has two errors
of text, found also in other copies: on p. I86, the naine Plau-
tianus' is spelt persistently 'Plantianus,' and on p. 356, 1. 2,
there is a misprint of 'aud' for 'and." I have not thought
it necessary to follow these obvious mistakes.
The spelling and punctuation have been modernized, except
in one or two places, where the original form has been kept,
for reasons stated in the notes. With proper names, where
Bacon's spelling is persistent, as with 'Salomon,' ' llacciavel,'
xvi INTRODUCTION.
it has been kept; where the naine occurs once only, and in an
unauthorized form, as 'Mountaigny,' for 'Montaigne,' it has
hot been kept.
The presentation copy is in the Bodleian Library. There is
an inscription on the fly-leaf at the beginning--' This book is
the saine that was presented by the author to the deseased
the Duke of Buckingham to whom it was dedicated, and by
L. Rob t' merchant of London presented to the Universitie
Liberie att Oxonford, to be there preserved as a monument
for future rimes. London 6 Nov. London the 16 i628.'
The Annals of the Bodleian Library give this book among
the acquisitions of the year x628--' The copy of Bacon's Essays
(x625) which was presented by the author to the Duke of Buck-
ingham, was given to the Library by Lewis Roberts, a merchant
of London.' The head of the Duke is worked in silk on the
front and on the back cover ; the naine appears fo be worked
on the front cover, but hot very clearly.
Of the three best-known contemporary translations of the
Essays, the Latin is the most valuable. Bacon, in his dedication
to the Edition of x625, speaks of it as already complete. What
part he had in it, how far it was done under his ov«n eye, and
whether it was finished during his lifetime are uncertain. It was
first published by Dr. Rawley in 1638. In some of the Essays
it is probable, in one (29) it is certain, that it represents Bacon
himself as its approver if hot as its author. But in several
places there are clear mistakes of rendering, such as Bacon
either cannot have seen, or must have been strangely negligent
in suffering to pass unaltered. That the title which it bears
was given it by Bacon himself appears in a letter to Father
Fulgentio--'sequetur libellus iste quem vestrA linguA "Saggi
Morali" appellastis, verum illi libro nomen gravius impono,
scilicet ut inscribatur, "Sermones fideles, sire interiora rerum" '
'Saggi morali' is the title of the Italian translation, a work
of uncertain authorship, published first in 1618, and again,
somewhat altered, in x6i 9. That Bacon knew it and to some
extent gave his sanction to it, may be assumed. We have hot
only the distinct reference to it in the letter quoted above ;
TRANSLATIONS. xvii
the book contains an Essay, Of Seditions and Troubles, which
had hOt yet been published in an English form, and which we
may suppose therefore to have been supplied by Bacon himself;
in the preface to it there is a translation of part of the intended
dedication to Prince Henry, which had not been published
in consequence of the Prince's death; and it was edited by
lIr. Toby Matthew, Bacon's intimate friend. I have ruade
occasional use of this version, sometimes to support an inter-
pretation which I believe to be correct but for which I can find
no other authority, sometimes to illustrate the different senses
in which Bacon's writings were interpreted in his own day.
It eontains 38 Essays, omitting Of Religion and Of Super-
stition, and making up the saine number as the edition of i6x2
by adding two Essays, Of Honour and Reputation, and Of
Seditions and Troubles. In this latter it follows most nearly,
but hot entirely, the unpublished IIS. of X6OT-X2. Elsewhere
there are one or two noteworthy changes in the text. In the
Essay Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature, in place of 'one
of the doctors of Italy, Nicolas lIachiavell,' it reads ' quel empio
Nicolo Machiavello.' Again, in the Essay Of Seditions and
Troubles, instead of'as lIachiavell well notes,' we have 'corne
ben osserva un scrittore,' whether as part of an obvious design
to suit the book to its intended Catholic readers, or because the
observation in question is not to be round in Machiavelli, and
in point of fact had hOt been round anywhere.
In x6x9, there appeared a French translation, ruade or edited
by Sir Arthur Gorges. We have no proof that Bacon had
anything to do with it. In its table of contents we have the
titles of 4 ° Essays, viz. x-38, as in the edition of x62; then
39, D'honneur et Reputation, and 4 o, De Seditions et Troubles.
But in the translation itself Essay 4 ° does hOt appear. After
Essay 39 corne the words 'l'fin,' and there the book ends.
Even if the missing Essay had been there, it would have proved
nothing as to Bacon's connexion with the book, since it had
been already given to the world in the Italian version of the
year before. The translation is on the whole vell done. It
avoids some of the obvious errors of the Latiu, but in many
b
xviii INTRODUCTION.
places it is so slavishly literal, that it gives no clue to the sense
in which the translator has understood the original text.
There are also two other French translations by Baudoin,
little known and little worth knowing, published in 62i and
in i626. The earlier of them has 38 Essays, seemingly trans
lated or rather paraphrased, from the Italian, which it follows
both in the Essays chosen and in the peculiar order in which
they corne. The Translation of 626 has 56 of the 58 Essays
of the English edition of I625, omitting Of Delays and Of
Gardens. Some of its renderings suggest that the translator
must have had the Latin version before him, in whole or in
part. It has the almost certain mark of a copy--an agreement
in mistakes.
Lord Macaulay, in his Essay n ' Lord Bacon,' contrasting
a passage from the earliest edition of the Essays with an ornate
passage from the last edition, remarks that his style was con-
tinually becoming richer and softer. There are certainly marked
differences of style in the three editions of the Essays. The
first edition is compressed, bald, full of condensed thought,
but utterly devoid of ornament. The edition of i62 is oc-
casionally ornate, its sentences run more smoothly and con-
tinuously; but force and precision are its main characteristics
throughout. In the latest edition the ornate work becomes very
much more frequent : there are long susmined passages of easy
eloquence, and sentences here and there of singular and un-
affected beauty, not thrust in, but flowing on continuously
with the rest, and thus testifying to the ail-round excellence
ofwork which suffers nothing by its neighbourhood to the very
best. But it is hot certain, even so, that Bacon's style had
changed at either of the later years. He was employing a
different style hot because he had gained new powers, but
because it pleased him then to use powers which he had pre-
viously suffered to lie dormant, as unfit for the special purpose
which he had in view. We have, for instance, among his
earliest writings, his Advertisement touching controversies in
the Church of England, from which some of the most ornate
passages in the last edition of the Essays have been borrowed
BACON'S STYLES.
xix
and worked in. The religious meditations, translated in 1598 ,
have furnished passages for other parts. His Advancement
of Learning was given to the world in 16o5, i.e. between the
first and second editions of the Essays. It contains several
passages of no common eloquence, and of richness both of
thought and language. Among his latest works, is the History
of Henry the Seventh, written 'in so sweet a style, that like
manna ft pleaseth the taste of ail palates. ' But of ornate
work it has hardly so much as a trace. The fact seems to be
that Bacon had at all times almost any style at command, and
that he varies his style with the occasion, becoming all things
in turn so as to ensure getting a hearing, trying one experiment
after another, and giving proof of mastery in each. Just as in
his philosophical works, he w-rites sometimes with an air of
modesty, and as one who is driven in his own despite to assert
himself; at other rimes with the utmost scorn for those whose
opinions he is controverting--'tanquam sui certus et de alto
despiciens,' but always with the resolve in one way or in the
other to make himself heard and |istened to ; so in his writings
generally, he passes from style to style so as by some style
to command attention, thus experimenting in the manner as
well as in the matter of his works. To speak therefore of
Bacon's style is in strict tel-ms impossible. AImost the only
attribute common to his writings is that they bear the mark
of a grand and confident self-esteem, sometimes directly as-
sertive, sometimes condescending, sometimes scornful, some-
rimes disguised under a transparent affectation of modesty.
But in one form or another it never fails, and it gives his
writings at once their special characteristic and not the least
part of their charm.
There is one especial characteristic of Bacon's manner which
does hot admit of being illustrated except at a prohibitive length ;
his long magnificent roll of sentence after sentence, each falling
into its place, each adding new weight to what has gone before
it, and all together uniting to complete the entire effect. Each
* Baker's Chronicle, p. 4u6 (Ed. x679).
b2
XX
INTRODUCTION.
sentence in its turn cornes upon the reader as a surprise. The
plan evolves itself as it proceeds, and it is as forming part of
the plan that each sentence, excellent in itself, derives new
excellence as a consistent part of the whole cornpound design.
It is as if by stroke after stroke laid on the canvas by sorne
great rnaster, a picture had corne into being, living and growing
under his hand, and gaining new expressiveness at each added
touch. The two Essays Of Atheisrn and Of Superstition will
serve to exernplify what is rneant. The Essay Of Truth, Of Unity
in Religion, and the early part of the Essay Of Judicature, are
hardly less signal exarnples of it. They carry the reader
along with thern in delighted wonder, and it is hot until they
leave hirn that the thought suggests itself that he bas been
in the hand of a consumrnate master of his art. As he reads
on he forgets the workrnan in the work; he bas no space or
leisure for any other thoughts than the sucessive phases of
the work suggest.
As for single passages of transcendent excellence, they are
thickly scattered over the Essays. ' The great winding-sheets
that cover ail are deluges and earthquakes.' What a picture
of level desolation do these few words present. Again, in the
Essay Of Truth : ' The first creature of God, in the works of the
days, was the light of the sense : the last was the light of reason ;
and his Sabbath work ever since is the illumination of his spirit.
First, he breathed light upon the face of the rnatter, or chaos ;
then he breathed light into the face of man ; and still he breatheth
and inspireth light into the face of his chosen.' Again, in the
Essay Of Friendship : ' But little do rnen perceive what solitude
is, and how far it extendeth ; for a crowd is not cornpany, and
faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal,
where there is no love.' No terrns are adequate to do justice to
the crowded excellences of such passages as these. They are
the work of a great writer at his best, the highest effort of an art
that defies analysis, simple, unaffected, sublirne.
Very noticeable too is Bacon's way of putting forward a sub-
ject, of handling it at length and with signs of great care, of
interesting the reader about it, and then at last of waiving it
DIFFICULTIES IN LANGUAGE. xxi
away as undeserving notice after ail. 'Enough of these toys,'
are the concluding words of the Essay Of Masks and Triumphs.
They might be interpolated in a dozen other places where the
unexpressed contempt of Bacon for his subject is scarcely less
marked. For grandeur--not to say, insolence---of manner, ad-
mirable as a piece of art, what could be more impressive than
the end of the Essay Of Deforrnity ? 'And, therefore, let it hot
be marvelled if sometimes they prove excellent persons ; as was
Agesilats, Zanger the son of Sol)man, Aesop, Gasca president
of Peru; and Socrates may go likewise amongst them, with
others.' It is as if Bacon were calling up before him the spirits
of the mighty dead, and were judging them on their merits, and
assigning his proper place to each in an off-hand sort of way,
with an easy air of admitted superiority and of full right to
pronounce.
' The English reader,' says Mr. Wright, in the introductory
remarks to his very valuable edition of the Essays, 'will find
few difliculties in Bacon's language or style.' It would be more
correct to say that almost every page of the Essays bristles with
difficulties, some of them the more likely to mislead, because
even a careful reader, not familiar with the language of Bacon's
age, might rail to detect them for what they are. In Essay 3,
for instance, ' points not merely of faith, but of opinion, ortier, or
good intention,' would almost of course be interpreted in a sense
the exact opposite of that which it is intended to bear. In the
saine Essay, where Bacon says, ' if it were done less partially, it
would be embraced more generally,' no one would discover
without assistance that 'less partially' meant here with less of
party spirit, and that the seeming opposition between the two
adverbs was a mere trick of words. So in Essay I8, where a
change of lodging is said to be 'a great adamant of acquaint-
ance,' the meaning would be missed by those who understood
'adamant' in the only modern sense of the word. Often, too,
Bacon writes in a language which was already becoming anti-
quated. ' Verbum inusitatum tanquam scopulum vita' is a golden
rule which he much too frequently neglects. Not only does he
introduce words which were passing out of common use, but he
xxii INTRODUCTION.
coins new vords of his own, mostly from the Latin or French.
This had become the fashion ofthe age. His literary work was
donc at a time when the so-called 'pure and reformed English,'
known as Euphuism, had corne into vogue, and had infected the
style of the day. Bacon was no Euphuist, but he did not alto-
gether escape the common contagion. He thus frequently fails to
'utter his mind in plain words, such as are generally received,'
as Wilson ! at an earlier date bids the orator to do.
That his style is faultless no one could say. Obscure, un-
grammatical, pedantic, are the epithets which it frequently calls
up. 'I send herein,' writes Lady Bacon to her son Anthony,
'your brother's letter. Construe the interpretation. I do not
understand his enigrnatical folded writing. ' These words
might stand as no unfit description of some parts of the Essays.
After taking into account Bacon's very frequent Latinisms,
and his use of words in so vague a way that it is almost im-
possible to be sure what he intends by them, there would still
remain a separate list to be made of his diflïculties of grammar
or of construction : his indistinct use of pronouns, his sentences
that run on awhile and are never completed, and his wilfully
perplexed style, where, out of three contemporary translators,
no two agree in the rendering. It may be a question how far
these and like faults in the Essays may have been intentional
on the writer's part. He is obscure, sometimes because he
endeavours to put more meaning into his words than they can
bear; sometimes from an early habit of obscurity, or from an
affected manner of speech where he bas really nothing to say,
and trusts to the chapter of accidents and to men's charitable
speeches to find a right sense for his indistinct oracular utter-
ances. It is impossible therefore to say, with Mr. Vright,
that the English reader will find few difficulties in Bacon's
language or style.
One peculiarity which deserves notice is the frequency with
which he repeats himself. This is not very obvious in the
Essays, until the reader cornes to compare them with the rest
Art of Rhetoric, p. 3 Ed. x553). Letters and Life, i. 45-
STRUCTURE OF ESSAYS. xxiii
of his works. A complete list of parallel passages would show
much of the Essays as compilations carefully selected and
strung together, with just enough new marrer to give them
consistency and connexion and to fit them into their new place.
This is most marked, of course, in Bacon's most ornate work.
He has gems of thought and language, but he does not scatter
them about with the uncalculating profusion of a Shakespeare,
not' like wealthy men who tare not how they give,' but rather
like those who are husbanding their store with tare, doling it
out with measure and method to make its contents go as far
as they can. So we find frequently the same idea, the same
form of words, the same favourite conceit brought out and
compelled to do duty over and over again.
It appears, too, in several of the Essays, that Bacon had
formed no very distinct notion of his subject. He sets down
what the title happens to suggest to him, and if the words
of the title carry more meanings than one, or if their meaning
has been suffered to remain indeterminate in his mind, the
contents of the Essay shift about accordingly. In the Essa);
e.g. Of Truth, he takes the word first as equal to correctness
of thought, and thence passes to what he terms the truth of
civil business, or in other words, to the wholly distinct virtue
of truthfulness. The Essay Of Env), is even more composite
than this. The two forms of envy of which it treats, private
envy and public envy, bave little or nothing in common, and
some of the remarks on private envy relate properly to a
different vice--to the lr, X«,p,,,,,d« of the Greeks. Those who
' think other men's harms a redemption of their own sufferings '
are certainly malevolent, but envious they are not. Again,
in the Essay Of Ambition, it is not easy to sec why 'to take
a soldier without ambition is to pull off his spurs.' Ambition
is not commonly the virtue or vice to which a soldier as such
is prorte. The love of glory, the desire of earning distinction
in the wars, may act powerfully in aid of his sense of public
duty, but these are not forms of ambition. The Essay Of the
Vicissitude of Things is almost necessarily a composite piece of
work throughout. ' Things' is a very wide terre ; whatever
xxiv INTRODUCTION.
sense we give toit, things change as time proceeds, so that
a treatise on change generally may pick and choose its matter
at random without danger of missing its proposed mark. The
subject in the Essay Of Beauty is more limited, and admits
of being more exactly defined. In point of fact, there are con-
tradictory senses given toit, and Bacon roves freely from one
to the other, asserting in one sentence what he distinctly
negatives in the next.
From this, and from other causes, the matter of the Essays
is of very unequal value. They are at their best when they
are dealing with the practical rules and cautions to be observed
in public and in private life. This is especially the part which
cornes home to men's business and bosoms. Bacon is no
optimist. He has no sentiment to lead him astray. He sees
clearly what men are at their vorst, by vhat mean motives
they are impelled, what traps they lay for one another, what
follies and inconsistencies they fall into. He knows their
tricks, and he drags them out into full daylight and exposes
them for what they really are. To the careless cursory reader,
much of what he has written will seem commonplace enough.
His rule, for instance, that 'it is vain for princes to take counsel
concerning matters, if they take no counsel likewise concerning
persons; for all matters are as dead images: and the life of
the execution of affairs resteth in the good choice of persons,'
--this seems so obvious as to be hardly worth mentioning.
Obvious or hot, it has yet to be recognised and applied. Every
day, vhen some public scandal has to be excused, some gross
negligence or breach of trust to be explained avay, or to be so
shifted about that no one tan be fixed with responsibility for it,
we hear it said that it is the system, hot the men who have
been in fault--as if any system could work properly vhen the
human agents are careless and venal and indifferent, or as
if any system could fail to work well if the men were earnest
and capable, and hOt satisfied with a perfunctory discharge
of their parts. Again, his remarks on the tyranny of custom,
' how men profess, protest, engage, give great words, and then
do just as they bave donc before, as if they were dead image
VIEWS ON STATESMANSHIP. xxv
and engines '--all this has been said a dozen rimes over before
Bacon's day and after it; it would be ail accepted as truc; it
cornes home to men's business, but not therefore to their
bosoms. They do not know themselves for what they are.
So, too, with the grand reflexions which Bacon's own experience
of life has suggested and brought home to him ; the emptiness of
things which he secs men struggling for; the disappointments
and drawbacks which attend the most complete success; tbe
servitude of attainment and the uncompensated misery of failure.
All these have been the common themes of moralists at all ages
of the world. Bacon could speak as one who had been an
actor in the great scene, and who was thus marked off from the
common crowd of mere sermonizers and rhetoricians.
But when he cornes to deal with great questions of policy,
he has not so much to offer. His chief Essay on public affairs
is that in which he undertakes to pronounce on 'the truc
greatness of kingdoms and estates.' This is a test subject ; one
which calls for a display of the highest philosophical states-
manship. But how does Bacon deal with it ? The truc great-
ness of kingdoms he finds in the extent of territory. The truc
rule for obtaining this greatness is for the state which aims at it
to keep its teeth and claws in constant readiness, whether to
guard its own past thieveries, or to snatch something more from
any neighbour whom it may find weak or unprepared. Here,
as in his Essay Of Empire, he writes as an advocate of war,
and lays down rules which would serve effectively to ensure its
occurrence and continuance. The position which he thus
takes--in singular contrast to his earlier pacific utterances--
has been explained by his defenders as the result of political
prescience. Foreseeing the approaching struggle between the
Commons and the Crown, he did his best to engage the nation
in a foreign war, as the best chance of preventing dif[erences
at home. But this defence Bacon himself has negatived in
express terms. It has been insinuated, he writes, 'that if a
State, out of the distemper of their own body, do fear sedition
and intestine troubles to break out amongst themselves, they
may discharge their own iii humours upon a foreign war for
xxvi INTRODUCTION.
a cure. And this kind of cure was tendered by Jasper Coligni,
Aclmiral of France, to Charles the Ninth, the French King,
when by a vive and forcible persuasion he moved him to a war
upon Flanclers, for the better extinguishment of the civil wars
of France. But neither was that counsel prosperous : neither
will I maintain that position ; for I will never set politics against
ethics ; especially for that truc ethics are but as a handmaid to
divinity and religion1. ' That this fine disclaimer is consistent
with Bacon's language in the Essays and elsewhere, it would
be no easy task to prove. I quote it not with any belief that it
represents his real sentiments ; but simply to show that as far
as he was promoting war either for political objects at home,
or to suit his own private ends, he bas pronounced sentence
against himself.
It will be remarked, too, that in the Essay Of Empire he
writes about kings with no sense of the stimulus which an
exalted position and consciousness of great power must have
upon a worthy nature. The ' non sibi secl toti genitum se credere
mundo' is not suggested to him by his subject. Kings he
describes as at the highest: they therefore want marrer of
desire; the object of their lives is to amuse themselves or to
make tlemselves safe in their place. At the close of the Essay
there is just a hint given about the effects vhich follow from
their good or bad conduct, but the whole body of the Essay
follows a different line of thought, and is aptly and adequately
illustrated by the low and unvorthy specimens which he chooses
as fit types of the depositaries of sovereign power.
There are other matters in which Bacon's errors and short-
comings are those of the age rather than of the man. "Vhen he
wrote, for example, on the laws of economic science or of trade,
there was little or nothing çf any permanent value which he
could pick out and appropriate from among the current notions
of his day. We find, accordingly, that in dealing with this
whole class of questions, he is at his worst. On his views
about Usury I have commented at length in the illustrations at
] Letters and Lffe, vii. 478.
ECONOMIC ERRORS. xxvii
the end of the Essay. In his views about trade he takes the
mercantile theory as his guide. The increase of any state must,
he asserts, be at the expense of the foreigner, since whatever is
somewhere gotten must be somewhere lost. Vhat this means
appears clearly in his letter of advice to Villiers: 'Let the
foundation of a profitable trade be thus laid, that the exporta-
tion of home commodities be more in value than the importation
of foreign, so we shall be sure that the stocks of the kingdom
shall yearly increase, for then the balance of trade must be
returned in money or bullion .' In other words, an increase of
the precious metals is the test of a profitable trade, and is the
main benefit which trade with the foreigner can bring. Itis
hardly necessary, at this time of day, to expose such a fallacy
as this. At the rime when it was written, it passed current as
truc, and that it was Bacon's honest be3ief there is no reason to
doubt. But xvhen he says, in a letter to the Marquis of Bucking-
ham, that a discovery that some Dutch merchants had carried
gold and silver out of the country, in exchange presumably for
goods, was a happy thing, since it would serve to demonstrate
that 'Scotland is not the leech (as some discoursers say), but
the Netherlanders, that suck the kingdom of treasure-, ' or in
other words, that the king's lavish girls to his Scotch favourites
did not impoverish the country as much as a give-and-take trade
with the Dutch, he may perhaps be suspected of having gone a
little further than an honest belief could carry him.
The truth is that Bacon in his Essays, and in his writings
generally, had set himself an impossible task. At an early age
he had taken ail knowledge for his province, and it was not
easy for him to make good so large a claim as this. ,Vhere he
had thorough knowledge, he was singularly able to display it,
and to obtain credit for the xvhole of it. ' In law,' said Queen
Elizabeth of him, 'he shows ail he has, and is not deep.' Deep
or not, he had the same skill in ail subjects of showing ail he
had, 'omnium quae dixerat feceratque arte quidam ostentator.'
Frequently, too, he contrives to shoxv more than he has, like
* Letters and Life, ri. 2. Letters and Life, ri. 374-
xxviii INTRODUCTION.
those whom he describes as always affecting to keep back some-
what, and when they know within themselves they speak of that
they do hOt well know, would nevertheless seem to others to
know of that which they may hOt well speak. But with or
without precise knowledge, there are some points of style in
which Bacon never fails. He has always magnificence of dic-
tion, amplitude of promise, an outline of wide range, and an
almost divine satisfaction in the work as very good. These are
excellences of no common order; they give proof of consum-
mate literary art, but they are hOt to be taken for more than
they are worth, or for something which they are hOt.
For accuracy in detail Bacon had no care whatever, and this
again may be set down as probably a part of his craft. Careless-
ness of detail is certainly one of the characteristics of Bacon's
Essays. Laboured and elaborate as they are in parts, and
claiming to be xvritten for all time as long as books shall last,
they are none the less crowded with errors and misquotations,
or are borne out in parts by manufactured evidence distorted
from its original sense. Mr. Spedding, who holds a perpetual
brief for Bacon, does all he can to extenuate the fault of mis-
quotation, or even to put it forward as a merit. Commenting
on a remark of Dr. Rawley,--that ' if Bacon had occasion to
repeat another man's words after him, he had an use and
faculty to dress them in better vestments and apparel than they
had before ; so that the author should find his own speech much
amended, and yet the substance of it still retained,'--he says
that this is probably the true explanation of Bacon's habit of
inaccurate quotation. ' In quoting an author's words,' says Mr.
Spedding, ' he very often quotes inaccurately. Sometimes, no
doubt, this was un/ntentional, the fault of his memory; but
more frequently, I suspect, it was done deliberately; for the
sake of presenting the substance in a better form, or a form
better suited to the particular occasion. In citing the evidence
of witnesses, on the contrary, in support of a narrative state-
ment or an argument upon matter of fact, he is always very
careful
* Works. i. p. 13.
INACCURACIES. xxix
That Bacon frequently quoted from memory seems certain.
His words in Essay 4, 'Salomon, I am sure, saith, It is the
glory of a man to pass by an offence,' are a sort of notice to the
reader that he intends to rely upon his memory, and that he
does not think it worth while, or will not be at the trouble, to
verify what he thus quotes. We find, accordingly, that the
Essays abound in misquotations of a more or less important
kind. Some ofthem are mere blunders. The sentence quoted
is changed neither for the better nor for the worse, or is put
into the wrong mouth or ruade referable to the wrong person,
when the right mouth or the right person would have served
equally well. But the distortion is occasionally more grave
than this, and is of a kind which Mr. Spedding's laudatory
defence does hOt cover or excuse. Let us look, for example,
al the first words of the first Essay Of Truth. ' What is truth ?
said jesting Pilate.' Whately, in his note on this, gives what
seem good reasons for believing that Pilate vas not jesting or
scoffing, but was wishing for an answer to a question which he
was asking seriously. We read, a little further down,' One of
the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum daemonum.'
This passage has been searched for by generations of com-
mentators, but il has never been found, and there is good
reason to think that il does hOt exist. Towards the end of the
Essay--' Montaigne saith prettily:' and words follow which are
not Montaigne's, but are stated by him in express terms tobe
the words of some one else--an ancient. Last of ail cornes
the magnificent peroration, and the Essay ends with--' il being
foretold that, when Christ cometh, he shall not find faith upon
the earth.' This is not foretold : the question is simply asked
whether il will be so or not, and with no reference whatever to
the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith as the last peal
to call down the judgments of God. Now considering the
subject of the Essay--Of Truth--this is pretty well. Again, in
Essay IO, Of Love, Bacon says, ' il is a poor saying of Epi-
curus, Salis magnum aller alteri l]tealrum stttnus: as if man,
made for the contemplation of heaven and ail noble objects,
should do nothing but kneel before a litde idol, and make him-
xxx
INTRODUCTION.
self subject, though not of the mouth (as beasts are), yet of the
eye, which was given him for higher purposes.' This is a com-
plete misrepresentation of the meaning. The saying is hot that
of a loyer, as Baeon wrongly assumes it to be. It is quite
clearly the saying of a philosopher, satisfied to hold intercourse
with the single friend whom he is addressing, and disdaining
the volte of the multitude. Again, in Essay 43, wishing to
prove that persons in years have a beauty above that of the
young, he gives as an authority 'pulchrort«m autumnus pulcher.'
It should be pulchrorum eliam attlummts pulcher, the omitted
word destroying the argument which the mutilated version
supports. Again, in Essay 4, he speaks of ' such as take too
high a strain at the first, and are magnanimous more than tract
of years tan uphold ; as was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy
saith in effect, Ultima primis cedebant.' Here, again, is a misre-
presentation of what Livy says, and this, too, where Bacon is
citing evidence ' in support of a narrative statement.' That, in
his Essay Of Friendship, he misrepresents and misinterprets
Aristotle, is almost a marrer of course. Curious, too, is his
occasional way of building passages into his text in a sense
wholly different from that which they bore in the original. He
speaks, e.g. in Essay 44, of deformed persons being, 'as the
Scripture saith, void of natural affection;' and again, in
Essay 56, of 'that shower whereof the Scripture speaketh,
Pluet st@er eos laqueos; for penal laws pressed are a shower of
snares upon the people.' It is not worth while to add further
instances of the mere inaceuracies which oceur on almost every
page. Their frequency and seeming wilfulness may perhaps
raise a suspicion that Bacon in introdueing them has been
observing his own rule--'if you dissemble sometimes your
knowledge of that you are thought to knov¢, you shall be
thought another rime to know that you know not.'
On religious toleration Bacon writes somewhat doubtfully.
In his Essay Of Unity in Religion he declares against 'san-
guinary persecutions to force consciences,' but he goes on to
imply that in cases of overt scandal or blasphemy even san-
guinary perseeutions may be justified. The Essay however
ON RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. xxxi
eoncludes in anotber strain. ' Ira bominis non implet justitiam
Dei : and it was a notable observation of a wise father, and no
less ingenuously confessed, that tbose whicb held and per-
suaded pressure of consciences were eomrnonly interessed
tberein thernselves for their own ends." This seerns to con-
dernn every form of perseeution, rnild or sanguinary, which has
for its object to force consciences. But if this is what Bacon
rneant, itis eertainly not what he either practised, or advised,
or praised. In his letter to Villiers, he lays it down that if any
'who are known schisrnaticks transplant thernselves into planta-
tions abroad, they rnay be sent for back upon the first notice :
sucb persons are hot fit to lay the foundation of a new
colony, in which there is to be the sarne purity of religion and
the same discipline for Church-governrnent as at homeL' It
is clear, too, frorn this and frorn other passages that Roman
Catbolics did hot corne witbin his lirnits of toleration. Itis
difficult to be sure in every instance how far his objections
to them were on political rather than on religious grounds.
But we find, in his speech as Lord Keeper to the Judges
belote tbe circuit, good evidenee tbat his objections were
hot only political: 'Of all other things, I rnust begin as the
King begins ; that is, with the cause of religion ; and especially
the hollow church-papist. St. Augustine hath a good corn-
parison of such men, affirming that they are like the roots
of nettles, vhich thernselves sting not, but yet they bear all
the stinging leaves. Let me know of such roots, and I will
root thern out of the eountryL'
Bishop Earle, in his Microcosrnographia, chap. IO, gives us
the interpretation of the above phrase. He defines tbe Cburch
Papist as ' one that parts his religion betwixt his conscience and
his purse, and cornes to Cburch hot to serve God, but the King.
The face of the Law rnakes hirn wear the rnask of the Gospel,
whicb he uses hot as a rneans to save his soul but his charges,'
&c. &c. It seerns elear then that Baeon required sornething
more frorn Roman Catholics than inoffensive personal conduct
and outward conformity to the law.
Letters and Life, vi. » , 5. Letters and Lire, vi. u 3.
xxxii INTRODUCTION.
In dealing with hereties, there were no lengths which he was
not prepared to approve. King James, in ' a declaration against
Vorstius,' a Leyden professor suspected of Socinian views, had
not only asserted it to be the dut)" of a Christian ruler to extirpate
heresies, but had strongly urged the United Provinces to deal
hardly with Vorstius, and if they did not burn him as they
ought to do, at least to banish him from their country 1. Vorstius
was not burnt, but he was deprived of his professorship and
was banished. Bacon again and again praises James for the
share he had undoubtedly had in bringing about this result -.
There is nothing in ail this that calls for any special comment.
It shows only that Bacon's views on religious toleration were
not very different from the current views of hi day, not very
different from those of Hooker before him, or of Thorndyke at
a later date.
Not much of Bacon's character and mode of life can be seen
on the surface of his Essays. Here and there we have an
indication, sometimes of what he was, sometimes of what he
believed himself to be, or of what he wished to be thought to be.
His Essay Of Love is most commonly referred to as giving
proof of a cold calculating retaper, and of a firm resolve to
allow nothing to turn him aside from his efforts after advance-
ment in life. His Essay On Friendship is written in a warmer
strain, hOt wanting in enthusiasm, and with some grand rhetorical
passages. But when we look closely at its contents we see that out
of Aristotle's three forms of friendship, Bacon recognizes only
the two lower forms, that which looks to pleasure, and that
which looks to use, and he writes grandly about both of them.
But beyond these he does not attempt to go. Of the highest
friendship, that which binds men together by the mutual
delight which each feels in the society of one whose noble
character keeps his own better impulses quick and lively, and
who is loved, not as agreeable to his friend, not as likely to be
of service to him, but as presenting a type of excellence similar
t The Works of the Iost High and Mighty Prince James, published by the
Bishop of Winchester (i616 , pp. 349, &c.
2 Letters and Life, iv. 3x3, note u, and v. 4u.
BACON'S MORAL RULES. xxxiii
to his own, and as thus bringing into more frequent and vivid
consciousness the highest faculties of his soul--of ail this
Bacon bas not one word. The Essay Of Goodness, and Good-
ness of Nature, shows us a man not insensible to the social
duties of lire, and not incapable of high thoughts and aires.
So too in the Essay Of Ambition, the vantage-ground to do
good is put forward as the most worthy object of aspiration.
We are not to treat this as words, mere words, no matter from
the heart. Bacon may be credited with having felt and in-
tended what he writes ; but that he allowed such visionary ideas
to stand in the way of his advancement, or that he was minded
in any way to sacrifice himself for the good of others, his whole
public career too certainly disproves. The plea that has been
put in for him, that he sought place and power only that he
might be able to do more for the advancement of science than
he could have done in a private station, is hardly borne out by
facts. How, it may be asked, did he forward the interests
of science from the vantage-ground of great place? That he
managed to link his own naine to the scientific movement of
the age is nothing to tbe point here. That be endeavoured
to persuade the king to divert for inter alia the endowment of
professorships such part of Sutton's Estate as he did not keep
for himselt" is something, but it is not much. That he left by
will a sure of money for the founding of two lectureships, on
natural philosophy and on the sciences, is open to his own
remark that, ' if a man we[gh it rightly, he that doth sois rather
liberal of another man's than of his own.' This censure is
doubly applicable to Bacon's posthumous liberality, for when
his estate came to be administered, there were no available
effects, and his two lecturesh[ps were never founded.
There are many passages in the Essays which will serve to
illustrate the marked contrast between Bacon's words and his
deeds, between his abortive impulses and his acts. His Essay
Of Judicature gives a tolerably complete sketch or" what an
upright judge should be. 'Above ail things integrity is his
proper vil-tue'--a strange remark from the pen of one who had
been disgraced for taking bribes, and had been forced to make
C
xxxiv INTRODUCTION.
full public confession of his several and repeated misdeeds.
'In causes of lire and death, judges ought (as far as the law
permitteth) in justice to remember merey,'--this from a con-
triver of the scheme by which Raleigh was to be brought to the
seaffold under show of legal proeess, to please Gondomar and
Spain. No one has laid bare the arts of flattery with more skill
or with more seorn, being all the vhile a gross and shameless
flatterer, in an age of gross flatterers. So, too, in his Essay
Of Seeming Wise, he pours contempt on devices which he
himself habitually praetised. So, too, he ean see and approve
the singular cham of the ' sapientum templa serena,' from which
the ,,vise man looks down on the vain and misdirected efforts of
the vandering crowd below ; but he is himself one of the crowd,
engaged in an incessant struggle ' eontendere nobilitate, Noetes
atque dies niti praestante labore Ad summas emergere opes
rerumque potiri,' shrinking from no baseness which seems
likely to help him on his way, and foreed at last to retire
defeated and disgraced, but unable even so to resign himself to
tbe lot whieh he affeets to consider as the best and most
choicevorthy. We are not to conclude from all this that Bacon
was a conscious hypocrite. Strangely enough he seems never
to have been aware of the enormity of his own misdeeds, and
he ommends himself to the approval of posterity with an
apparently sincere belief that he had done nothing to be
ashamed of, and that his character xvould be finaIly cleared.
This is a peculiarity worth notice, and one which the Essays
serve especially to bring out. With all their faults and
omissions, they show us Bacon at his best ; Bacon as he thought
himselfto be and as he wished the world to think of him ; Bacon
as he might have been if his better nature had prevailed, and if
no temptation had corne in the way to bear down his weak
intermittent tendencies after good. The state of mind which
they exhibit is thus paradoxical in the extreme. We have a man
conscious of many meannesses and of some downright crimes,
and xvell aware that they were almost as well known to other
people as to himself, but even in his private prayers finding
nothing worse to say about himself than that he had hot turned
BACON'S CHARACTER. xxxv
his powers to what he thinks might have been their best use,
that he had taken part in public affairs while he had better have
been busy with his studies ; for the test, in all sincerity taking
credit for his past life, and laying down rules of conduct,
excellent no doubt many ofthem, but just those which he had
most signally failed to observe. The key to the problem may
perhaps be found in Bacon's belief in his own high mission,
and in the practical immunities attaching toit. If he was
indeed a man marked out as the guide and benefactor of his
species, born, as he himself says, for the service ofmankind, and
thus mixing with his fellow-men not as an equal, but as a heaven-
sent superior and judge, it is less strange that he should
presume somewhat on his position, and should relax in his own
favour such portions of the moral law as he found it inconvenient
to observe. Instances of self-delusion such as this have been
seen at almost all rimes. They were not unknown in Bacon's
day; and they became more common still afterwards. The
fifth-monarchy man, possessed of an inward light or illuminated
by the Holy Spirit, could assert for himself a dispensing
power as wide as Bacon's and as serviceable for his own ends.
Itis hard on any other theory to understand how Bacon
could have maintained to the last a conscious dignity and self-
respect.
I shall hOt attempt to enter into the details of Bacon's career.
They have been written many rimes over, and from many
different points of view. Mr. Spedding's edition of his Life
and Letters gives the whole story fully and completely. No
fact or letter or sentence, however discreditable, is suppressed.
They are all set down and they are all explained away, and
Mr. Spedding's faith in Bacon remains unshaken to the end.
But a panegyric which is for ever on the defensive is apt to
raise more suspicions than it lays at test, especially when we
see to what strange shifts Mr. Spedding is occasionally driven
in his loyal resolve to make out his case. Professor Fowler, in
his preface to the Novum Organum (second edition), writes
more judicially. His linWof defence is that Bacon's fatal fault
was extreme carelessness in money matters; that this was the
C2
xxxvi INTRODUCTION.
root from xvhich rnost of his errors and rnisfortunes sprang;
that his constant pecuniary difficulties led as their natural result
to undue office-seeking and a constant craving for preferment ;
and that the habits thus formed in early life continued to
operate, as in point of fact such habits frequently do, in
circurnstances different frorn those by which they were originally
forme& This, however, is an explanation rather than a
defence ; and in Professor Fowler's carefully guarded language
it does hOt so rnuch as atternpt to explain rnuch that is in sad
need of being explained. Bacon's private diary and rules of
conduct are a hard rnorsel for his adrnirers. Mr. Spedding
has an ingenious defence for thern. The things, he says, of
which arnan needs to rernind hirnself are those which he is apt
to forger. His inference is that arts and tricks to curry favour
with the great and to get on in the world were naturally
distasteful to Bacon, and that though he thought it right to
practise them with a view to ulterior objects and to important
patriotic ends, he had to work against the grain in doing so.
Professor Fowler says frankly that Bacon's private rnemoranda
are 'revelations hOt of a pleasant character.' His doubt is
whether rnost other public rnen would show rnuch better if the
world had as clear an insight into their secret thoughts and
purposes,--whether, in short, Bacon was rnuch more of a rogue
than public rnen bave a sort of prescriptive right tobe. Not
less varied has been the estirnate of Bacon's scientific work.
We find him exalted as the founder of modern science, the
pioneer and guide who has shewn the way to all who have corne
after hirn,
. . ' Large-browed Verulam
The first of those who know.'
And we find hirn set down as a tank irnpostor, who has
discovered nothing ; whose rnethod, as far itis correct, was one
which the vorld had already round out and put in practice for
itself; and who has given hirnself airs as a scientific leader and
director, while in point of fact he was lagging sornewhere in the
rear, vell-nigh out of sight, and often in error as to the route by
which the main body was pressing forward. His advocates
BACON'S LITERARY EMINENCE. xxxvii
insist, with justice, on his magnificent scientific aires, on his
lordly sweep over the wide field of knowledge, on his exposure
and correction of errors and of faulty methods which for long
ages had been tried with no result ; and their regret is that his
immersion in public affairs prevented him from completing in
detail the vast plan which he has sketched out. His detractors
urge that the destructive part of his work came too late to be of
use ; that the methods which he condemned had already ceased
to be employed ; that he failed admittedly in his attempts at
discovery and construction; and when they read his remarks
on spirits, on the transmutation of metals, and on the cause of
the sweet dews which fall from the end of the rainbow where
it rests, they affect to doubt whether all this would have corne
to much, if the labour of a lifetime had been given toit.
But all these are curious questions which I must leave in
other hands. My chief concern here is with Bacon's literary
work. The Essays alone give an imperfect view of this. They
show some only of his numerous and varied styles. But they
have qualifies of their own for which we shall find no exact
counterpart elsewhere. What these are I have already en-
deavoured to set down and in some part to illustrate. It is hOt
only that the marrer of the Essays is often of the very highest
value ; that they give us the experience of one who had looked
on lire from many sides, the compressed wisdom of an observer
to whom the ways and thoughts of men had long been as an
open book. Their perfection is rather in the combination of
the matter and the form. The language in which they are
written seems the proper clothing of the ideas. Even where
the matter is valueless, there is consummate art in the garb of
exalted wisdom which the author can fling about his meanest
and most commonplace thoughts, yet without the least obvious
unfitness between the language and the thought. His oracular
manner ; his sudden breaks, which leave the reader still eager
and expectant ; his crowded fulness of meaning ; his wide range
of thought; his seeming insight into the very centre of things;
his unruffled calmness--there may be a trick of style in all this,
but it is one which bas not yet grown stale, and the secret of
xxxviii INTRODUCTION.
xvhich the world has never yet found out. It cannot indeed be
said of Bacon, as Johnson has said of Addison, that those who.
wish to excel in the saine departme/at of work must give their
days and nights to his volumes. He is hOt a model for imitation,
in language or in the structure of his sentences. He is a classic
of a past age. He writes in a fashion which the modern world
has long ceased to use, and it is impossible that it should ever
return toit. But as a classic he will keep his place, and by
universal agreement his place is in the first rank.
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA.
P. 6, I. 5, and note on p. 9,for schools readschool.
P. 9, note on 1. 6, add Pattison mentions the following among « the chacter-
istic scntences which Monigne h insc on the corc of his lib,
" Nostra vatur
In tenebs nec eca potest mens ceere vem,"
fçom Luetius ; and
from extus Empicus.' Repent of Eays, vol. ii. p. 34z.
P. 21, 1. 3 d note,fo z r«ad zel.
P. 24, 1. 29, ]or counci a4 council counse g,d counsel.
P. 34, 1. 7 from bottom,fo vemion of p. z84 ad veon op. 8 4.
P. 56, note =,for Eay 7 r¢d say 8.
P. 67, atend of note on p. 60, 1. 9, Co also, Fcer: e Golden
ough, Cap. III. c. , on 'Tmngeoence of ]s,' ng numero insc in
pmof of the poevence of a like lief. I extract the follong.--A avaan
cure for the fever is to wte upon a piece of r ' Fever stay away, I ara
not at home 'land to put the paper in some rson's cket. The latter
then catches the fever, d the tient is d of it. other cure is for the
patient to stick a ig of elder-toee in the d out sng. e fever
then adheres to the ig, and whoever pulls up the g 1 catch the disease.
Vol. I I. p. 53.
P. 95, 1. 3 , and note on pge at p. 1. for achiavel r¢ad IacciaveL
P. 103, note on 95, 1. 7, fl" Fcaent of Eay on Faine add Wor, vi.
P- 59-
P. 186, 1.34 and P. 187, 1.6for Comineus r¢d Commineus.
P. 282, 1. , for disemboltura ead desemboltura ; and add ut, in some
scimens of acon's handwritg, the b d v are so nearly ale, that it is quite
possible at acon wrote, coectly, 'demvoltur' d that e 'dm-
boltura" in the text is a printer's eor.
P. 98, note on 1. 6. e ' cein suspicions ' may perha have en about
a propoml ofthe Dutch Commiioners to 'o thcir stoc to one bk ' with
the English Et India Company, d to tde conjointly for OEe ture. Vide
Lettc d Lire, vi. 45 o.
P. 357, note on p. 355, 1. 4. The psa in L[ whi Bacon had in mind
w probably bk. v. cap. 49, ' Quod si quis antea iort quae res Antio-
chum et Aetol conjuiet, ex legatom one potasse appaoere :
menfiendo cem jactdue vir qu non haberent flasse va spe arque
inflatos ee.' Conf. Wor, vil. 7 , 72.
THE
ESSAYES
OR
COUNSELS,
CIVILL AND MORALL,
OF
VISCOUNT ST. ALBAN.
_/Vewly EnlaTcd.
LONDON
Printed by Jottx HAVILAND
For Hamx BARRET and RICHARD WHITAKER,
4nd are to e old atttSe signe of ttSe Kings tSead in Pauls CtSurctS-yard
I625.
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORIE.
To the Right Honorable My Very Good Lo. The Duke
of tttckhtgham his Gace, Lo. High ldmh'all of
England.
Excellent Lo.
Salomon saies; M good Vame fs as a preciotts
oytttmctt; And I assure my selfe, such v«il your Graces
Name bee, with Posteritie. For your Fortune, and Merit
both, have been Eminent. And you have planted Things,
that are like to last. I doe now publish my Essayes;
which, of all my other v«orkes, have been most Currant:
For that, as it seems, they corne home, to Mens Businesse,
and Bosomes. I have enlarged them, both in Number,
and Weight ; So that they are indeed a New \Vorke. I
thought it therefore agreeable, to my Affection, and
Obligation to your Grace, to prefix your Name before
them, both in English, and in Latine. For I doe conceive,
that the Latine Volume of them, being in the Universall
Language) may last, as long as Bookes last. My hstattra-
¢iot, I dedicated to the I't't#: My ttis¢orie of Henry
qevctt[h {which I have now also translated into Latine} and
my tor[ious of Na[ttrall Histoo,, to the triuce: And these
I dedicate to your Grace; Being of the best Fruits, that
by the good Encrease, which God gives to my Pen and
Labours, I could yeeld. God leade your Grace by the
Hand.
}'ottr Graces mos/ Oblt'gcd and fat?/tfttll 5crvant,
Ff. St. Alban.
TttE tïSSM VtïS
COUSELS CIVILL AND IIIORALL
OF
FRM2VCIS gMCO2V, YISCOU2VT ST. ALBAW.
OF TRUTH.
WI-IAT iS truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not
stay for an answer. Certainly there be that delight in
giddiness, and count it a bondage to fixa belief; affecting
free-will in thinking, as well as in acting. And though the
sects of philosophers of that kind be gone, yet there remain
certain discoursing wits ", which are of the saine veins ',
though there be hOt so much blood in them as was in tbose
jestlng] i.e. scoffing. Lat. P,'iatus
derisor.
b affecing] i.e. having a liking for.
Conf. Essay 47: ' Use also such per-
sons as affect the business wherein they
are employed, for that quickeneth much.'
¢ discoursing tm'ts] Lat. ingenia ven-
tosa et discurma.
Bacn uses dis«o,«rse in various
senses; sometimes, as in the text,
:- empty talk or chatter.
IVit, he uses sometimes of the
facuhy; sometimes, as in the text,
of the person possessing it. Intellect,
or mind, may pass as the nearest
modern equivalent for it.
For both the above words, conf.
' Neither is this matter of discourse,
ex¢ept the deep and profound reasons
of law which ought chiefly to be
searched shall be accounted discourse,
as the slighter sort of wits (scioli) may
esteem them.' Works, vil 530.
veins] i.e. mental habits or tenden-
cies. Conf. Essay 32 : ' Certain]y he
that hath a satirical rein, as he maketh
others afraid of his wit, so he had
need be afraid of others' memory.'
6 ESSAY I.
of the ancients. But it is not only the difficulty and labour
which men take in finding out of truth ; nor again, that
when it is found, it imposeth upon e men's thoughts, that
doth bring lies in favour; but a natural though corrupt
love of the lie itself. One of the later schools of the
Grecians examineth the matter, and is at a stand to think
what should be in it, that men should love lies; where
neither they make for pleasure, as with poets; nor for
advantage, as with the merchant; but tbr the lie's sake.
But « I cannot tell : this saine truth is a naked and open
daylight, that doth not show the masks, and mummeries,
and triumphsg of the world, half so stately and daintily
as candle-lights. Truth may perhaps corne to the price
,,f a pearl, that showeth best by day, but it will not fise
to the price of a diamond or carbuncle, that showeth
best in varied lights. A mixture of a lie doth ever add
pleasure. Doth any man doubt that if there were taken
out of men's minds vain opinions, flattering hopes, false
valuations, imaginations as one would h, and the like, but it
would leave the minds of a number of men poor shrunken
things, full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing
to themselves? One of the fathers, in great severity, called
poesy' vinum daemonum,' because it filleth the imagination,
and yet it is but with the shadov of a lie. But it is not the
lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in,
and settleth in it, that doth the hurt, such as we spake of i
ç mposah upon] i. e. lays a restraint
upon. Lat. t.r va inventa ¢ogilationibus
imponitur ¢aptwit. contrted with
the 'free-will in thinng' of which
Bacon h sken above.
t But &c.] The Latin ves th sta¢-
cato sa somewhat more trippingly:
Scd nb quomodo, v'tas ta &c.
Oiumphs] i. e. shows or spots, on
a scie of some maificence.
'Some two days since I saw the
prince,
And told him of these triumphs
hcld at Oxford.'
Richard II, act v. sc. 3-
' O, thou art a perpetual triumph, an
everlasting bonfire.light.'
Henry IV, act iii. sc. 3-
And Essay 37, Of Masques and
Triumphs.
a on« wM] Lat. imaginaliones
ad iibitum.
I uch as we spake of] i. e. such a lie
as, hot such a hurt as. The Latin gives
OF TRUTH. 7
before. But howsoever k these things are thus in men's
depraved judgments and affections, yet truth, which only
doth judge itself, teacheth that the inquiry of truth, which
is the love-making or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth,
which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is
the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature.
The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was
the light of the sense: the last was the light of reason :
and his sabbath work ever since is the illumination of his
Spirit. First, he breathed light upon the face of the ,o
matter, or chaos; then he breathed light into the face of
man; and still I he breatheth and inspireth light into the
face of his chosen. The poet that beautified the sect that
was otherwise inferior to the rest, saith yet ' exceilently
well :--It is a pleasure go stand upon the shore, and go sec
sllils tosscd upon elle sca : a ph'asttrc go stand bi elle zvhtdozv
of a castlc, and go sec a baltle and thc advenir, res thcrcof
bdow : but no plcasure is comparable go the standing upon the
vantage grottnd of truth, [a hill not to be commanded, and
where the air is always clear and serene), attd to sec thc 2o
crrors, and zvandcrings, attd misls, and tcmpests, Dt tlce valc
bdow : so always that this prospect be with pity, and hot
with swelling or pride. Certainly, it is heaven upon
earth, to have a man's mind more in charity, res, in pro-
vidence, and turn upon the poles of truth.
To pass from theological and philosophical truth to the
truth of 1' civil business°; it will be acknowledged, even by
quite clear]y--mendadum qnod a menle
hnbibitur, nonOe ejus generis dt qno ange
dixim«s.
Bu! Itotv$oever zc.] i.e. in what way
soevcr it happens that these things are
thus. Lat. utcunque haec ira se habeant.
t stillJ Here, as generally else-
where, = ever. Conf. e.g. Essay 9 :
' For greatness» it maketh go be still for
the most part in arms.' Lat. quasi
m y«tJ This vord is hot translated
in the Latin. It may mean either
fitrghcr, morcoE,er, and if so vill apply
to the en,ire clause ; or, as Mr. Abbott
suggests, in spire of his bclonging go an
iEEo4or sect, a sense hot well in keeping
with the terres of praise with which
the unnamed writer is introdueed.
lndh of civil business] The Latin
marks distinctly this change in the
sense of the word--ad veritagon aut
potius voacigagon.
civil business] i.e. business relating
8 ESSAY I.
those that practise it not, that clear and round p dealing is
the honour of man's nature, and that mixture of falsehood
is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make
the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. For these
winding and crooked courses are the goings of the
serpent; which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon
the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with
shame as to be round false and perfidious; and therefore
Montaigne saith prettily, when he inquired the reason
,o why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace, and
such an odious charge. Saith he, If if be well weighed, to
say that a man licth, is as much to say as tkat he is brave
towa»ds God and a cowa»d towards men. For a lie faces
God, and shrinks from ma». Surely the wickedness of
falsehood and breach of faith cannot possibly be so highly
expressed, as in that it shall be the last peal « to call the
judgments of God upon the generations of men : it being
foretold that, when Christ cometh, he shall not findfaith
upon the carth.
NOTES IIND f LLUSTRATIONS.
P. 5, 1. 5. sects of Philosophers] This is probably an allusion
to Pyrrho and the sceptical schools, to which Bacon makes express
reference in the Nov. Org. Bk. I. aph. 67. The indeterminate
language in the Essay would be borne out by the tenets assigned
either to these, or to the New Academy, of which Bacon speaks at
greater length in the saine aphorism : ' Nova Academia Acatalepsiam
dogmatizavit et ex professo tenuit. Quae licet honestior ratio sit
quam pronuntiandi licentia, quum ipsi pro se dicant se minime
to the intercourse and dealing, in
society, of citizen with citizen. Conf.
Civil knowledge .... hath three
pmts, according to the three summary
actions of society : which are Conver-
sation, Negociation, and Government.'
Works, iii. 445.
p round] i.e.straightforward,direct.
Conf. Essay 6: 'A show of fearfulness
..... doth spoil the feathers of round
flying up to the mark.' And, ' So highly
esteemed they a plain, simple and round
manner of speaking, which compriseth
in few words much matter and a
sentence massy and sound.' Plutarch,
blorals : Of Intemperate Speech ; Hol-
land's trans, p. x6 7.
q if shall be tke la.st 2beal &c.] Lat.
istis (quasi ultimis clamoribus) dcvo-
cabuntur judicia Dal.
OF TRUTH.
confundere inquisitionem, ut Pyrrho fecit et Ephectici, sed habere
quod sequantur ut probabile, licet non habeant quod teneant ut
verum; tamen,' etc. And again in aph. 37, he says of the New
Academy, ' nihil sciri posse simpliciter asserunt.'
1. 6. certain discoursi»g wit] The reference may be to Fran-
ciscus Sanchez, whose treatise, Quod nihil scitur (576), seems to
have been known to Bacon. Sanchez professes to write as a thorough
sceptic. He begins his treatise : ' Nec unum hoc scio, me nihil scire.
Conjector tamen nec me nec alios. Haec mihi vexillum propositio
sit, haec sequenda venit--nihil scitur.' The reasoning by which
he establishes his position--the obous absurdities of many received
opinions, the imperfections of the sens, and the faulty inferences
which men are in the habit of making from them--is, in pas, so
like some of the destructive aphofisms in the First Book of the Nom
Organum, that the resemblance can hardly bave been accidental.
But Sanchez constcm nothing. He concludes in favour of the
sceptical formula 6th which he stars. His work is an extreme
expression of the dislike and distst which men were benning to
feel for a dogmatism which had passed current as science. That the
contemptuous reference in the Essay was innded to include
Momaigne is likely enough. His rambling tentative style, and his
mischievous delight in multiplying proofs of the weakness and
fallibility of human judgment, would explain Bacon's inclusion of
him among the discoursing modern wits. It desees notice, too,
that although Bacon offert follows Montaigne, this is the only Essay
in which he refers to him by name.
P. 6, 1. 4. a natural &c.] Conf. Monigne : ' Je trouve que nous ne
sommes pas seulement lasches à nous deffendre de la piperie ; mais
que nous cherchons et convions à nous y enferrer : nous aimons à
nous embrouiller en la vanité, comme conforme à nostre estre.'
Esys, bk. iii. chap. xL
1. 5. One of tle la/er sclls /e Grecia»s] The reference is to
Lucian's Philopseudes, sec. i :
1. 15. carbuwle] ' Carbunculus. SolaHs lapis lucet ex propria natura
sicut Sol.' Paracelsus, vol. il. p. z5 b (ed. of z658, Geneva, in tbree
folio vols.). ' The best of these stones 11 shine in darknesse like a
burning coale, as Albertus writeth, himself bath seene. Others shine
IO ESSAY I.
but a little and are lesse esteemed, but'such as shine not at ail are
scarce of any reckoning.' Bullokar, English Expositor, sub voce.
1.22. One of tire [athers &c.] This quotation has not been traced.
The only explanation I can find of it is as follows :--Jerome, in a
letter to Damasus (Ep. i46), writes, ' Daemonum cibus est carmina
poetarum.' Augustine, Confess. i. x6, terres poetry ' vinum erroris ab
ebriis doctoribus propinatum.' Bacon thus seems to have been quoting
from memory, and to have combined the two passages. It ,vas a
fixed idea with him, as his mistakes of memory usually were. He
says, r.g. in the Adv. of Learning, ' Did not one of the fathers in great
indignation call Poesy "vinum daemonum," because it increaseth
telnptations, perturbations and vain opinions ?' ,Vorks, iii. 44o.
I. 24. the shadow ofa lie] In this and in the next sentence Bacon
seems to bave had before him some passages from Plato's Republic:
o «v paro fio. Republic, p. 38z.
P- 598, and the entire discussion which introduces and follows
this.
P. 7, II. 4. 5. bnow&dge oftrulh--belioftruth] The Latin brings out
more clearly the distinction intended here. Knowledge is rendered
by ' veritatis cognitio, quae praesentem eam sistit :' belief by ' veritatis
receptio cum assensu, quae est ipsius fruitio et amplexus.'
1.8. the light of the senoe] Genesis-i. 3-
1.8. the ligM of reason] Genesis i. 26, 27.
Conf. ' Thou, O Father who gavt the Visible Light as the first-
born ofthy creatures, and didst pour into man the Intellectual Light
as the top and consummation of thy workmanship, be pleased to
protect and govern this work.' The Writer's Prayer; Works, vil
259.
Closely resembling this is the prayer with which Baron ends his
' distributio operis : '' Itaque tu Pater, qui lucem visibilem primitias
creaturae dedisti, et lucem intellectualem ad fastium operum tuorum
in faciem hominis inspirasti,' &c. Vorks, i. x45-
1. 3. Thepoet] i.e. Lucretius.
1. 3. the sert othe,ise hoEerior] i.e. the Epicurean sert, so
judged either as morally infefior or as having a less eminent series
of litera advocates and professors.
OF TRUTH. t J
The passage, which Bacon has paraphrased rather than translated,
'Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis,
E terra magnum alterius spectare laborem;
Non quia vexari quemquam est jucunda voluptas,
Sed, quibus ipse malis careas, quia cernere suave est.
Suave etiam belli certamina magna tueri
Per campos instructa, tua sine parte pericli:
Sed nil dulcius est bene quam munita tenere
Edita doctrina sapientum tenlpla serena;
Despicere unde queas alios, passimque videre
Effare, atque viam palanteis quaerere vitae,
Certare ingenio, contendere nobilitate,
Nocteis atque dies niti praestante labore
Ad summas emergere opes, rerumque potiri.'
Lib. il. I-I 3.
1. 22. wilh pity &c.] Conf. the description, in the New Atlantis,
of one of the Fathers of Salomon's House : ' He was a man of middle
stature and age, comely of person, and had an aspect as if he pitied
men.' SVorks, iii. 154. I quote this as a further bye-instance of the
relation in which Bacon himself stood, or affected to stand, towards
his fellow-men.
P. 8, 1. 8. and lherefore l[onlaigne sailh &c.] Montaigne does
hot say it; he quotes it as the saying of an ancient :--'J'ay souvent
consideré d'où pouvoit naistre cette coustume, que nous observons
si religieusement, de nous sentir plus aigrement offensez du
reproche de ce vice, qui nous est si ordinaire, que de nul aultre;
et que ce soit l'extreme injure qu'on nous puisse faire de parole,
que de nous reprocher le mensonge ...... C'est un vilain vice
que le mentir, et qu'un ancien peinct bien honteusement quand
il dict que "c'est donner tesmoignage de mespriser Dieu, et quand et
quand de craindre les hommes" ; il n'est pas possible d'en representer
plus richement l'horreur, la vilitê, et le desreglement ; car que peut-
on imaginer plus vilain que d'estre couard à l'endroict des hommes,
et brave à l'endroict de Dieu ?' Montaigne, Essays, lib. il. 18.
The 'ancien' is Plutarch. 'He that deceiveth his enemie, and
breaketh his oath to him : sheweth plainely that he feareth him, but
that he careth not for God.' Life of Lysander, North's trans, p. 45 o.
We learn from Bodin that the sensitiveness to the charge of lying,
of which Montaigne speaks, had been of recent growth among the
French :--' But nov, when as to have the lie given one was neither by
the Romans thought to be a thing injurious, neither that our auncestors
had allowed the combat for the lie given to another man : it began in
our age to be a thing not only contumelious, but even capitall also :
and that especially in the tinxe of Francis the first the French king,
ESSAY II.
who in a great assembly of his greatest peers one day said, that he
was hot an honest man which could endure the lie given him .....
So that none of the nobilitie or martial! men which will put up with
the lie is accounted of as a man of any worth or valour, but as of a
base or vile fellow.' Bodin, Republic, iv. cap. 7, Knolles' trans.
Bacon speaks elsewhere to much the same effect :--' It would
bave been thought a madness amongst the ancient lawgivers
to have set a punishment upon the lie given ...... The civilians,
they dispute whether an action of hjury lie for it, and rather
resolve the contrary. And Francis the first of France, who
first set on and stamped this disgrace so deep, is taxed by the
judgment of ail wise writers for beginning the vanity of it : for it was
he, that when he had himselfgiven the lie and defy to the Èperor,
to make it current in the world, said in a solemn assembly, That he
was no honest man rirai wouM bear the lie; which was the fountain
of this new learning.' Charge touching Duels, Letters and Life,
iv. 4o6.
l. 17. il being forelold &c.] Luke xviii. 8. The words, it need
hardly be said, do hOt bear the sense which Bacon bas given them.
I think it probable that he had in his rnind, here, an indistinct
recollection of a passage in Cyprian's De Unitate Ecclesiae. It is
clear from several passages in Essay iii. that he had read this treatise.
Conf. ' Sic in nobis emarcuit vigor fidei, sic credentium robur elanguit.
Et idcirco Dominus tempora nostra respiciens, in Evangelio suo dicit:
Filius homhKs acre venerit, putas h«veniet ridera fit terra ? Videmus
fieri quod ille praedixit. In Dei timore, in lege justitiae, in dilee-
tione, in opere rides nulla est,' &e. Cyprian, De Unitate Eeelesiae,
sec. 26.
II.
OF DEATH.
ME fear death as children fear to go in the dark ; and
as that natural fear in children is increased with tales,
so is the other. Certainly, the contemplation of death,
as the wages of sin, and passage to another world, is holy
and religious; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto
nature, is weak. Yet in religious meditations there is
OF DEATH. 3
sometimes mixture of vanity and of superstition. You
shall read, in some of the friars' books of mortification,
that a man should think with himself what the pain is
if he have but his finger's end pressed or tortured, and
thereby imagine what the pains of death are, when the
whole body is corrupted and dissolved ; when many rimes
death passeth with less pain than the torture of a limb;
for the most vital parts are not the quickest of sense. And
by him that spake only as a philosopher, and natural
man , it was welI said, Pompa mort[s magis lcrret qam
mors ipsa. Groans and convulsions, and a discoloured
face, and friends weeping, and blacks and obsequies b, and
the like, show death terrible. It is worthy the observing,
that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it
mates c and masters the fear of death ; and therefore death
is no such terrible enemy when a man hath so many
attendants about him that tan win the combat of him«.
Revenge triumphs over death; love slights it; honour
aspireth to it ; grief flieth to it; fear pre-occupateth « it ;
nay, we read, after Otho the
atural man] i.e. hot from a reli-
gious point ot view. Lat. itomo ani-
s,ails. In contrast to the religious
meditations of xvhi¢h Bacon has just
belote been speaking. For the phrase,
conf. 'It is truc, Eupolis, that the
principal object which I have before
mine eyes, in that whereof I speak, is
piety and religion. But nevertheless,
if I should speak only as a naturaI
nan, I should persuade the sa.me
thing. For there is no such enterprise
at this day for secular greatness and
terrene honouras a war upon infidels.'
Works, vil p. o.
b bla«ks and obsequ,ës] The Latin
combines these two words in atrata
[unera. For the old substantival use
of' blacks,' conf.
' Ere blacks were bought for his own
funeJal.'
Ben Jonson, Epigrams 44, l. 3.
emperor had slain himself, o
And, ' The Queen's funeral is like to be
deferrcd for want of money to buy the
blacks.' Lorkin to Sir T. Puckering,
April 7, 69, Court and Times of
James I, vol il.
e but il zate$] i.e. over-powers,
Lat. quin sqbertt. Conf. ' The great
question is how o miss or how to
mate the Flemin: how to pass by
them or how to pass over them.'
Lee and Lffe, ri. 3- d, Esy
xS: ' In eat oppoessions, the saine
thin tt do provoke the patience,
do withal mate the courage.'
a of Mini i.e. of death. Lat. qui in
re-occuatetlJ] i.e. anticipates. Lat.
antipat. Conf. 'Only I wish your
Lordship will hot pre-occupate despair,
but put tst, next to God, in ber
Majesty's ace.' Lette and Life, ii.
p. oe. And, I wl pre-occupate
14 ESSAY II.
pity (which is the tenderest r of affections) provoked many
to die out of mere compassion to their sovereign, and as
the truest sort of folloxvers. Nay, Seneca adds, niceness «
and satiety : Cogita quamdiu eadcm feccris ; mori vellc, non
tattttt m fo4is, aut m iso', scd ctiam fastidiosus potesL A man
would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable,
on. ly upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over
and over. It is no less worthy to obsera, e, how little
alteration in good spirits h the approaches of death make :
o for they appear to be the same men till the last instant.
Augustus Caesar died in a compliment; Livia, conjugii
tOSh't" II£IllOF, li'C C[ i'al. Tiberius in dissimulation, as
Tacitus saith of him, Jam Tiberhtm vh'es ct corpus, non
disshntdatio, descrcbant: Vespasian in a jest, sitting upon
the stool, Utputo Dettsfio: Galba with a sentence, Fcri, si
ex tf sit o/httli loman[, holding forth his neck ; Septimius
Severus in dispatch, Adcstc, si qtt[d mi]ri restat aKendnm ;
and the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed too much
cost upon death, and by their great preparations lnade it
o appear more feafful. Better saith he, qui fin¢m v/lac
gx[rctott DtAer tllttlo'a onat na[ttrac. It is as natural to
die as to be born ; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is
as painful as the other. He that dies in an earnest pursuit
is like one that is wounded in hot blood, who, for the rime,
scarce feels the hurt ; and therefore a mind fixed and bent
upon somewhat that is good doth avert the dolours of
death; but, above ail, believe it, the sweetest canticle is
JVttnc dimittis, when a man hath obtained worthy ends and
whai; he will rather say, That other
affairs of weight do take him up.'
Hacket's Lire of Abp. Williams, Part
I, p. 34.
t tle huderes i.e. the weakest.
Conf. 'Especially if in those disput-
ings, they which are for the direction
speak fearfully and tenderly, and those
that are against it audaciously.' Essay
I5.
nicentss] i.e. fastidiousness. Conf.
' The Spartans were a nice people in
point of naturalization.' Essay 9.
p. o7.
ingoodspir¢ts] Lat. in animo gent-
roso tt fortf.
OF DEATH. 5
expectations. Death hath this also, that it openeth the
gate tu good fame, and extinguisheth envy:
amabitur idem.
Vo TES AND ILLUSTRA TIONS.
P. 12, 1. i. the dark] ' Illa ad quae transituri sumus nescimus qualia
sint, et horremus ignora. Naturalis praeterea tenebrarum metus est,
in quas adductura mors creditur.' Seneca, Epist. Ixxxii.
1. 2. increased with tales] Conf. ' Mors contemni debet ma#s quam
solet, multa enim de illa credimus: multorum ingeniis certatum est
ad augendam ejus infamiam. Descriptus est carcer infernus et per-
petua nocte oppressa regio, in qua ingens janitor Orci,
Ossa super recubans antro semesa cruento,
Aeterniam latrans exsangues territat umbras.'
Seneca, Epist. ixxxii.
I give this, out of a host of similar passages, as having most
probably been present tu Bacon's mind.
1. 5" the fear of il, as a tribute due unto nature] The Latin gives
here tri est naturae debitum, as though the sense of the English were--
since it is a tribute due unto nature. In the edition of i6t2, the cor-
responding passage is--' the fear of it for it self.' This agrees more
nearly with the English text of the later edition than with the render-
ing in the Latin.
For the sense, conf. ' Mors naturae lex est, mors tributum officium-
que mortalium.' Seneca, Nat. Quaest. lib. vi. sub finem.
P. 18, 1. I. You shaii read &c.] I have looked through some scores
of the friars' books of mortification, but I have not round any such
passage as that tu which Bacon refers. The nearest approach tu it is
in St. Luis of Granada's chapter on Death, translated in vol. ii. of the
Ascetic Library by Orby Shipley. The usual purpose of this class
of writers seems tu be tu excite fear hOt about death but about what
may happen after death, and on this latter they enlarge hOt un-
frequently in terres such as those of which Bacon speaks in the text.
By the early Christian vriters death itself is more often hailed as a
welcome release. Later writers, addressing themselves tu the rich
and the luxurious, insist rather on the losses which it involves and
on the pleasures which it cuts short.
1. lU. Pomiba »tortis &c.] The reference appears tu be tu Seneca.
' Tulle istam pompam sub qua lates et stultos territas : mors es quam
nuper servus meus quam ancilla contempsit.' Epist. xxiv. For
this and for the next sentence conf. also Montaigne, Ess. lib. i.
chap. 19 : 'Je crois, à la verité, que ce sont ces mines et appareils
16 ESSAY II.
effroyables dequoy nous l'entournons, qui nous font plus de peur
qu'elle : une toute nouvelle forme de vivre ; les cris des meres, des
femmes, et des enfants : la visitation de personnes estonnees et
transies ; l'assistance d'un nombre de valets pasles et esplorez ; une
chambre sans jour; des cierges allumez; nostre chevet assiegé de
medecins et de prescheurs; somme, tout horreur et tout effroy
autour de nous; nous voyla desja ensepvelis et enterrez. Les
enfants ont peur de leurs amis mesmes, quand ils les voyent
masquez : aussi avons nous. Il fault oster le masque aussi bien des
choses que des personnes : osté qu'il sera, nous ne trouverons au
dessoubs que cette mesme mort qu'un valet ou simple chambriere
passerent dernierement sans peur.'
1. i8. honour aspireth fo il] The edition of i6m adds here--
delivery from ignominy chooseth it.' It is obvious to remark that, in
the interval between the two editions, Bacon had incurred ignominy
and had not chosen death. The reading of the earlier edition is kept
and somewhat strengthened in the Latin translation ofthe later one--
nelus ignominiae eligil.
1. 19. fear pre-occupateth it] Conf. Seneca, Epist. xxiv: 'His
adjicias et illud ..... tantam hominum imprudentiam esse, imo
dementiam, ut quidam timore mortis cogantur ad mortem'; and
Epist. l.,_x : ' stultitia est timore mortis mori' ; and Lucretius iii.
79 82:
'Et saepe usque adeo, mortis formidine, vitae
Percipit humanos odium lucisque videndae,
Ut sibi consciscant maerenti pectore letum,
Obliti fontem curarum hunc esse timorem.'
1.20. Otho] Vide Tacitus, Hist. ii. 49: 'Quidam militum juxta
rogam (Othonis) interfecere se, non noxa neque ob metum, sed
aemulatione decoris et caritate principis. Ac postea promisce
Bedriaci Placentiae aliisque in castris celebratum id genus mortis' ;
and Suetonius, Otho, cap. xii : sub finem : ' Multi praesentium
militum ..... statim nec procul a rogo vim suae vitae adtulerunt.
Multi et absentium adcepto nuntio prae dolore armis inter se ad
internecionem concurrerunt.'
P. 14, 1. 3- Seneca adds] These are not the words of Seneca. He
quotes them, with approval, from an address, by a»icus noster Stoicus,
to a young man who had called a council of his friends to decide
whether he should put himself to death. The exact words are-
' Cogita quamdiu jam idem facias. Cibus, somnus, libido : per hunc
circulum curritur. Mori velle non tantùm prudens, et fortis aut
miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest.' Epist. lxxvii.
1. ii. Augustus Cesar--compliment] This is no account of the
scene as Suetonius describes it--' Omnibus deinde dimissis, dura
OF DEATH. 7
advenientes ab urbe de Drusi filia aegra interrogat, repente in
osculis Liviae et in hac voce defecit : Livia nostri conjugii memor
vive, ac vale.' Augustus, cap. 99. There is something more than
compliment here.
1. 12. Tiberius] 'Jam Tiberium corpus, jam rires, nondum dis-
simulatio deserebat.' Tac. Ann. vi. 5 o.
l. 14. éspasian] 'Ac ne in metu quidem, et periculo mortis
extremo, abstinuit jocis .... Prima quoque morbi adcessione, Ut,
inquit, puto, Deus fio." Suetonius, Vespasian, cap. 23. 'Err«;/ r«
i««v««v gt ««vç««,, ïçÇ, o« ÇSÇ ;vovat. Dio Cassius Ixvi. 17.
It does hOt appear that this jest was uttered when Vespasian was
dying--Suetonius says expressly prima morbi adcessione.
1. 5. Gal] This is Plutarch's account. 'The traiterous
souldiers flew upon him, and gave him many a wound : and Galba
holding out his neck unto them, bad them strike hardily, if it were
to do their count good.' North's trans, p. iosi. Tacitus and Sue-
tonius speak less certainly. ' Extremam ejus vocem, ut cuique odium
aut admiratio fuit, varie prodidere. Alii suppliciter interrogasse
quid mali meisset ; paucos dies exsolvendo donativo deprecatum.
Plures obtulisse ultro percussoribus jugulum : agerent ac ferirent,
si ita e re publica videretur. Non inteffuit occidentium quid diceret.'
Tac. Hist. i. 4L ' Sunt qui tradant ad primum tumultum proclamasse
eum, 0uM agilis, comndlilones ? ego rester sure, et vos mei. Piures
autem prodiderunt obtulisse ultro jugulum: et ut hoc agerent ac
[erirent» qttando ira viderdur, hortatum.' Suet. Galba, cap. 20.
1. 16. Splimh«s Severns] T6 r« «ov or v«pTfi iv«ro, «r«
lxx. 7. The me might have been said with equal tth about
Vespasian ; of whom Dio Cassius records : rGv larpGv inrtV6vrov
dp ïparr, T» aropropa Bd, ï, «rra àod»««. Dio Cass.
lx. 7-
1. 8. the Stoics bestowed &c.] This is certainly te about Seneca,
who returns to the subject again and again with most minute and
tedious iteration.
Con£ Montaigne' veoir les efforts que Seneque se donne pour se
preparer contre la mort ; à le veoir suer d'ahan pour se roider et
pour s'assurer, et se debattre si long temps en cette perche, j'eusse
esbranslé sa reputation, s'il ne l'eust, en mourant, trez vaillamment
maintenue.' Essays, bk. iii. chap. x. And' si nous avons sceu vivre
constamment et tranquillement, nous sçaurons mourir de mesme.
Ils s'en vanteront tant qu'il leur plaira, tota p]tilosop]torton vita com-
menlalio morlis eslj mais il m'est ados que c'est bien le bout, non
pouvant le but, de la vie; c'est sa fin, son extremité, non pourtant
n object.' Ibid. Bacon seems to have had this last passage from
C
i8 ESSAY II.
Montaigne in his mind, and to have taken the quotation in it as
further proof of the charge which he brings generally against the
Stoics. There is a passage in the De Augmentis, hOt making any
reference to the Stoics by name, but "otherwise very like the Essay,
and clearly founded upon the quotation in Montaigne.--' Mortis formi-
dinem medendo augent. Etenim cum nihil aliud fere stam humanam
faciant quam mortis quandam praeparationem et disciplinam, quo-
modo fieri possit ut ille hostis mirum in modum non videatur
terribilis, contra quem muniendi nullus sit finis?' Works i. 726.
The proof is hOt happily chosen. The quotation is hOt from Seneca
or from any Stoical xvriter, but from Cicero, Tusc. Disp. i. 3 o. It
is intended to be a translation from the Phaedo, and its language,
however doubtful in itself, does hOt, as the context shews, bear out
the remarks which Montaigne makes upon it. Commentatio mortis
is a preparation hOt for dying but for death, an anticipation and
part-accomplishment of the change which will be complete at death
--the final freedom of the souI from the restraints and degradations
imposed upon it by the body.
Nor are the Stoics, as a rule, open to the charge which Bacon
brings against them in the Essay. XVhen they argue against the
fear of death, their drift is the saine as Seneca's, but they handle
their subject in a more manly and robust style, more briefly and
very much more effectively.
1.20. qui vilain &c.] The correct words are-
' Qui spatium vitae extremum inter munera ponat
Naturae.' Juv. Sat. x. 358.
1.22. 1o a lilllc infanl] Conf. Quarles' Emblems, ii. 13 :
'The slender debt to nature's quickly paid,
Discharged, perhaps, with greater ease than made.'
1.23. He tha! dies &c.] Conf. ' Celuy qui meurt en la meslee, les
armes à la main, il n'estudie pas lors la mort, il ne la sent, ny ne la
considere; l'ardeur du combat l'emporte.' Montaigne, Essays, bk.
iii. chap. 4.
1. 28. Nttnc dimitlis] Luke ii. 29.
P. lb, ]. 2. J..t'/[nC/u$ &C.] Hot. Epist. bk. ii. I. 14. So too Ovid.
Amores, lib. i. xv. 39:
' Pascitur in vivis livor; post fata quiescit,
Cum suus ex merito quemque tuetur honos.'
OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 9
III.
OF UNITY IN RELIGION.
RELIGION being the chief band of tauman society, it is
a happy thing when itself is well contained" within the
true band of unity. The quarrels and divisions about
religion were evils unknown to the heathen. The reason
was, because the religion of the heathen consisted rather
in rites and ceremonies, than in any constant belief: for
you may imagine xvhat kind of faith theirs was, when the
chief doctors and fathers of their church were the poets.
But the true God bath this attribute, that he is a jealous
God; and therefore his worship and religion will endure ,o
no mixture nor partner. We shall therefore speak a few
xvords concerning the unity of the church ; what are the
fruits thereof; what the bounds ; and what the means.
The fruits of unity (next unto the well-pleasing of God,
xvhich is all in all} are two; the one towards those that
are without the church, the other towards those that are
within. For the former, it is certain that heresies and
schisms are of all others the greatest b scandals : yea, more
than corruption of manners: for as in the natural body
a wound or solution of continuity is worse than a corrupt ,o
humour, so in the spiritual : so that nothing doth so much
keep men out of the church, and drive men out of the
church, as breach of unity: and therefore whensoever it
eontained] i.e. held together. Lat.
ut et ipsa astrinKatur. Conf. ' I bave
marvelled sometimes at Spain, how
they clasp and contain so large do-
minions.' Essay 29, p. 2o8.
of ail othe* the greatesl] i.e.
greater than any of the others--a
graecism hot unfrequent in Bacon's
time. Cont r. e.g. ' Ido now publish my
Essays ; which of all my other works
bave been most current.' Dedication
to ed. of x 625.
C
« Ofall other affections it is the most
importune and continual.' Essay 9-
'In the midst of them all the sun
taketh his course, as being the greatest
and most puissant of ail the rest."
Pliny, Nat. Hist. bk. il. chap. 6 Hol-
land's trans..
' For very few there be among them
who understand and know the cause
of this ceremony, which is of all other
the smaIlest.' Plutarch, Morals, p. xo49
( Holland's trans.).
o ESSAY III.
cometh to that pass that one saith, l?cce ht Deserto, another
saith, Ecce ht pcnetralib«ts; that is, when some men seek
Christ in the conventicles of heretics, and others in an
outward face of a church, that voice had need continually
to sound in men's ears, nolite exb'e,--go not out. The
doctor of the Gentiles (the propriety c of whose vocation
drew him to have a special tare of those without) saith,
If a heathen corne in, and hear you speak with several
tongues, will he not say that you are mad ? and certainly
,o it is little better when atheists and profane persons do
hear of so many discordant and eontrary opinions in re-
ligion. It doth avert them from the church, and maketh
them to sit down in the chair of the scorners. It is but
a light thing ' to be vouched in so serious a matter, but yet
it expresseth well the deformity. There is a master of
scoffing that in his catalogue of books of a feigned library
sets down this title of a book, The Morris-Dance of
Hereties: for, indeed, every sect of them hath a diverse
posture or cringe by themselves, which cannot but more
o derision in vorldlings and depraved polities e, vho are apt
to contemn holy things.
As for the fruit towards those that are within, it is peace,
which containeth infinite blessings; it establisheth faith;
it kindleth charity; the outward peace of the church dis-
tilleth into peace of conscience, and it turneth the labours
of writing and reading of controversies into treaties f of
mortification and devotion.
« prop, iety] i.e. properfy in the Iogical
sense of the word ; specmlty. Lat.
cujus vocatio et ,nss{o propria et deman-
data. Con£ ' Man did grive names
unto other creatures in Paradise, as
they were brought before him, accord-
ing unto tbeir proprieties.' Works,
iii. 264 .
]t is but a Kght tldng &c.] These
words refer to the passage from Rabe-
lais, which follows in the next sen-
tence. For a parallel to this use, conf.
e.g. ' It is a trivial grammar-school
text, but yet worthy a xvise man's
consideration. Question was asked
of Demosthenes," &c. Essay 12» L
I.
® pol,'tics] i.e. politicians. Lat. poli-
tid. The word occurs frequently.
r tv¢aties] i.e. treatises. So, in the
opening words of the third part of the
Homily against disobedience and wilful
OF UNITY IN RELIGION.
Concerning the bounds of unity, the true placing of
them importeth exceedinglyg. There appear to be txvo
extremes : for to certain zealants h ail speech of pacification
is odious. Is it peace, Jehu ?--What hast thou to do with
peace ? turn thee behind me. Peace is not the matter, but
following and party. Contrariwise, certain Laodiceans and
lukewarm persons think they may accommodate points of
religion by middle ways, and taking part of both, and
witty i reconcilements, as if they would make an arbitra-
ment between God and man. Both these extremes are to ,o
be avoided ; which will be done if the league of Christians,
penned by our Saviour himself, were in the two cross
clauses thereof soundly and plainly expounded: He that
is hOt with us, is against us; and again, He that is not
against us, is with us; that is, if the points fundamental
and of substance in religion were truly discerned and dis-
tinguished from points not merely ' of faith, but of opinion,
order, or good intention. This is a thing may seem to
many a matter trivial, and done already; but if it xvere done
less partially , it xvould be embraced more generally.
Of this I may give only this advice, according to my
rebellion--' As I have in the first part
of this treatise shewed unto you the
doctrine of the holy Scriptures ....
and in the second part of the saine
treaty confirmed the same doctrine by
notable examples,' &c.
g importcth exce«dingly] i.e. is of ex-
ceeding importance. Lat. magnipmr-
s*s est mometi. The verb is used in
a neuter and in an active sense. Conf.
Nay, number itself in amies importeth
hot much.' Essay 2 9.
' It is worthy the consideration how
this may import England.' Works,
ri. "8.
h zealats] i.e. zealots. Lat. homi-
nibus zelo perferv*do. It appears to be
formed from the Italian zdant«.
1 witty] here =ingenious, as in Essay
5o, ' Histories make men ,vise ; poets,
witty.' The Latin, in both passages, is
ingeniosts.
hot merdy] i.e. hot absolutely, hot
entirely. The Latin gives simply qua«
non sunt ride. Conf. Essay 58,
' They do hot merely dispeople and
destroy': where the Latin ves popu-
lum podtus non ab$orbent aut dtnatnt.
x less pamially] i.e. with less of party
feeling and aire. Conf. ' The fourth
and last occasion of these controver-
sies .... is the partial affection and
imitation offorei churches." Lette
and Life, i. p. 84. The apparent ti-
thesis in the text beeen ' paally"
and ' generally' obscur the sense of
the English. The Latin is clear
vemm M hoc ipsum minore paȢium
studio fia, majot* aiam cos«nsu
reoperetur.
22 ESSAY III.
small model ' Men ought to take heed of rending God's
church by two kinds of controversies; the one is, when
the matter of the point controverted is too small and light,
not worth the heat and strife about it, kindled only by con-
tradiction ; for, as it is noted by one of the fathers, Christ's
coat indeed had no seam, but the church's vesture was of
divers colours; xvhereupon he saith, ht veste varietas sit,
scissura 1011 sit; they be two things, unity and uniformity.
The other is, when the marrer of the point controverted is
o great, but it is driven to an over great subtilty and obscu-
rity, so that it becometh a thing rather ingenious than sub-
stantial. A man that is of judgment and understanding
shall sometimes hear ignorant men differ, and know well
vithin himself that those which so differ mean one thing,
and yet they themselves would never agree: and if it
corne so to pass in that distance of judgment which is
between man and man, shall xve not think that God above,
that knows the heart, doth not ' discern that frail men, in
some of théir contradictions, intend the saine thing, and
.,o accepteth of both ? The nature of such controversies is
excellently expressed by St. Paul, in the warning and pre-
cept that he giveth concerning the saine ; Devita profanas
z,ocum novitates, et oibibositiolles falsi nomhlis scicutiae. Men
create oppositions which are hOt, and put them into new
modal &c.] These xvords pro-
bably mean--as far as the small scale
of the prescrit writing aiiows. So Dr.
Rawley, stating his reason for pub-
lishing some ofBacon's minor writings,
says that he did it' to satisfy the desires
of some who held it unreasonable that
any delineations of that pen, though
in never so small a model, should
hOt be shewn to the world.' Works,
vil 6.
' That glgantie state of mind which
possesseth the troublers of the world,
such as was Lucius Sylla, and infinite
other in smaller model.' Works, iii.
45
The Latin version, however, ren-
ders the word by--pro capts nost»
tenuitate, a piece of modesty hardly
in the strain of one who, at the
age of 29, had already assumed au-
thority to settle the controversies of
the Church. Letters and Lif% i, 74
et s«qq.
n doth »zot] This repetition of the
negative is hot unusual with Bacon.
Conf. e.g. ' A corporation tan bave no
wife, nor a corporation tan have no
son.' Works, vii. 668.
' I bave no enemies, nor I bave
nothing that anybody should long for.'
Letters and Lif% v. i 5.
OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 2 3
terres, so fixed as °, whereas the meaning ought to govern
the term, the terre in effect governeth the meaning. There
be also two false peaces, or unities: the one, when the
peace is grounded but upon an implicit ignorance ', for all
colours will agree in the dark: the other, when it is pieced
up upon a direct admission of contraries in fundamental
points : for truth and falsehood, in such things, are like the
iron and clay in the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image ; they
may cleave, but they will not incorporate.
Concerning the means of procuring unity, men must
beware that, in the procuring or muniting« of religious
unity, they do not dissolve and deface the laws of charity
and of human society. There be two swords amongst
Christians, the spiritual and temporal ; and both have their
due office and place in the maintenance of religion: but
we may not take up the third sword, which is Mahomet's
sword, or like unto it: that is, to propagate religion by
wars, or by sanguinary persecutions to force consciences ;
except it be in cases of overt scandal, blasphemy, or in-
termixture of practice" against the state; much less to
nourish seditions; to authorize conspiracies and rebellions;
to put the sword into the people's hands, and the like,
tending to the subversion of ail government, which is the
ordinance of God. For this is but to dash the first table
° as] Here, and elsewhere passi»n =
that.
P i»nplidt ignorance] Probably, an
ignorm,ce content to admit what is put
before it vithout understanding what
it means. The epithet is commonly
applied not to ignorance but to faith.
Bacon so uses it in a passage very like
the text--' Reason teaches us that in
ignorance and implied bclief itis easy
to agree, as colours agree in the dark.'
Letters and Life, i. I65. It would
seem, therefore, that he purs much the
same meaning on implicit ignorance
and implicit belief.
q munith»g]i, e. fortifying. Lat. dura
»nuniant. Conf. ' The more gross and
tangible parts do contract and serre
themselves together; both to avoid
vacuum (as they call it) and also to
munite themselves against the force of
the tire which they bave suffered.'
Works, ii. 374-
r of practice] Lat. mchhtationis.
The word, with Bacon, has usually
a sinlster sense. Conf. e.g. ' A man
.... should rest upon the soundness
and strength of his on courses, and
hot upon practice to circumvent others.'
Letters and Life, i. 20",.
24 ESSAY III.
against the second; and so to consider men as Christians,
as we forget that they are men. Lucretius the poet, when
he beheld the act of Agamemnon, that could endure the
sacrificing of his own daughter, exclaimed :
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
What would he bave said, if he had known of the mas-
sacre in France, or the powder treason of England ? He
would have been seven times more epicure* and atheist
than he was. For as the temporal sxvord is to be drawn
,» with great circumspection in cases of religion, so it is a
thing monstrous to put it into the hands of the common
people; let that be left unto the Anabaptists and other
furies. It was great blasphemy, when the devil said, I
will ascend and be like the Highest; but it is greater
blasphemy to personate t God, and bring him in saying,
I will descend, and be like the prince of darkness: and
what is it better, to make the cause of religion to descend
to the cruel and execrable actions of murdering princes,
butchery of people, and subversion of states and govern-
,o ments? Surely this is to bring down the Holy Ghost,
instead of the likeness of a dove, in the shape of a vulture
or raven ; and to set out of the bark of a Christian church
a flag of a bal'k of pirates and assassins; therefore it is
most necessary that the church by doctrine and decree,
princes by their sword, and ail learnings, both Christian
and moral, as by their Mercury rod, do damn and send
to hell for ever those factsU and opinions tending to the
support of the same; as hath been already in good part
done. Surely, in councils concerning religion, that council
z» of the apostle would be * prefixed, h'a hoothtis non itnplet
B epicur«l i. e. epicurean. So passim.
Conf. e.g. ' For the opinion of Socrates
is rauch upheid by the general consent
ven of the Epicures theraseives.'
,Vor "ks, iii. 426.
t to personate] i.e. to assign a
character to; to give him a part to
play. Vide Essay 7, P- ,9, note on
person.'
facts] i.e. deeds. Lat. facta.
woMd be-j i.e. ought to be. A
frequent use. Conf. e.g. ' The ex-
OF UNITY IN RELIGION.
fitstitiam Dei: and it was a notable observation of a
wise father, and no less ingenuously confessed, that those
which held and persuaded pressure of consciences were
commonly interessedY therein themselves for their own
ends.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRilTIONS.
P. 19,1. 5. religionoflhehealhen] Conf. 'The religion oftheheathen
had no constant belief or confession, but left ail to the liberty of
argument.' Works, iii. 479. And 'The heathen religion was not
only a worship of idols, but the whole religion was an idol in itself;
for it had no soul, that is, no certainty of belief or confession ; as
a man may well think considering the chief doctors of their church
were the poets; and the reason was because the heathen gods were
no jealous gods, but were glad to be admitted into part, as they had
reason.' Works, iii. 488. But ail this is much too absolutely stated.
It seems based on a reference to the religions of Greece and Rome.
It is true of the Greeks that the 'chief doctors and fathers of their
church were the poets.' It is untrue of the Romans, vho had their
regular colleges to preside over the national faith and worship.
Again, it is true of the Romans that they easily admitted foreign
deities to divine rank among their ovn ; it is untrue of the Greeks.
,Vith both peoples, there were quarrels and divisions about religion
as soon as the accepted schemes of theology came to be called
in question. Ifwe look beyond Greece and Rome, the case is even
more complete. Vide e.g. Juvenal, Sat. xv. 33 et seqq., vhere we
have an account of the furious quarrels caused by the diversities of
creed among the Egyptians. And Dio Cassius:
crovr r ]/àp ro)Oà rptcrcrgrara àOpforto,
rp à)O)ov, âr« q aO' îv àX)à al g rob/uavrtorrov
rwà, àuatpoura. xlii. 34-
P. 20, 1. I. Ecce ht Deserto, &c.] St. Matthew xxiv. "26.
1.3. an o»ttward face of a cimrch] This is probably a reference
to the Church of Rome. In one of the many passages closely re-
sembling the text of the Essay, Bacon goes on to speak of there
cess of diet in costly meats and
drinks let from beyond the seas would
be avoided.' Letters and Life, vi. 3.
' The voices of the dialogue would be
strong and manly.' Essay 37-
intcressed] The old form of in-
terested. Conf. e.g. ' The mystical
communion of ail faithful men is such
as maketh every one to be interessed
in those precious blessings which any
one of them receiveth.' Hooker,
Eccl. Pol. bk. v, chap. 4 o, sec. 3-
z6 ESSAY III.
being ' no occasion for any pretended Catbolic to judge us.' Letters
and Life, i. 74- The nolite cxire is used or adapted, elsevhere, as a
scriptural injunction hot to leave the Church of England,--' so ready
are tbey to depart from the Church upon every voice,' p. 8o. And
this seems tobe the sense vhich Bacon puts upon it here, in his
exhortation against breach of unity.
I. 8. Ira heathen corne] i Cor. xiv. 23.
1. 13. to sit down &c.] Ps. i. x.
1. i6. catalogue of books] La morisql«e des hereticques is the
title of one of the books which Pantagruel finds in the library of
St. Victor at Paris. Vide Pantagruel, ii. 7-
P. 21, 1. 4- Is itpeace &c.] 2 Kings ix. 8, 19.
1. 6. Laodiceans] Revelation iii. 4-x6.
I. 2. in the two cross clauses] Lat." in clausulis illis quae primo
intuitu inter se opponi videntur.' Vide St. latthew xii. 3 o, St. Mark
ix. 4 o. But the former text is incorrectly quoted. The words are
He that is hot with me is against me.' Bacon writes elsewhere to
the saine effect as in the Essay, and with the saine error in the
quotation. Conf. 'Interest admodum pacis Ecclesiae, ut foedus
Christianorum, a Servatore praescriptum, in duobus illis capitulis quae
nonnihil videntur discrepantia, bene et clare explicetur: quorum
alterum sic diffinit; Qui nost est nobiscum est contra nos; alterum
autem sic: Qui costlra nos non est, »tobisct«m esl: Ex his liquido
pater esse nonnullos articulos, in quibus qui dissentit extra
Foedus statuendus sit; alios vero in quibus dissentire liceat, salvo
Foedere. Vincula enim communionis Christianae ponuntur, Una
Fides, Unum Baptisma, &c. ; non Unus Ritus, Una Opinio.' Works,
i. 833.
P. 22, l. 5. bv one of thefathers] The vords quoted are from Au-
gustine, but in the passage xvhere they occur there is nothing said
about Christ's coat, frequent as the reference is to it in other passages.
Nor do any of the references, here or elsewhere, bear the meaning
which Bacon puts upon them. Vide Enarratio in Psal. xliv. (xlv. of
our version sec. 24,' Vestitus reginae hujus quis est ? et pretiosus est,
et varius est : sacramenta doctrinae in linguis omnibus variis... Quo-
modo autem omnis varietas vestis in unitate concordat, sic et omnes
linguae ad unam ridera. In veste varietas sil; s¢iss«tra non sit. Ecce
varietatem intellcximus de diversitate linguarum, et restera intellexi-
mus propter unitatem: in ipsa autem varietate aurum quod est ?
Ipsa sapientia ..... Varietas in linguis, aurum in sententiis.' Conf.
also Enarratio ii. in Psal. xxi : ' Diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea.., et
super vestimentum meure miserunt sortem. Erat ibi tunica, dicit
evangelista, desuper texta. Ergo de caelo, ergo a patre, ergo a
spiritu sancto. Quae est ista tunica nisi charitas quam nemo di-
videre potest ? Quae est ista tunica nisi unitas ?'
OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 27
Also, in Joannis Evangelium, Tractatus i3: ' Erat ibi tunica:
videamus qualis: desuper texta. Desuper texta tunica quid signi-
ficat nisi charitatem? desuper texta tunica quid significat nisi
unitatem? Hanc tunicam attende, quam nec persecutores Christi
diviserunt.' And Tractatus I9: 'Tunica vero illa sortita omnium
partium significat unitatem, quae charitatis vinculo continetur ....
lnconsutilis autem, ne aliquando dissuatur: et ad unum pervenit,
quia in unum omnes colligit.'
The subject is similarly treated in Sermo ccxviii, cap. 9 and in
Sermo cclxv. De Ascensione Domini, cap. 6. In several passages
of Bernard we find the same fanciful interpretation, but neither
in Bernard nor in Augustine are there any excuses made for dif-
ferences of opinion on the most minute points of doctrine or church
polity. Bernard, e. g., rebuking the jealousies of monastic orders and
their quarrels over the colours of their dresses, says, ' et hac ratione
in tota Ecclesia (quae urique tam pluribus tamque dissimilibus variatur
ordinibus, utpote Regina quae in Psalmo legitur circumamicta varieta-
tibus) nulla pax, nulla prorsus concordia esse putabitur .... Non sure
tare hebes ut non agnoscam tunicam Joseph, non illius qui liberavit
Aegyptum, sed qui salvavit mundum .... Notissima quippe est
quia polymita, id est pulcherrima varietate distincta .... Recog-
nosce, omnipotens pater, eam quam fecisti Christo tuo polymitam,
dando quosdam apostolos, quosdam autem prophetas, alios vero
evangelistas,' &c., &c. And again: 'Audi quomodo polymitam:
Divisiones, ait, gratiarum sunt, idem autem spiritus; et divisiones
operationum sunt, idem vero Dominus. Deinde diversis enumer-
atis charismatibus, tanquam variis tunicae coloribus, quibus con-
stet eam esse polymitam, ut ostendat etiam esse inconsutilem
et desuper contextam per totum, adjungit. Haec autem operatur
unus atque idem Spiritus, dividens singulis prout vult.' (Bernardi)
Apologia ad Guillelmum, cap. iii. Conf. also Epistola 334, Contra
Abaelardum. Conf. also ' Hoc unitatis sacramentum, hoc vinculum
concordiae inseparabiliter cohaerentis ostenditur quando in Evangelio
tunica Domini Jesu Christi non dividitur omnino nec scinditur ....
Loquitur ac dicit Scriptura divina ; De tt»ica anta», qMa de stperiore
parte non cosutilis, sed per roture textilis fiterit, dixerunt ad hvicem :
Non scindamus illam, sed sorKamur de ea ajns sit.... Possidere non
potest indumentum Christi qui scindit et dividit Ecclesiam Christi.'
Cyprian, De Unitate Ecclesiae, sec vil.
The illustration is a favourite one with Bacon. Conf. e.g. ' In this
point the fuie holds which was pronounced by an ancient father,
touching the diversity of rites in the Church : for finding the vesture
ofthe queen (in the psalm) which did prefigure the Church, was of
divers colours, and finding again that Christ's coat was without
a seam, he concludeth well, l»t veste varietas sit, scissura non sit.'
'8 ESSAY III.
Letters and Lire, iii. 97- And again : "So we sec tbe coat of out
Saviour was entire without seam, and so is the doctrine of the
Scriptures in itself; but the garment of the Church was of divers
colours and yet not divided.' ,Vorks, iii. 48-. And, ' for matter of
division and breach of unity, it is hot without a mystery that Christ's
coat had no seam ; nor no more should the Church if it were possible.'
Letters and Lire, iv. 268.
I. 22. Devila &c.] I Timothy vi. 2o.
1.23. 2lIen creale &c.] An illustration of this may, perhaps, be
round in the controversy between the Eastern and "Vestern Churches
on the procession of the Holy Spirit. Those who understand these
subjects say that there was no difference of doctrine here ; the only
difference was in the terres by which the same doctrine was ex-
pressed. Each Church, however, so interpreted the terms of the
other as to make it appear that the difference between them was not
verbal but real. The term thus in effect governed the meaning,
and the breach of unity which followed was very largely due to
this.
Or, we may, perhaps, find an illustration in the terres Catholic and
Protestant. Theyexpress an opposition which is not, since Catholics
act the part of protesters against xvhat they deem heretical views :
while Protestants claim to be true members of the universal Church
of Christ. But here, too, the term governs the meaning, and the
Church of Rome, by help of the name Catholic, asserts an ex-
clusive claim to Catholicity, relegating ail Protestant bodies to the
merely negative position of protesters and nothing else.
P. 23, I. 8. Nebuchadnezxar's image] Daniel il. 33 and 4I.
I. 19 There be tu,o savrds &c.] Conf. Latimer's first sermon. ' In
thys world God hath il swerdes, the one is a temporal swerde, the
other a spiritual. The temporal sverde resteth in the handes of
kynges, maiestrates and rulers under hym .... The spiritual swerde
is in the hands of the ministers and preachers.' Arber's Reprints,
p. 23 . The reference here and in the Essay is to Luke xxii. 38 .
' They said, Lord, behold here are two swords. And He said unto
them, It is enough.' This passage has been variously interpreted.
Jerome, in Evangelium secundum Lucam, says briefly,
'emat gladium--id est Legem.
duo gladii--id sunt duae Leges.'
So too Ambrose, Expositio in Lucam. 'Duos gladios discipuli
protulerunt.., unum novi, alterum veteris Testamenti ... Denique
dicit Dominus Satis est, quasi nihil desit ei quem utriusque Testa-
menti doctrina munierit.'
Augustine writes in the same sense, and in very truculent
language. Vide Contra Faustum Manichaeum, lib. xvi. 25. Bernard,
OF UNIT.Y IN RELIGION. 2 9
writing to Pope Eugenius, pressing for help to the Eastern Chureh
after ]oss in taking of Edessa, ¢omes more near to the inter-
pretation which afterwards prevailed. 'Intraverunt aquae usque
ad animam Christi: tacta est pupilla oculi ejus. Exserendus est
nun¢ uterque gladius in passione Domini .... Per quem autem nisi
per vos? Petri uterque est, alter suo nutu, airer sua manu, quoties
necesse est evaginandus. Et quidem de quo minus videbatur, de
ipso ad Petrum dietum est--Converte gladium tuum in vaginam.
Ergo suus erat et il]e sed non sua manu urique educendus.' Epistola,
256. Conf. also De ¢onsideratione, lib. iv. cap. 3, and the address
' Ad milites Temp|i.--Exseratur gladius uterque fidelium in cervices
inimi¢orum.' Cap. 3-
The ¢laim ofthe Chureh to the temporal sword be¢omes present|y
more distinct. John of Salisbury (Polyeraticus, lib. iv. cap. 3 writes :
'Hune ergo gladium de manu e¢¢lesiae a¢¢ipit princeps, cure ipsa
tamen gladium sanguinis omnino non habet. Habet tamen et istum,
sed eo utitur per prin¢ipis manum,' &¢.
In the next century, Gregory IX, writing to Germanus, Patriareh
of Constantinople, on the supremacy of the Roman See, says : ' Illud
tantum adjieimus quod utrumque gladium ad Romanum pertinere
Pontificem ex evangeliea lectione tenemus. Etenim loquente Jesu
dis¢ipulis de acquisitione gladii spiritualis, illi duos ibi positos
ostenderunt, quos Dominus dixit suffieere, ad ¢oereionem videlicet
spiritualis et ¢orporalis offensae. Si materialem gladium pertinere
¢oneedis ad potentiam temporalem, attende quid in Matthaei
evangelio Dominus dieat Petro--Converte gladium tuum in loeum
suum-- dieendo tman, materialem signavit gladium quo pereusserat
ille servum prin¢ipis sacerdotum... Uterque igitur gladius Eeelesiae
traditur, sed ab Ecelesia exereendus est unus, alius pro Ecelesia
manu saecularis prineipis eximendus: unus a sacerdote, alius ad
nutum sacerdotis administrandus a milite.' Baronius, Annales
E¢¢lesiastiei, in annum 233.
Boniface VIII in his Bull ' Unam Sanetam ' perpetuates the elaim
of the Chureh and bases it on the passage in St. Lukc: 'In hae
ejusque ¢s¢. Petri) potestate duos esse gladios, spiritualem 'idelieet
et temporalem, evangeli¢is dietis instruimur. Nam dieentibus
Apostolis: eece g|adii duo hic: in e¢¢lesia seilieet eum Apostoli
]oquerentur, non respondet dominus nimis esse sed satis... Uterque
ergo in potestate Ee¢lesiae, spiritualis s¢ilieet gladius et materialis :
sed is quidem pro ee¢lesia, ille vero ab eeelesia exercendus: ille
sacerdotis, is manu regum et militum, sed ad nutum et patientiam
saeerdotis : oportet enim gladium esse sub gladio,' &¢., &e. Baronius,
Annales E¢¢lesiasti¢i, in annum 3o2.
The above is the lotus dassia«s. It is curious and not unin-
structive to ¢ontrast it with Jerome's earlier viev, and with Latimer's
ESSAY III.
at a later date. But Latimer was living in a reformed country and
under a Tudor prince.
I. 15 . but t,e may hot take] Bacon does not always use this
language. In his Remembrance to Sir John Digby about the
negociations for the Spanish Match, he instructs him to suggest
'that it may be a beginning and seed Ifor the like actions before
bave had less beginnings) of a holy war against the Turk, where-
unto it seems the events of rime doth invite Christian kings,' &c., &c.
Letters and Life, ri. i58. This is to take up the third sword and
turn it against its proper owner,--an even larger licence than that
which the text of the Essay condemns. On the prohibition in the
text conf. ' Nunc illa est (quaestio) si uno religionis obtentu bellum
inferri potest. Et hoc nego, et addo rationem : quia religionis jus
hominibus cure hominibus proprie non est: itaque neque jus
laeditur hominum ob diversam religionem : itaque nec bellum causa
religionis. Religio erga Deum est ... Nihil igitur quaeritat homo
violatum sibi ob aliam religionem.' Albericus Gentilis, De Jure
Belli, lib. i. cap. 9, An bellumjustum sitpro religione.
1. 18. saltguittar_v] Whately calls attention to this qualifying
epithet, as marking the imperfect views of Bacon on reli#ous tolera-
tion. It seems, too, from the next clause, that 'in cases of overt
scandal and blasphemy,' even sanguinary persecutions are allowable.
The rule thus enlarged is quite broad enough to cover the In-
quisition itself.
P. 24, 1.5. Tantum religio &c.] Bk. i.
1. 12. Anabaptists.] The refusal of these sectaries to recognise
the authority of the civil ruler, and their assertion of the equality o!
ail men under an assumed Divine illumination, explain and bear out
Bacon's reference to them in the text. That he had especially in his
mind the authors of the great Anabaptist outbreak at Munster (5341
appears from the edition of 1612, where he speaks of them as 'the
madmen of Munster.'
Conf. also, 'The Anabaptists ..... profess the pulling down of
magistrates, and the monarchy of them that are inspired ; and they
can chaunt the Psalm To b#td their kings i» chams and their nobles ht
[clters o[iron.' Letters and Life, v. 166.
1. 13. 11 was great blasphemy, when the devil said &c.] The reference
is to Isaiah xiv. 12- 4 :
' How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning :
how art thou cut down to the ground which didst trouble the nations.
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the throne of God: I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will be like the most
High.'
OF UNITY IN RELIGION.
This passage, suitably interpreted and enlarged, has been used to
fill out the details of the otherwise untold story of the offence and fall
ofthe rebel angels who kept not their first estate.
Bacon in several places makes more or less distinct reference toit.
Conf. Essay x3 : ' The desire of power in excess caused the angels to
fall.' Also in De Augmentis, lib. vii. cap. 3 : ' Angeli, dura ad potentiam
divinaeparem aspirarent, praevaricati sunt et ceciderunt.' Works,
i. 742. And in the Valerius Terminus, cap. i : ' The angel of light that
was, when he presumed before his fall, said within himself, I will
ascend and be like unto the Highest :not God, but the highest. To
be like to God in goodness was no part of his emulation: know-
ledge, being in creation an angel of light, was not the want which
did most solicit him: only because he was a minister he aimed at
a supremacy : therefore his climbing or ascension was turned into a
throwing down or a precipitation.' XVorks, iii. 2 7.
Bacon had probably before his mind some passages of Thomas
Aquinas: 'Diabolus peccavit appetendo similitudinem Dei quantum
ad potentiam.' Sure. Theol. Secunda Secundae, Quaest. I63.
Artic. II. Also in Pars Prima, Quaest. 63, Artic. III, xve find a direct
reference to the passage in Isaiah, with the remark added 'Appetiit
finalem beatitudinem per suam virtutem habere, quod est proprium
Dei,' allerwards expanded and ruade more precise by the words
'appetiit aliquem principatum super alia habere, in quo etiam
perversè voluit Deo assimilari.'
The words in Isaiah are put into the mouth not of the àevil, but
of the King of Babylon (vid. v. 4)- But it was an early patristic
view that the devil is the speaker, and that the entire passage is
parabolic.
Origen, Comment. in Joannem, tom. i. § x3, clearly thus interprets
àa 'lçaob OEvvrp[«at. The xvords here-- 'Eadpo*
àrarwr--stand in the LXX, in verse 12, where the English version
gives ' Lucifer, son of the morning.'
Again, in Jerome's translation of Origen, Homil. I in Ezechielem,
sec. 3 (ofwhich the Greek original is lost) we find: 'Vide consonan-
tiare prophetici evangelicique sermonis. Prophetes dicit; cecidit de
caelo Lucifer qui mane oriebatur, contritus est super terrain. Jesus
loquitur, Videbam Satanam quasi fulgur de caelo cadentem. In quo
differt dicere fulgur aut Luciferum de caelo cadentem ' Jerome, in
his own commentain Isaiam Prophetam, lib. .takes the
saine view and defends it at great lenh.
Ambrose writes no less distinctly : ' Ipse diabolus per superbiam
naturae suae amisit gratiam. Denique dura dicit--Ponam thronum
meure super nubes ..... et ero similis Mtissimo (Esai. xiv. 13
3 z ESSA¥ III.
et 4), consortiis excidit angelorum.' In Psalmum II8 Expositio
v. 5L
Conf. also Augustine, Enarratio in Psalmum 88. v. i : ' Quid ergo
timeo Aquilonem, quid timeo maria? Est quidem in Aquilone
diabolus, qui dixit Ponam sedem meam in Aquilonem, et ero similis
altissimo' (Isai. xiv. I3, 4)-
Boniface VIII in a letter to the recalcitrant Gallican clergy com-
pares them, morally and geographically, to Lucifer: 'In vanum
laborant ..... disponentes ab Aquilone sedem erigere contra
vicarium Jesu Christi. Sed ..... ut primus Lucifer ..... cum
sequacibus suis cecidit, corruet, quantacunque fulciatur potentia, et
secundus.' Baronius, Annales Ecclesiastici in ann. I3o.
The legendary story of the fall of Lucifer was popularized from a
very early date. We find it in the Anglo-Saxon poems attributed to
Coedmon :
'Aught else they sought hot
To rear in heaven
Save right and truth,
Ere that the angel's guardian
For pride
Sank into error .....
Then spake he the words
From malice thirsty
That he in the north part
A home and lofty seat
Of heaven's kingdom
Vould possess.'
Metrical Paraphrase, l. 4% &c., as translated by Benjamin Thorpe.
The story occurs frequently in the Miracle Plays of the Middle
Ages. In, e.g., the Chester Plays, a collection of Mysteries founded
upon Scripture subjects (supposed date about i4oo) , the first play is
on the ' Fall of Lucifer.' He is represented in God's absence as
taking his seat on God's throne.
'Aha! that I ara wondrous bright
Among you all shynning full cleare:
Of all heaven I bear the light
That ara repleat with heavenly grace;
Though God corne I will not hence
But sitte right heare before his face.'
He is found sitting there on God's return and is at once flung
down to Hell, together with his confederate Light-borne.
In the Coventry Mysteries, the offence and fall of Lucifer form part
of the first play. The passage is too long to quote.
So prominent is the part assigned to Lucifer by the legend that in
OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 33
the 'Advent of Antichrist' we find Lucifer named as chier in the
infernal hierarchy, distinguished from Sathanas and seeminglytaking
rank above him.
I. 23. assassins] The word seems to be used here in its ordinary
sense, without special reference to the half-historical, half-mythical
assassins or Ismaelians of Persia, from whom, as Bacon says else-
where, 'the name of the assassins, which is now familiar in the civil
law, was derived.' Letters and Life, v. i66.
1.26. 2klercurv roarJ Conf.
'Tutu virgam capit: hac animas ille evocat Orco
Pallentis, alias sub Tartara tristia mittit,
Dat somnos adimitque, et lumina morte resignat.'
Virg. Aen. iv. 242-4.
and Homer, Od. xxiv. 1- 5.
I. 3 o. zvould bel i.e. should or ought to be. So bassbn. Conf., e.g.,
'the voices of the dialogue would be strong and manly, a base and
a tenor no treble.' Essay 37-
1.30. Ira Iominis] James i. 20.
P. 2.5,1. L a notable observation &c.] Marcus Antonius de Dominis
in his de Republicd Ecclesiasticd, lib. vii. cap. 8, under the heading In
suadendd aut conservandd ride Catlolicî viro externam no» esse adhi-
botdam, has coIIected from all quarters such authorities as he could
find in support of his thesis. Bacon's reference may perhaps be to
one of these, viz. an extract from Sulpicius Severus, Hist. Sac. lib.
ii. cap. So: 'Secuti etiam accusatores Idacius et Ithacius episcopi:
quorum studium in expugnandis haereticis non reprehenderem, si
non studio vincendi plus quam oportuit certassent.' Or it may
perhaps be to a passage in one of Cyprian's letters : ' Fictitia vasa
confringere Domino soli concessum est, cul et virga ferrea data est.
Esse non potest major domino suo seraas; nec quisquam sibi quod
soli filio pater tribuit vindicare potest, ut putet aut, ad aream ventilan-
data et purgandam, palam ferre posse, auta frumento universa
zizania humano judicio separare. Superba est ista obstinatio et
sacrilega praesumptio quam sibi furor pravus assurait; et dura
dominium sibi semper quidam plusquam mitis justitia deposcit
assumunt, de Ecclesia pereunt.' Cyprian, Epist. 41.
D
34 ESSAY IV.
IV.
OF REVENGE.
REVENGE is a kind of wild justice , which the more
man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out :
for as for the first wrong, it doth but offend the Iaw, but
the revenge of that wrong putteth the law out of office b.
Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his
enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is
a prince's part to pardon : and Salomon, I am sure, saith °,
Il is thc glory of a man fo pass by an offcnce. That which is
past is gone and irrevocable, and wise men have enough
to do with things present and to corne ; therefore they do
but trifle xvith themselves that labour in past matters.
There is no man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake, but
thereby to purchase a himself profit, or pleasure, or honour,
or the Iike ; therefore why should I be angry with a man
for loving himself better than me ? And ifany man should
do xvrong, merely out of iii-nature, «why ? yet it is but like
the thorn or briar, which prick and scratch because they
can do no other. The most tolerable sort of revenge is
for those wrongs which there is no law to remedy; but
then, let a man take heed the revenge be such as there is
no law to punish, else a man's enemy is still beforehand f,
" a,ildjustite] i.e. uncu]tivated; a
mere weed, and as such to be weeded
ou. Lat. agr¢stis qua¢dam justilia.
But c]early as the Essay pronounces
against this wild fust[ce, this agrestfs
]'utitia, we find it noted in the Anti-
t/tda among the arguments in favour
of revenge. Works. i. "/0 3. There is
more said on the saine side in the
t#h¢la, ofwhich there is nothing in the
Essay.
b putteth the law out of office] Lat.
legem auaoitate sua plane spoliat.
c Salomon, I ara sure, saith] La[.
.quidcm monbd d£risse Salomonem.
But the Eng]ish conveys what the Latin
does noria sort of notice to the reader
that the quotation is fo stand unvetfied.
a o lUrchase] i.e. fo obtain. Lat.
u/ sibi cofa'llet. Conf. ' If a man per-
form that which hath hot been at-
tempted before .... he shall purchase
more honour.' Essay 55-
* The Latin follows this punctuation,
but omits the ' yet' as out of place after
the interrogative--quid tutu? diam
s[ia et rubus pungunl etc.
r is stiil beforehand] i.e. the enemy
has had the concluding blow struck on
his side and the man who has taken
OF REVENGE. 35
and it is two for one. Some, when they take revenge, are
desirous the party should know whence it cometh : this is
the more generous ; for the delight seemeth to be hOt so
much in doing the hurt as in making the party repent:
but base and crafty coxvards are like the arrow that flieth
in the dark. Cosmus, Duke of Florence, had a desperate
saying against perfidious or neglecting friends, as if those
wrongs were unpardonable. )'ou shall wad, saith he, lha!
we are coinmanded to forgive ottr encmies ; btt! .1,oit tez,er
read that we are commattdcd /o forgie ottr friettd$. But yet
the spirit of Job was in a better tune : Shall we, saith he,
take good at God's hands, attd hot be content to take ez'i[
also ? and so of friends in a proportion . This is certain,
that a man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds
green h, which otherwise would heal and do xvell. Public
revenges are for the most part fortunate i ; as that for the
death of Caesar ; for the death of Pertinax ; for the death
of Henry the Third of France; and many more. But in
private revenges it is not so; nay, rather vindicative
persons lire the life of witches, who, as they are mis-
chievous, so end they infortunate.
NOTES .4 .VD 1ZZ USTR.4 TIONS.
P. 34, I. 7" Salomon, I ara sure, sa#h] 'The discretion of a man
deferreth his anger, and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.'
Prov. xix. .
P. 3b, l. 2. wheltce il cometh] Conf. 8 dpOç n«olÇra «
"08v««Ça roM3pOov," Gç oh r«rpqvoç d Ç .«O«ro rai bç" o xa duO'
rov" Aristotle, Rhet. II, cap. 3, sec. 6.
revenge has suffered a two-fold loss--
that namely which his enemy first in-
flicted, and that which the law inflicts
as a punishrnent for his illegal act of
revenge. He is thus patient twice and
agent once only.
in a proportion] in proportion, that
is, to the very different relation in which
a friend stands to a friend, as compared
with that of a creature toits creator.
green] i.e. fresh, then fresh-like,
unhealed. Conf. Their wounds being
yet green and uncured which they got
by the wars of Phocide.' Plutarch,
Lires, p. 85a.
forlunate] Lat. prospere cedunt.
3 6 ESSAY IV.
1. 6. Cosmus, Duke of Florence] Vide note on Essay 4 . The
saying in the text has hot been traeed.
1. 11. spirit of Job] Job il. IO.
1. 15. Public revenges] It is hot easy to see the drift of this
eomparison. Public revenges, as contrasted with private revenges,
are revenges undertaken, hot from vindictive motives nor in return
for personal injuries, but to infliet punishment for public wrongs, for
injuries done to the eommunity. That these are for the most part
fortunate hardly needs to be proved. Soeiety eould not exist with-
out them. But the sense of the text seems further narrowed by the
three instances which follow, and whieh illustrate the kind of injury,
the punishment for which is here termed a public revenge. In each
case it is the murder of a public chier the revenge for whieh is said
to have been fortunate. The faets are as follows. The death of
Caesar was revenged by Antony and Augustus, and the revenge
may be termed fortunate, i.e. either sueeessful in fact, or fortunate
for the agents or for the state. The final consolidation of the
imperial power under Augustus will perhaps bear this out for the
state, certainly for one of the agents. The death of Pertinax was
avenged by Septimius Severus, and this again had an issue fortunate
for himself, not so clearly fortunate for the state. The death of
Henry the Third of France was avenged by his murderer being put
to death on the spot, but Henry IV had nothing to do with this and
his accession xvas in no sense dependent upon it. The Latin gives
the death of Henry IV instead of that of Henry III, even less appo-
sitely. The torture of the wretehed Ravaillae and the accession of
Louis XIII ean hardly be twisted into instances of a fortunate
revenge.
1.2r. so end they hoEorttmate] The judicial records of the middle
ages supply abundant evidenee of this. Conf. e. g. ' S'il advient que
la Sorciere invoque ou appelle le diable, il faut proeeder sans doute à
condemnation de mort .... et non seulement de mort, ains il faut
condamner tels monstres à estre bruslez tous vifs, suyvant la tous-
tume generale observee de toute ancienneté en toute la Chrestienté ;
de la quelle coustume et loy generale le Juge ne se doit departer ne
déroger à icelle ny diminuer la peine, s'il n'y a grande et urgente
raison.' Bodin, La demonomanie des Sorciers, lib. iv. cap. 5, des
3ehes que meritetl les Sorciers.
Popular indignation did not always wait for proeess of law. Bodin,
e. g., tells of a sorcerer named Pumber who eould kill three men a
day by looking at them with firm purpose. ' En fin les paysans du
village le demembrerent en pi&es, sans forme ne figure de proeés.'
Bk. ii. cap. 8.
OF ADVERSITY. 37
Vo
OF ADVERSITY.
T was a high speech of Seneca (after the manner of the
Stoics) that, the good thhtgs which bdong fo prospcril A' are fo
be wishcd, b««t the good thhtgs that bdong fo adversity are to
be admired. Bona rerum secmtdarmn oplabilia ; advcr-
sarttm m#'abilia. Certainly a, if miracles be the command
over nature, they appear most in adversity. It is yet
a higher speech of his than the other, (much too high for
a heathen) If is truc greatness fo bave Dt one the frailty of
a man, and the secnrity ' of a God. I.'crè magnmn habere
.fi'agt'lilalcm hominis, secttrilalcm DeL This wouid have io
donc better in poesy, where transcendencies are more
allowed; and the poets, indeed, bave been busy with it;
for it is, in effect, the thing which is figured in that strange
fiction of the ancient poets, which seemeth not to be
without mysteryc; nay, and to have some approach to
the state of a Christian, that I-[ercnlcs, a,hcn he wenl lo
unbhtd Promethcns bywhom human nature is represented,
sailcd the lcngth of t/te great ocean ht an earthcn pot 01-
pitdwr, lively a describing Christian resolution, that saileth
in the frail bark of the flesh through the waves of the 2o
world. But to speak in a mean e. The virtue of prosperity
* Co¢aznly, &c.] i.e. Adversity gives
most occasion for the exercise of a
self-command, in restraint of natural
impulse, so great that Bacon terms it
miraculous. Conf. Essay 5 8 : « For
martyrdoms, I reckon them among
miracles, because they seem to
exceed the strength of human na-
ture.'
se¢urity] i.e. sense of safety, ab-
sence of tare. Conf. ' Security is an
iii guard for a kingdom.' Letters and
Life, ri. ao.
The old contrast, now lost, between
-qecurity and safety is well brought
out in Ben Jonson's The Forest,
XI Epode, last line :
' Man may securely sin, but safely
never."
e mystery] i.e. secret meaning or
intention. Conf. 'But touehing the
mystery of re-annexing of the duehy
of Brittaine to the erown of France ...
the ambassadors bare aloof from it as
from a rock.' Works, ri. 66.
1 iively] i.e. livelily. Lat. ad vivum.
® But to speak in a mean] i.e. in
moderate language. Lat. Verum ut
a granditate verbor«n ad m¢diocritatem
d«scoldamus.
3 8 ESSAY V.
is temperance ; the virtue of adversity is fortitude ; which
in morals is the more heroical virtue. Prosperity is the
blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing
of the New, which carrieth the greater benediction, and
the clearer revelation of God's favour. Yet even in the
Old Testament, if you listen to David's harp, you shall
hear as rnany hearse-like airs as carols f ; and the pencil of
the Itoly Ghost hath laboured more in describing the
afflictions of Job than the felicities of Salomon. Prosperity
,o is not xvithout many fears and distastes * ; and adversity is
not without comforts and hopes. We sec in needleworks
and embroideries, it is more pleasing to have a lively work
upon a sad and solemn h ground, than to have a dark
and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground: judge,
therefore, of the pleasure of the heart by the pleasure
of the eye. Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most
fragrant when they are incensedi, or crushed : for pros-
perity doth best discover k vice, but adversity doth best
discover virtue.
NOTES AWD IZLUSTRATIONS.
P. 37, I.I. high speech] Seneca's words are--' Ita dico, in aequo est
moderate gaudere et moderate dolere : Laetitia illa non vineit animi
t carols] i.e. verses in a lively or
joyous strain. Lat. exuRationes.
s distastes] i.e. annoyances. Lat.
mol«stiae. Conf. ' That we make ap-
plication of our knowledge to give
ourselves repose and contentment, and
hot distaste or repining.' Works, iii.
266.
' I that knew well.., what occasion
I had given her both of distaste and
distrust in crossing her disposition.'
Letters and Life, iii. x53.
h sadandsoltmn] Thesetwowords
mean much the saine, and are ex-
pressed by the saine word in the Latin,
colo4s raagis oit, ad. Conf.' Take the
opinion of some grave and eminent
divines; especially such as are sad
and discreet men and exemplary for
their lires.' Letters and Lire, vi. 7.
'Certaine gentlemen of the privie
chamber [of Henry VIII.] were re-
moved for their lewdnesse, and then
four sad and ancient knights put into
their places.' Stowe's Annals, b3,
Howes, p. 5o8. (Quoted in Warton's
Observations on the Fairy Queen).
incensed] i. e. set on tire. A Latin-
ism. Lat. incensa. Conf. ' The good,
if any be, is due tanquam adeps sacri-
fiai to be incensed to the honour, tirst
of the Divine lIajesty, and next of
your Majesty.' Works, iii. 49x.
d/s«over] i. e. make manifesL Lat.
indicat. Conf. ' The vale best dis-
covereth the hill.' Essay 48.
OF ADVERSITY.
39
firmitatem, sub tortore gemitus devorantem, llla bona optabilia sunt,
haec mirabilia.' Epist. lxvi.
1. 9. Verè magm«n] The exact words are--' Ecce, res magna,
habere imbecillitatem hominis, securitatem Dei.' Epist. 53, subflnem.
1. i6. HercMes] There are several references in classical writers
to this story about Hercules, but none of theln speak of his voyage
in an earthen pot or pitcher.
The earliest version is from Athenaeus :
*wf Çev .... «i 'Avaxo .... ai AeX6Xof ...... These speak
«r» ,oX«.«t. &theneus xi. 38.
The explanation there suggested is that Hercules was a hard
dfinker. Macrobius believes that Schus was the naine of the ship
in which he sailed. 'Schus Herculis poculum est, ita ut Liberi
patris canthas... &ntiqua histofia est Herculem poculo tanquam
navigio (ventis} immensa maria transis ..... ego tamen arbitror
non poculo Herculem,maria transvectum, sed navi#o cul scypho
nomen fuit.' Macrobii Saturnal. v. 21.
Apollodos mentions the voyage in a golden cup in his account of
the tenth labour of Hercules--that of bringing the oxen of Geones
ffom the island of Ethia, in the outer ocean. &fter traversing Europe
and Libya he cornes to Tartessus--Kal «p«AGv Tap«6v ê«,Ç««
slays the custodians ; then &01«»o à 0 ei r 81=a,, cal
el Ta» 'HI 6t aiS«e r6 81a. Apollodos, Biblioth. ii. 5- o.
The later voyage in which Prometheus was unbound is recorded in
the next section : Kal 8tò Ç A,Ç =opeuO«[, e=[ » E Oaee«, «ara-
rai poÇOia
Heyne in his notes on these two passages has collected other
variations ofthe legend, but in none of them is there any mention of
Bacon's earthen pot or pitcher. Ve find the legend referred to in
the De Sapienti Veterum, cap. xxfi, and a different interpretation of
it finally and somewhat hesitatingly given : ' Haec sunt illa, quae in
fabul ist lgad et decantat nobis adumbrari fidentur: neque
men inficiamur illi subesse haud pauca quae ad Christianae fidei
mysteria miro consensu innuant ; ante omnia nagatio illa Herculis
in urceo ad liberandum Prometheum, imaginera Dei Verbi, in carne
nquam frali vasculo ad redemptionem gened humani properantis,
40 ESSAY VI.
prae se ferre videtur. Verum nos omnem in hoc genere licentiam
nobis ipsi interdicimus, ne forte igni extraneo ad altare Domini
utamur.' Works, vi. 676.
P. 88, 1. 17. crushedJ Conf. Apophthegms New and Old. ' Mr.
Bettenham said : that virtuous men were like some herbs and spices,
that give hot their sweet smell till they be broken and crushed.'
XVorks, vii. 16o.
VI.
OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION.
DISSIXULATION is but a faint kind of policy, or xvisdom ;
for it asketh a strong wit and a strong heart to know
when to tell truth, and to do it : therefore it is the weaker
sort of politics ' that are the great dissemblers.
Tacitus saith, Livia sorh'd wdl c wilh lhe arls of ]ter
httsband, and disshltttlaliot of ber son; attributing arts
or policy to Augustus, and dissimulation to Tiberius : and
again, when lXlucianus encourageth Vespasian to take
arms against Vitellius, he saith, IUe rise tot aghtst lhe
opiercing]'ttdgltettl of Attgttsltts, Itor l/te e.rlreme cattliott or
asbcth] i.e. requireth. Lat. iu-
gemurn acre el robur azirni «onslans ad
hoc requiritur &c.
b politi«s] i. e. politicians, sopasMm.
c sort«dweil] This is Bacon's transla-
tion ofTacitus' ' bene composita," a diffi-
cuit phrase which Gronovius interprets
as= ' et marito et filio unice respondens,
convcnzs, digna ¢isa, et quasi a fatis
lecta, quae utrumque, quantum erat
salubre, temperaret.'
Sorfcd wdi may therefore here mean
agreed weil» a sense in which we find
the word used elsewhere by Bacon.
Conf. 'A friend may speak as the
case requires and hot as it sorteth
with the person.' Essa3" 7, $ub/inot.
And, ' For men ought to consider how
their nature sorteth with professions
and courses of life, and accordingly
to make election.' ,Vorks, iii. 46.
The word to sort bas also other
meanings in Bacon. In Essay 7,
P- 49, ' to sort with mean company,' is to
consort, to associate. Conf. also ' the
unable person.., is sorted with snch
work as he can mariage and perform.'
Letters and Life, iv. 5 . In the saine
Essay and in Essay 7, we find ' sor-
teth to discord,' 'sorteth to incon-
venience,' i.e. turneth. Conf. ' Had it
hot been that the Count of Bossu was
slack in charging the Spaniards upon
their retreat, this fight had sorted to
an absolute defeat.' Letters and Lire,
vii. 483.
OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 41
doseness o] Tiber[us. These properties of arts or policy,
and dissimulation or closeness, are indeed habits and
faculties severala, and to be distinguished; for if a man
bave that penetration of judgment as he can discern vhat
things are to be laid open, and what to be secretted e, and
vhat to be shoved at half-lights, and to vhom and when
(which indeed are arts of state, and arts of life, as Tacitus
well calleth them), to him a habit of dissimulation is a
hinderance and a poorness. But if a man cannot obtain
to « that judgment, then it is left to him generally to be ,o
close, and a dissembler: for where a man cannot choose
or vary in particulars, there it is good to take the safest
and wariest way in general, like the going softly g by one
that cannot well see. Certainly, the ablest men that ever
were, bave had ail an openness and frankness of dealing,
and a name of certainty and veracity : but then they vere
like horses well managed h, for they could tell passing well
severa i.e. separate, distinct.
Conf. 'arming them in several places
and under several commanders.' Lat.
in lotis diversis et sub divosis ducibu&
Essay 19. And, ' And every kynde of
thing is laid up severall, in bernes or
store-houses.' More, Utopia, p. 9o.
(Arber's Reprint of Robinson's trans.)
e secret/en] From the obsolete verb
to secret, i.e. to keep secret. Conf.
' There is great care to be used for the
counciLlors themselves to be wcll cho-
sen, so there is of the clerks of the
council for the secreting their con-
sultations.' Letters and Life, ri. 4 t.
And, Let princes beware that the
unsecreting of their affairs come hot
from themselves.' Essay
t cannot obtain toi i. e. cannot attain
to. Lat. si quis ascendere non valent.
Conf. In the degrees of human
honour among the heathen, it was
the highest to obtain to a veneration
and adoration as a God.' Works, iii.
3oz.
gobtg sofa),] i.e. slowly. Lat. le»de.
Conf.
' Soit !
The Jew shall have ail justice;
soit ! no haste.'
Merchant of Venice, act iv. se. L
Ix well managed] Lat. bote docti et
domiti. But this does notgive the full
sense. To mariage was a technical
term in use in Bacon's day, and to
know ' when to stop or turn ' was the
sign of a well-managed horse. Confi
= You shall tllen teach (your horse to
manage, which is the only posture for
the use of the sword on horseback...
First, cause some bystander to prick
up in the earth two riding rods, about
twenty yards, or lesse as you think
good, distant one from the other ; then
walk your horse in a straight turn or
ring about thc first on your right hand ;
and so passing him in an even furrow
downe to the other rod, walk about it
also in a narrow ring on your leit
hand: then thrust him into a gentle
42 ESSAY VI.
when to stop or turn ; and at such times when they
thought the case indeed required dissimulation, if then
they used it it came to pass that the former opinion, spread
abroad, of their good faith and clearness of dealing, made
them almost invisible.
There be three degrees of this hiding and veiling of a
man's self: the first, closeness, reservation, and secrecy;
when a man leaveth himself without observation, or with-
out hold to be taken, what he is: the second, dissimulation
in the negative ; when a man lets fall signs and arguments
that he is hOt that he is: and the third, simulation in the
affirmative; when a man industriously i and expressly
feigns and pretends to be that he is hot.
For the first of these, secrecy, it i.s indeed the virtue o!
a confessor ; and assuredly the secret man heareth many
confessions; for who will open himself to a blab or a
babbler? But if a man be thought secret, it inviteth
discoveryk; as the more close air sucketh in the more
open ; and, as in confession the revealing is hOt for worldly
use, but for the ease of a man's heart, so secret men corne
to the knowledge of many things in that kindl ; while men
rather" discharge their minds than impart their minds.
In few words n, mysteries are due to secrecy. Besides (to
gallop down the even furrow till you
corne to the first rod, and there making
hirn as it were stop and advance
without any pause or intermission of
tirne, thrust hirn forward again and
beat the turn Terra, Terra (which is
the rnost open of all straight turns)
about it on your right hand, and then
gallop forth right to the otherrod, and
in the saine manner beat the turn
about it on your left hand.' Gervase
]Iarkham, Country Contentments» bk.
i. p. 57 ed. of 65 x.
i bzdustrfouMy] i. e. purposely. Lat.
ex bzdustda. Conf. ' And for that
purpose must use to dissernble those
abilities which are notorious in him,
to give colour that his true wants
are but industries and dissimulations.'
Works, iii. 464 .
k it 6wittth disco've,y] Lat. fat'le
aliorum anfmos reserabf/.
in that kimfJ i. e. in much the saine
way a the confessor does. Lat. simili
de causa.
ta while men rather&c.] The Latin
is clearer: dura ttomines, non
imper/ire, quam exonerare animum
liant.
In #w oeords &c.] This dark
sayfng, taken as a summing up of what
goes before, and interpreted with the
help of the Latin, seems to mean that
the man who ca.n hold his tongue ha
OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 43
say truth), nakedness is uncomely, as well in mind as
body; and it addeth no small reverence to men's manners
and actions if they be not altogether open. As for talkers
and futile ° persons, they are commonlyvain and credulous
withal : for he that talketh what he knoweth, will also talk
what he knoweth not. Therefore set it down, that a habit
of secrecy is both politic and moral : and in this part it is
good that a man's facep give his tongue leave to speak;
for the discovery of a man's self by the tracts« of his
countenance is a great weakness and betraying, by how
much r it is many times more marked and believed than a
man's words.
For the second, which is dissimulation. It followeth
many rimes upon secrecy by a necessity; so that he that
a sort of admitted daim to bave other
persons' secrets disclosed to him. Lat.
rnystea silentibus drboztur.
o futile] Latin futiles, i.e. literally,
easily pouring out. Here, probably,
incontinent ofspeech. Given to chat-
tering. Conf. 'One futile person,
that maketh it his glory to tell,
will do more hurt than many that
know it their duty to conceal.' Essay
20.
P passage in L'Estrange's Fables
of 2Esop and Others, points clearly to
this sense of the word. ' This fable'
{in which a woman worms a secret
from ber husband under promise of
strict secresy which she very sig-
nally fails to keep) ' does not strike so
much at the futility of women in
general as at the incontinent levity of
a prying inquisitive humour," Re-
flexion on Fable ccccxxvii.
P that a man's face] i.e. that a man
do not so reveal himself by the tracts
of his countenance as either to an-
ticipate what he is about to say, or to
give the lie fo his spoken words. The
Latin ut vultus suus h'nguae o.dum
non praeripiat is an imperfect rendering
of the text.
« tracts] i. e. movements : a latinism
from tractus. In a corresponding pas-
sage in the Adv. of Learning, Bacon
speaks of " the motions of the coun-
tenance.' Works, iii. 368.
r bi' how much] The exact sense of
this elliptical phrase may be gathered
from e.g. a passage in Hooker where
it is given at full length: AII duties
are by so much the better per-
formed, by how much the men arc
more religious from whose abilities the
same proceed.' Eccl. Pol. bk. v. ch.
x, sec. 2. Bacon's meaning therefore
is that the degree in which the dis-
covery of a man's self, by the tracts
of his countenance, is a weakness is
shown inter alia by the fact that it is
often more believed than his words.
The phrase occurs elsewhere in Bacon.
Conf. ' By how much the more men
ought to beware of this passion.' Es-
say xo. And, 'They commit the
whole; by how much the more they
are obliged to all faith and integrity.'
Essay 2o. And ' The knowledge of
ourselves : hich deserveth the more
accurate handling, by how much it
toucheth usmore nearly.' Works, iii.
366.
44 ESSAY VI.
will be secret must be a dissembler in some degree; for
men are too cunning to surfer a man to keep an indifferent
carriage' between both, and to be secret, without sxvaying
the balance on either side. Theywill so beset a man with
questions, and draxv him on, and pick it out of him, that
without an absurd silence, he must show an inclination one
way; or if he do hot, they will gather as much by his
silence as by his speech. As for equivocations, or oraculous
speeches, they cannot hold out long: so that no man tan
1o be secret, except he give himself a little scope of dissimula-
tion, which is, as it were, but the skirts or train of secrecy.
But for the third degree, which is simulation and false
profession, that I hold more culpable, and less politic,
except it be in great and rare matters: and, therefore,
a general custom of simulation (which is this last degree)
is a vice rising either of a natural falseness or fearfulness,
or of a mind that hath some main faults ; xvhich because a
man must needs disguise, it maketh him practise simulation
in other things, lest his hand should be out of ure t.
2o The great advantages of simulation and dissimulation
are three : first, to lay asleep opposition, and to surprise ;
for wherea man's intentions are published, it is an alarum '
to call up all that are against them. The second is, to
reserve to a man's self a fair retreat ; for if a man engage
to keep an indiffo'o:t carriage] i. e.
to raaintain an impartial bearing. Lat.
i» aequihbrio se cott)zere. For indif-
ferent in this sense con£ e.g. ' In
choice of committees for fipening
business for the council, it is better
to chooee indifferent peons (Lat. eos
pa«m propodeant) than to make an
indifferency by putting in those that
are strong on both sides.' Essay o.
For carriage, con£ ' The even car-
fiage be,een vo factions proceedeth
hot Mways of moderation." Essay 5 x.
out of ure] i.e. out of practice.
Lat. »te ]'o»¢e habitus ipse interddat.
Conf. ' But generally I see it neither
put in ure nor put in inquisition.'
Works, iii. 404. And, ' As may appear
by other kinds of benevolence, pre-
sented to ber likewise in Parliament,
which her llajesty nevertheless hath
hot put in ure.' Letters and Life, i.
x77. The word is frequently used by
Bacon.
n an alaru»] Lit. a call to arms.
Lat. veluti tuba. Conf. ' Whose swords
be kept sheathed, so ready to be drawn
upon every alarum.' Hacket, Lire of
Abp. Williams, Part i. p. 6.
OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 45
himself by a manifest declaration, he must go through, or
take a fall*. The third is, the better to discover the mind
of another; for to him that apens himself men will hardly
show themselves adverse; but will (fairt let him go on,
and turn their freedom of speech to freedom of thought ;
and therefore it is a good shrewd proverb of the Spaniard,
Tdl a lie and fid a troth ; as if there xvere no way of
discovery but by simulation. There be also three dis-
advantages to set it even. The first, that simulation and
dissimulation commonly carry with them a show of,o
fearfulness, which in any business doth spoil w the feathers
of round flying up to the mark. The second, that it
puzzleth and perplexeth the conceits x of many, that
perhaps would otherwise co-operate with him, and makes
a man walk almost alone to his own ends. The third and
greatest is, that it depriveth a man of one of the toast
principal instruments for action, which is trust and belief.
The best composition and temperaturey is, to bave open-
ness in faine and opinion z ; secrecy in habit ; dissimulation
in seasonable use ; and a power to feign if there be no 2o
remedy.
take a fall] i.e. surfer a defeat.
The Latin gives, more fully, aut per-
gendum est ci, aut turpiter desistendum.
For ' take' in the above sense conf.
' A mate of fortune she never took.'
Letters and Life, i. 14o.
= doth spoil &c.] The sense of this
phrase is given clearly in the Latin--
#lumas veille ne p¢rniciter ad m¢tam ad-
voient. The construction of the English
is more doubtful. The words probably
meandoth spoil (or deprive) the
feathers (i. e. the feathered arrow) of
the power of flying direct to the mark.
For this sense of round, conf. ' Clear
and round dealing is the honour of
man's nature.' Essay l, and note.
the eoncdts] L e. thoughts. Lat.
cogilatioes. Conf. ' I may vdthout
prejudice preserve thus much of the
conceit of antiquity.' Works, iii. 353
(and passm.
temperature] i.e. temperament.
Lat. temperamentum. Conf. 'As touch-
ing the manners of learned men, it is
a thing personal and individual : and
no doubt there be amongst them, as in
other professions, of ail temperatures."
Works. iii. 77. And, ' Nether hath
learning an influence and operation
only upon civil merit and moral virtue,
and the arts or temperature of peace
and peaceable government.' Ibid.
p. 307.
to ]lave opemless in faine and
o#inion] i. e. tobe credited with being
frank and outspoken. Lat. M quis
eracitatis famam obtineat.
46 ESSAY VI.
2OTES 12V29 IZZUSTRIT"IONS.
P. 40, l.l. Dissbnulalion &c.] Confi 'So tedious, casual and
unfortunate are these deep dissimulations: whereof il seemeth
Tacitus ruade this judgrnent, that they were a cunning of an inferior
form in regard of true policy: attributing the one to Augustus, the
other to Tiberius, where spea-king of Livia he saith, et cure arlibus
tctariti, sinndatiotte fllii, bene composita ; for surely the continual habit
of dissimulation is but a weak and sluggish cunning, and not greatly
politic.' Works, iii. 468.
1.5. Tacilus saith] Annals v.I. The words of Tacitus are given
in the note above.
1.7. actd a._gain, ,hen IIuciattus] 'Non adversus divi Augusti
acerrimam mentem, nec adversus cautissimam Tiberii senectutem
... consurgimus.' Tac. Hist. ii. 7 o.
P. 41, 1. 7- arts of slale a»cd a¢s of lire] Mr. Aldis ,Vright offers
choice here between two passages of Tacitus, neither of them ver 3,
close to the text, but, if taken together, perhaps near enough to serve.
'Capito insignitior infamia fuit, quod, humani divinique juris sciens,
egregium publicum et bonas domi artes dehonestavisset.' Annals
iii. 7 ° .
The offence of Capito had been that he had made a false show
of remonstrating with Tiberius for encroaching on the prox4nce of
the senate by pardoning an offence against himself, and this Capito
obsequiously pretended to consider as a public crime. The other
passage, from the Aga-icola, cap. xxxix, speaks of ' studia fori et
civilium artium decus.'
P. 42, 1. 4. oflheirgoodfailh] So Guicciardini, speaking of the vast
promises on the faith of which Julius the second obtained the Papacy,
remarks that he well knew 'che niuno più facilmente inganna gli
altri, che chi è solito et ha fama di mai non gl'ingannare.' Storia
d'ltalia, bk. ri. p. i8i in the London edition of x8ux.
1. 14. Forthefirstof these &c.] The rules and cautions in the text
are substantially the same as those given in the Advancement of
Learning. ,Vorks, iii. 460.
1. z8. as the tctore close air &c.] That is to say, as the hot rarified
air inside a room gives passage to the colder and more dense air
which enters from outside.
P. 48, 1. 8. that a ucan's face &c.] Conf. ' The lineaments of the
body do disclose the disposition and inclination ofthe mind in general ;
but the Motions of the countenance and parts do not only so, but do
further disclose the present humour and state of the mind and will.
For as your Majesty saith most aptly and elegantly, As lice longue
speakelh to the ear, so lice gesture speakelh to the e),e. And therefore
a number of subtile persons, whose eyes do dwell upon the faces
OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 47
and fashions of men, do well know the advantage of this observation,
as being most part of their ability; neither canit be denied but
that itis a great discovery of dissimulations, and a great direction
in business.' Works, iii. 368. And ' The poet saith--
Nec vultu destrue verba tuo:
a man may destroy the force of his words with his countenance.'
Ibid. p. 446. The poet is Ovid, Artes Amat. lib. il. 312. And, ' It
is a point of cunning to wait upon him with whom you speak with
your eye, as the Jesuits give it in precept; for there be many
wise men that have secret hearts and transparent countenances.'
Èssay 22.
1. 9. li, e discov«ry of a man's sdf] This was notoriously so xvith
the Earl of Essex, whom Bacon probably had in mind. Conf. ' Hoxv
iii the Earl (of Essex) was read in this court philosophy, his servant
Cuffe discerned well when he said, Amorem et odium sem)er in fronle
gessil, nec celare noe,iL' A View of the Parallel between Earl of Essex
and Duke of Buckingham ; Lansdowne MS. 213.
1. il. more marked and bdieved] Conf. 'VVe will begin therefore
with this precept.., that more trust be given to countenances and
deeds than to words. Neither let that be feared which is said, fronli
nullafldes, which is meant of a general outward behaviour and not
of the private and subtile motions and labours of the countenance
and gesture, which as Q. Cicero elegantly saith is anhni janua.'
X¥orks, iii. 457-
P. 44, 1. 6. /te musl s/tow an inclina/ion one way &c.] But vide, per
contra, King James, Basilicon Doron, bk. i : ' If anything be asked
at you that yee thinke hot meete to reveale, if yee say--that question
is hOt pertinent for them to aske, who dare examine you further ?
and using sometimes this answer both in true and false things that
shall be asked at you, such unmanerly people will never be the
wiser thereof.' James' rule however is fitter for a King or Prince
than for a private man who might hot so easily rid himself of
unmannerly questioners. The Basilicon Doron was written for
Prince Henry.
P. 45, 1. 7. Tella lie &c.] This good shrewd proverb (Lat. salis ma-
iignum adagium) is given in the Advancement of Learning in Spanish.
' Experience sheweth, there are few men so true to themselves and
so settled, but that sometimes.., they open themselves; specially
if they be put to it with a counter-dissimulation, according to the
proverb of Spain, Di mentira, y sacaras verdad, Tell a lie and find
a truth.' Works, iii. 459-
4 8 F_,5 SAY Vil.
VII.
OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN.
THE joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs
and fears; they cannot utter the one, nor theywill not
utter the other. Children sweeten labours, but they make
misfortunes more bitter; they increase the cares of life,
but they mitigate the remembrance of death. The
perpetuity by generation is common to beasts; but
memory , merit, and noble works, are proper to men : and
surely a man shall ser the noblest works and foundations
have proceeded from childless men, which have sought to
,o express the images of their minds where those of their
bodies bave failed; so the care of posterity is most in
them that have no posterity. They that are the first
raisers of their houses are most indulgent towards their
children, beholding them as the continuance, hot only
of their kind but of their work b, and so both children c and
creatures.
The difference « in affection of parents towards their
several children is many times unequal, and sometimes
unworthy, especially in the mother; as Salomon saith,
2o .4 wise son rcjoicclh thc fa/hcr, but an ungracious son shamcs
the mo£wr. A man shall see, where there is a house full
of children, one or two of the eldest respected, and the
memory] i.e. the being held in
memory. Lat. aeternitas rnemoriae.
b urk] i. e. as serving to perpetuate
the family which the ' first raiser' bas
founded. The Latin rerum a se gesta-
rum haeredes gives a somewhat different
turn to the words.
e children] 'children' here clearly
corresponds to ' kind,' i.e. species :
creatures,' i.e. created objects, to
' work.' Conf. for word--' these Thy
creatures of bread and wine '--in the
consecration prayer of the Communion
Service.
Thedifferenre etc.] This is very ob-
scurely worded. The sense serres to
be that the fatherand mother do many
rimes hot agree in the differences
of regard which they bave for their
several children, the father preferring
one child while the mother prefers
another. Affection, it must be noted,
dors hot imply love. It is regard of
any sort kind or unkind.
OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN. 49
youngest ruade wantonse; but in the l.nidst some that are
as it were forgotten, who, many rimes, nevertheless, prove
the best. The illiberality of parents in allowance towards
their children is an harmful error, makes them base,
acquaints them with shiftsr, makes them sort with g l.nean
company, and makes them surfeit more xvhen they corne
to plenty: and therefore the proof h is best when l.nen
keep their authority towards their children, but not their
purse. Men have a foolish manner (both parents, and
schoolmasters, and servants), in creating and breeding an
emulation between brothers during childhood, which many
rimes sorteth to discord i when they are men, and disturbeth
families. The Italians make little difference between
children and nephews or near kinsfolk ; but so they be of
the lump ' they care hot, though they pass hot through
their own body; and, to say truth, in nature, it is much
a like matter ; insomuch that we see a nephew sometimes
resembleth an uncle or a kinsman more than his own
parent, as the blood happens. Let parents choose betimes
the vocations and courses they l.nean their children should ,,,
take, for then they are most flexible, and let them not too
much apply themselves to the disposition of their children,
as thinking they will take best to that which they have
most mnind to. It is true that, if the affection or aptness of
the children be extraordinary, then it is good not to cross
it; but generally the precept is good, Opimttm digc, suave
ruade wantons] i.e. spoilt. Lat.
in deliciis esse,
t acquaints /hem with shifts] Lat.
reddit fallaciis deditos.
« sort witiq i. e. associate with. Vide
note on word in Essay 6.
theproofis best] i, e. the result on
trial is best, Lat. ophme su¢cedit. So
in Adv. of Learning, ' Fathers bave
most comfort of the good proof of
their sons.' Works, iii. 45.
t sorteti fo discord] i.e. turns to dis-
cord. Lat. in discordias evadunL Vide
E
note on xvord in Essay 6.
k oftheh«mp] Lat. »todo sine massa
satguinis. Ff. Gorges) pourveu quïls
so,tt sortis dt« l£sle
applythemseivesto&c.] i.e. observe
closely and allow themselves to be
guided by. Conf. ' No sooner I-,e be-
came a new man, apply himself as he
ought to the government, but I also
change my temper." Strafford, Report
on Ireland, quoted in Traill's Strafford,
p. x4. Conf. also note on word in
Essay 5 a.
5 ° ESSAY VIL
et facile illud [acier consuetudo. Younger brothers are
commonly fortunate, but seldom or never where the elder
are disinherited.
NTES AND ILZUSTRATIOA,'S.
P. 48, 1.6. perpetuity bygeneration &c.] So in Bacon's Discourse
in the Praise of his Sovereign. ' Let them leave children that leave
no other memory in their times: Brutorum aeternitas soboles.'
Letters and Life, i. 4o.
Conf. also, 'Yrrp àp«rfl àOavfirov xa' roLarq dq «xa«o rdwr« dvra
E¶ pJ rà Tvva[a pfiov rpgwovrat a; raCr loi dE, $à
atoovia dOuvaEiav al pvpqv al «atpoviav oovrat, aoi d rbv
l. 8. noblest works and foundations &c.] Conf. ' There is in m's
nature a secret inclination and motion towards love of others, which
if it be hot spent upon some one or a few, doth naturMly spread
tself towards many, and maketh men become humoee and chamble.'
Essay o, subfinem.
So also, 'Certainly the best works, and of greatest ment for the
public, bave proceeded from the unmarfied or childless men, which
both in affection and means have married and endowed the public.'
Esay 8.
1. xS. unequal and somethnes unwol] Can Bacon have been
thinking of his own case here ? Mr. Spedding speaks of him his
father's 'favourite son.' Letters and Life, i. p. 6. Lady Bacon
writes that he was ' his father's first choice,' p. 46. It is clear, too,
that, at an early period in his career, his mother had formed'and
held a very bad opinion of him. PP- 44-45.
1. 9. as Salomon saith] Solomon's sayingProv, x. is
expanded and its application shewn, somewhat fancifully, in the
Advancement of Learning. ' Ftts sapiens laetcat lrou : fihi«s veto
shdtus maestilia est matri sttae. Here is distinished, that fathers
have most comfort of the good proof of their sons ; but mothers have
most discomfort of their iii proo because women bave little dis-
cerning of virtue, but of foune.' Works, iii. 45 L
In the corresponding passage in the De Auentis Scentiarum
the explanation is brought more close to the passage in the Essay.
'Distinuntur solatia atque aegritudines oeconomicae, patris vide-
licet et matris, circa liberos suos. Etenim fifius pdens et fru
praecipuo solatio est patri, qui viutis pretium melius not quam
mater: ....... E contra, mater camitati filii plus compatitur et
OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 5
indolet ; tum ob affectum maternum magis mollem et tenerum, tutu
fortasse indulgentiae suae conscia, qua eum corruperit et deprava-
verit.' Works, i. 754.
P. 49, 1. 6. the recel] Conf. 'Verily the precept of the Pytha-
goreans serveth to right good stead in this case (riz. of exile) to be
practised. Choose, say they, the best life : use and custom will make
it pleasant enough unto thee.' Plutarch, Morals, p. 225.
VIII.
OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE.
Hv_ that hath wife and children hath given hostages to
fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises,
either of virtue or mischief. Certainly the best works, and
of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the
unmarried or childless men, which both in affection and
means have married and endowed the public. Yet it were
great reason that those that bave children should have
greatest care of future times, unto which they know they
must transmit their dearest pledges. Some there are who,
though they lead a single life, yet their thoughts do end 1o
with themselves, and account future times impertinences a
Nay, there are some other that account wife and children
but as bills of charges. Nay more, there are some foolish
rich covetous men that take a pride in having no children,
because b they ma), be thought so much the ficher; for,
ilpeqinences] i.e. that with xvhich
they bave no concern. Lat. nihil ad se
lertinentia. Conf. for word -« It is an
excellent observation which hath been
ruade upon the answers of our Saviour
Christ to many of the questions which
were propounded to him, how that
they are impertinent to the state ofthe
question demanded.' Works» iii. 486.
beeause] i.e. in order that. Lat.
ut habea»dur tanto ditiores. For this
use of ' because,' conf. ' It is the care
of some only to corne off speedi]y for
the time, or to contrive some false
periods of business, because they may
seem men of dispatch.' Essay 5-
' Let it hot touch the water, because
it may hot putrify.' XVorks, iii. 8x8.
E2
5z ESSAY VIII.
perhaps they have heard some talk, Such an one is a great
rich man, and another except toit, )éa, but he bath a great
charge ofddldrcn ; as if it were an abatement to his riches.
But the most ordinary cause of a single life is liberty,
especially in certain self-pleasing and humorous c minds,
which are so sensible of evary restraint as they will go
near to think their girdles and garters to be bonds and
shackles. Unmarried men are best friends, best masters,
best servants; but hot always best subjects, for they are
o light to run away , and almost ail fugitives are of that con-
dition. A single life doth well with churchmen, for charity
will hardly water the ground where it must first fill a pool.
It is indifferent for judges and magistrates; for if they be
facile and corrupt, you shall have a sela'ant rive times
worse than a wife. For soldiers, I find the generals com-
monly, in their hortatives, put men in mind of their wives
and children; and I think the despising of marriage
amongst the Turks maketh the vulgar soldier more base.
Certainly, wife and children are a kind of discipline of
o humanity; and single men, though they be many times
more charitable because their means are less exhaust e,
yet, on the other side, they are more cruel and hard-
hearted good to make severe inquisitors), because their
« Immorous] i.e. full of fancies or
conceits. Lat. lhantasticis. Ital. bi-
arri. Fr. qui sont trop addonnds à
¢omfllatm à leur, ros humeur.
Conf.' It utterly betrayeth ail utility
for men to embark themselves t far
in unfounate friendshi, tuMesome
spleens, and childish d humourous
en,ries or emulations.' Wor» .
47 r.
Co. ' He makes ¢ones to his We
in geometrical proposions.
bhx. ls't possible there should be
any such humoufist'
en Jonson Eve Man out of his
Humour, act il. se. i.
This sente of humour and horo
is preserved in The Specator. Vide
Papers 6x6 and 6 7.
a iigM to un away] Lat. adfugam
expcditL ]But the sense mayperhapsbe
simply,--apt or ready to run away,
with no added notion of unencumbered.
Conf. Essay 5, note on 'lightly'=
usually: and Shakespeare's ' false of
heart, light ofear,' i.e. ready to give ear
to any tale. King Lear, act iii. se. 4-
* exhaust] i.e. exhausted. This
omission of the participial ending is
hot unfrequent with Bacon. Conf. e. g.
Essay o, ' elaborate '= elaborated, and
Essay ii, 'observe .'herein and how
they have degenerate '; and Essay 5
' they hold it a little suspect in Pope.'
OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 53
tenderness is not so oft called upon. Grave natures, led
by custom, and therefore constant, are commonly loving
husbands ; as was said of Ulysses, l.'etulam suam prachd#
hnmortalitati. Chaste women are often proud and froward,
as presuming upon the merit of their chastity. It is one
of the best bonds, both of chastity and obedience, in the
wife, if she think ber husband wise, which she will never
do if she find him jealous. Wives are young men's
mistressesf, companions for middle age, and old men's
nurses; so as a man may bave a quarrel to marrT when ,o
he will.- But yet he was reputed one of the wise men that
made answer to the question when a man should marrT?
./t .,oung man hot yct, an elder man hot ai all. It is often
seep that bad husbands have ver T good v«ives; whether
it be that it raiseth the price of their husbands' kindness
when it cornes, or that the wives take a pride in their
patience ; but this never fails if the bad husbands were of
their own choosing, against their friends' consent, for then
they will be sure to make good their own folly.
P.M,1.2. l'or
and children are
r nistresses] The Freneh (Gorges),
maitresses, has here the ambiguity of
the English word. The Latin gives
do»ti»tae; the Italian le padro»te. The
obvious objections to this rendering
are that it robs the sentence of such
approximation to truth as the Iower
interpretation ,vould leave in it, and
that it is inconsistent with the words
that follow--' so as a man may bave a
quarreI' I.i.e. a rcason to give himself)
'to marry when he will.' A young
man would hardly think it an induce-
ment to marriage that he would be
compelled thereby to submit himself to
a do»tina, as such. The word, in
Bacon's day, bore the sarne two-fold
sense which it bears now. Conf. e.g.
' V¢hich hath turned Metis the wife to
2rO TES 4 ND lr ZL USTR.4 TIO 2VS.
they are] The argument is not obvious. That a wife
impediments to great enterprises is no proof that
Metis thc mistress, that is thc coun-
oeils of State to which princes are
solemnly married, to councells of gra-
cious perons.' Essay Of Councell, in
the MS. date i6o7-x2 ; vide Arber.
Harmony of Essays, p. 3x8.
So in Raleigh's Instructions to his
son, cap. ii. 'Be sure of this, that
how many mistresses soever thou hast.
so many enemies thou shalt purchase
to thyself .... for howsoever a levd
woman please thee for a rime, thou
wilt hate her in the end, and she will
study to destroy thee.'
a qt«arrel] i.e. a reason to give
himself. Lat. ansa. I tan find no
precise parallel to this use of the word.
Q«arrel- reason of dispute» is common
enough.
54 ESSAY VIII.
the man who has them bas given hostages to fortune. The reas6ning
would hold better in an inverse order--Wife and children are im-
pediments to great enterprises, for the man who bath them bath
liven hostages to fortune. Possibly the phrase ' bath given hostages
to fortune' may be taken as a rhetorical flourish =is at a disadvantage
in his efforts after fortune.
1.6. Yel il zî,ere greal reason] Conf. the opening passage of the
second book of the Advancement of Learning. ' It might seem to
bave more convenience, though it corne often otherwise to pass
[excellent king), that those which are fruitful in their generations,
and bave in themselves the foresight of immortality in their de-
scendants, should likewise be more careful of the good estate of
future rimes; unto which they know they must transmit and com-
mend over their dearest pledges.' Works, iii. 32z.
P. 52, 1.5. certain self-pleashtg attd htottorot«s tttittds] Bacon had
probably in his mind a passage in which Montaigne confesses that
he himselfwas ofthis temper. 'I1 (sc. le mariage) se treuve en ce
temps plus commode aux ames simples et populaires, où les del, ices,
la curiosité et l'oysifveté ne le troublent pas tant : les humeurs des-
bauchees, comme est la mienne, qui hais toute sorte de liaison et
d'obligation, n'y sont pas si propres :
Et mihi dulce magis resoluto vivere collo.'
Essays, bk. iii. chap. 5-
P. 53, 1.3- Ul),sses] Bacon seems here to bave had in his memory
two passages, one from Cicero, the other from Joannes Regius's Latin
translation of Plutarch's dialogue, 'Quod bruta animalia ratione
utantur.' The passage from Cicero corresponds more exactly than
the other to Bacon's praett«li! itttmortalilati. 'Ac si nos, id quod
maxime debet, nostra patria delectat ; cujus rei tanta est vis ac
tanta natura, ut Ithacam illam in asperrimis saxulis, tanquam nidu-
lum, affixam, sapientissimus vir immortalitati anteponeret,' &c. De
Oratore, lib. i. cap. 44-
The passage from Plutarch cornes nearer to the sense and it
introduces the catch-word vettdam. Circe, replying to a remark of
Ulysses, says, 'Quasi vero dudum his absurdiora in teipsum non
commiseris, qui, relicta mecum immortali minimeque senescente
vita, ad mortalem foeminam (ac potius, ut ego quidem sentio, jam
vetulam) per mille adhuc incommoda properes.' Plut. Opera, H.
Stephanus (i572). Latin version of p. I84 in the Greek.
That Bacon had Plutarch's dialogue in his mind appears from his
remark in the Advancement of Learning, where he refers with
grave and contemptuous disapproval to the choice which he attributes
to Ulysses, passing judgment in much the saine terres and for much
the saine reasons as those used by a third speaker, Gryllus, later on
in the dialogue. Bacon's words are : ' Nevertheless I do not pretend,
OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 55
and I know it will be impossible by any pleading of mine, to reverse
the judgment, either of Aesop's cock, that preferred the barleycorn
before the gem, or... of Uiysses, qui vetulam raehdi! immortalitati,
being a figure of those which prefer custom and habit before ail
exceilency: or of a number of the like popular judgments. For
these things continue as they have been,' &c. Works, iii. 319 . So
in Piutarch, Gryilus reproaches Uiysses because 'consueta gaudens
venere, quum sis mortalis, cum dea coire noluisti' (trans. of p. 182o
in Greekl. The preceding words, which I do hOt venture to quote,
are even more precisely to the point.
i. II. one ofthe wise men] Thales the wise, being importuned by
his mother (who pressed hard upon him) to marry, prettily put ber
off, shifting and avoiding her cunningly xvith words : for at the first
time, when she was in hand with him, he said unto her : Mother, it
is too soon, and it is hOt yet rime : afterwards, when he had passed
the flower of his age, and that she set upon him the second time and
was very instant: Alas, mother, it is noxv too late and the time is
past.' Piutarch, Symposiaques, Bk. iii. Quest. 6. So in Diog. Laert.,
Life of Thales : Kal ,dTov«,v , ,7,r, -; tzrlrp6g àt, aTraÇoo'rlç arbt, ",ltmt, N I
Aa, ',e'«v, o8rm mpd. Era, rr« 6 rrap6««, «,t;, àrr«îv, o«/r,
*mpd,. Lib. i. sec. "26.
Montaigne notes the story and with more distinct approval.
'Thales y donna les plus vrayes bornes; qui, jeune, respondit à sa
mere le pressant de se marier, "qu'il n'estoit pas temps"; et,
devenu sur i'aage, "qu'il n'estoit plus temps."' Essays, bk. ii.
chap. 8.
1. 17. bu! this never flails &c.] Bacon, eisewhere, generalizes on
this subject. Conf. 'Another reprehension of this coiour (viz. quod
quis adpa sua contra.rit, majus mahtm ; quod ab ex/ernis imponi/ur,
mhtus mah«m), is in respect of the well bearing of eviis wherewith
a man tan charge nobody but himself, which maketh them the iess.
Levefi/quod benefer/ur ollt«s. And therefore many natures that are
either extremely proud and wili take no fault to themseives, or eise
very truc and cleaving to themseives (when they sec the blame of
anything that falls out iii must iight upon themseives), bave no other
shift but to bear it out weli, and to make the ieast of it .... And
therefore it is commonly seen, that women that marry husbands of
their own choosing against their friends' consents, if they be never
so iil used, yet you shall seldom sec them complain, but to set a
good face on it' (Coiours of Good and Evil, viii). Vorks, vil 8 7.
56 ESSAY IX.
IX.
OF ENVY.
TrIERE be none of the affections which have been noted
to fascinate or bewitch but love and envy : they both have
vehement wishes; they frame themselves readily into
imaginations and suggestions; and they corne easily into
the eye, especially upon the presence of the objects;
which are the points that conduce to fascination, if any
such thing there be. ,Ve sec, likewise, the Scripture
calleth envy an evil e.)'e; and the astrologers call the evil
influences of the stars evil as[ecls; so that still there
io seemeth to be acknowledged, in the act of envy, an
ejaculation, or irradiation of the eye. Nay, some have
been so curious as to note that the times when the stroke
or percussion of an envious eye doth most hurt are, when
the party envied is beheld in glory or triumph ; for that
sets an edge upon envy: and besides, at such times, the
spirits of the person envied do come forth most into the
outward parts, and so meet the blow.
But leaving these curiosities Ithough not unworthy to
be thought on in fit place), we will handle what persons
:o are apt to envy others ; v«hat persons are most subject to
be envied themselves ; and what is the difference bet-ween
public and private envy.
A man that hath no virtue in himself ever envieth virtue
in others; for men's minds will either feed upon their
own good, or upon others' evil ; and who wanteth the one
will prey upon the other; and whoso is out of hope to
attain to another's virtue will seek to corne at even hand
by depressing another's fortune.
A man that is busy and inquisitive is commonly envious
i fo tome ai even hand] i.e. to tome where there is small dispatch.' Essay
to even terms or to an equality. Lat. a S. And, 'Certainly, if a man wili
u! minor inlersit dispaHtas. For this keep but of even hand, his ordinary
use of 'hand,' conf. « Business is expenses ought to be but to the hall
bought at a dear hand Lat. magno) of his receipts.' Essay a'/.
OF ENV¥. .57
for to know much of other men's matters cannot be because
all that ado may concern his own estateb; therefore
it must needs be that he taketh a kind of play-pleasure in
looking upon the fortunes of others : neither can he that
mindeth but his own business find much marrer for envy ;
for env3- . is a gadding passion, and walketh the streets,
and doth hot keep home: Non est curiosus, quht idcm sit
malevolus.
Men of noble birth are noted to be envious towards new
men when they rise ; for the distance is altered ; and it is ,o
like a deceit of the eye, that when others corne on they
think themselves go back.
Deformed persons and eunuchs and old men and bastards
are envious: for he that cannot possibly mend his own
case will do what he can to impair another's ; except these
defects light upon a very brave and heroical nature, which
thinketh to make his natural wants part of his honour; in
that it should be said, that a eunuch, or a lame man, did
such great matters, affecting the honour of a miracle : as it
was in Narses the eunuch, and Agesilaus and Tamerlane -'o
that were lame men.
The same is the case of men that rise after e calamities
his own estate] i. e. his own affairs.
Lat. suis rtbus. Bacon, it will be seen,
pass»h uses Mate and estate indiffer-
ently. They are in fact the saine
word, as are special and especial; stab-
lisiJ and establisl ; stature and the old
estatute. His use of estate where
modern usage would give statt is veiT
common. Vide infra. ' This public
env3' seemeth to beat chiefly upon
principal officers or ministers, rather
than upon kings and estates them-
selves.' Then, a few lines further:
' The envy though hidden is truly upon
the state itself.' Conf. also, ' For that
v¢hich may concern the sovereign and
estate ; ' followed shortly after by,
'when there is matter of law inter-
vening in business of state.' Essay 5 6.
Conversely, in Essay 28, we find,
« Who bath a state to repair may hot
despise small things.' And, in Essay
34, ' A great state left to an heir is a
lure to ail the birds of prey.' Some-
times, too. the word has a personal
sense which we should hot now give
to it, as when Bacon speaks of it as a
happy thing ' when kings and states
do often consult with judges.' Essay
56. So Segar. more distinctly still, in
his chapter ' Of honourable places due
to great estates,' says, ' A baron is an
estate of great dignity in blood honour
and habit, a peer of the realm and
companion of princes.' Honor Mili-
tai T and Ci»il, bk. iv. cap. 22.
that fise a]?er&c.] The Latin, qui e
calamitatibus resurguct, implies that
.58 ESSAY IX.
and misfortunes ; for they are as men fallen out with the
rimes, and think other men's barres a redemption of their
own sufferings.
They that desire to excel in too many matters, out of
levity and vain-glory, are ever envious, for they cannot
want worka: it being impossible but many, in some one
of those things, should surpass them; which was the
eharacter of Adrian the emperor, that mortally envied
poets and painters, and artifieers in works wherein he had
o a vein « to exce[.
Lastly, near kinsfolk, and fellows in office, and those
that have been bred together, are more apt to envy their
equals when they are raised ; for it doth upbraid f unto
them their own fortunes, and pointeth at them, and cometh
oftener into their remembrance, and incurreth likewise
more into the note of others; and envy ever redoubleth
from speech and faine. Cain's envy was the more vile
and malignant towards his brother Abel, because when
his sacrifice was better accepted there was no body to
-'o look on. Thus much for those that are apt to envy.
Concerning those that are more or less subject to envy.
First, persons of eminent virtue when they are advanced
are less envied. For their fortune seemeth but due unto
them; and no man envieth the payment of a debt, but
reveards and liberality rather. Again, envy is ever joined
with the comparing of a man's self ; and where there is no
comparison, no envy; and therefore kings are not envied
Bacon means to speak of men who
have fallen from a high estate into
calamities and misfortunes, and have
thence risen again.
d cannot want work] Lat. ubique
enin occurrunt objecta in,idiae.
« a rein] i.e. an inclination. Lat.
quibus ipse praecellere gstiebat. Conf.
that is a rein which would be bridled."
Essay 3.
doth upbrad &c.] For an instance
of this construction, now out of date,
vide
' May they hot justly to our crimes
upbraid,
Shortness of night, and penury
of shadefl
Prior, Solomon, bk. i. 293-4-
tncur-,'eth &c.] i.e. cornes more
under the observation of others. The
Latin in aliorum notam nzagis incurrit
is clearer than the Latinised English.
OF ENVY. 59
but by kings. Nevertheless, it is to be noted that unworthy h
persons are most envied at their first coming in, and
afterwards overcome it better; whereas, contrariwise,
persons of worth and merit are most envied when their
fortune continueth long; for by that time, though their
virtue be the same, yet it hath not the same lustre ; for
fresh men grow up that darken it.
Persons of noble blood are less envied in their rising;
for it seemeth but right done to their birth : besides, there
seemeth not much added to their fortune ; and envy is as
the sunbeams, that beat botter upon a bank or steep rising
ground than upon a fiat ; and, for the same reason, those
that are advanced by degrees are less envied than those
that are advanced suddenly and per saltum.
Those that bave joined with their honour great travels
cares, or perils, are less subject to envy; for men think
that they earn their honours hardly, and pity them some-
times; and pity ever healeth envy: wherefore you shall
observe, that the more deep and sober sort of politic persons,
in their greatness, are ever bemoaning themselves what a :o
lire they lead, chanting a Çuada lathmtr; not that they
feel it so, but only to abate the edge of envy. But this
is to be understood of business that is laid upon men, and
hOt such as they call unto themselves; for nothing
increaseth envy more than an unnecessary and ambitious
engrossing of business; and nothing doth extinguish
envy more than for a great person to preserve all other
inferior ofiïcers in their full rights and pre-eminences of
their places ; for by that means there be so many screens
between him and envy.
unworthy] Probably, undeserving.
Lat. indignis. A sense on the whole
best suited to the passage.
I great travds] i.e. travails. Lat.
Iabores magnos. Conf. 'And raost
specially that the travels therein taken
(i. e. in Sir Stephen Proctor's project
touching penal laws rnay be considered
and discerned ofby the LordTreasurer.'
Letters and Life, iv. xo4.
Bacon alrnost always uses travelwhere
weshould use travail, andtravailewhere
we shouldusetravd. In Essay xS, this is
the spelling ofthe original throughout.
60 ESSAY IX.
Above ail, those are most subject to envy which carry
the greatness of their fortunes in an insolent and proud
manner: being never well but while they are showing
how great they are, either by outward pomp, or by
triumphing over all opposition or competition : whereas
wise men xvill rather do sacrifice to envy, in suffering
themselves, sometimes of purpose, to be crossed and
overborne in things that do hot much concern them.
Notwithstanding so much is true, that the carriage of
,o greatness in a plain and open manner (so it be without
arrogancy and vain-glory} doth draw less envy than if
it be in a more crafty and cunning fashion; for in that
course a man doth but disavow fortune , and seemeth to
be conscious of his own want in worth, and doth but teach
others to envy him.
Lastly, to conclude this part, as we said in the beginning
that the act of envy had somexvhat in it of witchcraft, so
there is no other cure of envy but the cure of witchcraft ;
and that is, to remove the lot i (as they call io and to lay
:o it upon another; for which purpose the wiser sort of
great persons bring in ever upon the stage somebody
upon whom to derive TM the en,af that would corne upon
themselves; sometimes upon ministers and servants,
sometimes upon colleagues and associates, and the like;
and, for that turn, there are never wanting some persons of
violent and undertaking natures, who, so they may have
power and business, will take it at any cost.
Now, to speak of public envy: there is yet some good
in public envy; whereas in private there is none; for
.o public envy is as an ostracism, that eclipseth men when
doth but disavow &c.] i.e. does
but adroit that fortune is to blame
for having used him better than
he desered. Lat. nihil aliud
facit quis, quam ut fortunam insimu-
let.
i l]e lo/] l.e. the spe|l cast upon a
man by witchcraft. Vide note at end
of Essay.
m to dcrive] i.e. to draw off, or
diverL Con£ ' As natura| water...
is first forced up into a cistern and
thence fetched and derived for use."
,Vorks, iii. 483.
OF ENVY. 6
they grow too great ; and therefore it is a bridle also to
great ones, to keep them within bounds.
This envy, being in the Latin word invidia, goeth in
the modern languages by the name of discontentment ; of
which we shall speak in handling sedition. It is a
disease in a state like to infection; for, as infection
spreadeth upon that which is sound and tainteth it,
so, when envy is gotten once into a state, it traduceth
even the best actions theref and turneth them into an
iii odour ; and therefore there is little won by intermingling ,o
of plausible actions ' ; for that doth argue but a weakness
and fear of envy, which hurteth so much the more, as it is
likewise usual in infections, which, if you fear them, you
call them upon you.
This public envy seemeth to beat chiefly upon principal
officers or ministers, rather than upon kings and estates
themselves. But this is a sure rule, that if the envy upon
the minister be great when the cause of it in him is small ;
or if the envy be general in a manner upon all the ministers
of an estate, then the envy (though hidden) is truly upon 2o
the state itself. And so much of public envy or discon-
tentment, and the difference thereof from private envy,
which was handled in the first place.
We will add this in general touching the affection of
envy, that of ail other ° affections it is the most importune
and continual; for of other affections there is occasion
given but now and then; and therefore it was well said,
Invidia festos dies non agit: for it is ever working upon
some or other. And it is also noted that love and envy do
make a man pine, which other affections do hot, because 3o
n 1Mausbi e actions] Lat. gratas et
pOlulares. Plausible may be either
¢ourtlng applause or deservin K applause.
Bacon uses the word in both senses--
'Judges ought to be more reverend
than plausible.' Lat. Kratiosum.
ay 5 6. And, « The best actions of a
state and the most plausible and which
ought to give greatest contentment.'
Essay 5.
o of ail other &c.] i.e. more ira.
portune (or importunate) than any
other affection. Vide note on Essay
3-
6 ESSAY IX.
they are hOt so continual. It is also the vilest affection,
and the most depraved ; for which cause it is the proper
attribute of the devil, who is called The envious man, that
soweth tares amongst the wheat by night; as it always
cometh to pass that envy worketh subtilely, and in the
dark, and to the prejudice of good things, such as is the
wheat.
I'V'OTES ANA) ILLUSTRATIONS.
In this Essay, the word envy is used equivocally. What
Bacon terres 'private envy' is generally envy in tbe ordinary
sense : sometimes itis malevolence, the Greek ¢r*X«,p,a,ia. Public
envy is explained as discontentment. Thus, when Bacon remarks
that where there is no comparison there is no envy, and that there-
fore kings are hOt envied but by kings, he is using envy in the
former sense. Vhen he says that in certain named cases the envy
is on the state (Lat. invidia regem a,«t stature isun, etit) he is using
the word in the latter sense as=disaffection or discontent.
P. 36, l. L toJte of#te offecliots] Con£ Plutarch, 'There grew some
question upon a time, at the table, as touehing those that are
reported to be eye-biters, or to bewiteh with their eyes .... The
seent, the voiee, the speech, the breath, be certain defluxions and
streams, as it were, flowing from the bodies of living ereatures .....
and great likelihood there is also that the same should pass from the
eye more than from any other conduit of the body: for the sight,
being a sense very swift, active, and nimble, doth send forth and
disperse from it a wonderful fiery puissance, together with a spirit
that earrieth and direeteth it .... Love, one of the greatest and most
vehement passions of the mind, hath the source and original
beginning at the eye.., for the very aspect and regard of such
persons as are in the flower of their beauty, and that whieh passeth
îrom their eyes, whether it be iight or flowing off of the spirits, doth
liquifie and consume those that be enamoured on them .... Then
2atrocleas ; ,, True in bodily passions ; but how is it possible that the
only east or regard of the eye should transmit any noisance or hurt
into the body of another ?" ' The answer is that 'envy filleth the
body with an untoward and bad disposition; when therefore they
who be infeeted with envy do east their eyes upon others, and so
shoot their venomous rays, like unto poisoned darts upon them, if
sueh chance tobe wounded and hurt thereby whom they look upon
and wistly behold, I see no strange thing nora matter ineredible.'
Symposiaques, Bk. v., Question 7-
OF ENVY. 63
Plutarch adds much more to the same effect, but the entire passage
is too long to quote.
1.2. the. botk bave &c.] Bacon here, to use his own words,
affingilparallela quae non su»,t. Love bas vehement wishes, but these
belong to the person fascinated, to the loyer. The vehement wishes
of envy belong to the person fascinating, to the envious man. The
saine confusion of thought runs through the ,,vhole clause.
1. 6. [ascination] ' Fascination is the power and act of imagina-
tion, intensive upon other bodies than the body of the imaginant.'
XVorks, iii. 381.
1. 7. Scripture calleth &c.] Vide St. Mark vil. 22. But it is
obvious to remark that the evil eye of Scripture,
implies at most the wish to do harm. There is no hint given of
power to do mischief by an irradiation.
1. 9. htfluences of the stars] This is the recognised astrological
term for the power exercised by the stars. Conf. ' That is the fume
of those that conceive the celestial bodies have more accurate
influences upon those things below than indeed they bave.' Essay
58. So Milton :
' With store of Ladies, whose bright eyes
Rain influence, and judge the prize.' L'Allegro,
1. 9. aspects] Aspect, according to Kepler, is determined by the
angle formed by the rays ri-oto two planets coming to a point on the
earth. Conf. 'Aspectus est in mera incidentia seu concursu radiorum
.... Sequitur operatio quia binorum radii certo angulo in puncto eo
concurrurt, in quo collocatur res immateriata, aspectfls receptiva
facultas, nempe animalis.' Kepleri Opera, i. 37- Frisch 1857.
Sir Christopher Heydon, an astrological writer of Bacon's day,
frequently uses this word. In one passage it shifts into irradiations,
and may be therefore so understood. 'Wherefore three aequaliter
Hexagons or three z, Aspects do also fill the whole space about the
center. To which we may not improperly add the opposite aspect.
..... These speculations therefore considered, it were senseless to
imagine that Nature hath so many ways honored these Irradiations of
the Stars in vain, and admonished us to a special regard ofthem ....
ifthey were not indued with more virtue than others.' Astrological
Discourse, sec. xvii.
Itis used also to mean the relations of the heavenly bodies to one
another; the positions from -hich they may be said to regard one
another.
Conf. ' In astronomy it signifieth the distance between the planers
and the heavenly signs. And there are four such aspects. The
first called a Trine Aspect {because it divideth the heavens into
three even parts) is the distance of four signs from each other: as
Aries beholdeth Leo and Sagktarius with a Trine Aspect, because
64 ESSAY IX.
they are distant four signs, the one before, the other after. The
second called a Quartill is the distance of three signs, as Aries
beholdeth Cancer and Capricornus with a Quartill Aspect, because
they are distant three signs from him.' He goes on to say that the
aspect is Sextill where the distance is two signs, and Opposite where
the distance is six. Bullokar, English Expositor, sub voc«.
Shakespeare uses it, as Bacon does, of the gaze of the heavenly
bodies upon the earth :
' H,Rtxor;,. There's some ill planer reigns:
I must be patient, till the heavens look
With an aspect more favourable.'
Winter's Tale, act il. sc. i.
1. II. Nay, some lzave been so curious &c.] What Bacon says else- "
where about ' spirits' may serve to explain what he speaks of here
as not unworthy to be thought on in fit place. He lays it down as a
most certain fact that ' inest omni tangibili spiritus, corpore cras-
siore obtectus et obsessus .... Nullum corpus nobis notum, hic in
superiore parte terrae, spiritu vacat. Spiritus autem ille non est
virtus aliqua, aut energia aut entelechia aut nugae ; sed plane corpus
tenue, invisibile; attamen locatum, dimensum, reale. In omnibus
animatis duo sunt genera spirituum : spiritus mortuales, quales sunt
inanimatis ; et superadditus spiritus vitalis. Spiritus mortuales aëri
proxime consubstantiales sunt: spiritus vitales magis accedunt ad
substantiam flammae. Flamma substantia momentanea est: aër
fixa : spiritfs vivi in animalibus media est ratio.' Vorks, il. 213, 214,
216, 225 .
This then is what Bacon means when he speaks of spirits. The
wor'king and effect of these spirits are described also. But the
passage which cornes closest to the Essay is in the Natural History,
where the theory of the Essay is stated very fully : ' The affections
no doubt) do make the spirits more powerful and active: and
especially those affections which draw the spirits into the eyes:
which are two: love and enx¢ which is called oculus mah«s .....
And this is observed likevise ; that the aspects that procure love are
not gazings, but sudden glances and dartings of the eye. As for
envy, that emitteth some malign and poisonous spirit, which taketh
hold of the spirit of another ; and is likewise of greatest force when
the cast of the eye is oblique. It hath been noted also, that it is
most dangerous when an envious eye is cast upon persons in g]ory
and triumph and joy : the reason whereofis, for that at such times
the spirits corne forth most into the outward parts, and so meet the
percussion of the envious eye more at hand : and therefore it hath
been noted that airer great triumphs men have been ill-disposed for
some days following.' Works, il. 653.
OF ENVY. 6,5
That the eye of envy was especially dangerous to men at the time
of their prosperity, or during great exaltation of mind, was a common
beliefwith Greeks and Romans. Hence we find various forms of
deprecation, both of envy and of the prosperity which gives occasion
to it.
Conf. e. g. : ' Aut si ultra placitum (i. e. so as to displease the higher
powers) laudarit, baccare frontem Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua
futuro.' Virg. Ecl. vii. 27, _ (and Conington's note).
P. 57, l. 7. Non est &c.] ' Nam curiosus nemo est quin sit male-
volus.' Plaut. Stichus i. 3, l. 54-
1. I Deformed lersons and eunuch$] I think that this stroke is
aimed at his cousin the Earl of Salisbury and at Lord Keeper
Williams. On his relations with the Earl of Salisbury, eonf. note on
Essay 44, on Deformity. As regards Lord Keeper \Villiams, Baeon
may well have thought that Williams had done what he could "to
impair his case. His fall and disgraee had been due in great part to
the adviee of Williams to the King and Buekingham to further the
demand raised in the Parliament of i62i for reform and for the
redress of grievanees, and to give no support to the persons who
v«ere the just objeets of attaek. Subsequently, too, Bacon's pardon
was stayed at the seal by Williams who was then Lord Keeper, and
was only passed after some delay and probably under pressure from
the King. That Williams vas a eunuch appears in his Lire by
Haeket, Part i. p. 8.
1.2o. Agesilaus] ' As for the deformity of his legs, the one being
shorter than the other, in the flower of his youth, through his
pleasant wit, he used the matter so pleasantly and patiently that he
would merrily moek himself: vhieh manner of merry behaviour did
greatly hide the blame of the blemish. Yea further, his lire and
courage was the more eommendable in him, for that men saw that
notwithstanding his lameness he refused no pains nor labour.'
Plutareh [Lire of Agesilaus), Lives, p. 612.
1.2o. Tamerlane] That Tamerlane was lame is certain ; but
whether he was so born or was lamed by a wound reeeived in one
of his early battles, Gibbon leaves in doubt. His eharacter has been
ver)" variously drawn, but on his stupendous aehievements all writers
agree. The naine is a European corruption of the Turkish Timour
lene or Timour the lame. Vide Gibbon, Deeline and Fall, ehap. 65.
1. ac. The saine is the case of me» &e.] Baeon may have written
this vith some reeolleetion of his old enemy, Coke. Coke had fallen
under the King's displeasure and had been deprived of his place
as Chier Justice, and had afterwards been reeeived back into favour,
had taken his old place at the Couneil-board, and had been employed
in the King's affairs. In the inquiry, in the Parliament of
about unlawful patents and monopolies, in the advising and granting
F
(56 ESSAY IX.
of xvhich Bacon had had a principal part, it was Coke who was most
forward and persisted in so shaping the proceedings that Bacon
should hot escape. Conf. Letters and Life, vii, chap. 5, sec. 8 and 9.
Bacon was well aware of this. It was of vital consequence to him that
there should be no question raised about the past, 'and so not to
look back but to the future : And I do hear,' he writes to Buckingham,
'almost ail men of judgment in the house wish now that way. I
xvoo nobody : I do but listen, and I bave doubt only of Sir Edward
Coke.' Letters and Life, vii. 192. His doubt was justified by the
event.
P. 58, 1. 8. ,4drian the Emperor] ' Quamvis esset oratione et versu
promptissimus, et in omnibus artibus peritissimus, tutu professores
omnium artium semper ut doctior risit, contempsit, obtrivit. Cure
his ipsis professoribus et philosophis, libris vel carminibus invitera
editis certavit. Et Favorinus quidem, cure verbum ejus quoddam ab
Hadriano reprehensum esset atque ille cessisset, arguentibus amicis
quod maie cederet Hadriano de verbo quod idonei auctores usur-
passent, risum jueundissimum movit. Ait enim, Non recte suadetis,
familiares, qui non patimini me illum doctiorem omnibus credere
qui habet triginta legiones.' Spartiani Hadrianus, p. 141. (Erasmus,
Vitae Caesarum, fol. 1546.)
P. 9, 1.15. Those tha! hm,ejobled &c.] Conf. ' Men ordinarily bear
env 3, unto those who seem to acquire glorygratis, without any cost and
to corne by virtue easily ... whereas seldom or never they envy
such as have bought the saine very dear, with many travails and
great dangers.' Plutarch, Morals, 253.
1. 2o. are ever b«moaning themseh,es] Conf. the following extracts
from The State and Dignity of a Secretary of State's place, with
the tare and peril thereof--by Robert, Earl of Salisbury: 'AIl men
ofwar do malign them except they will be at their desires. Their
fellow counsellors envy them ... and wheresoever a prince bath
cause to delay or deny, to search or punish, none so soon bear so
much burden .... The place of secretary is dreadful if he serve
nota constant prince .... If such an one should find that his hope
cannot warrant him, no hOt against the slanders of those wicked
ones whom he must use only, then surely that secretary must resolve
that the first day of his entry is the first day of his miser5,.' Somers'
Tracts, vol. v. 553 (second edition). Bacon, too, makes constant
complaint about the toil and distastefulness of offices which it was
the effort of his life to reach. Vide Essay 11 and note on Essay 38.
P. 60, 1. I9. to remove the loti Conf. Bodin, De la Demonomanie des
Sorciers, lib. iii. cap. 2 tpublished x58o). ' En second lieu on tient
que si les Sorciers guerissent un homme maleficiê, il faut qu'ils
donnent le Sort à un autre. Cela est vulgaire par la confession de
plusieurs Sorciers. Et de faict j'ay vu un prisonnier Paris l'an 1569,
OF LOVE. 6 7
qui guérissoit les chevaux et les hommes quelquesfois :... Un jour
ayant donné le Sort au cheval d'un gentilhomme, on vint à luy, il
guerit et donna le Sort à son homme : on vint à luy pour guerir aussi
l'homme : Il fist response qu'on demandast au gentilhomme lequel
il aymait mieux perdre son homme ou son cheval : le gentilhomme
se trouva bien empesché : et cependant qu'il deliberoit, son homme
mourut, et le Sorcier fut pris. Et faict à noter que le diable veut
toujours gaigner au change.., et si le Sorcier ne donne le Sort à un
autre, il est en danger de sa vie.' Bodin gives several instances of this.
So Alexander Roberts, whose Treatise ofWitchcraft (16x61 is largely
copied from Bodin, in his eighth proposition (or chapter) writes,
'lfthe evill be taken from the person presently afflicted then it is
layd upon his friends children or cattell, and sometime it falleth
to the lot of the witche herself.'
P. 61, !. 28. Invidia festos dies non agit] This sentence occurs also
in the Antitheta under ' Invidia.' Works, i.p.695. Conf. also,' Invidia
pessima est, et carpit spiritus, atque illi rursus corpus; eo magis,
quod fere perpetua est, nec agit ¢ut dicitur) festos dies.' Works, ii.
x72. Cardan writes to the saine effect, but hot in the saine words :
' Invidia Siculi non invenere tyranni majus tormentum, nain praeter
id quod maxime discruciet, nullum finem velut reliqua vitia invertit.
Ira enim defervescit, gula satiatur.., invidia nunquam quiescit, cure
semper aliquem esse necesse sit, imo plures qui te ipso vel aetate
vel divitiis vel forma aut virtute sint beatiores.' Cardan, De Sap.
lib. ii. (ed. 4to. x543) p. 88.
P. 62, I. :3. T/te envfous man] Vide Matthew xii/. 25. But the text
says nothing about an envious man. The Greek is ')tdp6, the Vulgate
bthtt[cts» the English, his enemy.
OF LOVE.
THE stage is more beholding" to love than the life of
man ; for as to the stage, love is ever marrer of comedies,
beholding] i.e. beholden. Lat. And, ' For the expressing of affections,
ph«s debet. This obsolete form was in passions, corruptions and customs, we
common use in Bacon's day. Conf. are beholding to poets more than to
' Wherein I must acknowledge myself the philosophers" works.' Worka, iii.
beholding to you.' Works, ri. 539- 346, and passim.
F2
68 ESSAY X.
and now and then of tragedies; but in lire it doth mueh
mischief, sometimes like a Siren, sometimes like a Fui T.
You may observe that amongst all the great and worthy
persons (whereof the memory remaineth, either ancient or
recentl, there is not one that hath been transported to the
mad degree of love, which shows that great spirits and
great business do keep out this weak passion. You must
except, nevertheless, Marcus Antonius, the hall partner of
the empire of Rome, and Appius Claudius, the Decemvir
o and lawgiver ; whereofthe former vas indeed a voluptuous
man, and inordinate; but the latter was an austere and
wise man : and therefore it seems [though rarely} that love
can find entrance, not only into an open beart, but also
into a heart well fortified, if watch be not well kept. It is
a poor saying of Epicurus, Salis magnum aller altcri thea-
trttm sttmtts: as if man, ruade for the contemplation of
heaven and ail noble objects, should do nothing but kneel
before a little idol b, and make himself subject, though not
of the mouth (as beasts are), yet of the eye, which was given
o him for higher purposes. It is a strange thing to note
the excess of this passion, and hov it braves c the nature
and value of things, by this, that the speaking in a per-
petual hyperbole is comely in nothing but in love. Neither
is it merely in the phrase; for whereas it hath been well
b a littb idol] i.e. a little image or
puppet. The notion of it as an object
of worship is conveyed by the verb,
not by the noun itsel£ Conf. ' Never-
theless it was hOt her meaning.., that
this disguised idol should possess the
¢rown.' Works, xfi. 46. And, 'He
knew the pretended Plantagenet tobe
but an idoL' Page 52.
e braves the nature oftMngs] i. e. de-
ries (Lat. insulter) by speaking of them
in perpetual hyperbole, with no regard
to what they really are. But the word
rnay mean a]so altbra,e, i.e. adorns,
with the further sens% from the con-
text, of over-adorns, praises in terres
of excess. For the former of these
senses, conf.
'Thou wilt brave me with these
saucy terres.'
Henry VI, Part 2, act iv. s io.
For the latter,
' Kn¢G. Who saw the sun to day?
1. Not I, my lord.
K«. Then he disdains to shine;
for, by the book,
He should have braved the east an
hour ago.'
Richard III» act v. sc. .
OF LOVE. 69
said that the arch flatterer, with whom all the petty fiat-
terers have intelligence, is a man's self, certainly the lover
is more; for there was never proud man thought so ab-
surdly well of himself as the lover doth of the person
loved ; and therefore it was well said Tha! if is impossible
to love attd to be wise. Neither doth this weakness appear
to others only, and not to the party loved, but to the loved
most of ail, except the love be reciproque ; for itis a true
rule, that love is ever rewarded, either with the reciproque,
or with an inward and secret contempt ; by how much the ,o
more ' men ought to beware of this passion, which loseth
not only other things but itself. As for the other losses,
the poet's relation doth well figure them: That he that
preferred Helena, quitted the gifts of Juno and Pallas;
for whosoever esteemeth too much of amorous affection,
quitteth both riches and wisdom. This passion bath his
floods in the very times of xveakness, which are, great pro-
sperity and great adversity, though this latter bath been
less observed; both which times kindle 19ve , and make it
more fervent, and therefore show it to be the child of 5o
folly. They do best who, if they cannot but admit love,
yet make it keep quarter , and sever it wholly from their
serious affairs and actions of life; for if it check t once
with business, it troubleth men's fortunes, and maketh
men that they can no ways be truc to their own ends. I
know not how, but martial men are given to love: I think
it is but as they are given to wine, for perils commonly ask
to be paid in pleasures. There is in man's nature a secret
inclination and motion towards love of others, which, if it
d by how much the more] Lat. quo
magis. Conf. Note on Essay 6,
P. 43.
make it keep quarter] i.e. keep
its proper place. Lat. in ordinem redi-
gunt. French qui font garder à cette
affecttbn son quartier. Con£
Not a man
Shall pass his quarter.'
Timon of Athens, act v. se. 5.
t ifitd, eck] i.e. interfere. Lat. s
se im,nisctat. Con£ ' Suspicions...
cloud the mind, they lose friends,
and they check with business, whereby
business cannot go on currently and
constantly.' Essay 3 r.
î o ESSAY X
be not spent upon some one or a few, doth naturally spread
itself towards many, and maketh men become humane and
charitable, as it is seen sometime in friars. Nuptial love
maketh mankind, friendly love perfecteth it, but wanton
love corrupteth and imbaseth it.
rOTES .42V19 I£LUSTR.4 TIOA'S.
P. 68,1.2. likeaSiren] Conf.,VisdomoftheAncients, xxxi,vhere
Bacon explains the fable of the Sirens as an allegory on the allure-
ments of pleasures. .Vorks, ri. 684.
1.6. great spirits aJtd great bushJess] Vide Paradise Regained,
bk. ii. i49-227, where, in course of a consultation among the poten-
tares of Hell how to tempt Christ, Satan, arguing on the uselessness
of tempting him with women, says htter alia :
'Among the sons of men
How many bave with a smile made small account
Of beauty and ber lures, easily scorned
Ail ber assaults on worthier things intent.
-- He whom we attempt is wiser far
Than Solomon, of more exalted rnind,
Made and set solely on the accomplishment
Of greatest things.'
1.15. a poor sag,htg of Epicun«s] The meaning of tbese words is
singularly perverted here. They are quoted by Seneca, as one of
several authorities in proof that the opinion of the multitude is of
no value or account. 'Egregiè hoc tertium Epicurus, cum uni ex
consortibus studiorum suorum scriberet : Haec, inquit, ego non multis,
sed tibi : salis enht ttnagmnttt aller alteri tIteatrum sumus. Ista, mi
Lucili, condenda in animum sunt, ut contemnas voluptatem ex
pluriurn assensione venientem, bIulti te laudant. Ecquid habes
cur placeas tibi si is es quem multi intelligant ?' Seneca, Ep. vii.
sttbjqttettt. The passage is also quoted in the Advancement of
Learning, where Bacon remarking on a fault commonly incident to
learned men, 'that they fail sometimes in applying thernselves to
particular persons,' adds, 'for itis speech for a lover and not for
a wise man, Salis magnum aller altêri theatrum sumus.' Works, iii.
279.
P. 69, 1. i. the arch flatterer] ' Plato vriteth... The loyer is ordinarily
blinded in the thing that he loveth, unless he bave been taught, yea,
and accustomed long before to affect and esteem things honest
above those that be his own properly, or inbred and familiar to him.
OF LOVE.
This is it that giveth unto a flatterer that large field, under pretence
of friendship, where he hath a fort (as it were) commodiously seated,
and with the vantage to assail and endammage us, and that is Self-
love: whereby every man being the first and greatest flatterer of
himself, he can be very well content to adroit a stranger to corne
near and flatter him, namely, when he thinketh and is well willing
withal to witness with him, and to confirm that good self-conceit,
and opinion of his own.' Plutarch, Morals, p. 69.
The reference to Plato is to the Laws, bk. v. p. 731 D, et seq.
The application of this to the flatterer is Plutarch's own.
Conf. also Essay 2-/: ' There is no such flatterer as a man's self.'
And Essay 53 : ' If he be a cunning flatterer, he will follow the arch-
flatterer, which is a man's self.'
1. 5. it was wdl said] Conf. Publii Syri Fragmenta, De amore
et foeminfi, 3 :
'Amare et sapere vix Deo conceditur.'
And Plutarch, Life of Agesilaus : ' One day when he was driven to
remove in haste on a sudden, and to leave one sick behind him
whom he loved dearly; the sick man calling him by his naine as he
was going his way, besought him that he would not forsake him.
Agesilaus (as Hieronymus the Philosopher reporteth) turned back
again and said : O how hard it is both to love and be wise.' North's
Trans., p. 617.
1. 13. Tie oet's relation]
'Praeposui regnis ego te: quae maxima quondarn
Pollicita est nobis nupta sororque Jovis.
Dumque tuo possem circumdare brachia collo,
Contemta est virtus Pallade dante mihi.'
Ovid, Heroides, xvi. Paris Helenae, 163-166.
1. 22. mabe it beep quarter &c.] Bacon had a good right to give
this advice. His own matrimonial projects were conducted in strict
agreem.ent with it. He appears first, in 1597, as a suitor to Lady
Hatton, a young and vealthy widow, at a time vhen he himself was
in especial need of money. Finding or anticipating difficulties, he
appealed to Essex for help. The terms of his letter are hot those
of a man who suffered love ' to check with business.'--' I brake with
your Lordship myself at the Tower, and I take it my brother hath
since renewed the saine motion, touching a fortune I was in thought
to attempt in genere oeconomico.' 'My suit to your Lordship is for
your several letters to be left with me, dormant, to the gentlevoman
and either of her parents ; wherein I do not doubt but as the beams
of your favour have often dissolved the coldness of my fortune, so
in this argument your Lordship will do the like with your pen.' The
request was complied with, but the suit came to nothing, All that
is known about it is given in Letters and Life, il. 53-55-
7 OE ESSAY XI.
In his next venture he was more successful. The first intimation
which we bave of itis in aletter dated 16o 3 to Robert Lord Cecil, in
which he gives among the reasons that led him to wish tobe
knighted--' I bave found out an alderman's daughter, an handsome
maiden, to my liking.' Letters and Life, iii. 8o. The lady was Alice,
daughter of Alderman Barnham, and co-heiress with ber three
sisters to ber deceased father's estate. After a delay of some years
he was married to ber in the swing of r6o6. Letters and Lire, iii.
29o. The test may be conjectured from a passage in his last will
and testament, dated Dec. I9, I625: 'Whatsoever I bave given,
granted, confirmed or appointed to my wife, in the former part of
this lny will, I do now, for just and great causes, utterly revoke and
make void, and leave ber to ber right only.' Letters and Life, vii.
545.
1. 26. martial men are given fo love] Conf. ",oEr' àvax«iov iv q
Ç òp pç rv rGv àppvv 6gtA[ov p3r Çv v wvat&v avorrot «ara-
bXtot #d« O[ tototot. Arist. Pol. ii. 9, secs. and 8. And--' A
man at arms is always void of ceremony, which is the wall that
stands betxt Piramus and Thisbe, that is man and woman ....
This kind of bashfulness is far from men of valorous disposition and
especially from soldiers: for such are ever men mthout doubt, for-
ward and confident, losing no rime lest they should lose oppouni,
which is the best factor for a loyer,' &c. Valour Anatomized, by
Sir Philip Sidney. Somers' Tracts, i. 4# (2nd edition).
XI.
OF GREAT PLACE.
MvN in great place are thrice servants: servants of the
sovereign or state, servants of lame, and servants of
business; so as they have no freedom, neither in their
persons, nor in their actions, nor in their times. It is
a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty ; or to
seek power over others, and to lose power over a man's
OF GREAT PLACE. 73
self. The rising unto place is laborious, and by pains
men corne to greater pains ; and it is sometimes base, and
by indignities men corne to dignities. The standing is
slippery, and the regress is either a downfall, or at least
an eclipse, which is a melancholy thing: Cure non sis qui
fiteris, non esse cttr vclis vivere. Nay, retire men cannot
when they would, neither will they when it were reason ;
but are impatient of privateness even in age and sickness,
which require the shadow" ; like old townsmen, that will
be still sitting at their street-door, though thereby they ,o
offer age to scorn. Certainly great persons had need to
borrow other men's opinions to think themselves happy;
for if they judge by their own feeling they cannot find it :
but if they think with themselves what other men think of
them, and that other men would fain be as they are, then
they are happy as it were by report, when, perhaps, they
find the contrary within; for they are the first that find
their own griefs, though they be the last that find their-
own faults. Certainly, men in great fortunes are strangers
to themselves, and while they are in the puzzle of business » o
they have no time to tend their health either of body or
mind. Illi mors gravis htcubat, qui itottts nimis otttttibtts,
(Cttottts ntorihtr sibL In place there is license to do good
and evil ; whereof the latter is a ourse : for in evil the best
condition is not to will, the second not to tan «. But
power to do good is the true and lawful end of aspiring ;
for good thoughts (though God accept theml yet towards
men are little better than good dreams, except they be put
the shadow] i. e. an indoor lire, con-
trasted in the next clause with ' sitting
at their street-door.' Conf- ' That bath
hot been softened by an umbratile lire,
still under the roof, but strengthened
by the use of the pure and open air."
Letters and Life, i. 138. And, ' Handi-
craftsmen and they that sit always,
being bred up in the shadow.' Bodin,
Commonweal, v. 5 ,Knolles' trans.).
b the puzzle of business] Lat. durn
negotiis distrahuntur. Fr. la meslée
affaires.
e hot fo ca»] Lat. non posse. In
Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary, fo ca»z
is given as one of the English equi-
valents of possum.. Conf. also,
'He could no skill to tune a harp
nor a violl.' Plutarch, Lires, p.
Il 7.
74 ESSAY XI.
in act; and that cannot be without power and place, as
the vantage and commanding ground. Merit and good
works is the end of man's motion ; and conscience a of the
saine is the accomplishment of man's rest: for if a man
can be partaker of God's theatre e, he shall likewise be
partaker of God's rest. Et conversus Deus, ut aspiceret
opera quac feccrunt mamts suae, vidit quod omnia esscnt bona
thnis; and then the Sabbath.
In the discharge of thy place set before thee the best
,o examples ; for imitation is a globe of precepts t ; and after
a time set before thee thine own example; and examine
thyself strictly whether thou didst not best at first.
Neglect hOt also the examples of those that have carried
themselves iii in the same place ; hOt to set off thyself by
taxing their memory, but to direct thyself what to avoid.
Reform, therefore, without bravery h or scandal of former
1 conscience] i.e. consciousness. Conf.
' The conscience of good intentions,
howsoever succeeding, is a more con-
tinual joy to nature than ail the pro-
vision which can be made for security
and repose.' Works, iii. 423. And,
' The reason why the simpler sort are
moved with authority is the conscience
of their own ignorance.' Hooker,
Eccles. Polity, bk. ii. cap. , sec. .
e tan bepa¢aker of Goars/boa/re] i.e.
if a man can see, as God saw, that the
works which his hands have made are
very good. As the Sabbath, the day
of test, was the close of God's work, so
will it be with the man who has worked
after the same model. Bacon's prayer,
called by him ' The Writer's Prayer,'
follows the saine line of thought, but
instead of'theatre' uses the word
'vision,' thus marking the sense in
which 'theatre' is here tobe under-
stood. 'Wherefore if we labour in
thy works with the sweat of our
brows, thou wilt make us partakers
of thy Vision and thy Sabbath.'
Vorks, vil 26o. The saine passage
occurs, almost word for word, in the
Latin, at the close of the Distribu-
tio Operis: Quare M fn operibus
luis suda&'mus, racles nos visionis
tuae et Sabbali gui partidpes. Works,
i. x45.
t a globe ofbrecqbts] i.e. a compact
condensed mass.
taxing teir nemor] i.e. finding
fault with. Lat. eorum memoriam
carendo. Conf. ' In common speech,
(which leaves no virtue untaxed,)he
was called c_vmini 8ector.' Work, iii.
305- And, 'We, as Cato inveighed
against Isocrates" scholars, may justly
tax our wrangling lawyers--they do
conseneseere in iitibus, are so litigious
and busie here on earth that I think
they will plead their clients' causes
hereafter, some of them, in hell.'
Burtol, Anat. of bIelancholy (I837),
vol. i. p. 73-
without bravery] i.e. ostentation ;
bravado. Lat. sine elatione tui ipds.
Conf. ' Such as love business rather
upon conscience than upon bravery.'
Essay 36.
OF GREAT PLACE. 75
times and persons ; but yet set it down to thyself, as well
to create good precedents as to follow them. Reduce
things to the first institution, and observe wherein and how
they have degenerated ; but yet ask counsel of both times ;
of the ancient time what is best, and of the latter time
what is fittest. Seek to make thy course regular, that
men may know beforehand what they may expect; but
be not too positive i and peremptory ; and express thyself
xvell when thou digressest from thy fuie. Preserve the
right of thy place, but stir not questions ofjurisdiction; and lO
rather assume thy right in silence and de facto, than voice
it t' with claires and challenges. Preserve |ikewise the
rights of inferior places; and think it more honour to
direct in chier than to be busy in ail. Embrace and invite
helps and advices touching the execution of thy place;
and do not drive away such as bring thee information as
meddlers, but accept of them in good part.
The vices of authority are chiefiy four: delays, corruption,
roughness, and facility 1. For delays, give easy access;
keep times appointed ; go through with that which is in 2o
hand, and interlace not business but of necessity. For
corruption, do not only bind thine own hands or thy
servants' hands from taking, but bind the hands of suitors
also from offering; for integrity used doth the one; but
integrity professed, and with a manifest detestation of
bribery, doth the other; and avoid not only the fault, but
the suspicion. Whosoever is round variable, and changeth
manifestly without manifest cause, giveth suspicion of
corruption: therefore, always when thou changest thine
opinion or course, profess it plainly, and declare it, together 3o
with the reasons that move thee to change, and do not think
lositive] Lat. lerlinax.
voiceit] i.e. assert it openly. The
Latin here transposes noun and veb,
cure strelMtu susdtes. For word, conf.
The more ancient form» which was
to voice the Parliament to be for some
other business of estate,' Letters and
Life, iv. 372.
i facility] i. e. over-readiness to yield,
weakness,
7 6 ESSAY XI.
to steal it = A servant or a favourite, if he be inward
and no other apparent cause of esteem, is commonly
thought but a by-way to close corruption. For roughness,
it is a needless cause of discontent: severity breedeth
fear, but roughness breedeth hate. Even reproofs from
authority ought to be grave, and hOt taunting. As for
facility, it is worse than bribery ; for bribes come but now
and then; but if importunity or idle respects ° lead a man,
he shall never be without; as alomon saith, 7"o respect
olbersons is hot good ; for such a man will transgress for
a lbiece of brcad.
It is most true that was anciently spoken; A place
showeth lhe man ; and it showeth some to the better and
some to the worse: Omnhmt consensu capax imperii, nisi
hnpc»asset, saith Tacitus of Galba; but of Vespasian he
saith, Soh«s hnpcranli», Vestasianus mutalus m mehns ;
though the one was meant of sufficiency, the other
of manners and affection. It is an assured sign of a
worthy and generous spirit, whom honour amends; for
2ohonour is or should be the place of virtue; and as in
nature things move violently to their place and calmly in
their place, so virtue in ambition is violent, in authority
settled and calm. Ail rising to great place is by a winding
stair; and if there be factions, it is good to side a man's
self pwhilst he is in the rising, and to balance himself
when he is placed. Use the memory of thy predecessor
fairly and tenderly; for if thou dost hOt, it is a debt will
m to stcal it] i.e. to do it stealthily.
Lat. neque rem suffuraH te osse ¢mdas.
Confi ' "Twere good, methinks, to steal
out marriage.' Taming of the Shrew,
act iii. sc. 2.
n inward] i.e. intimate, confidential.
Lat. apud domhmm potens. Fr. ton
intime. Confl ' Applieng mel[" to be
inward w th my . Doett, Cham-
ter$ od utilit, testam.' Lette and
Lge, iv. . 'Secrecy, on e other
side, induceth trust and inwardness.'
Works, iii. 46o.
o respects] i. e. preference or regard
for persons, as the next clause
shovs.
to side a man's self] Lat. alten
parti adhaerere. Conf. ' 1Mean men in
their rising must adhere .... Kings
had need beware how they side them-
selves, and make themselves as of a fac-
tion or party.' Essay 51.
OF GREAT PLACE. 77
sure be paid when thou art gone. If thou have colleagues,
respect them; and rather call them when they look hot
for it, than exclude them when they have reason to look
to be called. Be not too sensible or too remembering
of thy place in conversation and private answers to suitors ;
but let it rather be said, lVhen he sits in place, he is another
_/''OTES AND f LLUSTRA TI'ONS.
P. 72, 1. 5. to seek power and o lose liberty] Conf. ' Caesari quoque
ipsi, cul omnia licent, propter hoc ipsum multa non licent. Omnium
domos illius vigilia defendit, omnium otium illius labor, omnium
delicias iIlius industria, omnium vacationem illius occupatio. Ex quo
se Caesar orbi terrarum dedicavit, sibi eripuit; et siderum modo,
quae irrequieta semper cursus suos explicant, nunquam illi licet nec
subsistere nec quicquam suum facere.' Seneca, Consol. ad Polybium,
cap. 26 (p. 95
P. 73, l. 5. Cure non sis &c.] Cicero, Epistolarum ad Diversos lib. vii.
3: 'Mortem mihi cur consciscerem, causa nulla visa est: cur
optarem, multae. Vetus est enim, ubi non sis qui fi«eris, non esse
relis z'vere: This was written after the battle of Pharsalia and the
ruin of the cause with which Cicero had at that time identified
himself.
1. . Illi mors gravis &c.] Seneca, Thyestes, act II. 4o2.
1. 28. good dreams] Conf. ' I fear you will think all our discgurses
to be but the better sort of dreams ; for good wishes, without power
to effect, are not much more.' Works, vil 18.
P. 74, l. 6. Et conversus &c.] Genesis i.3I, Ioosely quoted from the
Vulgate. Mr. Spedding compares the passage quoted in the foot-
notes from the Distributio Operis with St. Augustine's prayer at the
dose of the Confessions: 'Domine Deus pacem da nobis (omnia
enim praestitisti nobis), pacem quietis, pacem Sabbati, Sabbati sine
vespera. Omnis quippe iste ordo pulcherrimus rerum valde bona-
rum modis suis peractis transiturus est, et marie quippe in eis factum
est et vespera. Dies autem septimus sine vespera est, nec habet
occasum, quia sanctificasti eum ad permansionem sempiternam, ut id
quod tu post opera tua bona valde, quamvis ea quietus feceris, re-
quievisti septimo die, hoc praeloquatur nobis vox libri tui, quod et
nos post opera nostra, ideo bona valde quia tu nobis ea donasti,
sabbato vitae aeternae requiescamus in te.' Conf. xiii. 35-6.
P. 75, 1. 5- ofthe ancient time &c.] Bacon's meaning is that although
the first institution may be the best absolutely, yet the degenerated new
78 ESSAY XI.
form may be the fittest relatively to the time into which it has sur-
vived, and to the surroundings which have grown up about it.
Conf. 'It is true that what is settled by custom, though it be not
good, yet at least it is fit : and those things which have long gone
together are, as it were, confederate within themselves ; whereas
new things piece not so well.' Essay 2 4.
1. o. stir hot questions of juHsdiction.] Conf. what Bacon says in
his Essay on Judicature (56}, of'those that engage courts in quarrels
of jurisdiction and are not truly amici curiae, but parasiti curiae, in
puffing a court up beyond ber bounds for their own scraps and
advantage,' and note on passage.
1. i2. Preserve likewise &c.] Plutarch in his Precepts of Policy
insists on this. Conf. ' Like as good Patrons or Masters ofa ship lay
their own hands to some businesse, but others they performe sitting
themselves afar off by the meanes of their tools and instruments
and by the hands of other servants; . . . even so ought a xvise
Governour of the Commonwealth to yield now and then unto others
the honour of command .... and not to move all matters belonging to
the state by his own personal speeches nor by his decrees, sentences,
acts, and as it were xvith his own hanàs execute everything, but to
bave about him faithful and trusty persons to be his ministers,'
&c.. &c.
This he illustrates by the case of Metiochus, a follower and
favounte of Pericles, 'who making use of his authority out of measure
and compasse, by the countenance thereof, would employ himself in
ail public charges and commissions whatsoever, until at the last he
became contemptible and despised ;' and by the case of Timesias the
Clazomenean, who, he says, 'was otherwise a good man and a suffi-
cient Politician, howbeit little xvist he how he was envied in the city,
because he would seem to do everything by himselfe, untill such rime
as there befell unto him such an accident as this. There chanced to
be playing in the midst of a street, as he passed by, a company of
boies, and their game was who could drive with a eudgell a certaine
cockall bone out of a hole. Some boies there were who held that the
bone lay still within, but he who had smitten it maintained the con-
trary, and said withall, I would I had as well dash'd out Timesias'
braines out of his head as I am sure this bone was smitten out of the
hole. Timesias overheard this word, and knowing thereby what
envy and malice all the people bare unto him, returning home
presently to his house, and told his wife the whole matter, command-
ing her to truss and pack up ail both bag and baggage, and to follow
after him; xvho immediately went out of doores, and departed for
ever out of the city Clazomene.' Holland's Trans., p. 3oo.
P. 76, 1. 9- Salomon sailh] Prov. xxviii. 21. The text is quoted and
remarked on, as here, in the Advancement of Learning : ' Qui cognos-
OF GREAT PLACE. 79
cit in judicio faciem, non bene facit ; iste et pro buccella partis deseret
veritatem.' Here is noted that ' a judge were better be a briber than a
respecter of persons ; for a corrupt judge offendeth hot so lightly as
a facile.' Works, iii. 45 o. And somewhat more fully in the De Aug.
Scient. : ' Prudentissime notat Parabola in judice magis perniciosam
esse facilitatem morum quant corruptelam munerum. Munera enim
haudquaquam ab omnibus deferuntur; at vix ulla est causa, in qua
non inveniatur aliquid quod flectit judicis animum si personas respi-
ciat.' Works, i. "/63.
1. I2. A place showeth the man] A saying of disputed authorship.
Harpocration, in his Lexicon, citing it as used by Demosthenes, says
that Sophocles in his elegies ascribes it to Solon, but that Theo-
phrastus, in his collection of proverbs, and Aristotle, ascribe it to
Bias. Vide 'Ap8
&«t. Demosthenes, Prooemia Demegofica, p. z455. (Reiske's ed.
The Sophocles referred to by Harpocration is the second Sopho-
cles, the grandson ofthe eat dçamatist. His elees are hot extant.
Theophrastus' collection of proveçbs is also hOt extant.
ristotle's on]y known reference to it occu in EtS. Nicom. bk. v.
cap. 3 (or z), sec. z6 :
p« &«=" p po 7&p ««i £ «o,=iç Ç pX=. But that ris-
totle a]so made a collection of proverbs appears from a passage in
«poti« dpo[««,. This gives more weight to the passage in the
Ethics than would belong to it as an obi/er dictum.
Vide also Diogenes Laertius, lib. i. sec. 77, where, iting of
Pittacus, he says, El;
]t occurs among the 'Proverbia Diogeniani,' with no authorship
assigned : "Apx 5p«
=. Cent. iii. 94 in Gaisford's Paroemiogphi Graeci.
Plutarch refers to it in his comparison of Cicero with Demosthenes :
'But nothing sheweth a man% nature and condition more (as it is
reed and it is te) than when one is in authority: fo tht
bewrayeth his humour and the affections of his mind, and layeth open
al ail his secret vices in him.' Lires, North's Trans., p. 3. And
again, in his Precepts of Policy: ' Eminondas ..... when his adver-
saries and ill-willers upon en had caused him to be chosen a baylife
and receiver of the citie revenues, thereby to do him a spight and
shrewd turne ; he did hOt despise and thinke basely of the said oce :
80 ESSAY XI.
but saying, that hot only Magistracy sheweth what manner of man
one is, but also a man sheweth what the Magistracy is, he brought
that office into great dignity and reputation, which before was in no
credit and account at ail.' Holland's Trans., p. 299. Easmus includes
it in the Adagia, sub voce Ivlagistratus virum indicat. He quotes
in his remarks upon ita passage from the Antigone, ll. i75-I77, to
the saine general effect :
vX}v ' rai p6Wll.ta rai 7,tl.tVv
àpxai v« ral »o«u v'rptll ça.
Suidas quotes the proverb and explains it as
remarks are an impeffect copy of Harpocration. Guicciardini, from
whom Bacon quotes eloewhere, concludes his Istofia d'Italia with 'è
vessimo e degno di somma laude quel proverbio, che il Mastmto
fa moeifesto il valore di chi l'esercita.'
1. r 4. @mb«m «oasensu &c.] Tacitus, Hist. i. 49-
1. 6. Solus imeranlium &c.] 'Ambia de Vespasiano lama;
solusque omnium ante se pdncipum in meHus mutatus est.' Tacitus,
Hist. i.
Con£ ' Tacitus obseeth how rarely ising of the foune mendeth
the disposition : Solus Vespasianus mutatus in melius.' çorks, iii. 436.
1. 9. a,twm ilo,our ame,ds] This is given grammatically in the
Latin, d quis konoribus otendatur.
1. . as iu na¢ure &c.] So in the Advancement of Learning : ' It
is no mael though the soul so placed enjoy no test, if that principle
be te that 3lo¢t«s rerum est raidus extra loa«m, fladdus in loto: On
the truth and value of this pfinciple Bacon himself pronounces,
Sdtola ¢ommutis satis ttabel, si rupture naluraktn a vioknto distin«at :
el graz,ia desttm, l[a surm«m r»ex motu nalurah" romot}L
en«m anm, r@ciut# ad »hiioso)hiam htusmodi sadationes. Ista
enim nahtra, ars, violenlia, comendia verrtmt sunt et m«gae. Works,
ifi. rtS.
1.23. H risiug &c.] ConE 'There is rarely any fising but by a
commixture of good and evil arts.' Essay 4-
P. 77, 1. 4- Be not too sensible &c.] The Latin omits ' to suitors' and
thus makes unexceptionable what appels in the English as a some-
what questionable le. Ne sis loti lui tbtfs memor aut crebram de eo
mentionot fadas Or quolidianis sermonibus aut conersalione
ConL King James' advice to his son in the Basilicon Doron, bk. il :
' Remember also to put a difference beveen your forme of lane
in reasoning, and your pronouncing of sentences or declaration of
your 11 in judent or any other waies in the points of your office.
.... The like foe would also be obseed by MI your infeour
Judges and Magisttes.'
OF BOLDNESS. 8i
XII.
OF BOLDNESS.
IT is a trivial grammar-school text, but yet worthy a wise
man's consideration. Question was asked of Demosthenes,
,/tat was t/te c/ticf bart of an orator ? he ansvered, Action :
what next ?--.,4ction : what next again ?--.,4ction. He said
it that knew it best, and had by nature himself no ad-
vantage in that he commended. A strange thing, that
that part of an orator which is but superficial, and rather
the virtue of a player, should be placed so high above
those other noble parts of invention, elocution, and the
rest; nay almost alone, as if it were all in all. But the o
reason is plain. There is in human nature generally more
of the fool than of the wise; and therefore those faculties
by which the foolish part of men's minds is taken are most
potent. Wonderful like is the case of boldness in civil
business; what first ? boldness; what second and third ?
boldness: and yet boldness is a child of ignorance and
baseness, far inferior to other parts: but, nevertheless, it
doth fascinate, and bind hand and foot those that are
either shallow in judgment or weak in courage, which are
the greatest part; yea, and prevaileth with ,vise men at o
weak times. Therefore we see it hath done wonders in
popular states, but with senates and princes less; and
more ever upon the first entrance of bold persons into
action than soon aiter; for boldness is an ill keeper of
promise. Surely as there are mountebanks for the natural
body, so are there mountebanks for the politic body; men
that undertake great cures, and perhaps have been lucky
in tvo or three experiments, but ,vant the grounds of
science, and therefore cannot hold out. Nay, you shall
see a bold fello,v many times do Mahomet's miracle. 30
Mahomet ruade the people believe that he would call
a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers
8 ESSAY XII.
for the observers of his law. The people assembled:
Mahomet ealled the bill to corne to hirn again and again ;
and when the hill stood still, he was never a whit abashed,
but said, If the bill will hot corne fo Mahomet, Mahomet will
go to the bill. So these men, when they have promised
great matters and failed rnost shamefuIIy, yet (if they have
the perfection of boldness they will but slight it over, and
make a turn a, and no more ado. Certainly, to men of great
judgment, bold persons are a sport to behold ; nay, and to
xo the vulgar also boldness hath somewhat of the ridiculous ;
for if absurdity be the subjeet of laughter, doubt you hOt
but great boldness is seldorn without sorne absurdity.
Especially it is a sport to see when a bold fellow is out
of eountenance, for that puts his face into a most shrunken
and wooden posture, as needs it must; for in bashfulness
the spirits do a little go and corne; but with bold men,
upon like occasion, they stand at a stay'; like a stale at
chess, where it is no mate, but yet the game eannot stir.
But this last were fitter for a satire than for a serious
2o observation. This is well to be weighed, that boldness is
ever blind; for it seeth not dangers and ineonveniences:
therefore it is ill in counsel, good in exeeution ; so that the
right use of bold persons is, that they never cornmand in
ehief, but be seeonds and under the direction of others;
for in eounsel it is good to see dangers, and in execution
hOt to see thern except they be very great.
rOTS AiVZ) ILLUSTRA TIO)VS.
P. 81, 1. I. If is] For this use of the pronoun with its noun in a
subsequent sentence, conf. ' It is but a light thing to be vouched in so
serious a matter &c., &c.' in Essay 3-
make a turn] i.e. take up a new
position. Lat. se vertet.
they stand at a May] Lat. audace,
attoniti ha¢rent. The comparison which
follows seems intended to ilitrate the
mental attitude of the man who has to
make a more of some kind, but bas
no more which he can make, and
whose face expresses his embarras
ment.
OF BOLDNESS. 8
1. 2. Question was asked &c.] Cicero relates this several rimes,
and endorses and explains it at length. Plutarch also relates it in
his Lires of the Ten Orators. Quintilian varies it by putting pro-
nuntiatio instead of actio, but he extends pronm#ialio to include
manner of delivery, just as Cicero extends actio to include voice.
Conf. 'Actio, inquam, in dicendo una dominatur. Sine bac summus
orator esse in numero nullo potest: mediocris, hac instructus,
summos saepe superare. Huic primas dedisse Demosthenes dicitur,
quum rogaretur, quid in dicendo esset primum ; huic secundas ; huic
tertias.' De Oratore iii. 56. sec. 23. And, ' Sed quum haec magna in
Antonio, tutu actio singularis: quae si partienda sit in gestum atque
vocem; gestus erat non verba exprimens sed cure sententiis con-
gruens: manus, humeri, latera, supplosio pedis, status, incessus,
omnisque motus cure verbis sententiisque consentiens ; vox perma-
nens, verum subrauca natura. Sed hoc vitium huic uni in bonum
convertebat... Ut verum videretur in hoc illud quod Demosthenem
ferunt ei, qui quaesivisset quid primum esset in dicendo, actionem ;
quid secundum, idem, et idem tertium respondisse. Nulla res magis
penetrat in animos, eosque fingit, format, flectit : talesque oratores
videri facit quales ipsi se videri volunt.' Brutus IDe Claris Oratori-
bus) xxxviii. 4 I. And ' Quo modo autem dicatur, id est in duobus, in
agendo et in eloquendo. Est enim actio quasi corporis quaedam
eloquentia, quum constet e voce atque motu ..... ut jam non sine
caussa Demosthenes tribuerit et primas, et secundas et tertias ac-
tioni. Si enim eloquentia nulla sine bac, haec autem sine eloquentia,
tanta est, cette plurimum in dicendo potest.' Orator. xvii. 55, 56.
Plutarch, in his Lires of the Ten Orators, writes: ' One day he chanced
to be out and his memory to fail him, so that he was hissed at by the
people in a great assembly of the City :... Eunomus the Thrasian,
being now an ancient man, met with him, who cheered up Demos-
thenes and comforted him ail he could ; but most of all Andronicus
the stage'player ; who said unto him: That his orationswere as good
as possibly might be, only he was wanting somewhat in action (Gk.
r«pL«L*) ; and thereupon rehearsed certain places out of his oration,
which he had delivered in that frequent assembly: unto whom
Demosthenes gave good ear and credit, whereupon he betook him-
self unto Andronicus: insomuch as aftervards when he was de-
manded the question which was the first point of eloquence, he
answered, Action ; vhich the second, he ruade answer, Action ; and
which was the third, he said, Action, still.' Morals, p. 764. Conf.
also ' Pronuntiatio a plerisque actio dicitur, sed prius nomen a voce,
sequens a gestu videtur accipere; namque actionem Cicero alias
quasi sertonot, alias eioqt«otliam qt«antdam corlboris dicit : idem tamen
duas ejus pattes facit quae sunt eaedem pronuntiationis, vocem arque
motum : quapropter utraque appellatione indifferenter uti licet. Habet
G_O.
84 ESSAY XII.
autem res ipsa miram quamdam in orationibus viro ac potestatem :
neque tare refert qualia sint quae intra nosmet ipsos composuimus
quam quo modo efferantur .... Equidem vel moderatam orationem,
commendatam viribus actionis, afiïrmaverim plus habituram esse
momenti, quam optimam eadem illa destitutam, siquidem et Demos-
thenes quid esset m loto genere dicendi primum, interrogatus pronun-
tiationi palmam dedit, eidemque se«ndum ac tertium locum, donec
ab eo quaeri desineret : ut eam videri posset non praecipuam sed
solam judicasse.' Quintilian, Instit. Orat. lib. xi. 3.
1.5. had by nature &c.] Conf. ' At the first, beginning to practise
Oratory .... he had a very soft voice, an impediment in his tongue,
and had also a short breath, the which ruade that men could hot well
understand what he meant, for his long periods in his oration were
oftentimes interrupted, before he was at the end of his sentence.'
Plutarch's Lives {North's trans.), p. 847. ' For his bodily defects of
nature.., he did helpe them by these meanes. First touching the
stammering of his toung, which was very fat, and made him that he
cou]d hot pronounce ail syllables distinctly: he did helpe it by
putting of little pibble stones into his mouth, which he found upon
the sands by the river's side, and so pronounced with open mouth
the orations he had without booke. And for his smal] and sort voice,
he ruade that louder by running up steepe and high hils, uttering even
with full breath some orations or verses that he had without booke.
And further it is reported of him, that he had a great 1oo "king-glasse
in his house, and ever standing on his feet before it, he would learne
and exercise himselfe to pronounce his orations.' p. 849.
]. IO. But tie reason is plain &c.] Aristotle remarks on the sub-
ject very much as Bacon does. Tpl,-ov ,-o[a'¢av, (n'«p} rflç 3,i¢caç)
rd0o.... Tà mv" ovv" lOXa aXev l vv àvvoro, AapBvova, v, ca} aOd-
àgpoaToJ poxgÇpav .... Ka' vv r o[ oXol TV da«ev ro6ç
o[ovrat *aXda$a* KOEXA*ffra. Toro ' o« «rv. Rhet. lib. iii. cap. I.
]. x 5. a,llatflrst? boid»e &c.] The reader Sll be rendoe of
Danton's well-known words, 'Il nous faut de l'audace, encore de
l'audace, toujours de l'audace.' See close of Danton's speech to the
&ssembly in Sept. i792. Louis Blan G Histoire de la Révolution
Française, vol. 7, P- a48.
1. 17. it doti, fasdnte &c.] Conf. ' De &ug. Scient. Dici possit de
jactantia (nisi plane deformis fuefit et ridicula), &udacter te vendit
semper Miquid haeret. Haerebit cee apud popu]um, licet pru,
OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE. 85
dentiores subrideant. Itaque existimatio parta apud plurimos pau-
corum fastidium abunde compensabit.' Works, i. 78o.
1. 2i. wonders in popular Mates] So Aristagoras of Miletus failed
to persuade Cleomenes to attack Persia and give aid to the Ionian
revoit ; but when he came to Athens he carried the people with him
by his boundless promises and assurances of easy success, l'ioXXob
îàp oK vaL nrrrpov La[3v Ç ïa, d Koa Aaa-
olÇ«« oro. Herod. v. cap. 97.
P. 82, l. i& lhe sirils do a lile corne and go] For Bacon's theo
about the spirits as physical entities, de note on Essay 9-
l. . boldne is eer li Conf. ' There is also eat use of am-
bitious men in being screens to princes in matters of danger and
en : for no man will take thm pari except he be like a seeled dove,
that mounts and mounts because he cannot see about him.' Essay 36.
XIII.
OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE.
I TAKE goodness in this sense, the affecting" of the
weal of men, which is that the Grecians call philanthropia;
and the word humanity (as it is used)is a little too light
to express it. Goodness I call the habit, and goodness
of nature the inclination. This, of all virtues and dignities
of the mind, is the greatest, being the character of the
Deity: and without it man is a busy, mischievous, vretched
thing, no better than a kind of vermin. Goodness answers
to the theological virtue charity, and admits no excess
but error. The desire of power in excess caused the o
angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused
man to fall ; but in charity there is no excess, neither can
the affeaing] i.e. the having a love
for. Conf. «Use also such men as
affect the business ",vherein they are
employed, for that quickeneth much.'
Essay 47.
admits no excess but error] The
Latin avoids the verbal ambiguity
of the English. Neque excessum
quidem calbit » aberrationem autem
pattur.
86 ESSAY XIII.
angel or man corne in danger by it. The inclination to
goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man ; inso-
much that if it issue hot towards men it will take unto
other living creatures ; as it is seen in the Turks, a cruel
people, who nevertheless are kind to beasts, and give
altos to dogs and birds; insomuch as e, Busbechius re-
porteth, a Christian boy in Constantinople had like to
have been stoned for gagging in a waggishness a long-
billed fowl. Errors, indeed, in this virtue of goodness
o or chavity may be committed. The Italians have an
ungracious proverb, Tanto buon clte val niotte: So good,
that he is good for tothittg : and one of the doctors of
Italy, Nicholas Macciavel, had the confidence to put in
writing, almost in plain terres, That the Christian faith
had gtvot ttt good mot ht proE lo lhose tha! are O,ramtical
atd tmjttsl; which he spake because, indeed, there was
never laxv or sect or opinion did so much magnify good-
ness as the Christian religion doth. Therefore, to avoid
the scandal and the danger both, it is good to take know-
o ledge of the errors of an habit so excellent. Seek the
good of other men, but be not in bondage to their faces
or fancies ; for that is but facility or softness, which taketh
an honest mind prisoner. Neither give thou Aesop's cock
a gem, who xvould be better pleased and happier if he had
had a barley-corn. The example of God teacheth the
lesson truly; l-le scndcth his raht, and Itaket]t his sttt
fo shhte upon the jttst and tmjttst ; but he doth not rain
xvealth, nor shine honour and virtues upon men equally.
Common benefits are to be communicate v«ith all, but
.o peculiar benefits with choice. And beware a how in
making the portraiture thou breakest the pattern; for
divinity maketh the love of ourselves the pattern; the
« as] = that. love to a neighbour should be the copy
d And beware iow &c.] i.e. Do not or portraiture. The Latin gives, very
so show love to a neighbour as to put clearly, Cave autenz ne, dura e.ffiKie»t
out of office that self-love, of which ctdoas» arciet.)um d«struas.
OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE. 8 7
love of our neighbours but the portraiture. Scll all
thou hast, and give it fo the poor, and follow me : but sell
not all thou hast except thou corne and follow me ; that is,
except thou have a vocation wherein thou mayest do
as much good with little means as with great, for other-
wise, in feeding the streams, thou driest the fountain.
Neither is there only a habit of goodness directed by right
reason but there is in some men, even in nature, a
disposition towards it; as, on the other side, there is
a natural malignity: for there be that in their nature do
not affect the good of others. The lighter sort of malignity
turneth but to a crossness, or frowardness, or aptness to
oppose, or difficileness, or the like; but the deeper sort
to envy and mere mischief. Such men in other men's
calamities, are, as it ,vere, in season, and are ever on the
loading part e : not so good as the dogs that licked Lazarus'
sores, but like files that are still buzzing upon anything
that is raw; misanthropi, that make it their practice to
bring men to the bough r, and yet have never a tree for
the purpose in their gardens, as Timon had. Such
dispositions are the very errors of human nature, and
yet they are the fittest tituber to make great politics -" of;
like to knee h timber, that is good for ships that are
ordained to be tossed, but not for building houses that
* on the Ioading part] i.e. they ever
take the side which loads or presses
and so adds to the weight of a calamity.
Lat. casque (sc. cala»itates) sozper ag-
gravant. So Bacon defends a pro-
posed amendment of the law on the
ground that" it is on the favourable part,
for it easeth, it presseth hot.' Letters
and Lire, i. 66. For loading, conf.
' "Tis a cruelty
To load a falling man.'
King Henry VIII, act v. sc. .
t to the bough] Lat. ad suspendii
ramuva. 8o Blackstone. states among
the diztinguishing points of the tenure
in gavelkind that the estate does hot
escheat in case of an attainder and
execution for felony: their maxim
being "the father to the bough, the
son to the plough."' Commentaries,
bk. ii. ch. 6.
gr¢atpolitics] i.e. great politicians.
..%0 passim.
knee ti»ber] ' A knee is a piece of
tituber growing crooked, and so cat
that the trunk and branch make an
angle.' Quoted in Johnso,'s Dictionary
from Moxon's llechanical Exercises.
Lat. si»tilia it'gnis itcurvis. Fr. le bois
courb
88 ESSAY XIII.
shall stand firm. The parts and signs of goodness are
many. If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers,
it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart
is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that
joins to them. If he be compassionate towards the afflic-
tions of others, it shows that his heart is like the noble
tree that is wounded itself when it gives the balm. If
he easily pardons and remits offences, it shows that his
mind is planted above injuriesi, so that he cannot be shot.
If he be thankful for small benefits, it shows that he
weighs men's minds and hot their trash k. But above all,
if he have St. Paul's perfection, that he would wish to be
an anathema from Christ for the salvation of his brethren,
it sho»vs much of a divine nature, and a kind of conformity
with Christ himself.
2VO TES .4ND [ZLUSTR4 TIOIVS.
P. 8.5, !. 4. habit--htclitmtion] This is a special instance of the
wider Aristotelian distinction between çvoE àp«rq and 0 ào«rq or
dV« V;. Conf. fioE, h v od &aoE« rv Ov @X« çoE« "
'H " gt 6ola oloEa rdÇ g«rat «vpi àp«rÇ x.rA. Eth. Nicom. . x 3.
1. o. The desire of power &c.] Conf. note on Essay 3, PP. 3o & 3.
P. 86, 1.4- lhe Turks &c.] Busbequius (a scholar and diplomatist of
the sixteenth centu) gives va6ous instances of the ndness of the
Turks to animais. They make pets of their horses: they do hot
exactly give altos to dogs, as Bacon says, but they collect heaps of
garbage for them to eat : they resent ail celty to animais of ail sos.
He tells a sto of a cat settling itself to sleep on the sleeve of
Mahomet's dress. When the time came for public prayers, Mahomet
cut off his sleeve so as hOt to disturb the cat. When Busbec taxed
them with being kinder to animais than to men, the answer was,
'concessam homini a Deo rationem, egregium ad omnia instrumentum,
t above injuries &e.] Lat. supra m-
3i«rmrum jactum et teia.
trash] used, contempmously, for
goods or money. Lat. ardn.
Conf.
' I had rather coin my hea
And drop my blood for drachmas
than to wring
From the hard hands of peasants
their vile trash
By any indirection.
Julius Coesar» act iv. sc. 3-
OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE. 8 9
qua tamen ille abutatur, sic ut nihil ei cadat incommodi quod non
sua culpa contraxerit; idcirco rninore rnisericordia dignum. At
brutis nihil a Deo tributurn praeter quosdam motus et appetitus
naturales, quos non sequi non possint : ideoque hurnana ope et
commiseratione sublevandos.' Bacon's story from Busbequius is
given incorrectly in several points. The offender was hot a Christian
boy but aurifex Venetus: that he had like to have been stoned is
Bacon's gloss : finally the bird was hot a long-billed fowl, but a short-
billed fowl with a prodigiously wide gape. The goldsmith, Busbe-
quius says, had caught a bird 'coccygis rnagnitudine atque ejusdern
ferè coloris, non rnagno quidern rostro sed faucibus ita vastis et
patentibus ut cum diducerentur prodigiosè hiarent ..... Avern januae
suae supero limini passis alis affigit, faucibus ita bacillo deductis ut
immensum hiarent ..... Turcae consistebant suspiciebantque, sed
ubi rnoveri avern et vivere anirnadverterent, in rrniserationem versi,
clamant indignum facinus innocentem avern sic discruciari, aurificem
domo evocant, arrepturnque obtorto collo trahunt ad judicem rerurn
capitalium; jamque in eo res erat ut rnalè verberibus acciperetur,
cure a Bailo Veneto ..... quidam intervertit qui horninern repeteret,
quem a benevolo et favente judice, tarnen prementibus reliquis
Turcis, vix impetrat.' Busbequius had the story from the man hirn-
self, and saw the bird. He thought it a caprirnulgus, or goat-sucker.
Conf. Legationis Turcicae Epistolae, Ep. iii.
The Latin version of the Essays avoids rnost of the inaccuracies of
the English: Adeo ut (referente B««sbeqaio) aurife: quidam l/»tetus,
Byzantii agens, vix furorem populi effugerit, quod avis ojasdam, rostri
oblongi, fauces h,serto baculo diduxisseL
1.9. Errors, htdeea r] So Aristotle, in the passage referred to
above, says of the dpvat«al àp«rat : "2«rr«p tart iaXvp a«v g¢/«
Eth. Nicorn. ri. 13.
1. m. one of the doctors of Ita] The Latin omits these words.
The Italian gives in their place, qtwl et»tpfo Niccol llachievdlo. The
reference is to the Discourses on Livy. ' La religione nostra ha
glorificato più gli uornini urnili e contemplativi, che gli attivi. Ha
dipoi posto il sommo bene nella urniltà, new abiezione, e nel dispre-
gio delle cose umane ; ..... E se la Religione nostra richiede che
abbia in te fortezza, vuole che tu sia atto a patire piia che a fare una
cosa forte. Questo rnodo di vivere adunque pare ch' abbia renduto il
mondo debole, e datolo in preda agli uomini scellerati, i quali sicura-
mente 1o possono rnaneggiare, veggendo corne l'universalità degli
uomini per andare in Paradiso pensa più a sopportar le sue battiture,
che a vendicarle.' Lib. il. cap. z.
The passage, it will be seen, does not bear out Bacon's remarks
upon it. Machiavelli speaks of Christianity, hot as rnagnifying good-
90 ESSAY XIII.
ness, but as making men indifferent to worldly affairs by proposing
other objects as more deserving regard. Christianity, he says
further, is not to be held accountable for this--' nasce senza dubbio
dalla viltà degli uomini, che hanno interpretato la nostra Religione
secondo l'ozio e non secondo la virtù.'
1. "26. 11e sende/h his raht] Matthew v. 5.
P. 87, 1. I. Sell ai1 thou hast] Mark x.
1. 2. sdl hot ail &c.] This rule seems to have been suggested by a
passage of Thomas Aquinas : ' Ad primum ergo dicendum quod in
illis verbis Domini aliquid ponitur quasi via ad perfectionem; hoc
scilicet quod dicitur, l'ade, rende onmia quae habes et da pauperibus ;
aliquid autem subditur in quo perfectio consistit, scilicet quod dicit, et
sequere me ..... Ex ipso modo loquendi apparet quod consilia sunt
quaedam instrumenta perveniencli ad perfectionem, dura dicitur, si
vis Pe»reclus esse, vade rende &c. quasi dicat, hoc faciendo ad hunc
finem pervenies.' Aquinas, in the saine Article, lays down that the
counsels of highest perfection are not obligatory on ail men. Vide
Summ. Theolog. Secunda Secundae, Quaest. x84, Art. iii.
1.7. N«ither is there only &c.] This is distinctly Aristotelian.
Conf. 'E4. - ;O,«c c &rrl ,',;/), ' t*«v àp,r; çvo-,,, - ', «vi,,, cci
rotortot, ç dppdwqo'ç o'rtt,. Eth. Nicom. vi. x3-
1. 9. yet bave ne'ir a tree] Conf. ' It is reported of him also, that
this Timon on a rime (the people being assembled in the market-
place about despatch of some affaires) got up into the pulpit for
Orations, where the Oratours commonly use to speake unto the
people : and silence being marie, every man listening to heare what
he would say, because it was a wonder to see him in that place ; at
length he began to speake in this manner : My Lords of Athens, I
bave a little yard at my house where there groweth a figge tree, on
the which many citizens have hanged themselves; and because I
mean to make some building on the place, I thought good to let you
ail understand it, that before the figge tree be cut downe, if any of
you be desperate, you may there in rime go hang yourselves.' North's
Plutarch, p. 943-
l. 22. greatpolitics] That political life and rascalitywere not easily
to be separated, was with Bacon an article of faith as well as of
practice. Conf., e. g.,' There is rarely any rising but by a commixture
of good and evil arts.' Essay I4.
P. 88, 1. 6. like lice noble tree] Conf.' They used in old rime to gather
the Incense but once a yeare; but now, since every man calleth for
it, they feeling the sweetnesse of the gaine, make a double vintage (as
it were) of it in one yeare. The first, and indeed the kindly season,
falleth about the hottest daies of the Summer, at what time as the
Dog daies begin; for then they cut the Tree where they see the
OF NOBILITY. 9i
barke to be fullest of liquor, and whereas they perceive it to be thin-
nest and strut out most. They make a gash or slit onely to give more
libertie : but nothing do they pare or cut cleane away. The wound or
incision is no sooner made, but out there gusheth a fat fome or froth ;
this soon eongealeth and groweth to be hard. That Intense which
was /et out in Summer, they leave there under the Tree untill the
Autumne, and then they corne and gather it. And this is most pure,
cleane, and white. A second Vintage or gathering there is in the
Spring: against which rime they cut the bark before in the V,rinter,
and surfer it to run out untill the Spring. This cometh forth red, and
is nothing comparable to the former.' Pliny, Nat. Hist., bk. xii. cap.
x4 (Holland's Trans.).
L . to be an anathema] Vide Romans ix. 3, ' For I could wish
that myselfwere accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen
according to the flesh.' The original is àd0«va duaL àr6 ro Xpto'ro.
The Vulgate gives ' Optabam enim ego ipse anathema esse a Christo
pro meis fratribus,' &c.
Conf. Advancement of Learning, ' We read that the elected saints
of God have wished themselves anathematized and razed out of the
book of life, in an ecstacy of charity and infinite feeling of com-
munion.' Works, iii. p. 42L
XIV.
OF NOBILITY.
Wr. will speak of nobility first as a portion of an
estate; then as a condition of particular persons. A
monarchy, where there is no nobility at ail, is ever a
pure and absolute tyranny, as that of the Turks; for
nobility attempers sovereignty, and draws the eyes of the
people somewhat aside from the line royal. But for
democracies, they need it not; and they are commonly
more quiet and less subject to sedition than where there
estate] here as/ass,m, state. Lat. reiubhcae.
9 OE ESSAY XIV.
are stirps b of nobles; for men's eyes e are upon the
business, and hot upon the persons; or if upon the
persons, it is for the business sake, as fittest, and hot
for flags a and pedigree. We see the Switzers last well,
notwithstanding their diversity of religion and of cantons ;
for utility is their bond, and not respects . The united
provinces of the Loxv Countries in their government
excel; for where there is an equality the consultations
are more t indifferent, and the payments and tributes more
cheerful. A great and potent nobility addeth majesty to
a monarch, but diminisheth power; and putteth life and
spirit into the people, but pressethg their fortune. It is
well when nobles are hOt too great for sovereignty nor for
justice ; and yet maintained in that height, as the insolency
of inferiors may be broken upon them before it corne on
too fast b upon the majesty of kings. A numerous nobility
causeth poverty and inconvenience in a state, for it is
a surcharge of expence ; and besides, it being of necessity
that many of the nobility fall in time to be weak in fortune,
it maketh a kind of disproportion between honour and
means.
As for nobility in particular persons; it is a reverend
thing to see an ancient castle or building hOt in decay,
or to see a fair timber-tree sound and perfect ; how much
more to behold an ancient noble family, which hath stood
b stlrps] i.e. stock; a Latinism.
Properly, the roots and lower part of
the trunk of a tree. Bacon uses the
vord several rimes elsewhere ; e.g.
' He was a Jew and circumcised ; for
they bave some few stirps of Jews
yet remaining among them.' Works,
iii. 151.
c for men's ey«s &c.] This refers, not
to the clause immediately preceding
it, but to the clause before that. It in-
troduces a reason why democracies
do not need a nobility.
d flags] Lat. insiia.
* respects] i. e. regard for rank. Lat.
ntilitas enfin apud eos valet no** dig-
nitas.
t more indifferent] i. e. with less re-
spect of persons. Lat. consilia ineun-
tut aequabilius.
p'esseth] i. e. depresseth. Lat. de-
,tirait.
toofa*t] i. e. too close. So, fast by
is commonly used as=close by. The
Latin does hot translate literally enough
fo be of help. The Italian gives--
lbrfma che venga tro22o oltre a toccam
la Maesta de i Ré.'
OF NOBILITY. 93
against the waves and weathers of rime : for new nobility
is but the act of power, but an«lent nobility is the act of
rime. Those that are first raised to nobility are commonly
more virtuous i but less innocent than their descendants ;
for there is rarely any rising but by a commixture of good
and evil arts ; but it is reason k the memory of their virtues
remain to their posterity, and their faults die with them-
selves. Nobility of birth commonly abateth industry;
and he that is not industrious, envieth him that is; besides,
noble persons cannot go much higher; and he that .o
standeth at a stay when others rise «an hardly avoid
motions of envy. On the other side, nobility extinguisheth
the passive envy ' from others towards them, because
they are in possession ' of honour. Certainly, kings that
have able men of their nobility shall find ease in employing
them, and a better slide into ° their business; for people
naturally bend to them as born in some sort to com-
mand.
t more virtuous] i. e. more possessed
of great qualifies of some kind. Foi"
this sense of irtue as distinct from
moral excellence, conf. Essay 43,
where Edward IV, Alcibiades and Is-
mael Sophyare instanced as persons in
whom beauty and virtue were combined.
but it i reaon &c.] i.e. it is reason-
able that it should remain, &c. Lat.
mgmoria usque ad posteros ermaneat.
t standeth at a sta_v] Lat. in eodem
loco a«ret. Conf. Bacon's letter to
Coke : ' I ara one that knows both
mine own wants and other men's ; and
it may be perchance, that mine mend
and others stand at a stay.' Letters
and Life, iii. p. 4-
m passive o:v] Introduced in con-
trast to the «motions of envy,' just
above. It adds nothing to the sense,
which is suoEciently marked by the
words which immediately follow. Envy
is, of course, active or passive, accord-
ing as we look at the man who feels
it, or at the man towards whom it is
felt.
n in possesdon] The Latin makes
the sense clear--quod nobiles in ho-
norum po*sessloue nati videntur.
o slide into] The edition of x6xa
gives ' a better slide in their business.'
The Latin follows thus--negotia sua
molliusfluere sentlent. The later text,
if it bas a meaning distinct from that
of the earlier text, seems to mean that
Kings that bave able nobles will get
more easily into the heart of their
business. For slide, in the sense of
easy movement, conf. 'Certainly there
be, whose fortunes are like Homer's
verses, that bave a slide and easiness
more than the verses of other poets.'
Essay 4 o.
94 ESSAY XV.
2"7"0TS AN#D f LLgoETI?A TIONS.
P. 92,1. 6. The unitedprovinces of B, e Low Countries &c.] Conf.'For
the manner of their Government : They have upon occasion an as-
sembly ofthe generall States, like our Parliament .... There is besides
a Counsell of State .... And besides both these, every Province and
great Towne have particular counsells of their own. To all which
assemblies, as well of the generall States as the test, the Gentrie is
called for order sake, but the State indeed is democraticall .....
Neither are the Gentrie so much engaged in the cause, the people
having more advantage in a free State, they in a monarchy. Their
care in government is very exact and particular, by reason that
every one hath an immediate interest in the State: such is tbe
equality of justice that it renders every man satisfied,' &c. Overbury,
Obs. on the Seventeen Provinces, &c., pp. 3, 4 (ed. 16"26L
1.9. and the payments &c.] Conf. 'Taxes, levied by consent of
the estate, do abate men's courage less ; as it bath been seen notably
in the excises of the Low Countries.' Essay 9, and note on
passage.
1. 1i. diminishea* #ou,er] So Bacon notes in his Life of Henry
VII : 'He kept a strait hand on his nobility, and chose rather to
advance clergymen and lawyers, which were more obsequious to
him, but had less /nterest in the people; which made for his
absoluteness but not for his safety.' Works, vi. 242.
XV.
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES.
SHEPHERr)S of people had need know the kalendars* of
tempests in state, which are commonly greatest when
things grow to equality; as natural tempests are greatest
about the aequinoctia. And as there are certain hollow
blasts of wind and secret swellings of seas before a tempest,
so are there in states :
Ille etiam caecos instare tumultus
Sae#e mortel, fraudesque et operta tumescere bdla.
ka/endars] Lat. prog,ostica.
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES.
95
Libels and licentious discourses against the state, when
they are frequent and open; and in like sort false news,
often running up and down, to the disadvantage of the
state, and hastily embraced, are amongst the signs of
troubles. Virgil, giving the pedigree of Faine, saith she
was sister to the gfants :
Illam Terra parens, ira irritata Deonon,
Extremam (ut perhibo O Coco Encdadoque sororem
Progemdt.
As if fames were the relics of seditions past ; but they lO
are no less indeed the preludes of seditions to corne.
Howsoever he noteth it right, that seditious tumults and
seditious fames differ no more but as brother and sister,
masculine and feminine ; especially if it corne to that, that
the best actions of a state, and the most plausible b, and
which ought to give greatest contentment, are taken in ill
sense and traduced: for that shows the envy great, as
Tacitus saith, CooEala magna h',,idia, sou bcne sou maie
gesta lbremnnt. Neither doth it follow that because these
fames are a sign of troubles, that the suppressing of them .,o
with too much severity should be a remedy of troubles;
for the despising of them many times checks them best,
and the going about to stop them doth but make a wonder
long-lived. Also that kind of obedience which Tacitus
speaketh of is to be held suspected : Erant h, officio, scd
lamat qui mallcnt bnberantimn mamtala bth'ribrdari qttam
exscqui; disputing, excusing, cavilling upon mandates and
directions, is a kind of shaking off the yoke and assay of
disobedience ; especially if in those disputings they which
are for the direction speak fearfully and tenderly; and o
those that are against it audaciously.
Also, as Machiavel noteth well; when princes, that
most plausible] here used in the
proper original sense most deserving
applause. Lat. laudatissiraae.
tenderly] i.e. weakly. Lat.
moiliucule. Conf. ' Pity which is the
tenderest of affections.' Essay .
9 6 ESSAY XV.
ought to be common parents, make themselves as a party
and lean to a side, it is as a boat that is overthrown by
uneven weight on the one side ; as was well seen in the
rime of Henry the Third of France; for first, himself
entered league for the extirpation of the Protestants, and
presently after the saine league was turned upon himself.
For when the authority of princes is rnade but an accessary
to a cause, and that there be « other bands that fie faster
than the band of sovereignty, kings begin to be put almost
1o out of possession.
Also, when discords and quarrels and factions are
carried openly and audaciously, it is a sign the reverence
of government is lost. For the motions of the greatest
persons in a government ought to be as the motions of
the planets under prirnurn mobile, (according to the old
opinion), which is, that every of them is carried swiftly by
the highest motion, and softly in their own motion ; and
therefore, when great ones in their own particular motion
rnove violently, and as Tacitus expresseth it well, liberius
2o quam u/hnperan/ium memhdssent, it is a sign the orbs are
out e of frame : for reverence is that wherewith princes are
girt from God, who threateneth the dissolving thereof;
qolvam chtgula regum.
So when any of the four pillars of government are
d and that there be &c.] For this ir-
regu]arity of construction--hot unfre-
quent in Bacon's time--conf. 'Therefore
if a state run most to noblemen and
gentlemen, and that the husbandmen
and ploughmen be but as their work-
folks or labourers,' &c. Works, vi.
95- And, ' But when these virtues in
the fathers and leaders of the church
bave lost their light, and that they wax
worldly, loyers of themselves, and
pleasers of men, then men begin to
grope for the church as in the dark.'
Letters and Lire, i. 8o.
o out of f rame] i. e. disordered. Lat.
orbes perlurbart manifeslum est. Conf.
' States as great engines, move slowly,
and are hOt so soon put out of frame.'
Works, iii. 445- And, « For suerly
suerly, but that ii thingesdo comfort me,
I wold despaire ofthe redresse in these
matters. One is that the idnges
maiestie whan he cornrneth to age,
will see a redresse of these thinges so
out of frame.' Latymer, xst Sermon,
p. 42 (ArbeFs reprlntsL And, /go
doubt you have a great stroke in the
frarne of this governrnent, as the other
(i.e. the planers) have in the great frame
of the world.' Letters and Life, vi. lx.
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 97
mainly' shaken or weakened (which are religion, justice,
counsel, and treasure), men had need to pray for fair
weather. But let us pass from this parts of predictions
(concerning which, nevertheless, more light may be taken
from that which followeth), and let us speak first of the
materials of seditions ; then of the motives of them ; and
thirdly of the remedies.
Concerning the materials of seditions, it is a thing well
to be considered; for the surest way to prevent seditions
(if the times do bear it) is to take avay the matter of
them; for if there be fuel prepared, it is hard to tell
whence the spark shall corne that shall set it on tire. The
matter of seditions is of two kinds; much poverty and
much discontentment. It is certain, so many overthrown
estates, so many rotes for troubles. Lucan noteth well
the state of Rome before the civil war:
Hnc usura vorax, rapidumque Dt tempore foenus,
ttinc concussa rides, et mullis ulile bellum.
This saine mttllis utile bellttm is an assured and infallible
sign of a state disposed to seditions and troubles; and if o
this poverty and broken estate in the better sort be joined
with a want and necessity in the mean people, the danger
is imminent and great : for the rebellions of the belly are
the worst. As for discontentments, they are in the politic
body like to humours in the natural, which are apt to
gather a preternatural heat and to inflame; and let no
prince measure the danger of them by this, whether they
be just or unjust ? for that were to imagine people to be
too reasonable, who do often spurn at their own good;
nor yet by this, v«hether the griefs whereupon they rise 3o
be in fact great or small ; for they are the most dangerous
! mafnly haken] i.e. very much.
So in Essay 34 : ' He eannot but in-
crease mmnly.' Lat. o pot«st quin
supra modum ditescat.
this part of predictions] i.e. this
part of the subject, that namely wh*ch
bas to do with predictions. Lat.
maamus haec prognostica.
H
9 8 ESSAY XV.
discontentments where the fear is greater than the feeling:
Dolendi modus, timendi non item. Besides, in great
oppressions, the same things that provoke the patience do
withal mate h the courage ; but in fears it is hOt so. Neither
let any prince or state be secure i concerning discontent-
ments, because they have been often, or have been long,
and yet no peril hath ensued: for as it is true that every
vapour or fume doth hot turn into a storm, so it is never-
theless true that storms, though they blow over divers
,o times, yet may fall at last; and, as the Spanish proverb
noteth well, The cord breakcth at the last by the weakest
pull.
The causes and motives of seditions are, innovation in
religion ; taxes ; alteration of laws and customs ; breaking
of privileges; general oppression; advancement of un-
worthy persons; strangers; dearths; disbanded soldiers ;
factions grown desperate; and whatsoever in offending
people joineth and knitteth them in a common cause.
For the remedies, there may be some general preserva-
2o rives, whereof we will speak : as for the just k cure, it must
answer to the particular disease ; and so be left to counsel
rather than rule.
The first remedy or prevention is to remove, by all
means possible, that material cause of sedition whereof
we spake, which is, want and poverty in the estate: to
which purpose serveth the opening and well-balancing
of trade; the cherishing of manufactures; the banishing
of idleness; the repressing of waste and excess by
sumptuary laws; the improvement and husbanding of
o the soil; the regulating of prices of things vendible; the
moderating of taxes and tributes ; and the like. Generally,
it is to be foreseen I that the population of a kingdom
h mate] i.e. beat down. Lat. a»d- just cure] i. e. the exact, the proper
mosfrangunt, cure. Lat. legitima. The ltalian omits
t secure] i.e. without tare. Vide the word.
note on Essay 5, P- 37- I to beforeseen] Lat. lbrae¢avendum
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 99
(especially if it be not mown down by wars) do not exceed
the stock" of the kingdom which should maintain them.
Neither is the population to be reckoned only by number ;
for a smaller number, that spend more and earn less, do
wear out an estate sooner than a greater number that lire
lower and gather more. Therefore the multiplying of
nobility, and other degrees of quality, in an over propor-
tion to the common people, doth speedily bring a state
to necessity; and so doth likewise an overgroxvn clergy,
for they bring nothing to the stock ; and, in like manner, ,o
when more are bred scholars than preferments can take off.
It is likewise to be remembered that, forasmuch as the
increase of any estate must be upon" the foreigner (for
whatsoever is somewhere gotten is somewhere lost), there
be but three things which one nation selleth upon another;
the commodity, as nature yieldeth it; the manufacture;
and the vecture, or carriage ; so that if these three wheels
go, wealth will flow as in a swing ride. And it cometh
many times to pass, that matcriam su])crabit opus, that the
work and carriage is more worth than the materia!, and 2o
enricheth a state more: as is notably seen in the Low
Countrymen, who have the best mines above ground
in the world.
Above all things, good policy is to be used that the
treasure and moneys in a state be not gathered into few
hands ; for, othevise, a state may bave a great stock, and
yet starve : and money is like muck, not good except it be
stock] i.e. the available wealth.
Lat. proventus. Conf. ' The treasure
of gold and silver brought into the
realm hath been by sundry Acts of
Parliament ordained to be as an im-
moveahle and perpetual stock, which
should never go forth againe.' Royal
Proclamation, x6x4, quoted in Lord
Liverpool on Coins, p. 59 (ed. xst,
4to.).
n ,«lon] i.e. at the expense of.
Conf. 'They should, being divided.
prove unable to resist him who had
won so far upon them when they held
together.' Ralegh, Hist. of World,
iii, chap. 6, sec. 6. And, 'Besides
these victories they sacked and spoiled
many places upon the sea-coast of
Peloponnesus, won upon the Corin-
thiaus, and overthrew the Sicyonians
that came to their succour.' Bk. iii,
chap. % sec. 6.
H2
oo F.SSAY XV.
spread. This is done chiefly by suppressing, or at least
keeping a strait hand upon the devouring trades of
usury, ingrossing °, great pasturages, and the like.
For removing discontentments, or at least the danger of
them, there is in every state (as we know} two portions of
subjects, the noblesse and the commonalty. When one of
these is discontent, the danger is hOt great ; for common
people are of slow motion, if they be hOt excited by the
greater sort; and the greater sort are of small strength,
except the multitude be apt and ready to move of them-
selves: then is the danger, xvhen the greater sort do but
wait for the troubling of the waters amongst the meaner,
that then they may declare themselves. The poets feign
that the test of the gods would have bound Jupiter ; which
he hearing of, by the counsel of Pallas sent for Briareus,
witb his hundred hands, to come in to his aid : an emblem,
no doubt, to show how safe it is for monarchs to make sure
of the good-will of common people.
To give moderate liberty for griefs and discontentments
to evaporate {so it be without too great insolency or
bravery »h is a safe way: for he that turneth the humours
back, and maketh the wound bleed inwards, endangereth
malign ulcers and pernicious imposthumations.
The part of Epimetheus might well become Prometheus
in the case of discontentments, for there is hot a better
provision against them. Epimetheus, when griefs and
evils flew abroad, at last shut the lid, and kept Hope in
the bottom of the vessel. Certainly, the politic and
artificial' nourishing and entertaining of hopes, and
o ingrossbg] ' Ingrosser signifieth in
the common law one that buyeth corn
growing or dead victual to sell again.'
Cowell, Interpreter, sub z'oce. The
Latin give the more general momoo-
p 6ravery] Lat. audacla.
artifidal] i.e. skilful or artfuk
Conf. ' He most wondered at the in-
finite number of lights and torches...
so artificially set and ordered by de-
vices, some round, some square, that it
was the rarest thing to behold that eye
could discern.' Plutarch, Lires, p. 923 .
And, ' o artificially did this young
Italian behave herself, that she de-
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES.
earrying men from hopes to hopes, is one of the best
antidotes against the poison of discontentments: and it is
a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when
it can hold men's hearts by hopes when it cannot by
satisfaction ; and when it can handle things in such manner
as no evil shall appear so peremptory but that it bath
some outlet of hope ; which is the less hard to do, because
both particular persons and factions are apt enough to
flatter themselves, or at least to brave" that which they
believe not.
Also the foresight and prevention, that there be no
likely or fit head whereunto discontented persons may
resort, and under whom they may join, is a known but an
excellent point of caution. I understand a fit head to be
one that bath greatness and reputation, that bath con-
fidence with the discontented party, and upon whom they
turn their eyes, and that is thought discontented in his
own particular: which kind of persons are either to be
won and reconciled to the state, and that in a fast and true
manner; or to be fronted with some other of the saine
party that may oppose them, and so divide the reputation.
Generally, the dividing and breaking of ail factions and
combinations that are adverse to the state, and setting
them at distance, or at least distrust amongst themselves
is hOt one of the worst remedies; for it is a desperate
case, if those that hold with the proceeding of the state
be full of discord and faction, and those that are against it
be entire and united.
ceived even the eldest and most jealous
persons, both in the court and country.'
Burnet, Hist. of His Own Time vol. i
p. 244 (ed. of 84o ; 2 vols.).
r fo brave] Lat. ostentare in gloHam
bz his own particular] Lat. Oz suis
rebus pffvatis. A common phrase.
Conf. ' When men fall to framing con-
clusions out of their knowledge» apply-
ing it to their particular, and minister-
ing to themseh'es thereby weak fears
or vain desires, there groweth that
carefulness and trouble of mind which
is spoken of.' Works, iii. 266. '
second suit is that your blajesty would
hOt think me so pusillanimous as that
I . . . should now fear him or take um-
brage of him in respect of mine own
particular.' Letters and Life, ri. 232.
io ESSAY XV.
I have noted that some witty t and sharp speeches which
have fallen from princes have given tire to seditions.
Caesar did himself infinite hurt in that speech, Sylla
nescivit litcras, non potuit dictare ; for it did utterly eut off
that hope which men had entertained that he would atone
time or other give over his dictatorship. Galba undid
himself by that speech, Legi a se militera, non emi ; for it
put the soldiers out of hope of the donative. Probus
likewise by that speech, Si vixcro, non opus erit amplius
o lomano hnpcrio mihtibus ; a speech of great despair for
the soldiers ; and many the like. Surely princes had need
in tender" matters and ticklish times to beware what they
say, especially in these short speeches which fly abroad
like darts, and are thought to be shot out of their secret
intentions ; for as for large discourses, they are fiat things
and hOt so much noted.
Lastly, let princes, against all events, hOt be without
some great person, one or rather more, of military valour,
near unto them, for the repressing of seditions in their
o beginnings; for without that, there useth to be more
trepidation in court upon the first breaking out of troubles
than were fit; and the state runneth the danger of that
v«hich Tacitus saith ; ./tique is habitus anhnormn fltit, ttt
pessimmn fchn«s audercnt pauci, phtres vcllent, otaries
latercnlttr. But let such military persons be assuredL
and well reputed of, rather than factious and popular;
t witt.v] Lat. ingeniosa. This cornes
more near than usually to the modern
sense ofthe word. ' The present mean-
ing of wit ' (says Treneh in his Select
Glossary, sub vote) ' as compared with
the past, and the period when it was
in the aet of transition from the one to
the other, cannot be better marked
than in the quotation from Bishop
Reynolds .... " I take hot wit in that
common acceptation, whereby men
understand some sudden flashes of
conceit whether in style or conference.
... But I understand a settled, constant,
and habitual sufficiency of the under-
standing, whereby it is enabled in any
kind of learning, theory, or practice,
both to sharpness in search, subtilty in
expression and despateh in execution."
Passions and Faculties ofthe Soul, c. 39-
= toder matters] i.e. matters that
need to be handled with care and tact.
Conf. ' Things that are tender and un-
pleasing.' Essay
assurcd] Lat. fidf omnino esse
ben
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. lO 3
holding also good correspondence with the other great
men in the state, or else the remedy is worse than the
disease.
-/VOTES IA-D I"LLUSTRI TIO2VS.
P. 94, 1. u. t,hot thhtgs grow go equalit.v] i.e. when the distinc-
tion between rulers and subjects tends to be lost.
1. 7. llle etiam &c.] Georgics, i. 464 .
P. 9.5, 1. i. Libels] Lat. famosi libeili. Bacon elsewhere, and I think
always, uses ' libels' in the sense of defamatory writings. This is an
added sense which the word, in his day, did not necessarily bear.
On the significance of libels, whether defamatory or not, vide
Selden's Table Talk, sub voce: ' Though some make slight of Libels,
yet you may see by them how the Wind sits : As take a Straw and
throw it up into the Air, you shall see by that which way the V¢ind
is, which you shall not do by casting up a Stone. More solid Things
do not shew the Complexion of the rimes so well as Ballads and
Libels.'
1. 7. lllam Terra &c.] Virg. Aen. iv. 178. Conf. 'They do
recourir that the Earth, mother of the giants that ruade war against
Jupiter and were by him destroyed, thereupon in anger brought
forth Faine; for certain it is that rebels, figured by the giants, and
seditious fames and libels, are but brothers and sisters, masculine
and feminine.' Fragment of an Essay on Faine.
The lines from Virgil are quoted, witla like comments, in the
Advancement of Learning, Works, iii. 344-5 ; and the whole story is
related and explained in the De Sapientia Veterum, sec. ix.
Works, vi. 645.
I. 13. differ no ttore bu! as brolher and sister] This fancy is
repeated in the History of Henry Vil, where Bacon speaks of
'swarms and vollies of libels which are the gusts of liberty of
speech restrained, and the females of sedition.' \Vorks, ri. I53-
1. 7. as Tacitus saith] The words are : ' Inviso semel principe,
seu bene seu maie facta premunt.' Hist. i, cap. 7.
I. 24. t,hich Tacit««s spealeeIh of] ' Miles alacer ; qui tamen jussa
ducum interpretari quam exsequi mallet.' Hist. ii. 39-
1.32 . As Machiavel &c.] I find a suggestion in Notes and
Queries that this probably refers to the Discourses on Livy, bk. iii,
cap. 27. This chapter treats of the mischief resulting from factions,
and ofthe right and wrong methods of dealing with them. It says
inter alia, that if a Republic has under its government a city divided
into factions, each faction will seek to gain favour, and that 'two
1o4 ESSAY XV.
very great inconveniences arise thereupon : the one is that thou
canst never make them thy friends, because thou canst hOt well
govern them, the fuie ofttimes varying sometimes with the one
humour, sometimes with the other : the other is that that favouring of
sides must needs divide thy Republic,' and it tells a story of an
emissary of the French king, who said ' that if in France one of the
King's subjects should say hee were of the King's party, he would
bec punished : because such a speech could signifie no lesse than
that there in the Countrie were enemies to the French King.'
Dacre's Trans. This is hot a satisfactory reference, but I can find
nothing in Machiavelli nearer to Bacon's words. The Italian version
of the Essays omits the name of Machiavelli, and gives only 'come
ben osserva un scrittore.' This opens a tolerably wide field. There
is an approach to Bacon's metaphor in Guicciardini, who speaks of
the policy of Lorenzo de' Medici as preserving the peace of Italy,
and says that he 'procurava con ogni studio che le cose d' Italia in
modo balanciate si mantenessero, che più in una che in un' altra
parte non pendessero.' Storia d" Italia, vol. i, p. 5 {ed. 1821).
The advice in the text is repeated and the same reasons are
given for it in Essay 51: 'Kings had need beware how they side
themselves and make themselves as of a faction or party,' &c., &c.
P. 96, I. 4- Henry III--enlered league &c.] This was the League of
the Holy Trinity, formed under the influence of the house of Guise, for
the defence of the Catholic faith, and to crush the Protestants, but
with the ulterior design of putting its leader, Henry de Guise, on the
throne. Henry III pursued no settled policy towards it or towards
its avowed objects. Early in his reign, in 1576, he gave it his
support for a time. In 1585, when it had meanxvhile been following
its independent course, with the king or against him, and when it
had risen steadily in importance and in material power, Henry
endeavoured again to corne to terres with it, and by the Treaty of
Nemours ruade a virtual surrender toit while he put himself nomin-
ally at its head. In i588 , finding himself threatened and defied by
the still growing poxver of Henry de Guise, he caused him and his
brother tobe assassinated, and by this act provoked the more open
hostility of the faction, with which he continued at actual xvar during
the short remainder of his reima.
1. 14. ought fo be as the motions of the planers &c.] A favourite
illustration with Bacon. Conf. ' The motions of factions under kings
ought to be like the motions (as the astronomers speak) of the inferior
orbs, which may have their proper motions, but yet still are quietly
carried by the higher motion of primum mobile.' Essay 51 (end}.
'Superstition hath been the confusion of many states and bringeth
in a nexv primum mobile that ravisheth ail the spheres of govern-
ment.' Essay 17. And again, in his Speech to the Judges before the
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. lo 5
Circuit: 'First, you that are the Judges of Circuits, are as it
were the planers of the kingdorn .... Do therefore as they do;
rnove always and be carried with the motion of your first rnover,
which is your Sovereign.' Letters and Lire, vi. 2iz.
For an account of the theory, vide Blundevile's Exercises, First
Book of the Spheare, chap. vi.
Of the tenth Spheare or heaven, called in Latin, Prirnurn Mobile :
' This heaven .... continually rnoveth with an equal gate frorn
East to West, making his revolution in 24 houres; which kind of
moving is other-«ise called the diurnall or daily moving, and by
reason of the swiftnes thereof it violently carrieth and turneth about
all the other heavens that are beneath it from East to ,Vest in the
selle saine space of 24 houres vhether they vill or not, so as
they are forced to rnake their own proper revolutions which is
contrarie from West to East, every one in longer or shorter tirne
according as they be farre or neare placed to the sarne.'
1. 19. as Tacitus expresseth il zvell] The words are : ' Promptius
apertiusque quam ut merninisse imperantium crederes.' Armais, iii. 4.
1. 23. Solvam ch»gtda regum] These words, whieh do not occur
anywhere, seem to bave been rnade up from two passages. In Job
xii. 8 itis said of the Alrnighty that ' Balteurn regum dissolvit, et
praecingit furie renes eorum,' but the words convey no threat. In
Isaiah xlv. z there is a promise to Cyrus, irnplying a threat to his
opponents: ' Haee dieit Dominus christo meo Cyro, eujus appre-
hendi dexteram, et subjiciam ante faciern ejus gentes, et dorsa regum
vertam.'
P. 97, 1.6. materials of seditions, th¢»t o/lhe motives of them] In p. 98,
line 2 4 Bacon speaks of the ' rnaterial cause of sedition.' In p. 98,
line 3 he says, 'The causes and motives of sedition are' &c. Itis
clear, therefore, that he has in his rnind here the Aristotelian four-
fold division of causes, and that he is referring to two of them--to the
rnaterial .cause and to the efficient cause,--the rnaterial cause being
the state of things out ofwhich seditions are apt to arise, the motive
or efficient cause being that which provokes thern into existence.
Conf. Nov. Org. bk. ii, sec. 2, ' Etiarn non rnale constituuntur causae
quatuor; Materia, Forma, Efficiens, et Finis.' X,Vorks, i. p. 228.
For the Aristotelian division, vide Posterior Analytics ii. **, sec. ,,
da, irp« d ïl r rrp&rov ¢ivÇa¢, T«rfiprÇ *'6 rt'oç 'vea : and Metaph.
iv.z 1.
1. 7. 1-1inc usura &c.] Lucan i. SL The reading should be
az,idum, where Bacon gives rapidum. The quotation is othervise
correct.
1. 23. rebellions of the belli,] Lat. quae a ventre ortum habenL
P. 98, l. . lolendi modus &c.] ' Paulum differt patiaris adversa an
06 ESSAY XV.
exspectes: nisi quod tamen est dolendi modus, non est timendi.
Doleas enim quantum scias accidisse, timeas quantum possit
accidere.' Pliny, Epist. viii. i7, written, however, hOt about political
discontentments or oppressions, but about an inundation of the
Tiber.
1. 26. well balancing of trade] This is a point on which Bacon
frequently insists. He lays it down in his Advice to Villiers, and
gives the reasons for it in aeeordanee with what is known as the
Mercantile Theory of Trade. Conf. ' Let the foundation of a profit-
able trade be thus laid, that the exportation of home eommodities be
more in value than the importation of foreign ; so shall we be sure
that the stocks of the kingdom shall yearly inerease, for then the
balance of trade must be returned in money or bullion.' Letters and
Life, vi, p. 22, and again p. 49-
1. 27. cherisht)tg of mmnoEactures &e.] Bacon in his Lire of
Henry VII mentions with general approval the laws whieh were
passed for these ends, e. g. ' Another stature was marie prohibiting
the bringing in of manufactures of silk wrought by itself or mixt with
any other thrid .... This law pointed at a truc prineiple: That
where foreign materials are but superfluities, foreign manufactures
should be prohibited. For that will either banish the superfluity, or
gain the manufacture.' "Vorks, vi. 223.
' There were also marie good and politie laws that Parliament ....
for the employment of the proeedures of foreign eommodities,
brought in by merehant strangers, upon the native commodities of
the realm.' vi. 87.
1. 3 o. regulating of prices] 'He marie also statutes .... for
stinting and limiting the prices of cloth: one for the finer and
another for the eoarser sort. Whieh I note, both beeanse it was a
rare thing to set priees by stature, espeeially upon our home
eommodities: and beeause of the wise model of this aet; hot
preseribing priees, but stinting them hot to exeeed a rate : that the
elothier might drape aeeordingly as he might afford.' Works, ri. 96.
Baeon finds espeeial fault with Henry VII for his exaetions in not
moderating taxes and trlbutes and the like ; ri. 217, 218.
On ' the multiplying of nobility and other degrees of quality'
conf. note on Essay 29, p. 213, and Works, ri. 94, 95-
P. 99, 1. Il. when moreare bredscholars] So, more at length in the
Advice concerning Sutton's estate : ' Concerning the Advancement of
Learning, I do subscribe to the opinion of one of the wisest and
greatest men of your kingdom : That for grammar schools there are
already too many, and therefore no providence to add where there
is excess. For the great number of schools which are in your
Highness realm, doth cause a want and doth cause likewise an
overflow, both of them inconvenient and one of them dangerous.
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES.
For by means thereofthey find want in the country and towns both
of servants for husbandry and apprentices for trade: and on the
other side there being more scholars bred than the state can prefer
and employ, and the active part of that lire hot bearing a proportion
to the preparative, it must needs rail out that many persons will be
bred unfit for other vocations, and unprofitable for that in which they
are brought up ; which fills the realm full of indigent idle and wanton
people, which are but materia rerum novarum." Letters and Life,
iv. 252.
1. 14- whatsoever is somea,here gotten is sootewhere lost] Conf. TÇç
Arist. Pol. i, cap. 5, sec. 4- 'Luerum sine damno alterius fieri non
potest.' Publius Syrus, Fragmenta, De rerum vieissitudine, 1.60.
So too Montaigne (Essays, bk. i, chap. 2) lays it down as a
universal truth that 'il ne se faict aucun profit qu'au dommage
d'aultruy.'
Bacon's statement is a legitimate inference from the mercantile
theory. If wealth means gold and silver, a nation can become
wea|thy on|y at an exactly equivalent loss to ail the test of the world.
l. 19. materiam superabit opus] Adapted from Ovid, Metam., bk. ii. 5.
1.22. best mines above ground] Conf. 'The Lov Countries
generally have three cities at least for one of ours, and those far
more populous and rich .... Their chiefest loadstone, which dravs
all manner of commerce and merchandise, which maintains their
prescrit state, is hOt fertility of soil, but industry that enricheth them :
the gold mines of Peru or Nova Hispania may not compare with
them. They have neither gold nor silver of their own .... little or
no wood, tin, lead, iron, silk, wool, any stuff at most or mettle, and
yet Hungary Transilvania that brag of their mines, fertile England,
cannot compare with them.' Burton, Anat. of Melancholy, vol. i,
P- 77, ed. 1837. Bacon in his Advice to Villiers uses the same
metaphor : ' In the next place, 1 beseech you to take into your serious
consideration that Indian wealth, which this island and the seas
thcreof excel in, the hidden and rich treasure of fishing .... Half a
day's sail with a good vind will shew the minerai and the miners.'
Letters and Life, ri. p. 24.
l. 27. tottey is like imtCk] Conf. Apophthegms, ' blr. Bettenham
used to say ; That riches were like muck ; xvhen it lay upon an heap
it gave but a stench and iii odour ; but when it was spread upon the
ground then it xvas cause of much fruit.' Works, vii. x6o.
P. 100, 1. 2. trades ofusurv] Conf. ' The discommodities of usury
are.., that it bringeth the treasure of a realm or state into a few
hands; for the usurer being at certainties and others at uncertainties, at
the end of the gaine most of the money will be in the box ; and ever
a state flourisheth when wealth is more equally spread.' Essay 4 x.
c8 ESSAY XV.
I. 3. ingrosslng] The Statute Book of the i6th century contalns
many prohibitive Acts against buying to resell. The largest of these,
the Act of 5 & 6 Edward VI, c. 14, against ' regrators, forestallers and
ingrossers,' continued and made perpetual by 13 Eliz. c. 25, ordains,
inAer alia, ' that whatsoever person shall ingross or get into his hands,
by buying contracting or promise-taking, any corn or grain, butter,
cheese, fish or other dead victuals whatsoever within the realm of
England to the intent to sell the same again shall be accepted reputed
and taken an unlawful ingrosser ; and it makes him, and other like
offenders, punishable with imprisonment and forfeiture ; and for the
third offence with forfeiture pillory and imprisonment during the
King's pleasure.' This statute was in force in Bacon's day. It was
modified from rime to rime, most notablyby 15 Charles II, c. 7, sec. 4,
but it was left in full force, even then, against 'forestallers,' i.e.
resellers in the same market within three months after buying.
It was finally repealed in 1772, with all other like statutes, by 12
George III, cap. 71. But in spite of this, forestalling, regrating and
engrossing were held by some judicial authorities to be still offences
at common law. McCulloch {Smith's XVealth of Nations, fourth
edition, note to p. 237) says that as late as 18oo an indictment was
laid against a corn merchant for having sold thirty quarters of oats
in the same market and on the same day at an advance of two
shilling6 a quarter. The man was tried, Lord Kenyon summed
up strongly against him, and he xvas found guilty, but the judges
doubted whether such a sale was really punishable, and he was
never brought up for judgment.
1. 3. grea/ pashtrages] In a597 'Mr. Bacon made a motion
against depopulation of toxvns and houses of husbandry, and for the
maintenance of husbandry and tillage. And to this purpose he
brought in txvo bills .... He said he had perused the preambles of
former statutes, and by them did see the inconveniences of this
matter, being then scarce out of the shell, to be now fully ripened ....
And though it may be thought ill and ver3" prejudicial to lords that
have enclosed great grounds and pulled down even xvhole towns, and
converted them to sheep pastures; yet considering the increase
of people and the benefit of the commonwealth I doubt not but every
man will deem the revival of former moth-eaten laws in this point
a praise-worthy thing .... For enclosure of grounds brings depopu-
lation, which brings forth first idleness, secondly decay of tillage,
thirdly subversion of bouses, and decrease of charity and charge to the
poor's maintenance, fourthly the impoverishing the state of the
realm .... And I should be sorry to see within this kingdom that
piece of Ovid's verse prove true, "Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit;"
so in England, instead of a whole town full of people, none but
green fields, but a shepherd and a dog.' Letters and Life, ii. 82.
OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 10 9
The 'moth-eaten laws' had been passed from time to time in the
reigns of former sovereigns, and in the first year of Elizabeth's
reign. Bacon in his Lire of Henry VII refers with praise to the
earliest of them, viz. 4 Henry VII, cap. I9: 'Another stature was
ruade of singular policy .... Inclosures at that rime began to be more
frequent, whereby-arable land.., was turned into pasture. This
bred a decay ofpeople, and by consequence a decayoftowns, churches,
tithes and the like .... In remedying of this inconvenience the King's
wisdom was admirable and the Parliament's at that rime. Inclosures
they would hot forbid, for that had been to forbid the improvement of
the patrimony ofthe kingdom ; nor tillage theywould not compel, for
that was to strive with nature and utility .... The ordinance was, that
ail houses of husbandry, that were used xvith twenty actes of ground
and upwards, should be maintained and kept up for ever ; together
with a competent proportion of land tobe used and occupied with
them, and in nowise to be severed from them,' &c. &c. Works, ,ci. 93-
Itis curious to remark that the stature xvhich Bacon commended
to Parliament in x597, 39 Elizabeth cap. a, did the tvo things xvhich
he praises Henry and his Parliament for not having tried to do.
It ordained that arable land which had been turned to pasture
during the Queen's reign should go back to arable,--a strife, in
Bacon's words, 'with nature and utility,'--and that for the future
no more should be done in that xvay, forbidding thereby the ' improve-
ment of the patrimony of the kingdom.'
1. 13. The poets feign] Bacon tells this story a little varied in
the Advancement of Learning, and insists on the part played by
Pallas as the goddess of xvisdom: 'So in the fable that the rest
of the Gods having conspired to bind Jupiter, Pallas called Briareus
with his hundred hands to his aid; expounded that monarchies
need not fear any curbing of their absoluteness by mighty subjects,
as long as by wisdom they keep the hearts of the people, who will
be sure to corne in on their side.' X, Vorks, iii. 345-
This is an instance ofwhat Mr. Spedding terres Bacon's habit of
improving a quotation. It xvas hot Pallas who either sent for Briareus
or advised Jupiter to send for him; it was Thetis according to
Homer; according to Hesiod it xvas Gala. The part assigned to
Pallas, ifany, xvas that of one of the conspirators.
u Bptp«wu KaAot't OtO; r.t.f. Iliad i. 3-
, ,o ESSAY XV.
But in line 4oo there is a var. let., ,I,o;/o, 'A,rdAXov for IIaXXà,
and the entire line is doubtful.
Hesiod relis the story differently. The struggle was between
the Gods, the descendants of Kronos, and the Titans, and it was by
the aid of Briareus and his two brothers that it was ended in favour
of the Gods. About the counsel of Pallas there is no word in either
version. Hesiod, Theogon. 633, &c.
1. 24. F.pimetheus] Bacon tells this well-known story, with the
saine incorrectness of detail, in his Wisdom of the Ancients, sec.
(,Vorks, ri. 669h and interprets it at greater length.
P. 102, 1. 3- Caesar] This is recorded by Suetonius, but only as one
in a series of sayings and doings, each of them far more calculated
to offend and alarm. ' Praegravant tamen cetera facta dictaque ejus,
ut et abusus dominatione, et jure caesus existimetur. Non enim
honores modo nimios recepit, ut continuum consulatum, perpetuam
dictaturam, praefecturamque morum, insuper praenomen imperatoris,
cognomen patris patriae, statuam inter reges, suggestum in orchestra ;
sed ampliora etiam humano fastigio decerni sibi passus est .... Nec
minoris impotentiae voces propalam edebat, ut T. Ampius scribit:
Nihil esse rempublicam, adpellationem modo, sine corpore, ac
speciem. Syllam nescisse literas, qui dictaturam deposuerit. Debere
homines consideratius jam loqui secum, ac pro legibus habere quae
dicat ..... Verum praecipuam et inexpiabilem sibi invidiam hinc
maxime movit: Adeuntes se cure pluribus honorificentissimisque
decretis, universos pattes conscriptos sedens pro aede Veneris
Genetricis excepit.' More follows to the saine effect. Suetonius,
Julius Caesar, cap. 76-78.
Bacon, in the Advancement of Learning, mentions the speech in
the text among other speeches of Caesar 'admirable for vigour
and efficacy,' and helping to prove the 'excellency of his learning.'
XVorks, iii. 313 . And he gives it a place in his Apophthegms.
,Vorks, vii. 144.
1.6. Galba] 'Nec deerant sermones senium atque avaritiam
Galbae increpantium. Laudata olim et militari fama celebrata
severitas ejus augebat aspernantes veterem disciplinam .... Accessit
Galbae vox pro re publica honesta, ipsi anceps, legi a se militem non
emi.' Tacitus, Hist. i. 5-
1. 8. trobus] Vopiscus, who is the chief authority on Probus,
mentions a speech to something like this effect, among the causes
of Probus' murder, but writing as a historian, he does hot give it the
prominence which Bacon gives it. ' Causae occidendi ejus hae fuere :
Primum, quod nunquam militera otiosum esse perpessus est, siquidem
multa opera militari manu perfecit; dicens annonam gratuitam
militera comedere non debere. His addidit dictum ejus grave .... Quia
totum mundum fecerat jam Romanum; Brevi, inquit, milites mces-
OF ATHEISM. 11
sarios non habebimus .... Addam illud quod praecipue tanto viro
fatalem properavit necessitatem. Nain quum Sirmium venisset, ac
solum patrium effoecundari cuperet et dilatari, ad siccandam quam-
data paludem multa simul milia militum posuit, ingentem parans
fossam .... Permoti milites, confugientem eum .... interemerunt.
Sylburgius, Historiae Augustae Scriptores Latini Minores (ed.
x588), vol. ii. p. 294, 1. 3 ° et seqq.
1.2 3. Tacitns s#h] Hist. i. 28. These words describe the
temper of the soldiers at Rome among whom Otho was proclaimed
emperor in opposition to the reigning emperor Galba.
XVI.
OF ATHEISM.
I H*O rather believe ail the fables in the legend, and the
Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is
without a mind ; and, therefore, God never vrought miracle
to convince ' atheism, because his ordinary works convince
it. Itis true, that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind
to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds
about to religion ; for while the mind of man looketh upon
second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them,
and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of
them confederate, and linked together, it must needs fly
to Providence and Deity. Nay, even that school which is
most accused of atheism doth most demonstrate religion :
that is., the school of Leucippus, and Democritus, and
Epicurus: for it is a thousand times more credible that
four mutable elements, and one immutable fifth essence,
I had rather bdieve] The Latin
substitutes for this Minus du«n est
credert. So too the Italian, pli, tosto
crederd. This agrees with the corre-
sponding passage in the Antitheta--
Fabulosissima quaeque portenta cujuavis
rdigionis dtius credider;m, &c. Works,
i. 694. It may be taken, therefore, as
correct. The French gives literally,
f abwroye mimcx croire.
fo convince] i.e. to refute. Lat.
ad athei8mum convincendum.
z ESSAY XVI.
duly and eternally placed, need no God, than that an army
of infinite small portions or seeds unplaced, should have
produced this order and beauty without a divine marshal.
The Scripture saith, The fool hath said Dt his heart, there is
no God ; it is not said, The fool bath thought in his heart;
so as he rather saith it by rote to himself, as that he would
have, than that he can thoroughly believe it, or be per-
suaded of it; for none deny there is a God, but those for
whom it makethc that there were no God. It appeareth
o in nothing more that atheism is rather in the lip than in
the heart of man than by this, that atheists will ever be
talking of that their opinion, as if they fainted in it within
themselves, and would be glad to be strengthened by the
consent of others ; nay more, you shall have atheists strive
to get disciples, as it fareth with other sects; and, which
is most of ail, you shall have of them d that will surfer for
atheism, and not recant; whereas, if they did truly think
that there were no such thing as God, why should they
trouble themselves ? Epicurus is charged, that he did but
2,, dissemble for his credit's sake, when he affirmed there
were blessed natures, but such as enjoyed themselves
without having respect to the government of the world;
wherein they say he did temporize, though in secret he
thought there xvas no God. But certainly he is traduced,
for his words are noble and divine: Non Deos vulgi negare
flroflamtm ; sed vttlgi opiniones Diis aplicare profamtm.
Plato could have said no more; and although he had the
confidence to deny the administration, he had not the
power to deny the nature. The Indians of the west have
3,, names for their particular gods, though they have no name
for God: as if the heathens should have had the names
Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, &c., but not the word Detts, which
er or whom it mak«th] i.e. for not for his safety.' Works, ri.
whose advantage it is. Lat. cm 4 .
Deos mn esse exptdit. Conf. ' XVhich a you sfiall have of them] i.e. there
ruade for his absoluteness but are some ofthem. Lat. quidam ¢xiilis.
OF ATHEISM.
I13
shows that even those barbarous people have the notion,
though they have hOt the latitude and extent of it; so that
against atheists the very savages take part with the very
subtilest philosophers. The contemplative atheist is rare;
a Diagoras, a Bion, a Lucian perhaps, and some others;
and yet they seem tobe more than they are; for that all
that impugn a received religion, or superstition, are, by
the adverse part, branded with the naine of atheists. But
the great atheists indeed are hypocrites, which are ever
handling holy things, but without feeling ; so as they must ,o
needs be cauterized in the end. The causes of atheism
are, divisions in religion, if they be many; for any one
main division addeth zeal to both sides, but many divisions
introduce atheism: another is, scandal of priests, when it
is corne to that which St. Bernard saith, Non cstjam diccre
ut pOlulus , sic saccrdos ; qda wc sic lOlUhs, ut saccrdos :
a third is, custom of profane scoflîng in holy matters,
which doth by little and little deface the reverence of re-
ligion; and lastly, learned times, specially with peace and
prosperity; for troubles and adversities do more bow 2o
men's minds to religion. They that deny a God destroy
man's nobility; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by
his body; and, if he be hot of kin to God by his spirit, he
is a base and ignoble creature. It destroys likewise mag-
nanimity, and the raising of human nature; for take an
example of a dog, and mark what a generosity and courage
he will put on when he finds himself maintainede by a
man, who to him is instead of a God, or mdior natura;
which courage is manifestly such as that creature, vithout
that confidence of a better nature than his ow, could o
never attain. So man, when he resteth and assureth him-
self upon divine protection and favour, gathereth a force
' .afntained] i.e. supported or
backed. Conf. ' He forced his eldest
son to marrythe daughter of Plautianus,
and would often maintain Plautianus
in doing affronts to his son.' Essay
4 ESSAY XVI.
and faith which human nature in itself could not obtain;
therefore, as atheism is in ail respects hateful, so in this,
that it depriveth human nature of the means to exalt itself
above human frailty. As it is in particular persons, soit
is in nations : never was there such a state for magnanimity
as Rome. Of this state hear what Cicero saith; Quam
'O[ttmttS, [fer/, Pah'cs conscr[lht[, tos amcmus, tamcu nec
mtmero tlislbattos , tec robore Gallos, tec calliditate Poenos,
nec aqibus Graccos, nec dotique hoc ipso hujus gcntis et tcrrae
domcstico talivoqtte setstt Italos ipsos ci Latinos ; sed [ffetatc,
ac rch'gionc, atque htîc umî sapientA, quod Deorum bnmor-
talittm mtmhte omtia regi, gubernariqtte po'sihe.rimtts , otaries
gcnh's tationcsqtte sttpcraz,hmts.
2ro TES A A'D [ZL I'STRA TIOWS.
P. 111,1. I. the &ge»MI i.e. the Golden Legend, compiled by Jacobus
de Voragine of Genoa (whose long life extended over almost the
whole ofthe thirteenth century), and translated from the original Latin
into several modern European languages. An English version was
published by \Vynkyn de \Vorde in i527. It begins with a curious
blending of Scripture with monkish fable. Scriptural persons are
introduced, and in some parts the Scriptural narrative is followed, but
with so many and so strange additions, that the later passage into the
region of pure fable is scarcely felt as a change. The story of the con-
test between St. Peter and Symon the sorcerer belongs to the earlier
period ; the lires of St. Brandon, St. Clare, and St. Francis to the latter.
St. Francis, the founder of the frères mynours (fratres minoresl, is put
folvard as a model of piety and excellence. But we are told also that,
during his stay in Alessandria, he had a capon seven years old for
dinner, and that he gave a leg of it to a pretended beggar, who
hibited it to the people as proof of the delicate living of the saint.
Suddenly, however, it changed in the man's hand to the semblance of
a fish, and the intended trick failed. Then, when the man had ceased
to exhibit it, the leg changed back again into what it was before. This
is a fair average specimen of the contents of the book. It is by
no means absurd throughout. It contains lessons of charity and
devotion, as well as silly tales. The concluding words are, 'Thus
endeth the Legend, named in Latin Legenda Aurea... for lyke as
gold passeth ail other metalles, so this boke exceedeth ail other bokes.'
1. I. The Tahmtd] Of the Talmud, or sacred common law of
OF ATHEISM. t3
the Jews, there are two recensions, the Palestinian and the Baby-
lonian. Each of these is ruade up of two parts, the Mishna or
decisions of early Jewish doctors on the law, and the Gemara or
explanatory and critical remarks of later doctors on the Mishna,
introducing by the way a vast heterogeneous mass of traditions and
scientific views. The Mishna is substantiaily the same in both
recensions. The Babylonian Gemara is the one which has corne
into vogue, to the neglect of the Palestinian. The Babylonian
Gemara bas its wonder stories, but hOt in the saine proportion
the rest of the book as those in the Legend. Hershon's A Talmudic
Miscellany (I88ol gives mlmerous specimens of them. Among the
most curious, but far too long to quote, is the story of Ashmedai, the
king of the demons, and his relations vith King Solomon, p. 93-
Another is as folio,es: 'Caesar once said to Rabbi Yoshua ben
Chananja, "This God of yours is compared to a lion... ,Vherein
consists his excellency? A horseman kills a lion." The Rabbi replied,
" He is hOt compared to an ordinary lion, but to a lion of the forest
llaei." "Shov me that lion at once," said the Emperor... So the Rabbi
prayed to God to help him in his perplexity. His prayer was heard
the lion came forth from his lair and roared, upon which, though it
was four hundred mlles away, ail the valls of Rome trembled and
fcll to the ground. Approaching three hundred mlles nearer, he
roared again, and this time the teeth of the people dropped out of
their mouths and the Emperor fell from his throne qua -king. "Alas
Rabbi, pray to thy God that he order the lion back to his abode in
the forest" ' (p. 2491.
But the Miscellany does hot give a fair average specimen of
the contents of the Talmud. Its avowed purpose is polemical.
It aires at proving to the Jevs that the book does hot deserve the
implicit national reverence which they pay to it. Chiarini's French
version of a continuous portion of the book gives a different im-
pression from that conveyed by a studied selection of its most
fanciful and outrageous parts. Both writers deal with the Babylonian
recension.
1. 2. lire Mlcoratt] The Coran (al is the Arabic article) borrows
its stories very largely from the Talmud. Most of them are Biblical
adaptations with much added matter: some are entirely original.
The secret history Ichap. xiij of Joseph and his brethren, ending with
Joseph's prayer that he may die a Moslem and be joined with the
righteous, is a specimen of the first class. The account of Solomon
and his armies of genii and men and birds, and his adventures and
intrigues (chap. xxviiJ, is said by Sale to be from the Talmud. That
Mahomet vas transported by night from the sacred temple of Mecca
to the further temple of Jerusalem (chap. xviiJ, belongs to the last
and least numerous class of entirely original stories.
12
x6 ESSA¥ XVI.
These three books, the Legend, the Talmud, and the Coran, are
treated by Ben Jonson even more irreverently than by Bacon. His
' An Execration to Vulcan,' written on the burning of some of his
manuscripts, names the three, in company with a heap of rubbish, as
fit food for tire, fitter than his own carefully laboured writings
had been.
' Many a ream
To redeem mine I had sent in, enough
Thou shouldst have cricri and ail been proper stuff
Tbe Talmud and the Alcoran had corne
With pieces of the Legend, the whole sure
Of errant knighthood with the dames and dwarfs,' &c., &c.
Conf. also Jackson's dedication (date i613) prefixed to the first
edition of two serinons by Hooker, where he speaks of' dreams and
false miracles of counterfeit saints, enrolled in that sottish Legend,
coined and amplified by a drowsy head between sleeping and
waking.' Keble's Hooker, vol. iii. p. 816 (ed. x836).
1.4. fo com,ince atheism] Conf. 'Tbe bounds of tbis knowledge
(of Natural Philosophy) are that it sufficeth to convinee atheism but
hot to inform religion: and therefore there was never miracle
wrought by Goal to convert an atheist, because the light of nature
might have led him to confess a Goal.' Works, iii. 349-
1.5. a little philosolV] This and much else of the Essay occurs
in tbe Meditationes Sacrae; De Atheismo. Bacon, in these, starts
from the text which he uses below in the Essay--Di.rit insipiens bt
corde $tto, itOit est Deus, and he argues from it to the saine effect, but
more at lengtb and with some additions. Works, vii. 239-4 o. Conf.
also--' It is an assured truth, and a conclusion of experienee, that
a little or superficial knowledge of philosophy may incline tbe mind
of man to atheism ; but a further proceeding therein doth bring the
mind back again to religion ; for in the entrance of philosophy, when
the second causes which are next unto the senses do offer themselves
to the mind of man, if it dwell and stay there it may induce some
oblivion of tbe highest cause ; but wben a man passetb on furtber,
and seetb tbe dependence of causes and the works of Providence,
tben, according to the allegory of tbe poets, he fill easily believe
tbat the bighest link of nature's chain must needs be tied to the foot
of Jupiter's chair.' Vorks, iii. 267.
1. 13. Leucippus, Democritus, and Epio«rus] Here referred to only
as holding the atomic theory and as accused of atheism. Conf.
r,,»,,« , ,, ,., ,,i 0w, ¢,» ,,,,.; 6-)» /'x;») d,,,- à,«p, p
Arist. de Anima, i. cap. 2, sec. 3-
OF ATHEISM. ix 7
On the atheism of this school, conf. 'Quid Democritus, qui turn
imagines earurnque circuitus in Deorum nurnero refert, turn illarn
naturarn quae imagines fundat ae rnittat, turn scientiarn intelligen-
tiarnque nostrarn, nonne in maximo errore versatur? Quurn idem
ornnino, quia nihil sernper suo statu rnaneat, neget esse quidquarn
sernpiternurn ; nonne Deurn ornnino ira tollit; ut nullarn opinionern
ejus reliquarn faciat ?' Cicero, De Nat. Deorurn, i. I2, sec. 29.
On the atornic theory, as held by Epicurus, Diogenes Laertius
writes at great length. Conf. e. g. Tb =fi g«r' ««" rà i Tàp
Diog. Laert. lib. x. sec. 39, 42, 41.
On the theistic views of Epieurus, who asserted the existence of
Gods, but denied their interference with hurnan affairs, or with the
government of the world, conf. FiO&ro I», r» 0 (r.,« gçOapr«
What he implied by this is seen in another passage : Tb axfi0«v cal
sec. x=3, I39.
On which Cicero remarks, 'Epicus vero ex animis hominum
extraxit radicitus religionem, quum Diis immoa]ibus et opem et
gratiam sustulit,' et seq. De Natura Deom, xliii. =.
Lucretius admits the inference, but in terres ve different from
those which Cicero employs. Vide Lucretius, De Rerum Natura,
bk. i. 57 et seq. and passim.
l. 15. our »ttllhle e/eiteltg$ &c.] Bacon is referring here to the
views which he ascribes e]se'here to Astotle. Conf. 'Aristotelis
temeritas et cavillatio nobis caelum peperit phantasticum, ex quinta
essentia, experte mutationis, expee etiam coris. Atque misso in
praesenti sermone de quatuor e]ementis quae quinta essentia illa
supponit,' &c. Vorks, iii. 749- This seems tobe based on several
passages in the De Caelo. Conf. especia]ly, gra pa roo
Cae]o, i. cap. 9, sec. 7, I3, I4.
Plutarch refers in sever places to this theo of Aristot]e, e.g. in
the Opinions of Philosophers, bk. i. cap. 3 : 'Arist°teles of Stara,
the son of Nicomachus, bath put do ..... for e]ements, foure,
8 ESSAY XVI.
and for a fifth quintessence, the heavenly body which is immutable.'
Morals, p. 662 (Holland's trans.)
Quintessence (rdmr o,,da) is a phrase not found in Aristotle, but it
bas been not unaptly fathered upon him by latcr writers as equivalent
to that which he describes in other terms.
P. 112, 1. 4- The Scriplure sailli] Psalm xiv., and liii. x. The com-
ment on this text is drawn out at much greater length and substantially
to the same effect in the Meditationes Sacrae, and the remark is added,
which occurs early in the Essay, ' that a little natural philosophy and
the first entrance into it inclines men's opinions to Atheism ; but on
the other hand much natural philosophy and a deeper progress into
it brings men's minds about again to religion.' Works, vii. pp. 239,
251 o
1. '9- Epicurus is charged] Conf. ' Verius est igitur nimirum illud,
quod familiaris ornnium nostrm Posidonius disseruit in libro quinto
de natura Deorum,--nullos esse Deos Epicuro videri : quaeque is de
Diis immortalibus dixerit, invidiae detestandae gratia dLxisse. Neque
enim tam desipiens fuisset ut homunculi similem Deum fingeret,
lineamentis dumtaxat extremis, non habitu solido, membris hominis
praeditum omnibus, usu membrorum ne minimo quidem, exilem
quemdaln atque perlucidum, nihil cuiquam tribuentem, nihil gratifi-
cantem, omnino nihil curantem, nihil agentem. Quae natura primum
nulla esse potest : idque videns Epicurus, re tollit, oratione relinquit
Deos.' Cicero, De Nat. Deorum, i. 44, sec. 123.
1.2 5. his zvords are noble and divhw] Conf.
r. ohAîv 0,o àvatp&v, àhh" 6 rà r&v rroX),&v daf 0o rrpo,rdrrrow. Diog.
Laertius, x. sec. 23- When Bacon praises these words as noble and
divine, it seems, strangely, hOt to bave occurred to him that his own
opinions are included among those which Epicurus condemns and
rcprobates.
1.29. The hMians o[ lhe zvesl] Father Acosta, writing to prove
that the Indians have some knowledge of God,' says, 'They com-
monly acknowledge a supreme Lord and author of ail things, which
they of Peru called Unachocha, and gave him names of great excel-
lence ..... Him they did worship as the chiefest of ail whom they
did honour in beholding the heaven. The like wee see amongest
them of Mexico and China and ail other infidelles ..... Those which
at this day do preach the Gospel to the Indians, find no great difficulty
to perswade them that there is a high God and Lord over ail, and
that this is the Christian's God and the true God. And yet it hath
caused great admiration in me, that although they had this "know-
ledge, yet had they no proper name for God. If wee shall seeke into
the Indian tongue for a word to answer to this name of God, as in
OF ATHEISL
II 9
Latin, Deus, in Greeke, Theos, in Hebrew, EI, in Arabike, Alla ; but
wee shall hOt final any in the Cuscan or Mexicaine tongues. So as
such as preach or write to the Indians use our Spanish naine Dios.'
Natural and Morall Historie of the East and West Indies, lib. v. cap.
3 (trans. by E. G. 16o4).
P. 113, 1. 4- The cou/empla/ive a/heist] If this is meant as a eontrast
with ' those for whom it maketh that there were no God,' the eh,,ice of
Bion, a man of infamous character, as a specimen of the class, does
not seem happy. But Bion's morals, it may perhaps be urged, were
hOt worse than those of the Gods, whose existence he dared to call
in question.
Diagoras, of Melos, flourished in the latter pa of the fifth century
.c. The naine of atheist has been put upon him by almost universal
consent. It is ceain that he was opposed to the current theological
beliefs of his age, and that in 4il .c. he fled from Athens to escape
being tried on a charge of impie. Plutarch is among the many
writers who speak of him as an atheist. Con£ ' Some of the philo-
sophers, and namely, Diagoras of the lsle of Melos, Theodorus the
Cyrenaean, and Euemes of Tegea, held resolutely that there were
no ds.' Plutarch, Morals, Opinions of Philosophers, i. cap. 7 IP-
4 in Holland's trans.).
dpag, .¢.X. Var. Hist. ii. cap. 3. At the close of cap. 3 he speaks of
him as Oeoig xpg
Cicero also speaks of him as bearing the naine of atheist: ' Dia-
goras ..... Atheos ille qui dicitur.' De Nat. Deorum, iii. cap. 37.
The passage in the Clouds, L 83o, where Aristophanes speaks of
clear reference to the Melian Diagoras, and may sexe to explain the
nature of his alleged atheism, and to limit it to the sense which Bacon
assigns to it, as involving no more than the impugning a receixed
relion.
Bion flourished about the middle of the third century .c. He
attached himself, in turn, to several philosophical schools, and, among
others, to the school of Theodorus the atheist. Diogenes Laertius
has preseed and endorsed a sto that, in his last illness, he
repented of his offences against the Deity, and took up xvith various
superstitious practices. He concludes his lire of Bion with some
mocking verses on his early atheism and his alleged death-bed con-
version. Conf.
12o ESSAY XVII.
&h' o[ &rxr/,/&rat & r0 Odom Bk. iv. sec. 5 , 54-
The verses which follow are too long to quote.
1. 5. a I.ucian perhaps] This instance is borne out, if at ail, by
the Hermotimus, a dialogue in which much of the argument used
and finally approved is identical with that in Hume's well-known
essay Of a particular Providence and of a Future State. Most of
Lucian's writings do not go beyond the impugning a received religion
or superstition.
1. 15. /ha/which Bernard saith] The passage in the text is not what
Bernard saith, if indeed the words are Bernard's at ail ' Da voci
tuae vocem virtutis: consonet vita verbis: et statim erit in ore tuo
vivus et efficax sermo Dei, et penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti. Non
sic profecto est ; sed sicut populus sic et sacerdos : sicut laicus sic et
clericus. Uterque cupit, uterque diligit mundum,' &c. Ad Pastores
in Synodo Congregatos Sermo, sec. 8.
This address is printed by Migne (Patrologiae Cursus Completus)
among St. Bernard's works, in vol. iii, but as of doubtful authorship.
The heading is Cquscunque sit, nec htelegans est, »tec lectu htdignus.
1. 17. custom of profane scofflng] Conf. 'Two principal causes
have Iever known of Atheism: curious controversies, and profane
scoffing.' Letters and Life, i. p. 77-
1.28. melior ttalttra] A phrase taken from Ovid :
' Hanc Deus et melior litem natura diremit.'
Metaph. bk. i. zr.
P. 114, 1. 6. wha! Cicero sa#h] Vide 'Oratio de haruspicum
responsis.' Cap. ix. sec. 19. The reading should be' ipsi nos amemus.'
The quotation is othevise orrect.
XVI I.
OF SUPERSTITION.
I- were better to have no opinion of God at ail than
such an opinion as is unworthy of him ; for the one is un-
belief, the other is contumely: and certainly superstition
is the reproach of the Deity. Plutarch saith well to that
purpose ; SttreIA, , saith he, I had ralher a grcat deal men
OF SUPERSTITION.
shouM say there was no such man at all as Phttarch, than
that they shottld say that the're was one Plutarch that would
eat his children as soon as they were born ; as the poets
speak of Saturn : and, as the contumely is greater towards
God, so the danger is greater towards men. Atheism
leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety ", to
laws, to reputation : ail which may be guides to an outward
moral virtue, though religion were not; but superstition
dismounts all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy in
the minds of men. Therefore atheism did never perturb
states; for it makes men wary of themselves, as looking
no further; and we sec the times inclined to atheism (as
the time of Augustus Caesar} were civil rimes b; but su-
perstition hath been the confusion of many states, and
bringeth in a new primmn mobile that ravisheth all the
spheres of government. The toaster of superstition is the
people ; and in all superstition wise men follow fools ; and
arguments are fitted to practicec in a reversed order. It
,,vas gravely said by some of the prelates in the Council of
Trent, where the doctrine of the schoolmen bare great
sway, that t/te schoobncn wcre like astronomcrs, which did
[cign ecccntrics and epio,clcs, and sttch otgincs of orbs /o save
the phcnomota, though they knew thcre were no sttch thhtgs ;
and, in like manner, that the schoolmen had framed a
number of subtile and intricate axioms and theorems, to
save the practice of the Church. The causes of super-
stition are, pleasing and sensual rites and ceremonies;
natural piety] i.e. natural affection
and regard to natural ries. A sense
covered more usually by the Latin
piaas than by the English.
b dvil rimes] i. e. marked by conduct
befitting dves, civilized, orderly. Lat.
tranquilla. Conf. ' Ireland is the last
ex filiis Europae which hath been re-
claimed.., from savage and barbarous
customs to humanity and ci,.ility.'
Letters and Life, ri. ao 5.
arguments arefitted to practice &c.]
The meaning of this compressed re-
mark is that, whereas arguments ought
rightly to corne belote and to guide
practice, in the case supposed the un-
guided practice comes first, and is
maintained afterwards by such argu-
men as can be found or invented to
fit it : the wise men thus accepting the
position of champions in the cause of
the fools.
22 ESSAY XVII.
excess of outward and pharisaical holiness; overgreat re-
verence of traditions, which cannot but load a the Church ;
the stratagems of prelates for their own ambition and
lucre; the favouring too much of good intentions, which
openeth the gare to conceits and novelties; the taking an
aim at divine matters by human, which cannot but breed
mixture of imaginations : and, lastly, barbarous times, espe-
cially joined with calamities and disasters. Superstition,
without a veil, is a deformed thing; for as it addeth de-
formity to an ape to be so like a man, so the similitude of
superstition to religion makes it the more deformed: and
as wholesome meat corrupteth to little worms, so good
forms and orders corrupt into a number of petty observ-
ances. There is a superstition in avoiding superstition,
when men think .to do best if they go furthest from the
superstition formerly received; therefore care would be
had « that (as it fareth in iii purgings) the good be not
taken away with the bad, which commonly is done when
the people is the reformer.
2VOTES AA'Z) ILLU.çTRA TIOWS.
P. 120, l. L H were beller &c.] Conf. Bacon's Letter to Mr.
Matthew : ' And I entreat you much sometimes to meditate upon the
extreme effects of superstition in this last Powder Treason ; .....
well justifying the censure of the heathen, that superstition is far
worse than atheism ; by how much it is less evil to bave no opinion
of God at all, than such as is impious towards his divine majesty
and goodness.' Letters and Life, iv. p. IO.
1. 4. lhe reproach o lhe D«ily] Conf. ' Superstitio error insanus est :
amandos rimer; quos colit violat. Quid enim interest utrum Deos
neges an infames.' Seneca, Epist. i2 3.
l. 4. Phdarch sailh wdl] Conf. ' Shall he who thinketh that therc
be no Gods at all be taken for a profane person and excommunicate ?
And shall not he who beleeveth them tobe such as superstitious
folke imagine them, be thought infected with more impious and
a load] i.e. over-load, burden. Lat. wonM be had] i.e. ought to be
non otcst non ono'are, had. Lat. curae esse d«bct. So
OF SUPERSTITION. 12 3
wicked opinions? For mine own part, I would be better pleased
and content if men should say of me thus : There neither is nor ever
was in the world a man named Plutarch, than to give out of me and
say: Plutarch is an unconstant man, variable, cholerick, full of
revenge for the least occasion that is, or displeased or given to grieve
for a small matter : who, if when you invite others to supper he be
left out and hot bidden, or if upon some businesse you be let and
hindered so that you come hot to his doore for to visit him, or other-
wise do hot salute and speake unto him friendly, will be ready to eat
your heart with salt, or set upon you with his fangs and bite you,
will hot stick to catch up one of your little babes and worry him, or
will keep some mischievous wild beast of purpose to put into your
corne-fields, your vineyards or orchards, for to devoure and spolie
ail your fruits.' Plutarch, Morals, p. 2 9.
P. 121, 1.3. as the poets speak of Saturn]
' Reddita Saturno sors haec erat ; Optimc regum,
A nato sceptris excutiere tuis.
Ille suam metuens, ut quaeque erat edita, prolem
Devorat, immersam visceribusque tenet.'
Ovid, Fasti, iv. i97.
1. x 5. a new ritnum mobile] Vide note on Essay x5, p. o4.
I. i8. It was gravely said &c.] This is hot quite so. The facts, as
narrated by Father Paul Sarpi, are that certain decrees had been put
lbrth by the Council, involving abstruse and disputable views on divine
influences as affecting the human will. These, which were received
quietly in Rome, were freely discussed in Germany, where ' Fu da
alcuni faceti detto, che si gli astrologi non sapendo le vere cause de' moti
celesti, per salvare le apparenze hanno dato in eccentrici ed epicicli,
non era maraviglia se volendo salvare le apparenze de" moti sopra-
celesti, si dava in eccentrictà di opinioni.' Vide Istoria del Concilio Tri-
dentino, lib. ii. cap. 83 (vol. ii. p. 326 in the blendrisio edition of I8351.
The sense of the remark seems to be that, since astronomers had
fallen upon the invention of eccentrics and epicycles to explain
celestial phenomena which they had seen, it was no surprise that
divines, dealing in the dark with unseen supercelestial subjects,
should be betrayed into eccentricities of another sort. The humour
lies in the use of eccentric in its special astronomical sense, and then
in its ordinary sense. But it was said not gravely, but 'da alcuni
faceti,' hot by some of the prelates in the Council, but by outsiders at
a distance, and it ruade no mention of the schoolmen, and had no
reference to anything that touched upon the practice of the Church.
1.22. eccenlrics and epio,cles ] These belong to, or rather vere
adapted into, the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, founded by
Ptolemy of Alexandria, in the first hall of the second century. The
first thing to be explained was the apparent diurnal movement of the
x24 ESSAY XVII.
sun and of the other heavenly bodies around the earth. That they
moved in circles was an accepted tradition. But, if so, it was clear
that the earth was not the exact centre about which they moved.
The centre of their circles was assumed, therefore, tobe fixed ata
point outside the earth, so that the circles were thus 'eccentrics.'
Then came a further difficulty. The planets did not keep close to
the imaginary paths assigned to them, but had, each of them, real
independent movements of their own. These movements were
explained by the further theory that each planet, during its great
daily circular course round the earth, was also moving in a smaller
circle, the centre of which was placed in the circumference of the
great circle ; the great circle being itself considered to more, and to
carry the appended lesser circle round with it. These smaller
circles were thus circles upon a circle, or ' epicycles,' and by the help
of these the whole observed phenomena, thus far, were taken in and
accounted for, in other words, were 'saved.' The theory is fully
explained in the Encyclopêdie Dictionnaire, sub roc. Excentrique and
Epicycle.
1.22. enghtes o[ orbs] Lat. 'orbium machinas.' These words,
followed, a little further on, by' though they knew there were no such
things,' would seem to imply that in Bacon's opinion the eccentrics
and epicycles and ail else were put forward by the astronomers as
actual entities, and that the main objection to them was that they did
hOt really exist, as the astronomers well knew. But conf. 'Neque
illis qui ista proponunt admodum placet haec quae adducunt prorsus
vera esse, sed tantummodo ad computationes et tabulas conficiendas
commode supposita.' Works, iii. 735-
1. 22. fo save the phe»tomena] i.e. so fully to account for ail the
phenomena that none of them had tobe rejected or left out of
account as irreconcilable with the theory. The phrase here follows
Sarpi's 'per salre le apparenze,' as Milton's usë of the equivalent
'to save appearances' probably does {Par. Lost, viii. 82). It is
las Dr. Abbott, following Professor Mayor, points out) more than
two thousand years old, being cited by Plutarch 0i. 932 a from
Cleanthes, who held that the Greeks ought to impeach the Samian
Aristarchus for impiety, as shifting the hearth of the world, because
in his efforts «,;,g'c» r;, çatvdla«ra ('fi sauver les apparences,' Amyot}
he assumed the fixity of the heavens and the double movement of
the earth.
Bacon's own views on astronomy, inclining more to the Ptolemaic
than to the Copernican system, will be found at length in his
Descriptio Globi Intellectualis and Thema Coeli. Vorks» iii. 725
etseq. 'They are,' says Mr. Spedding, in his learned preface to the
Tracts, ' in truth views which it was natural for a man not well versed
in the phenomena of the science to entertain and to promulgate.'
OF TRAVEL. i2 5
P. 122, 1. 5- takin, an aire] A matter of frequent censure with
Bacon, Conf. e.g. ' Sacred Theology (which in our idiom we call
Divinity) is grounded only upon the xvord and oracle of God, and
hot upon the light of nature.' Works, iii. 4"/8.
1. 9. as it addeth deformity &c.] Montaigne notes the likeness
and insists on the deforrnity, but it pleases him to point his rernark
against the man rather than against the ape. Conf. ' Celles qui nous
retirent le plus, ce sont les plus laides et les plus abjectes de toute la
bande : car, pour l'apparence exterieure et forme de visage, ce sont
les magots : Sirnia quarn sirnilis, turpissirna bestia, nobis: pour le
dedans et parties vitales, c'est le porceau.' Essais, lib. il. chap. 12
(vol. ii. p. 2o2 in ed. 18o2, Paris).
XVIII.
OF TRAVEL.
TRAVEL, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in
the elder, a part of experience. He that travelleth into
a country before he hath some entrance into the language,
goeth to school, and not to travel. That young men travel
under some tutor or grave servant, I allow well ; so that
he be such a one that hath the language, and hath been in
the country before; whereby he may be able to tell them
what things are worthy to be seen in the country where
they go, what acquaintances they are to seek, what ex-
ercises or discipline the place yieldeth b; for else young
men shall go hooded, and look abroad little. It is a
strange thing, that in sea voyages, where there is nothing
to be seen but sky and sea, men should make diar.ies ; but
in land travel, wherein so much is to be observed, for
I allow w¢ll i.e. I approve. Lai.
probo. Conf. ' This hope hath helped
me to end this hook: which if he
ailow I shaii think my labour well im-
ployed.' Preface to Ascham's Schole-
toaster. And ' blany in the depths of
their corrupt principles may despise
it, yet it wili receive an open allow-
ance.' Works, iii. a79-
b ylelddfi] i.e. produceth. Lat. quae
deique Mudia el disdlinae ibi i-
26 ESSAY XVIII.
the most part they omit it; as if chance were fitter to
be registered than observation: let diaries, therefore, be
brought in use. The things to be seen and observed are,
the courts of princes, especial]y when they give audience
to ambassadors ; the courts of justice, while they sit and
hear causes; and so of consistoriesc ecclesiastic; the
churches and monasteries, with the monuments which
are therein extant; the walls and fortifications of cities
and towns; and so the havens and harbours; antiquities
,o and ruins; libraries; colleges, disputations, and lectures,
where any are ; shipping and navies ; houses and gardens
of state and pleasure, near great cities ; armories, arsenals,
magazines, exchanges, burses a, warehouses, exercises of
horsemanship, fencing, training of soldiers, and the like:
comedies, such v«hereunto the better sort of persons do
resort; treasuries of jewels and robes; cabinets and
rarities; and, to conclude, whatsoever is memorable in
the places where they go; after all which the tutors or
servants ought to make diligent inquiry. As for triumphs e,
,o masks, feasts, weddings, funerals, capital executions, and
such shows, men need hot to be put in mind of them:
yet are they hOt to be neglected. If you will have
c tonsistorics] The name is used,
specially, of the Pope's Consistory or
Council of the Pope and CardinaJs, and
of the authorized assemblies of the
French Protestants and of the Germaa
Lutherans; and, generally, of any
assembly of ecclesiastical persons.
' Consistorium postmodo etiam appel-
laverunt consessum Episcoporum aut
Presbyterorum qui pro emergente qua-
piam inopinata ditticultate congrega-
bantur.' Ducange, Gloss. sub vote.
Bacon probably uses the word of any
ecclesiastical assemblies.
d burses] This word seems to mean
the sarne as ' exchanges.' Conf.
' Primo anni mense Elizabetha, regia
pompa Londinum ingressa, peristylium
pulcherrimum tBursam votant) quod
Thomas Greshamus... in mercatorum
usure exstruxerat, invisit et Excambium
Regium... nominavit.' Camden, An-
nais of Elizabeth's reign, in ann. t57t-
In Stow's Armais :in ann. t57I)
the building is termed 'a Burse, or
fair place for the .assembly of mer-
chants, like that of Antwerp.' Lom-
bard Street, he says, was the old place
of assembly, until the new building
was opened, ' and then the merchants
held their meetings at this Burse, for
it was genera]]y so cal]ed, until the
Queen came thither."
" triumphs] i.e. shows, of some
splendour. Conf. Essay 3"/on Masques
and Triumphs. 'O thou art a per-
petuaJ triumph, an everlasting bonfire
light.' Henry IV, iii. sc. 3-
OF TRAVEL. 27
a young man to put his travel into a little room t, and in
short time to gather much, this you must do: first, as
was said, he must have some entrance into the language
before he goeth; then he must have such a servant or
tutor as knoweth the country, as was likewise said: let
him carry with him also some tard « or book describing
the country where he travelleth, which will be a good key
to his inquiry; let him keep also a diary; let him not stay
long in one city or town, more or less as the place de-
sel-veth, but not long; nay, when he stayeth in one citv
or town, let him change his lodging from one end and
part of the town to another, which is a great adamant h of
acquaintance ; let him sequester himself from the company
of his countrymen, and diet in such places where there is
good company of the nation where he travelleth : let him,
upon his removes from one place to another, procure re-
commendation to some person of quality residing in the
place whither he removeth, that he may use his favour in
those things he desireth to see or know; thus he may
abridge his travel with much profit. As for the acquaint-
ance which is to be sought in travel, that which is most
of ail profitable, is acquaintance with the secretaries and
employed men of ambassadors ; for so in traveIling in one
country he shall suck the experience of many: let him
also see and visit eminent persons in ail kinds, which are
of great name abroad, that he may be able to tell how the
r pt¢! ]*is trm.d itto a liltle room]
Lat. frua«o, pe,'eg'zatiottis in co,n-
prndm td,rre.
tard] i.e. chaR. Lat. daam
¢homgraphicam. Con£ ' That one may
know, as a shipmter by his tard,
how far we are wide on the one side
or on the other.' Hooker, Sermon 4-
And ' That law which bath en the
pattern to make, and is the card to
ide the world by.' Eccl. Pol. i. cap.
, SC. .
adamaul] i.e. load-stone. Con£
' There was an assured guide provided
for such as travel that way : that is,
the compasse to sali by, and the verrue
of the Adamant stone.' Acosta, Hist.
of East and West Indies ,trans.
by E. G. x6o4) Bk. i. cap. x 7. The
Latin brings out the simile more
clearly than the English--Izoc cette
magnes est attrahatdi familiaitates
et consu«tudine$ lwmt'nl¢,,,'l
, 8 ESSAY XVIII.
life agreeth with the fame; for quarrels, they are with
care and discretion to be avoided ; they are commonly for
mistresses, healths i, place, and words; and let a man be-
ware how he keepeth company with choleric and quarrel-
some persons; for they will engage him into their own
quarrels. When a traveller returneth home, let him not
leave the countries where he hath travelled altogether
behind him, but maintain a correspondence by letters
with those of his acquaintance which are of most worth;
and let his travel appear rather in his discourse than in
his apparel or gesture; and in his discourse let him be
rather advised ' in his answers, than forwards to tell
stories: and let it appear that he doth hOt change his
country manners for those of foreign parts; but only
prick in I some flowers of that he hath learned abroad into
the customs of his own country.
NOTES .,4Af.I) ILLUSTRATIONS.
The line of advice, in much of this Essay, is not unlike that in
' Advice to the Earl of Rutland on his Travels,' Letters ii. and iii.,
which Mr. Spedding sets down, with some hesitation, as hot im-
probably from ]3acon's pen, at least in the original draft. Letters
and Life, ii. pp. 3-20.
P. 128, I. Io. le! his h'avd appear rather &c.] On this advice and on
the occasion for it, confi Overbury's Characters, under the heading
' An Affected Traveller.' ' His attire speaks French or Ita]ian, and his
gate says--Behold me. He censures all things by countenances and
shruggs, and speaks his own language with shame and lisping.' And
' Farewell, Monsieur Traveller : look you lisp and wear strange suits,
i Iwalths] Lat. ¢ompotation«s. The
meaning probably is that deep drinking
bouts are common occasions of quar-
tels. For sense of the word, conf.
' As ifone should, in forbearing wine,
corne frorn drinking healths to a
draught at a meal.' Essay 38.
'And then dreams he of cutting
foreign throats,
Of breaches ambuscadoes, Spanish
blades.
Of healths five-fathom deep.'
Romeo and Juliet, i. sc. 4.
adsed] i.e. deliberate. Lat.
neditctur quid sobtie respondeat. Confl
Judges... ought fo be more advised
than confident.' Essay 56, where the
Latin gives ddiberativum quara confl-
dentem.
1 p'ck in] i. e, plant in. Conf.
Part of which heaps to be with
standards of little bushes pricked upon
their top.' Essay 46.
OF EMPIRE. I 9
disable ail the benefits of your own country, be out of love with
your nativity, and almost chide God for making you that countenance
you are: or I svill scarce think you bave ssvam in a gondola.' As
You Like It, act iv. sc. i.
' Report of fashions in proud haly;
Whose manners still out tardy apish nation
Limps after in base imitation.'
King Richard II, act ii. sc. .
' Heare what the Italian sayth of the English Man, what the toaster
reporteth of the scholer; who uttereth playnlie, what is taught by
him, and what learned by you, saying, Englese ltalianato e ln diabolo
incarna/o... If some do hot well understand what is an English man
Italianated, I will plainlie tell him. I-le that by living and travelling
in Italie, bringeth home into England out of Italie the Relion, the
learning, the policie, the experience, the manners of Italie. That is
to say, for Religion, Papistrie or worse : for learnyng, less commonly
than they carried out with them ; for pollicie, a factious hart, a dis-
coursing head, a mynde to medle in ail men's matters; for ex-
perience, plentie of new mischieves never knowne in England
before : for manerg, varietie of vanities and chaunge of filthy lyving.
These be the inchantementes of Circes, brought out of Italie, to
marre mens manners in England.' Ascham's Scholemaster, bk. i.
The latter part of this book is almost entirely on the saine
subje«t.
Bishop Hall, in his Quo radis ? writes no less strongly against
ail foreign travel, as useless and probably mischievous.
XIX.
OF EMPIRE.
IT is a miserable state of mind fo bave few things fo
desire and many things to fear ; and yet that commonly is
the case of Kings who being at the highest, want matter
of desire, which makes their minds more languishing ; and
bave many representations of perils and shadows, which
makes their minds the [ess clear: and this is one reason
also of that effect which the Scripture speaketh of, Thal
the king's hcarl is inscrutable : for multitude of jealousies,
K
3 o ESSAY XIX.
and lack of some predominant desire that should marshal
and put in order all the rest, maketh any man's heart
hard to find or sound. Hence it cornes likewise that
princes many rimes make themselves desires, and set their
hearts upon toys; sometimes upon a building; some-
times upon erecting of an order; sometimes upon the
advancing of a person ; sometimes upon obtaining ex-
cellency in some art, or feat of the hand; as Nero for
playing on the harp; Domitian for certainty of the hand
IO with the arrow; Commodus for playing at fence; Cara-
calla for driving chariots, and the like. This seemeth
incredibIe unto those that know not the principle that the
mhzd of .tan is more Nzeered and rcfreshed by tbrofiting h
small thhtgs t]zan by standing at a stay in greaL We see
also that Kings that have been fortunate conquerors
in their first years, it being hot possible for them to go
forvard infinitely, but that they must bave some check
or arrest in their fortunes, turn in their latter years to
be superstitious and melancholy; as did Alexander the
2o Great, Dioclesian, and in our memory, Charles the Fifth,
and others; for he that is used to go foravard, and findeth
a stop, falleth out of his own favour and is not the thing
he was.
To speak now of the true retaper of empire': it is a
* erectlng of an order] Lat. ad or-
dinon aliquem au! collcgium ittstitu-
If*ce to.per of empire] The text,
here, is obscure from too much coin.
pression. Bacon, speaking in the
House of Commons, refers fo the story
about Vespasian in words which will
explain what he means here. /9;vus
lVcrva res olim dissociabiles miscuit, I»
pedum et iibertatem. Nerva did temper
things that before were thought in-
compatible or insociable, $overeignty
and Liberty. And it is hot amiss in a
great counci] and a great cause to put
the other part of the difference which
was significantly expressed by the
judgment which Apollonius ruade of
Nero, which ,vas thus: 'When Ves-
pasian came out of Judea ... he spake
with Apollonius... and asked him a
question of state: Il'bol was 1Vero's
rail or overlhrow? Apollonius an-
swered again, lVcro could lune lhe harp
well : bt'¢l in goE,ernment Ire always eilh¢r
wound up the pi.s too high and strained
lhe stm'ngs loo far, or let lhem down too
Iow, and slackened t/re st4ngs too much.
Here we see the difference between
regular and able princes and irregular
and incapable, Nerva and Nero. The
one tempers and mingles the sove-
OF EMPIRE.
thing rare and hard to keep; for both temper and dis-
temper consist of contraries ; but it is one thing to mingle
contraries, another to interchange them. The answer
of Apollonius to Vespasian is full of excellent instruction.
Vespasian asked him, lJ'tat was Ncro's ovcrthrozo ? he
answered, Ncro couM touch and/zone //te harp well ;
in governmcnt somcthnes he used to whtd the phs too high,
somclhnes to le! thcm down too low. And certain it is, that
nothing destroyeth authority so much as the unequal and
untimely interchange of po'ver pressed too far, and re-,o
laxed too much.
This is true, that the wisdom of ail these latter rimes in
princes' affairs is rather fine deliveries, and shiftings
of dangers and mischiefs, when they are near, than solid
and grounded courses to keep them aloof: but this is
but to try masteries with ¢ fortune; and let men beware
how they neglect and surfer matter of trouble to be pre-
pared : for no man can forbid the spark, nor tell whence
it may corne. The difficulties in princes' business are
many and great; but the greatest difficulty is often in 2o
their own mind. For it is common with princes (saith
Tacitus) to will contradictories; Sttltt plerumque rcgttllt
reignty with the liberty of the suhject
wisely : and the other doth inter-
change it and x'ary it unequally and
absurdl3,.' Letters and Lif% iv.
177.
It appears then that «the true
temper of empire' is the state of
things which exists 'hen the two
contraries, sovereignty and liherty,
are mingled in fit proportions. ' Dis-
temper' is when the two are inter-
changed or alternated. That retaper
and distemper ' consist of contraries'
is said, hot very precisely, because
they are caused respectively by the
mingling and hy the alternating of
two contrary extremes.
The story of Vespasian and Apol-
Ionius rests on the authority, such as
it is, of Philostratus : ri OEot,
vo à/)X iç«ivvo ; cal 6
çtfio.. Philosttus, Vita Apollonii,
lih. v. cap. o.
t to tU, mastedes with] i.e. to meuoe
strenh with. Lat. ht aKone m for-
u»ta e.tped. Maste is sometimes
d for eminence in stoenh or skill ;
sometimes for the result of such emin-
ence, riz. victo in a contest. Conf.
So shall nature he cherished, and yet
taught mtees.' Lat. et robur
quir«L Essay 3o.
d-- And if a man al strive for
hot crowned, except he stve lawfully.'
Il Tire. ii. 5-
K2
132 ESSAY XIX.
vohmtates vehcmentes, et inter se contrariae ; for it is the
solecism « of power to think to command the end, and yet
no, to endure the mean e.
Kings bave to deal with their neighbours, their wives,
their children, their prelates or clergy, their nobles, their
second-nobles or gentlemen, their merchants, their coin-
ruons, and their men of war; and from ail these arise
dangers, if care and circumspection be not used.
First for their neighbours ; there can no general rule be
given (the occasions are so variable), save one which ever
holdeth ; which is, that princes do keep due sentinel that
none of their neighbours do overgrow so (by increase of
territory, by embracing of ,rade, by approaches t, or the
like), as they become more able to annoy them than
they were; and this is generally the work of standing
counsels to foresee and to hinder it. During that trium-
virate of kings, King Henry the Eighth of England,
Francis the First, King of France, and Charles the Fifth,
Emperor, there was such a watch kept that none of the
three could win a palm of ground but the other two
wouId straightways balance it, either by confederation,
or, if need were, by a war ; and would not in anywise take
up peace at interestg: and the like was done by that
league (which Guicciardini saith was the security of Italyt,
made between Ferdinando, King of Naples, Lorenzius
Medici, and Ludovicus Sforza, potentates, the one of
1 solecism] Properly an ungramma-
tical sentence ; hence sometimes used
for a mistake of any kind. Conf.
' Sylla, resigning the State and his
Guard both at once, however he is
cbarged by Coesar nesdre iileras, may
seem to have followed a ber,er gram-
mar than Coesar himself, who dis-
missing his Guard and no, his Govcrn-
ment, committed a notable and dan-
gerous solecism in matter of State, and
opened the way to his own destruc-
tion.' Sir Henry Savile, A View of
Military affairs relating to the Roman
History, pp. 38 and 39, appended to
Sir Henry Savile's translation of
Tacitus, Histories, ed. x698.
e the »neatt] i.e. the means. Fre-
quent throughout the Essays.
t by embra¢ing oftrade, by approaches]
Lat. vel cotnttwrciuttt ad se trahtmdo, vd
ropius accedendo.
t take up peac¢ at htterest] i.e. ac-
cep, a present peace, for which they
would bave to pay beavily in the
end.
OF EMPIRE. 133
Florence, the other of Milan. Neither is the opinion of
some of the schoolmen to be received, that a war camot
fi«stly be ruade but upou a precedent DoEury or provocation ;
for there is no question but a just fear of an imminent
danger, though there be no blow given, is a lawful cause
of a war.
For their wives, there are cruel examples ofthem. Livia
is infamed for the poisoning of her husband; Roxolana,
Solyman's wife, xvas the destruction of that renowned
prince Sultan Mustapha, and otherwise troubled his ,o
house and succession; Edward the Second of England
his Queen had the principal hand in the deposing and
murder of her husband. This kind of danger is then
to be feared chiefly when the wives have plots for the
raising of their oxvn children, or else that they be ad-
voutresses.
For their children, the tragedies likewise of dangers
from them have been many; and generally the entering
of fathers into suspicion of their children hath been ever
unfortunate. The destruction of Mustapha (that we ,o
named before) was so fatal to Solyman's line, as the
succession of the Turks from Solyman until this day is
suspected to be untrue and of strange blood; for that
Selymus the Second was thought to be supposititious.
The destruction of Crispus, a young prince of rare
towardness, by Constantinus the Great his father, was
in like manner fatal to his bouse; for both Constantinus
and Constance, his sons, died violent deaths; and Con-
stantius, lais other son, did little better, who died indeed
of sickness, but after that Julianus had taken arms against ,o
him. The destruction of Demetrius, son to Philip the
Second of Macedon, turned upon the father, who died
of repentance. And many like examples there are; but
few or none where the fathers had good by such dis-
trust, except it were where the sons were up in open
134 ESSAY XIX.
arms against them; as was Selymus the First against
Bajazet, and the three sons of Henry the Second, King
of England.
For their prelates; when they are proud and great
there is also danger from them; as it was in the times
of Anselmus and Thomas Becket, Archbishops of Can-
terbury, who with their crosiers did almost try it with
the King's sword; and yet they had to deal with stout
and haughty Kings; William Rufus, Henry the First,
,cand Henry the Second. The danger is not from that
state, but where it bath a dependence of h foreign au-
thority ; or where the churchmen corne in and are elected,
hOt by the collation of the King or particular patrons,
but by the people.
For their nobles; to keep them at a distance it is not
amiss; but to depress them may make a King more
absolute, but less sale, and less able to perform any-
thing that he desires. I have noted it in my History
of King Henry the Seventh of England, who depressed
,o his nobility; whereupon it came to pass that his times
were full of difficulties and troubles; for the nobility,
though they continued loyal unto him, yet did they not
co-operate with him in his business; so that in effect
he was fain to do ail things himself.
For their second i nobles; there is not much danger
from them, being a body dispersed : they may sometimes
discourse high, but that doth little hurt: besides, they
are a counterpoise to the higher nobility, that they grow
not too potent; and, lastly, being the most immediate
.o in authority with the common people, they do best temper
popular commotions.
For their merchants; they are vena porta; and if they
iati a depotdence of] i.e. tan, as ! second] i. e. inferior. Conf. ' Those
subject, look to receive support from. that are seconds in factions do many
Lat. ab auctorftate et fi«risdictione lrin- rimes, when the faction subdivideth,
cipatus externi #o«det. prove principals.' Essay 5 L
OF EMPIRE. 35
flourish not, a kingdom may have good limbs, but will
have emptyveins, and nourish little '. Taxes and imposts
upon them do seldom good to the King's revenue, for
that which he wins in the hundred, he loseth in the shire ;
the particular rates being increased, but the total bulk of
trading rather decreased.
For their commons; there is little danger from them,
except it be "where they have great and potent heads;
or where you meddle with the point of religion, or their
customs, or means of life. ,o
For their men of var; if is a dangerous state vhere
they live and remain in a body and are used fo donatives ;
whereof we see examp]es in the Janizaries and Praetorian
bands of Rome; but trainings of men, and arming them
in several' places, and under several commandcrs, and
without donatives, are things of defcnce and no danger.
Princes are like fo heavenly bodies, which cause good
or evil rimes; and which have much veneration, but
no rest. All precepts concerning Kings are in effect
comprehended in those tvo remembrances, M«mado
quod es homo and 2llcmcnto quod es Dcus, or vice Dei ;
the one bridleth their power, and the other their will.
./70 TES .d WD I"£L USTR A TI'O WS.
P. 1°9, !. 5" representations ofperils and shadows] Bacon notes this
several times in his Life of Henry VIL ' Partly through natural valour,
and partly through an universal suspicion (hOt knowing whom to
trust) he was ever ready to wait upon ail his achievements in person.'
Works, vi. 49.
'He was possessed with many secret fears touching his ovn
n'll nourfsh little] Lat. ibotest ha-
bere habitt«n corlboris rnacrum. For
this neuter use of nourish,' conf. The
coldness of the ground, whereby the
plants nourish less.' Works, ii. 5rr.
1 several] i. e. separate. Lat. in lotis
diversis. Conf. ' habits and faculties
several and to be distinguished." Es-
say 6.
And, ' Two notable thieves.., were
hanged the last week on several gib-
bets, Courtney within the city and the
other without.' Chamberlain to Car-
leton, Match 5, z6x.
3 6 ESSAY XIX.
people.' p. 67. 'A dark prince and infinitely suspicious.' p.
' He was indeed full of apprehensions and suspicions. But as he
did easily take them, so he did easily check them and toaster them ;
whereby they were not dangerous, but troubled himself more than
others.' p. 243.
1. 7" the Scriph«re] Prov. xxv. 3-
P. 130, 1.8. 2Veto] Conf. 'Interceteras disciplinas pueritlae tempore
imbutus et musica, statim ut imperium adeptus est Therpnum citha-
roedum, vigentem tunc praeter alios, arcessit: diebusque continuis
post coenam canenti in multam noctem assidens, paulatim et ipse
meditari exercerique coepit: nec eorum quidquam omittere quae
generis ejus artifices, vel conservandae vocis causa vel augendae,
factitarent.' Suetonius, lib. ri. cap. 20. Much more follows to the
saine effect.
'Primo carmen in scena recitat: mox flagitante vulgo ut omnia
studia sua publicaret .... ingreditur theatrum, cunctis citharae
legibus obtemperans .... Postremo flexus genu, et coetum illurn
manu veneratus, sententias judicum opperiebatur ficto pavore.'
Tacitus, Ann. xvi. 4.
But this love of music is only one of the many unprincely
weaknesses which Tacitus ascribes to Nero.
1.9. Domitian] Conf. 'Armorum nullo, sattarum vel praecipuo
studio tenebatur. Centenas varii generis feras saepe in Albano
secessu conficientem spectavere plerique: atque etiam ex industria
ita quarumdam capita figentem ut duobus ictibus quasi cornua
efficeret. Nonnumquam in pueri procul stantis, praebentisque pro
scopulo dispansam dextrae manus palmam, sagittas tanta arte direxit
ut omnes per intervalla digitorum innocue evaderent.' Suetonius,
lib. viii. cap. 19.
1. io. Commodus] Conf. ' Inter haec refertur in literas pugnasse
illum sub patre trecenties sexaes quinquies: item postea tantum
palmarum gladiatoriarum confecisse, vel victis retiariis vel occisis, ut
mille contingeret. Ferarum autem diversarum manu sua occidit
multa milia.' Aelius Lampridius, Sylburgius, Script. Lat. Minores,
vol. ii. p. x6o, 37 (ed. I588).
1. IO. Caracalla &c.] Conf. "HplarqAr«L r r. obr/ trro,. Xptlvo.
a; XpvoEo OEp r rv ravor6r r.
parçXaoEi ÇOEm cal ¢a«u«ro Coe ar. Dion Cassius» li.
SC.
al apffara Çhav ..... Kal erà roro EoErw re a Biae. ec. 7-
OF EMPIRE.
137
I. x 9. Alexander the Great] Conf. 'Yet had he many other iii
signes and tokens one upon another, that ruade him affraid. For
there was a rame asse that kiiled one of the greatest and goodliest
Lions in ail Babylon, with one of his feet. Another time when
Alexander had put off his clothes, to be nointed to play at tennis :
when he should put on his appareil againe, the yong gent]eman that
played with him, found a man set in his chaire of estate, having the
king's diademe on his head, and his gowne on his back, and said
never a word. Then they asked him what he was. |t was long
before he ruade them answer, but at the iength comming to himselfe,
he said his naine was Dionysius, borne in Messina: and being
accused for certain crimes committed, he was sent from the sea
thither, vhere he had been a long time prisoner, and also that the
god Serapis had appeared unto him, and undone his irons, and that
he commanded him to take the king's gowne, and his diademe, and
to sit him downe in his chaire of estate, and say never a word.
When Alexander heard it, he put him to death according to the
Counseli of his Soothsayers : but then his mind was troubled, and
tared that the gods had forsaken him, and also grew to suspect his
friends ..... Now af'ter that Aiexander had left his trust and
confidence in the gods, his mind was so troubled and aflraid, that no
strange thing happened unto him (how little soever it was} but he
tooke it straight for a signe and prediction from the gods : so that his
tent was alwaies fuli of Priests and Soothsayers that did nothing but
sacrifice and purifie, and tend unto divinements. So horrible a thing
is the mistrust and contempt of the gods, when it is begotten in the
hearts of men, and superstition also so dreadfull, that it filleth the
guiltie consciences and fearfull hearts like water distilling fron
above : as at that time it filled Alexander with ail follie, af'ter that
feare had once possessed him.' Plutarch, Lires, North's trans. 7o9,
7IO.
It is reported that King Alexander the Great, hearing Anaxarchus
the philosopher discoursing and maintaining this position, 'That
there were worlds innumerable, fell a weeping: and when his
friends and familiars about him asked what he ailed, "have I hot"
(quoth he) "good cause to weep, that being as there are an infinite
number of worlds, I ara hot yet the Lord of one."' Plutarch,
Morals, of tranquillity and contentment of mind, p. xuz. This story,
so foolish that Plutarch does not venture to vouch for it, certainly
came within the range of Bacon's reading, and may have selwed
him as a proof of the melancholy to which Alexander turned, finding
that it was hot possible for him to go forward infinitely &c.
l. uo. Diodetian] There is no proof that Diocletian in his latter
years turned to be either superstitious or melancholy. His reign,
says Gibbon, ' had flowed with a tide of uninterrupted success; nor
138 ESSAY XIX.
was it till after he had vanquished ail his enemies, and accomplished
all his designs, that he seems to have entertained any serious
thoughts of resigning the empire.' At last, under the pressure of
sickness, 'he resolved to pass the remainder of his days in honour-
able repose, to place his glory beyond the reach of fortune, and to
relinquish the theatre of the wodd to his younger and more active
associates.' Decline and Fall, chap. xiii.
' The parallel of Charles the fifth,' Gibbon remarks, ' will naturally
offer itself to our mind.' It would seem that to Bacon's mind the
mention of Charles the Fifth had suggested the parallel of Diocletian,
whose naine does not occur in the Essay ' Of Empire' in the edition
of 6z2. Both emperors abdicated, but ' the abdication of Charles,'
says Gibbon, 'appears to have been hastened by the vicissitudes of
fortune ; and the disappointment of his favourite schemes urged him
to relinquish a power which he found inadequate to his ambition.'
P. 131,1. I3. ffne deliveries] Bacon remarks this of King Henry Vil.
' His wisdom, by often evading from perils, was turned rather into a
dexterity to deliver himself from dangers when they pressed him,
than into a providence to prevent and remove them afar off. And,
even in nature, the sight of his mind was like some sights of eyes;
rather strong at hand than to carry afar off. For his wit increased
upon the occasion; and so much the more if the occasion were
sharpened by danger.' Works, vi. 244.
1.2z. For it is common u,ith princes, saith Tacitus] This sentence,
or rather one resembling it, occurs not in Tacitus but in Sallust's
Bellum Jugurthinum, cap. xx 3 (in the Delphin ed0 : ' Sed plerumque
regiae voluntates ut vehementes, sic mobiles, saepe ipsae sibi
adversae.' The passage is quoted correctly and as from Sallust in
the Advancement of Learning. Works, iii. 436.
P. 132, l. 6. Duriltg lhat lriumvirate &c.] This is substantially the
same as a passage in ' Considerations touching a war with Spain.'
Letters and Life, vil 477-
Of the mischiefand misery caused by the jealousies and ambitions
and aimless quarrels of this ' triumvirate,' and espeçially of Francis
and Charles, Bacon says nothing. They would have pointed a moral
very different from his.
1. 23. that eeague, which Guicciardini saith &c.] Guicciardini, after
stating at length the relations and aims of the different states of
ltaly about the middle of the fifteenth century, sums up : ' Essendo
adunque in Ferdinando, Lodivico, e Lorenzo, parte per i medesimi
parte per i diversi rispetti, la medesima intenzione alla pace, si
continuava facilmente una confederazione contratta in nome di
Ferdinando Re di Napoli, di Giovan Galeazzo Duca di Milano, e
della Repubblica Fiorentina, per difensione de' loro Stati .... avendo
per fine principalmente di non lasciar diventare più potenti i
OF EMPIRE.
139
Veneziani ..... Tale era 1o stato delle cose, tali erano i fondamenti
de||a tranquil|ità d' Italia, disposti e contrappesati in modo che non
solo di alterazione presente non si temeva, ma nè si poteva facil-
mente congetturare di quali consigli, o per quali casi, o con quali armi
si avesse a muovere tanta quiete.' Istoria d' Italia, vol. i. pp. 7, 8, 9-
P. 188, 1. I. Neither is the opinion &c.] On this subject, of a just
cause of war, Bacon speaks at greater length in his ' Considerations
touching a war with Spain,' to the same effect as in the Essay, and
with an express reference to the opinion of St. Thomas Aquinas:
' Howsoever some schoolmen (othevise reverend men, yet fitter to
guide penknives than swords) seem precisely to stand upon it, that
every offensive war must be ullio ; a revenge, that pre-supposeth a
precedent assault or in jury; yet neither do they descend to this
point (which we now handle) of a just fear; neither are they of
authority to judge this question against ail the precedents of rime.
For certainly, as long as men are men ..... and as long as reason is
reason, a just fear will be a just cause of a preventive war .....
St. Thomas in his own text, defining of the just causes of a war, doth
leave it upon very general terms : lequiritur ad bellum causa justa,
u/scilicet illi qui DtllbUoelanlur , propter aliqltattt cullbam ittlpl«gtlationem
mereanlur: for imibugnalio culpae is a far more general word than
ultio injuriae." Letters and Life, vii. 477, 478.
The above quotation from Aquinas is correct as far as it goes
(Summa Theologiae, Secunda Secundae, Quaest. xl. Artic. i), but it
is hot correct to say that it ' doth leave it upon very general terms.'
The words which follow define precisely what hnpugnatio culpae
means: ' Unde Aug. dicit (in lib. 83 quaest.) justa bella soient
diffiniri, quae ulciscuntur injurias, si gens vel civitas plectenda est
quae vel vindicare neglexerit quod a suis improbe factura est, vel
reddere quod per injuriam ablatum est.' These words, quoted with
approval by Aquinas as explanatory of his own words, are fatal to
the distinction which Bacon attempts to set up between impltgnalio
culpae and ullio injuriae.
Albericus Gentilis approves ' defensive wars,' but so guardedly as to
give no support to Bacon's extreme views : ' Utilem dico defensionem
quum movemus nos bellum, verentes ne ipsi bello petamur ....
Expectare non debemus praesentem viro si futurae occurrere tutius.'
De Jure Belli, i. 14.
He adds, however, on further discussion of the subject : ' Hominis
autem vita non tare iniquis neque tam indomitis necessitatibus
circumscripta est ut idcirco prior injuriam facere debeas, quam nisi
feceris pari possis.' vii. cap. 3-
His conclusion on the whole case is: 'Defensio justa est, quae
praevenit pericula jam meditata, parata ; etiam et nec meditata at
verisimilia, possibilia: neque tamen ultimum hoc simpliciter, aut
4o ESSAY XIX.
dicerem justum dare operam bello huic statim atque aliquis fieret
potens nimis. Quod non dico.'
But there is higher authority yet. Bacon's fine contempt ot
reverend men yet fitter to guide penknives than swords,' seems a
little out of place when we find that it includes Grotius. Nothing
could be more emphatic than the sentence passed by Grotius on
Albericus Gentilis and a forliori on Bacon. ' Causa justa belli sus-
cipiendi nulla esse alia potest nisi injuria.' De Jure Belli et Pacis»
il. i. i.
' Illud vero minime ferendum est quod quidam tradiderunt, jure
gentium arma recte sumi ad imminuendam potentiam crescentem
quae nimium aucta nocere posset .... Ut vim pari posse ad vim
inferendam jus tribuat ab omni aequitatis ratione abhorret.' il. i. 17.
' Metum ergo ex vicina potentia non sufficere supra diximus. Ut
Cnim justa sit defensio necessariam esse oportet, qualis non est nisi
constet non tantum de potentia sed et de animo; et quidem ita
constet ut certum id sit ea certitudine quae in morali materia locum
habet.' il. 22. 5.
This makes short work of Bacon's ' one rule which ever holdeth.'
It is worth remark that the Essay in its latest and most truculent
form was published in the saine year, and about the saine rime, as
the first edition of the De Jure Belli et Pacis.
l. 7. Livia &c.] This Livia is the wife of Drusus, the son of the
Emperor Tiberius. ' Hanc (Sejanus) ut amore incensus, adulterio
pellexit; et postquam primi flagitii potitus est Ineque femina, amissa
pudicitia, alia abnueritl ad conjugii spem, consortium regni, et necem
mariti impulit .... Sumitur in conscientiam Eudemus amicus ac
medicus Liviae, specie artis frequens secretis.' Tacitus, Ann. iv. 3-
According to Tacitus it was to Sejanus, and not to Livia, that the
final guilt attached. 'Sejanus maturandum ratus deligit venenum
quo paulatim irrepente fortuitus morbus assimilaretur. Id Druso
datum per Lygdum spadonem, ut octo post annos cognitum est.'
Cap. 8.
Dion Cassius divides the guilt somevhat differently. He says of
Sejanus, ¢6plad» rt a¢r (SC. to Drusus) tfi r« rç g r &pard. abro
cap. z2.
1. 8. Roxolam] ' This woman, late a slave, but now become the
greatest Empresse of the East... wanted nothing she could wish but
how to find means that the Turkish empire might after the death of
Solyman be brought to solne of ber own sons .... Noble Mustapha,
Solyman's eldest sonne and heire apparent of the Empire .... was
the only cloud that kept the sunne from shining upon ber: if he by
any means might be taken axvay, then wanted nothing that she
dcsired. Which to bring to pass, thc wicked woman laboured
OF EMPIRE. 141
eunningly by little and little to breed in Solyman's head no small
suspition of Mustapha .... This mischievous plot, by ber devised,
was nota little furthered by Rustan the great Bassa... who nothing
omitted that could be slily devised for the disg-race or confusion of
the young Prince .... They so prevailed with the aged man, whom
they never suffered to rest in quiet, that he at length resolved to
worke his safety (as he supposed) by the death of his owne sonne.'
The plot was successful. Mustapha was induced to corne to his
father's tent, and there, says Knolles, ' the butcherly Muts threw the
poore innocent Prince upon the ground, and dth the helpe of the
Eunuches forcibly drawing the knotted bow-string both waies, by
the commandment ofa most wicked father strangled him.' Knolles,
Hist. of the Turks, 759-763.
l. io. olherwise lroubled &c.] i.e. by supporting Bajazet her younger
son against his elder brother Selymus. ' Selymus the elder brother,
most like unto his mother, was in the secret determination of the
aged Emperor his father appointed heire of that most mighty empire.
Bajazet, much resembling his father, was on the other side strongly
supported by the care and entire love of his mother.' p. -/68. The ac-
count follows of Bajazet's rebellions and final death by the bow-string.
l. 4..elymus lie .econd &c.] ' So that now remained unto him only
Selymus and Bajazet, both men growne and the sonnes of the saine
Roxolana, but so far differing the one from the other both in feature
of body and disposition of mind as if they had not bin of the saine
kindred and line.' Knolles, Hist. of Turks, p. 767. 'In Selymus
appeared no likenes of himself, but the express liniaments of his
mother's face and body, a woman whilst she lived generally hated
of ail the people. He went heavily as overcharged with his greasie
paunch, blub cheeked and exceeding red faced .... The soldiers
began to ask among themselves, why his father should reject
(Bajazet) him of such worth, the expresse image of himself, and
prefer before him that gorbellied sluggard, in whom no spark of his
father's valor was to be seen.' P- 775-
Crispus was put to death by Constantine at the instigation of his
stepmother Fausta, Constantine's second wife. Constantine the
Second was killed in battle while he ,vas invading his brother
Constans' territory. Constans (whom Bacon calls Constance) was
killed during a rebellion and mutiny of his own soldiers. Con-
stantius died (..D. 36I) while he ,vas on his march against Julian.
L 3I. The destruction of Demetrius &e.] Demetrius, son of Philip
the Fifth of Maeedon, was charged by his brother Perseus with
treasonable relations with the Romans. ' I believe,' says lgiebuhr,
'that Demetrius without having any evil intention allowed himself
to be gained over by the Romans to aet against the interests of his
father, and he seems aetually to bave beeome faithless in the execu-
J42 ESSAY XIX.
tion of his commission (as ambassador). It does not seem to me
wrong that Perseus accused him, and that the father afterwards
regarded him as a traitor .... Demetrius died, and the general
opinion is that the father caused him to be poisoned.' Lectures on
Aneient History, lecture ex. Livy insists strongly on his innocence.
In mentioning the circumstances of his death, he says only that
Philip ' mandata dedisse dieitur de filio occidendo.' Bk. xl. 2 4. He
refers to it afterwards as a fact, and to repentance for it as a chier
cause of Philip's death. ' Eodem anno (B.c. 179} Philippus rex Mace-
donum, senio et maerore consumpms post mortem filii, decessit.
Demetriade hibernabat, quum desiderio anxius filii, tutu poenitentia
crudelitalis suae...' Cap. 54. 'Quum Amphipolim venisset, gravi
morbo est implicitus. Sed animo tamen aegrum magis fuisse quam
corpore constat: curisque et vigiliis, quum identidem species et
umbrae insontis interempti filii agitarent, extinctum esse cure diris
execrationibus alterius.' Cap. 56. Polybius does not bear out this
statement. Speaking of the troubles and perturbations which closed
in on Philip's later life, he remarks more generally, 'Er rotoVot "
vovio. Lib. xxiv. cap. 8. Bacon may be assumed tobe following
Livy's account.
l. 33- many like examples lhere are] Bacon's examples appear to
prove his point--that the entering by fathers into causeless suspicion
of their children does not for the most part turn out fortunately. It
is hot so c]ear what good Bajazet or Hen the Second bad from
their reasonable distrust of' sons who were up in open arms ainst
them.' Selymus, the son of Bajazet the Second, hang corrupted
the soldiers and having been proclaimed Emperor by them in his
father's stead, ' no lesse careful of the keeping of his estate, than he
had belote been for the obtMning of the saine, . . . reso]ved most
viper-like to kill his father.... The readiest and most secret way he
could devise for the effecting of this his damnable device, was to
worke it by poyson ;' and this design he carried out by the agency
of his father's chier physician. Knolles, Hist. of Turks, pp. 494-495.
HenoE the Second, in tbe later years of his reign, was in almost
constant trouble from the plots and insurrections of his sons, and
he died worn-out and broken-hearted in consequence.
P. 134, 1. 16. more absoh«te, butless sale] This was a warning ven
by James I to his son. ' He tutored his son the Prince... chiefly to
take heed how he bandied to pluck down a peer of the rea]m by the
arm of the Lower House; for the Lords were the hedge beeen
himselfand the people, and a breach made in that hedge might in
time perhaps lay himself open.' Hacket, Life of Archbishop
Williams, pt. i. p. I.
OF EMPIRE.
43
I. 8. I have noted it &c.] Conf. ' He kept a strait hand on his
nobflity, and chose rather to advance clergymen and lawyers, which
were more obsequious to him, but had less interest in the people :
which ruade for his absoluteness but hot for his safety. Insomuch
as I ara persuaded it was one of the causes of his troublesome reign.
For that his nobles, though they were loyal and obedient, yet did hot
co-operate with him, but let every man go his own way.' Works,
vi. p. 4.
1.3 z vena porta] ' La veine porte transmet au foie le sang qui
revient de toute la portion sous-diaphragmatique du tube digestif,
du pancreas et de la rate .... L'anatomie se trouve ici d'accord avec
la physiologie expérimentale pour admettre que les êléments de leur
sécrétion sont apportés aux lobules par la veine porte.' Sappey,
Traité d'Anatomie Descriptive, vol. iv. pp. 338-340 (Paris, x879.
' The Vena Portae,' says Carpenter, ' is formed bythe convergence of
the veins that return the blood from the chylo-poietic viscera.' Human
Physiolog'y, p. 434 (ninth edition,
In an earlier passage in the saine book we read : ' We may con-
sider the sanguiferous vessels then, as affording the usual channel
by which a large part of the nutritive materials are introduced into
the system; but these are not allowed to pass into the general
current of the circulation, until they have been subjected to an im-
portant assimilating process, which it appears to be one great office
of the liver to perform, whereby they are rendered more fit for the
purposes they are destined to serve in the economy.' p. I84.
Mr. Ellis, in a note on this passage in the Essay, quoted by Mr.
Spedding, writes : ' The metaphor is historically curious ; for no one
would have used it since the discovery ofthe circulation ofthe blood
and of the lacteals. But in Bacon's rime it was supposed that the
chyle was taken up by the veins which converge to the veJm porta.
... Bacon's meaning therefore is that commerce concentrates the
resources of a country in ortier to their redistribution,' &c. Works,
vi. p. 422.
The above is a correct accourir of Bacon's meaning, but it is other-
wise open to remark. The absorbents, of which the lacteals are
a part, were observed by Caspar Aselli in 62. ' When they were
first discovered, and when their functional importance was per-
ceived, it w'as imagined that the introduction of alimentary fluid into
the vascular system took place by them alone. Such an idea, how-
ever, would be altogether inconsistent with the facts of comparative
anatomy, and it is completely negatived by the results ofexperiment.'
.Human Physiology, p.
It appears, therefore, parc Mr. Ellis, that the lacteals had been
discovered in Bacon's day, but that the results of later investigation
have left the old view as to the function of the vena porta substantially
I44 ESSAY XIX.
untouched. Bacon therefore has lost nothing in this instance by
being unacquainted with the scientific movement of his age.
The illustration is a favourite one with Bacon. Conf. e.g. 'Mer-
chandising, which is the vena lborla of wealth in a state.' Essay 41.
And, 'Being a king that loved wealth and treasure, he could hOt
endure to have trade sick, nor any obstruction to continue in the
gate-vein, which disperseth that blood.' Works, i. 172.
P. 135,1.2. Taxes and imposts] It is hOt clear from the text whether
Bacon means to condemn direct taxes upon merchants, or indirect
taxes upon imports. The Latin vectigalia et portoria immodica is in
favour of the latter sense. So too, when in i6io, as King's Solicitor,
he argues in support of the king's right of impositions, 'hOt, I say,
touching any taxes within the land, but of payment at the ports,' he
gives his hearers to understand that he does hot therefore think
these indirect taxes advisable ; for he adds, presently, ' The question
is de veto etfalso, and hot de bono et malo, of the legal point and hot
of the inconvenlence.' Letters and Life, iv. p. t9t.
1. 13. Janizaries] We have frequent instances of this in Knolles'
Hist. of the Turks. Conf. 'About this time (i. e. circa I36O, in the
reign of Amurath I), Zinderlu Chelil, then Cadalesher or chiefe
Justice among the Turks, by the commandment of Amurath, took
order, that every fifth captive of the Christians, being above fifteen
yeres old, should be taken up for the King, as by law due unto him.
.. By which means great numbers of Christian youths were brought
to the court as the king's captives, which by the counsell of the
same Zinderlu Chelil, were distributed among the Turkish husband-
men in Asia, there to learn the Turkish language, religion, and
manners, where after they had bin brought up in ail painfull labour
and travell by the space of two or three yeares, they were called
unto the court, and choice made of the better sort of them to attend
upon the person of the Prince, or to serve him in his wars; where
they daily practising ail feats of activity are called by the name of
Janizars [that is to say, new soldiers). This was the first beginning
of the Janizars under this Sultan, Amurath the first, but had great
increase under Amurath the second, and hath ever since bin con-
tinued by the Turkish Kings and Emperors, by the same and some
other greater means ; so that in processe of time they be groxvn to
that greatnes as that they are oftentimes right dreadful to the great
Turke himselfe ; after whose death they have sometime preferred
to the Empire such of the Emperor's sons as they best liked, without
respect of prerogative of age, contrary to the will of the great Sultan
himself; and are at this day the greatest strength of the Turkish
empire and hOt unlike in time to be the greatest cause of the ruine
thereof.' p.
Again, at the accession of Mahomet the Second,--'The Janizaries
OF EMPIRE. x45
also at the saine rime (according to their accustomed manner) took
the spoile of the Christians and Jews that dwelt amongst them, and
easily obtained pardon for the saine: whereupon he was by the
saine Janizaties and other souldiers of the court, with great triumph
saluted King. Which approbation of these men of war, is unto the
Turkish Kings a greater assurance for the possession of their King-
dome, than to be borne the eldest son of the King, as in the processe
of this History shall appeare ; so great is the power of these master-
full slaves, in promoting to the kingdome whichsoever of the King's
sons they most favour without much regard whether they be eldest
or hOt.' p. 337-
'At the accession of Selymus the first--he gave unto the souldiers
of the court two millions of duckats ; and for a perpetuall remem-
brance of his thankfulnesse towards them, augmented their daily
wages.' p. 499-
At the accession of Solyman the Magnificent (152o) 'the Jani-
zaries disappointed by the Bassaes of the spoile of the merchants,
especially Christians and Jewes, received of the bounty of Solyman
a great largious; and in the beginning of his reigne had their
accustomed wages somewhat augmented also, to their wonderfull
contentment.' p. 568.
So, too, at the accession of Selymus the Second 'he gave to the
Janizaries a largesse of IOOOOO Sultannies, with promise to augment
their wages.' Shortly afterzvards ' thinking to enter his palace, he was
by the discontented Janizaries, but now corne from the wars, pro-
hibited so to do, they with great insolencie demanding of him a
greater donative, together with a confirmation both of their ancient
and new privileges .... With which so sudden and unexpected a
mutiny of his best souldiers Selymus nota little troubled, and calling
unto him the Aga or captain of the Janizaries, demanded of him the
cause therof. ,Vho with tears trick]ing down his cheeks for grief, told
him it was for money. Which by Selymus now promised unto them,
together with the confirmation of their liberties,.., the mutiny was
at length appeased, the insolent Janizaries again quieted.' p. 828.
Again, Amurath the Third, at his accession 'besides the usual
larges which the Turkish Emperours at their first entrance into the
empire bestow upon them, augmented also their daily wages.' p.
9t9
Numerous other instances of their rapacity and turbulence occur
in the course of the history.
1. 13. Pra«torian bands] These were the body-guard of the
Emperors. The custom for them 'to live and remain in a body'
was introduced by Sejanus, in opposition to the rule followed in the
reign of Augustus. 'Vim praefecturae modicam antea intendit, dis-
persas per urbem cohortes una in castra conducendo, ut simul
L
14 6 ESSAY XIX.
imperia acciperent, numeroque et robore et visu inter se fiducia
ipsis, in ceteros metus cresceret.' Tacitus, Ann. iv. cap. 2. The
expected result followed, but not with the advantage which Sejanus
looked for to himself. Conf. e.g. 'Armatos pro concione jurare in
nomen suum passus est : promisitque singulis quina dena sestertia,
primus Caesarum ridera militis etiam praemio pigneratus.' Sue-
tonius, Claudius, cap. IO. 'Illatusque castris Nero, et congruentia
tempori praefatus, promisso donativo ad exemplum paternae largi-
tionis, Imperator consalutatur.' Tacitus, Ann. xii. 6 9.
Galba's refusal to comply with this custom was a chief cause of
his ruin ; vide note on Essay *5, P- no. Gibbon, in the fifth chapter of
his Decline and Fall, gives the history of the Proetorians from their
establishment under Augustus to their murder of the Emperor
Pertinax and offer of the Empire by auction to the highest bidder.
1. *7. Princes are like to leavenly bodies &c.] Conf. 'Ex quo se
Caesar orbi terrarum dedicavit, sibi eripuit : et siderum modo, quae
irrequieta semper cursus suos explicant, nunquam illi licet nec
subsistere, nec quicquam suum facere.' Seneca, Consol. ad Poly-
bium, cap. 26 (p. 95, B). And, ' The Persian magic, which was the
secret literature of their kings, was an observation of the con-
templations of nature, and an application thereof to a sense politic...
After this manner the aforesaid instructors set belote their princes
the example of the celestial bodies, the sun, the moon and the test,
which have great glory and veneration, but no test or intermission :
being in a perpetual office of motion for the cherishing, in turn and
in course, of inferior bodies.' Letters and Life, iii. 9o.
The Encyclopédie Dictionnaire, sub voce 'Perses,' gives what
purports to be a translation of the will of Khosroës the Great,
addressed to his son. The following is an extract from it :--
' Lorsqu'il aura fermé mes yeux, qui déjà ne peuvent pas soutenir
la lumière du soleil, qu'il monte sur mon tr6ne, et que delà il jette
sur mes sujets une splendeur égale à celle de cet astre. Il doit se
ressouvenir que les rois sont revêtus du pouvoir souverain, et qu'ils
ne sont à l'égard du reste des hommes que comme le ciel est à
l'égard de la terre. La terre produira-t-elle des fruits si le ciel ne
l'arrose ?... Voyez ce soleil ; il part d'un bout du monde pour aller
à l'autre ; il se cache et se remontre ensuite ; et s'il change de route
tous les jours ce n'est que pour faire bien à tous ... Il est toujours
dans le ciel; soutenez la majesté royale; il marche toujours; soyez
sans cesse occupé du soin du gouvernement."
So in Plutarch, Life of Themistocles. Artabanus says, 'Amongst
ail the goodly lawes and customs we have, we esteeme this above
the test, to reverence and honour out king as the image of the God
of nature who keepeth ail things in their perfect life and state.'
.North's trans, p. iio.
OF COUNSEL. ,47
XX.
OF COUNSEL,
THE greatest trust between man and man is the trust of
giving counsel; for in other confidences men commit the
parts of life ; their lands, their goods, their children, their
credit, some particular affair; but to such as they make
their counsellors they commit the whole: by how much
the more they :are obliged to :ail faith and integrity. The
wisest princes need not think it any diminution to their
greatness, or derogation to their sufficiency, to rely upon
counsel. God himself is not without, but hath ruade it
one of the great names of his blessed Son, The Cototscl[or. xo
Salomon hath pronounced that h counsel is stabilit_y.
Things will have their first or second agitation : if they be
not tossed upon the arguments of counsel, they will be
tossed upon the waves of fortune, and be fu}l of incon-
stancy, doing and undoing, like the reeling of a drunken
man. Salomon's son found the force of counsel, as his
father saw the necessity of it : for the beloved kingdom of
God was first rent and broken by ill counsel ; upon which
counsel there are set for our instruction the two marks
whereby bad counsel is for ever best discerned, that it 2o
was young counsel for the persons, and violent counsel for
the matter.
The ancient times do set forth in figure both the incor-
poration and inseparable conjunction of counsel with
Kings, and the wise and politic use of counsel by Kings :
the one, in that they say Jupiter did marry bletis, which
signifieth counsel ; whereby they intend that sovereignty
is married to counsel ; the other, in that which followeth,
which was thus: they say, after Jupiter was married
to Metis, she conceived by him and was with child ; but 3o
Jupiter suffered her not to stay till she brought forth, but
eat her up: whereby he became himself with child, and
L2
148 ESSAY XX. °
was delivered of Pallas armed, out of his head. Which
monstrous fable containeth a secret of empire, how Kings
are to make use of their council of state: that first, they
ought to refer matters unto them, which is the tïrst be-
getting or impregnation; but when they are elaborate,
moulded, and shaped in the womb of their council, and
grow ripe and ready to be brought forth, that then
they surfer not their council to go through with the
resolution and direction, as if it depended on them; but
otake the matter back into their own hands, and make
it appear to the world, that the decrees and final directions
{which, because they corne forth with prudence and power,
are resembled to Pallas armed}, proceeded from them-
selves; and not only from their authority, but (the more
to add reputation to themselves) from their head and
device.
Let us noxv speak of the inconveniences of counsel, and
of the remedies. The inconveniences that have been noted
in calling and using counsel, are three : first, the revealing
2o of affairs, whereby they become less secret; secondly, the
weakening of the authority of princes, as if they were less
of themselves; thirdly, the danger of being unfaithfully
counselled, and more for the good of them that counsel
than of him that is counselled; for which inconveniences,
the doctrine of Italy, and practice of France in some
Kings' rimes, hath introduced cabinet councils; a remedy
worse than the disease.
As to secrecy; princes are not bound to communicate
all matters with all counsellors, but may extract and select ;
-;o neither is it necessary that he that consulteth what he
*' tab:net eouncils] Tbe sense inwbicb
these words are used is clear from the
MS. of I6o7-I2, where after 'worse
than the disease,' there follows (omitted
in all the printed editions) 'which hath
tourned Metis the wife, to Metis the
1Mistresse, that is the councelles of
State to which Princes are solemnly
marryed, to councells of gracious per-
sons recommended cheifly by flattery
and affection.' Arbeds English Re-
prints, Harmony of the Essays, p. 3t8.
OF COUNSEL.
149
should do, should declare what he will do; but let princes
beware that the unsecreting of their affairs cornes not from
themselves: and, as for cabinet councils, it may be their
motto, Plettts rh»tartt»t sttut: one futile person b, that
maketh it his glory to tell, will do more hurt than many,
that know it their duty to conceal. It is true there be
some affairs, which require extreme secrecy, which will
hardly go e beyond one or two persons besides the King:
neither are those counsels unprosperous; for, besides the
secrecy, they commonly go on constantly in one spirit of
direction without distraction : but then it must be a prudent
King, such as is able to grind with a hand-mill d ; and those
inward e counsellors had need also be wise men, and espe-
cially true and trusty to the King's ends; as it was with
King Henry the Seventh of England, who in his greatest
business imparted himself to none, except it were to
Morton and Fox.
For weakening of authority; the fable r showeth the
remedy: nay, the majesty of Kings is rather exalted than
diminished when they are in the chair of counsel ; neither
was there ever prince bereaved of his dependenciesg by
his council, except where there hath been either an over-
greatness in one counsellor, or an over strict cornbination
in divers, which are things soon found and holpen h.
For the last inconvenience, that rnen will counsel with
b one futile )erson] i.e. talkative.
Vide Note on Essay 6. The Italian,
which does not translate Essay 6, gives
here un cicalone.
o a,hich will iardly go &c.] The
Latin--qualis (sc. occultatio) non facile
«ltra ntitian unius aut duorum, traeler
ipsum regra, excedct--implies that the
sense is--which (secrecy)will hardly
be observed (if the affairs are known)
by more than one or two, etc. A more
obvious sensewould be--which (affairs)
can hardly with safety be made known
to more than one or two &c,
d able fo grfnd ua'th a hand.mill] i.e.
able to conduct his own business. The
Latin varies the metaphor--/ror
arle ah'dus.
« iward] i.e. intimate, confidential.
Conf. ' A servant or favourite if he be
inward.' Essay xx and Note on
passage.
r th«fable] i.e. the story, given above,
of Jupiter and Metis.
bereaved of his dependencies] Lat.
auctorlale sua iraminutum.
" holpen] i.e. remedied. Lat. sa-
5o ESSAY XX.
an eye to themselves; certainly, non htvenietfide»t snper
lorrain is meant of the nature of rimes, and not of ail
particular persons. There be that are in nature faithful
and sincere, and plain and direct, not crafty and involved :
let princes, above ail, draw to themselves such natures.
Besides, counsellors are not commonly so united, but that
one counsellor keepeth sentinel over another; so that if
any do counsel out of faction i or private ends, it commonly
comes to the King's car: but the best remedy is, if princes
o knoxv their counsellors as well as their counsellors know
them :
Princi2Ms est virtus axima nosse suos.
And on the other side, counsellors should not be too
speculative into their sovereign's person. The truc com-
position of a counsellor is, rather to be skilful in their
master's business than in his nature ; for then he is like to
advise him, and not to feed his humour. It is of sin'gular
use to princes if they take the opinions of their council
both separately and together ; for private opinion is more
o free, but opinion before others is more reverend k. In
private, men are more bold in their ovn humours; and
in consort, men are more obnoxious to others' humours;
therefore it is good to take both; and of the inferior sort
rather in private, to preserve freedom; of the greater
rather in consort, to preserve respect. It is in vain for
t out of faction &c.] One of Blunde-
vill's cautions shows exactly what
this means. He gives among the
marks to be looked for in a bad coun-
sellor : ' Whyther he be factious, that
is to say favouring and maintayning
one part ofthe state more than another,
as the Nobles more than the commons
or contrar'ywise . . . which -kinde of
men are perilous in ail common-
weaithes. For so as their faction may
stand, be it by right or by wa-ong, they
care hot what mischiefe they do, having
no regard to the Commonweaith at al.'
Blundevill, Of Counsell (ed. of 157o.
The pages are hot numbered).
* more revere*d] The Latin gives
gravior--a correct translation of the
word. But it is clear, from the sentence
which follows, that Bacon means here
reverent, hot reero,d. The edition
of x6x reads rever«nt. The Itaiian
translation of it is riverente.
obnoxious fo] i. e. somewhat sub-
servient to, or liable to be influenced b:
Conf. Somewhat obnoxious to him for
his favours and benefits.' Works, vi. 64,
and Mr. Spedding's Note on the word.
OF COUNSEL. sr
princes to take counsel concerning matters, if they take
no counsel likewise concerning persons; for all matters
are as dead images : and the life of the execution of affairs
resteth in the good choice of persons : neither is it enough
to consult concerning persons, secundttm gencra, as in an
idea or mathematical description, vhat the kind and cha-
racter of the person should be ; for the greatest errors are
committed, and the most judgment is shown, in the choice
of individuals. It was truly said, OiMimi consiliarii mortni;
books will speak plain when counsellors blanch"; there- ,,
fore it is good to be conversant in them, specially the
books of such as themselves bave been actors upon the
stage.
The councils at this day in most places are but familiar
meetings, where matters are rather talked on than de-
bated; and they run too swift to the order or act of
council. It were better that in causes of weight the
matter were propounded one day and hot spoken to till
the next day; In nocte consilittm : so was it donc in the
commission of union between England and Scotland,
which was a grave and orderly assembly. I commend
set days for petitions; for both it gives the suitors more
certainty for their attendance, and it frees the meetings for
matters of estate, that they may hoc agere. In choice of
committees for ripening business for the council, it is
better to choose indifferent" persons, than to make an
indifferency by putting in those that are strong on both
sides. I commend also standing commissions; as for
trade, for treasure, for war, for suits, for some provinces ;
for where there be divers particular councils, and but one
va blanchi Lat. in adulationem lap-
suri ,int. Ff. manqueront. Ital.
quando gli conseglio s" accommodano.
In Murray's New English Dictionary
the word is said to be apparently worn
down from blandish, and to approach
in meaning some senses of blench,
vith which if ,vas probably confounded.
Blandish or blench will equally suit
the text.
indifferent] i.e. impartial, unaf-
fected to either side. Lat. qui aequi
Mnt et in neutram 1artem 1roicn-
deanl.
152 ESSAY XX.
council of estate (as it is in SpainL they are, in effect, no
more than standing commissions, save that they bave
greater authority. Let such as are to inform councils out
of their particular professions (as lawyers, seamen, mintmen,
and the like) be first heard belote committees; and then,
as occasion sel'es, before the council; and let them hOt
corne in multitudes, or in a tribunitious ° manner; for that
is to clamour councils, hot to inform tbem. A long table
and a square table, or seats about the walls, seem things
of form, but are things of substance; for at a long table
a few at the upper end, in effect, sway all the business;
but in the other form there is more use of the counsellors'
opinions that sit lower. A King, when he presides in
council, let him beware how he opens his own inclination
too much in that which he propoundeth; for else coun-
sellors will but take the wind of him p, and instead of
giving free counsel, will sing him a song of placcbo «.
NOTES A:,'D IZZUSTRA
P. 147, 1. IO. The Counsellor] Isaiah ix. 6.
1. ii. Dt counsel is stability] This is a loose quotation. The
Authorized Version gives, ' Every purpose is established by counsel,'
Proverbs xx. 18. The Vulgate is Cogitationes eonsiliis roborantur.
tHbunitious] i. e. after the fashion
of the "tribuni plebis," clamorous, dis-
orderly, as their conduct is represented
in Livy passim. Vide Note at end of
Essay, p. 55-
p will but take the wind ofhim] Lat.
se ad nutum jus applicabunt. The
metaphor seems to be the same as in
the common phrase--will see which
way the wind blows.
a songofplacebo] i.e. will follow
his humour. For this phrase conf. the
close of Bacon's speech on the General
Naturalization of the Scottish Nation.
' Mr. Speaker, I have, I take it, gone
through the parts which I propounded
fo myself, wherein if any man shall
think that I have sung a placebo for
mine own patticular, I would have
him know that I am hot so unseen in
the world but that I discern it were
much alike for my private fortune to
rest a tacebo, as to sing a placebo in this
business ; but I have spoken out of
the fountain of my hem-t.' Letters
and Life, iii. 35. The phrase is a
humourous adaptation or perversion
from the Roman oflqce for the dead,
which begins with Placebo Domino;
then follows Ps. 114 (116 in the Eng-
lish version), in which the full text
occurs (v. 9 Placebo Domino in regione
w'vorum. Vide Officium Defunctorumo
in the Rituale Romanum Pauli V Jussu
Editum, &c., pp. x6o, 16I. (Romae,
1847-)
OF COUNSEL.
}. 6. Salomon's sorti x Kings chap. xii.
!. 23. The ancient limes] ' The wisdom of the ancients' gives the
saine explanation as the text. Con£ Cap. xxx. Mêtis sive Consilium.
Works, ri. p. 683.
P. 149, 1.4" Plenus rimarum sum]
'Quae vera audivi, taceo et contineo optume:
Sin falsum aut vanum aut fictum est, continuo palam est:
Plenus rimarum sum; hac atque illac perfluo.'
Terence, Eunuchus, act. i. sc. 2. 1. 3-25.
1. x 5. Kt)tgI-lenry lhe Sevotlh] 'About this time (i.e. about the end
of z485) the King called unto lais Privy Counsel John Morton and
Richard Foxe, the one Bishop of Ely, the other Bishop of Exeter ;
vigilant men and secret, and such as kept watch with him almost
upon all men else.' Works, ri. 4 o. At the summing up at the end
of the History, we find Morton and Sir Reignold Bray mentioned
together as counsellors of ancient authority with the King, p. 240 ;
and again, p. 242, Morton, Foxe, Bray and several others mentioned
as serving him in his affairs, and as the ablest men that were then
to be found.
P. 150, 1. z. non invotietfldon &c.] It is clear from the concluding
words of Essay t that Bacon is here referring to Luke xviii. 8.
i. 2. Prittcipis est virh«s &c.] Martial, Epigr. viii. I5, 1. 8. The
passage is quoted by Montaigne, with an added remark that it
describes an excellence very rarely to be found; Essays, Bk. iii.
chap. 8.
P. 1.51, l. 9- Il was lruly said &c.] This was a saying of Alonso or
Alphonso of Aragon (i4t6-458). Conf. ' Dezia el Rey don Alonso de
Aragon que ninguno avia de tomar consejo con los vivos, si no con los
muertos: entendiendo pot los libros : porque sin amor ni temor siem-
pre dizen laverdad.' Tuningius, Apophthegmata(ed. i6ogI, Hispanica,
P.34. And,' Optimos consiliarios esse mortuos dicebat, libros videlicet
designans, a quibus, sine metu sine gratia, quae nosse cuperet fideliter
audiret.' Antonius Panormita, De dictis et factis Alphonsi Regis
Aragonum, Lib. iii. cap. t. We learn from other parts of the collec-
tion the exceeding value which Alphonso put upon books: 'Cure
iibris sub sponda solitum dormire regem scimus, experrectum illos
cum lumine poscere ac lectitare. Ab his, quid sibi quid civibus
conveniret edoceri potissimum aiebat.' Lib. iv. cap. 3 t. And again
in cap. 34-
The saying is quoted in Bacon's ' Formularies and Elegancies,'
Works, vii. ox, and is referred to in the 'Apophthegms' and ex-
plained as in the Essay: 'Alonso of Aragon was wont to say of
himself that he was a great necromatcer, for that he used to ask counsel
o[ the dead: meaning books.' Works, vii. 4o.
54 ESSAY XX.
In the preface to the first English translation of the Decamedon
{65), the saying is ascribed, somewhat incorrectly, to the Stoic
philosopher, Zeno, who ' being demanded on a time by what means
a man might attain to happiness, made answer : By resorti»g fo
dead and having [amiliar conversation with them. Intimating thereby
the reading of mtcient and modem Histories, and otdeauring fo leam
such good hstructions as bave been obsemed bi out Predecessors."
Diogenes Lacnius, in his life of Zeno, gives the correct authori
for it : "Edrwv t a[ "Aokkvtof 6 Tpto£ . . . XpÇptaçopivov aro
VçKpOF. *O&v ffVVVfl, à oeV àpXaV àVatVfftV. Lib. vii. sec. 2.
1. 17. I/ were bette d Conf. Bacon's Advice to Villie: « I do
heartily wish thm the Councillors-themselves would be so adsed
in their resolutions that they should never be sudden, but that ail
things there propounded and debated one day, should be resed
the next, and then confirmed or altered upon second thoughts.'
Letters and Life, . 19.
1. 19. D nocte consilimn] Gaisford, in the Paroemiographi Graeci,
gives several proverbs to this effect.
«XoX». Prov. e Cod. Bodleiano, 359.
"0oi« , "E» yoga gooX. Prov. Diogeniani, Cent. v. 95.
o«t arà «XoX0» kotegof .r.X. Prov. Zenobii, Cent. iii. 97.
Erasmus, in the Adagia, sub titulo b nocte Consilium, explains
the proverb as above, and adds, ' Praeterea, saepenumero fit, ut
somnus sedata cupiditate pfistinam sententiam veat. Unde etiam
vulgo dicitur ab idiotis nostratibus, super hac re indormiam : ubi sig-
nificant se per ocium deliberaturos.' Chiliadis Secundae Cent. ii. 43-
To the saine effect is the common French proverb : La nuit rte
1. ç so was it donc] Conf. Journal of the Proceedings of the
Commission : 'Agreed by a full consent that eve rime of assembly,
after the matters concluded at that sitting, there shall be propositions
made of such paicular questions and matters as shall be debated
at the next sitting.' Letters and Life, iii. 241.
1. 22. set days] This is Bacon's Adce to Villiers : ' Vhen suitors
corne to you, set apart a ceain hour in the day to give them audience.'
Letters and Life, ri. 29.
1. 24. hoc agere] i.e. give sole attention to the business in hand.
Torrentius, in a note on hocage in Suetonius, Calila, cap. 58, says :
' Quod (teste Plutarcho ta Coriolani) mana praeconis vote in sacfis
usurpafi solet. Hoc age in proverbium ad res alias quoque abiisse
videtur, cure attentionem imperamus.' TeuHian, lib. iv. adversus
OF DELAYS. I55
Mareionem : ' Ut diei solet, ad quod venil.nus, hocage: The passage
in Plutarch is--'When the mnagistrates, bishops, priests, or other
religious l.ninisters go about any divine service or matter of religion,
an herald ever goeth before thel.n, crying out aloud, Hoc age : as to
say, do this or l.nind this. Hereby they are specially comnmnanded
wholly to dispose thel.nselves to serve God, leaving all other business
and mnatters aside.' Lires, North's trans, p. 234.
Conf. also, e. g. ' hoc agamn,' Terence, Andria, ii. 5, I. 4- The phrase
is of frequent occurrence.
P. 152, I.I. as il is ht Spain] Conf. ' The King of Spain for the
government of his dominions bath seven couneils ; riz. the council of
the Indies, the council of Spain, the council of Italy and the Low
Countries, the couneil of war, the council of orders, the council of
inquisition, the council royal.' Ralegh, The Cabinet Couneil, cap. viii.
1. 7. lribunilious] Conf., e.g., 'Loquaees, seditiosos, semnina dis-
cordiarum, iterum ac tertium tribunos pessimnis artibus regia licentia
vivere.' Livy iii. 19. Negabant eonsules jam ultra ferri posse furores
tribunieios. Ventumn jamn ad finemn esse: dol.ni plus belli eoncitari
quam foris.' iv. 2. ' Si unquam dubitatum est, Quirites, utrum tribuni
plebis vestra an sua causa| seditionum semnper auctores fuerint,' &e.
v. 3- 'Seditionum omnniumn eausa Tribunieia potestas.' Florus,
Epitol.ne, iii. 13.
1. 13. .4 King, when he presides &c.] Conf. 'Quotiens una cumn
senioribus tuis de re graviore deliberas, cave tuam intelligant volup-
tatemn, ne forte cupiditatemn tuamn potius quamn utilitatemn et dignitatemn
consulendo sequantur." Ficinus, Epist. de institutione Principis,
Opera, vol. i. p. 797 (Basileae, x576).
This is the rule of eonduct whieh Baeon, in his private diary, lays
down for himself, hot only with the King, but with any others whomn
he supposed it for his interest to please: 'At Counsel table eheefly
to mnake good mny L. of Salsb. mnoeions and speaehes, and for
the rest some tymes one, somnetymnes another; cheefly his yt is
mnost earnest and in affection.' Letters and Life, iv. 93.
XXI.
OF DELAYS.
FORTUNE is like the market, where many rimes, if you
can stay a little, the price will fall; and again, it is some-
times like Sibylla's offer, which at first offereth the com-
155 ESSAY XXI/
modity at full, then consumeth part and part, and still
holdeth up the price ; for occasion (as it is in the common
verse) h«rnctlt a bald noddle afler site hath presented ber
locks lu front, and no hoM taken ; or, at least, turneth the
handle of the bottle first to be received, and after the
belly, which is hard to clasp. There is surely no greater
wisdom than well to rime the beginnings and onsets
of things. Dangers are no more light, if they once seem
light; and more dangers have deceived men than forced
o them ": nay, it were better to meet some dangers half-way,
though they corne nothing near, than to keep too long
a watch upon their approaches; for if a man watch too
long, it is odds he will rail asleep. On the other side,
to be deceived with too long shadows {as some have been
when the moon was low, and shone on their enemies'
back), and so to shoot off before the time; or to teach
dangers to corne on by over eady buckling towards
them b, is another extreme. The ripeness or unripeness of
the occasion (as xve said} must ever be well weighed ; and
2o genera]]y it is good to commit the beginnings of all great
actions to Argus with his hundred eyes, and the ends
to Briareus with his hundred hands; first to xvatch and
then to speed ; for the helmet of Pluto, which maketh the
politic man c go invisible, is secrecy in the counsel, and
celerity in the execution ; for when things are once corne
to the execution, there is no secrecy comparable to
celerity; like the motion of a bullet in the air, which
flieth so swift as it outruns the eye.
A tizanforccdti, a»z] The Latin gives
the sense more clearly than the En-
glish--plura pevicula fefcllemcnl q'uan
viro i,tulen«nt.
by over erly buckling towards thon]
The meaning is uncertain. The cor-
responding passage in the Antitheta
gives, Docet pericuh«,n progredi qui
accing,'tur, «t pcrfeulum flgit remedb.
Works» i. 3o5. Buckling toxvards them
may, therefore, be=huckling on his
amour to go and meet them. The
Latin version of the Essay gives
mature obviando, xvhich points rather
to another word used in what seems to
be its proper original sense--beginning
to more towards.
the loliti« r,*an] i. e. the politician.
Lat. toliticum.
OF DELAYS. x57
NOIES INI) IZLO'STR,,4TIONS.
P. 1.56. 1. 2. occasio,] Conf. 'Apud Graecos mas est hic deus,
appellaturque «a,p. Ejus simulacrum ad hune modum fingebat
antiquitas,--Volubili rotae pennatis msistens pedibus, vertigine quam
citissima semer in orbem circumagit, priore capitis parte capillis
hirsuta, posteriore glabra, ut illa facile prehendi queat, bac nequeat.
Unde dictum est, occasionem arripere. Ad quod erudite simul et
eleganter allusit quisquis is fuit qui versiculum hune conscripsit,
« Fronte capillata, post haec Occasio calva."'
Erasmi Adagia, sub tir. ' Nosce tempus.'
'Cursu volucri pendens, in novacula,
Calvus comosa fronte, nudo corpore,
Quem si occupris teneas; elapsum semel
Non ipse possit Jupiter reprehendere:
Occasionem rerum significat brevem.'
Phaedrus, Fables, lib. v. fab. 8.
To a statue of Occasion. Brunck's Antholoa Graeca, il. 49.
'Yceulx je suis dadoEz que nous poursuons, ce pendant que
lheur est pour nous: car loccasion ha tous s cheveulx on front;
quand elle est oultrepassee, vous ne la pouvez plus revocquer : elle est
chaulve par le derriere de la reste, et jamais plus ne retourne.
Rabelais, Gargantua, i. cap. 37.
' Pin solet et recte Occio, foemina, alata, occipitio calva, sphae-
rulae insidcns quod nequeat apud aliqucm diu mancrc .... et idco
moliri semper novi aliquid opoet, et nunquam fidere praeterkis,
Senescunt humana omnia.' CaMan, De Sapientia, lib. iii.
l. 4. as some have beet wke, lhe moe, was Iow &c.] Con£ 'Because
the Moon was very low, the shadow which gave out fuher far than
their bodies, came almost even to their ve enemies, which did let
them (i. e. the soldiers of Mithdates) that they could hot cenly
judge what space of ground was between em, but imagining that
ihey were hard by them, they cast their das at the Romans, but they
hurt never a man, for their bodies wcrc a cat way from thcm.'
Plutarch, Lires (Pompeius), p. 647.
l. 23. heb,et o Ph«lo] Conf. ' Galea Plutonis (quae homines invisi-
biles reddere solebat) manifes parabola est. Nain consiliom
occultatio, post cele6tatem, maximi ad bellum est momenti. Cujus
etiam celefitas ipsa pars magna est. Celeritas cnim consiliom
clgationem praevertR.' Work% L 533.
I58 ESSAY XXII.
XXII.
OF CUNNING.
Wv_ take cunning for a sinister, or crooked wisdom;
and certainly there is great difference between a cunning
man and a wise man, not only in point of honesty,
but in point of ability. There be that can pack the
cards and yet cannot play well; so there are some
that are good in canvasses a and factions, that are other-
wise weak men. Again, it is one thing to understand
persons, and another thing to understand matters; for
many are perfect in men's humours that are not greatly
capable of the real part of business; which is the con-
stitution of one that hath studied men more than books.
Such men are fitter for practice ' than for counsel, and
they are good but in their own alley: turn them to
new men, and they have lost their aire; so as the old
rule, to know a fool from a wise man, Mille ambos nudos
ad ignotos et vidcbis, doth scarce hold for them; and,
because these cunning men are like haberdashers e of
small vares, it is not amiss to set forth their shop.
It is a point of cunning to vait upon him with whom
you speak with your eye, as the Jesuits give it in precept ;
for there be many wise men that have secret hearts and
transparent countenances : yet this would be done ' with
a demure abasing of your eye sometimes, as the Jesuits
also do use.
canvasses] here probabIy «in-
trigues.' The French givespractiques ;
the Latin competitionibus. Conf. ' Also
that there be no brigues nor canvasses
whereof I hear too much.' Letters
and Life, iv. 37 .
b pradice] i.c. trickend, the usual
sense with Bacon.
c habedashers] i.e. small dealers in
varlous ldnds of goods. Lat. simfks
unt luMllarum mercium lropoli.s.
Conf.
'What mean dull souls in this
high measure
To haberdash
In earth's base wares?'
Quarles' Emblems, bk. ii. Emb. 5,1. 37-
So, in Cotgrave's DicL mercieris trans-
lated--a good pedler or mean haber-
dasher of small wares.
a vould fie donc] i.e. ought to be
done. So a.'m.
OF CUNNING. 59
Another is, that when you have anything to obtain of
present dispatch, you enter'tain and amuse the party with
whom you deal with some other discourse, that he be not
too much avake to make objections. I knew a counsellor
and secretary that never came to Queen Elizabeth of
England with bills to sign, but he would always first put
her into some discourse of estate, that she might the less
mind the bills.
The like surprise may be made by moving things vhen
the party is in haste, and cannot stay to consider advisedly ,o
of that is moved.
If a man would cross a business that he doubts some
other would handsomely and effectually move, let him
pretend to wish it well, and move it himself in such sort
as may foil it.
The breaking off in the midst of that one was about to
say, as if he took himself up, breeds a greater appetite in
him with whom you confer to know more.
And because it works better when anything seemeth to
be gotten from you by question than if you offer it of 2o
yourself, you may lay a bait for a question, by showing
another visage and countenance than you are wont ; to the
end, to give occasion for the party to ask what the matter
is of the change ? as Nehemias did, And I had hot bcfore
lhat lime bcen sad bcfore lhc khtg.
In things that are tender « and unpleasing, itis good to
break the ice by some whose words are of less weight,
and to reserve the more weighty voice to corne in as by
chance, so that he may be asked the question upon the
other's speech; as Narcissus did, in relating to Claudius ,o
the marriage of Messalina and Silius.
In things that a man would not be seen in himself,
itis a point of cunning to borrow the name of the
tender] i.e. that need delicate hand- in tender rnatters and ticklish rimes to
ling. Conf. « Surely, princes had need beware what they say.' Essay x5.
6o ESSAY XXII.
world; as to say, The zvorld says, or Tiwre is a slbeech
abroad.
I knew one that when he wrote aletter he would put
that which v,,as most material in the postscript, as if it had
been a by-matter.
I knew another that when he came to have speech he
would pass over that that he intended most : and go forth
and corne back again, and speak of it as of a thing that he
had almost forgot.
Some procure themselves to be surprised at such times
as it is like the party that they work upon will suddenly
corne upon them, and tobe found with aletter in their
hand, or doing somewhat which they are not accustomed ;
to the end they may be apposed of r those things which of
themselves they are desirous toutter.
It is a point of cunning to let fall these words in a man's
own name, which he would have another man learn and
use, and thereupon take advantage. I knew tvo that were
competitors for the secretary's place, in Queen Elizabeth's
time, and yet kept good quarterg between themselves,
and would confer one with another upon the business;
and the one of them said, that tobe a secretary in the
declination of a monarchy was a ticklish thing, and that he
did not affectit : the other straight caught up those words,
and discoursed with divers of his friends, that he had no
reason to desire tobe secretary in the declination of a
monarchy. The first man took hold of it, and found means
it was told the queen; who, hearing of a declination of
a monarchy, took it so iii, as she would never after hear of
the other's suit.
t may be apposed of] l.e. may be
questioned about. Lat. ut inWrrogoztur
de. Conf. ' Let his questions not be
troublesome, for that is fit for a poser.'
Essay 3 .
kept good quarter] i.e. kept on
good terres. Lat. se invicem amic«
tractabant. The nearest parallel that
I can find for this use is where lago
speaks of Cassio, Roderigo, and lIon-
tano as ' friends.., in quarter,' mean-
ing apparently that they were on
friendly terres with one another;
Othello, act ii. sc. 3-
OF CUNNING. 6
There is a cunning, which we in England call the tt«rnht K
of the car in the pari b; which is, when that which a man
says to another, he lays it as if another had said it to him ;
and, to say truth, it is not easy, when such a marrer passed
bëtween two to make it appear from which of them it first
moved and began.
It is a way that some men have, to glance and dart at
others byjustifying themselves by negatives; as to say, This
Ido hot; as Tigellinus did towards Burrhus, Se non diversas
spes, sed hwohtmitatem imperatoris simplicitcr siectare.
Some bave in readiness so many tales and stories, as
there is nothing they would insinuate, but they can wrap
it into a tale; which serveth both to keep themselves
more in guard, and to make others carry it with more
pleasure i
It is a good point of cunning for a man to shape the
answer he would have in his own words and propositions ;
for it makes the other party stick the less.
It is strange how long some men will lie in wait to speak
somewhat they desire to say; and how far about they will o
fetch, and how many other matters they will beat over to
corne near it: it is a thing of great patience, but yet of
much use.
la turttinK of th¢ cal &c. The mean-
ing xvhich Bacon gives to this phrase
is shown by his own explanation of it.
The Latin renders it by Fdrm in ahtno
trt«r«, and adds, appositely enough,
satis absurde diHtur. It was hot al-
ways used in the saine sense--in the
song e. g. of the Vicar of Bray it means
to become a turncoat :
' When George at pudding rime came
o'er,
And moderate men Iook'd big,
sirs ;
I turned the car in the pari once
lnore
And straight became a Whig sit-s."
The construction of the words is un-
certain, since turn may be either active
or neuter, and the derivation is hot
known. Johnson's Dictionary (La-
tham's edition) refers to it sub voce
car,' but adds that it bas probably n9
connexion with cat as an English word
at ail, but is a mistaken transforma-
tion of some misunderstood foreign
terre.
I carry il with ,*ore lbleasure] i.e.
probably, bear if or put up with it,
where they would be displeased at a
more direct statement. The Latin,
however, gives re.* ipsam majore cure
oluptat« spargi e.fffciunt.
6 ESSAY XXII.
A sudden, bold, and unexpected question doth many
times surprise a man, and lay him open. Like to him,
that, having changed his naine, and walking in Paul's,
another suddenly came behind him and called him by his
true naine, whereas straightways he looked back.
But these small wares and petty points of cunning are
infinite, and it were a good deed to make a list of them ;
for that nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning
men pass for wise.
But certainly some there are that know the resorts and
falls k of business that cannot sink into the main of it ; like
a house that hath convenient stairs and entries, but never
a fair room: therefore you shall see them find out pretty
|ooses in the conclusion, but are noways able to ex-
amine or debate matters: and yet commonly they take
advantage of their inability, and would be thought wits
of direction. Some build rather upon the abusing of
others, and {as we now say) ttlliltg h'iclos uibon th¢m,
than upon soundness of their own proceedings: but
Salomon saitb, Prttdcns advertit ad gresstts sttos : stulttts
dA,crtit ad dolos.
."0 TES AWD ILL USTRA TIONS.
P. 1.58, 1.4. ca;z pack the cards &c.] Con£
'Thy cunning can but pack the cards,
Thou cans't not play.'
Quarles' Emblems, Bk. il. Emb. 5, I. 23.
1. 13. it tlteir oztt alley] A metaphor from the gaine of bowls,
as elsewhere. Conf.' False and corrupt servants; which set a bias
upon their bowl,' Essay 23 ; and in notes for advice to Buckingham :
' You bowl well, if you do not horse your bowl an hand too much.
resorts and falls &c.] For an ex-
planation of tbis passage, vide Notes
and Illustrations to Essay.
abusing] i.e. deceiving, Lat.
nituntur dolis quos aliis st'uunt. Conf.
' The experience of age, in things that
rail within the conpass of it, directetb
them, but in new things, abuseth them.'
Essay 4m- ' The more subtile sort of
thern' (i. e. of fallacies) ' doth hot only
put a man besicles his answer, but
doth rnany times abuse his judgment.'
Vorks iii. 393-
OF CUNNING. 6 3
You know the fine bouvier is knee almost to g-round in the delivery
of the cast.' Letters and Life, vil. 445-
I. 5. iIitte ambos &c.] Quoted, in the Apophthegms New and
Old, as a saying of' one of the philosophers.' VVorks, vil 6r.
Diogenes Laertius ascribes it to Aristippus:
Aov, ««i de.,/. Lib. il. sec.
l. 21. many zvise men &c.] ' The discovery of a man's self by the
tracts of his countenance is a great weakness and betraying.' Essay
6, and note.
l. 23. demure abasing of your c_Ve] Conf. ' Le chapitre des Regula«
Modestiae est particulièrement curieux. Le membre de l'Ordre ne doit
pas remuer la tête de c6té et d'autre, mais la porter avec gravité, et
s'il n'y a pas de raison pour bouger, il doit la tenir droite, un peu
inclinée en avant. Il a habituellement les yeux baissés.' 5cherer,
Études sur la Littérature Contemporaine, xii. p. 299 : where he refers
to Ravignan, De l'existence et l'institut des jésuites.
P. 19, l. 3. let bon retent Çonf. ' Some undertake suitswith a full
purpose to let them fall : to the end to gratify the adverse party, or
competitor.' Essay 49-
l. 24. as Nehemias did] Nehemiah, cap. il. v.I. 13ut we are hot
told that this was an artifice on Nehemiah's part.
l. 3 o. as Narcissus did &c.] Messalina, the wife of the Emperor
Claudius, had gone through the form of a regular marriage with
5ilius, her paramour. Narcissus, a freedman of the Emperor,
wishing to make the fact known to him, ' duas pellices.., largitione
ac promissis.., perpulit delationem subite. Exin Calpurnia (id pellici
nomen), ubi datum secretum, Caesaris genibus provoluta nupsisse
Messalinam 5ilio exclamat. Simul Cleopatram. quae idem opperiens
adstabat, an comperisset interrogat, atque illa adnuente cieri Nar-
cissum postulat. Is veniam in praeteritum petens," &c. Tac. Armais,
xi. -9, 3 °.
P. 160, 1. 8. I knew lwo &c.] Mr. X, Vright accepts a suggestion from
Mr. Spedding, that the two here referred to were probably Sir
Robert Cecil and Sir Thomas Bodley. That they were competitors
for the secretary's place in the later part of Queen Elizabeth's reign,
is certain; and since Ceeil was the successful competitor, it is he
who must bave played the trick, if Bacon's story is to be believed.
But we bave abundant proofthat Baeon was neither tender nor just
to the memory of his ' little cousin.' Conf. Essay 44-
P. 161. 1.9- as Tigellinus did &c.] The words are--' Non se, ut
Burrum, diversas spes, sed solam ineolumitatem Neronis spectare.'
Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 57- But this was said after the death of Barrus,
and hot therefore at Barrus, as Baeon seems to imply.
P. 162, 1.3. walking in Paul's] St. Paul's Cathedral was used in
M
164 ESSAY XXII.
Bacon's day as a general promenade and place of business and assig-
nation. Conf. ' It hapened that upon some bloodshed in the church of
Paul's, according to the canon law yet with us in force, the said church
was interdicted, and sothe gares shut up for some few days ; where-
upon they published that--because the said church is a place where
people use to meet to walk and confer--the Queen's Majesty, after the
manner of the ancient tyrants, had forbidden ail assemblies and
meetings of people together, and for that reason upon extreme
jealousy did cause Paul's gates tobe shut up.' Letters and Lire, i.o 7.
In Ben Jonson's ' Every man out of his humour,' Act iii, the opening
scene is laid in the middle aisle of Paul's, and a lively picture is
presented of the use to which the place was put. It was a
customary place for hiring servants ; so Falstaff says of Bardolph :
' I bought him in Paul's and he'll buy me a horse in Smithfield.'
2 Henry IV, act i. sc. .
Con£ also: 'My last to you was of the fourth or fifth of this
present, since which rime there hath been a very dull and dead term,
or else I am quite out of the trade, which may well be, by reason of a
new devised order to shut the upper doors in Paul's in service rime,
whereby the old intercourse is clean changed, and the traille of news
much decayed.' Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. x 9, x6o2.
Earle, in his Microcosmographie, chap. 52, headed ' Paul's Walk,'
describes the cathedral at length as a 'heap of stones and men, and
were the Steeple hot sanctified nothing liker Babel. Itis the great
exchange of ail discourse, and no business whatsoever but is here
stirring and afoot. Itis the Synod of ail pares politic... Itis the
general mint of all famous lies, which arc here like the legends of
Popery, first coined and stamped in the Church... The visitants
are ail men xvithout exceptions, but the principal inhabitants and
possessors are stale knights, captains out of service, men of long
rapiers and breeches which after ail turn merchants here, and traffic
for news. Some make it a preface to their dinner, and travell for a
stomacke, but thriftier men make it their ordinary and board here
very cheap.'
Conf. also: 'Early in the sixteenth century St. Paul's had been
desecrated to such an extent as to become known rather as an
exchange and house of merehandise than as a Church. Its central
aisle, says Bishop Earle, resounded to a kind of still roar or loud
whisper. The south alley, writes Decker in x6o7, was the place for
usury and popery, the north for simony, the horse-fair in the midst
for all kind of bargains, meetings, brawlings, murders, conspiracies,
and the font for ordinary payments of money... The middle aisle
ofthe nave, called Paul's Walk or Duke Humphrey's walk, from the
tomb there, was the fashionable promenade of London, and Paul's
VCalkers was the popular name for young men about tovn.' More
OF CUNNING. 16 5
is added or quoted to the same effect. Augustus Hare, X, Valks in
London (i878), vol. i. p. I33. Conf. also Milrnan's Annals of St.
Paul's, p. 4 et seqq.
l. io. resorts and falls] For the sense of resorts in this very
obscure passage, conf. ' Such histories do rather set forth the pomp
of business than the truc inward resorts thereof.' Works, iii.
334. In this passage, as in the text, resorts may stand for the
springs or movements of the machinery, a sense which is borne out
by the French trans, les ressorts. If resorts then are the springs or
starting-points of the business, falls will be the conclusion of it, in
which the persons here spoken of are said to find out pretty looses--
a phrase to which we shall presently return. For falls the French
trans, gives issues. The main of business is certainly the body or
solid part--a terrn in frequent use with Bacon. Conf. e.g. ' I have
broken the main of the Parliarnent business into questions and parts,
which I send.' Letters and Life, vii. i55.
We rnay look next at the sirnile which irnrnediately follows. The
bouse bas convenient stairs and entries, that is to say there is a
convenient way in, out, and about. These stairs and entries clearly
correspond to the resorts and falls, so that those who know the
resorts and falls rnust, if the sirnile is pressed, be taken to know their
way into, out of, and about the business. But the bouse bas never a
fair room or resting place, thus illustrating the defect of those who
cannot sink into the main of business, or, in other words, cannot
examine or debate rnatters at due length.
1. 4. Looses are lettings go, used epecially of letting go a bow-
string or launching a dart. Conf. 'Air open and at large rnaketh no noise
except it be sharply percussed; as in the sound of a string, where
air is percussed by a hard and stiff body, and with a sharp loose ; for
if the string be hot strained it rnaketh no noise.' Works, ii. 39 I.
And, ' In throwing a dart or javelin, we force back our arrns to make
our loose the stronger.' Ben Jonson, Discoveries, under heading
De sO'lo et optimo scribendi genere. To find pretty looses in the
conclusion should rnean therefore to deliver good shots. It is a
variant of knowing the falls of business. The Latin gives commodos
quosdam exilus reperire.
1. 16. wits of direction] i.e. Intellects specially fitted to direct
and decide rnatters. Lat. ingettia qttae ad decernendt«n otius quam
disputandum sint aptiora.
Bacon clearly intends to depreeiate those whorn he is describing ;
hurriedness of judgrnent and a superficial show of ability to sertie
rnatters off-hand being the defects which he intends to fix upon thern.
But his chief sirnile is a bad one. There tan be no great resernblance
between a bouse with fait roorns, in which the inrnate is to stay, and
a debate on business, in which the object of the debaters is to
66 ESSAY XXII.
proceed: so that the fault corresponding to the absence of a fait
room is nothing to the matter in hand. Bacon really speaks as if
deliberating xvere an end in itself,--a thing to be undertaken at due
length and with due attention on its own account, and not on account
of the better judgment which we may think likely to come ofit. But
in a piece of writing where one metaphor of uncertain meaning is
heaped upon another, and xvhere the whole is confused by a faulty
simile, it is not easy to fix the sense xvith any precision. I have done
the best I can with it,--the best that its want of exactness and the
affected obscurity of its language have alloxved me to do. If I am
wrong in my interpretation I am in good company, for of the three
contemporary translations, the Latin, the French, and the Italian, no
two agree, so that at least two of them must be in error.
Resorts and falls. /.al. periodos et pausas.
rr. les ressorts et issues.
Il. le riuscite e le cadute.
Pretty looses. /.al. commodos quosdam exitus.
Ff. quelques evasions mignardes.
Il. ingegnosi modi di scansare.
Vits of direction. /.al. ingenia quae ad decernendum quam ad
disputandum sint aptiora.
/rr. l'esprit et la subtilité mesme en toute
direction.
It. ingegni di gran negotianti.
1.2o. Salomon sait]] These xvords are quoted and amplified in
the De Aug. Scient., Works, i. p. 766. Conf. also: 'Ail the world
noted Sir Nicholas Bacon to be a man plain, direct, and constant,
without ail fineness or doubleness; and one that was of the mind
that a man in his private proceedings, and a state in the proceedings
ofstate, should rest upon the soundness and strength of their own
courses, and not upon practice to circumvent others; according to
the sentence of Salomon, "Vir prudens advertit ad gressus suos,
stultus autem divertit ad dolos." ' Letters and Life, i. ao2.
The sentence ascribed to Solomon seems to be made up of two
verses in the Proverbs ve'y loosely quoted :
'Sapientia callidi est intelligere viam suam: et imprudentia stul-
torum errans.' xiv. 8.
' Astutus considerat gressus suos.' .. x 5.
OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF. 6 7
XXIII.
OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF.
AN an-t is a wise creature for itself, but it is a shrewd
thing in an orchard or garden : and certainly men that are
great loyers of themselves waste the public. Divide with
reason between self-love and society; and be so true to
thyself as thou be not false to others, specially to thy king
and country. It is a poor centre of a man's actions, him-
self. It is right earth b ; for that only stands fast upon his
ovn centre ; whereas all things that have affinity with the
heavens move upon the centre of another, which they
benefit. The referring of ail to a man's self is more
tolerable in a soverelgn prince, because themselves are
hOt only themselves, but their good and evil is at the
peril of the public fortune; but it is a desperate evil in
a servant to a prince, or a citizen in a republic ; for what-
soever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them
to his own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to
the ends of his toaster or state: therefore let princes or
states choose such sera, ants as have not this mark; except
they mean their service should be ruade but the accessary.
That which maketh the effect more pernicious is, that ail
proportion is lost; it vere disproportion enough for the
servant's good to be preferred before the master's ; but yet
it is a greater extreme, when a little good of the servant
shall carry things against a great good of the master's : and
)'et that is the case of bad officers, treasurers, ambassadors,
generals, and other false and corrupt servants; which set
a bias upon their bowl of their own petty ends and envies,
« shrewd ] i.e. evil, pernicious. Lat.
JJocivz«m. Ff. z«n¢ ¢hose perni¢ieuse. Con£
'There are some shrewd contents in
yon saine paper
That steal the colour from Bas-
sanio's check.'
Merchalt of Venice, i. 3-
'Ah! foui shrexvd news, beshrew
thy very heart.'
King John, v. 5-
I/is rigit ea:qi] Lat. recte te, r¢stre::
naturarn sapit.
168 ESSAY XXIII.
to the overthrow of their master's great and important
affairs: and for the most part the good such servants
receive is after the model « of their own fortune; but the
hurt they sell for that good is after the model of their
master's fortune: and certainly it is the nature of extreme
self-loyers, as they will set a house on tire, and it were a
but to roast their eggs; and yet these men many rimes
hold credit with their masters because their study is but to
please them, and profit themselves; and for either respect
o they will abandon the good of their affairs.
Wisdom for a man's self is, in many branches thereof,
a depraved thing : it is the wisdom of rats, that will be sure
to leave a house somewhat before it fall : it is the wisdom
of the fox, that thrusts out the badger v«ho digged and
made room for him: it is the wisdom of crocodiles, that
shed tears when they would devour. But that which is
specially to be noted is that those which {as Cicero says
of Pompey) are sui amantcs, shze rivali, are many times
unfortunate; and whereas they have all their time sacri-
20 ficed to themselves, they become in the end themselves
sacrifices to the inconstancy of fortune, whose wings they
thought by their self-wisdom to have pinioned e.
On the early part of this Essay eonf. ' There is another part of this
part which differeth as much from that whereof we have spoken as
,ap«re and sibi sapere, the one moving as it were to the circumference,
c the mode i.e. scale or measure.
Conf. ' According to my small model.'
Essay 3- and note.
a and il were] i.e. ' an or if it were.'
So Bacon begins some ofhis speeches :
'And it plea.se you, Mr. Speaker.'
Letters and Life, ii. 85 ; iii. 335- Conf.
also,' Fortune is to be honoured and
respected, and it be but for her
daughters, Confidence and Reputation.'
Essay 4o.
« to bave lbinioned] i.e. to bave
clipped, ifwe follow the Latin, pra«ci-
disse. But the more common sense of
the word is--to have tied down--a
sense equally well suited to the text.
Conf. e.g.
' Go, seek the traitor Gloster,
Pinion him like a thief, bring him
before us.'
King Lear, iii.
And,
Ma.ster Ford, you are llOt to go
loose any longer; you must be
pinioned.'
Merr Wives of Windsor, iv.
OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF. 69
the other to the centre. For there is a wisdom of counsel, and again
there is a wisdom of pressing a man's own fortune; and they do
sometimes meet, and often sever. For many are wise in their own
ways that are weak for government or counsel ; like ants, which is
a wise creature for itself, but very hurtful for the garden.' ,Vorks,
iii. 454-
P. 167, 1. 7- lhal onl.y slandsfasl upo»t his own centre] This is Bacon's
repeatedly expressed belief. Con£ De Aug. Scient. bk. iii : ' Motum
terrae diurnum, quod nobis constat falsissimum esse.' Works, i. p.
552 ; and bk. iv : ' Constat similiter sententiam Copernici de Rotatione
Terrae... ab Astronomicis Principiis non posse revinci : a Naturalis
tamen Philosophiae principiis, recte positis, posse.' Works, i. p.
58o. The subject is discussed at length in the Descriptio Globi
Intellectualis, Works, iii. 74 ° et seq., and in the Thema Coeli : ' Terrî
itaque stante (id enim nunc nobis videtur verius), manifestum est
coelum motu diurno circumferri,' &c. Works, iii. 773-
1. 9" which lhey benefil] Conf. de Aug. Scient. vii. 2 : ' Etenim in
universitate rerum, natura coelestis praecipue agens est, at natura
terrestris patiens.' Works, i. 799.. And, 'Magnitudo inferiorum non
habet comparationem ad coelestia, similiter nec utilitas. Quia tota
utilitas inferiorum causatur ex superioribus. Duplex enim allatio
solis sub obliquo circulo cure aspectibus planetarum est causa
omnium quae fiunt hic inferius.' R. Bacon, Opus Majus, p. ia2,
Jebb's edition, folio.
1.26. set a bias upon lheir boa,l] The bias is a piece of lead
inserted at one side of the bowl and deflecting it from the straight
course. Conf.
'Madam we'll play at bowls:
Que«n. t'will make me think
The wofld is full of rubs, and that my fortune
Runs 'gainst the bias.' Richard II, iii. 4-
And, 'O thou! of business the directing soul
To this out head, like bias to the bowl.
,Vhich, as more ponderous, makes its aire more true,
Obliquely waddling to the mark in view.'
Dunciad, i. r69.
P. 168, 1. r2. a,isdom of rats] Lat. soricum. Conf. 'When an house is
readie to tumble down, the mice goe out of it before ; and first of ail
the spiders with their webs fall down.' Pliny, N. H. bk. viii. cap. 28 :
' Ubi domus aliqua consenuit et ruinam minatur, mures primi sen-
tiunt, et celerrime fugientes aliud domicilium quaerunt.' Gesner,
Hist. Animalium, vol. i. p. 716. De Mure, sec. D. ed. 2nd, fol. 162o.
Gesner includes the ' rattus' under the generic naine--' mus.'
1. 14. ofthefox] ' (Vulpes) habitat in foveis, quas ipsa tamen non
7o ESSAY XXIII.
parat, sed à taxo, id est mele effossas, dolo occupat. Illo enim
absente, aditum suum exe-emento inquinat. Reversus ille, foedi
odoris impatiens, foveam suam deserit, quam mox vulpes inhabitat.'
Gesner, l./ist. Animalium, vol. i. p. 957- De Vulpe, sec. D. ed. 2nd,
fol. 162o.
Buffon confirms this. Conf. ' Le blaireau . . . a plus de facilité
qu'un autre pour ouvrir la terre, y fouiller, y pénétrer, et jeter
derrière lui les déblais de son excavation, qu'il rend tortueuse,
oblique, et qu'il pousse quelquefois fort loin. Le renard, qui n'a
pas la mçme facilité pour creuser la terre, profite de ses travaux :
ne pouvant le contraindre par la force, il l'oblige par l'adresse à
quitter son domicile en l'inquiétant, en faisant sentinelle à l'entrée,
en l'infectant même de ses ordures ; ensuite il s'en empare, l'élargit,
l'approprie, et en fait son terrier.' Histoire Naturelle, Animaux
Carnassiers, Le blaireau.
l. r 5. of crocodiles] Those who are curious about this medioeval
myth vill find a very full account of it in a tract entitled ' Disputatio
Physico de lacrymis crocodili quam publice submittit praeses M.
Gothofredus Voigt, respondente Joachimo Dornero' 0666). I ex-
tract the following: 'Objiciunt autem vulgatum iIlud proverbium:
iacrymae.crocodili. Cui addunt alii emblemata varia. Sic Aresius
haeredem avidum, sed mortem defuncti lugentem, descripturus,
crocodilum hominem devorantem pingit, hoc addito lemmate: pioral
et devorat. Vid. llasenius, Spec. Imaginum verit, occult. 1. 5, c. 9, P-
5o4, n. 22. Cameraritts Cent. iv. Embl. 67 eodem utitur in amico
fucato delineando, cure hac epigraphe :
Non eqttidem atnbigui diclis mihi jqdere amici
Certttm est, ttt lacr_yntis nec crocodile tttis.
Pertinent huc comporotiones a loto,mis crocodili ductae, de quibus vid.
I»tccarlus Dec. xiii. c. 1. Dr«.rd, in Phaeth. c. 4 6, in Aurifod, part 2,
c. 4 : "Itemque hicrogO,phica , schemate crocodi}i hypocritam deline-
antia." Vid. Pi«ritts in Hieroglyph. miscell, p. riS.' I have hot veri-
fied the above references.
Tbe myth appears in a variety of different forms, sometimes as
sober matter of fact, sometimes as an illustration. Con£ e.g. 'Si
aliquando inveniat hominem, comedit eum si vincere potest, et postea
eum semper p}orat.' I-/ugo de S. Victore, De Bestiis, lib. ii. cap. 8.
' Gloster's show
Beguiles him, as the mournful crocodile
With sorrow snares relenting passengers.'
2 Henry VI, iii. r.
' It is written that the crocodile will weep over a man's head when
he hath devoured the body, and then he will eat up the head too.
XVherefore in Latin there is a proverbe: crocodili lachrymae, to
OF INNOVATIONS. 17x
signify sueh tears as are fained and spent only wit'h intent to deceive
or do brre.' Bullokar, English Expositr ; sub voce crocodile.
' The crocodile's tears are never true, save when he is forced where
saffron groweth . . . knowing himself to be ail poison and it ail
antidote.' Fuller, Worthies, vol. i. p. 493 (ed. in 3 vols., London,
84ol. ' It hOt only eats men, whom it weeps to see approaching, and
then devours them ffrom whence cornes that proverb, a Crocodile's
Tears), but also othcr creatures whose fate it is to corne near the
river.' Baumgarten's Travels, bk. i. cap. 16.
It is given in the Erasmi Adagia sub tir. Crocodih lachrymae : and is
explained, 'de ils qui sese simulant graviter angi incommodo cujus-
plain, cui perniciem attulerint ipsi, cuire magnum aliquod malum
moliantur. Sunt qui scribant erocodilum, conspecto procul homine,
lachrymas emittere arque eundem mox devorare . . . Alii narrant
hanc esse crocodili naturam . . . reliquo devorato corpore, caput
lachrymis effusis macerat, itaque devorat hoe quoque.'
1. 7. as Cicero says &c.] ' O Dii, quam ineptus ! quam se ipse
amans sine rivali.' Epist. ad Quintum Fratrem, lib. iii. 8.
So Horace :
' Nullum ultra verbum aut operam insumebat inanem
Quin sine rivali teque et tua solus amares.'
Epist. ad Pisones, 443.
XXIV.
OF INNOVATIONS.
As the births of living creatures at first are ill-shapen,
so are all innovations, which are the births of rime ; yet
notwithstanding, as those that first bring honour into their
family are commonly more worthy than most that succeed,
so the first precedent (if it be good) is seldom attained by
imitation; for ill to man's nature as it stands perverted,
bath a natural motion strongest in continuance ; but good,
as a forced motion strongest at first. Surely every medi-
cine is an innovation, and he that will hot apply new
remedies must expect new evils ; for time is the greatest o
x72 ESSAY XXIV.
innovator; and if time of course* alter things to the
worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to
the better, what shall be the end ? It is true, that what
is settled by custom, though it be not good, yet at least
it is fit ; and those things which have long gone together,
are as it were confederate b within themselves; whereas
new things piece not so well; but though they help by
their utility, yet they trouble by their inconformity : beside,
they are like strangers, more admired and less favoured c
Ail this is true if rime stood still; which contrariwise
moveth so round a that a froward retention of custom is
as turbulent a thing as an innovation; and they that
reverence too much old times are but a scorn to the new.
It were good therefore that men in their innovations
would follow the example of time itself, which indeed
innovateth greatly, but quietly and by degrees scarce to be
perceived ; for othel-wise o, whatsoever is new is unlooked
for; and ever it mends some and pairst other; and he
Kmc of course] i.e. rime by its
course. Lat. decursu solo.
b confdcrate &c.] i. e. well fitted to
each other, working well together.
Lat. focd,-e quodam conjuncta.
c lcss favourd] Lat. minus bcno.
lcnlia prosuhnur.
' movcth so round] i.e. so moveth
round. Lat. in orbot agitatur.
for othase] e tm ves
ilh«d offre pro e,'do habc. e word
othcmis« does hot seem fo be used
here in i ordina sense. Whatever
new wi, the tin doelares, be
unlooked for in any ce. I incline,
therefore, to mke othe equal
here to in aȍv e. Bacon uses it
elsewhere. ' This colour to be un-
detood of gradues intm a pttia
ad actum, comparalu m gradu ab
actu ad incremodt«m. For otheioe
major *,idetur ad* ab impott ad
pottiam, q«am a pott ad a«n.'
gVor, vil. 9 . Conf. also, ' But three
thin must be looked into. The one,
that they be repressed in any insolency,
which may tend either to disquiet the
civil estate, or to scandalize out Church
in fact, for otherwise ail their doctrine
doth it in opinion.' Letters and Lire,
vil. 449- And, ' Brutus boldly asked
him what he was, a god or a man, and
what cause brought him thither. The
spirit aunswered him, I ara thy evill
spirit, Brutus, and thou shalt see me
by the citie of Philippes. Brutus,
being no otherxvise afraid, replied
againe unto it, Well, then, I shall see
thee againe." llorth's Plutarch, p.
oo6. It seems clear, here, that
Brutus was hOt afraid at ail, in one
wise or in another. The original is
t pairs] i.e. impairs, injures. Lat.
huic adjicere aliquid, illi eripere. Conf.
No faith so fast, quoth she but
flesh does paire,
Flesh may empaire quoth he, but
reason tan repaire."
Faine Queene blr i. canto 7- stanza 4 i.
OF INNOVATIONS. 173
that is holpen takes it for a fortune and thanks the time ;
and he that is hurt, for a wrong, and imputeth it to the
author. It is good also not to try experiments in states,
except the necessity be urgent or the utility evident ; and
well to beware that it be the reformation that draweth on
the change, and not the desire of change that pretendeth '
the reformation; and lastly, that the novelty, though it
be hOt rejected, yet be held for a suspect; and, as the
Scripture saith, That we make a stand ttpon thc ancicnt zva.k,,
and thcn look about tts, and discoz,cr what is thc strai.ght and to
right wa.,, and so to walk D il.
NO TES .4 A'I3 [LL USTR .4 TIO A'S.
P. 171, 1. 3- as those that first bring honour &c.] What this is
intended to illustrate may be seen from a passage in the Antitheta.
Vorks, i. 7o4 : 'Sieur qui nobilitatem in familiam introducunt
digniores fere sunt posteris ; ita novitates rerum plerumque praestant
iis quae ad exempla fiunt.' The sense therefore is that, as originals
are better than copies, sothe first results of an innovation, ill-shapen
as it always is, are eommonly better than those whieh eome after-
wards when the innovation has been followed as a precedent and has
thus beeome a settled fuie. Innovations are said to bè neeessary,
beeause cireumstances change and beeause the tendeney of things is,
in Baeon's opinion, ever to the worse, so that from rime to rime some
speeial remedy becomes requisite. The illustration implies that the
' first preeedent'--the ehanged rule--had some greater merit of its
own at first than afterwards. The argument, however, is that it bas
eeased tobe as applicable as it was, so that to earry it out in praetiee
does hot bring about the same good results as formerly. The argu-
ment would be elear, if it were hot obseured by the illustration.
For the alleged tendency of things to the worse and for the agency
of rime in bringing this about, eonf. e.g. ' The nature of men, as of ail
worldly things also, is most slippery and unconstant, running still
headlong from good to evil and from evil to worse.' Bodin, Common-
weal, iv. 2 (Knolles' trans.).
to beware] For this use of beware,
with a positive rule immediately foi-
lowing, conf. ' Only rnen must beware
that they carry their anger rather with
scorn than with fear.' Essay 57-
h that pr«tend«th] This word may
mean either to ser,e as a reasot for or
to ser-e as an excuse for. Conf. Essay
9, P- o. The Lat. practc.ra! ties it
down to th¢ latter sense.
174
ESSAY XXIV.
'Who knoxveth not that time is truly compared to a stream, that
carrieth down fresh and pure waters into that sait sea of corruption
that environeth ail human actions? And therefore if man shall not
by his industry, virtue and poiicy, as it were with the oar, row against
the stream and inclination of time, ail institutions and ordinances, be
they never so pure, will corrupt and degenerate.' Letters and Life,
iii. to 5. And, 'Cursus naturae continuus, instar fluminis labentis,
etiam continufi indiget remigatione vel velificatione in adversum.'
,Vorks, ii. z-4. Probably imitated from Virl :
' Sic omnia fatis
In pejus ruere, ac retro sublapsa referri:
Non aliter quam qui adverso vix flumine lembum
Remigiis subigit, si brachia forte remisit,
Atque illum in praeceps prono rapit alveus amni.'
Georg. i. i99-2o3.
'Quotidie est deterior posterior dies.'
Publii Syri, Fragmenta, 1. 59-
1. 7. »alural motion] e.g. the continually accelerated fall of a
h eav-y body.
1. 8. forced motion] e.g. the flight of an arrow, continually less
rapid and finally ceasing.
On the distinction which Bacon makes here, he speaks elsewhere
in terms of contemptuous condemnation. He says, e.g. in the De
Principiis atque Originibus : ' Schola enim communis satis habet, si
motum naturalem a violento distinguat ..... Verum parum profi-
ciunt ad ph!losophiam hujusmodi speculationes. Ista enim natura,
ars, violentia, compendia verborum sunt et nugae.' ,Vorks, iii. xlS.
And again, in the Thema Coeli : ' Sunt itaque axiomata sire potius
placita nonnulla, quae a philosophis accepta, et in astronomiam
translata, et maie credita, artem corruperunt. Simplex autem erit
rejectio et judicium nostrum, neque enim tempus refutationibus terere
convertit. Horum ..... tertium est quod singulis corporibus natura-
libus singuli competant motus proprii; et si plures inveniantur
motus, omnes excepto uno sint aliunde, et ex movente aliquo
separato. Quo falsius quicquid nec excogitari potest, cum universa
corpora ex multiplici rerum consensu motibus etiam pluribus prae-
dita sint ..... ; proprii autem rerum motus nuili sint nisi mensurae
exactae et modi motuum communium.' ,Vorks, iii. 777-
P. 172, 1. II. frowardrelention&c.] Conf.'Of the serx-ile expressing
antiquity in an unlike and an unfit subject, it is well said, "Quod
tempore antiquum videtur, id ineongruitate est maxime novum."'
Works, iii. p. 4oz.
i. 15. lhe example of lhte ilself] Conf. ' We ought then in the
government of a well ordered estate and commonweale, to imitate
and follow the great God of nature, who in ail things proceedeth
OF DISPATCH. 75
easily and little by little, who of a little seed causeth to grow a tree
for height and greatnesse right admirable, and yet for ail that
insensibly.' Bodin, Commomveal, bk. iv. cap. 3 (Knolles' trans.).
P. 173, 1.8. asthe scripture saiaz] Jeremiah vi. 16. Given in theAd-
vancement of Learning, as supplying a fuie for dealing with novelty
in science : Slate super vias antiquas, et idtte quatnam sit via recta et
bona, et ambulate in ea. Works, iii. p. 29o.
XXV.
OF DISPATCH.
AFFECTEDdispatch a is one of the most dangerous things
to business that can be : it is like that which the physicians
call predigestion, or hasty digestion, which is sure to fill
the body full of crudities and secret seeds of diseases.
Therefore measure not dispatch by the rimes of sitting,
but by the advancement of the business : and as in races,
it is not the large stride or high lift b that makes the speed ;
so in business, the keeping close to the matter, and not
taking of it too much at once, procureth dispatch. It is
the care of some only to corne off speedily for the time c, zo
or to contrive some false periods a of business, because e
they may seem men of dispatch: but it is one thing to
abbreviate by contracting , another by cutting off; and
business so handled at several sittings or meetings goeth
commonly backward and forward in an unsteady manner.
Affccted dLqiatch] Lat. cda4tas
mmia et affcctata--a gloss rather than
a translation.
high it] Lat. pum d,atione
altiore.
« for the rime] i.e. if we follow the
Latin, ' in proportion to the rime taken.'
Curae est nonmdlis dlud tantum, ut
brai teindre multum confi vM¢-
antur.
o false do] i.e. divi6ons which
profess to include the whole needful
matter, but which do not include it.
o because] i.e. in order that. Lat.
quo. Conf. ' Because they may be
thought so much the ficher.' Essay 8.
r contracting] i.e. bringing the matter
to a point. Lat. contatwndo. This
seems, to be the ' abbreviation " which
Bacon approves, as opposed to cutting
off' or leaving out parts requiring to
be considered.
76 ESSAY XXV.
I knew a wise man that had it for a by-word, when he saw
men hasten to a conclusion, Stay a li#le, ami we may make
an end the sooncr.
On the other side, true dispatch is a rich thing; for
time is the measure of business, as money is of wares;
and business is bought at a dear hand« where there is
small dispatch. The Spartans and Spaniards have been
noted to be of small dispatch: Mi venga la mucrte de
Sbagna ;--Lct »0' d«alh come from Sbain ; for then it will
be sure to be long in coming.
Give good hearing to those that give the first informa-
tion in business, and rather direct them in the beginning
than interrupt them in the continuance of their speeches;
for he that is put out of his own order will go forward and
backward, and be more tedious while he waits upon his
memory than he could have been if he had gone on in his
own course ; but sometimes it is seen that the moderator b
is more troublesome than the actor.
Iterations are commonly loss of rime; but there is no
such gain of time as to iterate often the state of the ques-
tion ; for it chaseth away many a frivolous speech as it is
coming forth. Long and curious speeches are as fit for
dispatch as a robe or mantle with a long train is for race.
Prefaces, and passages i, and excusations, and othei"
g at a dcarh«nd] i. e. af a dear rate.
Lat. magno. Conf. ' If a man will keep
but ofeven hand, his ordinary expences
ought fo be but fo the hall of his re-
ceipts.' Essay 28.
moderaor] i.e. he vho presides
fo direct and judge: actor, i.e. the
speaker. Lat. orator. Fr. Le mod«a-
teur est plus fadwux que les disputans.
Conf. ' Leo Decimus, that Epicurean
F'ope, as some record of him, caused
this question (of the immortality of the
soul to be discussed pro and con. before
him, and concluded at last, as a pro-
phane and atheistical moderator, with
that verse of Cornelius Gallus
Et redit in nihilum quod fid! ante nihil.
It began of nothing, and in nothing
it ends.'
Burton, Anat. of Melanc. part i. sec. .
Mem. il. subsec. 9- And, ' The honour-
ablest part of talk is to giv¢ the oc-
casion ; and again to moderate and
pass to somewhat else.' Essay 3.
So, af the Hampton Court controversy
the president and judge, King James,
is termed the Moderator. Fuller,
Church Hist. bk. x. sec. L para. ao.
i passages] Lat. transitfones--a ques-
tionable rendering, and hot suiting
with the context. The word more
probably means sentences worked into
OF DISPATCH. 77
speeches of reference to the person, are great wastes of
time; and though they seem to proceed of modesty, they
are bravery '. Yet beware of being too material I when
there is any impediment or obstruction in men's wills ; for
pre-occupation of mind ever requireth preface of speech,
like a fomentation to make the unguent enter.
Above all things, order and distribution and singliiag
out of parts is the lire of dispatch ; so as the distribution
be hot too subtile: for he that doth hot divide will never
enter well into business; and he that divideth too much
will never corne out of it clearly. To choose time is to
save time, and an unseasonable motion is but beating the
air. There be three parts of business: the preparation;
the debate, or examination ; and the perfection. Whereof,
if you look for dispatch, let the middle only be the vork
of many, and the first and last the work of few. The pro-
ceeding upon somewhat conceived in writing doth for the
most part facilitate dispatch ; for though it should be wholly
rejected, yet that negative is more pregnant of direction
than an indefinite, as ashes are more generative than dust.
P. 175, 1. to. fo conte off speedil.v &c.] Bacon in his speech on
taking his seat in Chancery explains and iilustrates the dispatch
which he approves and which he disapproves. 'I have seen an
affectation of dispatch turn utterly to delay and length: for the
rnanner of it is to take the tale out of the counsellor at the bar his
mouth, and to give a cursory order, nothing tending or conducing to
the end ofthe businesz. It rnakes me rernernber what I heard one
the speech, and (as the context shows)
referring to the speaker himself. Conf.
'Though he had fine passages of
action' tri. e. of speech, vide supra
' actor') 'yet the real conclusions
came slowly on.' Letters an Lire,
iv. 8o.
brav«ry] i.e. ostentation. Lat.
glo,'olae captatrices. Ital. ostentatlone.
I bcbtg foo matc'atq i.e. coming too
soon and abruptly to the rem matter
or point. Lat. sed cave ne b« rem
ipsam ab initio dcseendas, o«n, &c. So
Bacon notes among the rules for his
own guidance, ' Not to fall upon the
mayne too soudayne, but to induce
attd intermingle speach ofgood fashon.'
I.etters and Life, iv. 93- For materiai
=to the point, conf. ' Men can writ¢
best and most really and materially in
their oxvn professions.' Works, iii. p.
49.
178 ESSAY XXV.
say of a Judge that sat in Chancery, that he would make eighty
orders in a morning, out of the way, and it was out ofthe way indeed,
for it was nothing to the end of the business... But I mean not to
purchase the praise of expeditive in that kind; but.., my en-
deavour shall be to hear patiently and to cast my order into such a
mould as may soonest bring the subject to the end of his journey.'
Letters and Life, ri. 19 o.
P. 176, 1. I. a wise man] ' Sir Amice Pawlet, xvhen he saw too much
haste ruade in any matter, was wont to say, Stay a while that we may
make an end the sooner.' Apophth., New and Old, Vorks, vil. 136.
Conf. Montaigne : ' En précipitation stinatio tarda est, la hastiveté
se donne elle mesme la jambe, s'entrave et s'arreste, isa se veloEil
imlicat: Essays, bk. iii. chap. io.
1. 7. Sarlans] l'id. speech of Corinthians to Lacedaemonians : al
v cal go«vo p6 fi «Xknd, Thucyd. i. 7o ; and in cap. 7i ¢gpt iv
ov o« p;oOo ¢,&v Ç paÇ : also speech of Archidamus : al
So too in speech of Rhodians to the Roman Senate: 'Atheniensium
populum fama est celerem et supra vites audacem esse ad
conandum. Lacedaemoniom cunctatorem et v in ea quibus fidit
inedientem.'
1. 7. Spaniards] Repo of seches by Earls of Salisbu W and
Nomhampton concerning the petition of the merchants upon the
Spanish grievances. ' AIl which have made the delays of Spain to
corne into a byeword through the world, lVherein I think his
Lordship mought allude to the proverb of Italy, "Mi venga la morne
di Spaa," let my death come from Spain ; for then itis sure tobe
long a coming.' Letters and Life, iii. 35i.
Bacon in the Essay strangely builds the Spanish ntuerte for morte
and de for di into a proverb which is Italian for the test.
P. 177, I. 9- hot toe subtile] Conf. Essay 6, where Bacon speaks of
subtilty as one of the arts employed for the intentional frustration of
business, and iIlustrates the absurdity of it by the case of Prodicus.
I. 5. h.t the middle on &c.] Con£ A memorial for his Majesty:
' His council shall perceive by that vhich his majes shall now
communicate with them, that the mass of his business is continually
prepared in his own royal care and cotations, howsoever he
produce the same to light and to act per opera dierton." Letters and
Life, v. Mg-
ConE also end of Essay 47 : ' In ail negotiations of dicul a man
must not look to sow and reap at once but must prepare business
and so ripen it by degrees.'
1. 6. the last be the work of [«w] This agrees with the le in
Essay on Council, ' that they (Kings) surfer not their eouncil to go
through with the relution and direction as if it depended on them ;
OF SEEMING WISE. 79
but take the matter back into their own hands.' The reason given is
different, but the result is the saine.
1.2o. as ashes are more generative than dust] Bacon in his
Natural Itistory speaks of both these : ' The third help of ground is,
by some other substances that bave a virtue to make g-round fertile,
though they be hot merely earth : wherein ashes excel.'
' It is strange, which is observed by some of the ancients, that dust
helpeth the fruitfulness of trees and of vines by naine : insomuch as
they cast dust upon them ofpurpose.' Works, il. pp. 525, 546.
Pliny is an authority for the use of both, and for the excellence
attributed to ashes : 'Transpadanis cineris usus adeo placet ut ante-
ponant fimo jumentorum ; quod quia levissimum est ob id exurunt.
Sunt qui pulvere quoque uvas ali judicent, pubescentesque pulve-
rent, et vitium arborumque radicibus aspergant.' Historia Naturalis,
lib. 17. sec. 5-
XXVI.
OF SEEMING WISE.
IT hath been an opinion that the French are wiser than
they seem, and the Spaniards seem wiser than they are;
but howsoever it be between nations, certainly it is so be-
tween man and man ; for as the apostle saith of godliness,
Havt'nC a show of godh'ncss, but dcn.yt)tg thc power thcrcof ;
so certainly there are, in point ofwisdom and sufficiency a,
that do nothing or little very solemnly; ma.ilo coitaltt ltlt-
Kas. Itis a ridiculous thing and fit for a satire to persons
of judgment, to see what shifts these formalists have, and
what prospectives b to make superficies to seem body that ,o
su.ffciency] i.e. ability. Conf. ' I
can challenge to myself no sufficiency,
but that I was diligent and reasonable
happy to execute those directions
which I received.' Letters and Life,
iii. 294.
b prospectives] i.e. probably « per-
spective glasses.' The word is used
by Bacon sometimes, seemingly as in
the text» of glasses that make super-
ficies appear solid : Such superficial
speculations they have, like prospec-
rives, that show things inward, when
they are but paintings.' ,Vorks, il.
38L Sometimes of glasses for looking
at distant objects : ' I ... do intend to
present unto your Majesty a perfect
book of your estate, like a prospective
glass, to draw your estate nearer to
your sight.' Letters and Lire, ri. 453-
N2
8o ESSAY XXVI.
hath depth and bulk. Some are so close and reserved as
they xvill not shoxv their wares but by a dark light, and
seem ahvays to keep back somewhat; and when they
knoxv within themselves they speak of that they do not
xvell know, would nevertheless seem to others to knoxv of
that which they may not xvell speak. Some help them-
selves with countenance and gesture, and are wise by
signs; as Cicero saith of Piso, that when he answered
him he fetched one of his brows up to his forehead, and
,o bent the other down to his chin; Respondcs, altcro ad
frontcm sublato, allcro ad mentmn dcprcsso suo'cilio ; cru-
deh'tatcm tibi non placere. Some think to bear it e by
speaking a great word and being peremptory; and go on
and take by admittance that which they cannot make
good. Some, whatsoever is beyond their reach, xvill seem
to despise or make light of it as impertinent or curious«:
and so would have their ignorance seem judgment. Some
are never without a difference, and commonly by amusing
men with a subtilty, blanch the mattere; of whom A. Gel-
But it is obvious to remark that to in-
terpret 'prospectives'as perspective
glasses, does not quite suit the pas-
sages in the Essay and in the Natural
History. It is not the formalists but
their intended dupes who should have
the prospectives, if perspective glasses
are meant. The superficial specula-
tions are not like perspective glasses ;
itis by perspective glasses that they
would be shown. The Latin transla-
tion g6ves a qual utu»lttr a#e quasi
lrosectiv& The ltalian is è che ros-
pe/tire facdno d far parer le su2eficie
corne corlo. These suggest the modern
sense of perspective, as if the word in
the text meant tricks of producing
an effect like that of drawings in per-
spective. In Bacon's English and in
Italian prospective and perspective are
used interchangeably. The edition of
6r reads perspectires for the pro-
spectives of 625.
¢ thinl to bear ig] i.e. to bear the
marrer out. Lat. se valerelutant.
impertinent or dous] i.e. iele-
vant or too far out of the common way,
over-elaborate. Conf. ' So these
predictions are now impeinent.'
XVor, iii. 3- Praesottt non sunt
instituti. Vor, i. 7- And.
' T'were to consider too cufiously to
consider so.'
Haler, act v. sc. I.
blanc lhe malter] Lat. rem ra¢ler-
ehuntur. Fr. a¢eront les matière.
Il. sl eansano dal »wotio. Blch
is explained in Muay's New English
DictionaoE a variant of blench. To
p thout notice, to omit, e ven
among the transitive sens of the
word. So, in the Adv. of Leaing:
' Itis ot'er-usual to blanch the obscure
plac and discoue upon the plain.'
XVor, iii. 4t4. Some other autho-
fiti e blanch, in this sen» a
OF SEEMING WISE. lq
lius saith, Homhtem ddirum, qui verborum mhttdiis rcrum
frangit pondera. Of which kind also Plato, in his Prota-
goras, bringeth in Prodicus in scorn, and maketh him
make a speech that consisteth of distinctions from the
beginning to the end. Generally such men in ail de-
liberations find ease to be of the negative side, and affect
a credit to object t and foretell difficulties; for when pro-
positions are denied there is an end of them; but if they
be allowed g it requireth a new work: which false point of
wisdom is the bane of business. To conclude, there is no
decaying merchant or inward beggar h hath so many tricks
to uphold the credit of their wealth as these empty persons
have to maintain the credit of their sufficiency. Seeming
wise men may make shift to get opinion ; but let no man
choose them for employment; for certainly, you were
better take i for business a man somewhat absurd ' than
over-formal.
derivative of blanch--to make white.
If so, to blanch the matter will be to
put it out of sight, and, as it were, to
erase it and leave a blank in its stead ;
to blanch the obscure places will be to
treat them as if the passages were
blanks. Blanch, to make vhite, is
certainly a word vhich Bacon uses
elsevhere : ' It is an offence horrible
and odious, and cannot be blanched
nor ruade fair, but foui.' Letters and
Life, iv. 7 .
r affec! a credi! lo obfecl &c.] i.e. at-
tempt to get credit by objecting. Lat.
¢xis¢imalion¢,n aucupanlur ex scrupulis
et di_ffiadtatibas proponeudis d praedi.
cendis.
* allowed] i.e. approved, accepted.
Lat. m'n lrobatur. Conf. « That young
men travel under some tutor or grave
servant, I allow welI.' Essay i8,
and assim.
inward beggar] i.e. a beggar
point of fact, but not known to be
such. Lat. d«oaor rd fam«'liaffa
«ulluô.
I )'ou w¢m beaer lake &e.] So, in
Essay a7 : * A man were better relate
himself to a statua or pieture.' And,
'A judge were better be a briber than a
respecter of persons.' Works, iii. 450.
absurd probably blunt and rough
in manner. The word oecurs three
rimes in the Essays. In Essay 6 ' an
absurd silence ' seems to mean a rough-
mannered refusal to ans*ver; since
silence has nothing in it absurd in the
ordinary sense of the ,vord. In the
passage iii the text, the contrast pre-
sumably is between the over-formal
man, too perfect in compliments and
too full of respects» and the man *vho
is negligent of them to a fault. In
Essay 47 frovard and absurd are
joined as epithets of the saine men,
and as qualities fitting them to nego-
ciate business that doth not well bear
itself out. Bacon's ' absurd' seems to
be a Latinism, as many of his words
are. Giving a disagreeable sound,
harsh, rough, rude, are among the
primary senses of absurdus.
t 8: ESSAY XXVI.
VOTES lt2'Z) ILLUSTR:f TIO.Vç.
P. 179, !. 4" as lire aoslle saith] 2 Tim. iii. 5-
!. 7. magno conatu m«gas] Heauton. iii. 5.8.
I. 9.. these formalisls &c.] Bacon is probably making special
allusion here to Sir Henry Hobart and to the Earl of Salisbury.
Conf. «The attorney ri.e. Sir Henry Hobart) sorteth not so well with
his present place, being a man timid and scrupulous both in parlia-
ment and in other business, and one that in a word was ruade fit for
the late Lord Treasurer's bent, which was to do little with much
formality and protestation, whereas the now solicitor (i. e. Bacon
himself) going more roundly to work,' &c. Letters and Life, iv.
381.
P. 1.0, I. 3- when they know within lhemsdves &c.] The following
passage is a good instance in point: « It is certain that sve had in
use at one time, for sea fight, short arrows, which they called sprights,
without any other heads save wood sharpened: which were dis-
charged out of muskets, and xvould pierce through the sides of ships
where a bullet would not pierce. But this dependeth upon one of
the greatest secrets in ail nature; which is, that similitude of
substance will cause attraction where the body is svholly freed from
the motion of gravity : for if that svere taken axvay lead would draw
lead, and gold would drav gold, and iron svould drav iron, without
the help of the loadstone. But this same motion of weight or gravity
which is a mere motion of matter and hath no affinity with the form
or "kind) doth kill the other motion, except itself be "killed by a violent
motion ; as in these instances of arrosvs; for then the motion of
attraction by similitude of substance beginneth to shoxv itself. But
we shçll handle this point of nature fully in due place.' The story
about the arrows or sprights is a sea-yarn told by Sir Richard
Hawkins. The philosophical explanation of it as ' one of the greatest
secrets in ail nature' is Bacon's osvn. XVorks, il. 564.
I. 8. as Cicero sait/t] In Pisonem, end of cap. 6.
I. 19. I. Gdlius] 3Are learn from a passage in the Advancement
of Learning that Bacon was aware that it was about Seneca that
these vords or something like them had been used. 'As was said
of Seneca,
"Verborum minutiis rerum frangit pondera."'
XVorks, iii. 286.
Now, the comments of Aulus Gellius on the style and matter of
Seneca are found in the Noctes Atticae, xii. cap. 2. He is termed
'nugator homo' verborum Senecae piger: inepti et insubidi et insulsi
hominis ]oca non praeteribo, &c. But the words in Bacon's text do
not occur. The nearest approach to them is in the better balanced
and more considered censure of Quintilian: 'Si non omnia sua
OF FRIENDSHIP. i83
amîsset; si rerum pondera minutissimis sententiis non fregisset,
consensu potius eruditorum quam puerorum amore comprobaretur.'
De Instit. Orat. x. cap. i, sec. I3O.
It would seem that Bacon had read both the above passages, and
by confusing their authorship and adding something of his own, had
evolved the sentence which he ascribes to Aulus Gellius. He thus
shows us, all the more clearly, what his opinion of Seneca must
have been.
P. 181, I. 2. Plato] Ebrvro aro raîa Hptoç KaXç pot gÇ
" Jç,«o« i ;p cal 8" uo,a oi çio, o çlXo,, ¢p;¢ov«, i oi
8açopol « cal ¢XOpol àXXXo, «..X. Protagoras, p. 7-
XXVII.
OF FRIENDSHIP.
h" had been hard for him that spake it to have put more
truth and untruth together in few words than in that speech,
ll'hosocver is dch'ghlcd t)t solihtde, is cilher a a,ild bcast or
a god: for it is most true, that a natural and secret hatred
and aversation towards society in an 3- man hath somewhat
of the savage beast ; but it is most untrue that it should
have any character at all of the divine nature, except it
proceed, not out of a pleasure in solitude, but out of a love
and desire to sequester a man's self for a higher conversa-
tion a : such as is found to have been falsely and feignedly
in some of the heathen; as Epimenides, the Candian;
conversation] i.e. intercourse or
way of lire. Conf. ' Our conversation
is in heaven.' Philippians iii. o.
And, ' Such as were first seated in
their possessions and entertained
societie, were the first that brought
in civill conversation, and by little
and little were purified, and so at-
ta/,ned to the perfection of civill
government.' Edmundes, Caesar s
Commentaries» Obs. on lib. '. cap.
4-
4 ESSAY XXVII.
Numa, the Roman ; Empedocles, the Sicilian ; and Apollo-
nius of Tyana ; and truly and really in divers of the ancient
hermits and holy fathers of the Church. But little do men
perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth; for
a crowd is hOt company, and faces are but a gallery of
pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no
love. The Latin adage meeteth with it a little, Magna
ch,itas, magna solitudo; because in a great town friends
are scattered, so that there is hOt that fellowship, for the
most part, which is in less neighbourhoods : but we may
go further, and affirm most truly, that it is a mere and
miserable solitude to want true friends, without which the
world is but a wilderness ; and even in this sense also of
solitude, whosoever in the frame of his nature and affec-
tions is unfit for friendship, he taketh it of the beast, and
not from humanity.
A principal fruit of friendship is the ease and discharge
of the fulness and swellings of the heart, which passions of
all kinds do cause and induce. We know diseases of
2o stoppings and suffocations are the most dangerous in the
body ; and it is hOt much otherwise in the mind ; you may
take sarza to open the liver, steel to open the spleen,
floxvers of sulphur for the lungs, castoreum for the brain ;
but no receipt openeth the heart but a truc friend, to
whom you may impart griefs, joys, fears, hopes, suspicions,
counsels, and whatsoever lieth upon the heart to oppress it,
in a kind of civil shrift b or confession.
It is a strange thing to obsel-ve how high a rate
great kings and monarchs do set upon this fruit of friend-
.o ship whereof xve speak: so great, as they purchase it
many times at the hazard of their oxvn safety and
greatness: for princes, in regard of the distance of their
b civilshrifl]asopposedtoreligious, a priest is set down as obligatory.
The French (of Baudoin) expresses Vide Decree of the 4th Lateran Council,
this by uue confcsstbn voluntaire, since canon g, quoted in Keble's note to
in the Church of Rome confession to Hooker's Eccl. Pol. bk. ri. ch. 4- sec. 3-
OF FRIENDSHIP. 8 5
fortune from that of their subjects and servants, cannot
gather this fruit, except [to make themselves capable
thereof) they raise some persons to be as it vere coin-
panions, and almost equals to themselves, which many
rimes sorteth toc inconvenience. The modern languages
give unto such persons the naine of favourites or privadoes,
as if it were matter of grace or conversationd; but the
Roman naine attaineth the true use and cause thereof,
naming them lar/icipes cttrarttm; for it is that which tieth
the knot. And we see plainly that this hath been done, o
not by weak and passionate princes only, but by the wisest
and most politic that ever reigned, ",,,'ho have oftentimes
joined to themselves some of their servants, whom both
themselves bave called friends, and allowed others likevise
to cali them in the saine manner, using the word which is
received between private men.
L. Sylla, when he commanded Rome, raised Pompey
(after surnamed the Great} to that height that Pompey
vaunted himself for Sylla's overmatch ; for when he had
carried the consulship for a friend of his, against the
pursuit of Sylla, and that Sylla did a little resent thereat,
and began to speak great, Pompey turned upon him
again, and in effect bade him be quiet ; for that more tlet
adorcd t]te st,l rish,g tirait l]tc stttl scllhtg. With J ulius
Çesar, Decimus Brutus had obtained that interest, as he
set him down in his testament for heir in remainder after
his nephew; and this was the man that had power with
him to draw him forth to his death: for when Coesar
would have discharged the senate, in regard of some
ill presages and specially a dream of Calpurnia, this man ,o
lifted him gently by the arm out of his chair, telling him
c sortrth toi i.e. turneth to. Lat.
non nisi praejudicio fit.
d conversation] here tied down by
the eontext to intercourse or intimaey.
For this sense con£ 'Ail princes and
ail men are won either by merit or
conversation.' Letters and Life, iii.
340.
186 ESSAY XXVII.
he hoped he would not dismiss the senate till his xvife had
dreamt a better dream ; and it seemeth his favour was so
great, as Antonius, in a letter which is recited verbatim in
one of Cicero's Philippics, calleth him vencfica,--w#ch ; as
if he had enchanted Coesar. Augustus raised Agrippa
lthough of mean birthl to that height, as, when he consulted
with Moecenas about the marriage of his daughter Julia,
Mecenas took the liberty to tell him, that he mttst either
mat O, his dattghtcr fo Agrippa, or take away his life : there
o was no third wa.),, he had ruade hhn so great. With Tiberius
Coesar, Sejanus had ascended to that height as they two
were termed and reckoned as a pair of friends. Tiberius,
in a letter to him, saith, Hcrc pro amicithî nostrcî ttot
occltllavi; and the whole senate dedicated an altar to
Friendship, as to a goddess, in respect of the great
dearness of friendship between them two. The like, or
more, was between Septimius Severus and Plautianus;
for he forced his eldest son to marry the daughter of
Plautianus, and would often maintain Plautianus in doing
o affronts to his son; and did write also in aletter to the
senate by these words : I love t/te man so wcll as I wish he
ma), over-h've me. Now, if these princes had been as a
Trajan, or a Marcus Aurelius, a man might have thought
that this had proceeded of an abundant goodness of
nature; but being men so wise, of such strength and
severity of mind, and so extreme lovers of themselves,
as all these were, it proveth most plainly that they round
their own felicity (though as great as ever bappened to
mortal men) but as an half-piece e, except they might
3ohave a friend to make it entire; and yet, which is
more, they were princes that had wives, sons, nephews ;
and yet all these could hOt supply the comfort of
friendship.
It is hOt to be forgotten what Comineus observeth of his
« an half-pi¢cr] Lat. veh«ti »utila,n.
OF FRIENDSHIP. 187
first master, Duke Charles the Hardy f; namely, that he
would communicate his secrets with none ; and least of ail
those secrets which troubled him most. Whereupon he
goeth on and saith that toxvards his latter time that closcness
did hnpairg and a little perish his ttndcrstandt)tg. Surely
Comineus might have ruade the saine judgment also, if it
had pleased him, of his second master, Lewis the Eleventh,
xvhose closeness was indeed his tormentor. The parable
of Pythagoras is dark but true, Cor ne edito,--eat hot the
heart. Certainly, if a man would give it a hard phrase, o
those that want friends to open themselves unto are
cannibals of their own hearts. But one thing is most
admirable (wherewith I will conclude this first fruit of
friendship), which is, that this communicating of a man's
self to his friend works two contrary effects; for it re-
doubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in halves : for there is no
man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth
the more; and no man that imparteth his griefs to his
friend, but he grieveth the less. So that it is, in truth of
operation upon a man's mind, of like virtue as the alchy- 2o
mists used to attribute to their stone for man's body, that
it worketh ail contrary effects, but still to the good and
benefit of nature: but 5"et, without praying b in aid of
r the Hardy] i.e. the boid. Conf.
Good feIIow, be of good cheer and
forwards hardily, fear not.' Piutarch,
Lires, p. "9. And, ' Hardily he en-
tride in to Pilat, and axide the body of
Jhesu.' Mark xv. ver. 43, as in the
earlier of the two Wycliffite versions
edited by Forshali and Madden. In
the later version the eorresponding
word is ' booldli.'
* did intpair &c.] Lat. nonniMl de-
bilitasse et itiasse. For this use of
'perish' conf. 'A very dangerous
heretic, that could never get but two
disciples» and those, it wouid seem,
perished in their brain.' Letters and
Life. i. 166. And
' Because thy flinty heart more hard
than they
Might in thy palace perish Margaret.
Henry VI, Pt. 2. act iii. sc.
h lbrayig in aid of alchy»Jdsts] i.e.
seeking to get help from alchymists.
Lat. absque auaqlio nottbm«n
carum. A iegal phrase. Conf ' This
word (ayde) is also particularly used in
matter of pleading, for a petition ruade
in court for the calling in ofhelpe from
another that hath an interest in the
cause in question, and is iikely both to
give strength to the patty that prayeth
in aide of him, and a|so to avoide a
pre]udice towards his owne right ex-
cept it be prevented.' Coweii, Inter-
I88 ESSAY XXVII.
alchymists, there is a manifest image of this in the ordinary
course of nature; for, in bodies, union strengtheneth and
cherisheth any natural action; and, on the other side,
weakeneth and dulleth any violent impression; and even
sois it of minds.
The second fruit of friendship is healthful and sovereign
for the understanding, as the first is for the affections ; for
friendship maketh indeed a fair day in the affections from
storm and tempests, but it rnaketh daylight in the under-
,o standing, out of darkness and confusion of thoughts:
neither is this to be understood only of faithful counsel,
which a man receiveth frorn his friend; but before you
corne to that, certain it is that whosoever hath his mind
fraught with many thoughts, his wits and understanding
do clarify and break up in the communicating and dis-
coursing with another; he tosseth his thoughts more
easily; he marshalleth them more orderly; he seeth how
they look when they are turned into words: finally, he
waxeth wiser than himsçlf; and that more by an hour's
2o discourse than by a day's meditation. It was well said by
Themistocles to the king of Persia, That spcech was like
clolh of Arras opcncd attd pttt abroad ; whereby t/te hnagey
dolh al[car fit figttre ; whcrcas h titottgitts thcy lie but as
in pacbs. Neither is this second fruit of friendship, in
opening the understanding, restrained only to such
friends as are able to give a man counsel; (they in-
deed are best); but even without that a man learneth
of himself, and bringeth his ov«n thoughts to light,
preter, sub voce ' a.).de' (x6o). Bacon
uses the phrase elsewhere loosely, as
in the text,=to endeavour to obtain
help from. ' In divine learningwe see
hov frequent parables and Tropes are :
for it is a rule, that whatsoever science
is hot consonant to presuppositions,
must pray in aid of similitudes.' Works,
iii. p. 4o 7. Coke is equally lax ; e.g.
in tel]ing a story of a man vho was
apprehended in Southwark with a head
of a dcad man and a book of sorcery.
The head and the book were burned,
and thus, Coke remarks, ' had the saine
punishment that the Sorcerer should
have had by the ancient law, if he had
by his sorcery praied in aid of the
De'cil.' Coke, Institutes Part iii. cap.6.
OF FRIENDSHIP. 8 9
and whetteth his wits as against a stone which itself
cuts hot. In a word, a man were better relate himself
to a statua or picture, than to surfer his thoughts to pass
in smother '.
Add now, to make this second fruit of friendship com-
plete, that other point which lieth more open, and falleth
within vulgar obsern,ation : which is faithful counsel from
a friend. Heraclitus saith well in one of his enigmas, DJy
ligM is evcr the best: and certain it is that the light that
a man receiveth by counsel from another is drier and o
purer than that which cometh from his own understanding
and judgment ; which is ever infused and drenched in his
affections and customs. So as there is as much difference
between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man
giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend
and of a flatterêr; for there is no such flatterer as is
a man's self, and there is no such remedy against flatter),
of a man's self as the liberty of a friend. Counsel is of
two sorts; the one concerning manners, the other con-
cerning business: for the first, the best presern,ative to :o
keep the mind in health is the faithful admonition of a
friend. The calling of a man's self to a strict account is
a medicine sometimes too piercing and corrosive ; reading
good books of morality is a little fiat and dead ; observing
our faults in others is sometimes unproper for out case;
but the best receipt (best (I say) to work and best to take)
is the admonition of a friend. It is a strange thing to
I a statua] This is a common form of
the word. Conf. e.g. 'The state of
learning . . . without which the his-
tory of the world seemeth to me to be
as the statua of Polyphemus with
eye out.' Works, iii. 329.
They spake hot a word,
But like dumb statuas, or breathing
stones»
Stared on each other.'
King Richard III, act iii. sc. 7-
'She dreamt to-night she saw my
statua,
Vhich like a fountain with a hun-
dred spouts
Did run pure blood.'
Julius Caesar, act il. sc. 2.
k fo pass in smother] Lat. cogitationes
suas silentio suffocare. Conf. ' I have
often seen it, that things when they are
in smother trouble more than when
theybreak out.' Letters and Life, v. 4"/-
9 o ESSAY XXVII.
behold what gross errors and extreme absurdities many
(especially of the greater sortt do commit for want of
a friend to tell them of them, to the great damage both of
their fame and fortune: for, as .St. James saith, they are
as men that look sontetintes iiltO a glass, atd lOr«setttlyl forgct
thcir own shape and favour". As for business, a man
may think, if he will, that two eyes see no more than one ;
or that a gamester seeth always more than a looker-on ; or
that a man in anger is as wise as he that hath said over
o the four and twenty letters ; or that a musket may be shot
off as well upon the arm as upon a rest ; and such other
fond n and high imaginations, to think himself all in all .
But when ail is done p, the help of good counsel is that
xvhich setteth business straight : and if any man think that
he will take counsel, but it shall be by pieces, asking
counsel in one business of one man, and in another
business of another man, it is well (that is to say, better
perhaps than if he asked none at all; but he runneth two
dangers; one, that he shall hOt be faithfully counselled ;
2o for it is a rare thing, except it be from a perfect and entire
friend, to have counsel given but such as shall be bowed
and crooked to some ends which he hath that giveth it:
the other, that he shall have counsel given hurtful and
unsafe (though with good meaning), and mixed partly of
mischief and partly of remedy; even as if you would call
a physician, that is thought good for the cure of the
diseas.e you complain of, but is unacquainted with your
body; and therefore may put you in a way for a present
I pt'/'.Oi//y] i.e. immediately. Lat.
statim.
m favour] i.e. features, k'ide note
on Essay 43-
fond] i.e. foolish. Conf.
Tell these sad women
'Tis fond to wail inevitable strokes.'
Coriolanus, act iv. sc. I.
lo think hhlsclf ail bi ail] This
clause seems intended to interpret and
amplify the preceding clause. ' The
essential fault of the man in his fond
and high imaginations is that he thinks
himself ail in all." Lat. bi se esse omnia.
The grammar is hot more loose than
Bacon's grammar frequently is.
P rvhen ail is done] Lat. quidquid dici
poteM in contrariu.
OF FRIENDSHIP. x9 x
cure, but overthroweth your health in some other kind,
and so cure the disease and kill the patient: but a friend
that is wholly acquainted with a man's estate, will beware,
by furthering any present business, how he dasheth upon
other inconvenience ; and therefore rest not upon scattered
counsels; they will rather distract and mislead than settle
and direct.
After these two noble fruits of friendship (peace in the
affections, and support of the judgment), followeth the
last fruit, which is like the pomegranate, full of many o
kernels ; I mean aid, and bearing a part in all actions and
occasions. Here the best way to represent to life the
manifold use of friendship is to cast and see « how many
things there are which a man cannot do himself; and then
it will appert that it was a sparing speech of the ancients
to say, that a fi'icnd is anothcr himsclf: for that a friend
is far more than himself. Men have their time, and die
many times in desire of some things which they principally
take to heart ; the bestowing of a child, the finishing of a
work, or the like. If a man have a true friend, he ma 3 o
rest almost secure that the care of those things will
continue after him; so that a man bath, as it were, two
lires in his desires. A man hath a body, and that body is
confined to a place : but where friendship is, ail offices of
life are as it were granted to him and his deputy; for he
may exercise them by his friend. How many things are
there which a man cannot, with any face or comeliness,
say or do himself? A man can scarce allege his own
merits with modesty, much less extol them : a man cannot
sometimes brook to supplicate or beg, and a number of o
the like: but all these things are graceful in a friend's
q fo ca.st and see] Lat. cira, enstci-
endo et n'dendo. Conf.
' It is as proper to our age
To cast beyond ourselves in out
opinions
As it is common for the younger
5ort
To lack discrefion.'
Hamlet, act il. sc. L
92 ESSAY XXVII.
mouth, which are blushing in a man's own. So again, a
man's person" hath many proper relations' which he
cannot put off. A man cannot speak to his son but as
a father ; to his wife but as a husband ; to his enemy but
upon terres t: whereas a friend may speak as the case
requires, and not as it sorteth" with the person. But to
enumerate these things were endless; I have given the
rule where a man cannot fitly play his own part; if he
bave not a friend, he may quit the stage.
2O TES ,4«VD f LZUST.R,4 TIO«VS.
P. 183, 1. I. for him) The Latin is etiam illi, implying that the
author referred to was a toaster in the art of putting together in few
words the utmost possible amount of truth and untruth.
1.3. ll'hosoever is &c.] The reference isto Aristotle's Politics, bk.
i. cap. 2 :
I have given the above passages at lenh in order to show, r-
haps needlessly, the absurd incorrectness of Bacon's remarks upon
theln. It is true that in the Ethics Aristotle prefers the contemplative
to the practical, the self-sufficing to the dependent life : 'O 81 vooo
' BdJu tt eu « bm;pX«, «.A. x. 7- The Ç &J of the Politics
suggests the me thought. It does hOt suggest or adroit a natul
and secret hatred and aversion towards society, proceeding out of a
pleasure in solitude and not out of a love and desire t quester
a man's self for a higher conversation. In the Advancement of
r a man's person] i.e. the part or
character which a man sustains in
society. Conf.
I then did use the person of your
father.'
2 Henry IV, act v. sc. 2.
And, ' That your Majesty do for this
Padiament put off the person of a
merchant and contractor, and rest upon
the person of a King." Letters and
Life, iv. 37 L
s bath »nan_v 2&'o2ho" relations] i.e. re-
lations essentially belonging to it. Lat.
rouira habet conjuncta.
t upon terres] The Lat. alva dgni-
tare expresses a part of the sense, or
perhaps a derivative of the sense, but
it does hot mark the contrast intended
between the unreserved intercourse of
friendsand the measured formalitiesand
arm's4ength restraints within which a
man must have dealings with his enemy.
orleth] i.e. suiteth. Conf. ' Livia
sorted well with the arts of ber hus-
band.' Essay 6 and note.
OF FRIENDSHIP. 193
Learning, there is a passage of magnifieent eloquenee, in whieh Baeon
deeides against Aristotle's preferenee of the contemplative life, but it
does hot bear out in a-ny way the captious blunder of the Essay. Vide
Works, iii. 4i. " -
P. 184, 1. 7- the i.alin adage] This is a splendid perversion. The
original phrase does hOt eonvey the ethieal sense which Bacon reads
into it. Itis given among the Erasmi Adagia. ' Strabo, Geographiae
lib. xvi. Seleueiam ad Tigrim ait Babylone majorera fuisse, sed ple-
raque sui parte desertam, ac jure optimo de illa dici posse, quod de
Megalopoli Areadiae eivitate dixit eomicus quispiam
id est Est magna solitudo magna civitas. Allusum est ad nomen
urbis.' #,dag. p. 476 (Edition i55x ).
1. x 9. diseases of sloppings &e.] Baeon makes frequent use of these
pathological similes ; e.g. eonf. Essay 3, P- 9, ' for as in the natural
body,' &e.; and speech in Parliament, Life and Letters, iv. 177 : ' Take
away liberty of Parliament, the griefs of the subject will bleed
inwards : sharp and eager humours will hot evaporate, and then they
must exulcerate, and so may endanger the sovereignty itself.'
i. 183,1.9.participes curarum] I ean find no authority for Baeon's state-
ment that this is 'the Roman naine.' He seems to bave been misled
by his double habit of reading Greek authors in a Latin version and of
quoting from memory afterwards. Dion Cassius, speaking of the titles
which Tiberius eonferred on Sejanus, mentions among the test,
owv6v rv çbpov;wv ,v6#aç« This is rendered in Xylander's version
by curarumque suarum participera nominavit. Dion Cassius, lib. lviii.
p. 7t4 in H. Stephens' fol. edition /x59). It is a questionable
instance of friendship, for it appears by the context that it was part of
a design to prepare the way for the overthrow of a man of whom
Tiberius was distrustful, but whom he feared to attack openly.
1. t 7. L. S.)'lla &c.] This story is incorrectly told. The answer in
the text was ruade when ' Pompey required the honour of triumph,
but Sylla denied it, alledging that none could enter in triumph into
Rome but Consuis or Praetors .... These reasons did Sylla alledge
against Pompey, and told him plainly that if he were bent to stand in
it, he would resist him. Ail this blanked hot Pompey, who told him
frankly againe how men did honour the rising hot the setting of the
Sun.' It was after this that'Pompey by force and against Syllaes
will had brought Lepidus to be Consull, by the helpe and good will
of the people that furthered his desire.' Life of Pompeius, North's
Piutarch, p. 638.
1. 4. l'ith Julius Caesar &c.] For this vide Plutarch's Life
Julius Caesar, North's trans, p. 74 o.
P. 186, 1. 4- calleth hirn vene.fica] The word seems to bave been used
by Antony as nothing more than a terre of general abuse. The letter,
O
I94 ESSAY XXVII.
which Cicero recites with a running comment on each clause,
'Et te, o puer, qui omnia ejus nomini debes, id agere ut jure damnatus sit
Dolabella, et ut venca haec liberetur obsidione? Veneficam audes
appellare eum m qui tuis veneficiis remedia invenit ?' &c. &c.
Philipp. xiii. XL Cap. 9 shows that itis Btus who is here meant.
1. 5. Augustus raised Agrippa &c.] 'O
adv a arava«a rÇv vvaia
liv. 6.
l. II. Sqanus had ascende Tv
vo«, ««fiXovu. Dion Cassius, lvifi. 6.
1. 13. Haecp amicitia &c.] Tac. Ann. iv. 40.
1. 14. and lice a,ho& senate] ' Neque senatfls in eo cura an imperii
extçema dehonestaçentuç: pavor inteçnus occupaveçat animos, cul
remedium adulatione quaerebatur. Ita quanquam diversis sur
rebus consulerentur, aram clementiae, aram amicitiae, e#esque
circum Caesaris ac Sejani censuere.' Tac. Ann. iv. 74.
1. 16. The like, or more &c.]
¢'«dat poaodav;v ao. Dion Cassius, Ixxv. 15.
1. I9. would oflen mahttaht hhn &c.] This may be ioEerred from
what Dion Cassius says about the conduct of the Emperor's sons ter
the death of Plautianus : oi
tdovv. Dion Cassius, lxx. 7-
l. 29. but as an half-ce] Bacon is probably referfing m the old
practice of cutting silver pennies into halves to make up for the
deficiency of smaller coins. Up to the time of Edward I few or no
half-pennies were struck at the mint. 'The want of such smMl
money,' says Hau'kins, 'seems to haz been generally supplied by
cutting the pennies into hMves and quaers. Several specimens are
to be found in almost ail reigns." Silver Coins of England (Ed. and),
p. .
In a3, a petition of the commons to King Richard II complains of
a 'great scarcity in the Realm of Half-pennies and Farthings of
Silver, whereby the poor were frequently ill-supplied, so that when
a poor man vould buy his ctuMs and other necessaries convenient
for him, and had only a penny, for which he ought to receive a
penny in exchange, he did many times spoil his penny in order
ake one half-penny.' Ruding's Annals of the Coinage of Bfitain
(1817) , vol. i. p. 474.
OF FRIENDSHIP. 95
In 14o2 , a petition to Henry IV states that 'the people, of great
necessity, used the moneys of foreign lands . . . and in some parts
Haifpennies divided Cto the great destruction and vaste of the said
money} and in some places tokens of lead.' Ruding, vol. i. p. 484 .
In Elizabeth's reign there was the saine complaint about the want
of small coins. ' In 1574,' says Ruding, "the use of private tokens for
money.., was at this rime grovn to such excess as to be the sub-
ject of frequent complaints. They were ruade of Lead, Tin, Latten,
and even of leather. Ofthese base materiais were formed farthings
and half-pence.' Ruding, vol. il. p. 162.
1- 34. t,hat Comi»te,s obs¢rveth] He says of the Duke that, after his
defeat by the Swiss at Granson, 'il avoit sejourné à Losanne en
Savoye, où vous, monseigneur de Vienne, le servistes de bon conseil
en une grant malladie qu'il eut de douleur et de tristesse de ceste
honte qu'il avoit receue ; et, à dire la verité, je croy que jamais depuis
il n'eut l'entendement si bon qu'il avoit en auparavant ceste bataille.'
Mémoires de Commynes, v. cap. 3.
In the saine year, after his defeat at Morat, « s'estoit retiré à l'entree
de Bourgongne, en ung lieu appellé la Riviere, auquel lieu il sejourna
plus de six sepmaines . . . et se tenoit comme solitaire . . . car la
douleur qu'il eut de la premiere bataille de Granson fut si grande, et
luy troubla tant les esperits, quïl en tomba en grant malladie ....
Et, à mon advis, oncques puis ladicte malladie ne fut si saige que
auparavant, mais beaucoup diminué de son sens.
' Et telles sont les passions de ceulx qui n'eurent jamais adversité et
ne scavent trouver nulz remedes.., car, en ce cas et en sembla-
bles, la premier refuge est retourner à Dieu .... Apres cela, faict
grand bien de parler à quelque amy, se povez, et devant luy hardy-
ment plaindre ses douleurs .... et non point prendre le chemin
que print le duc de se cacher ou se tenir solitairement.' Livre v.
cap. 5-
19. 187, 1.8. The parable of PA'lhagoras] Lat. Tessera Pythagorae.
I ïde Diog. Laertius on Pythagoras : "Hv ' abri. rà rtBoa ra« . . .
Porphyry, in his life, mentions this among the dicta of Pythagoras,
' Eat hot thy heart ; that is to say offend hot thine own souI, nor hurt
and consume it with pensive cares.' Given in PIutarch's Morals,
among the enigmatical safings of Pythagoras, p. 3-
1.2o. " like viue as the Alcttemists used lo ascribe &c.] The viues
aseribed by the Alehemists to the Philosopher's stone, the ' lapis bene-
dietus,' are large enough and various enough to eover Baeon's vords.
' Homines in suavitate et juventute eonseat, repellendo ab eis eune-
tos lanores : ... lepram depellit, eaducum morbum et alias multas
x96 ESSAY XXVII.
ferè incurabiles infirmitates mulcet atque etiam removet. Et haec
omnia operatur plus quàm omnes medicorum medicinae, vel potiones
vel confectiones quaecunque .... Sicque fit antidotum et medicina om-
nium corporum curandorum, et purgandorum, tare metallicorum quàm
humanorum. Rosarius quoque rouira specificat dicens: Conservat
sanitatem et roborat virtutem, reparat juventutem, purgat spiritualia,
purgat pulmonem, venena cuncta expellit, morbos tollit, leprosos in
vino bibita paulatim curat.' Ventura, de ratione conficiendi lapidis
Philos. cap. xxxi. Quod virtus lapidis nostri praeciosa, est immensa
multiplex et admirabilis. The aurum potabile, derived from this
stone, is expressly said to work ' ail contrary effects, but still to the
good.' Conf. ' Lapis hic Philosophorum cor purgat omniaque membra
capitalia, nec non intestina medullas et quicquid ipso corpore contin-
etur. Non permittit aliquem in corpore pullulare morbum, sed ab eo
fuunt Podagra, Hydropisis, Icteritia, Colica passio, nec non a quatuor
humoribus aegritudines omnes provenientes ejicit, corpora quoque
repurgat, ut similia reddantur ac si tutu primo nata essent. Refugit
omne quod naturam destruere conatur. Non aliter quam verrues
ignem; ita infirmitates quaecunque renovationem banc fugiunt.'
Paracelsus, vol. ii. p. x8 b {Ed. in 3 fol. vols., Geneva, t658L
' Ex hoc fonte scatet VERUM AURUM POTABILE,' p. I38 b ; ' admirabilis
profecto medicina quae pariter humidum atque siccum, calidum
aeque ac frigidum curat.' Vol. iii. p. xi 5 a.
P. 188, 1.2. for, in bodies] i.e. in inanimate bodies. Lat. in rebus natur-
alibus. The Ed. of x612 gives, ' And as it is certaine that in bodies in-
animate, union strengtheneth any naturall motion and weakeneth any
violent motion: So amongst men, friendship multiplieth joies and
divideth griefes.' \Vorks, vi. p. 558.
On the asserted certainty of this principle, and on the phraseolog-y
in which it is expressed, I3acon speaks elsewhere in terms very
different from the above, l'ide note on Essay 24.
1. 2o. ]t was ,ell said by Themistocles] The words of Themistocles
do not bear the sense which Bacon puts upon them. The comparison
intended is not between speech and thought, but between the perfect
and imperfect expression of thought bylanguage. Themistocles learnt
to speak Persian not in order to open his understanding and bring his
own thoughts to ]ight, but to enable him to do justice to his plans in
explaining them to the Persian King. The credit therefore for the
very fine simile in the text belongs to Bacon, not to TheJnistocles.
Plutarch relis the story twice. In his life of Themistocles: 'The-
mistocles (being charged by the Persian king to be bold and to speak
his mind freely about the state of Greece) then answered him : That
men's words did properly resemble the stories and imagerie in a
peece of arras; for both in the one and in the other, the goodly
images of either of them are seene xvhen they are unfolded and laid
OF FRENDSHIP. ç7
open. Contrariwise they appear not, but are lost, when they are shut
up and close folded : whereupon he said to the king he must needes
require some further time ofanswer. The king liked his comparison
passing well and willed him to appoint his owne time. Themistocles
asked a yeare; in which time having pretily learned the Persian
tongue, he afterwards spake to the king himself without any inter-
preter." Plutarch, Lives, p. I3. And again in his Apophthegmata:
' Being banished out of Athens . . . he retired himselfe to the great
King of Persia, where having audience given him to speak, he said :
That a man's speech might very well be likened unto clothes of
tapestry, wrought with imagery and story-work: for both the one
and the other, if they be displaied and unfolded at length, discover
plainly and openly the figures drawn within ; but if they be folded or
rolled up, ail the pourtraictures be hidden and to no purpose: he
requested therefore the tearm of a certein rime within which he
might learn the Persian language, to the end that thenceforward he
might be able to declare and deliver his own minde unto the king by
himselfe, and hot by a truck-man or interpreter.' Plutarch, Morals,
P- 344, Apophthegmes of Kings, &c.
Bacon in his Apophthegms new and old tells the story correctly :
' Themistocles said of speech : that it was like Arras//ca/spreadabroad
shows fair images, but con/racted is but like packs2 Vorks, vii. 53.
The metaphor is employed correctly, but with no referenee to its
origin, by Travers in the course of his controversy with Hooker:
' I bave been bold to offer to your honours a long and tedious discourse
of these matters ; but, speeeh being like to tapestry, which if it be
folded up sheweth but part of that which is wrought, and being un-
lapt and laid open sheweth plainly, to the eye of all the world, that is
in it; I thought it necessary to unfold this tapestry,' &c. Keble's
Hooker, vol. iii. p. 3o7 (Ed. 1836).
P. 189, 1. i. a slone &c.] Conf.
' Ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum
Reddere quae ferrure valet, exsors ipsa secandi.'
Hor. De Arte Poet. 3o4.
1. 8. Heraclitus &c.] This enigma is variously recorded. The
correct version is «q q, vX «oç,r«rq cal àp¢rrq. ['ide Stobaei Flori-
legium, v. 2o (Gaisford's Edition). Gaisford gives, in a note, a various
reading, ' ay O «oç,rfir. Neminem haec varietas confundat ; aZ,,,}
mendosum est pro aq et q;/ejusdem glossema. Schow. Cod. Paris.
A. reads «,,/'/p0, "sed ,/p;/lineam habet subductam."'
l.B. Dry iight &c.] Conf. Nov. Org. i. 49 : ' Intellectus humanus
luminis sicci non est ; sed recipit infusionem a voluntate et affecti-
bus.' Works, i. p. i67.
Again in the Advancement of Learnlng, bk. i : 'When men fall to
framing conclusions out of their knowledge, applying it to their par-
I98 ESSAY XXVII.
ticular, and mlnistering to themselves thereby weak fears or vain
desires, there groweth that carefulness and trouble of mind which is
spoken of: for the knowledge is no more h«men siccum, whereof
Heraclitus the profound said, Lmnen siccum olgtima anima; but it
becometh Lu»m« madidum or maceratmn, being steeped and infused
in the humours of the affections.' ,Vorks, iii. 266.
P. 190, 1.4- St. James saith] Ep. i. 23.
1.8. a gamester &c.] The proverb here referred to is frequently
quoted by Bacon. Conf. Essay 48. p. 335. And, ' As the proverb is, a
looker on sometimes seeth more than a gamester.' Letters and Life,
ri. 239.
In the Advancement of Learning, bk. ii, the proverb is given with a
reseta'e : ' For although sometimes a looker on may see more than a
gamester, and there be a proverb more arrogant than sound that the
raie best discovereth the hill ; yet,' &c. Works, iii. 428.
1.1o. tle four and twenty letters] Conf. 'Viginti quatuor, qui est
numerus alphabeti apud nos.' Examples of alphabets follow, with no
distinct character or place assigned to J and U. Vorks, i. 659.
' In our language,' says Ben Jonson, ' we use these four and twenty
letters'--and he adds an alphabet with no J or U. English Grammar,
bk. i. chap. 2. The form U, however, cornes in presently, as it does
also with Bacon. The custom of the age had corne to be to put V as
the initial letter, and U as a subsequent letter. The word 'uva'
would thus be written 'vua.' In the previous century no such rule
was observed.
The advice in the text is not new. Conf. 'Athenodorus the philo-
sopher being of great yeares, craved license with his (Caesar's) good
favour to retire unto his own house from the court, by reason of his
old age: and leave he gave him, but at his farewell Athenodorus
said unto him, Sir when you perceive yourself to be moved with
Choler, neither say nor do ought before you have repeated to your-
self ail the twenty-fbur letters in the Alphabet. Caesar hearing this
advertisement took him by the hand: I have need still (quoth he)
of your company and presence, and so retained him for one yeare
longer.' Plutarch, Morals, p. 364.
P. 191, 1. 16. afriendanother himself] A saying ascribed to Pytha-
goras : Tob çt'kor r*pÇy,rta, xotvà iv -à rgv dpiAtov «t'var rtpgro àrtodpÇv&
I«Vor» *'bu dpiAov aXXov iav*'dv. Porphyry, Vita Pythag. 33- Aristotle
uses it : "Ea-t ),@ 6 çb&o, &Xo, ardr. Eth. Nicom. ix. 4- sec. 5- "a, a
ix. 9- sec. o, and Magna Moralia, ii. 5- sec. 8. So, too, Zeno Cittieus :
dpw't/$dr *'r *'t tg, o ; alto, '/, t',,5. Diog. Laertius, lib. vii. sec. 23.
Conf. also, ' Whereas it is eommonly said and thought that a friend
is another own-selfe, and men give unto him the naine of l*'aîpo or
irapo in Greeke, as ifa man should say, *'«por, that is sueh another,' &e.
OF EXPENCE.
199
Plutarch on PIurality of Friends, Morals, Holland's Trans. p. 85.
Conf. also Cicero, De Amicitia, cap. 2x : ' Verus amicus ... est enim
is qui est tanquam alter idem.' Bacon calls the speech 'sparing'
because he takes it (wrongly) as referring to the convenience or
' fruit' of friendship.
1. 26. ttow many #2mgs are here] Conf. ' Quam multa enim, quae
nostra causa nunquam faceremus, facimus causa amicorum ? precari
ab indigno, supplicare ; . . . quae in nostris rebus non satis hones:e,
in amicorum fiunt honestissime.' Cicero, de Amicit. cap. xvi. 57.
XXVI I I.
OF EXPENCE.
RICHES are for spending, and spending for honour and
good actions; therefore extraordinary expence must be
limited a by the worth of the occasion; for voluntary
undoing may be as well for a man's country as for the
kingdom of heaven; but ordinary expence ought to be
limited by a man's estate, and governed with such regard
as it be xvithin his compass; and not subject to deceit and
abuse of selwants; and ordered to the best shoxv, that
the bills may be less than the estimation abroad. Cer-
tainly, if a man will keep but of even hand , his ordinary o
expences ought to be but to the half of his receipts ; and
if he think to wax rich, but to the third part. It is no
baseness for the greatest to descend and look into their
own estate. Some forbear it, not upon negligence alone,
i limited] i.e. appolnted or meas-
ured. Lat. commensurandi sunt. Irai.
prolborlionate. The clause following
shows that on a sutticiently worthy oc-
ca.sion there are no bounds to be set
to epence. Conf.
' For "ris my limited service.'
blacbeth, act il. se. 3.
So frequently in the Stature Book of
the sixteenth century, e. g. ' Upon the
pains forfeitures and penalties in the
present estatute limited and expressed2
37 Henry VIII, cap. 9-
b willkte2 b but ofeven hana Lat. qui
diminutionem fortunarum suarTo*t #agi
nolit. Conf. ' Whoso is out of hope to
attain to another's virtue will seek to
corne at even hand by depressing
anotheçs fortune.' Essay 9- And,
' Business is bought at a dear hand
where there is small dispatch.' Essay
2oo ESSAY XXVIII.
but doubting to c bring themselves into melancholy, in
respect they shall «find it broken : but wounds cannot be
cured without searching. He that cannot look into his
own estate at all had need both choose xvell those whom
he employeth, and change them often ; for new are more
timorous and less subtile. He that can look into his
estate but seldo-m,
ties «. A man had
of expence, to be
lO he be plentiful in
it behoveth him to turn ail to certain-
need, if he be plentiful in some kind
as saving again in some other: as if
diet, to be saving in apparel: if he
be plentiful in the hallr, to be saving in the stable: and
the like. For he that is plentiful in expences of all kinds
will hardly be preserved from decay. In clearing of a
man's estate, he may as well hurt himself in being too
sudden as in letting it run on too long ; for hasty selling
is commonly as disadvantageable as interest. Besides, he
that clears at once will relapse ; for finding himself out of
straits, he will revert to his customs: but he that cleareth
by degrees induceth a habit of frugality, and gaineth
2o as well upon his mind h as upon his estate. Certainly, who
hath a state to repair may hOt despise small things; and
« doubting toi i.e. thinking it very
possible they may--a sense still re-
tained as a vulgar colloquialism.
d in respect they shall] i.e. in case
they shall. Lat. M res nimioplusacci*a*
deprehendeHnt.
o lo lu» n ai1 lo cerlai»lles] i-e. ex-
pences as well as in receipts. Lat. in
cÆrfos redilus a/que eliam sutaO[us ver-
f in lhe bal o ' The Hall was the place
where the great Lord us'd to eat,
(wherefore else were the Halls ruade
so big .), where he saw ail his servants
and tenants about him. He eat hot in
private except in rime of sickness;
when once he became a thing coop'd
up, ail his greatness was spoil'd.'
Selden, Table Talk, sub vote Hall.
' Diet,' just above» seems therefore to
refer only to the man's own eating
and drinking; the hall, to the general
table kept for the whole establish-
ment.
ha*s¢lling&c.] Lat.praeproperae
enfin vendiKones jacluram ex usuris
saepe exaequant. Conf. Were it hot
for this easy borrowing upon interest,
men's necessities would draw upon
them a most sudden undoing, in that
they would be forced to sell their
means far tmder foot.' Essay 4L
upon his mind] For this use of
' upon' conf. ' Philosophy doth con-
demn our want of care and industry if
we do hot win very much upon our-
selves ' (i. e. ifwe do not make effective
use of some preservatives against the
passions of the mind referred to just
before). Letters and Lire, ii. 8.
OF EXPENCE. OI
commonly it is less dishonourable to abridge petty charges
than to stoop to petty gettings. A man ought warily to
. begin charges which once begun will continue: but in
matters that return not he may be more magnificent.
NOT£S tINI 2rZLUSTRA TIONS.
P. 199, 1. 3- for voluntary undotg] Conf. ' No man's fortune tan
be an end worthy of his being : and many times the worthiest men
do abandon their fortune willingly for better respects.' Works, iii.
456
P. 200, 1. 5. change thon often] This was the practice of James'
favourite, Villiers, whether from policy or from mere caprice. Conf.
'His lordship was bred in a great error, he was so ready to cast a
cloud suddenly upqn his creatures, and with much inconstancy to
foot up that which he had planted. A fault too patent against ail
Apology. He had changed the white staves ofthe King's Houshold,
the Secretaries, the Masters of the Court of Wards, the Chancellors
of the Exchequer and many others. Partly it happened because
fresh Undertakers came with Proffcrs and Forecasts which had hot
been ruade belote. Presently some must be discarded, to make
room for those who, albeit in their discharge they did less than their
predecessors, yet outbid them in Promises. And partly, which goes
together, his Lordship was of very desultorious Affections, quickly
weary ofthose whom he had gratified and apt to resume his favours
to make trial upon others... From whence it came to pass that his
Lordship was often served by bad instruments : for they ruade too
much haste to be Rich, because they knew their turn was coming
quickly to be shifted. And it is a weak part to blast the good Turns
which a man bath done, and to lose his thanks and the fidelity of his
Clients.' Hacket's Life of Abp. Williams, Part i. p. 4 o.
And again, ' My Lord-Duke was soon satiated with their greatness
whom he had advanced. It was the inglorious mark of those thirteen
years of his Power to remove Officers. Which was like a sweeping
Floud, that at every spring-tide takes from one land and casts it upon
another.' Part ii. p. 19.
o ESSAY XXIX.
XXIX.
OF THE TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND
ESTATES.
THE speech of Themistocles, the Athenian, which was
haughty and arrogant in taking so much to himself, had
been a grave and wise observation and censure , applied
at large to others. Desired at a feast to touch a lute, he
said, He could not fiddle, but yet he coMd make a small town
a great city. These words (holpen a little vith a metaphor}
may express two different abilities in those that deal in
business of estate; for if a true survey be taken of eoun-
sellors and statesmen, there may be round (though rarely}
,o those which ean make a small state great, and yet eannot
fiddle: as, on the other side, there will be found a great
many that ean fiddle very eunningly, but yet are so far
from being able to make a small state great, as their gift
lieth the other way; to bring a great and flourishing estate
to ruin and deeay. And certainly, those degenerate arts
and shifts vhereby many eounsellors and governors gain
both favour with their masters and estimation with the
vulgar, deserve no better name than fiddling ; being things
rather pleasing for the time, and graeeful to themselves
2o only, than tending to the weal and advaneement of the
state which they serve. There are also (no doubt) eoun-
sellors and governors xvhich may be held suffieient (negotiis
pares, able to manage affairs, and to keep them from pre-
eipiees and manifest ineonvenienees; vhieh nevertheless
are far from the ability to raise and amplify an estate in
power, means, and fortune. But be the workmen what
they may be, let us speak of the work; that is, the true
greatness of kingdoms and estates, and the means thereof.
censure] i.e.judgment;acommon also the censure of foreign laws,
Latinism. Conf. ' This is hot only the conclusion of common rea-
the wisdom of the laws of the realm, son.' Letters and Lire, il. 8, and
svhich so defineth of it, but it is passbn.
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC. 203
An argument ' fit for great and mighty princes to have in
their hand; to the end that neither by over-measuring
their forces they lose themselves in vain enterprises : nor,
on the other side, by undervaluing them they descend to
fearful and pusillanimous counsels.
The greatness of an estate in bulk and territory doth fall
under measure ; and the greatness of finances and revenue
doth fall under computation. The population may appear
by musters; and the number and greatness of cities and
towns by cards c and maps ; but yet there is not anything ,o
amongst civil affairs more subject to error than the right
valuation and true judgment concerning the power and
forces of an estate. The kingdom of heaven is compared,
not to any great kernel or nut, but to a grain of mustard-
seed; which is one of the least grains, but hath in it a
property and spirit hastily to get up and spread. So are
there states great in territory, and yet not apt to enlarge
or command; and some tbat bave but a small dimension
of stem, and yet apt to be the foundations of great
monarchies.
Walled towns, stored arsenals and armories, goodly
races of horse, chariots of war, elephants, ordnance, artil-
lery, and the like; all this is but a sheep in a lion's skin,
except the breed and disposition of tbe people be stout
and warlike. Nay, number [itself) in armies importeth
hot much « where the people is of weak courage ; for (as
Virgil saith), Il noyer troubles a wolf how man A, t/te shccp be.
The army of the Persians in the plains of Arbela was
sueh a vast sea of people as it did somewhat astonish
the commanders in Alexander's army, who came to him 3o
therefore and wished him to set upon them by night;
but he answered, He would hot pilfer t/te victory: and the
b a,zargu»z¢nt]i.e, subjectortheme, a i, nporleh ot mJ¢h] i.e. is hot of
* cards] i.e. charts. Conf. note on much importaJzce. Conf. ' the tme
Essay x8. In the edition of 16x2 the placingofthem importethexceedingly.'
word is spelt 'carts.' Essay 3.
2o4 ESSAY XXIX.
defeat was easy. When Tigranes, the Armenian, being
encamped upon a hill with four hundred thousand men,
discovered the army of the Romans, being not above four-
teen thousand, marching towards him, he made himself
merry with it, and said, Yonder men are too ma for an
ambassage, and loofewfor afight; but before the sun set
he found them enow to give him the chace with infinite
slaughter. Many are the examples of the great odds be-
tween number and courage: so that a man may truly
o make a judgment that the principal point of greatness in
any state is to have a race of military men. Neither is
money the sinews of war (as it is trivially said), where the
sinews of men's arms in base and effeminate people are
failing: for Solon said well to Croesus (when in ostenta-
tion he showed him his goldl, Si', if a O, olher corne lhat
bath boiter h-on than .you, he will be toaster of ai1 this gold.
Therefore, let any prince or state think soberly of his
forces, except his militia « of natives be of good and valiant
soldiers; and let princes, on the other side, that have
-'o subjects of martial disposition, know their own strength,
unless they be other",vise wanting unto themselves. As
for mercenary forces (which is the help in this case), all
examples show that whatsoever estate or prince doth rest
upon them, he ma.y spread his fca/hcrs for a /hne, but he zoill
mcw lhent f soou aller.
The blessing of Judah and Issachar will never meet;
that the saine people or nation should be both the lion's whdp
and the ass betwcen burde»ts; neither will it be that a people
overlaid with taxes should ever become /aliant and martial.
3o It is truc that taxes, levied by consent of the estate, do
* nuTitia] used, generally, formilitary
force. So below, to employ almost
indifferently ail nations in their militia
of ordinary soldiers.
f will »,ew them] i.e. will moult or
shed them. Lat. deflu«nt illae. Conf.
Who so wi] that an hawke mew hot
nor fal nor of ber fethere; therefor
here is a medicine.' Heading of a
paragraph in the St. Alban's booke of
hawking, huntyng,and fysshyng. So in
Overbury's characters, subtit. AWo ,
comparing ber to a hawk, he says 'and
now she bas mewed three coats.'
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC.
abate men's courage less; as it hath been seen notably in
the excises of the Low Countries; and, in some degree, in
the subsidies of England ; for, you must note that we speak
now of the heart and not of the purse ; so that although
the saine tribute and tax laid by consent or by imposing
be all one to the purse, yet it works diversely upon the
courage. So that you may conclude that no people over-
charged wilh tribute is)qt for empb'e.
Let states that aire at greatness take heed how their
nobility and gentlemen do multiply too fast; for that
maketh the common subject grow to be a peasant and
base swain, driven out of heart, and in effect but the
gentleman's labourer. Even as you may see in coppice
woods; if .you leave .yottr sladdles too lhicle, .yott shall
never bave dean underwood, but shrubs and bushcs. So in
countries, if the gentlemen be too many the commons will
be base ; and you will bring it to that that hot the hundred
poll will be fit for an helmet : especially as to tbe infantry,
wbich is the nerve of an army; and so there will be great
population and little strength. This which I speak of hath
been nowhere better seen than by comparing of England
and France; whereof England, thougb far less in territory
your staddles] Lat. si .mjor quam
par es/caudicum sve arbom«m majo«m
r¢linqualur »n«men«s. Conf.
'Leave growing for staddles the
likest and best,
Though seller and buier dispatched
the rest.'
Tusser, Five hundreth points of
good husband. Apfil's husband.
Chap. viii. stanza 9-
The poem is given at lenh in
Some' Trac, vol. fil (Ed. iSio).
The word, which obsolete in this
count, is (Vebster says) still in use
in Amefica, where ' trees are called
staddles from three or four yea old,
till they are 6 or 8 inches in diameter :
bu t in this respect the word indefinite.'
ConL Webster's Dictiona» sub voct.
h the hundredpolI] Lat. centesimum
quodque caput. Are find elsewhere a
confusion between the cardinal and
ordinal forms of thls number. Conf.
'And he himself with foure hundreth
of the best men he had ... went
straight to the gates of the citie.'
Plutarch, Lires, p. ,ou 5. So in Burton's
Will, 'an hundredth pound' and 'an
hundred punds' are used indifferently.
Quoted in Anal of Helancholy, Pre-
face to Edition of I83"1, p. xix. So,
too, in the early editions of "l'usser,
the titles of his poems are ' One hun-
dreth' or' Five hundreth points of
good husbandry.' In the edition of
the Essays of i612 the words corre-
sponding to the text are ' the hundreth
pole.'
OEc6 F-SSAY XXlX.
and population, hath been (nevertheless) an overmatch ; in
regard i the middle people of England make good soldiers,
which the peasants of France do hOt: and herein the de-
vice of King Henry the Seventh (whereof I have spoken
largely in the history of his life} was profound and ad-
mirable, in making farms and houses of husbandry of a
standard, that is, maintained with such a proportion of
land unto them as may breed a subject to lire in con-
renient plenty, and no servile condition ; and to keep the
plough in the hands of the owners, and hot mere hirelings ;
and thus indeed you shall attain to Virgil's character, which
he gives to ancient Italy:
Terra pofens armis arque ubere glebae.
Neither is that state k (which, for anything I know, is
almost peculiar to England, and hardly to be found any-
where else, except it be perhaps in Poland} to be passed
over; I mean the state of free sera'ants and attendants
upon noblemen and gentlemen, which are no ways in-
ferior unto the yeomanry for arms; and therefore, out of
ail question, the splendour and magnificence and great
retinues and hospitality of noblemen and gentlemen re-
ceived into custom I doth much conduce unto martial
greatness; whereas, contrariwise, the close and reser-v-ed
living of noblemen and gentlemen causeth a penury of
military forces.
I m regard] = because. Con£ Ed-
mundes, Obs. upon Caesar's Com-
mentaries, lib. vil cap. il : ' Next unto
the circle, the triangular foi'tresse is
the most unperfect, first in regard it
is a figure of less capacitie than any
other ofequall bounds.' Also, Cobbett's
State Trials (Edition I8o9), vol. i. p.
i35o: 'My Lord's pur'pose to bave
men planted at the court was in regard
he feared hindrance by private ene-
mies.' Also, ' We lost our tratfic with
the Amerlcans. with whom, of all
others, in regard they lay nearest to us,
we had most commerce.' Works, iii.
I43.
k that state] Lat. illa pars populi.
For this somewhat rare use of state I, or
estate, the two words are used
differently) for persons of a certain
tank or order, conf. 'A baron is an
estate ofgreat diguitie in blood,honour,
and habit, a peere of the Realm, and
companion of princes.' Segar, Honour
Militaryand Civil, bk. iv. 22, headed "Of
honourable place due to great Estates.'
! receivedintocustom] Lat. quaemor
surir.
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC. 2c 7
By ail means it is to be procured that the trunk of
Nebuchadnezzar's tree of monarchy be great enough to
bear the branches and the boughs ; tbat is, that the natural
subjects of the crown or state bear a sufficient proportion
to the stranger subjects that they govern; therefore ail
states that are liber'al of naturalization towards strangers
are fit for empire ; for to think that a handful of people can,
with the greatest courage and policy in the world, embrace
too large extent of dominion, it may hold for a time but it
will fail suddenly. The Spartans were a nice peoplem in ,o
point of naturalization; whereby, while they kept their
compass, they stood firm ; but when they did spread, and
their boughs were becomen too great for their stem, they
became a windfall upon the sudden. Never any state was
in this point so open to receive strangers into their body
as were the Romans; therefore it sorted with them ' ac-
cordingly, for they grew to the greatest monarchy. Their
manner was to grant naturalization (which they called jus
civitahs), and to g_rant it in the highest degree, that is, not
only fus commo'cff, jas commbii, jus hao-cdilatis ; but also, 2o
fus sttffragii,, and jus ]lOItOtTtm; and this not to singular
persons alone, but likewise to whole families; yea, to
cities and sometimes to nations. Add to this their custom
of plantation of colonies, whereby the Roman plant was
removed into the soli of other nations ; and, putting both
constitutions together, you will say that it was not the
Romans that spread upon the world, but it was the world
that spread upon the Romans; and that was the sure way
a n,ce people] i.e. sparing and
fastidious ; or, as we should now say,
particular about. Lat. pard et di_ffiaies.
Conf. ' A man of disputative valour
had need be more nice of reputa-
tion than a man of declared valour.'
Letters and Lffe, vi. xxa. They ruade
it hot nice to use' (i.e. they did
hot shrink from using) some one
of the ministers of God, by whom
the rest might take notice of their
faults.' Hooker, Eccl. Pol. bk. ri.
chap. 4. sec. .
it sort«d vath tt, em] i.e. things
turned out in their case. Lat. par erat
instituto tarn lbrudent fortuna. Conf.
' Who finding things sort to his desire.'
Works, ri. 70.
o8 ESSAY XXIX.
of greatness. I have marvelled sometimes at Spain, how
they clasp and contain ° so large dominions with so few
natural Spaniards; but sure the whole compass of Spain
is a very great body of a tree, far above Rome and Sparta
at the first; and besides, though they have not had that
usage to naturalize liberally, yet they have that which is
next to it; that is, fo employ ahnost indiffcrcnlly all halions
in awir militia of ordinary soldicrs ; yea, and sometimes in
their highest commands; nay, it seemeth at this instant
o they are sensible of this want of natives ; as by the lbrag-
maical sanction, noxv published, appeareth.
It is certain that sedentary and within-door arts and
delicate manufactures Ithat require rather the finger than
the arm), have in their nature a contrariety to a military
disposition; and generally all warlike people are a little
idle, and love danger better than travail; neither must
they be too much broken of it if they shall be preserved
in vigour : therefore it was great advantage in the ancient
states of Sparta, Athens, Rome, and ot.hers, that they had
.-o the use of slaves, which commonly did rid 1 those manu-
factures; but that is abolished in greatest part by the
Christian law. That which cometh nearest to it is to leave
those arts chiefly to strangers (which for that purpose are
the more easily to be received), and to contain the principal
bulk of the vulgar natives« within those three kinds, tillers
of the ground, free servants, and handicraftsmen of strong
and manly arts, as smiths, masons, carpenters, &c., not
reckoning professed soldiers.
But above all, for empire and greatness it importeth
3o most that a nation do profess arms as their principal
o contain] i.e. hold together or re-
strain. Lat. quodfraenare possit. So
below. ' to contain the principal bulk of
the vulgar natives within those three
kinds.' 'And it is a happy thing when
itself is well contained within the true
hand of unit},.' Essay 3-
did Hd] i.e. did get them done.
ConL "willingness rids way.'
3 Henry VI, act v. se 3-
The Latin is itiusmodi oiMfuia ex-
lediebantur.
rie wdgar nalives] Lat. nativom
lebs.
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOM, ETC. 2o 9
honour, study, and occupation; for the things which xve
formerly bave spoken of are but habilitations" towards
arms ; and what is habilitation without intention and act ?
Romulus, after his death as they report or feign), sent a
present to the Romans, that above all they should intend s
arms, and then they should prove the greatest empire of
the world. The fabric of the state of Sparta was wholly
(though not wisely) framed and composed to that scope'
and end; the Persians and Macedonians had it for a
flash"; the Gauls, Germans, Goths, Saxons, Normans,
and others, had it for a time: the Turks bave it at this
day, though in great declination. Of Christian Europe,
they that bave it are in effect only the Spaniards : but it is
so plain tha! evey man proflt«th ht that he most inh'ndclh,
that it needeth hOt to be stood upon : it is enough to point
at it; that no nation which doth hot directly profess arms
ma), look to have greatness fall into their mouths; and
on the other side, it is a most certain oracle of rime, that
those states that continue long in that profession las the
Romans and Turks principally have done) do wonders;2o
and those that bave professed arms but for an age have,
notwithstanding, comlnonly attained that greatness in that
age which maintained them long after, when their pro-
fession and exercise of arms had grown to decay.
Incident to this point is for a state to have those laws or
customs which may reach forth unto them just occasions
r habililalio,s] i.e. means of attain-
ing ability.
intend] i.e. pay steady and hearty
attention to. Conf. ' I shall take to me,
in this procuration, hot blartha's part
to be busied in many things, but lIary's
part which is to intend your ser-ice.'
Letters and Lffe, iv. 39 L And, ' The
arrowes having barbed heads.., are
hot easily pulled out, which maketh
the souldiers not to intend the fight
untill they be delivered ofthem.' Ed-
mundes, Obs. on Caesar's Commen-
taries, lib. vii. cap. 15.
st'oDe ] i.e. mark or object aimed
at. Conf. ' Other errors there are in
the scope that men propound to them-
selves, whereunto they bend their
endeavours.' ,Vorks, iii. 93-
a flash] i.e. something sudden.
bright and shortlived. Conf. ' This
action is hot a flash, but a solid and
settled pursuit.' Letters and Lire, iv.
122.
zo ESSAY XXIX.
(as may be pretendedx) of war; for there is that justice
imprinted in the nature of men, that they enter not upon
wars (whereof so many calamities do ensuel, but upon
some at the least specious grounds and quarrels. The
Turk hath at hand, for cause of war, the propagation of
his law or sect, a quarrel that he may alxvays command.
The Romans, though they esteemed the extending the
limits of their empire to be great honour to their generals
when it was done, yet they never rested upon that alone
to begin a war: first therefore let nations that pretend to
greatness have this, that they be sensible of xvrongs, either
upon borderers, merchants, or politic ministers; and that
they sit not too long upon a provocation: secondly, let
them be prest and readyy to give aids and succours to their
confederates ; as it ever was with the Romans ; insomuch
as if the confederate had leagues defensive with divers
other states, and upon invasion offered did implore their
aids severally, yet the Romans would ever be the foremost,
and leave it to none other to have the honour. As for the
wars which were anciently ruade on the behalf of a kind
of party or tacit eonformity of estate, I do not see how
z prehndccl] This word in itsclf does
hot necessarily imply that the so-called
just occasions are to bave a rnere pre-
tence of justice in them. But Bacon
is here concerned hot so much to lay
down what are just and proper occa-
sions for taking up arrns, as what
reasons rnay be round for entering on
an aggressive war without too obvious
a violation of natural justice. That this
is so is clear, partly from the general
scope of the Essay, de proferozdis
finibus h»perfi, the acquisition of terri-
tory being the end aimed at, and war
being the appointed means: partly
from the words which immediately fol-
Iow : ' for there is that justice imprinted
in the nature of men. that they enter
hOt upon wars, (whereof so rnany
calamities ensuc) but upon sorne, at
the least, specious grounds and quar-
rels ; ' and most clearly of ail from the
Latin. juslas causas aut salle»»« prae-
le.rtus, which Bacon has recognised as
correct, since it appears also in the De
Augmentis Scientiarum, Works, i. 800.
Con[ for word, ' perill by this salvage
man pretended.' Fail-y Queen, ri. 4.
lo. And, ' by whom his naine is never
so rnuch pretended as when deepest
treachery is meant.' Hooker, Sermon
IV (vol. iii. p. 8t3, Keble's ed. t836).
For the views of Bacon and others
as to the legitirnate grounds of war,
vide note on Essay t 9.
pres! and ready] Lat. lrompta sit
a alacris. Conf. ' Evils prest and
ready to invade us.' Hooker, Sermon
IV (vol. iii. p. 809, Keble'z ed.»
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC. 211
they may be well justified: as when the Romans ruade
a war for the liberty of Graecia: or when the Lacedae-
monians and Athenians ruade wars to set up or pull down
democracies and oligarchies : or when wars were ruade by
foreigners, under the pretence of justice or protection, to
deliver the subjects of others from tyranny and oppression ;
and the like. Let it suffice, that no estate expect to be
great that is not awake upon any just occasion of arming.
No body can be healthful without exercise, neither na-
tural body nor politic ; and certainly to a kingdom or estate ,o
a just and honourable war is the true exercise. A civil
war indeed is like the heat of a fever; but a foreign war is
like the heat of exercise, and ser-eth to keep the body in
health ; for in a slothful peace both courages will effeminate
and manners corrupt: but howsoever it be for happiness,
without ail question for greatness it maketh to be still for
the most part in arms; and the strength of a veteran
army Ithough it be a chargeable businessL always on foot,
is that which commonly giveth the law, or at least the
reputation amongst ail neighbour states, as may well be ,o
seen in Spain, which hath had, in one part or other, a
veteran army almost continually now by the space of six-
score years.
To be toaster of the sea is an abridgment" of a monarchy.
Cicero, writing to Atticus of Pompe)- his preparation against
Caesar, saith, Consilimn Pompcii phme T]lcmistodctltn est;
ptttat eil[m qui mari tSotitttr cttm rcrum poliri; and without
doubt Pompey had tired out Caesar if upon vain confidence
he had hot left that way. We see the great effects of
battles by sea : the battle of Actium decided the empire of :,o
the wovld; the battle of Lepanto arrested the greatness
t still for thi most part] Lat. quasi
semper. Conf. "The best hath still
prevailed and suppressed the rest.'
XVorks, iii. 9. The corrcsponding pas-
sage in the De Augm. Scient. gives
' stmpr obtinuisse.' Works, i. 460.
an abridgment &c.] Lat. monar-
chiae quaedam epilome es/.
2a2 ESSAY XXIX.
of the Turk. There be many examples where sea-fights
have been final to the var: but this is when princes or
states have set up their restb upon the battles. But thus
much is certain ; that he that commands the sea is at great
liberty, and may take as much and as little of the war as
he will ; whereas those that be strongest by land are many
times nevertheless in great straits. Surely at this day
xvith us of Europe the vantage of strength at sea {which
is one of the principal dowries of this kingdom of Great
Britain) is great; both because most of the kingdoms of
Europe are hOt merely « inland, but girt with the sea most
part of their compass; and because the wealth of both
Indies seems in great part but an accessary to the com-
mand of the seas.
The wars of latter ages seem to be made in the dark, in
respect of the glory and honour which reflected upon men
from the wars in ancient time. There be nov, for martial
encouragement, some degrees and orders ofchivalry, which
nevertheless are conferred promiscuously upon soldiers
and no soldiers; and some remembrance perhaps upon
the scutcheon, and some hospitals for maimed soldiers,
and such like things; but in ancient times, the trophies
erected upon the place of the victory; the funeral lauda-
tives and monuments for those that died in the wars;
the crowns and garlands personal ; the style of emperora
which the great kings of the world after borrowed; the
triumphs of the generals upon their return; the great
donatives and largesses upon the disbanding of the armies,
b bave set up thdr test] i.e. have
staked everything. Lat. «m aleae
hujusmodi pradiorum tottus belli fortuna
commissa est. Iïde Notes and Illustra-
tions at end of Essay.
e hot merdy] i.e. hot entirely. Lat.
nediterranea Mmpliittr non sunt.
o empcror] i.e. imperator, hot only
the ordinary naine of a commander-in-
chier, but sometimes employed as a
special title of honour for distinguished
military service. Conf. ' Sed hoc
primum faciam, ut lmperatores appel-
lem eos, quorum virtute, consilio, feli-
citate, maximis periulis ser¢itutis
atque interitus liberati sumus.' Cicero,
Philipp. xiv. 4. sec. i i and tas-
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC. 212]
were things able to inflame ail men's courages; but above
ail, that of the triumph amongst the Romans was not
pageants or gaudery e, but one of the wisest and noblest
Institutions that ever was; for it contained three things;
honour to the general, riches to the treasury out of the
spoils, and donatives to the army: but that honour per-
haps were not fit for monarchies, except it be in the
person of the monarch himself or his sons; as it came
to pass in the times of the Roman emperors, who did
impropriate the actual triumphs to themselves and their
sons for such wars as they did achieve in person, and left
only for wars achieved by subjects some triumphal gar-
ments and ensigns to the general.
To conclude: no man can by b.y tare takhg (as the
Scripture saith, add a cubit to his stahtre in this little
model r of a man's body; but in the great frame of king-
doms and commonwealths it is in the power of princes or
estates to add amplitude and greatness to their kingdoms ;
for by introducing such ordinance», constitutions, and
customs, as we have now touched, they may sow great-
ness to their posterity and succession: but these things
are commonly not observed, but left to take their chance.
.I': O T.E S .4 .A'.D I"Z L US TR .4 T[ O A "S.
This Essay, in its final form, was first published as part of the
De Augmentis 5cientiarum. Its subject is there given as one of
the ' tria officia politica, primo ut imperium conservetur : secundo ut
beatum efficiatur et florens: tertio ut amplificetur finesque ejus
Iongius proferantur: de duobus primis officiis maximî ex parte
cgregie a nonnullis tractatum est: de tertio siletur. Illud itaque
inter desiderata reponemus et more nostro Exemplum ejus pro-
gaudery] i.e. things showy and
worthless. Lat. slectaculum quoddam
tane. Conf. ' An idle gaud
Which in my childhood I did dote upon.'
blidsummer Night's Dream, iv. t.
t model] i.e. plan. The xvords
mean therefore--in a man's body, this
thing on a small plan.
4 1ïSSAY XXIX.
ponemus ; eam doctrinae partem Consulem lah,dahmt sine doctrinam
de lroferendis imleriifinibus nominantes.' \Vorks, i. "/9 2.
This latter is kept as the title of the Essay in the Latin version.
The English title is misleading. The promise which it implies is
not observed. The 'true greatness' of which Bacon writes is great-
ness in extent of territory, acquired or held by arms, and the
counseis which he gives are subsidiary to this. Military strength
is thus put forward as the grand object at which a statesman ought
to aim. This strength he must seek or invent occasions to employ.
So only can he hope that his country will attain the true greatness
which cornes of an extended territory. The thing is to be done upon
a plan. There is danger in over-extension with no corresponding
strength to maintain it. But this danger may le averted if the
general policy of the country is shaped properly. Extension of
territory demands care and forethought. For those who aspire to
it. Rome is the most fit model. There must not only be readiness
to pick quarrels, but there must be strength and numbers competent
to maintain them and go through with them and to hold the spoii
when it bas been won. The state which proceeds thus will gain
the desired end, and the glory and greatness which it brings.
This laudation of war and of warlike arts seems out of place in
the mouth of one who claims to be the special advocate of science
and of industrial progress. It is out of agreement with what Bacon
bas written elsewhere in praise of pcace, most notably in his ietter
of advice to Sir George ViIIiers : ' For matter of war, either by iand
or sea, your gracious Mastcr [is] so settled in his judgment for
peace, as he bath chosen for his motto that part of our Saviour's
beatitudes, Beati pacifici. It is a happiness to this nation to be in
this blessed condition.' Letters and Lire, ri. 2o. Compare this vith
the Essay, lassim.
' Above all for empire and greatness, it importeth most that a
nation do profess arms as their principal honour, study and occu-
pation : fir the things of which we formerly have spoken of are but
habilitations towards arms, and what is habilitation without intention
and act ? No body can be healthful without exercise.., and certainly
to a kingdom or estate, a just and honourable war is the true
exercise,' &c. It cannot be said that Bacon in his Essay is speaking
in praise of readiness for defensive war, the necessity of xvhich he
admits and urges in his ietter to Sir George Viiliers. The Essay
strikes another note. The State, as Bacon xvouid have it, is 'to have
those iaws or customs which may reach forth unto them just
occasions (as ma 3" be pretended) of war.' Lat.justas causas aut sallem
racI:rIus, arma catesscndi. These are recommended as essentiai to
the main design by which the nation's policy is to be mouided--the
acquisition of territory, or, as Bacon here terres it, 'true greatness.'
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, E'rc. .
An explanation may perhaps be round in the history of the Essay.
The germ of the Essay is round in a paper on ' the true greatness
ofthe kingdom of Britain,' written in 6o8, but hOt published. The
design of the paper is to recommend for Britain the policy of
territorial acquisitiveness which the Essay recommends in more
general terres, and to prove that Britain is fitted in every way for
adopting it with success. Bacon, at this date, had just begun to
mount, after a long series of disappointments. In I6O 7 he had been
ruade Solicitor-General, and he was looking out eagerly for further
advancement. Some passages in his private memoranda show the
schcmes by which he was hoping to rise. Salisbury was the peace-
minister of a peace-loving toaster. If James could be tempted away
from his love of peace, he might need a new agent to carry out a
new policy. This therefore Bacon was planning to bring about.--
Persuade the king in glory, *Aurea condet saecula.' 'Succeed
Salisbury and amuse the King and Prince with pastime and glory.'
' Finishing my treatie of the greatness of Britain with aspect ad
politiam.' 'The fairest . . . is the general persuading to King and
people, and course of infusing everywhere the foundation in this isle
of a monarchy in the west, as an apt scat state people for it: so
civilizing Ireland, further colonizing the wild of Scotland. Annexing
the Low Countries.' Letters and Life, iv. 73 and 74- The memo-
randa and th.e paper thus explain one another. Their author was
looking out for advancement, and he chose his means accordingly.
XVe need not suppose that he had any love for war, or that he
thought that the aire after territorial greatness would bring any
benefit to his country. If it served himself, it was enough, and he
put together his first paper with aspect ad politiam, to be used as
the occasion might offer. The occasion was to corne but hOt yet,
and the paper renmined unpublished and unused. In the second
edition of the Essays, published in 1612, there appears a short Esay
'on the greatness of kingdoms,' in which an honourable foreign war
is spoken of as 'one of several means of exercise by which a state
may keep healthe,' and is prcferred to 'a slothful peace.' In the
corresponding sentence in the edition of I625, there is nothing said
about the other'means of exercise, and war is declared tobe ' the true
exercise without which no Body politic can be healthful.' XVill it be
doing Bacon an injustice to assume that in his Essay, as in his paper
addressed to the Prince in favottr of a war with Spain (Letters and
Life, vii. 46o, he was suiting his statements to the rime, and that
finding Charles and Buckingham the ruling influences in the State
and eagerly pressing forward the war with Spain, he threw the
weight of his authority into the heavier scale, and became the open
panegyrist of war, just as at an earlier date and for like reasons he
had been eloquent in the praise of peace ?
o46 ESSAY XXIX.
P. 20'2, 1.2. haugh O, and arroga»tt] As Plutarch tells the story in his
life of Themistocles it was a defensive arrogance. Conf. 'Being
mocked afterwards by some that had studied humanity and other
liberall sciences, he was driven for revenge and his owne defence
to answer with great and stout words, saying that indeed he could
no skill to tune a harp nor a violl, nor to play ofa psalterion : but if
they did put a city into his hands that was ofsmall naine weake and
litle, he knew wayes inough to make it noble, strong, and great.'
Plutarch, Lires, p. HT, North's Trans.
In the Life of Cimon a different version is given of it. 'Ion
writeth that he being but a young boy, newly come from Chio unto
Athens, supped one night with Cimon at Laomedon's house, and
that after supper when they had given the gods thankes, Cimon was
intreated by the company to sing. And he did sing with so good
a grace, that every man praised him that heard him, and sayd he
was more curteous then Themistocles farre: who being in like
company, and requested also to play upon the citherne, answered
them, he was never taught to sing nor play upon the citherne,
howbeit he could make a poor village to become a rich and mightie
citie.' p. 498.
1.21. There are also &c.] Bacon ranks this lowest among the ' degrees
of honour in subjects ;' vid. Essay 55. It is the kind of ability with
which he credits his cousin, the Earl of Salisbury, when he is writing
about him after his death: 'If I should praise him in propriety I
should say that he was a fit man to keep things from growing worse,
but no very fit man to reduce things to be much better.' Letters and
Life, iv. 279 , and note on page 278. Of the living Earl he speaks in
very different terres ; iv. 12.
1. 22. negotiis pares, able Io ma»cage affairs] That is, a match for
business as it presents itself, although not able to strike out an
original plan of their own. ' Par negotiis neque supra erat' is the
depreciatory praise which Tacitus gives to an administrator of the
type which Bacon is describing. Ann. ri. 39.
P. 203, 1. ç6. as I ïrgil saitAt]
' Hic tantum Boreae curamus frigora quantum
Aut numerum lupus, aut torrentia flumina ripas.'
Ecl. vii. 5 I, 52.
Forbiger, following Heyne, explains this that the wolfwill pay no
regard to the fact that the sheep have been counted over by the
shepherd, so that ail that he takes will be missed. Conington in-
terprets the line as Bacon does.
1. 28. The ar» of the Persia»ts &c.] ' The auncient captaines ofthe
lIacedonians, specially Parmenio, seeing all the valley betwixt the
river of Niphates and the mountaines of the Gordieians ail on a
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC. 217
bright light with the rires of the barbarous people, and hearing a
dreadfull noise as of a confused multitude of people that rilled their
campe with the sound thereof; they were amazed, and consulted
that in one day it was in maner impossible to fight a battell with
such an incredible multitude of people. "l-hereupon they went unto
Alexander after he had ended his ceremonies, and did counsell him
to give battell by night, because the darknesse thereof should helpe
to keepe ail feare from his men, which the sight of their enemies
would bring them into. But then he gave them this notable answer:
I will hot steale victorie, quoth he.' Plutarch, Lires, p. 689.
P. 204, 1. L ll'hen Tigranes &c.] ' The Romaines seemed but a hand-
full to Tigranes campe, so that for awhile Tigranes parasites ruade but
a May-game of them to sport withall . . . "l-igranes then because he
vould shev that he could be as pleasant as thë rest, spake a thing
knowne to every man : If they corne as Ambassadors (quoth he they
are very many: but if they corne as enemies they be but few.'
Plutarch, Lives, 525.
1. 2. the sinews of war] 'Nervos belli, pecuniam infinitam.' Cic.
Philipp. v. 2. 'Sed nihil aeque fatigabat quam pecuniarum conqui-
sitio: eos esse belli civilis nervos dictitans Mucianus.' Tac. Hist. ii.
84. Conf. also, ' He that first said that money vas the sinew of ail
things, spake it chiefly» in my opinion, in respect of the wars.'
Plutarch, Lives, p. 818. lrO'lzll'ut rà v«pa r&v rpalalrwv is cited
by Aeschines as a phrase used by Demosthenes in Ctesiph. p. 77,
1. 2.8. T6v ko£rov v.p« rra,drv is given by Diogenes Laertius
among the sayings of Bion ; Bk. iv. sec. 4 8. ' Quum sese sociorum
. . sanguine implerint, incidant nervos Populi Romani, adhibeant
manus vectigalibus vestris, irrumpant in aerarium.' Cic. De Lege
Agraria, bk. il. cap. i8. ' Vectigalia nervos esse Reipublicae semper
duximus.' Pro Lege Manilia, cap. 7. 'Emptio frumenti ipsos
Reipublicae nervos exhauriebat aerarium.' Florus, Epitome, iii.
13. 9- ' Especially remember that money is nervus belli' is also King
James' remark. Basil. Doron, bk. ii.
On the other side, conf. ' Nor is there anything more false than
that common opinion that affirms Moneys to be the sinews of warre
.. which sentence is alledgd every day, and followed, too, by some
Princes not quite so wise as they should be . . . Among other things
that Croesus King of Lydia shewd to Solon the Athenian was a
Treasure unmeasurable; and as-king him what he thought of his
power, Solon answered him, he thought him no whit the more
poverful for that, for warre was ruade with iron and hOt with gold,
and some one might corne who had more iron than he and take his
gold from him... VVherefore I sa 3" that gold, as the common opinion
cryes it up, is not the sinews of warre, but a good armie of stout
souldiers : for gold is hOt sufficient to finde good souldiers, but good
z8 ESSAY XXIX.
souldiers are able well to find out gold.' Machiavelli, Discourses on
Livy, ii.
The Emperor Charles V took a middle view, but he cornes finally
to much the saine conclusion as Machiavelli: ' Nervos belli esse
pecuniam, commcatus, milites; verum si ex iis aliquo carendam
esset, militera veteranum se electurum esse, cujus industria et for-
titudine reliqua duo se ex hoste comparaturum consideret.' De
Carolo V impcratore, oratio Davidis Chythraei.
!. 4. Solon saM well &c.] This and much else of this part of
the Essay appears also in Bacon's speech for general naturalization.
Lctters and Life, iii. 323.
The story of Solon and Croesus is from Lucian :--
KPOIX. O rv ri . , ,
XOA. "A F », r Kr, p ( Xoo«; ,r,) ;¢;n Avaoi, Xpv«â gaxapa
KPOI. E«, «up«. Charo, s/ve Contemplantes.
L 22. fil£r¢£1lalyfoi'ces] Conf. Machiavelli, Il Principe, cap. xii:
' Le mercenarie ed auxiliarj sono inutile e pericolose, e se uno tiene
!o stato suo fondato in su le armi mercenarie, non starà mai fermo nè
sicuro, perchè le sono disunite ambiziose, e senza disciplina, infedeli
OEc .... La cagione di questo è, che le non hanno altro amore nè
altra caone che le tenga in campo, che un poco di stipendio, il quale
non è suciente a rare che e' vogliano morire per te... La quai cosa
dovrei durar poca fafica a persuadere, perchè la rovina d' halia non
ora causata da altra cosa che per essere in spazio di molti anni
fiposatasi in su]le armi mercenarie . . . Onde è che a Carlo re di
Francia fu lecito pigliare Italia col gesso,' &c.
IIe further instances the Carthaginians, the Milanese, the Neapo-
litans and others from ancient and from modern rimes. 'Admo-
nendi quoque sunt principes ut potius proprio milite quam externo
qui non tare pro gloria quam sfipendio militant) in bello utantur,'
OEc. Reasons and illustrations are added. Ayala, De jure et ociis
bell[cis, iii. 4- -
l. 30. .I'tS, lt['itd ' ¢Oiioeil &C.] SO tlowel, wrifing from Amster-
data in 69, says, "Tre cheap living here, were it not for the
monstrous Accises which are impos'd upon ail sorts of Commodifies
both for Belly and Back: for the Retailer payes the States almost
the one Moity as much as he pyed for the Commodity at first, nor
doth any murmur at it, because it goes hot to any Favorit, or pnvate
Purse, but to prese-e them from the Spaniard, their common enemy
as they terre him ; so that the saying is truly verified here,
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC. 29
»te, and slend m. \Vith this accise principally, they maintain ail
their Armies by Sea and Land, with their Garrisons at home and
abroad, both here and in the Indies, and defray all other public
charges besides.' Familiar Letters, vol. i. letter 7- P- m (ed. t678.
Conf. also Essay 4 : ' The United Provinces of the Low Countries
in their government excel ; for xvbere there is an equality che
consuitations are more indifferent and the payments and tributes
more cheerfuI.'
Sir Thomas Overbury, in his Observations on che xvii Provinces,
speaks of their public revenue, in t6o 9, as derivcd from, inter alia,
'Taxes upon all things at home, and Impositions upon all mer-
chandizes from abroad.' The people he describes as 'Just, surly,
and respectlesse, as in all democracies.' l'ide ed. 626, smali 4to.,
PP- 5 and 8.
P. 20.5, I. 9. Ld Mates thataim &c.] Conf. ' It hath been held by the
general opinion of men of best judgment in the wars . . .that the
principal strength ofan army consisteth in the infantry or foot. And
to make good intantry it requireth men bred hot in a servile or
indigent fashion, but in some free and plentiful manner. Therefore
if a state run most to noblemen and gentlemen, and that che husband-
men and ploughmen be but as their workfolks or iabourers, or els
lnere cottagers (xvhich are but housed beggarsl you may have a good
ca,alry but never good stable bands of foot ; like to coppice voods,
that if you leave in them staddles too thick, they will run to bushes
and briars, and have little clean undervood. .\nd this is to be seen
in France and Italy (and some other parts abroad, where in effect
all is noblesse or peasantry (I speak of people out oftownsl, and no
middle people : and therefore no good forces of foot,' &c. XVorks, ri.
94, 95-
l. 9. zt,hich is lice nerve of act arn0'] Conf. ' The ground-worke
and the very nerves of the armie, and whereof most account is to bc
ruade, is the Infantery. And among thc Italian princes faults, which
have enthrall'd Italy to strangers, there is none greater than this that
they ruade no account of this order and turnd ail their regard of
horsemen... XVhich custome, together with many other disorders
intermixt with it, hatb much weakened the Italian Souldiery, so that
this country hath easily been troden under foot by ail strangers.'
Machiavelli, Discourses, il. 8.
12. 2o6, 1.3- z,,hi('h thepeasmtts ofFrmtce do hot] Conf. ' Le fanterie che
si fanno in Francia non possono essere moito buone, perchè gli ê
gran tempo chc non hanno avuto guerra, e per questo non hanno
sperienza alcuna. E dipoi sono per le terre tutti ignobili e genti di
mestiero, e stanno tanto sotto-posti à nobili, e tanto sono in ogni
azione depressi, che sono viii, e per6 si vede che il re neile guerre
non si serve di ioro, perchè tanno cattiva prova, benchê ri siano i
220 ESSAY xxIx.
Guasconi, de' quali il re si serve, che sono un poco migliori che gli
altri . . . Ma hanno fatto, per quello che si è visto da molti anni in
qua, più prova di ladri che di valenti uomini.' Machiavelli, Ritratti
delle cose di Francia. Works, vol. iv. p. 135 (ed. 1813).
And, 'The meere peasants that labour the ground, they are only
spunges to the King, the Church, and the nobility, having nothing of
their own, but to the use of them, and are scarce allowed (as Beasts)
enough to keep them able to do service.' Overbury, Obs. on the
xvii provinces, of the Archduke's county and of France, p. 16
(ed. I626).
'The weaknesse of it (i. e. of France) are first the want of a
sufficient Infantry, which proceeds from the iii distribution of their
wealth; for the æeysant, which containes the greatest part of the
people, having no share allowed him is heartlesse and feeble and
consequently unserviceable for all military uses.' p. 19.
1. 3. ]»era)t the device &c.] Conf. Essay i5, p. lO8, on the legislation
about farms and pasturages.
1. ii. lïrgil's character] Aen. I. 531.
1.14. Neither is that slate &c.] The feudal custom which Bacon
here praises as conducing to martial greatness was hOt found to
conduce to peace at home, and it was discouraged accordingly and
attempts xvere ruade to put a check upon it by legal enactments.
Conf. in/er alia, I Henry IV, cap. 7, by xvhich, 'to eschexv maintenance
and to nourish love, peace, and quietness in ail parts, the giving or
wearing of liveries (the recognized dress of dependents and retainers)
is forbidden.' By 7 Henry IV, cap. 14, ' liveries are forbidden to ail
but menials and officers of the household.' By 8 Henry VI, cap. 4,
none are to buy or wear livery to have maintenance in any quarrel.
In 8 Edward IV, cap. 2, daily offences are said to have been com-
mitted against former laws; the laws are therefore renewed and
provision is ruade for due execution of them. These and other
earlier and later statutes to the saine effect are recited and repealed
by 3 Charles I, cap. 4 (5 I- They were in force therefore in Bacon's
time. In Mary's reign 39 licences were granted for wearing
liveries: in Elizabeth's reign 15, in James the First's a larger
number. Vhat viexv Henry VII took of 'great retinues' we learn
from a story in Bacon's lire of him :--
' There remaineth to this day a report, that the King was on a rime
entertained by the Earl of Oxford (that xvas his principal servant
both for war and peace nobly and sumptuously, at his castle at
l tenningham. And at the King's going axvay, the Earl's sera'ants
stood in a seemly manner in their livery coats with cognizances
ranged on both sides, and ruade the King a lane. The King called
the Earl to him, and said, "My lord, I have heard much of your
hospitality, but I see it is greater than the speech. These handsome
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC.
gentlemen and yeomen which I see on both sides of me are (surel
your menial servants." The Earl smiled and said, "It may please
your Grace, that were hOt for mine ease. They are most of them
my retainers, that are comen to do me service at such a time as this,
and chiefly to see your Grace." The King started a little, and said,
" By my faith, Imy lord) I thank you for my good cheer, but I may
hOt endure to bave my laws broken in my sight. My attorney must
speak with you." And it is part of the report, that the Earl com-
pounded for no less than fifteen thousand marks.' Works, ri. 22o.
Mr. Spedding adds, in a note, that a heavier fine for a similar
offence was exacted from Lord Abergavenny some years afterwards.
In a memorandum of sums received by Edmund Dudley for fines to
be paid to the King, the following item appears : ' Item : delivered
three exemplifications under the seal of the L. of King's Bench of
the confession and condemnation of the Lord Burgavenny for such
retainers as he was indicted of in Kent : which amounteth unto for
his part only after the rate of the months 69,9ool.'
Sir Thomas More speaks of'that state,' but hOt as approvingly as
Bacon does. Conf. 'There is a great numbre of gentlemen, which
cannot be content to lire idle themselves . . . but also carrye about
with them at their tailes a great flocke or traine of idle and loyteo'nge
servyngmen, which never learned any craft wherby to gette their
livynges.' Trans. of More's Utopia, Arber's Reprint, p. 38.
P. 207, I. 2. Nebuchadne, zar's tree] Daniel iv. io et seqq.
l. 2. Be greal enough to bear &c.] This simile is from Machiavelli,
who applies it, as Bacon does, to Sparta, as contrasted vith Rome :--
'Those that intend a city should farre inlarge the bounds of ber
dominions, ought vithall indeavour provide that she be vell fraught
with inhabitants: for without a great multitude of men in her she
xvill never be able to grow great. And this is done tvo wayes,
either by love or by force; by love, holding the wayes open and
secure to strangers that might have a deseigne to come and dwell in
it, to the end that everyone might come willingly to inhabit it. By
force, ruining and defaceing the neighbour cities and sending out the
inhabitants thereof to dvell in thine: ail which was punctually
observed in Rome . . . And that this course xvas necessary and
good for the founding and inlarging of an Empire, the example of
Sparta and Athens shewes us plaine... \Vhich proceeded hot
from that the scituation of Rome was more bountifull than theirs, but
onely from the different course they tooke : for Licurgus, founder of
the Spartan Republique, considering that nothing could sooner take
away the power ofhis lawes than a commixture of new inhabitants,
did what he could to hinder strangers from living with them... And
because ail out actions infitate nature, it is neither possible nor
naturall that the slender body of a tree should beare a grosse bov ;
2z2 ESSAY XXIX.
therefore a small Republique eannot hold eities nor kingdoms of
greater power and strength than she herselfe is ; and if perchance it
comes to passe that she layes hold on them, it befalls her as it does
that tree the bowes whereof are greater than the body, that sustaining
it with much adoe, with every small blast it is broken, as we sec it
happened to Sparta... Which could never befall Rome, having her
body and stocke so huge that it was of force with case to support any
bow whatsoever.' Discourses on Livy, il. cap. 3-
l. 4. Arcver al O, Mate ,,as &c.] 'The authority of Nicholas
Machiavel seemeth not tobe contemned ; who enquiring the causes
of the groxvth of the Roman empire, doth give judgment there was
hot one greater than this, that the state did so easily compound and
incorporate xvith strangers.' Letters and Life, iii. 96.
1. 7. Their manner zoas &c.] It is hardly correct to term this
the ' manner' of the Romans. It was a concession which they were
forced to make under the strain of the Social war, B.c. 9 o. Before
this time the 'jus civitatis' did hot, in the great majority of cases,
carry with it more than ilnperfect rights of citizenship. Its pos-
sessors had not the franchise, the 'jus suffragii' and the 'jus
honorum,' nor was it any part of the design of Rome in the settle-
nient of Italy to nake a wholesale grant of the fuller privileges which
she was unable finally to withhold.
P. 208, l. 2. sofcw natural S2baniards] Conf. ' Spain is a nation thin
sown of people; partly by reason of the sterility of the soli, and
partly bccause their natives are exhausted by so many employments
in such vast territories as they possess. So that it hath been
accounted a kind of miracle to sec ten or twelve thousand native
Spaniards in an army... They tell a talc of a Spanish ambassador
that was brought to sec the treasury of S. Mark at Venice, and still
he looked down to the ground ; and being asked why he so looked
down, said he a,as looking 1o see zvhether their treasure had aioE rool (so
lhag if il a,ere sp«nt it woMd grow again) as his master's /lad. But how-
soever il be of their treasure, certainly their forces have scarce any
root; or at least such a root as buddeth forth poorly and slowly.'
I.etters and Life, vil 499-
1.9. th«ir highÆst commands] E.g. Several of their commanders
came from a Roman family--the Colonna. Alexander Farnese,
Prince of Parma, was put in chief command in the Netherlands on
tleir revoit against Philip II. Spinola, a Genoese by birth, was also
commander-in-chief of their armies at a later period of the revoit.
There are numerous other instances.
1. lO. '2bragmaticai sanction; now published] Lat. hoc anno promul-
gata, i. e. in 1622, the date at which the Essay was published in its
original form as part of the De Augmentis Scientiarum. The
pragmatic sanction here referred to was published by Philip IV soon
TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC. 223
after his accession. It gave certain privileges to persons who
married and further immunities to those who had six cbildren. In
this, and in other points, it secms to have been a first attempt to give
effect tothe recommendations ruade in 1619 by the council of Castile,
whose report on the state of the country and the reasons and
remedies is known as tbe Gran Consulla de i6I 9. The report speaks
very strongly of che distress and depopulation of che Castilian
provinces, and assigns as its main causes the excessive and oppres-
sive taxation, che increase of luxury and che non-residence of che
ricll on their estates. That something xvas thought due to che
increase in che number of religious houses may also be assumed from
the recommendation tothe ldng tobe cautious in granting them new
licences. The substance of this note is taken from Mr. Spedding's
note on che corresponding passage in che De Aug. Scient. Vorks, i.
798.
P. 2(9, 1.4. Romuh«s] This was che message, as Livy teIls it, con-
veyed tothe Romans by Proculus Julius, to whom Romulus appeared
after his death : 'Abi, nuntia, inquit, Romanis caelestes ira velle ut
mea Roma caput orbis terrarum sit : proinde rem militarem colant ;
sciantque et ira posteris tradant nullas opes humanas armis Romanis
resistere posse.' Bk. i. cap. 16.
I. I t. lice Tccrks have il al lhis day &c.] Busbequius, in his ' De re
militari contra Turcam instituendî consilium,' contrasts the unity
and discipline and severe manners of the Turks with the laxity and
disunion of the Christian powers, and he dreads accordingly the
conflict which he foresees between the two. In the previous century
Camerarius, 'De rebusTurcicisCommentarii,'writes in the saine sense.
P. 211,1. i. as whoc lice Romacts &c.] In the second Macedonian war,
one chief ground of quarrel between the Romans and King Philip of
Macedon was the refusal of the King to withdraw his garrisons and
to leave Greece free. Vhen the war ended with the victory of the
Romans, the result was proclaimed by a herald at the Isthmian
Games, B.C. T96, in the following words: '"Senatus Romanus et
T. Quintius Imperator, Philippo Rege Macedonibusque devictis,
liberos, immunes, suis legibus esse jubet Corinthios, Phocenses,
Locrensesque omnes, et insulam Euboeam, et Magnetas, Thessalos,
Perrhaebos, Achaeos Phthiotas." Percensuerat omnes gentes quae
sub ditione Philippi regis fuerant.' Livy, bk. xxxiii, chap. 32.
The benefit xvas received with a mixed surprise and gratitude,
Cesse aliquam in terris gentem quae sua impensa, suo labore et
periculo beIla gerat pro iibertate aliorum,' &c., chap. 33- But the
demand of the Romans upon Philip must be reckoned among the
praetextus arma capessendi' rather than among the 'justae aut
verae causae.'
1. 2. when lice Lac«daemcnians &c.] The Peloponncsian war,
=24 ESSAY XXIX.
in which the two contending parties supported and received support
from the oligarchical and democratical factions respectively, affords
frequent examples of this. Of t*v A«««t*6v«oL ox ,rror«Xd xovr«
dof of «,Xtr«6«oEt 0«ffopt«f. Thucyd. bk. i. cap. I9. During
the course of the war, the establishment of an oligarchy or a
democracy was the sign and attendant of a revoit to the Lacedae-
monian or Athenian side, and was aided and resisted accordingly.
' To set up or pull down democracies and oligarchies' became thus
an essential part of the conduct of the war and must hot be judged
as an uncalled-for piece of interference with the affairs of a
neighbouring state.
1. ii. ,ar is lire truc exercise] This laudation of war goes far
beyond the language of i612 : ' &n honourable forraine war is ]ike
the heate of exercise. At least, discoveries, navigmions, honourable
succours ofother States may keepe health.' In 1625 we find terms
of praise added, and the alternatives omitted.
1. i2. like lhe heat of a lever] This simile appears elsewhere in
Bacon. Con£ ' Then followeth ... an offer of an usuation, though
it was but asfebris ephemera: Works, iii. 336.
'The King of Scotland labouring of the saine disease that King
Henry did (though more mortal as aftevards appeared) that is,
discontented subjects apt to rise and raise tumult;' Vorks, . ;
' and when the King was advertised of this new insurrection, being
almost a fever that took him eve year ;' p. .
It had been used by Montaigne, in a hke contrast between foreign
and civil war: 'Il y en a plusieurs en ce temps qui discourent de
pareille façon, souhaitants que cette esmotion chalereuse qui est
parmi nous se peust deriver à quelque erre voisine, de peur que
ces humeurs peccantes qui dominent pour cette heure nostre cors,
si on ne les escoule ailleurs, maintiennent nostre fiebvre tousjours en
force, et apportent enfin nostre entiere ruine.' Essays, bk. ii.
chap. 23.
!. 14. a slolhd pcace] So Bacon, writing in I592, sa3, ' Itis a
better condition of an inward peace to be accompanied àth gome
exercise of no dangerous war in foreign pas, than tobe uttedy
without apprentisage of war, whereby people grow effeminate and
unpractised when occasion shall be.' Letters and Life, i. 174.
l. 25. Cicero, ,riling 1o lticus] ' Pompeium ... cujus omne
consilium Themistocleum est ; existimat enim, qui mare teneat, eum
necesse (esse) rerum potiri.' Ad Atticum, x. 8.
P. 212,1.3- bave set up l/te#reM] This phrase is explained by Nares
(Glossa) as 'a metaphor from primero: meaning to stand upon the
cards you bave in your hand. Hence, to make up your mind; to be
determined.'
TRUE GREATXESS OF KINGDOMS, ETC. 225
This is hOt accurate. The stake at primero and the rest were
hot the saine. The stake appears to have been the sure played
for in any case: the test was a further sure ventured by a player
who held cards strong enough to warrant him in forcing the gaine.
Conf. «What is the sure that we play for? Two shillings stake and
eight shillings test.' Singer, Hist. of Playing Cards, Chap. on
Primero. Cavendish (Card Essays, pp. 57 et seqq.} gives an account
of the ' principal features of primero, as far as they can be ruade out
from old descriptions which are very obscure.' There are numerous
illustrative stories and quotations in both the above writers.
For the metaphor in the text, conf. Letters and Life, vii. p. 488:
' They durst hOt put it to a battle at sea, but set up their test wholly
upon the land enterprise.'
Also, North's Plutarch's Lives, p. 945: 'Then Antonius, seeing
there was no way more honourable for him te die than fighting
valiantly ; he determined to set up his test both by sea and land.'
For the derived use of the phrase = to make up your mind, to be
determined, conf. Letters and Life, i. 345 : ' I do write this, hot to
solicit your Lordship to stand firm in assisting me,.., but to acquaint
your Lordship with my resolution to set up my test and employ my
uttermost strength to get him placed before the terre.'
The phrase is of frequent occurrence in both the above senses.
1. 9. principal dowries] Conf. Advice to Villiers, where Bacon
states in detail the various advantages which England has over other
nations in building and manning ships. Letters and Life, vi. 44, 45-
And, ' Your majesty's dominion and empire comprehendeth ail the
islands of the north-west ocean, where it is open, until you corne to
the imbarred or frozen sea toxvards Iceland: in ail which tract it
hath no intermixture or interposition ofany foreign land, but only of
the sea, whereof you are also absolutely toaster.' Of the truc
greatness of Britain, Works, vii. 54.
The early part of Hakluyt abounds with facts or legends on the
English mastery over the sea, from the rime of King Edgar down-
wards.
Conf. also, 'The politie of keeping the Sea' (date early in sth
century). Hakluyt, i. 2o 7 : ' For foure things out Noble sheweth to
me ; King, Ship, and Swerde, and poxver of the see.' A note at the
margin adds, ' Quatuor considerantur in monetî aureî Anglicî quae
dicitur Nobile : scilicet Rex, Navis, gladius et Mare. Quae designant
potestatem Anglicorum super mare.'
Selden's Mare Clausum, bk. il, asserts, with proofs, this sovereignty
of England over the sea from the earliest times. He claires the
dominion of the sea as an ancient and inseparable appendage to the
ownership of the land of Britain. He begins by fixing the limits of
this dominion. Over the narrow seas the dominion is complete. It
26 ESSAY XXIX.
extends to the East and South as far as the shores of the opposite
European countries. To the Iqorth and West it is complete for
some uncertain distance, and extends beyond this in a somewhat
modified form. He does not daim the whole Atlantic to the West
Indies, and the whole stretch of sea to the North as comprised
within English dominion, but he goes far in both directions, and
claires special rights over the whole. He cites numerous instances
in which this sovereignty was either held or asserted or admitted,
e.g. in cap. xxiii, Edward III xvrites to Geoffry de Say, Commander
of the Southern and Western Sea, ' Nos advertentes quod progeni-
tores nostri, Reges Angliae, domini Matis Anglicani circumquaque,
et etiam defensores contra hostium invasiones exstiterint ; et pluri-
mum nos taederet si honor noster regius in defensione hujusmodi
nostris {quod absit) depereat temporibus, aut in aliquo minuatur,' &c.
He writes also in like terms to John de Norwich, Commander of
the Northern Sea. His Parliament is shown to bave addressed him
by the title of' Matis Rex.'
Henry the Fifth's Parliament uses language to the saine import,
' cum Rex, dominus noster supremus, et illustres ejus progenitores,
perpetuo fuerint Domini Maris.' This is Selden's translation of the
original Norman-French. Prynne, in the course of his 'Anim-
adversions on Coke's Institutes,' covers the saine ground. Conf.
especially cap. xxii, where he enumerates successive acts and
claims of ownership from A. D. 9O5 onwards.
An instance of the daim to dominion over the sea, conclusive if
authentic, is found in the ordinance issued by King John, A. . I.OO,
that every ship meeting his fleet at sea should lower ber sails at the
command of his admiral, on pain of seizure and forfeiture. But
Sir N. H. Nicolas, in his History of the Royal Navy, i. i54-I57, gives
reasons against its authenticity.
But see, er coalra: ' There belongs to this State 2o, ooo vessels of
ail sorts, so that if the Spaniard were entirely beaten out of those
parts, the Kings of France and England would take as much paines
to suppresse as ever they did to raise them : For being our Ènemies,
they are able to give us the law at Sea, and eat us out of ail trade,
much more the French, having at this rime three ships for out one,
though none so good as our best.' Overbury, Obs. on xvii provinces,
10.5.
We xvere too strong for him (the Spaniard) at sea, and had the
Hollanders to help us, who are now strongest of ail.' Raleigh,
Discourse touching a Marriage of Henry, Prince of Wales; Lans-
downe MSS. x3.
l. I2. wealtl of both Indies] Conf. ' Spaine hath the advantage of
both the rest in treasure, but is defective in men ; his dominions are
scattered and the conveyance of his treasure from the Indies lyes
OF REGIMEN OF HEALTH.
obnoxious to the power of any nation that is stronger by sea.'
Overbury, Obs. on the xvii provinces, &c. p. 2i.
And, in Bacon's ' Notes of a Speech concerning a war with Spain :'
'If we truly consider the greatness of Spain, it consisteth chiefly in
their treasure ; and their treasure in the Indies and their Indies
{both of them) is but an accession to such as are masters by sea.'
Letters and Life, vii. 464.
P. 213, I. 14. as lhe Scripture saith] Matth. vi. 27 ; Luke xii. 25.
XXX.
OF REGIMEN OF ttEALTH.
THERE is a wisdom in this a beyond the rules of physic :
a man's own observation what he finds good of and what
he finds hurt of is the best physic to preserve health ; but
it is a safer conclusion to say, This a.greeth »toi wcll with »te,
therefore I n,ili hot contbtnc if; than this, I flnd no offence oJ
this, therrfore I may use il: for strength of nature b in
youth passeth over many excesses which are owing a
man till his age. Discern of the coming on of years, and
think hOt to do the saine things still; for age will not
be defied. Beware of sudden change in any great point
of diet, and, if necessity enforce it, fit the rest to it ; for it
is a secret both in nature and stage c, that it is safer go
in this] Ifwe followthe Latin, ' in
this ' = in this marrer, in this regimen
of health. In regimine val¢tudinis, itt-
vrnire est quandam prudottiam ultra
regulas medicinae, the title of the Essay
being thus ineorporated with the text.
But it is hot uneommon with Baeon to
use a demonstrative pronoun, whose
corresponding noun cornes in a subse-
quent clause. ' In this,' therefore, may
be=' in a man's own observation.'
Conf. 'It is but a light thing tobe
vouched in so serious a matter. There
is a toaster of seotting,' &c. Essay 3.
And, ' It is a trivial grammar-school
text. Question was asked of De-
mosthenes,' &c. Essay t. In both
these cases, the it stands unex-
plained by anything before it, or by
any part of the clause in which it
Occurs.
strenggh of nature &c.] The Latin
pues this more clearly--aenim vigor
juventutis excessus plurimos tegit, qui
tamen in senectute tandem veluti d«bita
exigentur.
© fit ature and stage] Lat. secraum
naturale et politicum.
Q2
az8 ESSAY XXX.
change many things than one. Examine thy customs of
diet, sleep, exercise, apparel, and the like; and try, in
anything thou shalt judge hurtful, to discontinue it by
little and little; but so as if thou dost find any incon-
venience by the change, thou corne back toit again: for
it is hard to distinguish that which is generally held good
and wholesome from that which is good particulady and
fit for thine own body. To be free minded and cheerfully
disposed at hours of meat and of sleep and of exercise is
one of the best precepts of long lasting. As for the
passions and studies of the mind, avoid envy, anxious
fears, anger frettir, g inwards, subtile and knotty inquisitions,
joys and exhilarations in excess, sadness not communi-
cated. Entertain hopes, mirth rather than joy, variety
of delights rather than surfeit of them; wonder and ad-
miration, and therefore novelties; studies that fill the
mind with splendid and illustrious objects; as histories,
fables, and contemplations of nature. If you fly physic
in health altogether it will be too strange for your body
when you shall need it ; if you make it too familiar it will
work no extraordinary effect when sickness cometh. I
commend rather some diet for certain seasons than fre-
quent use of physic, except it be grown into a custom;
for those diets alter the body more and trouble it less.
Despise no new accident a in your body, but ask opinion
of it. In sickness, respect health principally; and in
health, action: for those that put their bodies to endure
in health may, in most sicknesses which are not ve_ry
sharp, be cured only with diet and tendering «. Celsus
d accident] Here used in the wide
sense of anything xvhich happens, any
attendant fact. Conf. ' General laws
are like general rules of physic, accord-
ing whereunto.., no wise man will
desire himselfto he cured, if there be
joined with his disease some special
accident.' Eccles. Pol. v. chap. 9- sec.
. ' One may tell also the hour of his
nativity, when by accidents they know
what hath happened to him ail his life?
Plutarch, Lires, p. 5-
wilh tendering] L e. by treating with
more than ordinar care. Lat. cor-
OF REGIMEN OF HEALTH. a-9
could never have spoken it as a physician, had he not
been a wise man withal, when he giveth it for one of the
great precepts of health and lasting, that a man do vary
and interchange contraries, but with an inclination to
the more benign extreme: use fasting and full eating,
but rather full eating; watching and sleep, but rather
sleep; sitting and exercise, but rather exercise, and the
like: so shall nature be cherished, and yet taught mas-
teries f. Physicians are some of them so pleasing and
conformable to the humour of the patient as they press ,o
hot the true cure of the disease; and some other are
so regular in proceeding according to art for the disease
as they respect not sufficiently the condition of the patient.
Take one of a middle temper ; or, if it may not be found
in one man, combine two of either sort; and forger not
to call as well the best acquainted with your body as the
best reputed of for his faculty g.
VOTES AWD I'I'Lg.rSTRA TIOLç.
P. 227,1.2. a man's ozvn observation &c.] Conf. ' I remember upon
a rime I heard how Tiberius Cesar was wont to say, That a man,
being once above threescore years of age, deserveth to be mocked
and derided if he put forth his hand unto the Physician for to have
his puise felt. For mine own part, I take this speech of his to
be somewhat too proud and insolent ; but methinks this should be
true, That every man ought to know the particulars and properfies of
his own puise . . . also that it beholeth no man to be ignorant in
the seleral complexion of his own body as well in heat as in dryness :
also to be skilful what things be good for him, and what be hurtful
when he useth them : for he that would learn these particu]arities of
any other than himself.., surely hath no sense or feeling of him-
Io r¢gfmine paulo ¢xguish'ore.
Conf.
' In the devotion of a subject's love
Tendering the precious safety of my
prince.'
Richard II. act i. sc. L
r taught »mstcnë8] Lat. robur ac-
quiret. Fr. et toutefois passera maitrfs¢.
Conf. ' Use maketh masteries, saith our
English proverbe, and practice and
art do farre exceed nature.' Edmunds,
Caesar's Comment., First Obs. on bk. i.
cap. 6.
.for tdsfaculty] Lat. in arte sua.
3 o ESSAY XXX.
self, but is as it were deaf and blind ; a stranger he is, dwelling in a
borrowed body and none of his own.' Plutarch, Morals, p. 5x4 .
1. 12. saler 1o change &c.] So Machiavelli advises that 'a new Prince
in a city or Province taken by him, should make innovations in every-
thing.' Discourses on Livy, bk. i. cap. 6.
P. 228, l. Ii. env, &c.] These are referred to at length in the His-
toria Vitae et Mortis. Works, ii. pp. xT, I72.
l. I2. subtile atd knotl_y inquisilions &c.] For this and for the next
sentence, conf. ' In philosophiis autem magna est discrepantia, quoad
longaevitatem, inter sectas. Etenim philosophiae quae nonnihil
habent ex superstitione et contemplationibus sublimioribus, optimae ;
ut Pythagorica, Platonica: etiam quae mundi perambulationem, et
rerum naturalium varietatem complectebantur, et cogitationes habe-
bant discinctas et altas et magnanimas (de infinito, et de astris, et de
virtutibus heroicis et hujusmodi) ad longaevitatem bonae; quales
fuerint Democriti, Philolai, Xenophanis, Astrologorum, et Stoicorum
. . . At contra, philosophiae in subtilitatum molestiis versantes et
pronuntiativae, et singula ad principiorum trutinam examinantes et
torquentes, denique spinosiores et angustiores, malae; quales fuerunt
plerumque Peripateticorum et Scholasticorum.' Works, ii. i54.
1. 6. in health, action.] Conf. ' Primo, nos in bac sententia sumus,
ut existimemus ofiïcia vitae esse viuî ipsî potiora»' &c. V, rorks,
ii. I59.
1.29. Celsus.] The rules, which Bacon ascribes here to Celsus, he
gives a]so in his Historia Vitae et Mortis, to the saine effect as in the
Essay (Works, ii. I53). They convey a wholly incorrect notion of
what Celsus says. There is a verbal resemblance between the two,
but they strike, so to say, two very different notes. Celsus is writing
for the man in sound health. He tells him, in effect, to tly physic,
and hOt to be troubling himself about hm state of body or whether
this or that am'ees with him. Only, he is to take plenty of exercise,
and hOt to surfer himself to become the slave of any one uniform
mode of lire. Bacon, with the instinct of a valetudinarian, twists this
licence into a law, and so fits it to form a part of his Essay on
the Regimen of Health. Celsus' words are : ' Sanus homo, qui et
bene valet, et suae spontis est, nullis obligare se legibus debet ; ac
neque medico neque iatroalipta egere. Hunc oportet varium habere
vitae genus: modo ruri esse, modo in urbe, saepiusque in agro:
navigare, venari, quiescere interdum, sed frequenter se exercere.
Siquidem ignavia corpus hebetat, labor firmat ; illa maturam senec-
tutem, hic longam adolescentiam reddit. Prodest autem interdum
balneo, interdum aquis frigidis uti : modo ungi, modo id ipsum negli-
gere: nullum cibi genus fugere quo populus utatur: interdum in
convictu esse, interdum ab eo se retrahere: modo plus justo,
modo non amplius assumere: bis die potius quam semel cibum
OF SUSPICION.
capere ; et semper quam plurimum, dummodo hunc concoquat.' De
Medicina, bk. i. cap. i.
It would be diflîcult to misrepresent the drift of this passage more
completely than Bacon has succeeded in doing.
XXXI.
OF SUSPICION.
SUSPICIONS amongst thoughts are like bats amongst
birds, they ever fly by twilight: certainly they are fo be
repressed, or ai the least well guarded"; for they cloud
the mind, they lose friends, and they check with b business,
whereby business cannot go on current]y and constantIy :
they dispose kings fo tyranny, husbands fo jealousy, wise
men fo irresolution and me]ancho]y : they are defects, hOt
in the heart but in the brain ; for they take place in the
stoutest natures, as in the example of Henry c the seventh of
England ; there was not a more suspicious man nor a more
stout: and in such a composition theydo small hurt ; for com-
monly they are not admitted but with examination whether
they be likely or no ? but in fearful natures they gain
ground too fast. There is nothing makes a man suspect
much, more than fo know little ; and therefore men should
remedy suspicion by procuring fo know more, and not
fo keep their suspicions in smother d. What would men
wdl guard¢d] i. e. kept well under
restraint. Lat. taule cuModi¢ndae.
o ch«de wilh] i.e. interfere with.
Conf. ' If it check once with business,
it troubleth men's fortunes.' Essay xo.
c examle of Henry] Conf. Essay
9- P- I35-
d tO k¢J lhdr susiicions in smolher]
i. e. to brood darldy over them. Conf.
A man were better relate himself to
a statua or picture than to surfer his
thoughts to pass in smother.' Essay
7; and ' I hav¢ often seen it, that
thingswhen they are in smother trouble
more than when they break out.' Let-
tors and Lire, v. 47. The Latin is a
loose paraphrase, but it explains the
sense, fumo enim et tenebris ah«ntur
suspbncs.
:3 z ESSAY XXXI.
have? Do they think those they employ and deal with
are saints? Do they not think they will have their own
ends, and be truer to themselves than to them? There-
fore there is no better way to moderate suspicions than
to account upon such suspicions as true and yet to bridle
them as false: for so far a man ought to make use of
suspicions as to provide, as if that should be truc that he
suspects, 3,et it may do him no hurt. Suspicions that the
mind of itself gathers are but buzzes ; but suspicions that
o are artificially nourished and put into men's heads by the
tales and whisperings of others have stings. Certainly,
the best mean e to clear the xvay in this saine wood of
suspicions is frankly to communicate them with the party
that he suspects ; for thereby he shall be sure to know
more of the truth of them than he did before ; and withal
shall make that party more circumspect not to give further
cause of suspicion. But this vould hOt be done to men
of base natures; for they, if they find themselves once
suspected, will never be true. The Italian says, sospe#o
o licenliafed«; as if suspicion did give a passport to faith ;
but it ought rather to kindle it to discharge itself h.
the best m«an] i.e. means. Conf.
' It is the solecism of power to think to
command the end, and yet hOt to
endure the mean.' Essay 9-
t would hot be done] i. e. ought not
to be done. Conf. In counsels con-
cerning religion that counsel of the
apostle would be prefixed.' Essay 3,
and note on passage.
didgivea passporttoJtaiti] i.e. did
give faith leave of departure, or, in
other words, did give an excuse for
bad faith. Suspiciofidem absolvit. An-
titheta, Works. i. 705. Lat. quasi
suspicio fidei misMonem daret. Conf.
An invasion of a few English upon
Spain may have just hope of victory,
or at least of passport to depart
safely.' Lettevs and Life, vil. 49 I.
And,
' He whlch bath no stomach to this
fight
Let him depart : his passport shall
be made.'
Henry V, act iv. sc. 3-
lo disd«arge ilsclf] i.e. suspicion
ought rather to kindle faith to free
itself from the charge. The sense is
that when a man of good faith knows
himself to be suspected, he ought to be
thereby incited so to act as to prove
the suspicion to be groundless. For
discharge," conf. ' The people (into
whom there is infused for the preser-
ration of monarchies a natural desire
to discharge their princes, though it be
with the unjust charge of their coun-
sellors and ministers) did impute this
unto Cardinal BIorton and Sir Richard
Bray.' Works, ri. 4o.
OF DISCOURSE. 233
XXXII.
OF DISCOURSE.
Sotv_ in their discourse desire rather commendation of
wit, in being able to hold ail arguments, than of judgment,
in discerning what is truc ; as if it were a praise to know
what might be said, and not what should be thought *
Saine have certain common-places and themes wherein
they are good, and vant variety; which kind of poverty
is for the toast part tedious, and when it is once perceived
ridiculous. The honourablest part of talk is to give the
occasion ; and again to moderate b and pass to somewhat
else; for then a man leads the dance. It is good in ,o
discourse and speech of conversation, to var 5, and inter-
mingle speech of the present occasion with arguments,
tales with reasons, asking of questions with telling of
opinions, and jest with earnest; for it is a dull thing to
tire, and as we say now to jade anything too far. As for
jest, there be certain things vhich ought to be privileged
from it ; namely, religion, matters of state, great persans, any
man's present business of importance, and any case that
deserveth pity ; yet there be some that think their wits bave
been asleep, except they dart out somewhat that is piquant, ,o
and to the quick ; that is a rein which would be bridled c ;
Parce ibuer stimulis, et forlius tere loris.
And generally, men ought to find the difference between
,,hat shouidbe thought] The Latin
gives quid taceri debeat. But the words
obviously correspond to the closing
words of the clause just before. They
mean therefore, what ought to be
thought if the thought is to agreç with
the fact, i.e. 'what is true.' The
French gives, ce qui se pn¢t dire, non
pas ce qui se devroit penser.
b to moderate] i.e. to act the part of
a moderator ; to sum up what has been
said. and to pronounce judgment upon
it. l'ide Essay 2 5, note on ' modera-
tor.'
a rein a'hich teould be bridicd] Lat.
habi/usomnino coerccndus. 'Vein' = in-
clination or habit; vid. infra, 'a satirical
rein "; and *Adrian's rein was better,
for his mind was to wrastle a rail with
rime.' Letters and Life, vil 359.
wouid be] i.e. ought to be. So
aa.sMmo
OE34 ESSAY XXXII.
saltness and bitterness. Certainly, he that hath a satirical
vein, as he maketh others afraid of his wit, so he had
need be afraid of others' memory. He that questioneth
much shall learn much, and content much ; but especially
if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom
he asketh; for he shall give them occasion to please
themselves in speaking, and himself shall continually
gather knowledge; but let his questions not be trouble-
some, for that is fit for a posera; and let him be sure to
,o leave other men their turns to speak : nay, if there be
any that would reign and take up all the time, let him
find means to take them off, and to bring others on, as
musicians use to do with those that dance too long gai-
liards. If you dissemble sometimes your knowledge of
that you are thought to knoxv, you shall be thought
another time to know that you know not. Speech of
a man's self ought to be seldom, and well chosen. I knew
one was wont to say in scorn,/-/e must »eeds be a wise man,
he stcaks so much of hhnself: and there is but one case
2o wherein a man may commend himself with good grace,
and that is in commending virtue in another, especially
if it be such a virtue whereunto himself pretendeth.
Speech of touch « towards others should be sparingly
a a poser] Lat. id examinatori ton-
vodt. Conf. ' to the end that they may
be apposed of' (i. e questioned about,
Lat. ut i»zterrogentur) 'those things
which of themselves they are desirous
to utter.' Essay 22.
o Spe¢ch oftouch] The Latin, French,
and Italian versions interpret these
words in the same way. Sermo alios
pung¢ns et vellica»s ; discours de rcpre-
hensibn ; il lungere gli altri nd larlare.
But the caution against offensive per-
sonal remarks has already been given.
The clause which immediately follows
suggests a wider sense here, riz. speech
that cornes home to a man in any way ;
that refers to his person or to his
affairs, not necessarily offensively.
The Italian translator seems to bave
observed this, and instead of Bacon's
for discourse ought,' &c., he puts ac-
cordingly, il diseorso, &c., thus intro-
ducing the clause as a new and in-
dependent remark. In the edition of
x6xa, the story of the two noblemen,
and the warning which it conveys
against flouts and scoffs, do hot occur.
This is a further argument for inter-
preting ' speech of touch' by the reason
which immediately follows, and with
no reference to matters which bave
been put in by an after-thought.
OF DISCOURSE. 235
used ; for discourse t ought fo be as a field, without coming
home to any man. I knew two noblemen of the west
part of England, whereof the one was given to scoff, but
kept ever royal cheer in his house ; the other would ask
of those that had been at the other's table, Tell trttl_,v,
was there never a flou! or dr_y« blow given ? To which the
guest would answer, Sttc]t and such a lhhtg passed. The
lord would say I t]tought he zoottld mar a good dt)mer.
Diseretion of speech is more than eloquenee; and to
speak agreeably h to him with whom we deal is more than
to speak in good words, or in good order. A good con-
tinued speech, without a good speech of interlocution,
shoxvs slowness; and a good reply or second speech,
without a good settled speeeh, showeth shallowness and
weakness. As xve see in beasts, that those that are
weakest in the course are yet nimblest in the turn ; as itis
betwixt the greyhound and the hare. To use too many
circumstanees i ere one corne to the marrer is xvearisome ;
to use none at ail is blunt.
NOTES AA'D ILZUSTATIO,VS.
Parts of this Essay are found in ' Short Notes for Civil Conversa-
tion,' a Treatise of uncertain date. Works, vil o9, and preface.
P. 233, 1.6. u, ant variety] Conf. Plutarch on Education of children :
' To be able to speak of one thing and no more, is first and foremost
in my conceit no small signe of ignorance. Then, I suppose that the
f fordiscourse &c.] The Latin gives
this more fidly and clearly: Etenim
sermones familiares debent esse instar
campi aperti, in quo spatiari iicet ; non
viae regiae quae dedudt domum.
dt.y] i. e. severe ; scornful. Conf.
King Ptolomaeus upon a time gesting
and scoffing at a simple and unlearned
grammarian, asked him who wd.s the
father of Peleus ; I will answer you,
sir (quoth he) ifyou tell me first who
was the father of Lagus. This was a
dry flout, and touched King Ptolo-
maeus very near, in regard of the
mean parentage from whence he (the
son of Lagus) was descended.' Plu-
tarch, blorals, p. xo 3.
' For hard dry bastings us'd to prove
The readiest remedies of love.'
Hudibras, Pt. II. Canto i. 645.
tx agreeably] i.e. agree-ably. Lat.
apte ioqu et accomtodale ad personam.
eircumstanees] i.e. introductory
speech. Conf. ' I came hither to tell
you ; and, circumstances shortened,
(for she hath been too long a talking of)
the lady is disloyal.' bluch Ado About
lothing, act iii. sc. a.
3 6 ESSAY XXXII.
exercise and practice thereof soon bringeth satiety. And againe,
I hold it impossible evermore to continue in the saine : For so to be
ever in one song breedeth tediousnesse, and soon a man is weary of
it ; v,hereas variety is alwaies delectable both in this and also in ail
other objects as well of the eye as the eare.' Plut. Morals (ed. i657),
P-7.
1. 2i. a veb, lha! wouM be bridled] Conf. ' Sed quomodo in omni
vit rectissime praecipitur ut perturbationes fugiamus, id est motus
animi nimios rationi non obtemperantes: sic ejusmodi motibus
sermo debet vacare, ne aut ira existat aut cupiditas aliqua aut
pigritia aut ignavia aut tale aliquid appareat : maximeque curandum
est, ut eos quibuscum sermones conferemus, et vereri et diligere
videamur.' Cicero, De Off. i. 38- And, ' In convictibus et quotidiano
sermone ... laedere nunquam velimus, longeque absit propositum
illud 19olius amicum quam dictum lberdidi (v. 1. lberdendiL" Quintilian,
lnstit. Orat. vi. 3- 28. This ,vas a favourite caution with Sir Nicholas
Bacon. He had a very quaint saying, and he used it often to good
purpose, 'that he loved the jest well, but hOt the losse of his friend.'
He would say... I will never forgive that man that loseth himself
to be rid of his jest.' Sir R. Naunton, Fragmenta Regalia.
1. 22. 19arce puer &c.] Ovid, Metam. ii. I27.
P. 234, 1.9. let hhn be sure fo leave other men their /urns &c.] In this,
as elsewhere in the Essay, Bacon seems to have had in his mind some
passages in Cicero, De Officiis, i. 37 and 38 : ' Sit igitur hic sermo, in
quo Socratici maxime excellunt, lenis, minimèque pertinax: insit
in eo lepos, nec veto, tanquam in possessionem suam venerit, ex-
cludat alios, sed cure reliquis in rebus, tutu in sermone communi,
vicissitudinem non iniquam putet :.. Animadvertendum est etiam,
quatenus sermo dclectationem habeat, et ut incipiendi ratio fuerit,
ira sit desinendi modus.'
Dr. Rawley notes Bacon's observance of his oxvn rules : ' He was
no dashing man (i. e. hOt one who used his wit to put his neighbours
out of countenance} as some men are, but ever a countenancer and
fosterer of another man's parts. Neither was he one that would
appropriate the speech wholly to himself, or delight to outvie others,
but leave a liberty to the co-assessors to take their turns. Wherein
he wou]d draw a man on and allure him to speak upon such a
subject, as wherein he was peculiarly skilful and would delight to
speak.' XVorks, i. p. 12 and note.
1. 14. lfyou dissemble &c.] So Bacon, elsewhere, giving instruction
how to cover defects, says, inter alia, ' A man must frame some
probable cause why he should hot do his best and why he should
dissemble his abilities: and for that purpose must use to dissemble
those abilities which are notorious in him, to give colour that
true wants are but industries and dissimulations.' Works, iii. 464 .
OF PLANTATIONS. 237
This trick he ascribes to Socrates, strangely mistaking the purpose
and drift of the Socratic irony. ' In Socrates it ri. e. a profession of
general ignorance and uncertainty) was supposed to be but a form of
irony. Scientiam dissimulando simulavit ; for he used to disable his
knowledge to the end to enhance his knowledge.' Works, iii. 388.
I. x6. Speech ofa man's self &c.] ' Deforme etiam est, de se ipso
praedicaçe, falsa praesertim, et cum içrisione audientium, imitaçi
militera gloriosum.' De Off. i. 38.
1. 2I. commending virtue in anotlter] Conf. Essay 54, sub flnan.
P. 235, I. I 5. ,4s wesee in beasts] Conf.' Though the difference be good
which was ruade between orators and sophisters, that the one is as
the greyhound which bath his advantage in the race, and the other
as the hare which bath ber advantage in the turn, so as it is the
advantage of the weaker creature.' Works, iii. 394.
XXXIII.
OF PLANTATIONS.
PLANTATIONS are amongst ancient, primitive, and heroical
works. When the vorld was young, it begat more
children; but now it is old, it begets fewer: for I may
justly account newplantations to be the children of former
kingdoms. I like a plantation in a pure soil; that is,
where people are hOt displanted, to the end to plant in
others; for else it is rather an extirpation than a plan-
tation. Planting of countries is like planting of voods;
for you must make account to lose almost twenty years'
profit, and expect your recompense in the end: for the
principal thing that bath been the destruction of most
plantations hath been the base and hasty drawing of profit
in the first years. It is true, speedy profit is hot to be
neglected as far as may stand with the good of the
plantation, but no further. It is a shameful and unblessed
thing to take the scum of people and wicked condemned
men to be the people with whom you plant; and hot only
3 8 ESAY XXXIII.
so, but it spoileth the plantation; for they will ever live
like rogues, and hot fall to work, but be lazy, and do
mischief, and spend victuals, and be quickly weary, and
then certify over to their country to the discredit of
the plantation. The people wherewith you plant ought
to be gardeners, ploughmen, labourers, smiths, carpenters,
joiners, fishermen, fowlers, with some few apothecaries,
surgeons, cooks, and bakers. In a country of plantation,
first look about what kind of victual the country yields
,o of itself to hand : as chestnuts, walnuts, pine-apples, olives,
dates, plums, cherries, wild honey, and the like; and make
use of them, Then consider what victual or esculent .
things there are which grow speedily and within the year;
as parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions, radish, artichokes of
Hierusalem, maize, and the like: for wheat, barley, and
oats, they ask too much labour ; but with pease and beans
you may begin, both because they ask less labour, and
because they se,e for meat as well as for bread ; and of
rice likewise cometh a great increase, and it is a kind
2o of meat. Above ail, there ought to be brought store
of biscuit, oatmeal, flour, meal, and the like in the be-
ginning till bread may be had. For beasts or birds
take chiefly such as are least subject to diseases and
multiply fastest; as swine, goats, cocks, hens, turkeys,
geese, house-doves, and the like. The victual in planta-
tions ought to be expended almost as in a besieged town ;
that is, with certain allowance: and let the main part of
the ground employed to gardens or corn, be to a common
stock ; and to be laid in and stored up and then delivered
3o out in proportion ; besides some spots of ground that any
particular person will manure I for his own private '.
manure] i.e. cultivate. Lat. in
9uibus industria singulorum se exerteat.
Conf. ' Theophrastus saith also, it was
Pysistratus and hot Solon, that ruade
the iaw for idlenesze, which was the
onely cause that the country of Attlca
became more fruitfull, being better
manured.' Plut. Lires. p. 99-
n Ms own privat¢] For this sub-
stantivai use of the word, conf. « Nor
OF PLANTATIONS. 239
Consider likewise what commodities the soli where the
plantation is doth naturally yield, that they may some
way help to defray the charge of the plantation : soit be
hot, as was said, to the untimely prejudice of the main
business, as it bath fared with tobacco in Virginia. Wood
commonly aboundeth but too much ; and therefore tituber
is fit tobe one. If there be iron ore, and streams where-
upon to set the mills, iron is a brave commodity « where
wood aboundeth. Making of bay-salt, if the climate be
proper for it, would be put in experience': growing ,o
silk « likewise, if any be, is a likely commodity: pitch
and tar, where store of firs and pines are, will hOt fail; so
drugs and sweet woods, where they are, cannot but yield
great profit: soap-ashes likewise, and other things that
may be thought of; but moil not too much under ground,
for the hope of mines is very uncertain, and useth to make
the planters lazy in other things. For government, let
it be in the hands of one, assisted with some council ; and
let them have commission to exercise martial laws, with
some limitation; and above ail, let men make that profit :o
of being in the wilderness, as they have God always and
his service before their eyes: let hot the government
of the plantation depend upon too many counsellors and
undertakers in the country that planteth, but upon a
temperate number; and let those be rather noblemen
and gentlemen than merchants ; for they look ever to the
present gain. Let there be freedoms from custom till
the plantation be of strength ; and hot only freedom from
custom, but freedom to carry their commodities where
they may make their best of them, except there be some 3o
special cause of caution. Cram hot in people by sending
must I be unmindful of my private.'
Ben Jonson. Catiline, act iii. sc. 5-
© is a brave commodity] Lat. ¢ merci-
bus quaestuosis est.
a would be tut in experience] i.e.
ought to be trie& Lat. digna res est
quae tentelur.
® growing sill] i.e. vegetable silk.
Lat. sericum vegetabile ; vide note at end
of Essay.
240 ESSA¥ XXXIII.
too fast company after company; but rather hearkent
how they waste, and send supplies proportionably; but
so as the number may lire xvell in the plantation, and hot
by surcharge be in penury. It hath been a great endan-
gering to the health of some plantations that they have
built along the sea and rivers, in marish g and unwholesome
grounds: therefore, though you begin there, to avoid
carriage and other like discommodities, yet build still
rather upwards from the streams than along. It con-
o cerneth likewise the health of the plantation that they
bave good store of salt xvith them, that they may use it
in their victuals when it shall be necessary. If you plant
where savages are, do not only entertain them with trifles
and gingles, but use them justly and graciously, with
sufficient guard nevertheless ; and do hOt win their favour
by helping them to invade their enemies, but for their
defence it is hot amiss ; and send oft of them over to the
country that plants, that they may sec a better condition
than their own, and commend it when they return. When
o the plantation groxvs to strength, then it is time to plant
with women as well as xvith men ; that the plantation may
spread into generations, and hOt be ever pieced from with-
out. It is the sinfullest thing in the world to forsake or
destitute h a plantation once in forwardness; for, besides
the dishonour, it is the guiltiness of blood of many com-
miserable persons.
t hearko,] i.e. watch. Lat. boEor-
ma[,bni d[lige,ti into, de. Conf.
' They did me tii much injury
That ever said I hearken'd for your
deatk '
Henry IV, part i. act 5- sc. 4-
t marish] i.e. marshy. Lat. in loc/s
pal,¢dinosis. Conf. ' They banished
him into the marish countries b l- the
sea-side.' Raleigh, Hist. of Wodd, bk.
il. chap. 2-/. sec. 2. ' Amy'taeus who
held the marish and woody parts of
Egypt.' Bk. iii. chap. 7- sec. 6.
a to destitute] i.e. to leave destitute.
Lat. destituere. Conf. ' He was willing
to part with his place, upon hope hot
to be destituted, but to be preferred to
one of the Baron's places in Ireland.'
Letters and Life, ri. 2o 7.
OF PLANTATIONS. 4
NOTES AND I"ZZUST.RA TIO2VS.
P.287,1. l. Plantations] i.e. colonies, as the context shows through-
out. Lat. coloniae. In Elizabeth's reign the era of English coloniza-
tion began. With the discovery of the Western Hemisphere, a vast
unoccupied field was thrown open for settlement; and, with this
seope allowed, it became evident that the world, now that it was old,
could beget children no less abundantly than in its youth. The first
attempts were unsuccessful. In x578, Sir Humfrey Gilbert went out
with a party of intending settlers, under letters patent from the queen,
but he ruade no stay. Then a fresh start was ruade chiefly at Sir
Walter Raleigh's charges, but with no permanent result. Settlements
were effected, first at Roanoak, off the coast of Virginia, then on the
main-land. Some of the colonists came home discouraged and dis-
appointed : some were killed by the natives whom they had ill-treated
and outraged ; the rest were lost and never heard of again. Hakluyt,
iii. 3ox et seqq., tells the whole miserable story, from the first hopeful
settlement in x585, down to the final ineffective search in 159o for the
remnants of the last colony, planted in x587. Captain John White,
who was in command of the mismanaged search-party, and who
came back after committing the relief of the colonists 'to the merciful
help of the Almighty and so leaving them,' writes (in x622), ' and thus
we left seeking our colony, that was never any of them round nor
seen to this day, and this was the conclusion of this plantation.'
Pinkerton, Voyages, vol. xiii. p. x 9.
In the next century the attempt was renewed with better success ;
and, by the date of Bacon's Essay, colonies had been planted and had
taken root both in Virginia and in New England.
1.2. II'hen lhe world wasyoung] This may bave been suggested by
a passage in Lucretius :--
'maternum nomen adepta
Terra tenet merito, quoniam genus ipsa creavit
Humanum, arque animal prope certo tempore fudit
Omne
Sed quia finem aliquam pariendi debet habere
Destitit, ut roulier spatio defessa vetusto."
Bk. v. 8x8 et seqq.
1. 5. in a pure soli.] This was insisted on in Elizabeth's Letters
Patent to Raleigh : ' We do give and grant to Valter Ralegh Esquire
and to his heirs and assigns for ever, free liberty to search, find out,
and view such remote heathen and barbarous lands, hot actually
possessed of any Christian Prince nor inhabited by Christian people,
as to him &c. shall seem good : and the saine to bave hold occupy and
enjoy, &c. (March 25, x584).' Hakluyt, iii. 298.
R
24 ESSAY XXXIII.
We find the same exception in the earlier Letters Patent to Sir
Humfrey Gilbert i578 ; iii. p. 1"14.
That this exception was enough to satisfy Bacon's fuie about
planting in a pure soil appears, partly frorn the words at the end ot
the Essay, where he speaks of the proper treatment of savages;
partly from the ' Advice to Villiers,' where the place chosen for a
plantation is directed to be ' such as hath hOt been already planted by
the subjects of any other Christian prince or state.' ' The colonists,'
he presently adds, 'must make themselves defensible both against
the natives and against strangers.' Letters and Life, ri. 5 o, 51.
1. 12. base and hasty drawing of profit] This does hOt appear in the
histories of the early plantations. The constant complaint is that,
although large sums had been spent in fitting them out and providing
for them, there was no return of profit from them. Their destruction
was partly due to their improvidence in the use of their stores, but
chiefly to their reckless behaviour towards the natives--at once
unjust and ungracious and wanting in sufficient guard. There was
the wish in some quarters to make a profit from the plantations
hastily, if hot basely. Captain Carlile, in his most interesting dis-
course upon the intended voyage to America, written in i583,
addresses himself especially to satisfy such merchants, 'as in dis-
bursing their money towards the furniture of the present charge, doe
demand forthwith a present returne of gaine' (Hakluyt, iii. av.8), but
I find no record of any return of gain, early or late.
l. I 5. s]lamful atd totblessed /]itg] This was frequently done, some-
times at the request of the English adventurers, in order to cheapen
labour in the colonies, sometimes because the colonies were a con-
renient ourlet for the criminals and ne'er-do-wells of the mother
country. Confi ' Ointe I came from thence (i. e. from Virginia) the
honourable company hath been humble suitors to His Majesty to get
vagabonds and condemned men to go thither ; nay, so the business
hath been so abused that so scorned was the name of Virginia, some
did chuse to be hanged ere they would go thither, and were.' Pin-
kerton's Voyages, xiii. 240. And,' That there be some prudent course
taken to maintain a garrison to suppress the savages.., for this cannot
be done by promises, hopes, counsels and countenances, but with suffi-
cient workmen and means to maintain them, nor such delinquents as
here cannot be ruled by ail the laws in England : yet when the founda-
tion is laid and a commonwealth established then such may better be
constrained to labour than here : but to rectify a commonwealth with
debauched persons is impossible, and no wise man would throw him-
self into such a society that intends honestly and knows what he
undertakes.' p. 169.
We find like complaints in the course of the settlement of the
Bermudas. Of the three first settlers, two were criminals 'that for
OF PLANTATIONS. 43
their offences or the suspicion they had of their judgment, fled into
the woods, and there rather desired to end their days than stand to
their trials and the event of justice.' Ten years later, in x6zo, when the
plantation had been regularly established, ' the company sent a supply
of ten persons for the generality, but of such bad condition that it
seemed they had picked the males out of Newgate, the females from
Bridewell.' General history of the Bermudas, Pinkerton, Voyages
and Travels, vol. xiii. pp. 77, 98 (ed.
One of the ship's companies, which went with Sir Humfrey Gilbcrt
in his intended settlement of Newfoundland in 583, is thus described :
' The captain, albeit himselfe was very honest and religious, yet was
he hot appointed of men to his humor and desert : who for the most
part were such as had bene by us surprised upon the narrow seas of
England, being pirats, and had taken at that instant certaine French-
men laden, one barke with wines and another with sait. Both which
we rescued.' Hakluyt, iii. 9.
P. 2.38, I. 25. hottse-doves, and the like] After these words the Latin
colottiae, htm ad htcum exporlaKouis.
1.27. a»d let the mai» part of the groumt] Conf. ' At New Plymouth
.... the toast of them lire together as one family or household, yet
every man followeth his trade and profession bath by sea and land,
and all for a general stock, out of which they bave all their main-
tenance until there be a dividend betwixt the planters and the
adventurers. Those planters are hOt servants to the adventurers
here, but bave only councils of directions from them, but no injunctions
or command, and ail the masters of familles are partners in land or
whatsoever, setting their labours against the stock, till certain years
be expired for the division . . . The adventurers which raised the
stock to begin and supply this plantation were about seventy, saine
gentlemen, saine merchants, some handicraftsmen... These
dwell mostly about London: they are hOt a corporation, but knit
together by a voluntary combination in a society without constraint or
penalty, aiming to da good and to plant religion.' Smith's New
England, Pinkerton's Voyages, xiii.
P.239,1. 5. as it hath fared with tobacco bt I ïrgittia] Ifwe follow the
punctuation of the English text of r625 Iputting a colon after ' charge of
the plantation : ') this must mean that the cultivation of tobacco in Vir-
ginia has been 'to the untimely prejudice of the main business.' The
Latin, in which the order ofthe clauses is hOt the saine as in the English,
suggests a different sense, riz. that the cultivation of tobacco bas in
saine way helped to defray the charge of the plantation : Ut exportatio
eorttot il loca ubi »taxime Dt prelio
teeotiatto aptd l'irginiam : modo non sit, tttjam dictttm, D praejudicittm
inlempestivum coloniae ipsius. Mr. Spedding interprets it in this way,
244 ESSAY XXXlII.
and encloses in brackets--(' so as it be not, as was said, fo the untimely
prejudice of the main business'). But even so, the words 'as was
said,' inexactly rendered by ut.]am dictum, seem to endorse a charge
that the attention given to the cultivation of tobacco in Virginia had
been to the prejudice of the main business of the colony.
It is certain that tobacco was grown in Virginia very soon and very
largely: that it was round to be the most profitable crop: and that
complaints were made about the almost exclusive attention paid to it.
' The great produce of this country is tobacco, and that of Virginia
is looked upon as the best in the world... Yet tobacco is very far from
being the only thing of value which this country produces : on the
contrary, they have flax, hemp, and cotton ; and silk they might have
if they were hot so extremely addicted to their staple commodity as
never to think of anything else if tobacco can be brought to a tolerable
market.' Discoveries and Settlements of the English in America,
Pinkerton, Voyages, vol. xii. p. 4.
' The trade of this colony (Virginia) as well as that of Maryland, con-
sists almost entirely of tobacco ; for though the country would produce
several excellent commodities fit for trade, yet the planters are so
wholly bent on planting tobacco, that they seem to have laid aside ail
thoughts of other improvements. This trade is brought to such per-
fection that the Virginia tobacco, especially the sweet-scented which
grows on York-river, is reckoned the best in the world, and is what
is generally vended in England for a home consumption.' P- 45-
' We find' (says John Rolfe, one of the settlers), 'by them of best
experience, an industrious man hot other ways employed, may well
tend four actes of corn, and one thousand plants of tobacco; and
where they say an acre will yield but three or four barrels we have
ordinarily four or rive, but of new ground six, seven and eight ....
so that one man may provide corn for rive and apparel for two by the
profit ofhis tobacco.' Pinkerton, Voyages and Travels, xiii. p. 6.
That this was thought mischievous appears from the evidence
given by John Smith, one of the early governors of the colony, to His
Majesty's Commissioners for the rëformation of Virginia. 'What
conceive you,' he is asked, 'should be the cause, though the country
be good, there cornes nothing but tobacco ?'
His answer is, 'The oft altering of governors, it seems, causes
every man to make use of his time : and because corn was stinted at
two shillings and six-pence the bushel, and tobacco at three shillings
the pound, and they value a man's labour a year worth fifty or three
score pounds, but in corn hot worth ten pounds, presuming tobacco
will furnish them with ail things ; now make a man's labour in corn
xvorth three score pounds, and in tobacco but ten pounds a man, then
shall they bave corn sufficient to entertain all comers and keep their
people in health to do anything: but till then there will be little
OF PLANTATIONS. 45
or nothing to any purpose.' Pinkerton, Voyages and Travels, vol. xiii.
p. I67.
It does hot appear that this impossible remedy for an imaginary
evil was ever tried.
1. 8. iron is a brave commodi@] This and much else of the Essay
seem to have been suggested by passages in a brief and true report
ofthe 'new found land of Virginia' by Thomas Heriot (587). Conf.
' In two places specially the ground was found to hold iron richly.
It is found in many places of the country else : I know nothing to the
contrary but that it may be allowed for a good merchantable com-
modity, considering there the small charge for the labour and feeding
of men, the infinite store of wood,' &c. Hakluyt, iii. 327 .
1. 1o. growing silk] Conf. ' Silke of grasse or Grasse silke. There
is a kind of grasse in the country, upon the blades whereof there
groweth very good silke in form of a thin glittering skin to be stript
off. It groweth two foot and a halfe high or better: the blades are
about two foot in length and halfan inch broad. The like groweth in
Persia which is in the self saine climate as Virginia, of which very
many of the Silke works that corne thence into Europe are made.
There is great store thereof in many parts of the countrey growing
naturally and wild, which also by proof here in England, in making a
piece of Silke or grogran, we found to be excellent good.' Hakluyt,
vol. iii. p. 3 4.
l. I6. the hope of mines &c.] This seems to refer especially to gold
mines, in quest of whieh some of the early eolonists spent mueh labour
with no result, and to the negleet of neeessary work. Baeon has just
before spoken approvingly of iron as a brave eommodity. Conf. ' The
worst was our gilded refiners with their golden promises ruade ail
men their slaves in hope of reeompenses : there was no talk, no hope,
no work, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold, sueh a bruit of
gold that one mad fellow desired to be buried in the sands lest they
should by their art make gold of his bones .... Never anything did
more torment him (Captain Smith) than to see ail neeessary business
negleeted, to fraught sueh a drunken ship with so mueh gilded dirt."
Quoted in Smith's Virginia, Pinkerton's Voyages, xiii. p. 5 8.
It seems questionable whether the metal found was gold after ail.
It is presently spoken of as ' phantastical gold,' and the only further
notice of it is that the seareh for it eaused the settlers ' to lose rime,
spend that vietuals we had, tire and starve our men.'
1. 17. For gover»nent &e.] The neglect of this and of the rules given
below proved very misehievous. In reply to a question from the
Commissioners for the Reformation of Virginia, ' What think you of
the defeets of government both here and there ?' ex-governor Smith
says, ' The multiplieity of opinions here, and offieers there, makes
sueh delay by question and formality that as mueh rime is spent in
246 ESSAY XXXIV.
compliment as in action.' 'Those new devices,' he adds, ' have
consumed both money and purse, for at first there were but six
patentees, now more than a thousand ; then but thirteen counsellors,
now not less than an hundred.' Pinkerton's Voyages, xiii. pp. i67, x68.
1. 27. freedoms from custom] Ex-governor Smith, in his evidence
before the Commissioners for the Reformation of Virginia, insists on
the need of this. ' That His Majesty would be pleased to remit his
custom, or it is to be feared they xvill lose custom and all.' Pinkerton's
Voyages, xiii. i69. _And, ' I think if His Maiesty were truly informed
of their necessity and the benefit of this project, he would be pleased
to give the custom of Virginia . . . to maintain this garrison ....
Otherwise it is much to be doubted there will neither corne custom
nor any thing from thence to England within these few years.'
1. 9. freedom go carry /heir commodi/ies &c.] The enjoyment of a
trading monopoly was commonly one of the inducements held out to
the companies or private adventurers by whom the first charges of
the colony were advanced. It is granted in full terms in Sir Walter
Raleigh's letters patent. Ha-kluyt, iii. :z99. In a 'Discourse upon
the intended voyage to America, written by Captain Carlile in 1583/
merchandising is said to be the matter especially looked for by the
adventurers, and Carlile engages accordingly that all trade to and
from the colony shall appertain only to them. Hakluyt, iii. 23o, 235.
But, in point of fact, the freedom on which Bacon insists appears to
have been generally alloved. We find its denial treated as a grievous
wrong. ,Vhen the English company of adventurers laid the colonists
at the Bermudas under an 'express command that they should en-
terrain no other ships, than were directly sent from the company;
this caused much grudging and indeed a general distraction and
exclamation among the inhabitants, to be thus constrained to buy
what they wanted and sell what they had at vhat price the magazine
pleased.' General history of the Bermudas, Pinkerton, Voyages and
Travels, vol. xiii. p. 198.
The Navigation Act of 165o was the first regular bloxv dealt at
Colonial freedom of trading.
XXXIV.
OF RICHES.
I cA,xo-r call riches better than the baggage of virtue ;
the Roman word is better, im?cdimcn[a ; for as the
baggage is to an army, so is riches to virtue ; it cannot be
OF RICHES. 247
spared nor left behind, but it hindereth the march ; yea and
the care of it sometimes loseth or disturbeth the victory.
Of great riches there is no real use, except it be in the
distribution; the test is but conceit*; so saith Salomon,
IVhere much is, there are mao, to consume il; andwhat bath
lhe owner bul the sighl of il wilh his cA,es ? The personal
fruition in any man cannot reach to feel great riches:
there is a custody of them; or a power of dole and do-
native of them ; or a faine of them ; but no solid use to the
owner. Do you not sec what feigned prices are set upon
little stones and rarities? and what works of ostentation
are undertaken, because ' there might seem to be some
use of great riches ? But then you will say they may
be of use to buy men out of dangers or troubles; as
Salomon saith, Riches are as a stronghold t'n the hnaghtation
ofthe rich man ; but this is excellently expressed, that it is
in imagination and not always in fact: for certainly great
riches bave sold more men than they have bought out.
Seek not proud riches c, but such as thou mayest get
justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave con-
tentedly; yet ha'ce no abstract nor friarly a contempt of
them; but distinguish, as Cicero saith well of Rabirius
Posthumus, In studio rei am])lifcandae, appa»eba! non ava-
rilt'ae praedam, sed insh'ttmentttm bonilah" qttaerL Hearken
also to Salomon, and beware of hasty gathering of riches:
Qtti festinat ad divilt'as non erit htsons. The poets feign
that when Plutus (which is riches) is sent from Jupiter,
he limps and goes slowly; but when he is sent from Pluto,
but conceit] i.e. imagination. Lat.
cariera in irnag4natione versantur.
Conf. Pliny, N. H. book ii. cap. 65
(Holland's version), 'But surely, in
my conceit, this was but an uncerteine
guess of his.' In the quotation below,
from Proverbs xviii, xx, where Bacon
writes 'imagination,' the authorized
version gives ' conceit.'
' brcause] i. e. in order that. Lat.
Conf. Essay 8, ' there are some foolish
rich covetous men, that take a pride in
having no children, because they may
be thought so much the ficher.' Lat.
ut habeantur ta»tto ditiores.
t proud riches] Lat. divitias agnas.
a abstra«t nor friarly] Lat. instar
monachi aliujus aut a secuio abstracti.
48 ESSAY XXXIV.
he runs and is swift of foot; meaning that riches gotten
by good means and just labour pace slowly; but when
they corne by the death of others (as by the course of
inheritance, testaments, and the like), they corne tumbling
upon a man: but it might be applied likewise to Pluto,
taking him for the devil: for when riches corne from
the devil [as by fraud and oppression and unjust meansJ
they corne upon speed. The ways to enrich are many,
and most of them foul: parsimony is one of the best,
o and yet is hOt innocent; for it withholdeth men from
works of liberality and charity. The improvement of the
ground is the most natural obtaining of riches; for it
is out great mother's blessing, the earth's ; but it is slow ;
and yet, where men of great wealth do stoop to hus-
bandry*, it multiplieth riches exceedingly. I knew a
nobleman in England that had the greatest audits of
any man in my time; a great grazier, a great sheep-master,
a great tituber-man, a great collier, a great corn-master,
a great lead-man, and so of iron, and a number of the like
2o points of husbandry; so as the earth seemed a sea to
him in respect of the perpetual importation. It was truly
observed by one, that himself came very hardly to a little
riches, and very easily to great riches; for when a man's
stock is come to that that he can expect f the prime of
markets, and overcome those bargains, which for their
greatness are fexv men's money, and be partner in the
industries of younger men, he cannot but increase mainly.
The gains of ordinary trades and vocations are honest, and
furthered by two things chiefly: by diligence, and by
e hz¢sbandr_y] Lat. agri adturam et
lucra rm«tica. The points of' husbaudry I
enumerated just belo.w show how wide
a meaning Bacon gives to the word.
exprcl] i.e. wait for. Conf. ' Where-
as by_ the common law the King's
suit, in case of homicide, did expect
the year and the day allowed to the
party's suit by way of appeal.' Works
ri. 87. AIso, 'lt is not fornothingthat
I have deferred my essay De Amicitifi,
whereby it hath expected the proof of
your great friendship towards me.'
Letters and Lire, vil 344-
overcome] i.e. become toaster of,
be able to deal in. Lat. supear¢.
OF RICHES. 249
a good name for good and fair dealing; but the gains of
bargains are of a more doubtful nature, when men shall
wait upon others' neeessity: broke by servants and
instruments to draw them on; put off others cunningly
that would be better chapmen, and the like practicesi,
which are crafty and naught k. As for the chopping of
bargains, when a man buys not to hold but to sell over
again, that commonly grindeth double, both upon the
seller and upon the buyer. Sharings I do greatly enrich,
if the hands be well chosen that are trusted. Usury is the
certainest means of gain, though one of the worst ; as
that whereby a man doth eat his bread, in sttdore vttlts
al[eni; and besides, doth plough upon Sundays: but
yet certain though it be, it hath flaws; for that the scri-
veners and brokers ' do value" unsound men to serve
their own turn. The fortune in being the first in an
invention or in a privilege doth cause sometimes a won-
derful overgrowth in riches, as it was with the first sugar-
broke] i.e. negociate. The Latin
gives the sense of the passage more
clearly, cure quis.., s¢rvos et minis-
tros alienos in damm«m domi»torum
corrumpat, but, perhaps, too narrowly,
since it implies that the bargainer uses
as his go-betweens the servants ofother
people and hot his own.
praaices] Lat. fraudes,--the usual
sense of the word with Bacon.
naught] i.e. rascally. Lat. quae
ofnne$ r,¢erito damnandae surir. Conf.
' I say these are englnes and devices
naught, malign, and seditious.' Letter
and Life, v. 47-
t Sharlngs] Lat. socidates.
scriveners and brokers] i. e. inter-
mediaries between the lender and the
borrower. Conf. at James I, cap.
which enacts ' that scriveners brokers
solicitors and drivers of bargains who
shall take or receive more than at the
rate of rive shiilings for brokage solicit-
ing driving or procuring a Ioan of one
hundred pounds for a year shall be
liable to b¢ flned and imprisoned.'
n do value] i.e. do put a high value
on or recommend. Lat. extollent. They
« serve their own turn ' of course by
knavishly helping forward a loan which
will bring them thcir commission when
it is concluded, whether the borrower
prove sound or unsound. Conf.
'Broker (brocarius seemeth to corne
from the French (broieur. i. tritor that
is, a gryneder or breaker into small
peeces. Because he that is of that
trade, to deall in maters of mony and
marchandise betweene Englishe men
and strangers, doth draw the bargaine
to particulars, and the parties to con-
clusion, hot forgetting to grinde out
something to his owne profit ... If
may not improbably be said that this
word commeth from (braca»der. i. cavii-
lad) because these kinde of men by
their deceitfuil speeches and abusing
their true trade, many rimes invegle
others.' Cwell, Interpreter, sub vote.
250 ESSAY XXXIV.
man in the Canaries : therefore, if a man can play the true
logician, to have as well judgment as invention, he rnay
do great matters, especially if the times be fit: he that
resteth upon gains certain, shall hardly grow to great
riches ; and he that puts ail upon adventures, doth often-
tirnes break and corne to poverty : it is good therefore to
guard adventures with certainties that rnay uphold losses °.
Monopolies and coemption of wares for resale, where
they are hot restmined P, are great rneans to enrich; es-
pecially if the party have intelligence what things are
like to corne into request, and so store hirnself beforehand.
Riches gotten by service q, though it be of the best fise,
yet when they are gotten by flattery, feeding humours,
and other sera,ile conditions, they rnay be placed amongst
the worst. As for fishing for testarnents and executor-
ships (as Tacitus saith of Seneca, Testamcnta et o»bos tan-
q»am hdaghe capi), it is yet worse, by how much r men
submit themselves to meaner persons than in service.
Believe not much them that seem to despise riches, for
o uphoM fosses] i.e. make up for.
Lat. ut damnis subveniah«r.
hot res#'ainea Lat. chi nulld lege
prohibentur. On the laws forbidding
the 'coemption of wares for resale'
vide note on engrossing, Essay 5.
q Riches gotten by service &c.] This
is a perplexing sentence. It starts with
a nominaKvus pendens,--' riches gotten
by service,'--and proceeds, ' though it
(i. e. the taches so gotten--Bacon at
the beginning of the Essay uses riches
as a singular noun "be of the best rise'
..i.e. corne from the best source, 'yet
when they' çhere we pass at once from
the singular to the plural) *are gotten
by flattery,' &c., they may be placed
amongst the worst '--the worst what ?
the words stand in antithesis to 'the
best" just before, but the sense cannot
possibly be that the riches so gotten
are to be placed amongst the worst
rises. The meaningwhich underliesthe
words seems to be :--Though riches
gotten by service be of the best rise,
yet when riches are gotten by flattery,
&c. they may be placed amongst the
worst in origin or amongst the worst
gotten forms of riches. The Latin is,
Oum acquisitio per servitiumregum au!
magnalum dignilalem quandam kabet ;
tamen si assentationibus et servilibus
arti.ficiis, sese ad omnes nutus flectendo,
parentur, inter vias vilissimas pot«dt
numeran: ' Via' seems to be understood
here as the nominative to 'poterit,'but
the entire passage fs hot a translation,
but a loose paraphrase--necessarily,
since the English text is untranslatable.
" by how much] L e. inasmuch as or
by the degree in which. Lat. adh«
p¢jor est Iaecres quanto,&c. The phrase
occurs in several places elsewhere.
Conf. e.g. 'By how much the more
men ought to beware of this passion.'
Essay xo.
OF RICHES. 51
they despise them that despair of them ; and none worse
when they come to them. Be not penny-wise; riches
have wings, and sometimes they fly away of themselves,
sometimes they must be set flying to bring in more. Men
leave their riches either to their kindred, or to the public ;
and moderate portions prosper best in both. A great
state' left to an heir is as a lute to ail the birds of prey
round about to seize on him, if he be hot the better t
stablished in years and judgment : likewise, glorious gifts
and foundations are like sacrifices without sait ; and but ,o
the painted sepulchres of altos, which soon xvill putrefy
and corrupt inwardly: therefore measure not thine ad-
vancements u by quantity, but fmme them by measure:
and defer not charities till death; for certainly, if a man
weigh it rightly, he that doth so is mther liberal of another
man's than of his own.
]rOTES A.A.D IYLLUSTRA TIONS.
P. 247, 1. 4- so sailh Salomon] Eccles. v. xx.
1. r 4. as Salomon saith] Prov. xviii, r r.
1. 17. greal riches bave sold &c.] Conf. :
'Sed plures nirnia congesta pecunia cura
Strangulat,' &c. Juvenal, x. xz-rS.
1. 22. as Cicero saith &c.] Not of Rabirius Posturnus, but of his
father. 'Fuit enirn, pueris nobis, hujus pater, C. Curius . . . cujus
in negotiis gerendis rnagnitudinern anirni non tanturn hornines pro-
bassent nisi in eodern benignitas incredibilis fuisset, ut in augenda re
a a great state] i.e. a great fortune.
Lat. divitiae tnagnae. Con£
' I'll give her rive hundred pound
more to ber marriage
Than ber own state.'
Ben Jonson, Alchemist, v. 5-
t ifhe be tot the better] i.e. if he be
hOt thoroughly well. For this use of
the comparative, conf. Essay 47, ' or
else that he be counted the honester
man,' and note on passage.
a Ihitte adzattcetttotIs] Lat. dona tua.
Conf. "The jointure and advancement
assured by the king of Scotland was
twothousand pounds ayear." Works,
ri. ar6. And, ' I conceive by this ad-
vancement, which first and last I have
left her, besides her own inheritance,
I bave marie her of competent abilities
to maintain the estate of a viscountess.'
Letters and Lire, vil 541. 'Women
who, having been advanced by their
husbands.' (Lat. ad terras promotae),
Works, vi. x6x.
5 ESSAY XXXIV.
non avaritiae praedam, sed instrumentum bonitati quaerere videretur.'
Pro C. Rabirio Postumo, cap. 2.
1. 25. Salomon] Prov. xxviii. 2o. Quoted also in Advancement
of Learning, Works, iii. 276.
1. 6. Thepoetsfdgn &c.] The reference seems to be to Lucian's
Timon, § 2o :--
EPM. FlpoîolV , I-Ioîrr. 'i 'o'o; roo'Kdt; "A.0¢ts/,
o, -v), Fo à)Jà ra. XO),
IIAOYT. Or à robro, /, 'Ep/Ç, à]k)' rrrnu IZlV rto rrap rwa
HAOYT. 'Epoiov o9 rlv "Epç, cal oxi oi @avo «oi
The words vhich follow explain at lenTh that it is of' the course
of inheritance, testaments and the like' that Plutus is here speang.
P. 28, I. o. hot imwcent ; for &c.] Con£ Essay , of Expense :
' Riches are for spending, and spending for honour and good actions.'
1. . It a,as tru obseed &c.] ' Lampon, the rich merchant and
shipmaster, being demanded how he got his goods : "Ma W (quoth he)
my greatest wealth I gained soone and vith ease, but my smaller
estate with exceeding much paine and slowly."' Plutarch's Morals,
'That aged men ought to govem the common-wealth.' Holland's
Translation, p. 319 .
P. 249,1.6. choingofbargabs] Con£ note on enossing, Esy 5-
1. o. Usury] For Bacon's ews on Usuw, con£ Essay 4, and
notes. It 11 be obseed that in this passage Bacon endoroes
several of the 'witty invectives' which he quotes thout endor-
ment in the Essay on Usury.
P. 250, I. L lie true locian] ' Dialecticae paes duae sunt, Inventio
et udicium.' P. Ramus, Dialectica, lib. i. cap. . Bacon adopts
this division and adds to it : 'Artes Logicae quatuor numero sunt :
disae ex finibus suis in quos tendunt. Id enim agit homo in
Rationalibus, aut ut inveniat quod quaesiverit: aut judicet quod
invenerit; ut retineat quod judicaverit; aut tradat quod retinuefit.
Necesse igitur est ut totidem sint Aes Rationales : s inquisitionis
seuinventionis; Ars examinis seu judicii; Ars custodiae seu me-
moriae, et Ars elocutionis seu traditionis.' Works, i. p.
1. 5. fishing for testaments] Con£ in Bacon's memoranda:
' Applieng my self to be inward w h my Ld. Dorsett, per Champners
ad utilit, testam.' Letters and Life, iv. 77-
1. t6. Tacitus saith &c.] Tacitus does hot say this of Senec
OF RICHES. 253
He reports it as having been said by Publius Suillius and by others.
Vide Armais, xiii. 4 .
P..51, l. io. like sacrifices wi//outsal/&c.] Conf. Bacon's 'Advice to the
King touching Sutton's Estate,' with special reference to his founda-
tion ofthe Charterhouse : ' I find it a positive precept ofthe old laxv,
that there should be no sacrifice without sait . . . This cometh into
my mind upon tbis act of M r. Sutton, which seemeth to me as a
sacrifice without sait, having the materials of a good intention, but
not powdered with any such ordinances and institutions as may
preserve the saine from turning eorrupt, or at the least from
becoming unsavoury and of little use.' Letters and Life, iv. 249.
The passage in the Essay seems to be introduced by Bacon as a
defensive reference to his own attempt to get Sutton's will set aside,
and the whole property placed at the disposal of the King. The
main facts of the case are given in Letters and Life, iv. 247, e! seqq.
Sutton died on Dec. i2, 161i. He had been long preparing to give
eflbct to a plan for bestowing the bulk of his great fortune on some
great public charity. Bacon had been aware of this some years
before Sutton's death, and had been busying himself about it. We
find in his private memoranda (i6o8), 'M «. to goe to my L. of
Canterbury and interteyn him in good conceyt touching Sutt. will,
and ye like to S T. jh. Bennett.' Letters and Life, iv. 53- Sutton
left, at his death, Dler alia, '8ooo lands a year to his college or
hospital at the Charterhouse (which is hot bestowed on the Prince,
as xvas given out). There is a school likewise for eight score
scholars, with ,i2o stipend for the school-master and other
provision for ushers.' This will, of which we learn further details
in a letter from Chamberlain to Carleton, Dec. 18, 1611, was dis-
puted by 'a certain tanner, pretending to be his heir at common law.
He was called to the Council table on Sunday, and there bound in
,IOO,OOO (if he do evict the willl to stand to the King's avard and
arbitrement.'
Bacon was one of the law officers appointed by the Prix" 3, Council
to hear and report on the case. His ' Letter ofAdvice to the King
touching Sutton's Estate' gives his views about it. They are xvhat
xve might expect from him in a cause in xvhich the Court had so dose
an interest. He declares against the policy of the will ; he is careful
to remind the King that the Charterhouse is 'a building fit for a
Prince's habitation;' and he suggests various other uses to which
the several bequests might be put, if the claim of the pretended heir-
at-law were upheld, and the whole matter thus submitted to the
King, 'whereby it is both in your poxver and grace xvhat to do.' He
advises no illegal interference, nothing that is not grounded upon a
right, but he gives plenty of reasons why it would be to the advantage
of the public, as it certainly would have been to the advantage of the
54 ESSAY XXXV.
King and Prince, that the will should not stand : and ail this xvhile
the whole case was still subjudic«.
It appears, from letters which Mr. Spedding does not quote, that
public opinion ran strongly in favour of Sutton's will, and that the
Court was believed to side strongly with the tanner. The will was
finally upheld.
' The case of Sutton's Hospital . . . is come almost to the upshot.
. . The four puisne judges began and went ail clearly for it, which,
I assure you, hath much revived the world.' Chamberlain to Carleton,
June IO, 16I 3.
'Yelverton is in speech to be solieitor... And some say
his pleading against the hospital is hOt the least cause of his prefer-
ment.' Chamberlain to Carleton, Oct. 14, 16I 3.
Yelverton got the place, and Bacon, who had been also engaged as
counsel against the will, was raised tobe Attorney-General. He had
well earned his promotion, by this and by his other services.
IO
XXXV.
OF PROPHECIES.
I ME,q hot to speak of divine prophecies, nor of heathen
oracles, nor of natural predictions"; but only of prophecies
that have been of certain memory, and from hidden causes.
Saith the Pythonissa to Saul, To-morrow l]tou attd thy son
shall be with »te. Homer hath these verses :-
Al domus Aeneae cuttcKs dominabitur oris,
Et nali nalorum, et qui nascenlur ab illis.
A prophecy as it seems of the Roman empire Seneca the
tragedian hath these verses :--,-
I/Cien! amtis
Saecula seris, quibs Oceanus
l;incula rerum laxet, el ingens
Pateat Tellus, T#,phisq,«e novos
Delegat orbes, nec sit terris
GTtima Thule :
natural predictions] i.e. forecasts from known data ; opposed to ' pro-
phecies from hidden causes.'
OF PROPHECIES. 255
a prophecy of the discovery of America. The daughter of
Polycrates dreamed that Jupiter bathed ber father, and
Apollo anointed him; and it came to pass that he was
crucified in an open place, where the sun ruade his body
run with sweat, and the rain washed it. Philip of Mace-
don dreamed he sealed up his wife's belly; whereby he
did expound it that his wife should be barren ; but Ari-
stander the soothsayer told him his wife was with child,
because men do not use to seal vessels that are empty.
A phantasm that appeared to M. Brutus in his tent said to ,o
him, Philippis iterum me videbis. Tiberius said to Galba,
Tct qnoque, Galba, degustabis hnperium. In Vespasian's
rime there went a prophecy in the East, that those that
should corne forth of Judea should reign over the world ;
which though it may be was meant of our Saviour, yet
Tacitus expounds it of Vespasian. Domitian dreamed, the
night before he was slain, that a golden head was growing
out of the nape of his neck; and indeed the succession
that followed him for many years made golden rimes.
Henry the Sixth of England said of Henry the Seventh, 2o
when he was a lad and gave him water, This is the lad
that shall enjoy tlce crown for which we sh-ive. When I
was in France, I heard from one Dr. Pena that the queen
mother, who was given to curious arts, caused the king
her husband's nativity to be calculated under a false name ;
and the astrologer gave a judgment that he should be
killed in a duel ; at which the queen laughed, thinking her
husband to be above challenges and duels; but he ,,vas
slain upon a course at tilt, the splinters of the staff of
Montgomery going in at his beaver. The trivial prophecy 3o
which I heard when I was a child, and Queen Elizabeth
was in the flower of her years, was,
Vlzen l,e»zpe is spu»,ne,
EÆzgland" s donc:
whereby it was generally conceived that after the princes
56 ESSAY XXXV.
had reigned which had the principial b letters of that word
hempe (which xvere Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and
Elizabeth), England should corne to utter confusion;
which, thanks be to God, is verified only in the change
of the naine; for that the king's style is now no more
of England, but of Britain. There was also another pro-
phecy before the year of eighty-eight, xvhich I do not well
understand.
There sizall be seen upon a day,
zo Between tlw Baugl and tlw 2llay,
Tiw black fleet of Norway.
Wten llat lhat is corne and gone,
ZTngland build Bouses of lime and s/one,
For afler zvars shall you bave none.
It was generally conceived to be meant of the Spanish
fleet that came in eighty-eight: for that the king of
Spain's surname, as they sa3, ' is Norvay. The prediction
of Regiomontanus,
Octogesimus octavus mira3ilis atours,
,o vas thotght likewise accomplished in the sending of that
great fleet, being the greatest in strength, though hot in
number, of ail that ever swam upon the sea. As for
Ceon's dream, I think it was a jest; it was, that he was
devoured of a long dragon: and it was expounded of a
maker of sausages, that troubled him exceedingly. There
are numbers of the like kind; especially if you include
dreams, and predictions of astrology: but I have set down
these few only of certain credit, for example. My judg-
ment is, that they ought ail to be despised, and ought to
3o serve but for winter talk by the fireside: though when I
say despised, I mean il as for belief; for otherwise, the
» prlncipial] i.e. initial. I have not
round the word in use elsewhere.
Bacon has a word ' principiation,' also
I think of his own coining. Conf.
' Separation is of three sorts... The
third is the separating of any metal
into his original, or maleria prfma, or
element, or call them what you will :
which work we will call prind2iation.'
Works, iii. 8 L
OF PROPHECIES. 257
spreading or publishing of them is in no sort to be de-
spised, for they have donc much mischief; and I sec many
severe laws ruade to suppress them. That that hath given
them grace, and some credit, consisteth in three things.
First, that men mark when they hit, and never mark when
they miss; as they do generally also of dreams. The
second is, that probable conjectures or obscure traditions
many times turn themselves into prophecies; while the
nature of man, which coveteth divination, thinks it no
peril to foretell that which indeed they do but collecte: ,,
as that of Seneca's verse; for so much was then subject
to demonstration, that the globe of the earth had great
parts beyond the Atlantic, which might be probably con-
ceived not to be ail sea: and adding thereto the tradition
in Plato's Timaeus, and his Atlanticus, it might encourage
one to turn it to a prediction. The third and last (which
is the great one)is, that almost all of them, being infinite
in number, have been impostures, and by idle and crafty
brains merely « contrived and feigned, after the event past.
IVOTES .,4.A'.D ILLUSTRA TIONS.
P. 2.54, 1. 4- Sailh/he Pg'/ho»issa] This is the word used in the
Vulgate about the witeh whom Saul eonsulted.
' Mortuus est ergo Saul propret iniquitates suas, e6 quod praevari-
eatus sit rnandatum Domini et non eustodierit illud, sed insuper etiam
Pythonissarn eonsuluerit.' I Chron. x. x 3.
In the story itself she is deseribed as 'roulier pythonem habens.'
'Dixitque Saul servis suis: Quaerite mihi rnulierern habentem
pyRaonem, et vadarn ad eam et sciseitabor per illam. Et dixerunt
servi ejus ad eum : Est roulier pythonem habens in Endor.' I Sain.
XXVH. 7-
In the next verse Saul bids ber ' divina mihi in pythone.' Python
is the naine of the serpent said to have been killed by Apollo. It is
used also as a naine of Apollo himself, as god of divination ; as a
rollcct] i.e. infer. ' lIen begin in.' Letters and Life, ri. 34-
already to collect, yea and to conclude, d merely] i.e. wholly. Conf. ' points
that he that raiseth such a srnoke to hot merely of faith.' Essay 3» and
get in, will set ail on tire when ge is passim.
58 ESSAY XXXV.
name of the spirit which he inspired, and as a name of the inspired
man. Con£ 2 Kings xxiii. 24, ' Sed et pythones et ariolos et figuras
ldolorum . . . abstulit Josias.' In this last sense the man is called
python, the woman pythonissa. Its use in the Vulgate marks a
belief in the identity of heathen gods and devils.
Bacon, it will be observed, attributes the prophecy not to the spirit
of Samuel but to the witch. In the LXX. the equivalent word to
Pythonissa is 'yao'rpil, tvOo. In late Greek ventriloquists were
termed rrOtov« and vOrto'o'tlt. Are we to conclude that Bacon held
that the spirit of Samuel was not raised, but that a cheat was
practised on Saul helped out by ventriloquism; or is it a mere
inaccuracy ?
1. 5. l-lomer bath &c.] l'ide Virgil, Aen. iii. 97, 98. As far as
these verses are a prophecy of the Roman Empire they are a
prophecy after the event. Homer says only--
Ka't rraov ra'te, 'o tev pï'6rrtrOe vvrat.
Il. xx. 3o7, 3o8.
1. 8. Seneca] l'ide Medea, act il. 374-379- Conf. Hakluyt:
« Howbeit it cannot be denied but that Antiquitie had some kind of
dimme glimpse and unperfect notion thereof, (i. e. of the nev wodd).
"vVhich may appear by the relation of Plato in his two worthy
dialogues of Timaeus and Critias under the discourse of that mighty
large yland called by him Atlantis, lying in the Ocean Sea without
the Streight of Hercules . . . being (as he there reporteth) bigger
than Africa and Asia... And Seneca in his tragedie intituled
Medea foretold above 15oo yeeres past, that in the later ages the
Ocean would discover nev worlds, and that the yle of Thule would
no more be the uttermost limit of the earth.' Epistle Dedicatory to
3rd vol. of Voyages (edition of 181o in 5 vols.).
Also, ' Plato in Timaeo and in the Dialogue called Critias dis-
courseth of an incomparable large Iland then called Atlantis, being
greater than all Affrike and Asia . . . so that in these our dayes
there can no other mayne or islande be found or judged to be
parcell of this Atlantis, then those "vVesterne Islands which beare
now the naine of America.' Discourse by Sir Humphrey Gilbert,
Hakluyt, iii. 33-
Conf. also Acosta, Historie of the East and Vest Indies : « Many
hold opinion that $eneca the Tragedian did prophecie of the
West Indies in his Tragedie of Medea which translated saith thus'
(a translation of the verses follows)--' the which we see plainly now
accomplished .... But therein may a question with reason be ruade
whether Seneca spake this by divination or poetically and by chance.
I believe he did divine after the manner of wise men and well
advised.' )xfter various answers suggested to the question, Acosta
OF PROPHECIES. 259
cornes to the conclusion that 'Seneca did conjecture this.' Lib. i.
cap. ii (trans. I6o4).
P. 255, 1. I. The daughter of Polycrales dreamed &c.] This well-known
story is told by Herodotus, iii. I24, I25. Bacon is inaccurate in some of
the minor details. The dream was hOt that Apollo anointed him, but
6o;««O«L (rrb ro ;ov. He was not crucified, but was first put to
death, and then hung upon a cross: ¢Xpi«ro
abr ro oo ln68a. Peucer, in his De Divinatione ex 5omniis,
mentions this dream and its fulfilment, accurately.
1. 5. hilip of J[acedon] This story is told, among others, by
Plutarch in his life ofAlexander the Great : ' King Philip... shonly
after he w maried, dreamed that he did seale his ves belly, and
that the seale whereth he sealed leti behind the print of a
Lion. Certaine wizards and othsayers told Philip that this dreame
gave him warning to looke straightly to his wife. But Aristander
Telmesian answered againe that it signified his wife was conceived
with child, for that they do hot seale a vessell that bath nothing in it :
and that she was with child with a boy, which should bave a Lions
hean.' Plutarch, Lires, p. 673.
1. io. M plmntasm &c.] ' He (Brutus) thought he heard one corne
in to him, and casting his eye towards the dre ofhis tent, that he saw a
wonderfull straunge and monstrous shape ofa bodie comming towards
him and sayd never a word. So Brutus boldly asked him what he was.
... The spifit answered him, " I ara thy evill spirit, Brutus : d thou
shalt see me by the citie of Philippes." Brutus being no othevise
afraid, replied aine unto it : "Well then I shall see thee againe."'
Plutarch, Life of Brutus, Noh's translation, p.
Conf. also: Mioa ô «pçv g r 'Aiaç
,X{o,. cal dç0u«{ çaow a pb rÇ, r«h«vr«iar #fiXÇ. Appian De
Bello Civili, iv. z34.
Peucer, in his De Divinatione ex Somniis, mentions this dream:
'Tuus ego sure Brute «a«a#u malus genius, in Philippis me
videbis.'
!. xz. Tiberh«s mM] ' Non omiserim praegium Tiberii de Se'io
Galba tutu consule; quem, accitum et diversis sermonibus peen-
tatum, postremo Graecis verbis in hanc sententiam adlocutus "et tu,
Galba, quandoque destabis impe6um "seram ac brevem potentiam
significans, scientia Chaldaeorum ais,' &c. Ann. . 20.
Suetonius ascribes the prophecy to Austus, hot to Tiberius:
«Constat Augustum pero adhuc salutanti se inter aequales, adpre-
hensa buccula, dixisse, xal « rxuou rÇ, dpXÇ* Ç# aparpB. Sed et
Tiberius, quum comperisset imperatum eum vem in senecta:
6o ESSAY XXXV.
"Vivat sane," ait, "quando id ad nos nlhil pertinet."' Lire of Galba,
cap. iv. '
1. 12. In Iéspasian's ti»ne] Tb i rrfipm, aro (ro 'lovalov)
doS«tX$1ro* ¢i 'loval« ao«ropo. Jo$ephus, De Bello Jud. . 5-
So too Tacims: 'Pluribus persuasio inerat antiquis sacerdotum
litteris contineri eo ipso temre fore ut valesceret Oriens, profec-
tique Judaea rerum potirentur, quae ambages Vespium ac Titum
praedixerat.' Tac. Hist. v. 13.
And Suetonius: 'Percrebuerat Oriente toto vetus et constans
opinio : esse in fatis ut eo tempore Judaea profecti rerum potirentur.
Id de Imperatore Romano, quantum eventu postea praedictum paruit,
Judaei ad se trahentes, rebellarunt.' Life of Vespasian, cap. iv.
1. 16. Domitian dreamed] 'Ipsum etiam Domitianum feint
$omniasse, gibbam sibi porte ceicem auream enatam : pro ceoque
habuisse beatiorem post se laetioremque poendi reipublicae statum.
Sicut sane bre evenit abstinentia et moderatione insequentium
Principum.' Suetonius, Life of Domitian, cap. 23, concluding words.
The story is told also in the Advancement of Learning. Vorks,
iii. p. 303.
I. o. Hen O, the S, Mh of England &c.] Conf. Bacon's Histo of
King Hen Vil: ' One day when King Hen the Sixth (whose
innocency gave him holiness) was washing his hands at a great feast,
and cast his eye upon King Hen, then a young youth, he sd:
"This is the lad that shall possess quietly that that we nov strive
for."' Works, . 245.
Bacon bas here followed Bernard Andre's account: 'Henco
Sexto quidam die cum proceribus et optimafibus rei conqum
amplissimum agente, idem rex inter lavandum manus, comite Riche-
mundiae accito, praedixerat illum aliquando regni bernacula
suscepturum, omniaque manu su lut nunc videmus feliciter possidet)
habiturum.' Bernardi Andreae Vita Henfici Vil. p. 14 (edition of
858, by Gairdner).
Hall tells the sto somewhat differently, and with a more distinct
touch of the maellous : 'In this season Jasper efle of Penbroke
vent into Vales to visit his countie of Penbroke, where he found
lord Hen, sonne to his brother Edmond Erle of Richmond, hang
not fully ten yeres of his age complete . . . Jasper ede of Penbroke
toke this child befing his nephew out of the custodie of the Lady
Harbert, and at his return he brought the childe to London to King
Hen the sixte, whom when the kyng had a good space by himself
secretly beholden and marked, both his àt and his kely towardnes,
OF PROPHECIES. 6
he said to such princes as were then with him : "Lo surely this is he,
to whom both we and our adversaries levying the possession of ail
thynges, shall hereafter geve rome and place. » So this holy man
shewed before the chaunce that should happen.' Hall's Chronicle,
p. B 7 (edition i8o9).
Holinshed, who gives Hall's Chronicle in his list of authorities,
repeats Iqall's version in almost the saine words. Chronicle, vol. iii.
p. 3o2 (edition of t8o81.
Shakespeare, with the licence of a poet, amplifies the story still
further and varies the place and circumstances :--
'l'ingI-Ietry. My lord of Somerset, what youth is that
Of whom you seem to bave so tender care ?
Soin. My liege, it is young Henry, Earl of Richmond.
Kingtt. Corne hither, England's hope: if secret powers
Suggest but truth to my divining thoughts,
This pretty lad will prove out country's bliss.
His looks are full of peaceful majesty,
His head by nature framed to wear a crown,
His hand to wield a sceptre; and himself
Likely in rime to bless a regal throne,' &c.
King Henry VI, Part III, iv. 6.
He refers to it again in his accourir of Henry's dreams on the eve
of the battle of Bosworth :--
' Ghost of Ix'ing Hnry the Si.rth rises :--
Virtuous and holy, be thou conqueror;
Harry, that prophesied thou shouldst be king
Doth comfort thee in thy sleep; lire and flourish.'
King Richard III, v. 3.
Bacon says that, partly on account of this prediction and of the
holiness which it was supposed to imply, Henry VII tried to induce
Pope Julius to canonize Henry VI for a saint. The attempt did not
succeed ; because, as Bacon believed, the Pope, ' knowing that King
Henry VI was reputed in the world abroad but for a simple man,
was afraid it would but diminish the estimation of that kind of
honour, if there were not a distance kept between innocents and
saints.' Works, ri. 233.
It was a ' natural prediction' in any case. Henry was in the direct
succession on the Lancastrian side. He had just been freed from the
custody in which he had been kept, as such. Edward IV, who was
neither prophet nor saint, did his best, some years afterwards, to get
him out of the hands of the Duke of Brittany and to put him to death,
so troubled was he at the thought of the young earl's title, and so
unsafe did he feel xvhile this rival claimant was alive.
1. 2. llTen I was in France, &c.] Bayle has an interesting
262 ESSAY XXXV.
note on this and on various other prophecies uttered about Henry I I
and his brother the Duke of Orleans. The story told to Bacon is
there shown to have been of anything but ' certain memory.' Pro-
phecies there were in abundance about the King, but no such
prophecy as that in the text, and no one which xvas even approxi-
mately fulfilled. The story in the text was, in Bayle's opinion, not
told at ail until after the event, and even then with discrediting
variations. Dictionary, sub lit. Henry II.
P. 2.56, I. IO. Between the Baugh and lice May] Probably betxveen the
Bass Rock and the Isle of May, in the Firth of Forth. Some ships
of the Armada were driven thither in I588. This explanation is
given in Mr. Aldis Wright's edition of the Essays. I can find no
authority for the statement that 'the King of Spain's surname, as
they say, is Nolvay.'
I. 17. The prediclion of Regiomonlamts] This it can hardly be
ealled. The history of the prediction is as follows. John Muller
of K6nigsberg, thenee ealled Regiomontanus, at some rime shortly
before his death in i47o, is said to have written four lines in German
tbretelling great revolutions in i588. These lines Gaspar Brusehius
iatinized in i553 and so enlarged them and altered them from their
original sense as to make a wholly new prediction froln them. Baeon
is quoting therefore, hot from the prediction of Regiomontanus, but
from the latinized version of Bruschius. Eight lines, of which the
line in the text forms one, are given in Bayle's Dietionary, sub lit.
Stoflër, as the work of Brusehius :-
'Post mille expletos partu virginis annos,
Et post quingentos rursus ab axe datos,
Octogesimus oetavus mirabilis annus
Ingruet, et seeurn tristia fata trahet.
Si non hoe anno totus rnale coneidet orbis,
Si non in nihilum terra fretumque ruat:
Cuncta tamen mundi sursum ibunt atque deorsum
Imperia, et luctus undique grandis erit.'
It is hOt certain that we bave, even so, the eomplete version. De
Thou says that the events were fixed to happen in the rime of one
Sextus, of whom the eight lines say nothing. He speaks of the
original four lines as accessible in his day, but he does hOt say what
they were. It is hot easy to sec how the above predietion ean be
thought to have been aceomplished in the sending of the Spanish
Armada. De Thou, a firm believer in astrologieal science, finds
something of an aeeomplishment for it in the turn which might have
been taken by the events of the year in France, and in various
portents which actually did happen. His aeeount of the whole
aflhir is, ' Hic annus (i588) non furibundis rature voeibus, sed eertis
OF PROPHECIES.
mathematicorum praedicationibus ubique mirabilis, praecipue apud
nos funestus fuit regno florentissimo . . . paene everso. Joannes
Mullerus, a cognomine in Franconia oppido Reg]omontanus dictus,
secundum Ptolemaeum omnium qui nobilissimas bas artes tractarunt
doctissimus, diù ante id praemonuerat quatuor versibus seu rhythmis
vernaculA linguA exaratis, qui in Castellensi superioris Norici coenobio
hodie ieguntur, ante xxxv annos a Gaspare Bruschio Egrano . . .
publicati: quos cure iile interpretaretur (quod mihi mirari saepius
subiit) quanquam minime iinguae suae ignarus, tamen dum verba
Germanica aliter quam scripta erant latinè reddit, vaticinium Regio-
montani iongè alio maiore cumulavit, si quidem id quod ab illo
praedictum erat sub Sexto quodam eventurum tradit ... Regiomon-
tanus autem, ut de tanto viro obiter aliquid dicam, anno salutis
CI»CCCCLXX Romae decessit ... Hujus talis tantique viri de hoc
anno praedictiones postea Joannes Stoflerus Justingensis confirmavit
et post eum alii.' Conf. Thuani Historiae, cap. xc. sub iJ,it., and Bayle,
sub lift. Bruschius and Stofler.
1.22. As for Cleon's dream] The reference is to the Knights,
x97 et seq. :--
This, however, was not a dream of Cleon's, but an oracle stolen
from him by Nicias. It says nothing about his being devoured
by a dragon. It was expounded of a maker of sausages, but hot in
Cieon's presence, that it was hot its exposition that troubled him,
but its threatened fuifiiment, towards the end of the play, in the
sense in which he himself understood it. Bacon, feeling his way in
the dark, says with his usual caution, ' I think it was a jest.'
P. 257, i. 2. I see many severe laws ruade &c.] e.g. Henry VIII,
cap. 14 ; 3 & 4 Edward VI, cap. 5 ; 5 Elizabeth, cap. 15 ; z 3 Elizabeth,
cap. 2; ail of which are severe iaws made against fond and phantas-
tical prophecies. The act of 5 Elizabeth ordains a fine of [IO and
one ycar's imprisonment for the first offence, and the forfeiture of ail
goods and imprisonment for iife for the second offence in the case of
those who endeavour by these means ' to make rebellion, insurrection,
dissension, loss of iife or other disturbance within this reaim.'
The act of 23 Eiizabeth makes it felony ' if any peton by any fire,
casting of natity or by calculation prophesy)ng tchcraft conjura-
tion, &c., seek to know and shall set forth by writing how long the
Queen shali lire or who shall reign after ber death or shail utter any
prophecies to any such intent.'
i. 5. men mark a,hen thoE hit] Conf. 'J'en veoy qui estudient et
264 ESSAY XXXVI.
glosent leurs almanacs, et nous en alleguent l'auctorité aux choses
qui se passent. A tant dirè, il fault qu'ils disent et la verité et le
mensogne: quis est enim qui totum diem jaculans non aliquando
conlineet ? Je ne les estime de rien mieulx pour les veoir tumber en
quelque rencontre, . . . Joinct que personne ne tient registre de
leurs mescontes, d'autant qu'ils sont ordinaires et infinis.' Montaigne,
Essays, bk. i. chap. ii.
l. 14. lhe lradilioiz i Plalo's &c.] i.e. the tradition that there had
been a huge island, called Atlantis, lying to the west, just outside the
pillars of Hercules, and larger in extent than Asia and Libya
together. From this island there was a passage possible to other
islands and thence to the solid continent on the shores of the true
Ocean, i.e. of the Atlantic Ocean. The island ofAtlantis had been
swallowed up by an earthquake. The solid continent remained, so
that in Plato's tale ' the globe of the earth had great parts beyond the
Atlantic, not ail sea.' Timaeus, p. 24, E. In the Critias, called by
Bacon in the text the Atlanticus, (a title given as an alternative in
some early editions of Plato ; e. g. in Henry Stephen's Greek and Latin
fi»lio of I578}, there is a long detailed account of the lost island of
Atlantis and of its inhabitants and laws.
XXXVI.
OF AMBITION..
,IIBITION iS like choler, which is an humour that maketh
men active, earnest, full of alacrity, and stirring, if it be not
stopped: but if it be stopped and cannot have his way, it
becometh adust a, and thereby malign and venomous. So
ambitious men, if they find the way open for their rising
and still get forward, they are rather busy than dangerous ;
but if they be checked in their desires, they become
secretly discontent, and look upon men and matters with
an evil eye, and are best pleased when things go back-
ward ; which is the worst property in a servant of a prince
or state. Therefore it is good for princes, if they use
adt«st] Explained in Bullokar's doth neither melt nor scorch ... doth
English Expositoras'burnt, scorched.' mellow and not adure.' Works, il.
Conf. ' Such a degree of heat which 446.
OF AMBITION.
65
ambitious men, to handle it so as they be still progressive
and not retrograde ; which, because it cannot be without
inconvenience, it is good hOt to use such natures at all;
for if they rise not with their service, they will take order
to make their service fall with them. But since we have
said it were good not to use men of ambitious natures, ex-
cept it be upon necessity, itis fit we speak in what cases
they are of necessity. Good commanders in the wars must
be taken, be they never so ambitious ; for the use of their
serTice dispenseth with b the rest: and to take a soldier ,o
without ambition is to pull off his spurs. There is also
great use of ambitious men in being screens to princes in
matters of danger and envy; for no man will take that
part except he be like a seeled dove c, that mounts and
mounts because he cannot see about him. There is use
also of ambitious men in pulling down the greatness of
any subject that overtops ; as Tiberius used Macro in the
pulling down of Sejanus. Since therefore they must be
used in such cases, there resteth to speak how they are
to be bridled that they may be less dangerous. There is --o
less danger of them if they be of mean birth than if they
be noble; and if they be rather harsh of nature than
gracious and popular; and if they be rather new raised
than grown cunning and fortified in their greatness. It is
counted by some a weakness in princes to bave favourites ;
but it is, of ail others, the best a remedy against ambitious
great ones; for when the way of pleasuring and dis-
pleasuring lieth by the favourite, it is impossible any
b dispensetlz u4th] i.e. excuses, or
compensates for. Lat. cactcra comp¢n-
sat. Eithersensewillsuitthe text. Conf.
' To sav¢ a brother's life
Nature dispenses with the deed.'
Meaure for Meaure, act iii. sc. I.
And, ' One loving hour
For many years of sorrow can
dispense.'
Fairy Queen, bk. i. canto 3- st.
a seeled dove] i.e. a dove with the
eyelids sewn up. Lat. instarcolumbat
occaecatae. Notes and Illustrations,
p. 6-/.
of all otltets 1 best] i.e. better
than any others. For this frequent
Graecism, conf. ' Heresies and
schisms are of ail others the greatcst
sondais.' Essay 3-
266 ESSAY XXXVI.
other should be over great. Another means to curb them
is to balance them by others as proud as they: but then
there must be some middle counsellors « to keep things
steady; for without that ballast the ship will roll too much.
At the least, a prince may animate and inure some meaner
persons to be as it were scourges to ambitious men. As
for the having of them obnoxious toi ruin, if they be of
fearful natures it may do well ; but if they be stout and
daring, it may precipitate their designs and prove dan-
,o gerous. As for the pulling of them down, if the affairs
require it, and that it may hOt be doneg with safety sud-
denly, the only way is the interchange continually of
favours and disgraces, whereby they may hot know what
to expect, and be as it were in a wood. Of ambitions, it
is less harmful the ambition to prevail in great things, than
that other to appear in everything; for that breeds con-
fusion and mars business : but yet it is less danger to bave
an ambitious man stirring in business than great in de-
pendencies '. He that seeketh to be eminent amongst able
2omen bath a great task; but that is ever good for the
public: but he that plots to be the only figure amongst
ciphers is the decay of an whole age. Honour bath three
things in it : the vantage ground to do good ; the approach
to kings and principal persons ; and the raising of a man's
o some middle counsdlors &c.] The
Latin gives this more fully and clearly.
Std tutu opus est consiiiarii$ aliquibu$
modo'atorib:t*, qui Oartes mtdia*
h-neant.
t obnoxious toi i.e. somewhat under
the influence of, or in the power of;
hence, exposed to ; in danger of.
Lat. ut ae n«inae ibroximos ibutent.
Conf. 'Obnoxious to h for his
favou and benefi.' Wor, . 64,
and Mr. Speddinds note on word.
* and that it may hot be dont]
frequent fore. Conf. e.g. ' though
your jouey be but a long
and that your Majesty shall be still
within your own land,' &c. Letlers
and Lift, ri. x39.
h great in dtpcndencies] Lat. qui
gratid et ditntelis lolla. So Bacon, in
his Apolog'y concerning the Earl of
Essex, says, I always vehemently
dissuaded him from seeking greatness
by a military dependance, or by a
popular dependance, as that which
would breed in the Queen jealousy, in
himself presumption, and in the State
perturbation.' Letters and Life iii.
I45-
OF AMBITION. 267
own fortunes. He that hath the best of these intentions
when he aspireth is an honest man ; and that prince that
can discern of these intentions in another that aspireth is
a wise prince. Generally, let princes and states choose
such ministers as are more sensible of duty than of rising,
and such as love business rather upon conscience than
upon braveryi; and let them discern a busy nature from
a willing mind.
.2V'O TES AIVD iLLUSTRA TIOIVS.
P. 265, 1. 12. in being scree,s go rinces &c.] Conf. Bacon's Advice to
Villiers: 'Kings and great princes, even the wisest of them, have
had their friends, their favourites, their privadoes .... Of these they
make several uses : sometimes.., to interpose them between them-
selves and the envy or malice of their people ; for kings cannot err :
that must be discharged upon the shoulders of their ministers ; and
they who are nearest unto them must be content to bear the greatest
load.' Letters and Life, ri. 27. And, 'Expostulantibus quibusdam,
quod honore dignaretur, ceterisque proeferret, hominem improbum
ac civibus invisum: Volo, inquit, esse quem me magis oderint.
Agnovit ingenium multitudinis; si sit in quem invidiam odiumque
derivent, mitiores sunt in principem.' Erasmus, Apophthegmata,
sub tit. Dionysius.
1. 14. a seeled dove] Conf. ' Now she brought him to see a seeled
Dove, who the blinder she was, the higher she strave.' Sidney's
Arcadia, lib. i. p. 55 (4 th ed. i63).
The process of seeling is fully described in the ' St. Alban's Booke
of hauking, huntyng, and fysshyng.' Conf. ' How ye shal demeane
you in ta "king of hawkes, &c.--Who will take hawkes he must have
nettes . . . and he must take with him nedle and threede to ensyle
the hawkes that bene taken. And in this marier they must be
ensyled. Take the nedle and threde and put it through the over
eyelid and so of that other, and make them fast under the becke that
she se not. Then she is ensyled as she ought to be."
Conf. also George Turbervile. Booke of Falconrie, p. 88 {printed by
Thomas Purfoot, 6i}, How to seele a Sparow hawke, &c.: 'A
Sparow hawke newly taken should be thus used; take a needle
threeded with untxvisted thread, and {casting your hawke) take her
by the beake and put the needle through her eyelidde,' &c. &c., the
end of the operation to be ' that the hawke may see not at ail.'
upon bratr] Lat. r ostentatione. Italian, per far »nostra.
:Z68 ESSAY XXXVII.
Some lines of Denham in the Sophy seem to have been suggested
by the passage in the Essay.
'Kç loq. Since blinded with ambition he did soar
Like a seel'd dove, his crime shall be his punishment,
To be deprived of sight.' Act iii. sc. i.
l. t 7. as Tiberius used 3lacro] Dio Cassius (lib. lviii, cap. 9) says
that Tiberius, when he thought the rime ripe for dealing a final blow
at Sejanus, sent Macro to Rome to take command of the praetorian
guards, and dth letters to the Senate and private instructions telling
him what he was to do to help on the main plot. These instructions
Macro carried out.
P. 266,1.2L l/te onlyfi.gure amongslciphers &c.] This is a charge xvhich
Bacon lays against the Cecils, and ofxvhich he believed himself to have
been the victim. Confi ' In the rime of the Cecils, the father and the
son, able men were by design and of purpose suppressed.' Letters
and Lire, ri. 6. Just after the death of the Earl of Salisbury, he writes
to the King urging his own virtues and just claims to an advancement
which he had not obtained, but which he hopes to obtain--' now that
he is gone, quo viveule virl«libus cerlisshm«m exilium: Letters and
Life, iv. 282.
P. 267, 1. z isan ho»test»mn] This is an easy judgment. It reckons
honesty by intentions which may never have been carried out in act.
Bacon may, perhaps, be thought to have had his own case in mind.
In his eager strivings after office, it is not unlikely that, along with
his mere personal aims, there was some genuine desire'to gain a
vantage ground to do good,' or at least to pose before the world as a
great public benefactor, and that dating back to this motive, he was
able to please himselfwith the belief that he had been'an honest
man.'
XXXVII.
OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS a.
THESE things are but toys to corne amongst such serious
obseI'ations ; but yet, since princes will have such things,
it is better they should be graced with elegancy, than
daubed with cost. Dancing to song is a thing of great
state and pleasure. I understand it that the song be in
T*'umphs] i.e. Shoxvs ofsome magnificence. Sopam'm.
OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS. 269
quire, placed aloft and accompanied with some broken
musicb; and the ditty fitted to the device c. Acting in
song, especially in dialogues, hath an extreme good grace ;
I say acting, hot dancing a {for that is a mean and vulgar
thing}; and the voices of the dialogue would be « strong
and manly (a base and a tenor, no treble}, and the ditty
high and tragical, not nice or dainty. Several quires
placed one over against another, and taking the voice by
catches anthem-wise, give great pleasure. Turning dances
into figure is a childish curiosity; and generally, let it be io
noted that those things which I here set down are such as
do naturally take the sense, and not respect petty wonder-
ments. It is true the alterations of scenes, so it be quietly
and without noise, are thiags of great beauty and pleasure ;
for they feed and relieve the eye before it be full of the
same object. Let the scenes
coloured and varied; and let
b broken music] Broken music
means what we now terrn 'a string
band.' The terrn originated probably
from harps, lutes, and such othcr
stringed instruments as were played
without a bow, hot havlng the capa-
bility to sustain a long note to its full
duration of rime. Chappell's Ballad
Literature and Popular Music, vol i.
246, note c, on a passage quoted from
Richard Braithwait, distinguishing
between Sackbuts, Cornets, Shawms,
and ' such other instruments going with
wind,' and 'Viols, Violins or other
brok musicke.'
© tle ditty fltt«d to tie device] i.e.
the words of the song fitted to the
general plot or plan of the Masque.
Of' ditty' the words as distinguished
from the music, we bave the clearest
instance in Hooker's Ecclesiastical
Polity, bk. v. chap. 3 8. sec.
that, although we lay altogether aside
the eonsideration of ditty or matter
the ver T harmony of sounds being
framed in due sort and carried from
the car to the spiritual faculties of our
abound with light specially
the masquers, or any other
souls, is... able both to move and to
moderate ail affections." For ' device,'
conf. Kenilworth Festivities (I825,
Part il. pp. 28, 29, being a reprint
of Gascoigne's Princely Pleasures at
Kenilworth, 15-/5 : ' The device ofthe
Lady of the Lake was also by Master
Hannis, and surely if it had been
executed according to the first inven-
tion it had been a gallant shew, for, &c.
And now you have as much as I could
remember of the devices executed
there; the Coventry shew excepted
and the merry marriage.' Conf. also,
Beaumont and Fletcher, the Masque
of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn,
the heading of which is ' The Device
or Argument' giving the plot of thc
Masque.
,t hot dandng] i. e. the dancer is not
himself to sing. Dancing 'in song'
is what Bacon condemns, ' dancing to
song,' i.e. to the song and music of
others, he has just before approved
as a thing of great state and plea-
sur.
o would bel i.e. ought to be.
7o ESSAY XXXVII.
that are to corne doxvn from the scene, have some motions
upon the scene itself before their coming down; for it
draws the eye strangely, and makes it with great pleasure
to desire to see that it cannot perfectly discern. Let the
songs be loud and cheerful, and hOt chirpings or pulings :
let the music likewise be sharp and loud and well placed.
The colours that shoxv best by candlelight are white, car-
nation, and a kind of sea-water green ; and oes e or spangs,
as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory.
As for rich embroidery, it is lost and not discerned. Let
the suits of the masquers be graceful, and such as become
the person when the vizors are off; not after examples of
known attires; Turks, soldiers, mariners, and the like.
Let anti-masq'ues g not be long ; they bave been commonly
of fools, satyrs, baboons, wild men, antics h, beasts, sprites,
witches, Ethiopes, pigmies, turquets i, nymphs, rustics,
t oes] Explained by thewordswhich
follow, and = round spangles or
'spangs,' a name given from their
shape, like that of the letter O. Conf.
' In the seventeenth year of her reign,
he showed that a patent was first
granted to Robert Sharp to make
Spangles and Oes of gold.' D'Ewes,
Journals of Queen Elizabeth's Parlia-
ments, p. 650 (ed. x682).
' Fait Helefia; who more engilds
the night
Than ail yon fiery oes and eyes
of gold.'
lIidsummer Night's Dream, iii. a.
g anti-masques] A word variously
explained; as (x) a performance op-
posed to the principal masque, being
of a lower character, and having a
distinct independent plot: (a) as a
mistaken spelling for ante-masque, or
introduction to the main performance ;
(3) as a hurried pronunciation of the
full form. antic-masque. The examples
of it show that it was sometimes an
introduction, but more often an inter-
lude ; that it was aiways comic and
buffoonish ; and that it was generally,
but hot always, independent of the
main plot of the piece. In Ben
Jonson's Masque of Augurs, it is
twice called an antic-masque. ' NOTC
loq. "Sir, ail out request is, since we
are corne we may be admitted, if hot
for a masque for an antick masque."'
And again. ' GROOM. "But what has
ail this to do with out mask . " V^N-
çoosE. " Oh ! Sir, ail de better vor an
antick-mask ; de more absurd it be and
vrom de purpose, it be ever all de
better." ' We find examples of it in
Ben Jonson's Masque of Augurs; in
Time Vindicated ; in Neptune's
Triumph, &c., &c.
antics] Posture.mongers, buffoons.
Conf.
« Fear hot, my Lord ; we can contaln
ourselves
Were he the veriest antic in the
world.'
Taming ofthe Shrew, Induction, sc. x.
t turçuets] Probably a diminutive of
Turks, and fit therefore for an anti-
masque, as Turks for the masque itselfo
OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS.
Cupids, statuas moving, and the like. As for angels, it
is hOt comical enough to put them in anti-masques: and
anything that is hideous, as devils, giants, is on the other
side as unfit; but chiefly, let the music of them be recrea-
rive, and with some strange changes. Some sweet odours
suddenly coming forth, without any drops falling, are, in
such a company as there is steam and heat, things of great
pleasure and refreshment. Double masques, one of men
another of ladieg, addeth state and variety; but all is
nothing except the room be kept clear and neat.
For justs k and tourneys I and barriers m, the glories of
them are chiefly in the chariots, wherein the challengers
make their entry; especially if they be drawn with strange
beasts : as lions, bears, camels, and the like ; or in the de-
vices of their entrance, or in the bravery" of their liveries,
or in the goodly furniture of their horses and armour °.
But enough of these toys.
JrOTF,..Ç AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
P. 269, 1.9. Turning dances into figure &c.] There are several in-
stances of this in Ben Jonson's Masques at Court. Conf. e.g. in the
k justs] ' Justes, commeth of the
French ( Joustes. i. decursus) and signi-
fieth with us, contentions betweene
Maxtiall men by speares on horsbacke.'
Cowell's Interpreter, sub voce ' Justes.'
! tourneys] 'Turney(Torwamentum)
commeth of the French (Tourey. i.
DecursoHum) ... and as I bave
heard it signifieth with us in Eng|and
those combats that are ruade with
arming swords on horsebacke. And
I thinke the reason of the naine to
proceede from the French. Tourler. i.
crtere') because it consisteth much in
agilitie both of horse and man.'
Cowell's Interpreter, sub o«e « Tur-
ney.'
6arrrs] Barriers, commeth of
the French (barres and signifieth with
us that which the Frenchmen call (jeu
de barres, i. alaestram) a martial sport
or exercise of men, armed and fight-
ing together with short swords, within
certain limits or lists, whereby they
are severed from the beholders.'
Cowell's Interpreter, sub oce ' Bar-
riers.'
bravery] Fine appointmemt, showi-
ness. Conf. 'With scarfs and fans.
and double change of braver)t.' Taming
of the Shrew, iv. 3-
° furdture of tha'r horses and
armour] i. e. equipment. Conf. ' leither
x,as there anything more base and
dishonest in the course of their |ife
than to use furniture for horses (Lat.
ephippils uti )." Edmundes, Caesar,
Comment. bk. iv. cap. i. (.trans..
And, ' Sometimes also soldiers were
honoured with other gifts, as crownes,
lances, furniture of horses, bracelets,
lands,' &c. Segar, Honor Military and
Civil. bk. i. 20. ' He was furnished
like a hunter.' As You Like It» iii. a.
lo
-7:z ESSAY XXXVIII.
Hymenaei : ' Here they danced forth a most neat and curious measure,
full of subtlety and device .... The strains were ail notably different,
some of them formed into letters, very signifying to the rmme of the
Bridegroom, and ended in the manner of a chain, liaking hands.'
And,' Here they danced their last dances, full of excellent delight
and change ; and, in their latter strain, fell into a fair orb or circle.'
And, in the Masque ofQueens : ' After it, succeeded their third dance ;
than which a more numerous composition could hOt be seen : graphi-
cally disposed into letters, and honouring the naine of the most sweet
and ingenious prince, Charles, Duke of York.'
XXXVIII.
OF NATURE IN MEN.
NATURE is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom
extinguished. Force maketh nature more violent in the
return; doctrine and discourse a maketh nature less im-
portuneb; but custom only doth alter and subdue nature.
He that seeketh victory over his nature, let him not set
himself too great nor too small tasks; for the first ,,vill
make him dejected by often failings, and the second will
make him a small proceeder, though by often prevailings :
and at the first let him practise with helps, as swimmers
,o do with bladders or rushes; but after a time let him prac-
tise with disadvantages, as dancers do with thick shoes;
for it breeds great perfection if the practice be harder than
the use. Where nature is mighty, and therefore the vic-
tory hard, the degrees had need be, first to stay and arrest
nature in time c ; like to him that would say over the four
and twenty letters when he was angry ; then to go less in
quantity, as if one should, in forbearing wine, corne from
discourse] Lat. praecepta.
b importune] i.e. importunate.
Latin adds» sed non tollunt.
The
e in tlme] i.e. in the marrer of rime.
Lat. naturam sistere ad tem#us ali-
çuod.
OF NATURE IN MEN. 73
drinking healths « to a draught ata meal; and lastly, to
discontinue altogether: but if a man have the fortitude
and resolution to enfranchise himself at once, that is the
best :
Optimus ille animi vindex laedentia pectus
l'incula qui r$it, dedoluitque semd.
Neither is the ancient rule amiss, to bend nature as a
wand to a contrary extreme, whereby to set it right ; un-
derstanding it where the contrary extreme is no vice. Let
hot a man force a habit upon himself with a perpetual con- ,o
tinuance, but with some intermission : for both the pause
reinforceth the nexv onset ; and if a man that is hOt perfect
be ever in practice, he shall as well practise his errors as
his abilities, and induce one habit of both ; and there is no
means to help this but by seasonable intermissions. But
let not a man trust his victory over his nature too far; for
nature will lay buried a great time, and yet revive upon
the occasion or temptation; like as it was with Asop's
damsel, turned from a cat to a woman, who sat very de-
murely at the board's end till a mouse ran before her:2o
therefore let a man either avoid the occasion altogether, or
put himself often to it that he may be little moved with it.
A man's nature is best perceived in privateness, for there
is no affectation ; in passion, for that putteth a man out of
his precepts ; and in a nexv case or experiment, for there
custom leaveth him. They are happy men whose natures
sort e with their vocations ; otherwise they may say, Multum
incolafitit anima mca, when they converse in those things
they do not affect. In studies, whatsoever a man com-
mandeth upon himself, let him set hours for it; but wbat- o
soever is agreeable to his nature, let him take no tare for
any set times, for his thoughts will fly to it of themselves ;
kraltl, s] i.e. large draughts. Lat. a
mjoribus haustibus. Fr. les c«rouces çi.e.
les carrousesL lïde note on Essay i8.
o sort] i. e. agree. Lat. congtadt.
T
74 ESSAY XXXVIII.
so as the spaces f of other business or studies will suffice.
A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds; therefore
let him seasonably water the one and destroy the other.
,Vo TES A,3717 ]'LL USTRA TIONS.
P. 272, I. I. seidom extitgtds]ted] Con£ *Les inclinations natu-
relles s'aydent et fortifient par institution: mais elles ne se chan-
gent gueres et surmontent.' Montaigne, Essays, bk. iii. ch.
l. 5. Ne that seekelh &c.] These are substantially the les which
Bacon lays down in the Advancement of Learning. Vorks, iii. 439.
P. 273, 1. 5. Optintus iile &c.] Ovid, Remedia Amos, 93- The
words are 'optimus ille fuit xfindex,' &c.
ob yhp àraTaTJvrr roê fipaprvev
Oua r X dpdor« otoêt. Arist. Eth. Nicom. ii. cap. 9. sec. 4
and 5- So Montaigne : ' Pour dresser un bois courbe, on le recourbe
au rebours.' Essays, bk. iii. ch. io.
1.8. tt»tderslattd[tt il &c.] The contraD" extreme is necesri/y a
vice, but from the nature of the case itis nota vice in vhich there is
any danger that the man will persist. Bacon probably had in his
mind a passage in cap. 6, where Aristotle speaks of certain classes of
actions as alvays vicious in whatever deee of excess or moderation
they are pefformed :
1. iz and OE a man lhat is hot peed &c.] Cicero puts this advice
into the mouth of Crassus: 'Fallit eos quod audient, dicendo
homines ut dicant ecere solere. Verè enim etiam illud dicitur:
PRVS VCR OS PRVRS VlCVO FaClLLI
Quamobrem in istis ipsis exercitationibus, etsi utile est etiam subito
saepe dicere, tamen illud utilius, sumpto spatio ad cogitandum para-
tius atque accuratius dicere.' Cic. de Orat. i. 33-
1. 8. wilh esop's damse 0 Con£ 'Aesopi fabulae graecolatinae.'
Neveletus, Fab. iTz But the fiasco came, not at table, but in the
marriage chamber. ' Cum in thalamo vero considerent,' &c.
]. 27. [tdlltm ht¢ola fil[t a»lh»ta mea] Ps. cxx. 6, Vulgate. The
pointing differs in the Vulgate from that of the English versions. In
the Vulgate the words, as Bacon quotes them, are complete. Verse
7 continues: 'Cum his qui oderunt pacem eram pacificus.' The
* so th« spac«s, &c.] The tln will then mean--so that, without t-
rende this by prout »oegoth et studia ring apa y fixed hou. he may
¢cta pmiunL But we get a better tst himself to final rime d oppor-
nse by ing as here f my nity in thè intes of other
places elsewhere) = thaL The pge business.
OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION.
Septuagint points as the Vulgate does: cxix. 6, IloXXà rapÇr,v Ç
quotation is one which Bacon elsewhere uses to describe his own
case. It is one of his stock phrases, and he uses it with grand effect
forverydifferent occasions. Hewrites, e. g. in a letter to Sir Thomas
Bodley, after his fMI from high place: ' I think no man may more trulv
say with the Psalm, BIulh«m itcolafui! anima mea, than myself. For
I do confess, since I was of any understanding, my mind bath in
effect been absent from that I bave done . . . knowing myself by
inward calling to be titrer to hold a book than to play a part, I have
led my lire in civil causes ; for which I was hot very fit by nature,
and more unfit, by the preoccupation of my mind.' Letters and Lire,
iii. unS. Again in a private prayer, written in 1621, and termed by
Addison the devotion of an angel rather than a man : ' Besides my
innumerable sins, I confess belote thee that I ara a debtor to thee for
the gracious talent of thy gifts and graces, which I have neither put
into a napkin, nor put it {as I ought) to exchangers where it might
bave ruade best profit: but misspent it in things for which I was
least fit : so as I may truly say, my soul bath been a stranger in the
course of my pilgrimage.' Letters and Lire, vil. So. In an earlier
letter to the King, ,vritten in i612, asking for employment in state
business, he uses the saine phrase with a drift exactly the opposite :
' I may truly say with the Psalm, AIullum hcola #ci/anDna mea; for
my lire bath been conversant in things wherein I take little pleasure.'
Letters and Life, iv. .8i. The complaint here is that he had hot
been allowed to playa part in civil affairs. It is the sense only which
shifts. The language and posture are, in either case, magnificent.
XXXIX.
OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION.
MrCs thoughts are much according to their inclination :
their discourse and speeches according to their learning
and infused opinions; but their deeds are affer as they
have been accustomed: and, therefore, as Macciave| well
noteth (though in an evil-favoured instance) there is no
trusting to the force of nature nor to the bravery of words,
infused oli, tions ] Lat. opiffones quas imbiberunL
T2
276 ESSAY XXXIX.
except it be corroborate by custom. His instance is, that
for the achieving of a desperate conspiracy a man should
not rest upon the fierceness of any man's nature or his
resolute undertakingsb; but take such an one as hath had
his hands formerly in blood; but Macciavel knew not of
a Ffiar Clement, nor a Ravillac, nor a Jaureguy, nora
Baltazar Gerard ; yet his rule holdeth still, that nature nor
the engagement of words are not so forcible as custom.
Only superstition is now so well advanced that men of the
first blood c are as firm as butchers by occupation; and
votary resolutiona is made equipollent to custom even in
marrer of blood. In other things, the predominancy of
custom is everywhere visible; insomuch as a man would
wonder to hear men profess, protest, engage, give great
words, and then do just as they have done before, as if
they were dead images, and engines moved only by the
wheels of custom. We see also the reign or tyranny of
custom, what itis. The Indians II mean the sect of their
wise men) lay themselves quietly upon a stack of wood,
and so sacrifice themselves by tire: nay, the ,,vives strive
to be burned with the corpses of their husbands. The
lads of Sparta of ancient rime were ,`vont to be scourged
upon the altar of Diana, without so much as queching «.
b resohde undertaklngs] Lat. in pro-
missis consladibus nedu»n juramottis.
c tnen of the first bid] i.e. men
who bave their hands in blood for the
fit rime. The Latin ves, by an
obous er, dmae cl
The French» coectly, ¢a qui ne sont
que noE,ices or magiire de sang. In
the ItMian veion the sentence
omitted.
a vota »'olutlon] Lat. deela
votta, Fr. vorace Jdsuitique. Conf.
' There the custom w that upon the
commandment of their ng. and a blind
obedience to be ven thereunto, any
of them w to undee, in the nature
of a vom-, the insidious murder of any
prince or person upon whom the com-
mandment went.' Works, vii. 32.
qt«¢ching] Nares (Glossary) ex-
plains this word a a variant of quich
or quinch; to stir or twist. Conf.
Spenser, Fairie Queen, v. 9, 33 :--
With a strong yron chain and
collar bound
That once he could hot more nor
quich at all.'
Also, View of the State of Ireland :
'I purpose.., to bestow all my
souldiers in such sort a I have done,
that no part of ail that realme shall be
able to date to quinch.' Also Plutarch,
Laconick apophthegmes (Holland's
translation" : ' The unhappy beat being
OF CUSTOM .AND EDUCATION. a77
I remember, in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's time
of England, an Irish rebel condemned put up a petition to
the deputy that he might be hanged in a withe, and hot
in an halter, because it had been so used with former
rebels. There be monks in Russia for penance that v«ill
sit a whole night in a vessel of water, till they be engaged «
with hard ice. Many examples may be put of the force of
custom both upon mind and body: therefore, since custom
is the principal magistrate« of man's life, let men by ail
means endeavour to obtain good customs. Certainly, Jo
custom is most perfect when it beginneth in young years :
this we call education, which is in effect but an early
custom. So we see, in languages the tongue is more
pliant to all expressions and sounds, the joints are more
supple to all feats of activity and motions in youth than
afterwards ; for it is true that late learners cannot so well
take the ply h, except it be in some minds that have hot
angred, gnawed and bit him in the
flank as far a.s to his very bowels, which
he endured resolutely and never
quetched at it, for fear he should be
discover'd .Greek, pla, v« il
"#l.Tat ttaTtaqxw/).' Also, in passage
quoted below (p. 279 , from Lire of
Alexander, ' nor quitched when the
tire took him' is in the original ot)r
Bacon, refeng elsewhere to the
sto in the text, says'the Span
boys, which were wont to be scourged
upon the Mt so bittedy as sometimes
they died of it. and yet were never
heard complain.' Works, vil 99.
Cicero and Montaigne, both of whom
he may have had in mind, say the
me. Con£ Cicero, Tusc. Disp.
v. 7: 'PueH Spatiale non inge-
miscunt veem dolore laniati.'
5Ionie, ii. 3 a : ' Il se trouvait des
enfant, en cette preuve de patience à
quoy on les essayoit devant l'autel de
Diane, qui souffroient d estre fouettez
jusques h ce que le sang leur couloir
p tout non seulement ns s'escer»
mais encore sans gemir.' Elsexvhere,
however, he speaks ofthem as'fouettez
jusques à la mort sans alterir leur
visage,' bk. i. chap. 4 o. In the Latin
translation of the Essays we find the
passage rendered,
g¢mitu ullo ¢misso. In the French
and Italian versions, following the
edition of x6x2, the sentence does hot
appear. There seems, on the whole
evidence, no doubt a.s to the proper
meaning of the word, though this does
not appear to be the meaning which
Bacon gave to it and was understood
by his contemporaries to have given to
it.
r engaged] l. e. fastened down, Lat.
do*ec glade tostr4ngantur.
principal magistrale] Lat. summus
immanae ,itae modrrator ci magistratus.
Conf. 'Natura pedantius quidam est :
consuetudo magistratus.' Works, i.
69z Antitheta.
ca»mot so wdl tale tiw pi_v] i.e.
are hot so pliant. Lat. novam plicam
non bene admittcre. Conf.' He is by
nature unsociable, and by habit popular,
278 ESSAY XXXIX.
suffered themselves to fix, but have kept themselves open
and prepared to receive continual amendment, which is
exceeding rare. But if the force of custom simple and
separate be great, the force of custom copulate and con-
joined and collegiate iis far greater; for there example
teacheth, company comforteth k, emulation quickeneth,
glory raiseth; so as in such places the force of custom
is in his exaltationl. Certainly, the great multiplication
of virtues upon human nature resteth upon societies well
,o ordained and disciplined; for commomvealths and good
governments do nourish virtue grown, but do not much
mend the seeds ; but the misery is that the most effectual
means are now applied to the ends least tobe desired.
d'OTES A.Y.D I'ZLUSTRA TIOA'S.
P. 275, 1.4. 3Iacciavd wdlnolelh] Speaking ofthe difficulties attend-
ing the assassination of a Prince he says, ' In such executions an in-
convenient or errour rnany tirnes arises either for lacke of discretion
or courage : for, when the one or other of these tvo once alnazes
thee, thou art borne fol-ward in such confusion of thy understanding
that it rnakes thee both say and doe what thou oughtst hot... For it
is impossible that any man though of a resolute courage and
accustomed to the slaughters of rnen and use of his weapons; should
hot bec quite astonished. Therefore choice is to be ruade of rnen
cxperienced in such matters, nor should one commit thern to any
other, however he be esteerned very couragious : so let no man who
hath not forrnerly rnade tryall of hirnselfe presurne too much upon
and t6o old now to take a new ply.'
Letters and Lire, x i. 233.
i collegiate] Lat. in collcgium coacta.
comfort«th] i.e. strengthens.
Conf. 'The evidence of God's own
tcstiraony, added to the natural assent
of reason conceming the certainty of
them, doth hOt a little comfort and
confirra thesame.' Hooker, Eccl. Pol.
bk. i. cap. 2. sec. I.
is in kis exaltation] i.e. is highest
and most potent ; an astronomical terre
ttscd about a star in its raost dominant
position and exercising its utmost
influence. Conf. 'Planeta, cure fuerit
in exaltatione sua, est sicut vit in regno
suo et gloria.' R. Bacon, Opus Majus,
p. 64 (Jebb's ed. folio). ' Fontem
facimus planetam ac stellam quamlibet,
quoties eousque ad exaltationem con-
scendit, ut M. penetrat et id secundum
naturam suam temperet." Paracelsus,
vol. i. p. 1 a. (The folio ed. of 658
in three vols. Geneva.) bi. is here the
naine of a mysterious ether enveloping
the earth.
OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION. "79
his courage in the performance of any great exploit.' Discourses on
Livy, iii. 6.
P. 276, 1. 6. Friar Clement] .Jacques Clément assassinated Henry III
of France, 1589.
Raviilac] François Ravaillac assassinated Henry IV of France,
16o.
Jaureguy] John Jaureguy wounded William, Prince of Orange,
in the head, severely but not fatally, with a pistol-bullet, 1582.
1. 7. Bal/azar Gerard] Assassinated XVilliam, 1584. The
above crimes, to which several others might have been added, were
committed under the impulse of a strong religious fanaticism and a
devotion to the Catholic cause. The Latin adds attl Guidone Fattl.rio,
and says that, of ail these, lIacciavelio nihil htnotuit--as if the omission
had been due to some carelessness on 1lachiavelli's part !
1. 18. The Indians &c.] Conf. 'Quae barbaria India vastior aut
agrestior? In ca tamen gente, primum ii qui sapientes habentur,
nudi aetatem agunt et Caucasi nives hiemalemque viro perferunt sine
dolore; cumque ad fiammam se applicaverint, sine gemitu adurun-
tur.' Cicero, Tusc. Disp. v. 27.
' There also Calanus, the Indian philosopher .... prayed that they
would make him a stacke of wood, such as they use to burn dead
bodies on ...When he had said these words, he laid him downe
upon the wood-stacke, covered his face, and never stirred hand nor
foot, nor quitched when the tire took him, but did sacrifice himselfe
in this sort, as the maner of his countree was, that the wise men
should so sacrifice themselves.' Plutarch, Lives, p. 7o8.
Lucian refers to the same : ZE2. To "yOlZUOoEOqbtoErà 2[y«tç.
«mdp«»o« oi» rof OEgÇiz,ro Ç rÇ «aiSpa /«rplrro»r«. Fugitivi, sec. 7-
The Latin has loquor de g.ymosophis/is et attliqtds et ltodertlis j but
the clear mistake in p. 276, 1. o, is proof that the translation of this
Esay was not revised by Bacon.
1. o. nav, the wiz,es striée &c.] ' Mulieres vero in India, cum est
cujusvis earum vir mortuus, in certamen judiciumque veniunt quam
plurimum ille dilexerit.., quae est victrix, ca lacta, prosequentibus
suis, una cure viro in rogum imponitur ; illa victa, maesta discedit.'
Cicero, Tusc. Disp. v. 27.
Conf. also: 'Nlany of the women also, when their husbands die
and are placed on the pile to be burnt, do burn themselves along with
the bodies. And such women as do this have great praise from ail.'
Marco Polo, Travels, iii. 17.
That the wives were burnt is certain; and there is evidence that
they werc sometimes willing victims, and abundant evidence that
they were hOt always so.
P. 277, 1. . 1 remotlbcr &c.] That withes or withies were used for
2,qo ESSAY XXXIX.
halters is certain. There is a story that among some Irish rebels,
captured by Raleigh in 158o , ' There was one who carried and was
laden with withs, which they used instead of halters: and being
demanded what he would do with them, and why he carried them,
gave answer that they were to hang up English churls : for so they
call Englishmen. Is it so (quoth the captain) well, they shali now
serve for an Irish kerne ; and so commanded him to be hanged up
with one of his own withs.' Hooper's continuation of Holingshed's
Chronicles, vol. vi. p. 437 (ed. of i8o81.
Conf. also Rob Roy, chap. 17 : 'There is as much between the craig
and the woodie as there is between the cup and the lip.' A note
explains 'the craig and the woodie' as ----- the throat and the withy;
and adds ' that tvfigs of willow, such as bind fagots, xvere often used for
halters in Scotland and Ireland, being a sage economy of hemp.'
The tale of the petition to the deputy rests, as far as I can discover,
on Bacon's word that he remembers the occurrence. It is told by
Cox of Bryan O'Rourke who was hanged in x597 : ' Ofthis O'Rourke
there go two pleasant stories ;... the other that he gravely petitioned
the Queen, hOt for life or pardon, but that he might be hanged with a
gad or with, after his own countrey fashion ; which doubtless was
readily granted him.' Cox, Hibernia Anglicana, p. 399 led. 1689).
Cox gives as his authorities, O'Sullevan, Historiae Catholicae
compendium, who does hot mention the story at ail, and Bacon's
Essay, where the petitioner is hot named, and xvhere the date is
fixed ' in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's rime.' Mr Wright, in
hls edition of the Essays, says that the incident is introduced into
l/te first part of Sir John Oldcastle (K 3 verso, ed. i6oo), where the
Irishman appeals to the judge : ' Prethee Lord... let me be hanged
in a wyth after my country the Irish fashion.' Can this be the origin
of the story, vouched for by Bacon, and repeated after him by Cox ?
1. 5. inoks in Iussia &c.] I have not found any exact confirm-
ation of this. There is abundant evidence of the extraordinary
tolerance of cold by the Russian monks and by the people generally.
Conf. ' Besides these they have certeyne Eremites (whom they
call holy men)... They use to go starke naked, save a clout about
their middle.., even in the very extremity ofwinter. Of this kinde
there are hot many, because it is a very harde and colde profession
to goe naked in Russia, especially in winter.' Fletcher, Ofthe Russe
Commonwealth, (1591, pp. 89, 9 o.
' They have holie water in like use and estimation as the Popish
Church hath. But herein they exceed them that they hallow all the
rivers of the countrey once every yeere. When they are corne to
the river, a great hole is made in the yse. Then beginneth the
Patriarch to say certaine prayers, and conjureth the divel to corne
out of the water ; and so casting in sait and censing it with frankin-
OF CUSTO AND EDUCATION.
cense, maketh the whole river to become holy water. When the
ceremonies are ended, you shal sec the women dippe in their
children over head and eares, and many men and women leape into
it, some naked, some with their clothes on, when some man would
thinke his finger would freese off if he should but dippe it into the
water.' pp. xo 3. xo 4.
'The Russe, because that he is used to both these extremities of
heat and of cold, can beare them both a great deal more patiently
then strangers can doo. You shall sec them sometimes (to season
their bodies) corne out of their bathstones ail on a froth, and fuming
as hote almost as a pigge at a spitte, and presently to leape into the
river starke naked, or to powre colde water ail over their bodies, and
that in the coldest ofall the winter time.' P- 3-
' Bis in anno, semel in die Epiphaniae, iterum ante Beatissimae
Virginis assumptionem, benedicit Metropolita flumini Moscuae, alii
veto sacerdotes aliis fluminibus. In eo multi mates foeminaeque
trina mersione toti immerguntur. Equi item et imagifies quasi
baptizantur... Qui mos sive ritus licet non praeceptus sit omnibus.
plures tamen eum ex religione sic ser'ant ut aegroti quoque, qui sibi
ca ratione putant ad valetudinem consulere, summo in gelu effossa
glacie, per foramen in aquam demissi eximantur.' Antonii Possevini
de rebus Moscox.itis, p. 6 a (ed. ,5871.
I. 3. So we sec, in iaJzg«ages &c.] Montaigne bas the saine
remark in nearly the same words : ' Les nations voisines, où le langage
est plus esloigné du nostre, et auquel, si vous ne la formez de bonne
heure, la langue ne se peut plier.' Essays, bk. i. chap. 25.
P. 8, |. i2. tle ,iser. is &c.] Bacon seems here to be referring to
the co|leges of the Jesuits. Confi' Education--which excellent part of
ancient discipline hath been in some sort revived of late rime by the
colleges of the Jesuits ; of whom, although in regard of their super-
stition I may say, "Quo meliores eo deteriores ; " yet,' &c. Works,
iii. 2-/-/.
This reflexion on the coIleges of the Jesuits is omitted in the
corresponding later passage in the De Augmentis Scientiarum,
\Vorks, i. 445- The passage in the Essay shows that the omission
was hot due to any change of opinion on Bacon's part. It is
translated in the Italian version, being much too enigmatical to
offend his Catho|ic readers.
zz ESSAY XL.
XL.
OF FORTUNE.
IT cannot be denied but outward accidents conduce
much to fortune; favour, opportunity, death of others,
occasion fitting virtue : but chiefly the mould of a man's
fortune is in his own hands: Faber quisqucforlmme suae,
saith the poet; and the rnost frequent of external causes
is that the folly of one man is the fortune of another; for
no man prospers so suddenly as by others' errors. Ser-
p'ns nisi scrp'nlcm comcdcrit non fit draco. Overt and
apparent" virtues bring forth praise ; but there be secret
and hidden virtues that bring forth fortune; certain de-
liveries of a man's self » , which have no narne. The
Spanih naine, discmbollttra c, partly expresseth them;
when there be hOt stonds a nor restiveness in a man's
nature, but that the wheels of his mind keep way with
aplarcnt ] i. e. clearly visible. Lat.
ro],icuar. Apparent--clear manifest.
tertain. Bullokar, Eglish Expositor,
.,,b vote. Conf. 'A change there is
apparent and great.' Letters and Lile,
ii 313.
"1 would not spare my brother in
this case.
If he should scorn me so ap-
parently.'
Comedy of Errors, iv. L
' ddivrrics of a mats's se/f] The
Latin gives facultatrs nonmdlae srse
c.rpedirndi, seemingly limiting the
.-.ense to skill in extricating himself
from troubles. ' Deliveries" is so used
t.lsewhere in the Essays. Conf. 9:
' lIris is true ; that the wisdom of ail
these latter rimes in Princes affairs is
rather fine deliveries and shiftings of
dangers and mischiefs when they are
near, than,' &c. Lat. rcmcd[a ci sub-
t,-fugia malorum t prric«dorum. In
the passage m the text, this sense does
hot wcll aq-ee with the words vhich
follow. The caution that the whecls
of the mind must keep way with the
wheels of fortune seems to point to
something more positive than an art of
escape from troublcs. The word occurs
in Letters and Life, i. zo6, in a sense
more suited to the text--' he hath one
of the rarest and most excellent wits
of England, with a singular deliveryand
application of the saine.' We may take
'deliveries,' therefore, as hcle = the
art of using or giving effect in practice
to a man's qualities and endowments
in the most complete way of which
his outward circumstances adroit.
« dis«mboltura] There is no such
word. Bacon probablymeans 'desen-
voltura," i.e. easy carriage grace of
movement. This is the word substi-
tuted in the ltalian vcrsion.
a sto»tds] i.e. stoppages, impedi-
ments. Conf. 'The remo*ing of the
stonds and impediments of the mind
doth often clear the passage and current
of a lnan's fortune.' ,Vorks, vii. 99.
OF FORTUNE. 8 3
the'wheels of his fortune; for so Liy lafter he had
described Cato Major in these words, In illo vh'o, tatltltm
robur corporis et atthni fuit, ltt qtocttttqte loco ttahts essct,
fortttttam sibi factttrtts ,ideretttr}, falleth upon that that he
had versatile htgcnhtm: therefore, if a man look sharply
and attentively, he shall see Fortune; for though she be
blind, yet she is hot invisible. The way of Fortune is
like the milken way in the sky; which is a meeting or
knot of a number of small stars, hot seen asunder, but
giving light together: so are there a number of little and to
scarce discerned virtues, or rather faculties and customs,
that make men fortunate. The Italians note some of
them, such as a man would little think. When they speak
of one that cannot do amiss, they will throw in into his
other conditions, that he hath Poco dt mallo ; and certainly
there be hot two more fortunate properties than to bave
a little of the fool, and hot too much of the honest ; there-
lbre extreme lovers of their country or masters were
never fortunate; neither can they be; for when a man
placeth his thoughts without himself, he goeth not lais own
way. An hasty fortme maketh an enterpriser and rc-
mover; (the French hath it better, Ctllt'Ct'rtttTtt[ or t'¢tlttt-
a«tl); but the exercised fortune maketh the able man.
Fortune is to be honoured and respected and it ber but
for ber daughters, Confidence and Reputation ; for those
two Felicity breedeth; the first within a man's self, the
latter in others towards him. All wise men, to decline
the envy of their own virtues-", use to ascribe them to
" exercised] i. e. ruade use of, turned
to account. Lat. e.rerola.
t and it bel i.e. if it be. Cortf. 'A man
rnay keep a corner of his rnind from
his friend, and it be but to witness to
himsei[ that,' &c. Essay on Friendship,
in the edition of 6z. Works, ri. 558.
So Bacon sometimes beghls hisspeeches
il Parliarnent with, 'And it plcase you»
lh'. Speaker." Conf. e.g. Letters and
Lire, iv. x9x.
vh««es] i. e. great qualities of any
kind. ' The envy of their own virtues '
rnust rnean here the en*'y excted hot
by the virtues themselves but by their
achieved resuits. These and hOt the
virtues are what they ' use to ascribe
to Providence and Fortune.'
284 ESSAY XL.
Providence and Fortune; for so they may the better
assume them : and, besides, it is greatness in a man to be
the care of the higher powers. So Caesar said to the pilot
in the tempest, Caesarem portas, etfortmtam cflts. Go Sylla
chose the name of Fclix and not of ]llagrus: and it hath
been noted, that those who ascribe openly too much to
their own wisdom and policy, end infortunate. It is
xvritten that Timotheus the Athenian, after he had, in the
account he gave to the state of his government, often
,o interlaced this speech, ard Dt this Fortune had no part,
never prospered in anything he undertook afterwards.
Certainly there be whose fortunes are like Homer's
verses, that have a slide h and easiness more than the
verses of other poets; as Plutarch saith of Timoleon's
fortune in respect of that of Agesilaus or Epaminondas:
and that this should be, no doubt it is much in a man's
self.
x'rOTES A,A'D LUSTRA TIONS.
P. _082, 1.4. in his oa,n hands] Conf. ' Je m'en vais clorre ce pas
par un verset ancien que je treuve singulièrement beau à ce propos ;
Sui cuique mores fingunt fortunam.' Montaigne, Essays, bk. i. chap.
42. The quotation is from Nepos, Life of Atticus, cap. Ii.
Fabcr quisq«e forhoae sttac, saith /he poe/] Lat. hqui/ comicus.
Conf. V'orks, iii. 454: 'This wisdom the Romans did take much
knowledge of: iNam pol sapiens Isaith the comical poet)fingit for-
tunam sibi, and it grew to an adage Faber quisque fortunae suae.'
The reference here is to Trinummus, ii. sc. 2 : ' Nam sapiens qui-
dem, pol, ipse fingit fortunam sibi.' It seems clear from the above,
that lSacon supposed the adage to have had its origin from the
passage in Plautus. In the Epistolae de Republica Ordinanda
attributed doubtfully to Sallust, the authorship is assigned to
Appius, i.e. to A. Claudius Caecus, a much earlier writer: 'Res
docuit id verum esse quod in carminibus Appius ait, fabrum esse
tsuae) quemque fortunae.' E. i Oust at beginning).
a Mide] i.e. a smoothness ofmove-
ment. Lat. majore cure facultate fluunt.
Conf. ' hall have a better lide into
their business.' (Lat. negotia sua mol-
lins fluere sentient). Essay I4.
OF FORTUNE.
Bacon says, in his Discourse touching helps for the intellectual
powers,w' I did ever hold it foran insolent and unlucky saying, Faber
quisque suae fortunae, except it be altered only as a hortative orspur
to correct sloth.' Works, vil 98. He goes on, very much in the
strain ofthe Essay, to condemn insolence, with its attendant ill-luck,
and to prefer attributing much 'to felicity and providence above him.'
Sir Nicholas Bacon frequently used the adage.--' He would say that
though he knew unusquisque suae forlunae faber was a good and true
principle, yet the most in number were those that marred themselves.'
Sir R. Naunton, Fragmenta Regalia, sub. tir. Sir N. Bacon. Montalgne
gives another turn to it : ' sapiens.., pol ipse fingit fortunam sibi.
Que lui reste il à desirer.' Essays, bk. i. chap. 42.
I. 7" Serpens nisi &c.] ' Dracones su»ci in rerum natura, inquit D.
Franzius (part 4, Hist. Animal. c. 53, sed nihil sunt aliud nisi
serpentes, valde annosi et aucti admodum. Hine extitit vulgatum
verbum serpens, nisi serpentera devoraverit, non fit Draco.' Georgi
Casparis Kirchmajeri, de draeonibus volantibus, epistolica dissertatio.
' Proprie tamen draco dicitur de serpente annoso qui multa aetate in
inusitatam magnitudinem excrevit, ut liquido apparet ex hoc pro-
verbio Graeco, çt d Ç ç&. gç,v, p,i,v o¢, .ev,grat. Serpens nisi
ederit serpentem, non flet draco. Nam inter serpentum genera,
(inquit Pierius) dracones ii vocantur, qui corpore sunt immaniore,
vastioreque magnitudine.' Gesner, Hist. Animalium, lib. v. De
Dracone, sec. A.
Conf. also Erasmi Adagia, sub titulo Serpens, &c : ' "Oçt v/ç çdq/
gt, $pdrtv ob ]¢*vça*ra*. i. Serpens nisi serpentera edat, non futurus
est draco. Potentes aliorum damnis crescunt, et optimatum fortunae
non tantum augerentur, nisi essent quos exsugerent. Quemadmodum
inter pisces et belluas, majores vivunt laniatu minoruln. Quanquam
mihi quidem et hoc dictum fecem vulgi videtur olere.' This view of
it does hot seem to bave suggested itselfto Bacon's mind.
P. 83, I. r. so Lizy] Livy's words are, ' In hoc viro tanta vis animi
ingeniique fuit, ut, quocunque loco natus esset, fortunam sibi ipse
facturus fuisse videretur.' He adds presently, after other praises,
'Huit versatile ingenium sic pariter ad omnia fuit, ut nature ad id
unum diceres, quodcunque ageret.' Bk. xxxix, cap. 40.
Montaigne quotes the above passage at lenUh : ' Les plus belles
ames sont celles qui ont plus de varieté et de soupplesse. Voyla un
honorable tesmoignage du vieux Caton : huic versatile ingenium sic
pariter ad omnia fuit, ut nature ad id unum diceres, quodcumque
ageret.' Essays, bk. iii. chap. 3-
1. 6. though she be blind] Toç),(;, "1' ra't varvd av Ç rXÇ,
lV[enander, Progami, Meineke, Fragmenta Comicorum Graecorum, iv.
P- x95. 'Non enim solum ipsa fortuna caeca est, sed eos etiam
plerumque eflàcit caecos quos amplexa est.' Cic. De Amicitia, xv. 54-
86 ESSAY XL.
' Fortunam insanam esse et caecam et brutam perhibent philosophi.'
Pacuvius, Fragmenta, 76o Corpus Poet. Latin.L
Plutarch, in his discourse of Fortune, writes somexvhat in Bacon's
strain : ' We do her wrong in reproaching her for blindnesse, when
we run upon her as xve do, blind, and debasing ourselves unto her :
for how can we chuse but stumble upon her indeed if we pluck out
out own eyes, to wit out xvisdom and dexterity of counsell, and take
a blind guide to lead us by the hand in the course of this out life ?'
Phltarch, Morals, p. 19o.
1.15. toco di mallo] Conf. ' Tenez vous dans la route commune :
il ne faict mie bon estre si subtil et si fin : souvienne vous de ce que
dict le proverbe toscan--Chi troppo s' assottiglia, si scavezza.' Mont-
aigne, Essays, lib. il. chap. 72.
P. _'284, 1.3- So Caesar] ' He (Caesar) took ship in the night apparelled
like a slave. The pinnase lay in the mouth of the river Anius, the
which commonly was wont to be very calme and quiet. But that
night, by iii fortune, there came a great wind from the sea, insomuch
as the force and strength of the river fighting against the violence
and rage of the waves of the sea, the encounter was marvellous
dangerous. Thereupon the master of the pinnace seeing he could hot
possibly get out of the mouth of this river, bad the mariners to cast
about again and to return against the stream. Cesar, hearing that,
straight discovered himself unto the master of the pinnase, who at
the first was amazed when he saw him : but Caesar then taking him
by the hand, said unto him, Good fellow, be of good cheare and for-
wards hardily, feare hot, for thou hast Caesar and his fortune with
thee.' Plutarch, Lives, p. 729 .
1.4. So Sylla] ' In the end of his triumph, he (Sylla) made an
oration in open assembly of the people of Rome, in the which he did
not only declare unto them (according to the custome) what things
he had done, but did as carefully tell them also as well of his good
fortune and successe as of his valiant deeds besides : and to conclude
his oration, told them that by reason of the great favour fortune had
shewed him, he would from thenceforth be called by them, Felix, to
say, happy or fortunate.' Plutarch, Lires, p. 486.
Cardan had noted this: 'Sed et fortunae potius referre decet,
quam industriae vel virtuti, quae eveniunt bona. Unde Sylla se
Felicem voluit appellari.' Prudentia Civilis, cap. lO7, De invidia
abolenda.
1.8. Timotheus] ' One day, when this Timotheus xvas returned
from the wars with great victories, after he had openly acquainted
the Athenians with the whole discourse of his doings in his voyage,
he sayd unto them : My Lords of Athens, fortune hath had no part
in ail this xvhich l have told unto you. Hereupon the gods it should
seeme were so angrie with this foolish ambition of Timotheus, that
OF USURY.
he never afterwards did any worthie thing, but all went utterly
against the haire with him; untill at the length he came to be so
hated of the people that in the end they banished him from Athens.'
Plutarch, Lires, p. 467 .
The above story is introduced into the Life of Sylla to bring out by
contrast the different language xvhich Sylla habitually used.
l. 4. as Piutarch saiti,] ' Like as Antimachus' verses and Dionysius'
painting Iboth Colophonians) are full of sinexves and strength, and
yet at this present we sec they are things greatly laboured, and
made with much paine ; and that contrarixvise in Nicomachus' tables
and Homer's verses, besides the passing workmanship and singu|ar
grace in them, a man findeth at the first sight that they xvere easily
ruade and without great paine. Even so in like manner whosoevcr
xvill compare the painfull bloudie warres and battels of Epaminondas
and Agesilaus xvith the wars of Timoleon, in the which besides
equitie and justice there is also great case and quietnesse : he shall
find, weighing things indifferent]y, that they have hot bene fortune's
doings simply, but that they came of a most noble and fortunate
courage. Yet he himse|f doth wisely impute it unto his good hap and
favorable fortune.' Plutarch, Lives, p. 282.
XLI.
OF USURY.
MANv have ruade witty invectives against usury. They
say that it is pity the devil should have God's part, which
is the tithe , that the usurer is the greatest Sabbath-breaker,
because his plough goeth every Sunday; that the usurer
is the drone that Virgil speaketh of:
]gnaz,um ficos îbecus a îbraesejbibus arcent ;
that the usurer breaketh the first law that was ruade for
mankind after the fall, which was, in sudore vultîs
comcdes lbancm hmm ; not, in sudore vultf«s alicni ; that
usurers should have orange-tawny bonnets, because they
tl« titt«] i.e. io per cent.the rate of interest a]lowed by 3"/Henry
VIII. cap. 9-
88 ESSAY XLI.
do Judaize; that it is against nature for money to beget
money, and the like. I say this only, that usury is a con-
cessum propter duritiem cordis: for since there must be
borrowing and lending, and men are so hard of heart as
they will not lend freely, usury must be permitted. Some
others have ruade suspicious and cunning propositions of
banks b, discovery of men's estates c, and other inventions;
but fexv have spoken of usury usefully. It is good to set
before us the incommodities and commodities of usury,
io that the good may be either weighed out or culled out;
and warily to provide that, while xve make forth to that
which is better ', we meet not xvith that which is worse.
The discommodities of usury are, first, that it makes
fewer merchants; for xvere it not for this lazy trade of
usury, money would not lie still but would in great part be
employed upon merchandising, which is the vena porta « of
wealth in a state : the second, that it makes poor merchants;
for as a fariner cannot husband his ground f so well if he
sit at a great rent, so .the merchant cannot drive his trade
2o so well if he sit at great usury: the third is incident to
the other two ; and that is, the decay of customs of kings
or states, which ebb or flow with merchandising: the
fourth, that it bringeth the treasure of a realm or state
into a few hands; for the usurer being at certainties, and
banks] lank is seemingly here=
mont de piëtê. Con£ 'A bill for the
establishrnent of seven banks, fo be
known by the narne of '" Banks for the
relief of corrnrnon necessity," and fo
lend rnoney on pledges or pawns af the
rate of 6 per cent.' Calendar of State
Papers. Domestic. x57 x, April x.
e discovey of mcn's estates] i.e. en-
quiries for ascertaining exacfly what
rnen are worth, and for tracing out
what they do with their rnoney. Lat.
detectione fortunarum hominum Mngu.
o while we makeforth&c.] i.e. while
we try to irnprove rnatters by reçu-
lating usury. Lat. ne dura fottore
fcramur in melius, intercipiamur et in-
cidamus in pejus. The wary pros4sion
here referred to seerns to be the same
as 'the bridge or passage frorn the
practice fo the reformation,' in Bacon's
paper on Usury, riz. an order fo the
Courts of Equity fo forbid thoee who
had lent rnoney at thé higher rate frorn
calling it in as soon as the lte was
reduced. //'Me Letters and Life vil.
419, and conf. note on p. 94-
/enalborla ] Videnote on Essay 9,
p. I43.
r cannot husband &c.] Lat. terrain
colere ita fructuose n¢t¢it.
OF USURY. 289
others at uncertainties, at the end of the game most of the
money will be in the box; and ever a state flourisheth
when wealth is more equally spread: the fifth, that it
beats down the price of land; for the employment of
money is chiefly either merchandising or purchasing, and
usury waylays both : the sixth, that it doth dull and damp
all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein
money would be stirring if it were not for this slugg:
the last, that it is the canker and ruin of many men's
estates, which in process of time breeds a public poverty.
On the other side, the commodities of usury are, first,
that howsoever usury in some respect hindereth mer-
chandising, yet in some other it advanceth it; for it is
certain that the greatest part of trade is driven by young
merchants upon borrowing at interest ; so as if the usurer
either call in or keep back his money, there will ensue
presently a great stand of trade: the second is, that were
it not for this easy borrowing upon interest, men's ne-
cessities would draw upon them a most sudden undoing,
in that they would be forced to sell their means lbe it
lands or goods), far under foot ; and so, whereas usury
doth but gnaw upon them, bad markets would swallow
them quite up. As for mortgaging or pawning, it will little
mend the matter: for either men vill not take pawns
without use i, or if they do, they will look precisely for
for thls slug] Lat. nisi a torpedine
ista ipediretur. Conf. ' Nay, they are
indeed but remora and hindrances to
stay and slug the ship from further
sailing.' Works, iii. 3511.
h far underfootJ i. e. far below their
rem value. Lat. ni»frs vilipretio. Conf.
' $uch commodities are bought at
treme high rates, and sold again far
under foot to a double loss.' Letters
and Life, vil 4o. And, ' When men
did let their land under foot, the
tenants would fight for their landlords,
so that way they had their retlfibution."
Selden, Table Talk, sub fit. Land.
I will hot take pawns without use]
i. e. will not take securities in pledge
(and lend money upon them) without
exacting interest. Lat. ea prorsus non
aca'pient ho»ffnes she foenore. For
pawns, conf. ' Do you hear, Sir? we
bave no store of money at this time,
but you shall bave good pawns: look
you, Sir. this jewel, and that gentle-
man's silk stockings.' Every Man in
his Humour, act iv. sc. 9- For use --
usury or interest, conf. in Calendar of
State Papers, Dec. 6o, an objection
ruade by the inhabitants of Hereford to
the appointment of Dr. Bennet as
U
29 ° ESSA¥ XLI.
the forfeiture. I remember a cruel moneyed man in the
country that would say, The devil take this usury, it
keeps us from forfeitures of mortgages and bonds. The
third and last is, that it is a vanity to conceive that there
would be ordinary borrowing without profit ; and it is im-
possible to conceive the number of inconveniences that
will ensue, ifborrowing be cramped : therefore to speak of
the abolishing of usury is idle; ali states have ever had
it in one kind or rate or other; so as that opinion must
be sent to Utopia.
To speak now of the reformation and reglement of usury,
how the discommodities of it may be best avoided and the
commodities retained. It appears, by the balance of com-
modities and discommodities of usury, two things are to
be reconciled ; the one that the tooth of usury be grinded
that it bite not too much ; the other that there be left open
a means to invite moneyed men to lend to the merchants,
for the continuing and quickening of trade. This cannot
be done except you introduce two several sorts k of usury,
a less and a greater; for if you reduce usury to one low
rate, it will ease the common borrower, but the merchant
will be to seek for 1 money: and it is to be noted that the
trade of merchandise being the most lucrative, may bear
usury at a good rate : other contracts hOt so.
Bishop of Hereford on the ground,
inter alia, that ' He lets his money to
use, which though tolerated in laymen
is scandalous in one of his calling.'
Dr. Bennet's reply is, ' I never let
money to usury, which I detest.'
And, ' And let me tell you. this kind of
fishing with a dead rod and laying
night hooks, are like putting money fo
use, for they both work for the owners,
when they do nothing but sleep or eat
or rejoice.' Walton and Cotton's Com-
plete Angler, part , cap. 5.
k two oeral sorts] i.e. two distinct
sorts. Conf. Essay 6, ' Habits and
faculties several .and to be distin-
guished,' and note on passage.
tre'Il be fo seekfor] i.e. will be at a
Iossfor. Lat. pecumas non facile reperiet.
Conf. ' Men bred in learning are per-
haps to seek in points of convenience
and accommodating for the present.'
Works, iii.
' For finding himself (thanks be to
God) to seek, in ber majesty's govern-
ment, of any just pretext in marrer of
state.., he was forced to descend to
the pretext of a private quarreL' Let-
tels and Lire» ii. 6 7.
OF USURY. 9
To serve both intentions, the way would be briefly thus :
that there be two rates of usury ; the one free and general
for ail; the other under licence only to certain persons,
and in certain places of merchandising. First therefore,
let usury in general be reduced to rive in the hundred,
and let that rate be proclaimed to be free and current;
and let the state shut itself out to take TM any penalty for the
saine ; this will preserve borrowing from any general stop
or dryness ; this will ease infinite borrowers in the country;
this will in good part raise the price of land, because
land purchased at sixteen years' purchase will yield six
in the hundred and somewhat more, whereas this rate
of interest yields but rive; this by like reason will en-
courage and edge industrious and profitable improvements,
because many will rather venture in that kind than take
rive in the hundred, especially having been used to greater
profit. Secondly, let there be certain persons licensed
to lend to known merchants upon usury at a higher rate,
anal let it be with the cautions following: let the rate be,
even with the merchant himself, somewhat more easy
than that he used formerly to pay; for by that means ail
borrowers shall have some ease by this reformation, be he
merchant or whosoever; let it be no bank or common
stock, but every man be toaster of his own money; not
that I altogether mislike banks, but they will hardly be
brooked in regard of certain suspicions. Let the state
be answered some small matter for the license, and the
rest left to the lender; for if the abatement be but small,
it will no whit discourage the lender ; for he for example
fa to take] i.e. from taking. Lat.
mulctae omni renunciet.
n b¢ answerearJ i.e. be paid. Lat.
e.riguam aliquam somnam lerciliat.
Conf. ' But in this match he was soon
cooled, when he heard from his am-
bassadors that this young Queen had
had a goodly jointure in the realm of
Naples, well answered during the rime
of her uncle Frederick .... but since
the time that the kingdom was in Fer-
dinando's hands, ail was assigned to
the army and garrisons there ; and she
received only a pension or exhibition
out of his cotters.' History of King
Henry Vil» Works, ri. -8.
U 9.
292 ESSAY XLI.
that took before ten or nine in the hundred, will sooner
descend to eight in the hundred than give over his trade
of usury, and go from certain gains to gains of hazard.
Let these licensed lenders be in number indefinite, but
restrained to certain principal cities and towns of mer-
chandising; for then they will be hardly able to colour
other men's moneys ° in the country: so as the licence of
nine will not suck away the current rate of rive; for no
man will send his moneys far off, nor put them into
unknown hands.
If it be objected that this doth in a sort authorize usury,
which belote was in some places but permissive; the
answer is, that it is better to mitigate usury by declaration
than to surfer it to rage by connivance.
NO TES .4.X'D ]'LL USTR A TIo.rs.
The Essay of Usury, first published in the edition of 1625 ,
is identical in the main with an earlier paper on 'Usury and the
Use thereof' sent by Bacon to Sir Edward Conway, to be shown
to the King, April 2, 1623 . Letters and Life vii. 414 &c. At
the time when this paper was written, the practice of usury
was regulated by the revived statute of 37 Henry VIII, cap. 9, fixing
IO per cent. as the maximum rate of lawful interest. This statute
had been repealed by 5 & 6 Edward VI, cap. 2o, declaring that
'usury is by the word of God utterly prohibited as a vice most
odious and detestable,' and enacting accordingly that 'no person
shall lend or forbear any sum of money for any manner of usury
or increase to be received or hoped for above the sum lent.' But
this was in turn repealed by 13 Elizabeth, cap. 8, and the former
statute was revived, the reason alleged being that the statute of
Edward VI ' has not done so much good as it was hoped it should,
but rather the said vice of usury &c. hath much more exceedingly
abounded, to the utter undoing of many gentlemen, merchants,
occupiers and others.' Usury, however, was still declared to be
o o colour other men's moneys] i.e. to
iend other men's money under pre
tence that it is their own. Lat. oppor.
tunitatem non habebunt lbecunias ali.
orum lro suis commodandi. Conf. a
and 3 Edward VI, cap. x.xii, an Act
forbidding privileged natives to allow
foreigners to import goods under their
names, so as to escape customs' duties,
headed--' An Act concerning colouring
of customs in other men's names, to
the deceit of the King.'
OF USURY.
93
a sinful and detestable thing, and the sum usuriously received was
ruade liable to forfeiture to the crown--a penalty hot consistent with
the enabling clauses of the statute, and hOt enforced in practice. By
39 Elizabeth, cap. xS, the stature of I3 Elizabeth is said to be 'by
proof and experience found to be very necessary and profitable'
and it is accordingly ruade perpetual.
But between the date of Bacon's first papers on usury, and that
of his Essay, there had been further legislation on the subject. By
i James, cap. 17, the permissible rate of interest was reduced from
xo o 8 per cent. The preamble declares that ' there is a ver 3" great
abatement in the value of land, and other the merchandize, wares,
and commodities of this kingdom . . . at home and in foreign
parts,' and that consequently gentry, merchants, farmers and trades-
men, who bave contracted debts at the old rate, cannot now pay
their debts. The effect of this stature vas to bring the legal rate
of interest into conformity with the current rate, there being, as
Thomas Mun, writing at about this date, says--' plenty of men ready
to lend more than merchants ,vish to borrow' (Egland's Treasure
by Foreign Trade, cap. 15. This was the state of things when
Bacon's elaborate scheme was given to the world. It is clear, from
both his treatises, and from other passages in his works, that he
looked with disapproval on usury, i. e. on receiving any interest for
a loan. As the world went, it must be suffered, but it was at best
a concessum propter duritiem cordis, a thing to be tolerated and to
be condemned. He remarks, e.g. in the Essay of Riches, that
'usury is the certainest means of gain though one of the worst.'
In his Life of Henry VII (Works, vi. 87), he says, ' there were also
ruade good and politic laws that Parliament against usury, whieh is
the bastard use of money.' The law referred to-- 3 Henry VI I, cap. 6---
deelares that ' ail unlav«ful ehevisance and usury shall be extirpate;
ail brokers of such bargains shall be set in the pillory, put to open
shame, be half a year imprisoned, and pay twenty pounds.' This,
then, was the course of which Bacon in his heart approved, but
facts were too hard for him, and he found himself driven to a com-
promise w,th the unelean tbing. He proposes accordingly to speak
usefully about it; and this he does by setting out first its incom-
modifies, and then its commodities. He gives both these contradictory
lists hot as containing the opinions of other people, but as containing
his own opinions, and when he proceeds to speak of the Reformation
and Reglement of Usury, he treats both lists as to be taken equally
into accourir. The middle course--the establishment of two rates
of usury--by which he attempts to reconcile the two sets of con-
tradictory propositions which he has laid down as alike truc, does
hot appear to have carried conviction to the King's mind or to have
been put in practice at any rime. The details in the early paper,
294 ESSAY XLI.
omitted in the Essay, explain more fully how the scheme was
intended to work. If a lender attempted to call in his money,
through dissatisfaction at the lower rate to which Bacon proposed
to limit him, the Courts of Equity were to be warranted and required
to interpose and to give the debtors a favourable and convenient day
for repaying the loans which were, meanwhile, to stand at the new
rates. That the author of this scheme belonged to the debtor and
hot to the creditor class appears distinctly enough.
There are one or two other minor differences xvorth noting between
the paper and the Essay. X.Ve read at the end of the first seofion
of the Essay, ' and warily to provide that while we make forth to
that which is better, we meet not with that which is worse.' The
sense of these words is not clear. They seem to point to a scheme
to which no distinct after reference is made. The corresponding
passage in the earlier paper runs thus : ' And xvithal it is fit to see
how we can make a bridge from the present practice to the re-
formation ; lest, while we make forth towards that which is better,
we meet with that which is ,vorse.' The 'bridge' is clearly the
suggested order to the Courts of Equity to forbid lenders from
calling in their money, until a day came at which it was convenient
to their debtors to repay it ; and of this, as ve bave said, there is
no mention made in the Essay.
Again, in the paper, Bacon lays down a caution : ' Let there be no
bank or common stock, but every man be toaster of his own money:
hOt that I dislike banks, but they xvill not be brooked in regard of
certain suspicions.' The Essay changes the definite statement that
Bacon, in spite of his prohibition of banks, does not dislike them, into
the indefinite 'not that I altogether mislike banks,' implying that
Bacon shared the ' certain suspicions' to some extent which he leaves
unstated and unexplained. The banking system was on its trial in
Bacon's day, and he accordingly passes sentence upon it in terres
so guarded that his credit would be safe, whatever the event might
prove to be. The probable ground for his suspicions or half-mislikes
will be seen in Gerard Malynes' Lex Mercatoria, published in 1622.
In Part iii. cap. 9 Malynes describes what he terms the feats of
bankers, the absolute power which they possess of fixing the rate ot
exchange, and the mysterious arts by which they conjure money
out of one country into another, to their own profit and to the injury
of ail besides.
Suspicions of this kind were shared by statesmen of Bacon's rime
as well as by Bacon himself. X, Ve find continual alarms about money
leaving the country and continual attempts by statute and otherwise
to prevent or check the effiux. These attempts Bacon unquestionably
approved. Conf. e.g. Letters and Lire, vi. 374 and 449-5 o. Mr.
Spedding, his ready and xvell-proved apologist, makes much of the
OF USURY. 295
fact that he had got so far as to allow that usury must be permitted.
{ Letters and Lire, vii. 414.) But the legislature, as we have seen, had
got thus far hall a century earlier. It may perhaps be thought that
Essays which are intended to 'last as long as books last' ought at
least to corne up to and to contain the most advanced ideas of the
age at which they were written. This, however, the Essay on Usury
certainly does not. It was given to the world at about the rime at
which Mun's book on England's Treasure by Foreign Trade was
written, and a comparison of the two performances is entirely in
Mun's favour. What Bacon pretends to do, Mun actually does. He
' culls out' the good of Usury, hOt by assuming the equal truth of
a series of contradictory propositions and gravely balancing them
against each other. His more effective method is to sweep away the
nonsense as nonsensical, and to lay down the truth as true, In
cap. 15 he shows conclusively that usury so called is not hurtful to
trade, the fact being that the trader's profits and the rates which the
usurer can obtain, fise and fall together, and that usury is a help
to traders, t-Ie sees as Bacon does that, in a certain sense, usury
makes fewer merchants, or, as he purs it, that some men when they
are grown rich give over trading and put out their money to use,
but he does hOt infer from this that the money 'lies still.' It is, he
says, ' sfill traded'--in the hand, of course, of the trader to whom it
has been lent (cap. I5L ' Not that I altogether mislike banks,' says
Bacon. Mun does not mislike them at ail, and he states clearly
(cap. 14) what he thinks about them and why. Mun has been so
generally and so unjustly condemned as the author of the Mercantile
System of Political Economy, that I have the more pleasure in giving
instances of the sound good sense xvhich his book actually contains.
Of the principle of the'Mercantile System' he does speak with
approval, but it is only a small part of his book xvhich is tainted vith
it, and he keeps wholly clear of much deduced nonsense xvhich is
to be round elsewhere in the theory and practice of his day.
P. 287, 1. I. Many tmz,e ruade &c.] Several of these witty invectives
are endorsed by Bacon in Essay 34, Of Riches.
1.5. Virgil] Georg. iv. 168.
1. 8. in sudore] Genesis iii. 19.
1. IO. orange-tawny bom,ets] The Jews in Europe during the
middle ages vere usually compelled to wear a distinguishing dress.
This was commonly of yellov: it was sometimes a yellow cap,
sometimes a yellow badge on the breast. Ducange, Glossarium, sub
vote Judaei, quotes from the Statuta Massiliensia: 'Statuimus quod
omnes Judaei, a septem annis supra, portent Calotam (i.e. une
calotte) croceam ; vel, si noluerint, portent in pectore unam rotam
latam et magnam ad modum palmae hominis.' In the Latin text of
the Statute as given in the Histoire des actes &c. de la municipalité
296 ESSAY XLL
de Marseille, par L. Mery et F. Guidin (8 vols. 8vo. Marseille et Aix,
,842-I873), there is no mention of the yellow cap, but it appears in
the editors' French translation or abridgement : ' Dès l'ge de sept
ans les juifs devraient porter une calotte jaune (CROCE^, safranée}
ou à défaut une marque sur la poitrine.' Tome iv. pp. I67 and a27.
The statutes given in this history date mainly from x57, soon after
the submission of Marseilles to Charles of Anjou, but they contain
the substance of much earlier municipal legislation. I am indebted
to the late Principal of Brasenose College for the reference to the
Histoire des Actes.
Ducange, sub voce, gives numerous other instances to a like effect,
and probably of about the same date. We find, e.g. an ordinance
of St. Louis (x'z,69) that Jews of both sexes were to wear 'unam
rotam de feutro seu panno croceo in superiori veste consutam ante
pectus.' In the council of Vienna (i67) by canon xS, 'Pileum cor-
nutum deferre jubentur.'
In England a like order was made in Edward the First's reign:
' E 1 (i.e. ke, que) checun Geu pus kil avra passee set anz, porte
enseine en son soverain garnement, cest assav r en forme de deus
tables joyntes de feutre jaune.' Vide Les Estatutz de la Jeuerie, as
printed in the Statutes of the Realm, vol. i. p. zx a fol. ed. of i8xo).
Edward, in a subsequent order, gives directions for the carrying out
of this statute : ' Cure nuper . . . provideri fecerimus quod universi
et singuli Judaei &c. &c .... et quod unusquisque ipsorum, postquam
aetatem septem annorum compleverit, in superiori vestimento suo
quoddam signum deferat ad modum duarum tabularum de feltro
croceo,' &c. Rymer, Foedera (ed. xSx6), tom. i. pars ii. p. 543, in
Ann. Dom. I77.
The date and reign of this stature bave been set down as uncertain.
They seem, however, to be fixed approximately by the passage
quoted from Rymer, and exactly by blatthew of Westminster,
IShron. in ann. I275.
Conf. also 'Gli Hebrei . . . nella Soria, . .. vestono alla Soriana,
un' habito conforme in tutto à quello de' Turchi : se non che portano
in capo un dulipante (?) di velo, al quanto giallo, come anchora fanno
gli Hebrei Levantini, che sono in Venetia, dove si trova anchora un
altro grosso numero.., d' Hebrei. Questi ... nel vestire si conformano
col popolo di Venetia ed imitano gli altri Mercanti ed Artegiani di
questa Città . . . Ma nondimeno, accioche sieno conosciuti da gli
altri, portano per comandamento publico la berretta gialla' &c.
Vecellio, Degli habiti antichi et moderni (ed. i59o), p. 464.
P. 288, 1. x. it is against naD«re] Conf. EhhoTrara tatoEeirat Ç d[oowra-
OF USURY. 97
oro, r,v ¢pq*ar«, «,. Arist. Pol. i. o. §§ 4, 5- ' He purs his
money to the unnatural act of generation, and his scrivener is the
supervisor bawd toit.' Overbury, Characters.--A devilish usurer.
'When did friendship take
A breed of barren metal of his friend.'
Merchant of Venice, act i. se. 3-
!. x 5. money would »toi fie slill] The assumption here is that
money lent ' lies still' in the borrower's hands, since the original
owner and lender is hot himself employing it directly upon mer-
chandising.
P. 289,1. . al lhe end of lhe gaine&c.] There is a var. lec. here--gaine
for game--either from an error of the press, or from an indlstinctness
of the manuscript. The Latin gives eve»tiet in ff»te htdi, pro,,t fit saepe
in alea, ut maxima pars pe¢uniae promo cedat. The usurer is thus
compared to the player who keeps the bank ata gaine of hazard, and
who commonly bas the chances very much in his favour.
P. 290, !. xo. lo Ulopia] This is probably a reference to Sir Thomas
More's Utopia, an imaginary country in which there could be no
usury, since there was no private property. ' For what justice is
this, that a ryche goldesmythe, or an usurer . . . should bave a
pleasaunt and a welthie living, either by idlenes or by unnecessary
busines.' Utopia, bk. ii. cap. 9 (Robynson's Trans.). There is a like
reference in Ralegh, who says of the Lacedaemonians: 'Briefly
they lived Utopian-like.' Hist. of the Vorld, iii. chap. 8. sec. .
P. 291, !. 5- be red,«ced tofive i», the hundred] The proposed change
would bave been to Bacon's advantage as a debtor. In an accourir
of his payments, in x&8, we find : ' Paid Mr. Hallett for the interest
of xoolb, for 6 months 5lb. and to his man xos., in ail 5 L xos. od.' ' Paid
Mr. Hill, the Scrivener, for the interest of oolb. for six months, to
the use of Mr. Henry Goldsmith and for the forbearance L os. od.'
Several other entries follow, some for large sums, all showing that
ao per cent. was the minimum rate at which Bacon's debts had been
incurred. Letters and Life, vi. p. 332 et seqq.
!. xo. raise lhe price of la,d] Land, in the first quarter of the
2th century, was tobe had at less than the sixteen years" purchase
to which Bacon proposes to raise it. Conf. 'Corn and cattle were
never at so low a rate since I tan remember : wheat at s. a bushe],
barley at 7 s. a quarter, et sic de caeteris .... So that land falls every-
where, and if you bave money, you may buy good land at thirteen
or fourteen years' purchase.' Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. 9, I6o.
Bacon's remedy for this is hot approved by his clear-sighted
contemporary, Mun. There is only one way, Mun says, by which
the improvement tan be brought about. When the produce of land
commands higher prices, the land will bear a higher rent and its
-9 8 ESSAY XLI.
value will, of course, rise.' England's Treasure by Foreign Trade,
cap. 5.
1. 23. no bank].
i. 6. certain suspicions].
The word bank is used in so rnany senses, the business of banking
was so rnixed up with other forrns of business, and Bacon's language
is so vague and uncertain that we cannot be sure what suspicions he
is referring to. Probably they are those expressed by Gerard
Malynes in his ' Lex Mercatoria' (1622). Part i. cap. 2o is a long
attack on Banks and Bankers. Malynes describes how Bankers
have large surns of other people's money deposited with thern, and
how they contrive to retain it and to use it, rnaking in effect merely
fictitious repayments by book transfers: ' So that they once being
possessed of rnoneys, they will hardly be dispossessed, and their
paiements are in effect ail by assignation and irnanarie.' Thus
furnished, they cornrnand the rnoney market, lend at exorbitant
interest, ' engross divers cornrnodities, and earry a predorninance in
ruling the course of exchanges for all places where it pleaseth
thern.'
In part iii. cap. 9 he describes more fully and fancifully the ' feats
of Bankers' performed by exchanges, ' some for the Banker's private
gain and benefit ; ' others ' for the advancing of one cornmonwealth
above ail other cornrnonweales;' and lastly 'for the destruction of
a commonwealth.'
Also in part i. cap. 2o Malynes mentions that banks in Spain had
been unable to meet their engagements, and had been allowed under
Philip II to defer payments. Hence banks had fallen into disrepute
in Spain.
Mun's book, cap. 4, is a reply to this stuff. Mun defends bankers.
They are, he allows, always ready to receive such surns of money as
are put into their hands. ' Itis likevise truc,' he adds, ' that the
Bankers do repay all rnen with their own, and yet reserve good
gain to thernselves, vhich they do as well deserve . . . as those
Factors do which buy or sell for Merchants by Commission. And
is hot this likewise both just and very common ?'
It thus appears that, in the first quarter of the 17th century, the
functions of the banker were in the main such as they are now.
For another sense of bank = mont de piCC v.s. note on p. 8.
The terre is used also as ---- a hoard of money. John Blount, e.g.,
writing to secretary Cecil, mentions a report that Cecil had ap-
pointed a late rnerchant's factor to keep a bank for hirn in Italy,
fearing to have so much rnoney in England. State Papers, Domestic
Series, Match 27, 16o2. And, ' These little sands and grains of gold
and silver (as it seerneth) holp hot a little to make up the great heap
and bank.' Works, ri. 22o.
OF YOUTH AND AGE. 299
XLII.
OF YOUTH AND AGE.
A MA that is young in years may be old in hours, if he
have lost no rime ; but that happeneth rarely. Generally,
youth is like the first cogitations, not so wise as the second :
for there is a youth in thoughts as well as in ages ; and yet
the invention of young men is more lively than that of
old, and imaginations stream into their minds better, and
as it were more divinely. Natures that have much heat,
and great and violent desires and perturbations, are not
ripe for action till they bave passed the meridian of their
years : as it was with .] ulius Caesar and Septimius Severus;
of the latter of whom it is said, Jttvcnttttcm egit crroribtts,
httofitroribtts Iblotam ; and yet he was the ablest emperor,
almost, of ail the list; but reposed natures may do well
in youth, as it is seen in Augustus Caesar, Cosmus duke
of Florence, Gaston de Foix, and others. On the other
side, heat and vivacity in age is an excellent composition
for business. Young men are titrer to invent than to
judge, fitter for execution than for counsel, and fitter
for new projects than for settled business; for the ex-
perience of age', in things that fall within the compass of o
it, directeth them ; but in new things abuseth b them. The
errors of young men are the ruin of business; but the
errors of aged men amount but to this, that more might
bave been done or sooner.
Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions,
brace more than they can hold; stir more than they can
quiet; fly to the end without consideration of the means
of age] i.e. of old men, as the
words which follow require. Lat.
senum. For the looseness of the
grammar, conf. ' In suits of favour, the
first coming ought to take little place.'
Essay 49- Where the sentence con-
tinues as if first corner and not first
coming (prima petitionis oblatio) had
been written in the previous clause.
b abuse/if] i. e. deeeives or misleads.
Lat. eos seducit. Conf. ' It was eertified
unto me that it was his own desire to
resign : wherein if I was abused, I will
restore him.' Letters and Life, ri. z9 z.
3oo ESSAY XLII.
and degrees ; pursue some few principles which they have
chanced upon absurdly«; care not to innovate a, which draws
unknown inconveniences; use extreme remedies at first;
and, that which doubleth all errors, will not ackn'owledge
or retract them, like an unready horse*, that will neither
stop nor turn. Men of age object too much, consult too
long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom
drive business home to the full period, but content them-
selves with a mediocrity of success. Certainly itis good
to compound employments of both ; for that will be good
for the present, because the virtues of either age may
correct the defects of both ; and good for succession, that
young men may be learners while men in age are actors ;
and lastly, good for externe accidents, because authority
followeth old men, and favour and popularity youth: but
for the moral part, perhaps youth will have the pre-
eminence, as age hath for the politic. A certain rabbin,
upon the text, Your.young mon shall sec visions, and.your
old ntcn shall dream drcams, inferreth that young men are
admitted nearer to God than old, because vision is a
clearer revelation than a dream ; and certainly, the more
a man drinketh of the world the more it intoxicateth : and
age doth profit r rather in the powers of understanding
than in the virtues of the will and affections. There be
some bave an over-early ripeness in their years, which
fadeth betimes: these are, first, such as bave brittle wits,
the edge whereof is soon turned: such as was Hermo-
genes the rhetorician, whose books are exceeding subtile,
e absurdly] This adverb qualifies
the earlier verb ' pursue.' Lat. prae.
cepta quaedam absu»de persequuntur, h*
quae casu incid«ruæ,t. The Frencb
gives lesquels ils ont à Fadenture ab-
surdemot remontréa mistake due to
the order of the words in the text
rather than to any fault on the trans-
lator's part.
d tare mot to innovate, &c..] This
clause is omitted in the Latin. It
must mean--are given to innovating
carelessly a habit which, &c.
like an unready horse] Lat. simil«s
qnis maie domiti*.
r doth profit] i. e. doth gain or make
progress. Lat. proficit.
OF YOUTH AND AGE. 3o
who afterwards waxed stupid: a second sort is of those
that have some natural dispositions xvhich have better
grace in youth than in age; such as is a fluent and
luxuriant speech, which becomes youth xvell but hOt age :
so Tully saith of Hortensius, Idem manebat, »teqtte idcm
decebat: the third is of such as take too high a strain at the
first, and are magnanimous more than tract of years can
uphold; as was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith
in effect, Ulthna prhnis cedebant.
NOTES AND LLUSTRA TIOA'S.
P. 299. Youth and ,4gel In the Historia Vitae et Mortis
(published i623) , Bacon sums up somewhat more favourably to
youth, bringing out more fully the better moral qualifies of young
men, and giving less prominence to the improved judgment and
intellectual capacity ofthe old. Works, ii. m2.
1. xo. Septimius Severus] The words are--'Juventam plenam
furorum, nonnunquam et criminum habuit.' Spartianus, Life of
Severus, cap. ii. But the general testimony of Spartianus as to the
conduct of Severus in youth is to the contrary effect. It was in the
later career of Severus rather than in his youth that he gave proof
of a disordered mind. Cap. xii.
1. I4. Cosmus] or Cosimo, of the younger bmnch of the Medici,
was appointed Duke of Florence in 3537, at the age of seventeen, on
the failure of the elder branch of the family after the murder of the
previous Duke Alessandro. During a long tenure of office, he ad-
ministered the affairs of Florence with marked ability and success.
1. 35. Gaston de Foix] Bacon probably refers to Gaston III,
Count de Foix, and Viscount de Béarn. He was born in 3331, and
at the age of fourteen served with distinction in military and then in
civil business. Froissart, who knew him in his later life, describes
him as a pattern of chivalry. Chron. vol. ii. caps. 26 and 80 (Berner's
trans.).
tract ofyears] i. e. length of years.
The Latin gives, more clearly, aetas
provectior. Con£ ' The wisdom which
is iearned by tract of rime findeth the
laws, that bave been in former ages
established, needful in later to be
abrogated.' Hooker, Ecel. Pol. Bk.
iv. chap. z 4. sec. z. ' Then Fabius
did straight set forth unto Han-
nibal» hot as minded to fight with
him, but fuIly resolved to wear
out his strength and power by delays
and tract of rime.' Plutarch, Lves
p. 8t.
3o2 ESSAY XLII.
Another Gaston de Foix, Duke de Nemours, a nephew of Lewis
XII of France, may equally be described as having ' done well in
youth,' though hardly as of' a reposed nature.' He commanded the
French troops in Italy, and was killed at the battle of Ravenna in
152. ' En peu de temps il fut faict capitaine general devant que
d'avoir quasi faict l'apprentissage de soldat .... Bref sembloit estre
une cho.s.e non jamais veue ny ouye que en si grande jeunesse, qui
n'estoit que de vingtquatre ans ou environ, il eut executé de si haults
faicts d'armes.' Thevet, Vie des hommes illustres, vol. ii. p. 32 B
'Paris, 584).
Bayle speaks of him as--' Ce foudre de guerre, qui auroit aparem-
ment surpassé les deux Scipions s'il avoir vécu autant qu'eux.' Dict.
Hist. et Crit. p. 777 (3rd edition). Vide also Guicciardini, Storia
d'Italia, vol. v. 3o6, 307.
1. 8../illerfor execulion &c.] ConE ' To speak truly, youth is made
(as it were) to follow and obey, but age to guide and command : and
that City or State is preserved, wherein the sage counsels of the
Elders, and the martiall prowesse of the younger, beare sway
together.' Plutarch, Morals, p. 322.
Gaisford, in the Paroemiographi Graeci (e Cod. Bodleiano, 69oh
gives the proverb No i Epa, /ov,à / epatrpo, and adds in a
note (htler alia) the well-known line ascribed to Hesiod : *E/yTa
P. 300, 1.9. Certabt il is good &c.] This is Plutarch's advice.
Vide M.orals, p. 323. Bacon presses it in lais letter of advice to Sir
George Villiers ; Letters and Life, ri. p. 40.
1. 7. A cerlah rabbin] This is Abravanel. His words are:
' Then because prophecy consists of two degrees, a prophetic dream
and a prophetic vision (as it is said in the Law, I, the Lord, will
make myself known unto him in a vision and will speak unto him
in a dream), in accordance with this it is here said, the old men shall
be deemed worthy to dream dreams and the young men to see
visions; because the strength of the old men is diminished, their
sight is dim, therefore they shall dream; and the young men,
because they are full of vigour and their powers of sight stronger,
therefore they shall see visions.' Vide Abravanel, on the later
prophets (i52o); Joel ii. .8 in the Authorized version; iii. i in
Abravanel's Hebrew Text.
I am indebted to Dr. Ginsburg for this note.
1. 2 7. Hermogenes] 'Epvo;vÇf 8i
OF YOUTH AND AGE. 3o3
vexant. Philostratus de Vitis Sophist. sub lit. Hermogenes.
Suidas, who follows Philostratus word for word in some parts,
tells the story more fully, and, as regards the age at which he gained
distinction, more credibly: 'Eppo,t/ç» Tapo', 'r'xXt/,
àpp«rla o OEp«o .... p » 08) Ç () Xp»
Tpdçe aa à t;a à Tépoa 9avpdwv. The list follows. Suidas,
Lexicon, st«b vote.
P. 301, 1. 3. auenl n lu.rurious seed] CnC ' Sed si quaerimus
cur adolescens mis floruerit dicendo quam senior ortensius, caus
reperiemus verissimas duas. Primùm quod genus erat orationis
Asiaticum, adolescentiae magis concessum quam senectuti .... Itaque
Hortensius . . . clamores faciebat adolescens . . . Etsi enim genus
illud dicendi auctoritatis habcbat parure, tamen aptum esse actati
debatur .... Sed quum jam honores et illa senior auctoritas gravius
quiddam requireret, reanebat idem nec dcccbat idem.' Cic.
c. 95. ' Ipsum ctiam cloqucntiac gcnus alios al[ud dccet : nain ncque
tare plenum et crectum et audax et praccultum scnibus convcncrit.
quam pressure et mite et limatum, et quale intel]igi ]t Cicero,
dicit orationem suam coepisse canescere: sic vestibus quoque non
purpura coccoque fulgentibus illa aetas satis apta sit. In juvenibus
etiam uNriora paulo, et paene periclitantia feruntur; at in iisdem
siccum et sollicitum et contractum dicendi propositum, plerumque
affectafione ipsa severitatis invisum est.' Quintilian, Instit. Orat. xi.
I. I.
1. 8. ciio fricam«s] Li's statement does not bear out the
use which Bacon makes of it. He records how Scipio, towards
the close of his life, when worried by envious and captious accusa-
tions, refused to put himself on his defence. ' Major animus et natura
erat ac majori fortunae assuctus quam ut reus esse sciret, et sub-
mittere se in huilitatcm causam diccntium.' This defiant attitude
he maintained, and his accusers could gct no hearing ; but ' silcntium
deindc de Africano fuit. Vitam Literni et sine desiderlo urbis...
Vit memorabilis: be]licis tamen quam pacis artibus memorabilior
prima pars vitae quam posterior fuit; quia in juventa bella assidue
gesta; cure senecta res quoque defloruere nec praebita est materia
ingenio.' Bk. xxxviii. 52 and 53-
1. 9. Uflimarhnis &c.] From Ovid. er. ix. 23.
304 ESSAY XLIII.
XLIII.
OF BEAUTY.
VIRTUE a is like a rich stone, best plain set; and surely
virtue is best in a body that is comely, though hOt of
delicate features; and that bath rather dignity of presence
than beauty of aspect ; neither is it almost seenb that very
beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue; as if
nature were rather busy hOt to err than in labour to
produce excellency; and therefore they prove accom-
plished, but hOt of great spirit ; and study rather behaviour
than virtue. But this holds hOt always: for Augustus
oCaesar, Titus Vespasianus, Philip le Bel of France,
Edward the Fourth of England, Alcibiades of Athens,
Ismael the Sophy of Persia, were all high and great
spirits, and yet the most beautiful men of their times.
In beauty, that of favour c is more than that of colour;
and that of decent and gracious motion more than that
of favour. That is the best part of beauty which a picture
cannot express ; no, nor the first sight of the life. There
is no excellent beauty that bath hOt some strangeness in
the proportion. A man cannot tell whether Apelles or
20 Albert Durer were the more trifler; whereof the one
a l'irlue] i.e. excellence of any
kind. The examples given beiow of
the union of beauty and virtue show
clearly that it cannot be of moral virtue
that Bacon is speaking. So, in Essay
4: 'Those that are first raised to
nobility are commonly more virtuous,
but less innocent than their descend-
ants.'
b ncittzev fs it almost secn] Lat. neque
fer« releries.
C favour] i.e. the features or ex-
pression of the countenance. Conf.
He (Alcibiades) disdained to learn
to play on the flute or recorder:
saying that it was no gentlemanly
quality. For» said he to play on the
violi with a stick doth not alter man's
favour nor disgraceth any gentleman:
but otherwise to play on the flute, his
countenance altereth and changeth so
oft that his familiar friends can scant
knowhim.' Plutarch, Lives, p. i98. And,
' Painters or drawers of pictures which
make no account of other parts of the
body, do take the resemblances of the
face and favour of the countenance, in
the which consisteth the judgment of
their manners and disposition.' p.
Conf. also Blundevill, Of Counseils
(5"1o under the heading Qualities of
body--'countenance, which some cali
favour or feaw'ter of the face.' The
book is hot paged.
OF BEAUTY. 3o3
would make a personage by geometrical proportions : the
other, by taking the best parts out of divers faces to make
one excellent. Such personages, I think, would please
nobody but the painter that ruade them: not but I think «
a painter may make a better face than ever was; but he
must do it by a kind of felicity {as a musician that maketh
an excellent air in music), and not by rule. A man shall
sec faces that, if you examine them part by part, you shall
find never a good; and yet altogether do well. If it be
true that the principal part of beauty is in decent motion,
certainly it is no marvel though persons in years seem
many times more amiable ; PMchrorum autmmms ttlcher;
for no youth tan be comely but by pardon, and consider-
ing the youth as to make up the comeliness. Beauty
is as summer fruits, which are easy to corrupt and cannot
last; and, for the most part, it makes a dissolute youth
and an age a little out of countenancee; but yet certainly
again, if it light well it maketh virtues shine, and vices
blush f.
IO
Jr O TES A.VD f ZLUSTR.4 TIO A'S.
The word ' Beauty' is used in this Essay in several different senses.
It stands first as exquisiteness of face or form ; it is presently said
rather to consist in decent and gracious motion than in anything
else. So understood, it is set down as a special attribute of the old
rather than of the young, as proper to the autumn of life, and as
d hot but I think] i.e. hOt but that.
Lat. o quin «xistimem.
out ofcount«nance] i. e. distisfied
with itself. Conf. ' Wherein a man is
consous to himself that he is most
defective, and is most out of counte-
nance in himsel£' Essay 53- The
fin s pitiem is stronger than
the text waants.
t OE it light well &c,) How, if it
light well, it makes viues shine, is
clear enough ; how it makes vic blush
is hot so cle. The psage h been
explained meaning that where
beauty and virtues are combined, they
make vices in others appear so much
the more shameful and deformed by
contrast with the two-fold excelletce
of the opposite pattern. I prefer to
take it that the words ' if it light well '
apply only to the clause which imme-
diately follows ; and that the assertion
that beauty makes vices blush stands
independent|y, and rneans that beauty
is in the nature of a dis-ace to the
vicious. This is borne out by the anti-
theta--'Quod vestis lauta deformi, hoc
forma improbo.' Works, i. 689.
X
3o6 ESSAY XLIII.
hardly indeed to be attributed to the young at ail. Then, in the next
sentence, after this assertion of its essentially enduring character, it
is said to be as summer fruits, which are easy to corrupt and cannot
last.
P. 304, 1. 2. comdg,, though hot &c.] This and much of the rest
seems to be taken from a passage in the De Officiis. a good deal con-
fused in the rendering. Cicero says, very clearly, ' Cum autem pul-
chritudinis duo genera sint, quorum in altero venustas sit, in altero
dignitas ; venustatem muliebrem ducere debemus : dignitatem viri-
lem .... Formae autem dignitas coloris bonitate tuenda est: color
exereitationibus corporis .... Cavendum est autem, ne aut tardita-
tibus utamur in gressu mollioribus, ut pomparum ferculis similes esse
videamur : aut in festinationibus suscipiamus nimias celeritates ; quae
cure fiunt, anhelitus movetur, vultus mutantur, ora torquentur.' De
Offieiis, bk. i. cap. 36.
1. 9. .eqttgttsltts Caesar] ' Forma fuit eximia, et per omnes aetatis
gradus venustissima.' Suetonius, Augustus, cap. 79-
1. Io. Tihts l'espasiam«s] ' In puero statim corporisanimique dotes
exsplenduerun t, magisque ac magis deinceps per aetatis gradus, forma
egregia, et eui non minus auetoritatis inesset quam gratiae.' Sue-
tonius, Vespasianus, cap. 3.
1. x x..41cibiades] ' Now for Aleibiades' beauty .... he was wonder-
full faire, being a child, a boy, and a man: and that at ail |imes, which
ruade him marvellous amiable and beloved of every man.' Plutareh's
Lires, p. x97.
1. m. Ismad] Conf. 'Ce jeune prince (Hismael Sophi) trouva de
l'accueil inopinë par le moyen d'un prestre Armenien, qui, se meslant
d'astrologiser judiciarement, apres avoir contemplé la face et physio-
nomie de ce jeune Prince, trouva l'esperanee de tant de graces et
perfeetions si bien asseurée par les traits de son visage et composition
de son corps, qu'il print toutes les peynes soin et solieitude qu'il peut
à l'eslever.' Thevet, Vie des hommes illustres, vol. ii. p. 657 B.
(Paris, I584.
1. 19. .4pdles] The story referred to is told not of Apelles but of
Zeuxis. Conf. 'So curious and exquisite he {Zeuxis)was, that when
he should make a table with a picture for the Agrigentines... he
would needs sec all the maidens of the citie, naked: and from ail
that companie he chose rive of the fairest to take out, as from several
patterns, whatsoever he liked best in any of them; and of ail the
lovely parts of those rive to make one bodie of incomparable beautie.'
Pliny, N. H. bk. xxxv. cap. 9- Conf. also, Cicero, de Inventione,
bk. ii. cap. i, where a like story is told, at greater length, about
a picture painted by Zeuxis for the inhabitants of Crotona.
1. zo. .41ber! Durer] Gives at great length and illustrates in detail
the proportional measurements which the various parts of the human
OF BEAUTY. 37
body ought to bear to one another. The Latinized version of his
book bears title--De Symmetria partium in rectis formis humanorum
corporum.
P. 305, 1. 2. Pulchrort«n autumm«spulcher] The Latin version gives
the adage as secundimt illud Euripidis. It is misquoted, perhaps from
Ermi Adagia, where the correct reading is 'pulchrorum
autumnus pulcher est.'
Easmus comments as follows : ' Metaphora proverbialis, nata ex
Archelai apophthegmate, quod ab eo dictum Plutarchus refert in
Euripidem, qui jam pubescentem atque exoletum Agathonem in
convivio suaviabatur.'
The adage occurs in three passages of Plutarch.
(x) In the Life of Alcibiades, so mistranslated by North as to bear
out the use which Bacon makes of it : ' Now for Alcibiades' beauty,
it ruade no matter ifwe spake hot of it, yet I will a litle touch it by
the way : forhe was wonderfull faire, being a child, a boy, and a man,
and that at ail times which ruade him marvellous amiable and be-
loved of every man. For where Euripides ith, that of ail the faire
times of the year, the Autumne or latter season is the thirest : that
commonly falleth out hot truc. And yet it proved truc in Alcibiades,
though in few other.' Lives, p. 97- The original gives : oh hp (
It oeeurs again in the "Epwrx6"
And in the
To 81 Ep[ov
Aelian, Var. Hist. xiii. cap. 4, telling the se stop, aseribes the
adage to Euripides, and adds that he was drunk at the rime. This
may pass as an excuse or as an aggravation.
It is elear on the whole case, that Baeon's asseion of the supefior
beauty of the old must be defended on some other authority than
that which he here forces into use. He gives the adage eorreetly in
his collection of Apophthegms; Works, vil. p. 45.
X2
3o8 ESSAY XLIV.
XLIV.
OF DEFORMITY.
DEFORMED persons are commonly even with nature ; for
as nature hath done iii by them, so do they by nature,
being for the most part (as the Scripture saith), void of
natural affccNon; and so they have their revenge of nature.
Certainly there is a consent between the body and the
mind, and where nature erreth in the one, she ventureth
in the other: Ubi peccat hz mo, pcriclitahtr in altcro : but
because there is in man an election touching the frame of
his mind, and a necessity in the frame of his body, the
o stars of natural inclination are sometimes obscured by the
sun of discipline and virtue; therefore it is good to con-
sider of deformity, not as a sign which is more deceivable b,
but as a cause which seldom faileth of the effect. Whoso-
ever bath anything fixed in his person that doth induce
contempt, hath also a perpetual spur in himself to rescue
and deliver himself from scorn; therefore ail deformed
persons are extreme bold; first, as in their own defence,
as being exposed to scorn, but in process of time by a
general habit. Also it stirreth in them industry, and espe-
2o cially of this kind, to xvatch and observe the weakness of
others that they may have somewhat to repay. Again, in
their superiors it quencheth jealousy towards them, as
persons that they think they may at pleasure despise : and
it layeth their competitors and emulators asleep, as never
believing they should be in possibility of advancement till
they see them in possession : so that upon the matter c, in
I slzc vattucth] i. e. she runs risk of
failure.
b is more deceivable] i.e. is apt to be
deceptive. Lat. quod quandoque fallit.
Conf. ' Whose duty is deceivable and
false.' Richard II, act ii. sc. 3- For this
use of a comparative form where no
comparison is intended, conf. note on
Essay 47. p- 33 t-
utbon tire marrer] i.e. in strict fact.
Lat. M rem dillgenter introslicias. Conf.
'My Lord Chief Justice shewed us
pasages of Suarezand others, whereby
to prove that by the generai Buiis of
Coena Domini and others, you.were
upon the marrer excommunicate.' Let-
ters and Life, v. xz 9. And, in Bacon's
answer to the z4th article of charge
OF DEFORMITY. 309
a great wit «, deformity is an advantage to rising. Kings
in ancient rimes [and at this present in some countries)
were wont to put great trust in eunuchs, because they
that are envious towards all are more obnoxious ° and
officious t towards one; but yet their trust towards them
hath rather been as to good spials « and good whisperers
than good magistrates and of-ficers: and much like is the
reason of deformed persons h. Still the ground is i, they
will, if they be of spirit, seek to free themselves from
scorn: vhich must be either by virtue or malice; and,
therefore, let it hOt be mata'elled if sometimes they prove
excellent persons; as was Agesilatis, Zanger the son of
Solyman, Aesop, Gasca president of Peru; and Socrates
may go likewise amongst them, with others.
,VOTES AA'D IZZUSTRATIO«VS.
Dr. Abbott introduces this Essay with the following quotation and
remarks :--' Chamberlain, in a letter to Sir Dudley Carleton, written
Dec. 17, I612, soon after the publication of the second edition of the
Essays, says : "Sir Francis Bacon hath set out new Essays, where,
in a chapter on Deformity, the world takes notice that he paints out
his little cousin to the lire." The " little cousin," Robert Cecil, Earl
of Salisbury, had recently died, and if "the world" was right (of
against him : ' Some good time after
the first decree and before the second,
the said 5oo was delivered to me by
Mr.Tobye Mathew, so as I cannot deny
but it was, upon the matter, pendotte
Iite." Letters and Life, vil 256. The
phrase is used by Bacon in other
places, and always in the same
sense.
genio.
o obnoxious] A Latinism, frequent
with Bacon. Conf. 'Somewhat ob-
noxious to him for his favours and
benefits.' Works, ri. 64, where it is
exp]ained by Mr. Spedding as meaning
rather more than obliged and hot quite
so much as dependent. When a man
stands in such a relation to another
that he is hot free to act as he other-
wise would, Bacon would have said
that he is obnoxious to him.
f officious] i.e. ready to do offices.
Conf. ' In favour, to use men with
much difference and election is good,
for tt makes the persons preferred more
thankful, and the rest more officious.'
Essay 48.
sISials ] i.e. spies or detectix'es.
Lat. rùstatore$. Conf. ' Hannibal had
secret intelligence of ail this variance,
by spials he had sent into the enemies'
camp.' Plutarch, Lires, p. xo68.
the reason of&c.'] i.e. the relation
in which deformed persons stand. Lat.
ratio.
i the ground /si Lat. manet iila
r¢gnla quam antea #osuimus.
.]I0 ESSAY XLIV.
which there is no proof) it was somewhat ungenerous of Bacon thus
to hold up to contempt a man lately dead, to whom he had been in-
debted for many services, and to whom he had written (New Year's
Day, i6o8 ,. D.), " I do esteem whatsoever I have, or may have, in the
world but as trash in comparison of having the honour and happi-
ness to be a near and well-accepted kinsman to so rare and worthy
a counsellor, governor, and patriot."' More follows in the same
strain. It is hOt a solitary and scarcely an extreme instance of Bacon's
language to his cousin while he was alive and in power.
XVhether the world was right in believing that the chapter on
Deformity was sketched after Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, it is
hOt possible to decide. There is, as Dr. Abbott says, no proof of it.
It is certain, however, that strokes of the kind are hOt unfrequent in
the Essays. In, e.g. Essay 22, Of Cunning, many of the remarks are
avowedly based on Bacon's own observation of other men's words
and ways. Much of Essay 26, Of Seeming Wise, points clearly to
Sir Henry Hobart. In Essay 56, ' an over-speaking judge is no well-
tuned cymbal' appears aimed at Bacon's old enemy, Coke. In fixing
such references the judgment of contemporaries must have great
weight allowed to it. Little points of resemblance, which escape
notice noxv, xvould be detected at once by those who had known the
living originals, and the portraits would be recognised by a variety
of marks which have no significance for us. But in some points of
the Essay on Deformity the likeness is still clear. It is well known
that Sir Robert Cecil was deformed. Sir Robert Naunton in his
Fragmenta Regalia thus describes him: 'For his person, he was
hOt much beholding to nature, though somexvhat for his face, which
was the best part of his outside.' And again: 'Though his little
crooked person could not promise any great supportation, yet it
carried thereon a head, and a head-piece of a vast content.'
In spite ofthis deformity, and in spite of his weak health, Sir Robert
Cecil had been in possession of advancement. He had been one of
Elizabeth's most trusted ministers and counsellors, and James, little
as he liked him, had used his services to the last. He had aKvays
been remarkable as what Bacon terms 'a good spial.' Naunton,
after spea-ldng of him as growing up under the 'tutorship of the
times and Court, which were then the academies of art and cunning,'
goes on to say, ' it seems Nature was so diligent to compleat one and
the best part about him, as that to the perfection of his memory and
intellectuals she took care also of his sences and to put him in linceos
oculos, or to pleasure him the more borrowed of Argus so as to give
him a prospective sight : and for the rest ofhis sensitive vertues, his
predecessor, Walsingham' Isaid by Naunton 'to have had certain
curiosities and secret xvays of intelligence above the rest ') 'had left
him a receit to smell out what was done in the Conclave: and his
OF DEFORMITY. 3II
good old Father was so well seen in the mathematics, as that he
could tell you through ail Spain, every part, every ship with the
burthens, whither bound with preparation, what impediments for
diversion of enterprises, counsels, and resolutions.' Naunton then
gives ' a taste of his abilities ' in a private letter to the Earl of Devon-
shire, showing curious familiarity with the poxver and designs of
Spain. This is a tolerably complete picture of a ' good spial.'
A ' good whisperer' Bacon certainly believed him to be. He had
long, and perhaps rightly, suspected him of using his influence in a
way not friendly to himself. We have frequent proofs of this in his
letters, hot to the Earl, but to other people about the Earl. In a
letter, e. g. written to James (whether sent or not is uncertain) shortly
after the Earl's death, he makes humble oblation of himself as a fit
subject for promotion to office ' noxv that he is gone quo vivente vir-
tutibus certissimum exitium.' Letters and Life, iv. 28i, 282, So, too,
writing to Sir George Villiers in 1616, he advises him to eoantenance
and advanee able men, and virtuous men, and meriting men. 'For
in the rime of the Ceeils, the father and the son, able men were,
by design and of purpose, suppressed.' Letters and Life, ri. 6. The
text at the beginning of the Essay 'being for the most part (as the
Seripture saith) "void ofnatural affection,"' may therefore bave been
twisted in to suit 13acon's belief that his deformed cousin had hot
done him an affeetionate eousin's part. ' Somewhat ungenerous,"
says Dr. Abbott ; but hot more ungenerous than his letters to the
King eertainly were. The first drafted lperhaps never sent} is
moderate in its fault-finding, but it is unlike anything whieh Baeon
ever ventured to let the Earl knoxv that he thought about him.
[Letters and Life, iv. 28o.) Then followed an interview with the
King, at whieh Baeon diseovered that he xvas on safe ground in
depreeiating his dead cousin. ('Vorks, vii. 1754 After this he gives
free vent to his dislike. A letter (Letters and Life, iv. 3t3} certainly
sent to the King some months after the Earl's death, and a letter
quoted in a note on the saine page which was drafted but hot sent,
are more than ' somewhat ungenerous,' and are in as marked eontrast
to the letter whieh Dr. Abbott quotes as anything in the ehapter Of
Deformity, in whatever way we interpret it.
P. 308, 1. 3- void of »tatural affection] Romans i. 31. There is, of
course, no referenee to deformed persons in the original.
P. 309,1. 3- in eunuchs&e.] Conf.' Deformed persons and eunuehs
and old men and bastards are envious.' Essay 9-
1. 12. .4gesilaiis] ' For the deformity of his legs, the one being
shorter than the other, . . . he used the marrer so pleasantly and
patiently that he would merrily moek himself, whieh manner of
merry behaviour did greatly bide the blame of the blemish. Yea,
further, his life and courage was the more eommendable in him, for
3 z ESSAY XLIV.
that men saw that notwithstanding his lameness he refused no pains
nor labour.' Plutarch, Life of Agesilaus, p. 612.
I. 2. Zanger] A son of Solyman the magnificent. After Soly-
man had put his son Mustapha to death, ' he sent for Tzihanger the
crooked, 3-et ignorant of ail that was happened; and in sporting
wise ... bid him go meet his brother Mustapha: which thing
Tzihanger with a merry and cheerefull countenance hasted to
doe, as one glad of his brothers comming. But as soone as he came
unto the place where he saw his brother lying dead upon the ga-ound
strangled, it is hot to be spoken how he was in rninde tormented. He
was scarcely corne to the place where this detestable murther was
cornmitted when his father sent unto him certain of his servants to
offer unto him ail Mustapha's treasure, horses, servants, jewels,
tents, and withall the government of the Province of Amasia : but
Tzihanger filled with extreme heaviness for the unmercifull death of
his well-beloved brother, spake unto them in this sort: Ait u, icked
and ungodly Caite, Ira#or, II may hot say father) take thou now the
treasures, the horses, the lents, the servants, the jeu,els, and the proz,htce of
.lh«stapha .... 1 zt,ill therefore myself provide that thou, nor none for
thee shall ez,er hereafter in such sort shamefully triumph over a poor
o'oob«d a,r«tch. And having thus much said, stabbed himself with
his own dagger into the body, whereof he in short rime died ; "vVhich
so soon as it came to the old Tiger's eares it is hard to say howmuch
he grieved.' Knolles, Hist. ofthe Turks, p. 763 .
1. x3. ,4esop] On Aesop's alleged delbrmity, conf. 'That idiot of
a monk I Planudes) has given us a book, which he calls The Lire of
tesop, that perhaps cannot be matched in any language for ignorance
and nonsense .... Of ail his injuries to Aesop, that which can least
be forgiven him is, the rnaking such a monster of him for ugliness ; an
abuse that has found credit so universally, that ail the modern painters
since the time of Planudes, have drawn him in the vorst shapes and
features that fancy could invent .... I wish I could do that justice to
the memory of our Phrygian .to oblige the painters to change their
pencil. For 'tis certain he xvas no deformed person ; and 'tis pro-
bable he was very handsome.' Bentley, Dissertation upon the Fables
of Aesop, secs. 9 and io.
Gasca] Pedro de la Gasca, a Spanish ecclesiastic, sent out to
Peru 11545-50 ) with unlimited powers to deal with the rebellion of
Gonzalo Pizarro. He discharged his mission with success, I547-
' Gasca (says Prescott) was plain in person, and his countenance was
far from comely. He was awkxvard and disproportioned, for his
limbs were too long for his body--so that when he rode he appeared
to be much shorter than he really xvas.' Hist. of Conquest of Peru,
bk. v. cap. 4- This book gives a lengthy account of the presidentship
and acts of this remarkable man.
OF BUILDING. 33
Socrates] Socrates' defects hardly entitle him to a place among
'deformed persons.' Perhaps Bacon had in mind a passage in
Montaigne's Essays: ' Socrates a esté un exemplaire parfaict en
toutes grandes qualitez. J'ay despit qu'il eust rencontré un corps et
un visage si vilain, comme ils disent, et disconvenable à la beauté de
son ame.' Bk. iii. chap. I2.
XLV.
OF BUILDING.
HousEs are built to lire in and hOt to look on ; therefore
let use be preferred before uniformity", except where both
may be had. Leave the goodly fabrics of houses for
beauty only to the enchanted palaces of the poets, who
build them with small cost. He that builds a fair bouse
upon an ill seat committeth himself to prison : neither do
I reckon it an ill seat only where the air is unwholesome,
but likewise where the air is unequal; as you shall see
many fine seats set upon a knap of ground environed
with higher hills round about it, whereby the heat of the
sun is pent in, and the wind gathereth as in troughs; so
as you shall have, and that suddenly, as great diversity of
heat and cold as if you dwelt in several places. Neither
is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat; but ill ways, ill
markets, and, if you will consult with lIomus, iii neigh-
bours. I speak hot of many more; want of water, want
ofwood shade and shelter, want of fruitfulness and mixture
of grounds c of several natures ; want of prospect, want of
level grounds, want of places at some near distance for
uniformi(v] The Latin gives for e mirture ofgrou»,ds] It is the want
this ulchritudi»L of mixture of g-rounds and not the mix-
knap] i.e. knoll or hillock. Lat. ture which Bacon speaks of as making
in colliculolSauldmn devato, an ' iii seat.'
314 F.SSAY XLV.
sports of hunting, hawking, and faces; too near the sea,
too remote; having the commodity of navigable rivers, or
the discommodity of their overflowing; too far off from
great cities, xvhich may hinder business ; or too near them,
which lurcheth a all provisions and maketh everything dear ;
where a man hath a great living laid together, and where
he is scanted ; all which, as it is impossible perhaps to find
together, soit is good to know them and think of them,
that a man ma)" take as many as he can ; and if he have
several dwellings, that he sort them so that what he
wanteth in the one he may find in the other. Lucullus
answered Pompey well, who, when he saxv his stately
galleries and rooms so large and lightsome in one of his
houses, said, Surcly an excdlcnt place for summer, but how
do A'ott in wintcr? Lucullus answered, lUit.y, do A,ou hot
lhhtk me as wise as some fowls are, lhat ever change thch"
abod« towards t/te whttcr ?
To pass from the seat to the house itself, we will do
as Cicero doth in the orator's art, who writes books De
2o Oratore and a book he entitles Orator; vhereof the
former delivers the precepts of the art and the latter the
perfection. We will therefore describe a princely palace,
making a brief model thereof; for it is strange to see nov
in Europe such huge buildings as the Vatican and Escurial
and some others be, and yet scarce a very fair room in
them.
First therefore I say, you cannot have a perfect palace
except you have tvo several sides ; a side for the banquet,
as is spoken of in the book of Hester, and a side for the
3o household ; the one for feasts and triumphs e, and the other
à h«rch«th] Intercepts, snatches up.
Lat. victui necessa»4a absorber. Conf.
' blethinks it is hot an auspicate be-
ginning of a feast, nor agreeable to
amity and good fellowship, to snatch or
lurch one from another, to bave many
hands in a dish at once to cross one
another with the elbow, and fo be
with hand or arm in his fellow's way.'
Plutarch, Morals, Sympos. ii. Quest.
xo. p. 557.
triumphs] i.e. shows of some
magnificence. Conf. Essa.v 37.
OF BUILDING. 35
for dwelling. I understand both these sides to be not only
returns t but parts of the front ; and to be uniform without,
though severaIIy partitioned within; and to be on both
sides of a great and stately tower in the midst of the front,
that as it were joineth them together on either hand. I
would have, on the side of the banquet, in front, one only
goodly room above stairs, of some fort)- foot high; and
under it a room for a dressing or preparing place at times
of triumphs. On the other side, which is the household
side, I wish it divided at the first into a hall and a chapel o
(with a partition between), both of good state and bigness ;
and those hot to go all the length, but to ha-ve at the
further end a winter and a summer parlour, both fair ; and
under these rooms a fair and large ceIIar sunk under
ground; and likewise some privy kitchens, with butteries
and pantries, and the like. As for the tower, I would
have it two stories of eighteen foot high apiece above the
two wings; and a goodly leads upon the top, railed with
statuas interposed ; and the saine tower to be divided into
rooms, as shall be thought fit. The stairs likewise to the .-o
upper rooms, let them be upon a fair open newel, and
finely railed in with images of wood cast into a brass
colour; and a very fair landing-place at the top. But this
to be, il" you do not point any of the lower rooms for a
dining-place of selwants ; for othelw«ise you shall have the
se'ants' dinner after your own : for the steam of it will
r hot only retu*ns] ' Either of the
adjoining sides of the front of an house
or ground-plot is called a return side.'
GlossaryofTerms used inArchitecture.
Baeon's fuie must therefore be taken
to mean that the returns or wings are
hot only to be added on to the main
building, but are to form an even
building line with it, the elevation
being varied only by thc high central
tower.
g newel] Explained in the Glossa D"
of Terms used in Architecture as i, zter
alia--the central column round which
the stairs of a circular stair-case wind.
So Cotgrave, Dictionary, sub voc«:
' Noyau--the nuell or spindel of a
winding staircase.' The Latin pre-
sents the saine picture in somewhat
different terres : Gradus aut«m turris
apertos esse et in se revertotes ; and adds
further--e¢ per senos sutnnde divisos.
point] i.e. appoint. Conf. ' point-
ing days for pitched fields." Essay 58.
316 ESSAY XLV.
corne up as in a tunnel. And so much for the front : only
I understand the height of the first stairs to be sixteen foot,
which is the height of the lower room.
Beyond this front is there to be a fair court, but three
sides of it of a far lower building than the front; and in
all the four corners of that court fair staircases, cast
into turrets on the outside, and hot within the row of
buildings themselves: but those towers are hOt to be
of the height of the front, but rather proportionable to
the lower building. Let the court hOt be paved, for that
striketh up a great heat in summer and much cold in
winter: but only some side alleys with a cross i, and the
quarters to graze, being kept shorn but hot too near shorn.
The row of return on the banquet side, let it be ail stately
galleries : in which galleries let there be three or rive fine
cupolas in the length of it, placed at equal distance, and
fine coloured windows of several v, orks : on the household
side, chambers of presence and ordinary entertainments,
with some bed-chambers: and let ail three sides be a
double house k, without thorough lights on the sides, that
you may have rooms from the sun, both for forenoon and
afternoon. Cast it also that 3-ou ma 5- have rooms both for
summer and ",','inter; shady for summer and warm for
winter. You shall have sometimes fait houses so full of
glass that one cannot tell where to become I to be out of
i witis a cross&c.] i.e. with two cen-
tral paths, crossing it to the length and
breadth, and thus dividing the court
into four quarters or plots, which are
' to graze,' or to bave grass growing
on them. The Latin is more clear
than the somewhat enigmatical Eng-
lish : .Xlrca habca!.., formam cr«cis
ex iisdem (ambulacris) in medio ;
quadris interpositis, quae gramin¢ vc*ti-
antur. For ' graze,' conf. ' The fen-
men hold that thesewers must be kept
so as the water may hot stay too
long in the spring, till the weeds and
sedge be grown up: for then the
g'round will be like a wood ...
whereby it will never graze (to pur-
pose' that year.' Works, il. 52"/.
be a double bouse] i.e. let them
bave rooms back and front.
to become] i.e. to betake oneself.
Lat. ubi te recipias. The word, in this
sense, was growing obsolete in Bacon's
day. It occurs in Shakespeare twice
only, and in a play of questioncd
authorship.
I eannot joy until I be resolved
Where out right valiant father is
become.'
Henr VL Pat iii. act il. sc. I» or
OF BUILDING. 317
the sun or cold. For imbowed " windows, I hold them of
good use (in cities indeed upright do better, in respect of
the uniformity towards the streetJ; for they be pretty re-
tiring places for conference ; and besides, they keep both
the wind and sun off; for that which would strike almost
through the room doth scarce pass the window: but let
them be but few, four in the court, on the sides only.
Beyond this court, let there be an inward court of the
saine square and height, which is to be environed with the
garden on ail sides; and in the inside, cloistered on all ,o
sides upon decent and beautiful arches, as h[gh as the first
story: on the under story towards the garden, let it be
turned to a grotto, or place of shade, or estivation", and
only have opening and windows towards the garden, and
be level upon the floor, no whit sunk under ground to
avoid all dampishness: and let there be a fountain, or
some fair work of statuas in the midst of this court, and to
be paved as the other court xvas. These buildings to be
for privy lodgings on both sides, and the end for privy
galleries; whereof you must foresee that one of them be o
for an infirmary, if the prince or any special person should
be sick, with chambers, bed-chamber, anticamera °, and re-
camera, joining to it; this upon the second story. Upon
the ground story, a fait gallery, open, upon pillars; and
upon the third story likewise, an open gallery upon pillars,
to take the prospect and freshness of the garden. At both
corners of the further side, by way of return, let there be
two delicate or rich cabinets, daintily paved, richly hanged,
glazed with crystalline glass, and a rich cupola in the
midst; and all other elegancy that can be thought upon. 3o
True Tragedy of Richard Duke of
York, sc. 4 ; and
' But Madam, where is Warwick
then become ?'
Henry VI, Part iii. act iv. sc. 4-
m mbozo«d] i.e. arched, bent like a
bow= bow-windows. Lat, Quantum
ad fenestras prominentes sire ara«a-
las.
estialion] io e. -umme use : from
the Latin aestiar¢o to take cool qua-
ter for -ummer.
o anticarn¢ra] Properly as in the
Latin trans.)
318 ESSAY XLV.
In the upper .gallery too, I wish that there may be, if the
place will yield it, some fountains running in divers places
from the wall ', with some fine avoidances «. And thus
much for the model of the palace; save that you must
have, before you corne to the front, three courts; a green
court plain with a wall about it; a second court of the
same but more garnished, with little turrets or rather em-
bellishments upon the wall; and a third court, to make a
square with the front, but hot to be built nor yet enclosed
with a naked wall, but enclosed with terraces leaded aloft,
and fairly garnished on the three sides; and cloistered on
the inside with pillars, and hOt with arches below. As for
offices, let them stand at distance, with some low galleries
to pass from them to the palace itself.
I''OTES A.VI9 ILLUSTRATIONS.
The eare for use and beauty to the neglect of defensive strength in
building had been of somewhat reeent growth in Baeon's day. The
reign of Henry VII had introdueed a new mode of living, and with it
a new style of domestie architecture. Vith his marriage the feuds
between the bouses of York and Laneaster came to an end, and a
long season of internal peaee seemed about to follow the troublous
times of the preeeding monarchs. Before this domestie architecture
ean seareely be said to have had any existence ; the mansions ereeted
were rather military than domestie, more like fortresses than dwell-
ings. Now men began to look for eonvenienee rather than strength.
The thickness of the walls was redueed ; the size of the windows
was enlarged, and the general arrangements were marie for eomfort
and eonvenienee rather than for seeurity. Henry VIII had been a
great builder, and had eneouraged his nobles to build. But before
the date of the Elizabethan or late Tudor style fa style whieh eon-
tinued in use during the reign of James I) the mansions had usually
p frot the a,all] Lat. jae.rta parlttes.
q with sone 3qne avoida,aces] i.e.
channels artfully arranged by which
the water may pass away. Lat. qui
per se¢retos t*«bos it¢n«,* transeant. The
word fine bas so many meanings, any
ofwhich would suit the text, that it is
only by help of the Latin that its sense
here can be determined. The secrecy
of the Latin seems to follow from the
nature of the objects, which, if weli
contrived, must be artfully kept out of
sight.
OF BUILDING. 3 9
been one story in height, and badly planned. With the new style
came more lofty buildings, and more skill in the disposition of the
apartments. Next, more bay-windows were introduced, more im-
portance was given to the halls and staircases, and the lighting area
was increased, the windows being greatly enlarged in size--so much
so, indeed, that as Bacon declares in his Essay, ' you shall sometimes
have fair houses so full of glass that one cannot tell where to become
to be out of the sun or cold.' Bacon, in his early writings, had already
noted the general improvement that had been ruade in English
building. In his discourse in praise of his sovereign IElizabeth) he
says, ' if you have respect ¢to take one sim for many to the number
of fair houses that have been built since her reign, as Augustus said
that he had received the city of brick and had left it of marble, so
she may say she received it a realm of cottages, and hath ruade it a
rea]m of palaces.' Letters and Lire, i. I3I. And, ' There was never
the like number of fait and stately houses as have been built and set
up from the ground since her Majesty's reign ; insomuch that there
have been reckoned in one shire that is not great to the number of
three and thirty, which have been ail new built within that rime;
and whereof the meanest was never built for two thousand pounds."
Ibid. p. I58. James' reign had been distinguished in the saine way.
Nicholson, in his Dictionary of Architecture, st«b tir. Tudor Archi-
tecture Cfrom which a great part of the above note has been taken,
gives a list of the most magnificent structures and chief nobles'
palaces built in James' rime.
P. 31.3.1. 15. consMt zt,itl Alonn,s] The reference is to the well-
known story ofthe faults found by Momus in each of the three works
bet-een which he was appointed to decide. As it is told in the
Mythologla Aesopica of Neveletus, the three contending powers
were (i) Jupiter, who produced a bull, pronounced faulty because its
eyes were not best placed for guiding the stroke of its horns ; 12
lrometheus, who produced a man, whose fault was that the seat
of his thoughts did hot hang outside him, so that his thoughts
might be seen; and (3) Minerva, who produced a house, on
which the remark was 'oportuisse Minervam rotas aedibus sup-
posuisse, ut si quis forte malo cohabitaret vicino, facile discedere
posset.' Aesopi fabulae Graecolatinae, i93, Jupiter, lrometheus,
Minerva et Momus ¢published 16101. Bacon refers elsewhere to
the story, but hot to this part of it, and not as it is told here. He
speaks in the Advancement of Learning of 'that window which
Momus did require, who seeing in the frame of man's heart such
angles and recesses, round fault there was not a window to look into
them.' Vorks, iii. 456. This is the version which Lucian gives in
the Hermotimus. The rest of the story he omits. Neveletus's
edition of Aesop appeared between the date of the Advancement of
3-,o ESSAY XLV.
Learning and of the third edition of the Essays. Conf. also ' He was
to sell a piece of land that he had, and gave order to the Crier who
proclaimed the sale to put in this and cry : That it had besides good
neighbors neare unto it.' Plutarch, Morals, Apophthegmes of
Kings, &c., under ' Themistocles.'
P. 314, 1. 11. Lucullus answered] Conf. ' <Lucullus had also many
other pleasant places within the territories of Rome near unto Tus-
culum, where there were great large halls set upon terraces to sec
round about far off in the daytime. And Pompey going thither some-
rime to see him, reproved him greatly, telling him that he had built a
marvellous fair summer-house, but not to be dvelt in in the winter
season. Lucullus, laughing, answered him, Do ye think me to have
less wit and reason than storks or cranes, that I cannot shift bouses
according to the season ?' Plutarch, Lives, p. 534.
1.24. tle l'alican and Escurial] Both these structures are rather
remarkable for the number and extent of their very fair rooms.
P. 316, 1. 12. vaillt a cross, and tlte quarters &c.] A court, such as
Bacon describes, may be seen in the great court of Trinity College,
Cambridge. On the date at which it was laid out Professor Jebb writes
to me as follows : ' Your sketch corresponds with the general plan
of the Great Court in Trinity College. In Willis's "Architectural
History of the University of Cambridge, and of the Colleges of
Cambridge and Eton "--a work completed by J. ,V. Clark (1886)--
you will find (i) a plan of Trinity College, from Lyne's plan of
Cambridge (i574), and (2) do. from Hamrnond's plan of Cambridge
11592; vol. iii. p. 4o0 ff.). In neither of these do we see the four
grass plots. Certain buildings of an older date then projected into
the quadrangle. But in the "Architectural History" there is also a
copy of a "Scheme for laying out the Great Court of Trinity College,"
of which the original is preserved in the College Library, and of
xx-hich the date is probably about 1595 (vol. iii. p. 464). And here the
tbur grass plots appear. Bacon was then (i. e. in 15951 thirty-four,
and the plan of the great Court just noticed was carried out by
"1 homas Nevile, Master of the College, from 1593 to 161.5.
' It seems quite possible, then, that, as you suggest, this was the
" fair court" of which I3acon was thinking.'
OF GARDENS.
XLVI.
OF GARDENS.
GOD Almighty first planted a garden ; and, indeed, it is
the purest of human pleasures; it is the greatest refresh-
ment to the spirits of man ; without which buildings and
palaces are but gross handy-works : and a man shall ever
see that, when ages grow to civility and elegancy, men
corne to build stately sooner than to garden finely; as
if gardening were the greater perfection. I do hold it,
in the royal ordering of gardens, there ought to be gardens
for all the months in the year, in which severally things
of beauty may be then in season. For December and,o
January and the latter part of November, you must take
such things as are green all winter: holly, ivy, bays,
juniper, cypress-trees, yew, pineapple-trees b, fir-trees, rose-
mary, lavender, periwinkle, the white the purple and the
blue, germander, flags, orange-trees, lemon-trees, and
myrtles, if they be stoved « ; and sweet marjoram, warm set a.
There followeth, for the latter part of January and February,
the mezereon-tree which then blossoms; crocus vernus
both the yellow and the grey ; primroses, anemones, the
fo dvility] i. e. to civilization. Lat.
Conf. 'Ireland is the last ex filiis
Europae which hath been reclaimed
. . from savage and barbarous customs
to humanity and civility.' Letters and
Life, ri. uo 5.
b ineapple.trees] i.e. pine-trees.
Lat. pin,es. The pine-apple was a
common naine for what we terre the
pine-cone. Conf. ' The fruits or apples
of these (the pine-trees) be called in
Greek &vo*.' Gerard, Herball. bk.
iii. cap. 3 8. The naine still survives in
the French po,zme de pln.
¢ stovedJ i.e. kept in hot-houses.
Lat. M calldariis conserventur.
d warm set] Lat, fi¢xta panëtcm et
the.rnezereon-tret] This must be
what Lyte terres the Dutch mezereon.
The other specles of mezereon are
much later in flowering. New Hero
ball. iii. cap. 38. 'The dwarfbay tree,
called of Dutchmen blezereon, is a
small shrub two cubits high. The
flowers appear before the leaves, off-
rimes in January. It may be called
the German olive spurge, hot much
unlike to the olive tree in leaf.'
Gerard» Herball. iii. cap. 63.
Y
32a ESSAY XLVI.
early tulippa f, the hyacinthus orientalis, chamaïris h,
fritellaria. For Match, there corne violets, especially the
single blue which are the earliest, the yelloxv daffodil, the
daisy, the almond-tree in blossom, the peach-tree in blossom,
the cornelian-tree i in blossom, sxveet-briar. In April
follow the double white violet, the wall-flower, the stock-
gilliflower, the cowslip, flower-de-luces, and lilies of all
natures, rosemary-flowers, the tulippa, the double peony,
the pale daffodil, the French honeysuckle, the cherry-tree
,o in blossom, the damson and plum-trees in blossom, the
white thorn in leaf, the lilac-tree. In May and June come
pinks of all sorts, specially the blush-pink, roses of all
kinds, except the musk which cornes later, honeysuckles,
strawberries, bugloss, columbine, the French marygold,
flos Africanus k, cherry-tree in fruit, ribes, figs in fruit,
raspes i, vine-flowers, lavender in flowers, the sweet saty-
rian with the white flower, herba muscaria , lilium
t tl, e tarly hdippa] Lat. tulipa prae.
cox. given by Gerard as tulipa praeeox
tota lfitea. He alxvays speaks of the
tulipa, never of the tulip. So too
Parkinson. who mentions several sorts
of the Tulipa praeeox or the early
floxvering Tulipa. Paradisus Terrestris,
p. 46 (fol. I656L
io,adnBus orieulalis] Gerard
mentions two species of this, the
Caeruleus and the Polyanthus, among
the early flowering sorts, from the end
of January to April. Herball. bk. i,
chap.
h chamaïris] Properly, as in Latin,
chamaeiris, the naine of some species
of the Floxver de Lute, usually of the
narrow-leafed species. Gerard, lier-
ball. bk. i. chap. 36, and Parkinson,
Paradisus Terrestris, p. x87,
i lie co«dian-/ree] i.e. the maie
cornell-tree. Lat. cornus. ' The
Grecians call it «pavie: the Latins
cornus:.., in English the cornell
tree and the Cornelia tree; of some,
long Cherrie and long Cherrie tree.'
Gerard, Herball. bk. iii. cap. 98.
k the French marygold, flos /tf ri.
canus] The Latin gives Flos/t[rfcamts
shnplex et mulliplex for these tvo sorts.
Gerard includes them under one
heading as ' The French marigold or
Flos Africanus,' some species of which
he terms multiflorus, others simplici
flore. Herball. bk. ii. 4 6.
I raspes] i.e. raspberries. Lat.baccae
rubi idaei. « The raspis is called in
Greek Bd¢os l«/'tt: in Latine rubus
idaeus:.., in English Raspis, Fram-
boise, and Hindberrie.' Gerard, Her-
ball. bk. iit. cap. .
m te s'weet sa(vdan &c.] This may
be the femme Satyrion Royal, which
Gerard describes as having sometimes
a white flower, and as smelling like
elder blossoms, lierball, bk. i. cap.
xl 5.
n terba muscaria] This is the
bIuscari or bIusked Grape flower.
' These plants,' says Gerard, may be
referred unto the liyacinthus, whereof
undoubtedly they be kinds.' lierball.
bk. i. chap.
OF GARDENS. 33
convallium, the apple-tree in blossom". In July corne
gilliflowers of ail varieties, musk-roses, the lime-tree in
blossom, early pears, and plums in fruit, ginnitings p,
codlins«. In August comes plums of all sorts in fruit,
pears, apricockes', barberries', filberts, musk-melons,
monks-hoods of ail colours. In September corne grapes,
apples, poppies of all colours, peaches, melocotones',
nectarines, cornelians, xvardens", quinces. In October
and the beginning of lqovember corne services, medlars,
bullaces, roses eut or removed to corne late, hollyhocks,
and such like. These particulars are for the climate of
o in blossom] The Latin adds here
Flos cyaneus, which Gerard terres the
Blue Bottle, or Corn-flower or cockle.
He describes several species of it.
Herbail. bk. il. chap. 24o.
p gi, mitings] ' The geniting apple is
a very good and pleasant apple.'
Parkinson, Paradisus, p. 588. Phile-
mon Holland's spelling cornes nearer
to the modern form jenneting. Conf.
' Pomegranite trees, fig trees, and
apple trees, live a very short rime :
and of these, the hastie kind, or jenit-
ings, continue nothing so long as
those that bear and ripen later.'
Trans. of Pliny, Nat. Hist. xvi. cap.
44- The original gives only' ex his,
praecocibus brevior quam serotinis
(vita).'
q codlins] The only species which
Parkinson gives under this naine is the
Kentish codlin. He describes it as a
fair, great, and greenish apple, the
best to coddIe of ail other apples.
p. 588.
r apdcoces] This cornes close to
the genuine old spelling. Gerard
speaks of 'abrecocke, called of some
aprecocke and aprecox.' The modern
naine apricot, he does hot use at ail,
Herbail. iii. chap. 95, nor does Parkin-
SOli.
" barberries] This is Gerard's spell-
ing. Bacon writes ' berberies ' here»
and further on, ' beare-berries.' Gerard
describes the plant as ' full of pricldy
thorns, with berries red when ripe. of
sour and sharp taste. It's flowers and
fruit corne in September.' Herball.
iii. cap. 23. This corresponds well with
the modern barberry, or berberis.
Conf. aiso Parkinson, Paradisus Ter-
restris, p. 56r.
t mdocotones] The lIelocotone
Peach--Malus Persica Melocotonea--
is termed by Parkinson 'a yellow fair
peach," and is said to ripen early and
to be better relished than the test.
Paradisus Terrestris, p. 58o. Or
Bacon may possibly mean the fruit of
the Malus Cotonea, which (says
Gerard) 'is named maium cotoneum,
in Itaiian mele cotogne, in English
quinte.' Herbail. bk. iii. cap. 9"/- If
so, this quinte will be what Parkinson
praises as the Portingai apple quince,
distinct from and superior to the
English or ordinary apple quince.
Paradisus Terrestris, p. 589 . He says
in his Herbail (tribe r6, cap. 4" that
Cato first called it Cotonea Malus and
Pliny after him. Conf. Pliny, lat.
Hist. bk. xv. cap. ri.
a t, ardens] A species of pear,
mentioned but hot speciaily described
by Parkinson, Paradisus Terrestris,
P- 593-
Y2
34 ESSAY XLVI.
London ; but my meaning is perceived, that you may have
ver pcrpeh««n as the place affords.
And because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the
air (where it cornes and goes like the warbling of music),
than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that
delight than to know what be the flowers and plants that do
best perfume the air. Roses, damask and red, are fast
flowers* oftheir smells ; so that you may walk by a whole
row of them, and find nothing of their sweetness; yea,
,o though it be in a morning's dew. Bays likewise yield no
smell as they grow, rosemary little, nor sweet marjoram ;
that which above all others yields the sweetest smell in
the air is the violet, especially the white double violet,
which comes txvice a year, about the middle of April
and about Bartholomew-tide. Next to that is the musk-
rose; then the strawberry-leaves dying, xvhichy a most
excellent cordial smell; then the flower of the vines, it
is a little dust like the dust of a bent', xvhich grows upon
the cluster in the first coming forth; then sxveet-briar,
,o then xvallflowers, which are very delightful to be set
under a parlour or lower chamber windoxv; then pinks
and gillifloxvers, specially the matted pink and clove gilli-
flower ; then the floxvers of the lime-tree ; then the honey-
suckles, so they be somewhat afar off. Of bean-flowers
I speak not, because they are field-flowers; but those
x fastflowem of/iaefr smells] i.e. hot
freely giving out. Lat. odoris sui sunt
/enaces nec aerem /ingun/. Conf. ' The
King also being fast-handed and ioth to
part with a second dowry, prevailed
with the Prince to be contracted with
the Princess Katherine." Works, ri.
"5-
Y widch] There is no doubt as to
the reading here. The Latin gives
quae halitum emittun/ lblane cardiacum.
The words needed to complete the
sense have clearly been omitted through
some error in the MS.
*a bot] The name of several
grasses and weeds in pasture lands.
The Pannicke grasse, e. g., is called by
Gerard ' a bent or feather top grasse.'
Herball. bk. i. cap. 6. Of the cats-tail
grasse he says, ' it may in English as
well be called round bent grasse as
cats taile grasse,' chap. 8. The naine
is still in popular use for the long
staiked grasses, hot fed down by
cattle, which are seen in pasture
iands in the autumn.
OF GARDENS. 325
which perfume the air most delightfully, hot passed by
as the test, but being trodden upon and crushed, are
three ; that is, burnet, wild thyme, and water mints ; there-
fore you are to set whole alleys of them, to have the
pleasure when you walk or tread.
For gardens (speaking of those which are indeed prince-
like, as we have done of buildings), the contents ought
hOt well to be under thirty actes of ground, and to be
divided into three parts; a green in the entrance, a heath
or desert in the going forth, and the main garden in the
midst, besides alleys on both sides; and I like well that
four actes of ground be assigned to the green, six to
the heath, four and four to either side, and twelve to the
main garden. The green hath two pleasures: the one,
because nothing is more pleasant to the eye than green
grass kept finely shorn; the other, because it will give
you a fair alley in the midst, by which you may go in
front upon a stately hedge which is to enclose the garden :
but because the alley will be long, and in great heat of the
year or day you ought not to buy the shade in the garden
by going in the sun through the green ; therefore you are,
of either side the green, to plant a covert alley upon
carpenter's work, about twelve foot in height, by which
you may go in shade into the garden. As for the making
of knots or figures with divers coloured earths, that they
may lie under the windows of the house on that side
which the garden stands, they be but toys; you may see
as good sights many times in tarts. The garden is best to
be square, encompassed on all the four sides with a stately
arched hedge ; the arches to be upon pillars of carpenter's
work, of some ten foot high and six foot broad, and the
spaces between of the saine dimension with the breadth
of the arch. Over the arches let there be an entire hedge
of some four foot high, framed also upon carpenter's work ;
and upon the upper hedge, over every arch a little turret
326 ESSAY XLVI.
with a belly enough to receive a cage of birds: and over
every space between the arches some other little figure,
with broad plates of round coloured glass gilt, for the sun
to play upon : but this hedge I intend to be raised upon a
bank, not steep but gently slope, of some six foot, set all
with floxvers. Also I understand, that this square of the
garden should not be the whole breadth of the ground,
but to leave on either side ground enough for diversity of
side alleys, unto which the tvo covert alleys of the green
,o may deliver you ; but there must be no alleys with hedges
at either end of this great enclosure ; not at the hither end,
for letting a your prospect upon this fair hedge from the
green; nor at the further end, for letting your prospect
from the hedge through the arches upon the heath.
For the ordering of the ground within the great hedge,
I leave it to variety of device; advising nevertheless that
whatsoever form you cast it into, first it be not too busy,
or full of work ; wherein I for my part do not like images
cut out in juniper or other garden stuff; they be for
2o children. Little low hedges, round, like xveltsb, with some
pretty pyramids, I like well; and in some places fair
columns upon frames of carpenter's work. I would also
have the alleys spacious and fair. You may have closer
alleys upon the side grounds, but none in the main garden.
I wish also, in the very middle, a fait mount with three
ascents and alleys, enough for four to walk abreast ; which
I would have to be perfect circles e, without any bulwarks
or embossments ; and the whole mount to be thirty foot
Ictting] i.e. obstructing. Lat. ne
conspectum impediat.
like a,clts] i.e. borders or edgings.
Lat. instar firnbriarum. Conf. ' low
there are certain Scioli or Smatterers,
that are busy in the skirts and outsides
of learning, and bave scarce anything
of solid literature to commend them.
They may have some edging or trim-
ming of a scholar, a welt or so ; but it
is no more.' Ben Jonson, Discoveries,
sub. tir. Differentia inter Doctos et
Sciolos.
* pefect circles] These must be
understood of the alleys, at different
stages of height, up to which the three
ascent are severally to lead.
OF GARDENS. 327
high, and some fine banqueting-house with some chimneys
neatly cast, and without too much glass.
For fountains, they are a great beauty and refreshment ;
but pools mar all and make the garden unwholesome and
full of flies and frogs. Fountains I intend to be of two
natures; the one that sprinkleth or spouteth water: the
other a fair receipt of water, of some thirty or forty foot
square, but without fish or slime or mud. For the first,
the ornaments of images gilt or of marble which are in use
do well : but the main matter is so to convey the water as ,o
it never stay, either in the bowls or in the cistern, that
the water be never by rest discoloured, green, or red, or
the like, or gather any mossiness or putrefaction ; besides
that, it is to be cleansed every day by the hand: also
some steps up to it, and some fine pavement about it doth
well. As for the other kind of fountain, which we may
call a bathing-pool, it may admit much curiosity and beauty,
wherewith we will hot trouble ourselves: as that the
bottom be finely paved, and with images; the sides like-
wise; and withal embellished with coloured glass and 2o
such things of lustre ; encompassed also with fine rails of
low statuas; but the main point is the same which we
mentioned in the former kind of fountain ; which is that
the water be in perpetual motion, fed by a water higher
than the pool, and delivered into it by fair spouts and then
discharged away under ground by some equality of bores,
that it stay little; and for fine devices, of arching water
vithout spilling, and making it rise in several forms (of
features, drinking-glasses, canopies, and the like), they
be pretty things to look on but nothing to health and 3o
sweetness.
For the heath, which was the third part of our plot,
I wish it to be framed as much as may be to a natural
vildness. Trees I would have none in it, but some
thickets ruade only of sweet-briar and honeysuckle, and
328 ESSAY XLVI.
some wild vine amongst ; and the ground set with violets,
strawberries, and primroses; for these are sweet, and
prosper in the shade; and these tobe in the heath here
and there, hOt in any order. I like also little heaps, in the
nature of mole-hills (such as are in wild heaths), to be set,
some with wild thyme, some with pinks, some with
germander that gives a good flower to the eye, some with
periwinkle, some with violets, some with strawberries,
some with cowslips, some with daisies, some with red
xo roses, some with lilium convallium, some with sweet-
williams red, some with bear's-foot, and the like low
flowers, being withal sweet and sightly; part of which
heaps to be with standards of little bushes pricked a upon
their top, and part without: the standards to be roses,
juniper, holly, barberries (but here and there, because of
the smell of their blossom), red currants, gooseberries,
rosemary, bays, sweet-briar, and such like: but these
standards to be kept with cutting, that they grow hOt out
of course.
:o For the side grounds, you are to fill them with variety
of alleys, private, to give a full shade; some of them,
wheresoever the sun be. You are to frame some of them
likexvise for shelter, that when the wind blows sharp you
may walk as in a gallery : and those alleys must be likewise
hedged at both ends, to keep out the wind; and these
closer alleys must be ever finely gravelled, and no grass,
because of going wet. In many of these alleys likewise
you are to set fruit-trees of all sorts, as well upon the walls
,as in ranges ; and this should be generally obserxed, that
3o the borders wherein you plant your fruit-trees be fait and
large and low and hot steep; and set with fine flowers,
but thin and sparingly, lest they deceive the trees*. At
d pricked] i.e. planted. Lat. con- dent arbores. Con£ Because the
sitos, great tree doth deprive and deceive
o deceive lb« trees] L e. rob the trees them ofsap and nourishment.' Works,
of nourishment. LaL ne succo defrau- vil 86.
OF GARDENS. 329
the end of both the side grounds I would have a mount of
some pretty height, leaving the wall of the enclosure
breast-high, to look abroad into the fields.
For the main garden, I do not deny but there should
be some fair alleys, ranged on both sides, with fruit-trees,
and some pretty tufts of fruit-trees and arbours with seats,
set in some decent order; but these to be by no means
set too thick, but to leave the main garden so as it be hOt
close but the air open and free. For as for shade, I would
have you rest upon the alleys of the side grounds, there to
walk, if you be disposed, in the heat of the year or day ;
but to make account that the main garden is for the more
temperate parts of the year, and in the heat of summer for
the morning and the evening or overcast days.
For aviaries, I like them hot, except they be of that
largeness as they may be turfed and have living plants
and bushes set in them; that the birds may have more
scope and natural nestling, and that no foulness appear in
the floor of the aviary. So I have ruade a platform t of a
princely garden, partly by precept, partly by drawing ; hOt
a model, but some general lines of it; and in this I have
spared for no cost : but itis nothing for great princes, that
for the most part, taking advice with workmen, with no
less cost set their things together, and sometimes add
statuas and such things for state and magnificence, but
nothing to the true pleasure of a garden.
_/'V'O TES .,,I WD I.L L US T.R.d TIO WS.
In this Essay, the spelling of the original text is more than usually
erratie. We bave e.g. ' dazie' then ' daisies' : ' wilde rime' then
' wilde thyme' : for 'barberries' we have first ' berberies' then
' beare-bertaes.' For ' eurrans,' ' filberds,' ' orenge,' ' limon,' and
' eugh' for ' yew,' there is good eontemporary authority. ' Quadlins'
platform] i.e. plan or pattern, dignity of knowledge in the arch-type
Lat. figuram. Conf. ' Let us seek the or first platform.' Works, iii. m95-
33 ° ESSAY XLVII.
for ' codlins,' ' lelacke' for ' lilac,' or as Gerard spells it ' lillch,'
and 'hollyokes' for 'hollihockes,' seem tobe mere freaks. ' Dam-
rnasin' for 'darnson' rnust be a phonetic representation of the old
' darnascene,' or as Gerard spells it' darnascen.' Herball. iii. cap. i6.
I have generally modernized the spelling, but in one or two instances
I have thought it better to keep exactly to the original text.
P. 326, 1. I8. I for my part do no! like images «! ou! injuniper &c.]
For curious instances of this praetiee, conf. ' Au X VI e siècle ... près
de Harlern, toute une chasse au cerf était représentée en charmille :
l'abbé de Clairrnarais, dans son jardin de Saint-Orner, avait une
troupe d'oies, de dindons et de grues, en if et en romarin : l'abbé des
Dunes était gardé par des gendarmes de buis.' Larousse, Dict.
Univ., sub voce jardin.
P. 329, !. I8. in the floor of are aviary] The Latin adds here : Quan-
tum vero ad ambulacra in clivis, et variis ascosibus amoenis conficiemla,
illa naturae dona sunt, nec ubique exstr«i possunt : nos autem ca
posuDm«s qnae omni loco conveniunt.
XLVII.
OF NEGOTIATING.
IT is generally better to deal by speech than by letter;
and by the mediation of a third than by a man's self.
Letters are good when a man would drav an answer by
letter back again ; or vhen it may serve for a man's justifi-
cation aftervards to produce his ovn letter; or where it
may be danger to be interrupted or heard by pieces. To
deal in person is good when a man's face breedeth regard,
as commonly xvith inferiors; or in tender a cases where a
man's eye upon the countenance of him vith vhom he
speaketh may give him a direction how far to go: and
generally vhere a man will reserve to himself liberty either
to disavow or to expound. In choice of instruments, it is
fonder] Lat. in rebus quas ex,re- unpleasing it is good to break the ice
mi* tantum digitis tangere convenit, by some whose words are of less
Conf. ' In thing that are tender and weight.' Essay 22, p. 159.
OF NEGOTIATING. 33
better to choose men of a plainer sort, that are like to do
that that is committed to them and to report back again
faithfully the success b, than those that are cunning to
contrive out of other men's business somewhat to grace
themselves, and will help the ma,ter in report e, for satis-
faction sake. Use also such persons as affect « the business
wherein they are employed, for that quickeneth much ; and
such as are fit for the ma,ter, as bold men for expostulation,
fair-spoken men for persuasion, crafty men for inquiry and
observation, froward and absurd e men for business that io
doth hot welI bear out itseIf r. Use also such as have
been lucky and prevailed before in things wherein you
have employed ,hem ; for that breeds confidence, and they
will strive to maintain their prescription. It is better to
sound a person with whom one deals afar off than to fall
upon the point at first, except you mean to surprise him
by some short question. It is ber,er dealing with men in
appetiteg than with those that are where they would be.
If a man deal h with another upon conditions, the star, or
first performance is ail: which a man cannot reasonably 2o
demand, except either the nature of the thing be such
which mus, go before: or else a man can persuade the
the success] i.e. the result, what-
ever it may be. Conf. ' Such was the
success of Crassus" enterprise and
voyage, much like unto the end of a
tragedy.' Plutarch, Lires, p. 579-
¢ will ficlp t/Je ,Jatter &c.] i.e. will
report the result as ber,er than it
rea:ly is, in order to please their em-
ployer. Lat. qui ea quae refertnt
¢2erbis emollient «t in,pense placeant.
d affect] i.e. bave a liking for or
wish success to. Lat. qui negotiofave-
an,. Conf. ' I take goodness in this
sense, the affecting the weal of men.'
Essay 13, and passim.
« absurd] Probably, rough and rude.
Vide note on Essay 6, last line
that doth no, well &c.] The Latin
gives res quae aliquid iniqui habent.
This need hot mean more than busi-
ness which is unsound in some way,
and so fails to recommend itselfl
men b; appelite] Lat. qui in
bitu surir. Ital. qudli che fianno apl5e-
tito, et soJ*o in via. So, in Bacon's
Discourse in praise of Queen Eliza-
beth, he speaks of ' ber wonderful art
in keeping servants in satisfaction and
yet in appetite.' Letters and Lire, i.
x39 ; and ' Rem(ember) to advise the
K. no, to call Serg ts belote Parlam t,
but to keep the lawyers in awe :"
i.e. as blr. Spedding explains the
passage, in expectation of promotion
and in fear of forfeiting it. Letters
and Lire, iv. 43-
Ira man deal &c.] Vide note at
end of Essay.
33 ESSAY XLVII.
other party that he shall still need him in some other
thing; or else that he be counted the honester man. All
practice iis to discover or to work. Men discover them-
selves in trust, in passion, at unawares, and of necessity,
when they would have somewhat done and cannot find an
apt pretext. If you would xvork any man, you must either
know his nature and fashions, and so lead him; or his
ends, and so persuade him; or his weakness and disad-
vantages, and so awe him; or those that have interest in
him, and so govern him. In dealing with cunning persons,
we must ever consider their ends to interpret their
speeches; and it is good to say little to them, and that
which they least look for. In all negotiations of difficulty,
a man may not look to sow and reap at once; but must
prepare business and so ripen it by degrees.
NO T£S .4ND [LZUSTRtl TIONS.
P. 330, 1. 8. where a mau's eye &c.] Conf. ' It is a point of cunning
to wait upon him with whom you speak with your eye, as the
Jesuits give it in precept.' Essay 22, p. i58.
P. 331, 1. 14. better fo sound&c.] Conf. in Bacon's rules for his own
guidance : ' Not to fall upon the ma)ne too soudayne.' Letters and
Life, iv. 93 ; and for the next clause : ' A sudden bold and unexpected
question doth many rimes surprise a man and lay him open.'
Essay .
l. 9. If a man deal &c.] The obscurity of this passage is due
very much to the incieterminate use of the pronouns. The Latin,
whether correct or incorrect, is clear on this point, anci it suggests and
supports, in the concluding paragraph, a sense hOt obxfious in the
English : ' Si cure alio sub conditione negotieris, prima veluti occu-
patio aut possessio votorum in praecipuis numerancia : ici autem cum
ratione postulare nequis, nisi aut natura rei talis sit quae praececiere
ciebeat ; aut alteri commocie insinuare possis illum operâ tuâ in aliis
usurum ; aut cienique habearis ipse pro homine inprimis integro et
verace.' The entire passage may, I think, be thus paraphraseci :-
If,4 agree xvith B to do something upon conciition that B does some-
practice] Lat. negociatio. This carries some sense of crafty or under-
word, common in Bacon's writings» hand dealing.
OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS.
333
thing on his side, the chier matter tobe settled is which of the two is
tobe the first to fulfil his part ofthe engagement. .4 cannot reason-
ably demand that B shall be the first unless the thing which B is to
do must necessarily be done first ; or unless he can persuade B that
even when the thing is done he (.4) will still be dependent upon B
and in need of some other service from him; or unless Che can
persuade him thatj he .4) is a thoroughly trustworthy man. It will
be seen that in one clause I have hot followed the Latin, but it is a
clause in which the Latin apparently departs from the English.
For Bacon's use of a comparative form--the honester man--where
no comparison is intended, conf. the introduction to the History of
King Henry VII : ' I bave not flattered him, but took him to life as
well as I could, sitting so far off, and having no better light,' i.e. no
very good light. Lat. ' stando tam procul et luce paulo obscuriore.'
Works, ri. p. 5-
So in Essay 44 : ' It is good to consider of deformity hot as a sign
xvhich is more deceivable;' Lat. 'quod quandoque fallit;' and in
Essay 34 : ' if he be hot the better stablished in years and judgment.'
P. 332, 1. 4. at unawares] Conf. ' That more trust be given to coun-
tenances and deeds than to words; and in words rather to sudden
passages and surprised words than to set and purposed vords.'
"Vorks, iii. 457-
XLVIII.
OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS.
COSTLY followers are not to be liked ; lest while a man
maketh his train longer, he make his wings shorter. I
reckon to be costly, not them alone which charge the
purse, but which are wearisome and importunea in suits.
Ordinary followers ought to challenge no higher condi-
tions than countenance, recommendation, and protection
from wrongs. Factious followers are worse to be liked,
which folloxv not upon affection to him with whom they
range therr]selves, but upon discontentment conceived
importune] i.e. importunate. Lat.
334 ESSAY XLVIII.
against some other; whereupon commonly ensueth that
iii intelligence, that we many rimes see between great
personages. Likewise glorious b followçrs, who make
themselves as trumpets of the commendation of those they
follow, are full of inconvenience; for they taint business
through want of secrecy; and they export honour from a
man, and make him a return in envy. There is a kind of
followers likevise which are dangerous, being indeed
espials ; which inquire the secrets of the house and bear
Io tales of them to others; yet such men many times are in
great favour; for they are officious c, and commonly ex-
change tales. The following by certain estates d of men
answerable to that which a great person himself professeth
(as of soldiers to him that hath been employed in the wars,
and the like), hath ever been a thing civil « and well taken
even in monarchies, so it be without too much pomp or
popularity. But the most honourable kind of following is
to be followed as one that apprehendeth r to advance virtue
and desert in all sorts of persons ; and yet, where there is
--o no eminent odds in sufficiencyg, it is better to take with
the more passable than with the more able; and besides,
to speak truth, in base times active men are of more use
than virtuous b. It is true that in government it is good to
b glortous] i.e. boastful. Lat. glorf-
osi.
oicious] i.e. fovard to do
offices.
d estates] i.e. orders or professions.
Lat. clientdae tzomirn«n ordinis cujus-
civil] i.e. decent, orderly. Lat.
pro re decova habitum est. Conf. ' The
rimes inclined to atbeism, as the rime
ofAugustus Caesar, vere civil rimes.'
Essay 17. But conf. note on Essay 9,
p. 2o, 1. 14.
r alblbrehendetl fo advance] i.e. prob-
ably, takes on himself, assumes, the
office of advancing. Lat. ut quis pat-fo-
hum se Orofiteatur. Instead of this
somevhat ambiguous word, the ed. of
I6Ia reads 'intendeth' (i. e. makes it
his special object) ' to advance.' Ital.
corne ctd tre per oggeffo il prornovere.
sufficiency] i.e. ability.
virtuou] If this remark is to link
on to the clause before it, we must
understand virtuous in the sense which
Bacon gives to it elsewhere--posseed
of eminent qualities of any kind.
Conf. Those that are fil-St raised to
nobility are commonly more virtuous
but less innocel,t than their descen-
dants.' Essay 14. The 'virtuous'
therefore will be the saine as the
more able' of the previous clause;
while the 'more passable' men may
OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS. 335
use men of one rank equally: for to countenance some
extraordinarily is to make them insolent and the test dis-
content ; because they may claim a due I : but contrariwise
in favour to use men vith much difference and election is
good; for it maketh the persons preferred more thankful,
and the rest more officious: because ail is of favour. It is
good discretion not to make too much of any man at the
first ; because one cannot hold out that proportion. To be
governed (as we call it) by one is not safe; for it shows
softness, and gives a freedom to scandal and disreputation ; ,o
for those that would hOt censure or speak ill of a man
immediately, will talk more boldly of those that are so
great vith them, and thereby wound their honour; yet to
be distracted xvith many is worse ; for it makes men to be
of the last impression k, and full of change. To take advice
of some few friends is ever honourable; for lookers-on
mat O, limes see more t/tan gamesters ; attd the vale best dis-
covereth the bill. There is little friendship in the world,
and least of all between equals, which was wont to be
magnified. That that is is between superior and inferior, 2o
whose fortunes may comprehend a the one the other.
bc crcditcd with thc grcatcr activity.
Thc Latin, howcvcr, interprcts thc
rcmark indcpcndcntly of thc contcxt :
homines indust, ii et satagentes usui
»gKs sunt q,«am era irtute praediti.
It does hot occur in the edition of
x6, so that there is no help to bc
got from thc Frcnch or Italian version.
I ccause they may daim a due] This
is obscure from over-compression. The
Latin gives more fully,--- quand
quidem ordinis paritas aequas gratiae
oenditione* tanquam ex debito posdt.
of the last impression] i.e. makes
them bear from rime to rime the im-
press whatever it is. which happens
to bave bccn last put upon thcm. Thc
Latin gives a curious twist to thc
mctaphor : reddet postremae ,ut nun¢
loqnu,tur) ¢ditionls. Conf. ' A man
shall meet with in every day's con-
ference the denominations of sensitive,
dry, formai reai, Inonorous certain,
huomo di prima impressione, hnomo di
uitima imlressione, and the like.'
,Vorks, iii. 435- The distinction in-
tended clearly is between the man
who retains unchanged the first im-
pression he happens to bave received,
and the man who takes each new im-
pression in its turn, and retains it only
until a later impression obliterates it
and takes its place.
t may comprc#tcnd] i.e. may include
--since the good or bad fortune of the
superior will have its effect to the
advantage or to the disadvantage of
his inferior friend.
336 ESSAY XLIX.
NOTES ,d Nl [LL USTR A TIO )K.ç.
P. 834, 1. 9. which inquire the secrets o[ fhe bouse] So Juvenal, of
the ways of the Greeks at Rome : ' Seirevolunt seereta domus, arque
inde timeri.' Sat. iii. 113.
1.22. in base rimes &e.] On the failure of ability in 'base rimes'
and on the advantage whieh the more active enjoy (and may eonse-
quently eonfer on their patrons), eonf. Thueydides on the state of
things during intestine quaels in Greece : KaI oI avdr«pot vqv
««,,, ç« gaxx» a,«ç0dp« Bk. iii. cap. 83.
P. 385, 1. x 7. the yak st &c.] This enigmatical saying is explained
in the De Augmentis Scientiam as' Proverbium quoddam mas
audaculum quam sanum, de censur vulgi circa actiones principum,
stantem in rafle @finie çerh«strare montera: Works, i. 727 .
Dr. Abbott finds its origin in a passage in Machiavelli's dedication
of his ' Prince' to Lorenzo de Medici : ' Cosi corne coloro che diseg-
nano i paesi si pongono bassi riel piano a considerare la natura
de' monti e de' luoghi alti, .... similmente a conoscere bene la
natura .... de' principi bisogna esser popolare.'
l¢6rÇra. Diog. Laert. bk. viii. sec. xo.
So Aristotle quotes and endorses the proverb/«&q; ç«rÇ;.
Eth. Nicom. ix. cap. 8.
XLIX.
OF SUITORS.
MAr;v ill matters and projects are undertaken*; and
private suits do putrefy the public good. Many good
are undcrtaken] i. e. are taken up.
or as he aftevards says, ' embraced,'
hot by the original projector but by
the patron or great man to whom the
projector applies for help. Vide infra,
'some undertake suits with a full
purpose to let them rail,' and con£ « A
speech by Sir Francis Bacon in the
Lower House about the Undertakers,
who were thought to be some able
and forward gentlemen, who were
said to have undertaken that the
OF SUITORS. 337
matters are undertaken with bad minds ; I mean not only
corrupt minds, but crafty minds, that intend not perform-
ance. Some embrace suits which never mean to deal
effectually in them ; but if they sec there may be life in the
marrer by some other mean b, they will be content to win
a thank c, or take a second reward', or at least to make
use in the mean time of the suitor's hopes. Some take
hold of suits only for an occasion to cross some other, or
to make an information «, whereof they could not otherwis
have apt pretext, without care what become of the suit o
when that turn is served; or generally, to make other
men's business a kind of entertainment to bring in their
own: nay, some undertake suits with a full purpose to let
them fall; to the end to gratify the adverse party or
competitor. Surely there is in some sort a right in every
suit; either a right of equity if it be a suit of controversy,
or a right of desert if it be a suit of petition. If affection
lead a man to favour the wrong side in justice, let him
rather use his ¢ountenance to compound the marrer than
to carry it. If affection lead a man to favour the less 2o
worthy in desert, let him do it without depraving or dis-
King's business should pass in that
House as his majesty could wish.'
Letters and Life, v. 42 ff. Bacon had
been in communication with the King
about their proposais. The object of
his speech was to ' do the part of an
honest voice in this House,' or, in
other words, to convince the Parlia-
ment that no such persons existed and
that no such proposais had been ruade.
b sorat olher mean] This word
occurs in the singular in several other
places. ConL e.g. « It is the soloe-
cism of power to think to command
the end and yet hot to endure the
mean.' Essay 19.
c a thank] For this singular, conf.
'I bave no thank for ail my good
deeds.' Ecclus. xx. 16.
a a second reward] i.e. a secondary,
inferior, incidental gain, apart from
vhat they might receive from the
success of the project. Lat. nerc«d«m
aliquam secundariam captabunt. ConL
' For their second nobles, there is hot
much danger from them.' Essay 19.
And, ' Those that are seconds in
factions do many times, when the
faction subdivideth, prove principals.'
Essay 5 r.
« tO nake an information &c.] i.e.
probably, to gain information about
some marrer which they could not
otherwise find an apt pretext for
inquiring about. Lat. ut aliçuid o&ter
deferant et inforncnt, eu jus alias prae-
te.r/um idoneum parafe non pott«erint.
To make = to gain, is in common use
still» in the phrase e.g. to make
money.
338 ESSAY XLIX.
abling « the better deserver. In suits which a man doth
hot well understand, it is good to refer them to some
friend of trust and judgment, that may report whether he
may deal in them with honour: but let him choose well
his referendariesg, for else he may be led by the nose.
Suitors are so distasted with delays and abuses that plain
dealing in denying to deal in suits at first, and reporting
the success i barely, and in challenging no more thanks
than one hath deserved, is grown not only honourable but
also gracious k. In suits of favour , the first coming ought
to take little place ; so far forth consideration may be had
of his trust, that if intelligence of the matter could not
otherwise have been had but by him, advantage be not
taken of the note, but the party left to his other means,
and in some sort recompensed for his discovery. To be
ignorant of the value of a suit is simplicity; as well as to
be ignorant of the right thereof is want of conscience.
Secrecy in suits is a great mean of obtaining ; for voicing
them to be in forwardness may discourage some kind of
suitors, but doth quicken and awake others : but timing of
f u,ilhoul d«p'avlng or disabling] i.e.
without speaking iii of or depreciating.
Lat. absli»wat salt¢m ab omni calumnia
¢1 maldiccnlia. Conf. ' What a
thread-bare rcal a beggar ! . .. and
he to deprave and abuse the Oue of
an herb generally received in the
cou of prince." E Man in His
Humour, iii. sc. 7- ' Scienfiam dissimu-
lando simulat : for he used to disable
his owledge to the intent to enhce
his owledge.' Wor, iii. 388.
g is rtndadts] L e. the peins
to whom he refe the marrer, the
context cleafly shews.
disted] i.e. dissted, offended.
Con£ 'Tho that find themselves
obnoxious to Paflient will do ail
they can that those thin which are
likest to distte the King fit
hdled.' Lette and Life, vil 444-
the ,ucce] i.e. the rult, not
necessarily favourable. Conf. ' Ail
men know what lamentable success
these two French kings found.'
Ralegh, Hist. of Wodd, bk. iv. chap.
sec. 3-
gradous] L e. agreeable or (as
above) ' acceptable to suitors.' LaL
gratiosa.
1 In suils offavour] These do hot
appear to differ from what are termed
above suits of petition. The grammar
of the sentence is somewhat obscure.
His trust ' introduces a pronoun witb
no antecedent noun. The noun must
be found below, the party.' or sup-
plied from the words just above, ' the
first coming,' implying a first corner.
For a like irregularity of construction,
conf. ' The experience of age, in
things that fall within the compass of
it, directeth them.' Essay
OF SUITORS. 339
the suit is the principal ; timing I say not only in respect
of the person that should grant it, but in respect of those
which are like to cross it. Let a man, in the choice of his
mean", rather choose the fittest mean than the greatest
mean; and rather them that deal in certain things than
those that are general. The reparation of a denial n is
sometimes equal to the first grant, if a man show himself
neither dejected nor discontented. Itt'qttttttt petas, ut
aeqtttott fit'as is a good rule where a man hath strength of
favour : but otherwise a man were better rise in his suit ;o
for he that would have ventured at first to have lost the
suitor, will hOt in the conclusion lose both the suitor and
his own former favour. Nothing is thought so easy a
request to a great person as his letter ; and yet, if it be hOt
in a good cause, it is so much out ofhis reputation. There
are no worse instruments than these general contrivers of
suits; for they are but a kind of poison and infection to
public proceedings.
20T£S AA'D I££USTRA770NS.
The remarks in this Essay apply almost entirely to the persons
who are asked to forward suits--not to the ultimate authority with
whom the decision ofthe matter will rest, but to the patron or under-
taker or go-between to whom the suitor appeals to help him or to say
a good word for him. Villiers, when he became James' first favourite,
was so placed that suitors of ail kinds would seek his help to gain
them a favourable hearing from the King. 'No man thinks his
business can prosper at Court, unless he hath you for his good
angel, or at least that you be nota 2]lah«s Genh«s against him.'
fa choice of his ntan] i.e. of his
patron or go-between. Lat. eui pti.
tiolis tuae t'uram demandes.
reparation of a deniai] This is
very obscure. The Latin gives--
de»teKatae pelitionis itcratio concessioni
ipsi q,«andoque aeq,lipollet. I take the
passage therefore to mean, that if a
suitor, or suitor's friend, whose request
bas been previousl.v denied, presses it
afresh, and keeps a pleasant and
cheerful face, he may succeed at last
in obtaining what he asks, and the
matter may thus proceed in the end as
if he had been successful at fit-st. It
is clearly the suitor or the go-between»
and hot the person x, Ath whom the
final decision rests, by whom the
i reparation ' is tobe ruade.
340 ESSAY XLIX.
Letters and Life, vi. 15. We find, accordingly, in Bacon's Advice to
Villiers, many of the rules laid down in the Essay. Conf. pp. :8, 29,
3o, which make clear the general drift of the Essay, and the kind of
position held by the persons to whom its advice mainly refers.
P. 337, 1. 16. suit of conlroversy] This might be e.g. a chancery
suit or claire at law, one of the parties in which sought help from his
patron to influence the judge's decision. Such interference with the
course of justice was not uncommon. Bacon carefully warns Villiers
against it : ' By no means be you persuaded to interpose yourself, by
word or letter, in any cause depending, or like to be depending, in
any court of justice, nor surfer anyman to do it where you tan hinder
it: and by ail means dissuade the King himself from it, upon the
importunity of any either for their friends or themselves.' Letters and
Life, vi. 33. The warning was not taken. We bave frequent instances
of this kind of interposition on Villiers' part while Bacon held the
Great Seal, pp. 273, 274. Conf. especially Mr. Heath's remarks ' on
the interference of Buckingham in the case of Dr. Steward.' Vol.
vii. pp. 579-588.
1. 17. su# q lelilion] e.g. for help towards obtaining some office
for which there were other competitors in the field. Conf. Bacon's
appeal to the then Lord Keeper to help him in his suit for the
Solicitor-Generalship, in which the kind of ' right' spoken of in the
Essay is pleaded in express terres : ' But now I desire no more favour
of your Lordship than I would if I were a suitor in the Chancery,
which is this only, that you would do me right.' Letters and Life,
i. 365 .
P. 338, 1. 6. llain dealing &c.] Conf. Advice to Villiers : ' Believe it,
Sir, next to the obtaining of the suit, a speedy and gentle denial (when
the case will hot bear it) is the most acceptable to suitors.' Letters
and Life, ri. 29. And, ' Pars beneficii est quod petitur si bene negas.'
Publius Syrus, Fragm. 89.
P. 339, 1. 8. Iniqut«t lelas &c.] 'Iniquum petendum, ut aequum
feras.' Quintilian, De Instit. Orat. iv. cap. 5, sec. 16.
!. ii. for he that wouM bave venlured &c.] Bacon in effect urges
this argument in one of his early letters to Lord Burleigh: «The
amendment of state or countenance which I bave received bath been
from your Lordship. And therefore if your Lordship shall stand a
good friend to your poor ally, you shall but proceed tuendo optes lro-
prit«n which you have begun.' Letters and Life, i. 362. So, too, in a
letter of request in the course of his canvass for the Solicitorship,
written to Lord Keeper Puckering : ' Hereunto if there shall be joined
your Lordship's obligation in dealing strongly for me as you have
begun, no man tan be more yours.' Ib. p. 293-
1. 16. no worse instr««nents &c.] These ' general contrivers of suits'
must stand here for the would-be patentees or monopolists and their
OF STUDIES. 34t
undertakers, of whom he says in his Advice to Villiers : ' Especially
care must be taken that monopolies (which are the canker of ail
trades) be by no means admitted under the pretence or the specious
colour ofthe public good.' Letters and Lire, vi. 49- As for the mis-
chief caused by the too free granting of monopolies in James' time,
conf. e.g. 'For proclamations and patents, they are now become
so ordinary that there is no end, every day bringing forth some new
project or other. In truth the world doth even groan under the
burden of these perpetual patents.' Çhamberlain to Carleton, July 8,
16o. ' The Padiament (of x62t) began to sit, whose bearing was
dutiful to the King, but quick and minatory against some vile persons,
who had spoil'd the people by illegal oppressions. These were
Canker-worms, Harpies, Projectors who, between the easiness of the
Lord Marquis to procure and the readiness of the Lord Chancellor
Bacon to comply, had obtain'd Patent Commissions for latent
knaveries.' Hacket's Life of Abp. Williams, Part I, p. 49- Conf. also
Letters and Lire, vii. t83 ff.
Lo
OF STUDIES.
STUDIES serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.
Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring;
for ornarnent is in discourse ; and for ability is in the judg-
ment and disposition of business ; for expert men can exe-
cute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one: but
the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of
affairs corne best frorn those that are learned. To spend
too much rime in studies is sloth ; to use them too much
for ornament is affectation ; to make judgment wholly by
their rules is the humour of a scholar : they perfect nature,
and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are
like natural plants, that need proyning a by study; and
nted proyning] i.e. cultivating. To proyn or proin is the old form of
Lat. culturam et falcisartemdcsÆderant, to prune or to preen, a form, says
342 ESSAY L.
studies themselves do give forth directions too much at
large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty
men contemn .studies, simple men admire them, and wise
men use them ; for they teach not their own use ; but that
is a wisdom without them and above them, won by obser-
vation. Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe
and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to
weigh and consider. Some books are tobe tasted, others
tobe swallowed, and some few tobe chewed and digested;
,o that is, some books are to be read only in parts ; others to
be read but not curiously b, and some few tobe read
wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books
also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them
by others; but that would be only in the less important
arguments and the meaner sort of books; else distilled
books are like common distilled waters, flashy things.
Reading maketh a full man ; conference a ready man ; and
writing an exact man ; and therefore, if a man write little
he had need bave a great memory; if he confer little he
2o had need bave a present wit; and if he read little he had
need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth
not. Histories make men wise ; poets, xvittyC; the mathe-
matics, subtile; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave;
logic and rhetoric, able to contend: A'teum' s/udia h
mores ; nay, there is no stond or impediment a in the wit
but may be wrought out by fit studies : like as diseases of
the body may bave appropriate exercises ; bowling is good
for the stone and reins, shooting for the lungs and breast,
lares, Glossary, « very little used in
the age of Elizabeth, but common
before that time.' The old spelling
has been preserved in the text, because
the word is here used in the old sense
= to tend, or cultivate, a sense hot
given by either the modern lmune or
» »sot cu»iousl.v] i.e. hot with care-
fui and minute attention. Lat. non
multum temporis b iisd¢m evolvendis
insumdum.
e wit] Lat. ingen,os.
a *tond or edimt] The Latin
ves imedimentum aliquod D,itum
aut naturale as the equivalent of both
these words.
OF STUDIES. 343
gentle walking for the stomach, riding for the head, and
the like ; so if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the
mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called
away never so little, he must begin again ; if his wit be hOt
apt to distinguish or find differences let him study the
schoolmen ; for they are CA,mhd sectores. If he be not apt
to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove
and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases : so
every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.
NOTES AArD fZLUSTRATIOWS.
Some cautions and recommendations on this subject are given in
a diseourse touching helps for the intellectual powers. V'orks, vil.
io2. They are nearly the same as those in the Essay and in parts of
Essay 38.
P. 341, 1.4- experl men can &c.] This whole subject--the advan-
rages and disadvantages of learning, and the reasons that have laid
men of learning open to censure and discredit--is handled at length
in the Advancement of Learning. Works, iii. 264-282.
P. 342, 1. 4- they teach hot their own use &c.] Conf. ' Quae unquam
ars docuit tempestivum artis usure ?' Works, i. 698. And,' Philoso-
phantes his diebus, quando dicitur eis quod sciant perspeetivam, aut
geometriam, aut linguas et alia rouira, quaerunt cure derisione "Quid
valent haec ?" asserentes quod inutilia sunt .... Utilitas enim illarum
non traditur in eis, sed exterius expectatur.' R. Bacon, Opus ter-
tium, cap. 6.
!. 16. common distilled waters] Conf. 'I would bave ber [the
English house-wife) furnish herself of very good stills, for the distilla-
tion of ail kinds of waters, which stills would either be of tinne or
sweet earth, and in them she shall distill ail sorts of waters meet for
the health of her household, as Sage-water whieh is good for ail
rhumes and colics; Radish-water which is good for the stone;
Angelica-water good for infection . . . and a world of others, any of
whieh will last a full year at the least.' Gervase Markham, Country
Contentments, bk. ii. The English Hus-wife, p. 79 (London, x6xSL
1. 22. poets witO, ] Bacon writes more fully and more adequately
on poetry in the Advancement of Learning, but he dismisses the
subject finally with a toueh of contempt : ' It is hot good to stay too
long in the theatre.' Works, iii. 343 ff. On his right thus to judge,
and on the knowledge on whieh his judgment was based, conf.
344 ESSAY L.
'Dramatica autem Poesis, quae theatrum habet pro mundo, usu
eximia est, si sana foret. Non parva enim esse posset theatri et
disciplina et corruptela. Atque corruptelarum in hoc genere abunde
est : disciplina plane nostris temporibus est neglecta. Attamen licet
in rebuspublicis modernis habeatur pro re ludicra actio theatralis,
nisi forte nimium trahat e satira et mordeat,' &c. Works, i. 519. This
will hardly pass as an adequate criticism on e.g. Hamlet, Macbeth,
Othello. The epithet which Bacon chooses in the Essay is that
which Dryden assigns and enlarges upon as proper to the poet
himself. Conf. 'The composition of all poems is, or ought to be, of
wit ; and wit in the poet, or wit-writing (if you will give me leave to
use a school-distinction) is no other than the faculty of imagination
in the writer, which, like a nimble spaniel, beats over and ranges
through the field of memory'till it springs the quarry it hunted affer ;
or, without metaphor, which searches over all the memory for the
species or ideas ofthose things which it designs to represent. Wit
written is that which is well defined, the happy result of thought or
product of imagination.' Dryden, Letter to Sir R. Howard, prefixed
to the Annus Mirabilis.
l. 2 4. Abeunt studia in mores] Ovid, Heroides, xv. 83.
P. 33, 1. 6. Cymini zectorez] This phrase,' cymini sector,' does hot
bear the sense which Bacon persistently puts upon it, in the text and
elsewhere. It means a niggard. Conf. e.g. ToUrs,» «ai6 «vod«
i'çicom, iv. i. And,
Theocr. x. , 55-
' Cymini sector' (vvvopa¢Ç) was certainly a ne ofreproach given
to Antoninus Plus. Bacon finds its origin in the Emperor's 'patience
and settled spirit to enter into the least and most exact differences or
causes.' XVorks, iii. 305 . ' Antoninus subtilis et quasi scholasticus,
unde etiam Cymini sector vocatus est.' i. 472. This is probably
based on a misinterpretation of the habit of dptflokoT/a, which Dion
/«,ikovv. Bk. x. 3- It was, of course, the minute care of Antoninus
about the expenditure of public money which exposed him to this
sneer from the disappointed couiers and would-be parites who
would have round their advantage in the profuse ways of a less con-
scientious public steward. Conf. 'Provinciae sub eo cunctae floe-
runt: quadplatores extincti sunt .... Salaria multis subtrit,
quos otiosos videbat accipere, dicens Nihil esse sordidius, immo
crudelius, quam si rempublicam is arroderet qui nihil in eam suo
labore conferret.' Julius Capitolinus, Lire of Antoninus Pius, sec. 7-
OF FACTION. 345
LI.
OF FACTION.
M,NY have an opinion not wise, that for a prince to
govern his estate or for a great person to govern his pro-
ceedings according to the respect of factions, is a principal
part of policy; whereas, contrarixvise, the chiefest wisdom
is, either in ordering those things which are general, and
wherein men of several * factions do nevertheless agree, or
in dealing with correspondence to particular persons, one
by one. But I say not that the consideration of factions is
to be neglected. Mean men in their rising must adhere;
but great men, that bave strength in themselves, were ,o
better to maintain themselves indifferent and neutral: yet
even in beginners, to adhere so moderately as he be a man
of the one faction which is most passable with the other
commonly giveth best way b. The loxver and weaker faction
is the firmer in conjunction ; and it is often seen that a few
that are stiff do tire out a greater number that are more
moderate. When one of the factions is extinguished, the
remaining subdivideth ; as the faction between Lucullus
and the rest of the nobles of the senate (which they called
optimates) held out a while against the faction of Pompey ,o
and Caesar; but when the senate's authority was pulled
down, Caesar and Pompey soon after brake. The faction
or party of Antonius and Octavianus Caesar, against Brutus
and Cassius, held out likewise for a time ; but when Brutus
and Cassius were overthrown, then soon after Antonius
and Octavianus brake and subdivided. These examples
are of wars, but the saine holdeth in private factions : and
therefore, those that are seconds in factions do many
several] L e. distinct or different.
Lat. diversarum. Conf. ' Habits and
faculties several and to be distin-
guished.' Essay 6.
e givefh best u,a.y] Lat. viam quart-
data Mcrnff ad tonores.
© seconds] i.e. inferiors.
346 ESSAY LI.
times, when the faction subdivideth, prove principals; but
many times also they prove ciphers and cashiered; for
many a man's strength is in opposition; and when that
faileth, he groweth out of use. It is commonly seen that
men once placed take in with the contrary faction to that
by which they enter; thinking, belike, that they have the
first sure, and noxv are ready for a nexv purchase «. The
traitor in faction lightly goeth away with it«; for when
matters bave stuck long in balancing, the winning of some
lo one man casteth them f, and he getteth ail the thanks. The
even carriage betveen two factions proceedeth not always
of moderation, but of a trueness to a man's self, with end
to make use of both. Certainly, in Italy they hold it a
little suspect in popes, when they bave often in their
mouth Padre commltnc; and take it to be a sign of one that
meaneth to refer all to the greatness of his own bouse.
Kings had need beware hoxv they side themselvesg, and
make themselves as of a faction or party; for leagues
within the state are ever pernicious to monarchies; for
2c they raise an obligation paramount to obligation of sove-
reignty, and make the king tanqttam ttnus ex nobis; as was
to be seen in the League of France. When factions are
carried too high and too violently, it is a sign of weakness
a a nav purchase] i.e. a new ac-
quisition. Lat. ad amicos novos con-
ciliandos. Conf. ' The purchases of out
own industry are joined commonly
,vith labour and strife.' Works, vil 89,
and passbn.
« iightly goeth away u,ith il] i.e.
usually cornes off the gainer. Lat.
plerz»,que rem obtinet. French facile-
ment emporte le prix. For lightly,
conf. ' The great thieves of a state are
lightly the officers of the crown.' Ben
Jonson, Discoveries, under heading
Fures Publici. ' Lightly some place
will be round that is defended very
weakly.' Ralegh, Hist. ofWorld, bk.
iv. chap. 2, sec. 3-
'Short summers lightly have a for-
ward spring.'
Richard III, act iii. sc. i.
The indefiniteuse of' it,' referringto no
noun, is toocommon toneed illustration.
t casteth them] i.e. makes one ofthe
scales to incline. Conf. ' How much
interest casts the balance in cases
dubious, I could give sundry instances.'
South, Sermon on Matth. x. 33.
how they Mde themselves] i.e. how
they take sides. Lat. mv¢ndum est ne
fa«lioni alicui se ex professo adjungant.
Conf. ' If there be factions, it is good
to side a man's self whilst he is in the
rising, and to balance himself when he
is placed.' Essay I I,
OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS. 347
in princes, and much to the prejudice both of their au-
thority and business. The motions of factions under kings
ought to be like the motions (as the astronomers speakl of
the inferior orbs, which may have their proper motions,
but yet still are quietly carried by the higher motion of
prhnum mobile.
NOTES .,41V-D ILLUSTRATIONS.
P. 345, 1.9- Mean tnen in their risin K tust adhere] Conf. ' Duo igitur
cure sint ascendendi in republica modi .... Alter ut in eodem
genere magno viro adhaereamus, medicus medico, dux duci, civis
civi.' Cardan, De Sapientia, p. 153 (ed. 1543, 4°.)
P. 346, 1. 12. end to ntake use of both] Conf. 'He (King James)
tutored his son, the Prince, that he should not take part with a faction
in either House, but so reserve himself that both sides might seek
him.' Hacket, Life of Abp. Williams, Part I. 19o.
1. 17. Kings had need beware &c.] 'Howbeit, that sometimes it
happeneth the sovereigne prince to make himself a party instead of
holding the place of a sovereigne Judge : in which doing for ail that
he shall be no more but the head of one party, and so undoubtedly
put himself in danger of his life, and that especially when such
dangerous seditions and factions be hot grounded upon matters
directly touching his estate.' Bodin, Commonweal, iv. cap. 7-
1. 21. tanquam unus ex nobis.] Genesis iii. 22. The Vulgate gives
' Ecce Adarn quasi unus ex nobis factus est.' But this text speaks of
an inferior raised to an equality with those above him, not of a
superior brought down to the level ofthose under him.
1. 22. in the League of France] Con£ note on Essay 5, P. lO4.
P. 3-t7, 1.3. ntotious of the haferior orbs] Conf. note on Essay 15,
p. Io4.
LII.
OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS.
HE that is only real had need have exceeding great
parts of virtue; as the stone had need to be rich that is
set without foil; but if a man mark it well, it is in praise
foil] i.e. a thin leaf of metal
placed under the stone to improve its
colour and lustre. The Latin, sine
ornanwnto onni, does not express this,
and spoils the metaphor.
348 ESSAY LII.
and commendation of men as it is in gettings and gains:
for the proverb is true, That light gah,s makeJ, eavy purses ;
for light gains corne thick, whereas great corne but now
and then: so it is truc that small matters win great com-
mendation, because they are continually in use and in
note: whereas the occasion of any great virtue cometh
but on festivals b. Therefore it doth much add to a man's
reputation, and is {as Queen Isabella said) like perpetual
le#ets comm¢ndaloo, , to have good forms; to attain them,
o it almost sufficeth not to despise them ; for so shall a man
observe them in others; and let him trust himselfwith the
rest; for if he labour too much to express them he shall
lose their grace, which is to be natural and unaffected.
Some men's behaviour is like a verse, wherein every
syllable is measured; how can a man comprehend great
matters that breaketh c his mind too much to small observa-
tions? Not to use ceremonies at all is to teach others
not to use them again ; and so diminisheth respect to him-
self; especially they be hOt to be omitted to strangers
20and formal natures; but the dwelling upon them, and
exalting them above the moon, is not only tedious, but
doth diminish the faith and credit of him that speaks; and
certainly, there is a kind of conveying of effectual and
imprinting passages d amongst compliments, which is of
singular use if a man tan hit upon it. Amongst a man's
peers a man shall be sure of familiarity; and therefore it is
good a little to keep state ; amongst a man's inferiors one
shall be sure of reverence ; and therefore it is good a little
to be familiar. He that is too much in anything, so that
o he giveth another occasion of satiety, maketh himself
cheap. To apply one's self e to others is good; so it be
on festivals] LaL raro admodum, him to whom they are addressed.
c breaketh] i.e. subdues, forces his LaL qui homines revera inescat.
mind to submit. Lat. se submittit, o to appl.y onds sel_[fo &c.] The exact
à imlbinting2a.ssages ] i.e. passages sense of this phrase, and the limits
that imprint themselves on the mind of within which the practice may be
OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS. 349
with demonstration that a man doth it upon regard f, and
not upon facility. It is a good precept, generally in
seconding another, yet to add somexvhat of one's own : as
if you will grant his opinion, let it be with some distinction ;
if you will follow his motion, let it be with condition; if
you allow* his counsel, let it be with alleging further
reason. Men had need beware how they b.e too perfect
in compliments ; for be they never so sufficient otherwise,
their enviers will be sure to give them that attribute, to
the disadvantage of their greater virtues. It is loss also o
in business to be too full of respects h, or to be too curious
in observing times and opportunities. Salomon saith,
that considerÆth lhe whzd shall hOt sow, and he t]za! lookct]t to
the clouds shall hot reap. A wise man will make more
opportunities than he finds. Men's behaviour should be
like their apparel, not too strait or point device i, but free
for exercise or motion.
pronounced 'good,' are shewn clearly
by a passage in the Adv. of Learning.
'Another fault incident commonly to
learned men.., is that they fail some-
rimes in applying themselves to parti-
cular persons,' a phrase presently ex-
plained as = ' dwelling in the exquisite
observation or examination ofthe nature
and customs of one person,' with the
intention inter aIia ' to understand him
sufficiently whereby not to give him
offence.' Works, iii. p. 279.
t upon regard] i.e. through a per-
sonal regard çreal or affected), and not
through mere softness of nature and a
general desire to please.
allow] i.e. approve, so passim.
h fo be too full of respects] Lat. M
quisformulas nimium affecter.
point devi«e] i.e. very precisely
fashioned. Lat. nimis concinni. The
phrase, whatever its origin is used
elsewhere in the saine sense as in the
Essay. Conf.
' Her nose was wrought at point
dev),s,
For it was gentyl and tretys.'
Romaunt of the Rose, 1. I2i S.
'Then your hose should be un-
gartered, your bonnet unbanded, your
sleeve unbuttoned, your shoe untied,
and every thing about you demonstrat-
ing a careless desolation. But you
are no such man ; you are rather
point device in your accoutrements.'
As You Like It, iii. 2. We find device
(or devise) used adjectivally = precise,
exact, in a passage in the Coventry
Mysteries :--
Better if is fo te]le the trewthe
devise,
Than God for fo greve and of him
be gramyd.'
Trial of Joseph and Mary, p. 4 (ed.
of I84i , printed for the Shakespeare
Society). So too in Ben Jonson, if the
conjectural reading is accepted :--
« KASTRIL X7OU will hot corne then?
punk devise, my suster !
AIANIAS. Çall ber hot sister :
She's a harlot verily.'--Alchemist, v. 3- "
55 o ESSAY LIII.
2VO TES l Arl9 ILL &çTR 2ff 7"IO ArS.
P. 348, I. 8. as Queen Isabdla said &e.] Lat. Isabdla regina Cas-
tiliana. Conf.'La reyna dofta Ysabel dezia, que el, que tenia buen
gesto, llevava carta de recomendacion.' Tuningius, Apophthegmata
(ed. 16o9) ; Hispanica, p. 65. The Apophthegmata are in rive lan-
guages, each separately paged.
Bacon, it will be seen, has changed the saying to suit the subject of
his Essay. ' Buen gesto' is hot ' good forms,' but ' good looks.' So in-
terpreted, it is of much earlier date. Conf. 'Pulchritudinem dicebat
{Aristoteles) quavis epistola efficaciorem ad commendationem. Sunt
qui hoc asscribant Diogeni.' Erasmus, Apophthegmata, lib.vii. ' For-
mosa facies muta commendatio est.' Publius Syrus, Fragmenta. Bacon
gives the saying much as in the text, in his own list of Apophthegms.
' Queen Isabell of Spain used to say : Whosoever bath a good pres-
ente and a good fashion, carries (continual) letters of recommenda-
tion.' XVorks, »fil 139.
P. 349, 1. 12. Salomon saith] Eccles. xi. 4- Conf. 'There is no
greater impediment of action than an over-curious observance of
decency, and the guide of decency which is rime and season. For as
Salomon sayeth, Qui reslbicit ad ventos non seminal : et qui respici! ad
ruches, non mctet: a man must make his opportunity as oft as find
it. To conclude: Behaviour seemeth to me as a garment of the
mind, and to have the conditions of a garment. For it ought to be
made in fashion : it ought not to be too curious . . . and above ail
it ought hot to be too strait or restrained for exercise or motion.'
XVorks, iii. 447-
LIII.
OF PRAISE.
PR,lSE IS the reflection of virtue; but it is as the glass
or body which giveth the reflection. If it be from the
common people, it is commonly false and naught, and
rather followeth vain persons a than virtuous: for the
common people understand not many excellent virtues:
the lowest virtues draw praise from them, the middle
vain 2bersons] i.e. persons pos- viȢuibus Mmiles, of which Bacon
sessed only of the shows and s.pecies present]y speaks.
OF PRAISE. 35I
virtues work in them astonishment or admiration; but of
the highest virtues they have no sense or perceiving at
all; but shows and species i,irtttlil)tts shniles serve best with
them. Certainly, faine is like a river, that beareth up
things light and swollen, and droxvns things weighty and
solid ; but if persons of quality and judgment concur, then
it is (as the Scripture saith, Nomeu bomtm instar totgttet[i
frEçratttis; it filleth ail round about, and will hOt easily
away; for the odours of ointments are more durable than
those of flowers. There be so many false points of praise fo
that a man may justly hold it a suspect. Some praises
proceed merely of flattery; and if he be an ordinary
flatterer, he will have certain common attributes which
may serve every man ; if he be a cunning flatterer, he will
follow the arch-flatterer which is a man's self, and wherein
a man thinketh best of himself, therein the flatterer will
uphold him most: but if he be an impudent flatterer, look
wherein a man is conscious to himself that he is most de-
fective, and is most out of countenance in himself, that will
the flatterer entitle him to perforce, slbreltî cottsciet[i6. Some 2o
praises corne of good wishes and respects, which is a form
due in civility to kings and great persons, laudaltdo prae-
cipcre; when by telling men what they are, they represent
to them what they should be ; some men are praised ma-
liciously to their hurt, thereby to stir envy and jealousy
towards them; Pc$shmtm ,cmts titlticortlm lattdattlittm;
insomuch as it was a proverb amongst the Grecians that
he that n, as praised to his hto4 shottld bave a push ' rise ttpon
his tose; as we say tha! a blislcr a,ill rise tpon otte's lot.tte
l]tat lells a lie. Certainly moderate praise, used with op-3»
portunity and not vulgar , is that which doth the good.
b a push] i. e. a pustule. Lat. pus-
tulam. In Bata-ough's llethod of
Physick, bk. v, this unlovely word
occurs some scores of rimes in the
sente here given to it,
« hot wdgar] The exact sense of
this is shev¢n clearly in the corre-
sponding passage in tb.e ed. of 6--
' hot vulgar» but appropriate.' Works
vi. 58.
35 ESSAY LIII.
Salomon saith, He that praiseth his ]'riend aloud, rishg
early, it shall be fo him no better than a ourse. Too much
magnifying of man or matter doth irritate contradiction
and procure env 3' and scorn. To praise a man's self can-
hOt be decent, except it be in rare cases; but to praise
a man's office or profession, he may doit with good grace,
and with a kind of magnanimity. The cardinals of Rome,
xvhich are theologues and friars and schoolmen, have
a phrase of notable contempt and scorn towards civil
o business; for they call ail temporal business of wars,
embassages, judicature, and other employments, sbirrerie,
which is under-sheriffries, as if they were but matters for
under-sheriffs and catchpoles; though many times those
under-sheriffries do more good than their high specula-
tions. St. Paul, when he boasts of himself, he doth oft
intedace I speak like afool; but speaking of his calling he
saith, ]V[agni)qcabo aposlolatum meure.
AN ILLUSTRA TIONS.
P. 351, 1. 4- [ame is like a river] This is a favourite argument,
or simile used as an argument, with Baeon. He employs it to explain
how it is that the philosophical writings of the early Greek schools
have been lost, while the later, and in his opinion the less valuable
ones, have corne down to us--' tempore, ut fluvio, leviora et magis
inflata ad nos devehente, graviora et solida mergente.' Nov. Org.
bk. i. 7 I. He presently repeats it in the 77th Axiom : ' Philosophiae
Aristotelis et Platonis, tanquam tabulae ex materia leviore et minus
solida, per fluctus temporis servatae sunt.' Conf. also Works, iii.
92 and 5o3, and i. 460.
1. 7. the Scripture] This should be: ' Melius est nomen bonum
quam unguenta preciosa.' Eccl. vii. in the Vulgate ; verse I in the
Authorized Version. This part of the Essay seems intended to take
up and enlarge upon the opening words of the Dedication.
1. 13. certaht common attributes] So, in Essay 57, we find the
nothingness of conmtnia maledicta eontrasted with the extreme
bitterness of words aeuleate and proper.
l. 17. tf he be an impudent flatterer] Conf. e.g. Bacon's praise
of his Majesty's manner of speech as 'indeed prince-like, flowing
as from a fountain, full of facility and felicity, imitating none and
OF PRAISE.
353
inimitable by any." Works, iii. a6, and again Letters and Life,
vil I72 , and contrast this with the description (in Green's Hist. of
English People, bk. vil cap. 3) of James' gabble and rhodomontade,
his slobbering tongue, his want of personal dignity, &c., &c. Macaulay
adds his provincial Scotch accent: 'the full dialect of his country,'
as Bacon himself terms it in aletter to the Earl of Northumberland.
Letters and Life, iii. 77- Conf. also in the Epistle Dedicatory to the
Essays (IOa5) addressed to the Duke of Buckingham : ' A good name
is as a precious ointment, and I assure myself such will your Grace's
name be with posterity." Of mere cunning flattery, such as e.g.
Bacon's admiring language about James as the modern Solomon, the
instances are too frequent to need special reference.
1. 22. laudando praecipere] The reference is to the younger
Pliny; his words are: 'Officium consulatus injunxit mihi ut rei
publicae nomine principi gratias agerem. Quod ego in senatu cum
ad rationem et loci et temporis ex more fecissem, bono civi con-
venientissimum credidi eadem illa spatiosius et uberius volumine
amplecti ; primum, ut imperatori nostro virtutes suae veris laudibus
commendarentur ; deinde, ut futuri principes non quasi a magistro,
sed tamen sub exemplo praemonerentur qua potissimum via possent
ad eandem gloriam niti. Nain praecipere qualis esse debeat princeps
pulchrum quidem, sed onerosum ac prope superbum est; laudare
veto optimum principem ac per hoc posteris velut e specula lumen
quod sequantur ostendere idem utilitatis habet, adrogantiae nihil.'
Epist. iii. x8. But there are some distinctions worth notice between
this praise and such as Bacon was in the habit of lavishing. It was in
the discharge of an official duty that it was bestowed. It was hot re-
sorted to as a means of gaining favour or place or money. Pliny
expressly says that he refrained from it until his position was ab-
solutely secure: ' Designatus ego consul omni bac etsi non adulatione
specie tamen adulationis abstinui.' Epist. ri. 27. Finally, it was
bestowed hot on James or Buckingham or on any one at ail re-
sembling them, but on Trajan ; and it was bestowed by one who had
given early and ample proof that he dared to blame and oppose the
most powerful-personages in the state, and whose praise therefore
had good warrant that it was genuine.
1. 6. Pessimmn genus &c.] This should be : ' Pessimum inimi-
corum genus, laudantes.' Tacitus, Agric. 4 I.
1. zS. he lhat a, as praised go his hurt &c.] The belief was not
that the person praised had a push fise upon his nose, but that the
person praising so suffered, if he bestowed praise untruly. Vide
Theoc. xii. 23, z 4 : al rb» a)b» ai»ho» ¢,,d,a [t»b ¢,rr«pO«» àpatÇç
o à«ao, i.e. By praising thee, the beautiful, I shall hot raise
pimples (,,«a) on my slender nose (or on the point or end of
rny nose), sach pimples being the punishment of the liar, hot of the
354 ESSAY LIII.
person falsely praised. A scholium on the passage has : ,«,a, và
Con£ also Theoc. OE. 3o : Ç x,v k&««a çx Xoçda ç6« (by
committing a fraud). I ara indebted to Professor Jebb for the
subsnce of this note.
P. 352, 1. . Salomon saith] Prov. xxi. 4- Quoted and eatly
amplified in the De Aug. Scient. Works, i. 7 .
l. II. s&?rerie] The Latin prefixes H,panico vocab«lo to this
word. It is, of course, hOt Spanish, but formed from the Italian
sbirro, a constable. It is not the only instance of a curious confusion
of Spanish and Italian ; ' Mi venga la muee de Spagna,' occurs in
Essay z5 : and it desees notice, since there is reason to believe that
the Latin version of this Essay was done under Bacon's own sur-
vision. The English, it will be obseed, in ail this pa, has a note
of scorn which the Latin does not repeat. 3lattersfor u,der-shers
and calcholes becomes ttuttera liclorum et scribarntn. That many
rimes these under-sheriffries do more goed than the high speculations
of the cardinals is softened do into : Et tamen, si res rite pondelur,
seo«latiz,a oot ciz,ilibus ttot ta& »tiscetdur. Now a translator would
hardly have ventured on such changes as these without hang
Bacon's authonty for them. They are in Bacon's manner elsewhere,
e.g. in the Advancement of Learning, in speang of the Jesuits, he
says : ' Of whom though in regard of their superstition I may say, quo
tteliores eo deteriores, yet,' &c. Mr. Spedding here notes that the ave
words are omitted in the corresponding psage in the De Augmentis
Scientiarum, no doubt as offensive to the Roman Catholics. The
motive, he says, is explMned in the letter sent by Bacon to the King
along with the De Augmentis : 'I have been also mine own Index
Expurgatofius, that it ay be read in ail places. For since my end
of putting it into Latin was to have it read everhere, it had boen
an absurd contradiction to free it in the langage and to pen it up in
the matter.' There e, Mr. Spedding adds, various other pes
in which a like change has been made. Conf. Works, iii. z77, and i.
So too, and seemingly for a like reason, in the Italian version of Esy
I3--a version own to Bacon--' One of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas
Macciavel,' is transformed into' Quel empio Nicolo Machiavello.' It
may be ared, therefore, that the Latin version of the Essay, in which
there are expurgations of the same kind, was made under Bacon's eye.
1. 13. catchpol] Catchepolle, according to Cowell, 'though it be
now used as a word of contempt, yet in auncient rimes it seemeth
to have been used without reproch for such as we now call sergeants
of the mace or any other that use to arrest men upon any cause.'
Intereter, «b vote (date i7}.
1. i6. I speak like afoeO z Corinth. xi. z3-
1. 17. 3lag, ificabo &c.] Romans xi. 13.
OF VAIN GLORY. 35.5
LIV.
OF VAIN GLORY.
IT was prettily devised of Aesop, The fl.y sal u/,on aw
axlctree of [he chariot-wheel and said, what a dus, do I raise.
So are there sonne vain persons that, whatsoever goeth
alone or moveth upon greater means, if they bave never
so little hand in it they think it is they that carry it.
They that are glorious must needs be factious; for ail
bravery b stands upon eonnparisons. They nnust needs be
violent to make good their own vaunts ; neither ean they
be secret and therefore no, effeetual ; but aeeording to the
French proverb Beaucoup de bruit, peu de fi'uit;--much o
bruit, little fruiL Yet certainly there is use of this quality
in civil affairs: where there is an opinion and fanne to be
created, either of virtue or greatness, these nnen are good
trumpeters. Again, as Titus Livius noteth in the case of
Antiochus and the Aetolians, there are sometimes great
cff«cts of cross lies; as if a man that negotiates between two
princes, to draw them to join in a war against the third,
doth extol the forces of either of thenn « above measure, the
one to the other: and sornetinnes he that deals between
man and man raiseth his own credit with both by pre-2o
tending greater interest than he hath in either; and in
these and the like kinds it often falls out that somewhat
is produced of nothing; for lies are sufficient to breed
glonbus] L e. ostentatious, boast-
fui. Lat. gioHosz. Conf. « Glorious
followers who make themselves as
trumpets of the commendation of those
they follow.' Essay 4 8. This simile
is repeated below.
b bravey] Lat. oste,taKo. The re-
mark seems to mean that, if boastful
men are members of a party in the
state, they will be ever on the watch
to exalt their own party as superior to
its rivais or opponents. So, in the
A
Antitheta : Gloriosi semper factiosi,
mendaces, mobiles,nimii.'Works, i.696.
e of either of lhem] i.e. of each of
,hem, as the words immediately fol-
lowing show. The Latin gives, very
clearly, velutl cure qu/s.., umus co-
jbias ajblld aiterll,ll sliJbra rnodnm a
veHtat¢m v'/sstm attollaL Conf. ' Take
one of a middle retaper, or if it may
no, be round in one man, combine
two of either sort Çi.e. one of eaeh
sortï Essay 3 o.
2
356 ESSAY LIV.
opinion, and opinion brings on substance. In military
commanders and soldiers, vain glory is an essential point;
for as iron sharpens iron, so by glory one courage sharp-
eneth another. In cases of great enterprise upon charge
and adventurea, a composition of glorious natures doth
put life into business; and those that are of solid and
sober natures have more of the ballast than of the sail.
In faine of learning, the flight will be slow without some
feathers of ostentation: Qui d« contemnendà gloria libros
scribnnt, ltOilleit Sttttllt hlscribnnL Socrates, Aristotle, Galen,
were men full of ostentation : certainly vain glory helpeth
to perpetuate a man's memory; and virtue was never so
beholdinge to human nature as it received his due at the
second hand. Neither had the faine of Cicero, Seneca,
Plinius Secundus, borne her age so well if it had hot been
joined with some vanity in themselves; like unto varnish,
that makes seelingse hOt only shine but last. But all this
xvhile, vhen I speak of vain glory, I mean hot of that pro-
perty that Tacitus doth attribute to Mucianus, Omnhtm
oqnae dixcrat fcccratqnc, arte qnddam ostcntator: for that
proceeds hot of vanity, but of natural magnanimity and
discretion; and, in some persons, is hot only comely, but
gl-acious: for excusations, cessions g, modesty itself well
governed, are but arts of ostentation; and amongst those
arts there is none better than that which Plinius Secundus
d u2bo n charge and adventnre] Lat.
quae sum2Mtbus et fflo pvatonon
susoiuntnr.
beholding] i.e. beholden, a fo
in consent use. 'As,' here and else-
whe passbn, = that. This ve
obscure sentence seems to mean :
Viue never oeceived lB just meed of
praise from any other th from i
poeor, and it is never, therefore,
under obligation to other people
for thus duly praising it. Lat. ecue
vi isa lanlum hu»anae nalurae
debet, rol nomin sui c¢i¢bratio»n,
t seelings] i.e. wainscotings or
floorings. Lat. liKna. Cotgrave, Dic-
tionary, gives lambris, and menuiserie,
as the French equivalents. The old
spelling bas been retained, as the
modern form, ' ceilings,' bas corne to
be used too exclusively for the inner
roof, and would suggest therefore a
sense improper to the text.
CeSSiOn] Lat. concessiones tempes-
tioae. The French cessions de place
does hot give the full sense. A show
of yielding to the judgment or opinion
of another is more probably what
Bacon means.
OF VAIN GLORY. 357
speaketh of, which is to be liberal of praise and com-
mendation to others in that wherein a man's self hath any
perfection: for, saith Pliny very wittily, In commending
another you do .),ottrsdf rig]d; for he that .)vu commcnd is
cither sttperior to yozt in that you commend, or htferior : if he
be Dtferior, if ho be fo be commcndcd, you much more; if he
be superior, if he be hot to be commended, you muclt lcss.
Glorious men are the scorn of wise men, the admiration
of fools, the idols of parasites , and the slaves of their own
vaunts.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATION&
P. 355, 1. i. T/te fly sat &c.] What a dust do I raise ! says the Fly
upon the Coach-wheel : and what a rate do I drive at .' says the saine
Fly again upon the Horse's t3uttock.' L'Estrange, Fables of Aesop
and others, cclxx. The above fable is assigned by L'Estrange to
Abstemius.
1. x4. Titres Livius »mteti] Bacon seems to be referring to the
arguments addressed to various Greek states, to induce them to make
war upon the Romans, through trust in the power of Antiochus ; and
addressed to Antiochus to induce him to enter on the affair, through
trust in the help he would receive from the concurrent movement of
the Aetolians, and of the others vho had been stimulated through
trust in him. Vide Bk. xxxv. caps. i2 and 17-x8.
P. 356, 1. 9- Qui de contemnenda &c.] Loosely and inappositely
quoted from Cicero, Tusc. Disp. lib. i. cap. 15 : ' Quid nostri philosophi ?
nonne in his ipsis libris, quos scribunt de contemnenda gloria, nomina
sua inscribunt ?'
1. io. Socrates] Bacon seems to be repeating here the erroneous
judgment, which he expresses more fully in the Advancement of
Learning : ' Scientiam dissimulando simulavit, for he used to disable
his knowledge to the intent to enhance his knowledge.' Works,
iii. 388.
MrisIotle] Conf. 'Aristotle .... came with a professed contra-
diction to ail the world, and did put ail his opinions upon his own
authority and argument, and never so much as nameth an author but
idol, of larasites] Lat. larasitis
lbraedae et «scae. That this is Bacon's
meaning is clear from the Antitheta,
on Gloria Vana. Conf. ' Thraso Gna-
thonis praeda,' Works, i. 696, and
Terence, Eunuchus, lait scene, ' Hunc
comedendum et deridendum vobis pro-
pino,' &e.
358 ESSAY LIV.
to eonfute and reprove him.' "Vorks, iii. 502. Aristotle's frequent
dialeetical passages fairly bear out these and other like remarks. As
an estimate of Aristotle they are, of course, simply fareieal.
Galen.] In proof of Galen's ostentation, eonf. e.g. the De
Praenotione ad Posthumum, where he gives various detailed aeeounts
of the wonderful cures which he had ruade, and remarks on the in-
eompetenee and jealousy of the rest of the medieal profession. In
cap 9, he speaks of his departure from Rome ; the preeautions he took
to avoid its being interfered with ; and the general consternation when
the fact of his absence became knovn at court, «uoluov ,ov r«pl
epl ao uOaou gO ro«orou 6pxeu. He then tells hov he was
consequently recalled by express imperial mandate (Paris, folio ed.,
x679). The above fairly represents the general tone of Galen's
writings about himoelL It is the self-assertion of a man who bas
a gcnuine bclicf in himself and in his own powers.
l. 4. Cicero] Cicero's xnity is indisputable. That it bas helped
his faine is hOt so clear.
0 founatam natam me consule Romain.
Antonl gladios potuit contemnere si sic
Omnia disset.' Juvenal, Sat. x. i22.
Seneco] Scneca's good opinion of himlf» and his firm belief
that 'we are the wise,' can be seen in his wtings point. ConL e.g.
Ep. vil. and viii., vhere the markcd distinction between the author
and the test of mankind is most clearly insisted upon.
l. 5. Plinh«s Secundus] The naine Secundus is common to both
Plinies. Bacon must be understood here to be speang of the
younger Pliny, as in the more distinct rcference a few lines below.
His Epistles contain frequent proofs of what Bacon stiatizes as
some vanity, certainly of an assertive self-respect, hot offensive, hot
over-bearing, hot undignified, but ample and very clearly marked.
Conf. e.g. ' Frequenter agenti mihi evenit ut centumviri, cure diu
intra judicum auctodtatcm gravitatemque tcnuissent, otaries rente
quasi victi coactique consurgerent laudarentque ; frequenter e senatu
famam, qualcm mime optaveram, rettuli : nunquam tamen majorera
cepi voluptatem quam nuper ex sermone Corneli Taciti ...... An, si
Demosthenes jure laetatus est quod illum anus Attica ita noscitat,
or6 g«r, avuo«OivÇ, ego celebritate nominis mei gaudere non debeo ?
Ego veto et gaudeo, et gaudere me dico.' Epist. ix. 23. He writcs to
a friend about one of his speeches: 'Sunt multa (non auderem nisi
tibi dicere) elata, multa pugnacia, multa subtilia ..... Dedimus vela
indignationi, dcdimus irae, &c. In summa, soient quidam ex contu-
bernalibus nostris existimare banc orationem, iterum dicam, ut inter
meas, tp K«,ç»ros esse ; an vere tu facillime judicabis.' Ep.
OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 359
vi. 33. Lamenting the death of Verginius Rufus he says,--' Ille mihi
tutor relictus adfectum parentis exhibuit. Sic candidatum me suf-
fragio ornavit ; sic ad omnes honores meos ex secessibus accucurrit,
cure jam pridem ejusmodi ofiïciis renuntiasset : sic illo die quo sacer-
dotes soient nominare quos dignissimos sacerdotio judicant me semper
nominavit.' Ep. il. i.
l. 9. 2Wucianus] ' Omnium quae diceret atque ageret arte quadam
ostentator.' Hist. il. 8o.
1. 5. none bel/er than /hat whidt Plinius Secundus speakelh of] This
is put much too absolutely. Pliny is speaking of a private reading or
recitation, which the company had received with marked silence and
with no single sign of applause. This conclue/ he characterizes as
insolent, and ill-mannered and offensive; and he suggests that the
hearers, whether inferior or equal or superior to the reciting author,
could bave lost nothing by a more polite behaviour. His fuie for the
occasion is--' Sire plus sire minus sire idem praestas, lauda vel in-
feriorem vel superiorem vel parera : superiorem, quia, nisi laudandus
ille non potes ipse laudari: inferiorem aut parera, quia pertinet ad
tuam gloriam quam maximum videri quem praecedis vel exaequas.
Pliny, Epist. ri. I7. On the rule, as t3acon lays it down with ap-
proval, conf. ' Every one of us ought most fully and warily to look
unto ourselves, when we praise any one, that the said praises be pure
and sincere, void of suspicion, that we do hot respect and aim al an
oblique self-love and speech of our own selves.' Plutarch, Morals,
P. 55.
LV.
OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION.
TUE winning a of honour is but the revealing of a man's
virtue and worth without disadvantage; for some in their
actions do woo and affect honour and reputation; which
sort of men are commonly rnuch talked of, but inwardly
little admired : and sorne, contrariwise, darken their virtue
The vdnning &c.] ' The truc win-
ning of honour" is the reading of the
unpublished MS. of aba2, quoted by
blr. Aldis Wright. This agrees wth
the Latin, Honoris et existimationis
vera «! jure otimo acquiitlo ca cM: u!
qu/s, &c., and il agrees with the drift
of the Essay, for Bacon is contrasting
the true winning of honour with the
undue seeking and affecting il on the
one hand and with the insufficient re-
gard to il on the other.
36o ESSAY LV.
in the show of it ; so as they be undervalued in opinion.
If a man perform that which hath not been attempted
before, or attempted and given over, or hath been achieved
but not with so good circumstance, he shall purchase b
more honour than by effecting a matter of greater diffi-
culty or virtue v«herein he is but a follower. If a man so
retaper his actions as in some one of them he doth content
every faction or combination of people, the music will be
the fuller. A man is an iii husband of his honour that
o entereth into any action, the failing wherein may disgrace
him more than the carrying of it through can honour him.
Honour that is gained and broken upon another c hath the
quickest reflection, like diamonds cut with facets; and
therefore let a man contend to excel any competitors of
his in honour, in outshooting them, if he can, in their own
bow. Discreet followers and servants help much to re-
putation: Omnis fama a domesticis cmanat. Envy, which
is the canker of honour, is best extinguished by declaring
a man's self in his ends rather to seek merit than faine:
2o and by attributing a man's successes rather to divine pro-
vidence and felicity than to his own virtue or policy. The
truc marshalling of the degrees of sovereign honour are
these : in the first place are conditores hnperiorum,foundcrs
ofstates and commo»weal#ts; such as were Romulus, Cyrus,
Caesar, Ottoman, Ismael: in the second place are legisla-
fo»es, lawgivc»s; which are also called sccondfounders or
pcrpetuiprincipcs, because they govern by their ordinances
after they are gone; such were Lycurgus, Solon, Justi-
nian, Edgar, Alphonsus of Castile the Wise that ruade the
ao Siete ParEdas: in the third place are liberatores or salva-
b purchase] i.e. acquire. Lat. adi-
pis«etur. Conf. ' There is no man doth
a wrong for the wrong's sake ; but
thereby to purchase himself profit or
pleasure or honour or the like.' Essay
4, and note on passage.
« bvoken ulbon another] This ques-
tionable metaphor is avoided in the
Latin, honor qui comarativus est et
allure praegravat, rbn habd
mme vidam.
OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 36I
fores, such as compound the long miseries of civil wars,
or deliver their countries from servitude of strangers or
tyrants; as Augustus Caesar, Vespasianus, Aurelianus,
Theodoricus, King Henry the Seventh of England, King
Henry the Fourth of France: in the fourth place are pro-
pagatores or propugnatores imperii, such as in honourable
wars enlarge their territories or make noble defence
against invaders ; and, in the last place are pattes patriae,
which reign jusfly and make the times good wherein they
lire; both which last kinds need no examples, they are
in such number. Degrees of honour in subjects are, first
participes curarum a, those upon whom princes do discharge
the greatest weight of their affairs; their right hands, as
we call them ; the next are duces belli, great leaders ; such
as are princes' lieutenants and do them notable services in
the wars: the third are gratiosi, favourites; such as exceed
not this scantling e, to be solace to the sovereign and harm-
less to the people : and the fourth, negotiis pares; such as
have great places under princes, and execute their places
with sufficiency. There is an honour likewise which may
be ranked anaongst the greatest, which happeneth rarely;
that is, of such as sacrifice themselves to death or danger
for the good of their country; as was M. Regulus, and the
two Decii.
NOTES AA'I9 [LLUSTRATIOWS.
P. 360, 1. x 3. like diamonds etc! wilh ]'acels] For honour so gained
presents nurnerous points to the imagination. On the whole passage
conf. 'Percy is but rny factor, good rny lord,
To engross up glorious deeds on rny behalf;
And I will call hirn to so strict accourir
That he shall tender every glory up.'
x Henry IV, act iii. sc.
And Bacon's private notes and rules for his own guidance. ' To
" pattidpes eurarum] Vide note on sworde of the targetiers, in regard of
Essay 27, p. i93. the use of that weapon, ought tobe of
* scantlitg] i.e. measure. Lat. a very short scantling.' Edmundes,
qui non ultra hoc pores surir. French Obs. on Caesar's Comment. lib. il.
txqtepoportion. Conf. ' I saie that the cap. o, obs. .
362 ESSAY LV.
winne credit comparate to ye Att(orney) in being more short, round
and resolute.' Letters and Life, iv. p. 46. And again, ' To have
in mynd and use )'e Att. weakness.' p. 5 ° . Further on we find
a list of' Hubb disadvant,' i. e. the points in which Sir Henry Hobart,
the Attorney-General, was most weak and most laid himself open
to the use which Bacon purposed to make of him. p. 92.
1. 17. Omnis[ama] ' Nam tere omnis sermo ad forensem famam
a domesticis emanat auctoribus.' Q. Cicero, de petitione consulatîas,
cap. 5.
1. 8. bes! extinguished] So in Essay 4o: ' Ail wise men, to
decline the envy of their own virtues, use to ascribe them to Pro-
vidence and Fortune.'
1.23. in thefirsl place are &c.] This first degree of honour is
assigned by Bacon in a two-fold sense to King James : ' It seemeth
Goal bath reserved to your Majesty's times two works, which amongst
the acts of Kings have the supreme preeminence ; the union and the
plantation of -kingdoms. For although it be a great fortune for a
king to deliver or recover his kingdom from long continued ca-
lamities; yet in the judgment ofthose that have distinguished ofthe
degrees of sovereign honour, to be a founder of estates or -kingdoms
excelleth all the test .... Of which foundations there being but
two kinds, the first that maketh one of more, the second that makes
one of none .... it bath pleased the divine providence in singular
favour to your Majesty, to put both these kinds of foundations or
regenerations into your hand : the one in the union of the island of
Britain, the other in the plantation of great and noble parts of the
island of Ireland.' Letters and Lire, iv.
On ' the judgment of those that have distinguished of the degrees
of sovereign honour,' conf. 'Amongst ail commendable men, those
deserve esteem in the first place, who have taken tare in laying
the grounds of divine xvorship, and true Religion : the next belongs
to them who have been the founders of Commonwealths or King-
doms. After those are they famous that commanding over armies
have enlarged either their kingdom or country. To these we may
adjoin learned men. And because they are of different dignities,
every one of them are valued according to their degree. And to ail
other men, whose number is infinite, we use to give that share of
commendations which their art and skill deserves.'
'And truly a Prince aiming at Glory, would wish to be Lord of a
disordered City, not to ruin it wholly as did Cesar, but to recom-
pose and restore it, as Romulus. And believe me the heavens
cannot give men greater occasion of glory, nor men desire it.'
Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, bk. i. cap.
Bacon's division in the Novum Organum is not that whlch he
adopts in the Essay. Conf. 'lrimo taque videtur inventorum
OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 363
nobilium introductio inter actiones humanas longe primas partes
tenere: id quod antiqua saecula judicaverunt. Ea enim rerum
inventoribus divinos honores tribuerunt: iis autem qui in rebus
civilibus merebantur ¢quales erant urbium et imperiorum conditores,
legislatores, patriarum a diuturnis malis liberatores, tyrannidum
debellatores, et his similes) heroum tantum honores, decreverunt.
Atque certe si quis ea recte conferat, justum hoc prisci saeculi judi-
cium reperiet.' His reasons for this judgment follow. Works, i. 22L
1. 25. Ottoman] 'Othman, or according to the Oriental or-
thography, Osman, is regarded as the founder of the Ottoman
Empire; and it is from him that the Turks, who inhabit it, call
themselves Osmanlis, the only nati6nal appellation which they
recognise. His banner and his sabre are still preserved in the
treasury of the empire ; and the martial ceremony of girding on that
sabre is the solemn rite, analogous to the coronations of Christendom,
by which the Turkish Sultans are formally invested with sovereign
power. Othman is commonly termed the first Sultan of his race;
but neither he nor his two immediate successors assumed more
than the title of Emir. He had, at the rime of his death, reigned as
an independent Emir twenty-seven years, and had been chief of
his tribe for thirty-nine years of his life of sixty-eight. (a.p. 2238-
1326. ) His career fully displays the buoyant courage, the subtle
watchfulness, the resolute decision, the strong common sense, and
the power of winning and wielding the affections and energies of
other men, which are the usual attributes of the founders of empires.'
Creasy, Hist. of the Ottoman Turks, cap. .
Ismael] 'Shah Ismail was the first of the Suffavean monarchs.
...We are informed of no particulars of his lire till he had
attained the age of fourteen, when (A.P. X499) he put himself at the
head of his adherents, and marched against the great enemy of his
family, the ruler of Shirwan, xvhom he defeated.' After a series of
like successes, each of them adding some new district to the provinces
under his rule, he became in less than four years ' the acknowledged
sovereign of the kingdom of Persia .... It would be tedious to enter
into a minute detail of the actions of Ismail. He was occupied, for
some years after he ascended the throne, in subjugating those pro-
vinces of Persia which continued to resist his authority. When that
object was accomplished he attacked and took 13agdad and its sur-
rounding territories, &c .... The Persians dwell with rapture on the
character of Ismail, whom they deem not only the founder of a great
dynasty, but the person to whom that faith, in which they glory,
owes its establishment as a national religion.' Malcolm, Hist. of
Persia, vol. i. cap. 14.
1. uS. Lya«rgus, Solon.] Bacon mentions these, joining Minos
with them, in his proposition to the King on the amendment of the
364 ESSAY LV.
laws of England. ' For the laws of Lycurgus, Solon, Minos, and others
of ancient rime, they are not the worse because grammar scholars
speak of them.'
Justinian] 'Justinian the Emperor, by commissions directed
to divers persons learned in the laws, reduced the Roman laws from
vastness of volume and a labyrinth of uncertainties, unto that course
of the civil law xvhich is now in use.'
l. 9. Edgar] ' Edgar the Saxon King, collected the laws of this
kingdom, and gave them the strength of a faggot bound, which for-
merly were dispersed.' Letters and Lire, ri. 66. ' Eadgar was only a
boy of fourteen, and throughout his reign the actual direction of
affairs lay in the hands of Dunstan, xvhose elevation to the see of
Canterbury set him at the head of the Church as of the State. The
noblest tribute to his rule lies in the silence of our chroniclers. His
xvork indeed was a xvork of settlement, and such a work was best
done by the simple enforcement of peace. During the years of rest
in xvhich the stern hand of the primate enforced justice and order,
Northman and Englishman drew together into a single people ....
The saine vigorous rule, which secured rest for the country during
these years of national union, told on the growth of material pros-
perity. Commerce sprang into a wider life .... The laws of Aethelred,
which provide for the protection and regulation of foreign trade,
only recognise a state ofthings which grew up under Eadgar.' Green,
Hist. of English People, bk. i. chap. 4.
Allitonsus &c.] ' This last great xvork was undertaken by Alfonso
in i256 and finished either in i263 or i265. It was originally
called by Alfonso himself" El Setenario," from the title of the code
undertaken by his father, but it is now called " Las Siete Partidas,"
or the seven parts, from the seven divisions of the work itself....
Though by far the most important legislative monument of its age,
(it) did not at once becolne the law of the land. It was not till I348,
two years before the death of Alfonso the Eleventh, and above sixty
after that of their author, that the contest xvith the local authorities
was over, and the Partidas xvere finally proclaimed and established,
as of binding authority in all the territories held by the kings of
Castile and Leon. But from that period the great code of Alfonso
has been uniformly respected. It is, in fact, a sort of Spanish
common laxv, which, with the decisions under it, has been the basis
of Spanish jurisprudence ever since.' Ticknor, Hist. of Spanish
Literature, Period i. cap. 3-
P. 361, 1. 21. a,/tict, ttalle»tettt rarel),] Every soldier who goes into
battle earns what Bacon terms a rare and special honour, none the
less if he escapes without a scratch. He risks his life for his country.
Conf. the reply of the Spartan prisoner: *roXXo o dvm
rpa«rO « ro àïaSo/. «ï[yuo'««. Thucy. iv. 4 o.
OF JUDICATURE. 365
LVI.
OF JUDICATURE.
JIADGES ought to remember that their office is jus dicere
and not jus dare ; fo htterpret law, and no, to malee law or
give law; else will it be like the authority claimed by the
Church of Rome, which, under pretext of exposition of
Scripture, doth not stick to add and alter, and to pronounce
that which they do not find, and by show of antiquity to
introduce novelty. Judges ought to be more learned than
witty, more reverend than plausible, and more advised
than confident . Above all things, integrity is their por-
tion and proper virtue. Cursed (saith the law) is he tha! ,o
removelh lhe landmark. The mislayer of a meere stone '
is to blame; but it is the unjust judge that is the capital
remover of landmarks, when he defineth amiss of lands
and property. One foui sentence doth more hurt than
many foul examples ; for these do but corrupt the stream,
the other corrupteth the fountain : so saith Salomon, Forts
tttrbahts et z,ota corrttla estjttsttts cagots in cattsd stttî coram
adversario. The office of judges may have reference unto
the parties that sue, unto the advocates that plead, unto the
clerks and ministers of justice underneath them, and to the 5o
sovereign or state above ,hem.
First, for the causes or parties that sue. T]tere be (saith
the Scripture) that [t¢rtt jttdgmcnt htto wormwood; and
Judges oug.ht to be &c.] Lat. Ju-
dicon oporlet esse potius erudilu»n quatt
itfge,ffosutn ; venerabilem quam gratlo-
sutn ; tnagisque deliberativurn qua»n
eo,fule,ftem. For' advised ' = deliberate,
conf. ' Let him be rather advised in his
answers than forwards to tell stories.'
Essay 8, p. 8, and ' Letters are
more natural than orations and public
speeches, and more advised than con-
ferences or prescrit speeches? Works,
iii. 34z.
a m¢ere slone] i.e. a boundary
stone. Lat. lap,'don fines distinguen-
terri. French qui change les il»ff/es.
Conf. ' That you contain the jurlsdic-
tion of the court within the ancien,
merestones, without removing the
mark.' Letters and Life, ri. zoz. So
Swift, Voyage to Laputa, in his ac-
court, ofthe struldbrugs, says, ' Neither
are they allowed to be witnesses in
any cause, civil or criminal, no, even
for the decision of meers and bounds.'
366 ESSAY LVI.
surely there be also that turn it into vinegar ; for injustice
maketh it bitter, and delays make it sour. The principal
duty of a judge is to suppress force and fraud; whereof
force is the more pernicious when it is open, and fraud
when it is close and disguised. Add thereto contentious
suits, which ought to be spewed out as the surfeit of
courts. A judge ought to prepare his way to a just
sentence as God useth to prepare his way, by raising
valleys and taking down hills: so xvhen there appeareth
,Ç on either side a high hand, violent prosecution, cunning
advantages taken, combination, power, great counsel, then
is the virtue of a judge seen to make inequality equal;
that he may plant his judgment as upon an even ground.
Qui fortitcr cmzmgit dicit sang»hcm ; and where the wine-
press is hard wrought, it yields a harsh wine that tastes of
the grape-stone. Judges must beware ofhard constructions
and strained inferences ; for there is no worse torture than
the torture of laves : especially in case of laws penal they
ought to have care that that which was meant for terror
:o be not turned into rigour; and that they bring not upon
the people that shower whereof the Scripture speaketh,
Ph«ct sulcr eos laTueos; for penal laws pressed are a shoxver
of snares upon the people : therefore let penal laves, if they
have been sleepers of long or if they be grown unfit for
the present rime, be by ,,vise judges confined in the exe-
cution: Judicis offichmt est, u! res, ira tcmpora rcrum, &c.
In causes of life and death, judges ought (as far as the law
permitteth) in justice to remember mercy, and to cast a
severe eye upon the example but a merciful eye upon the
o person.
Secondly, for the advocates and counsel that plead.
Patience and gravity of hearing is an essential part of
justice ; and an overspeaking judge is no wcll-hocd c.),mbal.
It is no gmce to a judge first to find that which he might
have heard in due time from the bar, or to shov quickness
OF JUDICATURE. 367
of conceit in cutting off evidence or counsel too short, or
to prevent c information by questions though pertinent.
The parts of a judge in hearing are four: to direct the
evidence; to moderate length, repetition, or impertinency
of speech ; to recapitulate, select, and collate the materiai
points of that which bath been said ; and to give the rule
or sentence. Whatsoever is above these is too much, and
proceedeth either of glory and willingness to speak, or of
impatience to hear, or of shortness of memory, or of want
ofa staid and equal attention. It is a strange thing to see ,
that the boldness of advocates should prevail with judges ;
whereas they should imitate God, in whose seat they sit,
who represseth the presumptuous and giveth grace to the
modest: but it is more strange that judges should have
noted favourites, which cannot but cause multiplication of
fees and suspicion of by-ways. There is due from the
judge to the advocate some commendation and gracing,
where causes are well handled and fair pleaded, especially
towards the side xvhich obtaineth not'; for that upholds
in the client the reputation of his counsel, and beats down ..o
in him the conceit of his cause. There is likewise due to
the public a civil reprehension of advocates, where there
appeareth cunning counsel, gross neglect, slight informa-
tion, indiscreet pressing, or an over-bold defence; and let
not the counsel at the bar chop with the judge, nor wind
himself into the handling of the cause anew after the judge
bath declared his sentence ; but, on the other side, let not
the judge meet the cause half-way, nor give occasion to
the party to say, his counsel or proofs were not heard.
Thirdly, for that that concerns clerks and ministers. 3o
e lo prevct] i.e, to anticipate. Lat.
si anticiper, so passhn.
d which obtaineth not] i.e. which
prevaileth hot. Lat. si causa sua cadat.
For ' obtain ' = attain, conf. ' But if a
man cannot obtain to that judgment.'
Essay 6, p. 4 r. I can flnd no more
close instance of ils use as in this
passage. Whateley refers to Ecclesi-
asticus xi. xo, but as the context and
the Vuigate show, ' obtain' i there
used in its ordinary modern sense.
368 ESSAY LVI.
The place of justice is a halloved place; and therefore
not only the bench but the foot-pace e and precincts and
purpriset thereof ought to be preserved without scandal
and corruption; for certainly Grapes (as the Scripture
saithj will hOt be gathered of thorns or thistles ; neither can
justice yield her fruit with sweetness amongst the briars
and brarnbles of catching and polling clerks and ministersg.
The attendance of courts is subject to four bad instru-
ments: first, certain persons that are sowers of suits,
which make the court svell and the country pine: the
second sort is of those that engage courts in quarrels of
jurisdiction, and are not truly amici curiae, but parasiti
curiae, in puffing a court up beyond her bounds for their
own scraps and advantage: the third sort is of those that
may be accounted the left hands of courts; persons that
are full of nimble and sinister tricks and shifts, whereby
they pervert the plain and direct courses of courts, and
foot-pace] Lat. subsellia. French
not seulement les bancs, mais les degrés.
Ital. non solamo, te la seggia, ma Io
scabdio de' edi. Whateley intere
the word by ' lobby'; Hr. W6ght, by
' dais, or raed platform for a chair of
ste.' Latham's Johnson's Dict. ves
' landingpcesat inte'als in the coue
ofa stairce.' Nares, Glosaa, spells
the word 'foot-pe,' and explains it
as mat or cadet.
t preacts and puoe] i.e. the
svhole area or enclosure of the cou.
Lat. praednctus s. Foench le ciro,'l
et pou. I1. i precenti e tutti il
co»ni. ere does not seem to be
any distinction intended beeen the
two words. For pufise conf. ' Dai-
phantus.., perswaded the Phocians...
for to go foh and encounter the
Thessalians: but their wives and
chfldren to semble MI together unto a
cein place in Phocis, d en,ton
the whole pourp6se and precinct
thereofth a huge qtity of wood,'
&c. Pluch's Ho. ' On the ver-
tuous deedsof women. The Dames of
Phocis,' p. 399- The Greek of this
passage is: îrta rb
aroù àlraVTeav'ra, "roi'
IxeaOm, rd vuaî«a âa
e. Littr6 expions ' pourps '
=enceinte, habition. ' Eh morbleu,
c'est dans le pous du brillant
palais de la Lune qu'un honnète
homme fait foune' (Volioe). ' Comme
Romulus feist faioe un fo à l'entour
du pourps qu'il voulait enfermer de
murailles ' (Amyot, Rom. 5 .
of «atddng an polling der &e.]
t. acffba«m et mblrorunt rapadum
a lu bthiantium. These words are
explained and amplified in the psage
which follows, where Bacon spe of
the fouh bad stment of the cou
the poller and exacter of fees. So
CoweH spe of 'catchepoHe' as
being «now used a word of con-
tempt.' Intereter, sub
OF JUDICATURE. 369
bring justice into oblique lines and labyrinths: and the
fourth is the poller and exacter of fees : which justifies the
common resemblance of the courts of justice to the bush,
whereunto while the sheep files for defence in weather he
is sure to lose part of his fleece. On the other side, an
ancient clerk, skilful in precedents, wary in proceeding,
and understanding in the business of the court, is an
excellent finger of a court, and doth man 3- times point the
way to the judge himself.
Fourthly, for that which may concern the sovereign and ,o
estate. Judges ought above all to remember the conclu-
sion of the Roman Twelve Tables, Sahts ouli.surema
lex; and to know that laws, except they be in order to
that end, are but things captious and oracles hot well
inspired: therefore it is a happy thing in a state when
kings and states do often consult with judges; and again,
when judges do often consult xvith the king and state : the
one when there is matter of laxv intervenient in business
of state; the other when there is some consideration of
state intervenient in matter of law; for many times the ,o
things deduced to judgment may be mettra and htum,
when the reason and consequence thereof may trench
to point of estate*: I call matter of estate hOt only the
parts of sovereignty, but whatsover introduceth any great
alteration or dangerous precedent, or concerneth mani-
festly any great portion of people: and let no man weakiy
conceive that just laws and truc policy have any antipathy;
for they are like the spirits and sinews, that one moves
with the other. Let judges also remember that Salomon's
throne was supported by lions on both sides : let them be 3o
lions, but yet lions under the throne; being circumspect
that they do hot check or oppose any points of sovereignty.
« may trtncit fo point ofestate] i.e. The words which follow define exactly
may go near to touch some matter of what point of estate ' means.
state. Lat. ad ratione stats enetret.
Bb
37 ° ESSAY LVI.
Let not judges also be so ignorant of their own right as to
think there is not left to them, as a principal part of their
office, a wise use and application of laws; for they may
remember what the apostle saith of a greater law than
theirs ; Nos scimus quia lex bona est, modo quis eft utatur
legithne.
NOTES AW19 71LLUSTRATlO2VS,
P. 365. 1. x. their office is ji«s dicere and not ius date] This statement
is balanced at the end of the Essay by the remark that judges must
remember that they have left to them, as a principal part of their
office, a wise use and application of laws. The Antitheta on ' Verba
Legis' will shew the sense in which these rules are tobe understood.
On the ' Pro' side we have ' Non est interpretatio, sed divinatio, quae
recedit a litera. Cum receditur alitera, judex transit in legislatorem.'
On the ' Contra' side, ' Ex omnibus verbis eliciendus est sensus, qui
interpretetur singula.' Works, i. 7o6. We may take Bacon's meaning,
therefore, tobe that though judges are tobe guided by the words of
the law, they are to have regard to the whole of it, and hot unduly
to press some single point or to follow an interpretation of it out of
accord with the test. So, in King James' speech in the Star Chamber
(x6161 he directs the judges ' not to take upon them to make law, but
joyned together after a deliberate consultation, to declare what the law
is.' King James, Works, p. 55 x. In the course of the speech, he again
bids them' remember you are no makers of law, but interpreters of
law, according to the trew sente thereof: for your office isjus dicere and
hOt jus date." p. 555- But we find presently much the same balance as
that on which Bacon insists. ' Laws are ordained as rules of vertuous
and sociall living, and hot to be snares to trap your good subjects;
and therefore the law must be interpreted according to the meaning
and hot to the literal sense thereof.' Basilicon Doron, bk. ii. Bodin,
de Republica, bk. vi. 6, endeavours to define and reconcile these
two duties of a judge. He deals with the mat-ter at much greater
length than Bacon bas donc, but cornes to no very precise conclusion.
For the result of a breach of Bacon's first rule, conf. ' Concerning the
civill justice here (i. e. in France) it is nowhere more corrupt nor
expencefull . . . The Presidents are hOt bound to judge according
to the written law, but according to the Equitie drawn out of it,
which Libertie doth hOt so much adroit conscience as leave wit
without limits.' Overbury, Obs. on XVII. Provinces &c., p. xS.
1.7. Judges ought fo be &c.] On the first of these points conf.
Speech to Justice Hutton : ' The first (line and portraiture of a good
OF JUDICATURE.
judge) is, that you should draw your learning out of your books,
hot out of your brain.' Lctters and Life, vi.
On thc second point, Speeeh to thc Judges belote Circuit: ' A
popular judge is a defornaed thing; and plat«dite's are fitter for players
than for magistrates. Do good to the people, love them and give
thena justice. But let it bc, as thc Psalna saith, nihil inde expectantes;
looking for nothing, neither praise nor profit.' p.
On the third point, Baeon's Speceb on taking his seat in Chaneery :
' I confess I bave somewhat of the eunetative ; and I ana of opinion
that whosoever is hot wiser upon adviee than upon the sudden, the
sanae naan is no wiser at fifty than ho was at thirty, and it was nay
father's ordinary word, .,o« mttst give »te rime.' p. 189. The rule
against undue confidence naay bave been suggested by the exanaple
of Coke--'whosc great travails as I naueh conamend, yet that sanae
pl«rophoria, or over-confidence, doth always subject things to a great
deal of chance.' Letters and Lire, v. 232.
1. 9. integrity is their proper virlue] So Janaes, in his Speeeh in
Parlianaent (6o3), turns to the judges and naagistrates and bids
thena 'renaenaber that the thrones that you sit on arc God's, and
neither yours nor naine: . . . yc naust bc blinde and hot see dis-
tinetions of persons; handlesse hot to receivc bribes,' &c. King
Janaes, Works, p. 494- Thc King then gives thena warning that he
intends to look sharply after thena, and see that they behave as he
bids thena. Also in Speeeh in the Star Chanaber, he givcs a speeial
charge to judges 'to doe justice indifferently between subjeet and
subjeet, between King and subjeet, without delay, partialitie, feare,
or bribery.' King Janaes, Works, p. 555-
1. o. Cttrsed, saith lire law &e.] Deut. xxvii, x7-
1. 6. so saith Salomon] Prov. xxv. 2î5. Conf. Adv. of Learning,
where the tcxt is correetly quotcd: 'Forts turbatus pcde, et vena
corrupta, est justus eadcns corana impio.' Here is noted, that one
judieial and exenaplar iniquity in thc face of the world, doth trouble
thc fountains of justice naore than naany partieular injuries passed
over by connivanec. Works, iii. 45o. It will be observed that the
changes which 13aeon naakcs in his quotation in thc Essay are re-
quired to bear out his interpretation.
1.23. i,«dg»te«tto wornwood] Anaos v. 7- Conf. These two persons
(Dttdlfv and Empson being lawyers in science and privy eouneillors
in authority (as the corruption of the best things is thc worst, turned
law and justice into wornawood and rapine.' Works, ri.
P. 366, 1. 2. delays make il sottr] ' The King's charge.., was that
I should retreneh ail unneeessary delays, that the subjeet mought
find that he did enjoy the sanae remedy against the fainting of the
soul and eonsunaption of the state; whieh was speedyjustiee. Bis
dat qui cito dat.' Baeon's Speech on taking his seat in Chancery.
Bb2
37 ESSAY LVI.
Letters and Life, vi. 184. 'Fresh justice is the sweetest.' vi. 19o.
He proxises, accordingly, to 'add the afternoon to the forenoon,'
and soxe fortnight of the vacation to the terx, for the expediting
and clearing of the causes of the court.' vi. 19o. This, at least, he
did xost effectually; con£ Letters and Lire, vi. 2o8, 283, and vil. 14.
!. 8. by raising valloEs &c.] Isaiah xl. 4 : ' Every valley shall be
exalted, and every xountain and hill shall be xade low.' More
usually explained as prophetic ofthe mission of St. John the Baptist.
1. 14. Quifortiter &c.] Prov. xxx. 33-
!. 22. Pluet super eos laqueos] Ps. xi. 6.
penal laws pressed &c.] This is a favourite sixile with Bacon.
Conf. Speech for repealing superfluous laws (16Ol): 'I could
therefore wish that .... every particular xexber of this House
would give information to the Coxxittee what statutes he thinketh
fitting to be repealed or what branch to be superfluous; lest,
as he sayeth, pluat sttper nos laqueos. The more lavs we xake,
the more snares we lay to entrap ourselves.' Letters and Lire, iii. 19.
And, ' This continual heaping up of laws.., turneth the laws xany
fixes to becoxe but snares for the people, as was well said, Pluasuper
eos laqueos; »ton otim sunt pores laqttd quam laquei legum." p. 336.
And ' There is a learned civilian that expoundeth the curse of the
prophet, Pluet super eos laqueos, of multitude of penal laws, which
are worse than showers of hall or texpest upon cattle, for they
fall upon xen.' Letters and Lire, ri. 65. And' For the reforxing...
of the statute law.., the next (part) is to repeal ail statutes which
are sleeping and hot of use, but yet snaring and in force.' p. 71.
Jaxes, in the Basilicon Doron, bk. ii, uses the saxe figure : ' Lawes
are ordained as rules of vertuous and sociall living, and hOt as
snares to trap your good subjects.'
It appears to have been suggested by a passage in the Erasxi Adagia,
sub voce I-Iertmlei labores. ' Proinde principes, qui publicux agunt
negotiux,, hoc anixo praeditos esse oportet, ut ad hoc exexplar com-
xunex xodo spectent utilitatex; nec xagistratux, perinde quasi
cauponatio sit, sibi gerant non aliis, nec legux veluti laqueis insidiari
velint ils unde perspexerint exolumentum aliquod auferri posse.'
(Ed. i55I , p. 6290
To the saxe effect Budaeus, speaking of the xischievous xulti-
plicity of laws and coxxentaries, declares them to be ' in perniciem
et captionex xansuetorux et sixpliciux hoxinux excogitata, i
Annot. in iandectas, p. 84 (fol. ed. of 1535). Cicero frequently uses
the saxe figure.
!. .6. Judicis officium est &c.] Ovid, Tristia, i. I. 3"1-
!. 32. Patience and gravity of/earing &c.] Bacon, in his Speech
on taking his seat in Chancery, condexns the practice of i ta'king
the tale out of the councillor at the bar his mouth,' and declares that
OF JUDICATURE.
3î3
his own ' endeavour shall be to hear patiently.' Letters and Lire,
vi. 19o, 91. Conf. Ellesmere's address to Coke's successor, Sir
Henry Montagu, aimed throughout at Coke. ' In hearing of causes,
you are to hear with patience, for patience is a great part of a judge.
Better hear with patience prolixity and impertinent discourse of
lawyers and advocates, than rashly for default of the lawyer to ruin
the client's cause.' Campbell, Lives of Chancellors, ii. 253 (2nd
ed. 8vo, 1846). So Pliny the younger says that, contrary to the
custom ofothers, he always allows advocates as much time as they ask ;
for--' temerarium existimo divinare quam spatiosa sit causa inaudita,
tempusque negotio finire cujus modum ignores; praesertim quum
primam religioni suae judex patientiam debeat, quae magna pars
justitiae est.' Epist. ri. 2.
1. 33- an overseakingjudge. . . no grace Io a judge] Conf. among
the rules which Bacon gives to Justice Hutton, ' That you affect hOt
the opinion of pregnancy and expedition by an impatient and catching
hearing of the counsellors at the bar. That your speech be with
gravity, as one of the sages of the law ; and not talkative, nor with
impertinent flying out to shew learning.' Letters and Lires, vi.
Here again Bacon's remarks may hOt improbably have been aimed
at his old enemy Coke. ' Over-speaking' was among Coke's notorious
faults. Conf. e.g. An Expostulation to the Lord Chief Justice Coke :
'First, therefore, behold your errors. In discourse you delight to
speak too much, hOt to hear other men : this, some say, becomes a
pleader, not a judge.' This letter has been printed as Bacon's, in
Mr. Spedding's judgment on no sufficient evidence. I refer to it,
therefore, only as a contemporary paper, shoving what vas said
and thought of Coke. Mr. Spedding does not print the letter. It is
#ven at length in vol. v. pp. 4o3-411 of the edition of 1819 in ten vols.
P. 367, 1. 3. Io direcl lhe evidence] Lat. probalionum seriem ordinare.
This may mean in some cases no more than, to take care that ail
evidence admitted is to the point and properly arranged. But
that it may mean much more than this appears from Bacon's letter
to the King touching the procedure with Somerset: 'Hereupon I
did move two things, which [ do in ail humbleness renew. First,
that your Majesty will be careful to choose a Steward ofjudgment,
that may be able to moderate the evidence and cut off digressions...
The other, that there may be special care taken for the ordering of
the evidence, hOt only for the knitting, but for the list, and (to use
your Idajesty's own word) the confining of it.' The object aimed
at is termed presently ' the marshalling and bounding of the evidence.'
Letters and Life, v. 231.
It does hot clearly appear what it was that was to be hushed
up, whether something favourable to the prisoner or disgraceful
to the King. Mr. Spedding argues at length (pp. 340, 341) that there
374 ESSAY LVI.
is no evidence that anything was to be hushed up. His statement,
taken with Bacon's letter, to which he does hot refer, will perhaps
be thought to supply evidence enough.
P. 368, 1.4- Grapes, as t/,e Scripture sait/, &c.] St. Matthew vii. I6.
1. Ii. quarrels of jurisdiction] Owing to the unsettled state of
the law, these quarrels were frequent in Bacon's day, both between
the judges and the ecclesiastical courts, and between the judges
and the Court of Chancery. For instances of the former vide
Gardiner's Hist. of England, vol. ii. caps. i2 and 14. Of the latter,
there are several instances, two most notoriously, in which indict-
ments were preferred of ibraemunire, for suing in Chancery after
judgments at common iaw--a proceeding, in Bacon's judgment,
so affronting to the Chancellor and his court, and therefore to the
King, that the judges who had moved in it should answer it upon
their knees and should receive a sharp admonition. These cases, and
their final settlement in favour of the powers exercised by the Court of
Cancery and against the attempt ofthe common lawcourts to interfere
with them, are given at length in Letters and Life, vol. v. caps. 6 and 9-
On the excessive powers claimed after this by the Court of Chancery
vide vol. vi. p. i26 note.
Engaging courts in quarrels of jurisdictiort is one among the
offences with which Lord Coke was charged. Bacon vas careful
that it should have full prominence given to it. Conf. ' Remem-
brances of His Majesty's declarative touching the Lord Coke,' a
paper (in Mr. Spedding's judgment) giving a sketch, hOt of xvhat
the King said, but of what Bacon wished him to say : ' For things
passed, his Majesty had noted in him a perpetual turbulent carriage,
tirst towards the liberties of his church and the state ecclesiastical :
then towards his prerogative royal and the branches thereof; and
likewise towards ail the settled jurisdictions of the other courts,
the High Commission, the Star Chamber, the Chancery, the Pro-
vincial Councils, the Admiralty, the Duchy, the Court of Requests,
the Commission of Sewers, the new boroughs of Ireland; in ail
which he hath raised troubles and new questions.' Letters and
Lire, vi. 95. The particulars are given at pp. 9o-93 . Conf. also
James' speech in the Star Chamber: 'That you keepe yourselves
within your own benches, hOt to invade other jurisdictions, which
is unfit and an unlawful thing.' Letters and Lire, v. 382. AIso
Speech at Whitehall (16o9) : ' I have often wished that every court
had his own trew limit and jurisdiction clearly set downe and
certainly knowne ; which if it be exceeded by any of them or that
any of them encroach one upon another, then I grant that a pro-
hibition in that case is to goe out of the King's Bench, but chietliest
out of the Chancery .... For as God conteins the Sea within his owne
bounds and marches (as it is in the Psalmes) so is it nly office to make
OF JUDICATURE.
375
every court conteine himself within his own limits.' King James,
Works, p. 534- The matter, it may be remarked, is one which had
been handled by Coke at length and very precisely. Conf. Institutes,
Fourth Part, on the Jurisdiction of Courts.
1. 3. for their own scrazOs and advanlage] The King had already
round the saine motive as Bacon does for the attempt of each court
to encroach on the jurisdiction of other courts : ' Every court striving
to bring in most moulture to their own mill.' Speech at Whitehall
(I6O9). King James, Works, p. 534.
P. 369, 1.2. oller and exacler of fees] Lat. exilatores et exactores
foedorum. On the passage, conf. Bacon's Speech on taking his seat
in Chancery: ' The King's charge which is my lanthorn rested
upon four heads .... The fourth was that justice might pass with
as easy a charge as mought be ; and that those saine brambles that
grow about justice, of needless charge and expense, and all manner
of exactions, mought be rooted out as far as mought be.' Letters and
Life, vi. I84. And he promises, accordingly, that ' I shall be careful
there be no exaction of any new fees, but according as they have
heretofore been set and tabled.'
the common resanblance of lhe courts of justice &c.] ' He wishes
fewer laws, so they are better observed ; and for those that are
mulctuary, he understands their institution hot tobe like briars
or springes to catch every thing they lay hold of.' Overbury's
Characters--A reverend Judge. ' So that he that goes to law {as the
proverb is) holds a wolf by the ears, or as a sheep in a storm runs for
shelter to a briar.' Burton, Anatomy of Melaneholy (i837), vol. i. p. 73.
l. ii. couclnsion ofthe Roman Tweh,e Tables] ' Regio imperio duo
sunto... Ollis salus populi suprema lex esto.' Cicero, de Leg. iii. 3,
sec. 8. This, and the other laws in the treatise, are said hot to be
quotations from the XII Tables. Vide ii. 7, sec.
l. 15. when kings and states do often &e.] These rules and re-
marks must be taken as referring to questions of the day. They
are all open to comment. The consultation of kings and states with
judges is illustrated favourably by King James' course after his
issue of Proclamations, forbidding persons to do certain things under
penalties which were to be enforced by the Star Chamber, assuming
thereby a power of penal legislation. The issue of these royal orders
was included among grievances of which the House of Commons
ruade formal complaint. James promised btter alia to confer with
the judges on the matter, and the end was that the judges after
careful consideration pronounced their opinion that 'the King by his
Proclamation cannot create any offence which was hot an offence
before.., that he bas no prerogative but that which the law of the
land allows him.., and that if the offence be hot punishable in the
Star Chamber, the prohibition of it by Proclamation cannot make it
376 ESSAY LVI.
punishable there.' The proclamations so condemned were ac-
cordingly withdrawn, and no further attempt of the kind was ruade
by the King to usurp an illegal power. Letters and Life, iv. 219-221.
The consultation on Peacham's case was of another and more
questionable sort. The King wished to put him on his trial for
hgh treason on account of certain unpublished papers found in his
possession. But he wished first to make sure of the judges before
whom the case would corne, and he employed Bacon as his agent
to obtain a separate opinion from each of them. The rest complied
and gave the opinion desired, but Coke at the first refused to give
any, and finally after great pressure gave an opinion that Peacham's
offence did hOt amount to high treason. He was tried nevertheless
before other judges and condemned, but the sentence was hot carried
out, probably in deference to Coke's adverse view. Letters and Life,
v. lO2, 114..
Of the rule that judges ought to consult with the king and state
when there is some consideration of state intervenient in matter of
law, we find tvo memorable illustrations. One John Michell had
received grant of a nev patent office, giving him the sole making of
certain writs in the Common Pleas, and thereby interfering with
the profits of the Prothonotary. This functionary sued in the King's
Bench to be restored to possession of the ancient fees of his office,
and so raised the question of the legality of the new patent. Bacon,
in the King's interest as granter of the patent, held that the marrer
ought to be tried hOt in the King's Bench but before the King him-
self as represented in Chancery, and he tried accordingly to stop the
proceedings by a writ de non procedendo ad assisam Rege inconsullo,
the validity ofwhich was disputed. Letters and Lire, v. 223.
While this case was pending, a similar question was raised in
another case. A living had been granted by the King to one ofthe
bishops, in commendam, to be held together with the bishopric. The
presentation to the bishop had been disputed, and the adverse
claimants to the lixdng had brought an action against the bishop.
The case, as new and important, was to be tried before ail the
judges. The matter, as handled by the plaintiff's counsel, involved
a deeision on the extent of the prerogatives of the Crown, whieh
the eounsel sought to limit. The King, therefore, direeted Baeon
to signify his pleasure that the judges should hot proeeed with the
case until he had had an opportunity of consulting with them. The
judges, however, went on, alleging that it was against the law and
against their oaths to delay doing justice. The whole business, and
the eonduct of the judges, were brought by the King before himself
and his Council at Whitehall, and in the course of the proceedings
his Majesty and the Lords thought good to ask the judges severaily
their opinion--' Whether, if at any rime, in a case depending before
OF JUDICATURE.
377
the judges, which His Majesty conceived to concern him either in
power or profit, and thereupon required to consult with them and
that they should stay proceedings in the meanwhile, they ought hot
to stay accordingly?' Ail but Coke acknowledged it to be their
duty to do so. Coke said for answer, that when that case should
be, he would do that should be fit for a judge to do. Ail of them
promised so to deal with the case before them as hot to touch the
royal prerogative, and hot to allow it tobe called in question by counsel.
Judge Doddridge went further, and promised to decide for the King,
that the living was void and properly in His Majesty's gift. After
this submission of the judges, the King admonished them to keep
the bounds and limits of their several courts, and hot to surfer his
prerogative tobe wounded by rash and unadvised pleading before
them or by new inventions of law. Letters and Lire, v. 272, 357-369-
Conf. also Speech in Star Chamber (616) among the directions to
judges : ' Encroach hot on the prerogative of the crowne : if there
fall out a question that concernes my prerogative or mystery of State,
deal hot with it till you consult with the King or his Councell or
both : ... for so you may wound the King through the sides of some
private person.' King James, Works, p. 556.
1. 28. like the spirits and sinews] This metaphor is drawn out more
fully in Bacon's argument on the case of the Post-nati : ' Law no
doubt is the great organ by which the sovereign power doth move,
and may be truly compared to the sinews in a natural body, as
the sovereignty may be compared to the spirits : for if the sinews
be without the spirits, they are dead and without motion; if the
spirits more in weak sinews, it causeth trembling: so the laws,
without the King's power, are dead: the King's power, except the
laws be corroborated, will never move constantly, but be fuli of
staggering and trepidation.' Works, vii. 646. The sinews are here
= the muscles; the spirits = the brain and nervous system. For
Bacon's theor), of spirits confi note on Essay 9, P- 64-
1.29. Salomot«'s throne] Conf. Bacon's Speech to Justice Hutton :
' Weigh and remember with yourself, that the twelve Judges of the
realm are as the twelve lions under Salomon's throne ; they must
be lions, but yet lions under the throne: they must show their
stoutness in elevating and bearing up the throne.' Letters and Life,
vi. zoz. And ' The Judges of Circuits are as it were the planets of the
kingdom .... Do therefore as they do : move always and be carried
with the motion of your first mover, which is your Sovereign.' p. 2i .
It must be remembered that, at that day, the judges held their
places during the King's good pleasure, and were liable to be dis-
placed, as Coke was, ifthey failed in rendering the full obsequiousness
which Bacon counsels and exemplifies.
P. 370, 1. 5- Nos scimt«s &c.] i Timothy i. 8.
378 ESSAY LVII.
1o
LVII.
OF ANGER.
To seek to extinguish anger utterly is but a bravery * of
the Stoics. We have better oracles : Be angO', but sin hot:
let hot the smt go down upon .your anger. Anger must be
limited and confined both in race and in timeb. We will
first speak how the natural inclination and habit fo be
angry may be attempered and calmed ; secondly, how the
particular motions of anger may be repressed, or at least
refrained from doing mischief; thirdly, how to raise anger
or appease anger in another.
For the first, there is no other way but to meditate and
runfinate well upon the effects of anger, how it troubles
man's life: and the best time to do this, is to look back
upon anger when the fit is thoroughly over. Seneca saith
well c that attgcr is lilee ruht, which breaks itsclf upon lhat it
falls. The Scripture exhorteth us fo possess ottr sortis Dt
lalicnce; whosoever is out of patience is out of possession
of his soul. Men must not turn becs,
--- anbnasque Dt vubtere omtnL
Anger is certainly a kind of baseness; as it appears well
o in the weakness of those
bravery] Lat. ost¢ntatio. Conf.
' Speeches of reference to the pet-son
are great wastes of time ; and though
they seem to proceed of modesty, they
are bravery.' " Essay 25, p. x77.
b in rate and i rime] Lat. a quous-
que et quamdiu. For ' race '--here
seemingly= course--conf. ' The prose-
cution and race of the war carrieth the
defendant to assail and invade the
ancient and indubitate patrimony of
the first aggressor.' Letters and Life»
V. 47 I.
c Sencca sailh well &c.] eneca's
words are clearer than Bacon's trans-
lation of them. He ays of auget that
subjects in whom it reigns:
it is ' ruinis simillima, quae super id
quod oppressere franguntur. De Irà,
bk. i. cap. L ' Ruin,' therefore, in the
text is a Latinism =a falling buiiding
(' interdum ruina est ipsa res quae ruit.'
Facciolati). Upon that it falls' is
' upon that which it overwhdms and
throvs dovn." For this active use of
' falls" conf. ' to raise or fall his voice.'
Works, ii. 387. ' The king may at his
pleasure alter the valuations, and raise
and fall moneys.' Works, vil 777.
' To-morrov, in the battle, thitlk
And fMI thy edgeless sword.'
Richard III, v. sc. 3.
OF ANGER.
379
children, women, old folks, sick folks. Only men must
beware a that they carry their anger rather with scorn
than with fear ; so that they may seem rather to be above
the injury than below it; which is a thing easily done if
a man will give law to himself in it.
For the second point, the causes and motives of anger
are chiefly three : first, to be too sensible of hurt ; for no
man is angry that feels hot himself hurt; and therefore
tender and delicate persons must needs be oft angry, they
bave so many things to trouble them which more robust lo
natures have little sense of: the next is the apprehension
and construction of the injury offered to be, in the circum-
stances thereof, full of contempt: for contempt is that
which putteth an edge upon anger, as much or more than
the hurt itself; and therefore when men are ingenious in
picking out circumstances of contempt, they do kindle
their anger much : lastly, opinion of the touch e of a man's
reputation doth multiply and sharpen anger; wherein the
d Only mo: must bavare &e.] This
is a difficult sentence. ' Beware ' with
a positive rule after it seems to be best
explained by the implied negative which
the rule conveys. The Latin version
makes this much clearer : Itaque
«m irasci contigerit, caveanl homDtes
(si modo dignitatis suae elint esse
monore$) ne iram suam o«rn metu
¢orum quibus irascunlur, sed cure con-
temptu, «onjungant. But Bacon is
saying how anger is to be attempered
and calmecL He has just said that
* anger is certainly a kind of baseness.'
It is clearly, therefore, from the gen-
eral and special context, an impulse
needing to be restrained. But Bacon,
having said or implied this, thinks it
weli to warn his readers against
allowing their calrnness of demeanour
to be set down as due to fear. Wben
an injury bas been received, men are
to *carry their anger,' that is to say,
they are to keep it to themselves,
they are hot to surfer it to but'st into
unseemly outxvard show. But they
are so to carry it as to make it appear
that they view the injury with scorn,
and think it beneath them to be angry
at it. If to carry anger meant here to
display anger, the caution that men
are not to carry it with fear would be
misplaced and absurd. There is no
great risk that an outburst of anger
will be interpreted as a sign of fear.
A restraint of anger may easily be.
For this sense of ' carry,' conf. Essay
2» p. i6i: «SOme have in readiness
so many tales and stories, as there is
nothing they would insinuate but they
tan wrap it into a tale ; which serveth
both to keep themselves more in guard
and to make others carry it with more
pleasure.'
opinion of the toueh &c.] Lat.
opinio contumdiae, sire quod existimatio
hominis 1)o" consequo:tiam la¢datur et
perstringatur. Conf. 'Speech oftouch
towards other should be sparingly
used.' Ezzay 3, p.
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