Essays; edited with introd. and notes

33-2.6

60 £

BACON'S ESSAYS.

BACON'S ESSAYS

EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES

BY

F. G. SELBY, M.A.

LATE SCHOLAR OF WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD ; PRINCIPAL AND PROFESSOR OF

LOGIC AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY, DECCAN COLLEGE, POONA ; FELLOW

OF THK UNIVERSITY OF BOMBAY

MACMILLAN AND CO.

AND NEW YORK
1892

(All rights reserved]

First Edition, 1889 ; Reprinted 1890, 1892.

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PKEFACE.

THIS edition of Bacon's Essays is, like my edition of the
Advancement of Learning, intended mainly for Indian
students. The notes therefore contain much which to
English readers will appear superfluous. The text is
that of the edition of 1625, the last edition published by
Bacon himself. The spelling is modernized. In pre
paring this edition I have derived much information
from Ellis and Spedding's edition of Bacon's Works,
Francis Bacon and his Times by Spedding, Gardiner's
History of England, and, above all, from Mr. Wright's
edition of the Essays. The letter " W" appended to
a note shows that it is borrowed from Mr. Wright.

POONA,

October 2nd, 1888

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION, ......... ix

ESSAYS OR COUNSELS CIVIL AND MORAL, .... 1

NOTES, 151

INDEX, 293

INTRODUCTION.

THERE are certain periods in the world's history which
have a special attraction for those who are watching
\vith interest the intellectual and moral development of
India. Such a period is the age of Socrates and the
Sophists in Greece. Then, as now in India, the belief
in an old mythology was being shattered; tradition,
authority, and custom, were no longer accepted as ade
quate sanctions for moral rules and political institutions.
In a word, a spirit of rational inquiry and criticism was
supervening upon an age of childlike faith. Such a
period again is the age of the Keformation and the
Revival of Learning. Here, too, we have a revolt of
reason against authority. The dangers of such a move
ment were greater in Greece than in modern Europe.
There was no political stability in any Grecian city,
and therefore no natural resistance to revolutionary
doctrines. There was no organized or powerful system
of scientific or moral beliefs to check the free play of
crude and wanton speculation. In this respect there is
a c?ose analogy between Greece and India. Both
countries suffered in the same ways and from the same
causes. The Indian mind was bewildered, at the same
time that it was attracted, by the novelty of English

x INTRODUCTION.

philosophy and science. Here, as in Greece, the up
rooting of old beliefs has begotten a premature and
excessive scepticism, and an exaggerated distrust of
everything established. The fascination of a new intel
lectual world has produced a recklessness in specula
tion and criticism, which time and experience only can
correct. Lastly, a gulf has been set between old and
young, and there are dangerous disruptions in families
and in society. The spirit of the sixteenth century was
a more serious one. The Church had established over
the world a dominion which was not to be lightly
attacked or easily overthrown. On its religious side, the
new movement was, in its essence, a revolt in favour of
high spiritual principles. On its secular side, it was a
free and generous interest in the new world presented
by literature, and in the promises of science. India has
differed from Europe in this respect, that Europe had
by serious struggle and effort to create for herself that
great body of knowledge which she has presented as a
gift to India. It may be doubted whether this difference
represents pure gain to India — "Difficulty is a severe
instructor, set over us by the supreme ordinance of a
parental guardian and legislator, who knows us better
than we know ourselves, as he loves us better too."

With the sixteenth century the modern world begins.
The spirit of its religion, its philosophy, and its science
is our spirit. Reason was asserting, as against authority,
that independence which is still our dearest object.
Bacon is one of the most interesting figures of that
interesting age. He represents its deep patriotism, its
patient effort, its wide interests, its high aims, its lofty
enthusiasm. His earliest and chief interest in life was

INTRODUCTION. xi

the reform of scientific method. When only twelve
years and three months old he was sent to Cambridge.
His experience there was disappointing to him. Aristotle
reigned supreme in the schools, and Bacon was struck
with " the unfruitfulness of his way " Science had little
or nothing to show in the way of results ; and nothing,
it occurred to him, was to be hoped for, until a new
method was invented and applied. To supply this want
became henceforth the passion of his life. Writing to
Lord Burleigh at the beginning of his thirty-second year,
he says, " I have taken all knowledge to be my province ;
and if I could purge it of two sorts of rovers, whereof
the one with frivolous disputations, confutations, and
verbosities, the other with blind experiments and auri
cular traditions and impostures, hath committed so many
spoils, I hope I should bring in industrious observations,
grounded conclusions, and profitable inventions and
discoveries : the best state of that province." There
was, he complains, no " art of invention." Such dis
coveries as had been made were the result of accident,
not of methodical and rational inquiry. The so-called
induction that was practised was nothing but a process
of hasty generalization. The human mind had neglected
those artificial aids which alone can enable it to cope with
the subtlety of nature Impatience and an undue eager
ness to show results had led to premature dogmatizing
and hypothesis. Conclusions had been deduced from
premises which were mere combinations of inaccurate,
ill-defined, inadequate notions of things. Instead of
ascertaining the laws of phenomena, science had been
content to point out the final causes of things. Above
all, no attempt had been made to compare and co-ordinate

xii INTRODUCTION.

the results of the different branches of inquiry. Besides
the mistakes into which men had been led by peculiar
ities of temperament and education, by language, and by
an exaggerated respect for the authority of great names,
there are certain fallacies to which the human mind is
from its very nature liable " The mind of man is far
from the nature of a clear and equal glass, wherein the
beams of things should reflect according to their true
incidence : nay, it is rather like an enchanted glass,
full of superstition and imposture, if it be not delivered
and reduced." These inherent and universal tendencies
to error Bacon calls "idols of the tribe." The times in
the world's history in which learning of any kind had
flourished had been but few, and even in them inquiry
had been directed rather to ethics, politics, and theology,
than to natural science. The progress of science had
been further impeded by the jealousy of theologians
and statesmen, as well as by the credulity and frivolity
of professed students, and the ignorance and affectation
of professed teachers. It seemed, however, to Bacon that
there were grounds for hopefulness in his day, partly
because of the unexpected discoveries which science had
recently made, partly because of the extension of cos
mography. " It may be truly affirmed, to the honour of
these times, and in a virtuous emulation with antiquity,
that this great building of the world had never through-
lights made in it, till the age of us and our fathers."
Two things were wanted to secure progress : a right
conception of the end and aim of science, and a method
which should correct the natural defects of the intellect,
should put all inquirers on one level, and should be
certain in its results. " Men have entered into a desire

INTRODUCTION. xiii

of learning and knowledge, sometimes upon a natural
curiosity and inquisitive appetite ; sometimes to enter
tain their minds with variety and delight; sometimes
for ornament and reputation ; and sometimes to enable
them to victory of wit and contradiction; and most
times for lucre and profession ; and seldom sincerely to
give a true account of their gift of reason, to the benefit
and use of men : as if there were sought in knowledge a
couch whereupon to rest a searching and restless spirit ;
or a terrace for a wandering and variable mind to walk
up and down with a fair prospect ; or a tower of state
for a proud mind to raise itself upon ; or a fort or com
manding ground for strife and contention ; or a shop for
profit or sale ; and not a rich storehouse for the glory of
the Creator and the relief of man's estate." Over and
over again Bacon insists that knowledge is to be judged
by its results. By its fruit ye shall know it. "The true
relation between the nature of things and the nature of
the mind is as the strewing and decoration of the bridal
chamber of the mind and the universe, the Divine good
ness assisting; out of which marriage let us hope (and
be this the prayer of the bridal song) there may spring
helps to man, and a line and race of inventions that may
in some degree subdue and overcome the necessities and
miseries of humanity." Fruit, in fact, is not so much
the justification as the test of knowledge. Bacon is not
degrading knowledge by representing it as an instrument
for promoting the comfort of man. He was quite aware
that study is a duty imposed upon us by the possession
of our talents, that it is a source of innocent pleasure,
that it is the handmaid of religion, and that it is the
condition of all moral and spiritual perfection. God is

xiv INTRODUCTION.

disgraced and man rendered miserable by ignorance and
the barbarism which attends it. The removal of super
stition, refinement of manners, and improvement of
morals are all included in the fruit of knowledge. Bacon
was not thinking merely of additions to man's stock of
material comforts. But he was deeply impressed with
the idea that what nature does we can do, if we can only
find out how she does it. And man may, if he will,
possess himself of the key to the interpretation of
nature. " The spirit of man is as the lamp of God,
wherewith he searcheth the inwardness of all secrets."
It was Bacon's mission to point out the vast dominion
which a perfected science would open up to man, and at
the same time to point out the road which man must
follow if he would enter into possession of his kingdom.
" I most humbly," he says, " and fervently pray to God
that, remembering the sorrows of mankind and the pil
grimage of this our life, wherein we wear out days few
and evil, he will vouchsafe through my hands to endow
the human family with new mercies." It is ordained
that man shall possess nothing but by the sweat of his
brow. Power can be gained only through knowledge ;
and knowledge can be reached only by a patient and
methodical study of nature. We must be content to be
the servants and interpreters of nature. We must
become as little children, if we wish to enter into " the
kingdom of man."

Fired with this idea of a perfect science which, besides
being a fresh revelation of God's glory, should also be
fraught with untold blessings to man, Bacon projected
" a total reconstruction of sciences, arts, and all human
knowledge, raised upon the proper foundations," namely,

INTRODUCTION. xv

"experience of every kind, and the same well examined
and weighed." This Great Instauraiion was to consist of
six parts. In the first part he proposed "to exhibit a
summary or general description of the knowledge which
the human race in his day possessed, taking note at the
same time of things omitted which ought to be there."
This part of the scheme is represented by the Advance
ment of Learning, and the expanded translation of it
known as the De Augmentis Scientiarum. After this was
to come the New Organon, or Bacon's own scientific
method. This method was, in the first place, to be in
ductive. But it was to differ altogether from that hasty
process of generalization from a few casual observations,
which generally passed by the name of induction.
Experience was to be analyzed. By a process of ex
clusion and rejection conclusions were to be reached,
the truth of which could not be doubted. The mind
was to be led gradually and regularly from one axiom to
another, the most general being reached last, so that no
loophole might be left by which error could creep in.
Lastly, men were to be warned against such tendencies
to error as are ineradicable, as well as against those that
are accidental : while instruments and experiments were
to supply the failures and correct the errors of sense.
The experience which this method of interpretation
presupposes was to be accumulated in a < Natural and
Experimental history, which was to form the third part
of the Instauration. It was to supply the intellect with
fit matter to work upon, as the Logic supplied it with
safeguards to guide and control its working. It was to
be a complete and exhaustive description of the pheno
mena of nature as revealed by observation and experi-

xvi INTRODUCTION.

ment. Bacon, strangely enough, thought that, if a
sufficient number of workers were employed, such a
history might in a short time be compiled, and that
then nothing would remain to complete the sum of
knowledge but to interpret the " stuff and matter " thus
supplied according to the rules of his Logic. Bacon's
own contributions to this history are to be found in the
second volume of Ellis and Spedding's edition of his
works. The Natural and Experimental history was to be
followed by the Ladder of the Intellect. As all rules and
reasonings are made more intelligible by examples, Bacon
proposed in this part of his scheme " to set forth
examples of inquiry and invention according to his
method, exhibited by anticipation in some particular
subjects ; choosing such subjects as are at once the
most noble in themselves, and most different from one
another ; that there may be an example in every kind."
This was to be followed by Anticipations of the New
Philosophy, or conclusions which Bacon himself had
arrived at, but which, as not being discovered and
proved by his new method, were to be accepted only
provisionally. Last of all was to come the New Philo
sophy or Active Science : — " the apocalypse or true
vision of the footsteps of the Creator imprinted on
his creatures," which will be revealed by the proper
"Interpretation of Nature." Bacon did not do more
than write the prefaces to the fourth and fifth parts.
If we wish to understand what practical results he
anticipated from that "legitimate, chaste, and severe
course of inquiry " which he had propounded, we must
read his New Atlantis.

But Bacon's interests were not confined to the advance-

INTRODUCTION. xvii

ment of science. There is nothing, he says, in being and
action, which should not be drawn into contemplation
and doctrine. He was anxious that "pragmatical men
may not go away with an opinion that learning is like a
lark that can mount, and sing, and please herself, and
nothing else : but may know that she holdeth as well of
the hawk, that can soar aloft, and can also descend and
strike upon the prey." No more keen observer of life
and affairs than Bacon ever lived. He delighted in
the writings of moralists, like Seneca, Lucian, and
Montaigne : of critics of character, like Tacitus, Plu
tarch, and Suetonius : and of critics of affairs, like Cicero
and Machiavelli. His curiosity had been whetted and
his mind enlarged by travel. In the Essays he presents
himself as the moralist, the statesman, and the man of
the world. He calls them " certain brief notes set down
rather significantly than curiously : not vulgar, but of a
kind whereof men shall find much in experience and little
in books." As we read them, we naturally compare Bacon
to one of those old Eomans whom he himself describes
as walking at certain hours in the Forum, and giving
audience to those that would use their advice. They
are specimens of that wisdom which arises out of an
universal insight into the affairs of the world. They
come home, he says, to men's business and bosoms. He
describes them truly as being not set treatises, but
"dispersed meditations." It was a favourite idea with
him that such was the best form of writing in matters
relating to conduct. The Essays are the fruits of his
observation of life. They reflect his experience of men
and the world. The most curious are those which treat
of cunning, of suitors, of wisdom for a man's self, of

b

xviii INTRODUCTION.

simulation and dissimulation, and other subjects of the
kind. They reveal a habit of thought and action which
is naturally generated under despotic rule. When all
depends on the favour of one man, men will intrigue to
gain his favour. There is probably nothing in the whole
range of literature which would be more appreciated in
an Indian darbar than these Essays of Bacon and the
Prince of Machiavelli. Bacon often checks himself, as if
half ashamed of the practices which he is criticising, if
not recommending. He knew quite well the moral
dangers that beset a public man. But he had laid him
self out to get on in the world, and success then was
hard to attain without servility, adulation, and com
placency. The very advantages which he possessed of
tact and address were an additional danger to him. Left
a poor man by his father's death, he found himself
forced at the beginning of his career to become a
suitor to those in power. At first he wanted a place
chiefly with a view to securing leisure and means for
carrying out his scientific work. During the reign of
Elizabeth all his applications for office were unsuccessful.
Hope deferred made his heart grow sick. Time was
passing, and with it the chances of accomplishing that
reform of learning, which was the dominant interest of
his life. He was conscious too of great abilities, which
might be turned to the advantage of the state. In the
House of Commons he found his talents recognised, and
his judgment respected. The traditions of his family
made him look naturally to a public career. Life and
its problems, the world and its honours, the court and
its pageantry had a real attraction for him. Yet he
remained outside the charmed circle of office. The queen

INTRODUCTION.

XIX

probably thought it unnecessary to reward him with
a permanent place, seeing that he was always ready and
able to perform such occasional services as were required
of him. He was a man of wisdom and discretion beyond
his years, an eloquent and thoughtful speaker,* a keen
observer, but above all a pliant instrument. Just as in
after times he could sound the very depths of subservi
ence when he thought he had offended Villiers, so under
Elizabeth he was willing to appear as the prosecutor of
his friend Essex, because hesitation or refusal would
have prejudiced his own interests. Promotion came to
him under Elizabeth's successor. The history of his
advancement may be told in his own words. Writing
to the king, he says, u You found me of the Learned
Counsel, Extraordinary, without patent or fee ; a kind
of individuum mgum. You established me, and brought
me into ordinary. Soon after you placed me Solicitor,
where I served seven years. Then your Majesty made
me your Attorney or Procurator General. Then a Privy
Councillor, while I was Attorney ; a kind of miracle of
your favour, that had not been in many ages. Then
Keeper of your Seal : and because that was a kind of
planet and not fixed, Chancellor. And when your

* " He was full of gravity in his speaking. His language, when
he could spare, or pass by a jest, was nobly censorious. No man
ever spoke more neatly, more prestly, more weightily, or suffered
less emptiness, less idleness, in what he uttered. No member of
his speech but consisted of his own graces. His hearers could
not cough, or look aside from him, without loss. He commanded,
where he spoke ; and had his judges angry and pleased at his
devotion. No man had their affections more in his power. The
fear of every man that heard him was, lest he should make an
end. " — Ben Jonson.

xx INTRODUCTION.

Majesty could raise me no higher, it was your grace to
illustrate me with beams of honour; first making me
Baron Verulam, and now Viscount St. Albans." The
key to his life is to be found in his favourite quotation,
" My soul hath been a stranger in the course of my
pilgrimage." Destined by inclination and capacity to be
a student, he found himself engrossed with the cares and
occupations of public life. Animated by a high ideal of
government and law, he had to stoop to be the instru
ment of the petty policy, the mean conceptions, and the
narrow jealousies of James. Profoundly religious at
heart, and filled with high principles of morality, he had
yet to adapt himself to the conditions of a selfish and
intriguing world, and to study and practise the arts by
which material success in life was to be won. To James
he was an invaluable servant. But the very conditions
of service were full of danger to one who combined so
much ability Avith so much suppleness. We need not
wonder at the cynical contempt which he sometimes
expresses for human nature. He found favourites to be
conciliated, and rivals to be outwitted. Ready obedience
was more valued than honest independence. Courtly
deference was necessary to obtain commendation for
conscientious and useful work.

It was Bacon's practice through life to record his
opinions on the current questions of the day ; and even
when the king failed to appreciate his higher aims and
statesmanship, yet he could always understand and profit
by his knowledge of men, and his keen insight into the
requirements of expediency. Bacon said truly of himself
that he was never the author of immoderate or unsuc
cessful counsels, and that he had always desired to have

INTRODUCTION. xxi

things carried in pleasant ways. He was just the man
to smooth away by the practical wisdom of compromise
the differences which could not but arise between an
arbitrary king like James and his subjects. He was a
strong defender of the king's prerogative. He regarded
monarchy as the earliest and most natural form of
government, as being only an extension of the original
patriarchal authority. But he wished it to be limited as
in England, not despotic as in Turkey. He saw the
economic and social dangers of having too large an idle
class. At the same time he thought an order of nobles
useful, partly as an ornament and protection to the
monarch, partly as a security to the people against
oppression. He saw to the full the importance of trade,
and recommended the regulation of it by law in ways of
which we should not approve. With regard to the
masses of the people, he says that they must above all
things be warlike. War is to the state what exercise is
to the body. Pretexts for a declaration of war should
never be wanting, when the interests of the state demand
war. Our views on this subject are different. The
difference is due partly to an improved morality, but
partly also to our having learnt, what Bacon did not
know, that the industrial prosperity of one country
requires peace and prosperity in other nations. Bacon
thought of war partly as being useful in diverting
popular attention from internal grievances. The position
of England, too, among the Protestant powers in his day
suggested, if it did not actually demand, a military
policy. True to his principle of turning observation and
reflection to account for the benefit of man, Bacon was
constantly revolving projects of practical reform. He

xxii INTRODUCTION.

was specially interested in the codification of law and
the simplification of procedure. He was the determined
foe of empiricism in politics. "It is almost without
instance contradictory," he says, " that ever any govern
ment was disastrous that was in the hands of learned
governors." One of his reasons for supporting the
English form of government was that it represented
government by intelligence. He was a strong advocate
of Parliaments ; but in all matters of importance he
thought that the king and not the Parliament should
take the initiative. He objected altogether to the
position into which James was drifting with regard to
Parliament. It seemed to him politically dangerous,
and altogether beneath the dignity of the Crown, that the
king should become a mere suitor to Parliament, de
pendent for his supplies upon the concessions which the
Commons could wrest from him. 'It seemed to him
that the king should meet the Commons with proposals
for legislation, and that they should inform and assist
him with advice as to the wishes, the interests, and the
grievances of the people. Common dangers and common
patriotism had grappled Elizabeth to the souls of her
people with hoops of steel. In Hooker's account of
government we find no suggestion of that divergence of
interest between Sovereign and people which was implied
in subsequent theories of contract, and which was per
sistently showing itself in the dealings of James with
his Parliaments. Bacon s studies in Greek and Italian
history had familiarized him with the conception of
social order as the result of a delicate balance of power,
which might at any time be disturbed. We find him
constantly endeavouring to keep irritating questions of

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

principle in the background, and to effect a compromise
between pai'ties on the particular difficulties that might
arise. He talks of setting one powerful noble against
another, of balancing the gentry by the higher nobility,
and the higher nobility by the people. His historical
studies will also account for his exaggerated ideas of the
political results which can be produced by the intelligence
and influence of individuals.

The conciliatory nature of Bacon's policy is nowhere
more manifest than in his utterances with regard to
religion. He had himself been educated in a strict and
narrow school of theology. The policy which he advo
cated, however, was a policy of toleration. His Essay
on Superstition reflects the natural fear of Catholicism
felt by men at a time when the life of the Sovereign was
in danger from Catholic plots. The relation of the State
to the Church was a question which could not then be
overlooked. All matters affecting Church Government,
Bacon says, have two considerations, " the one in them
selves, the other how they stand compatible and agree
able to the civil state." He tried his utmost to still the
rage of doctrinal controversy within the Church itself.
He hated controversy of every kind. In religious
matters especially he deprecated it. It seemed to him
both fruitless and wicked. Theological controversies, he
says, have generally turned upon subjects which the
human intellect can never comprehend, or have resulted
from attempts to raise human inferences to the dignity
of revealed dogmas. He draws a clear distinction
between theology or revealed religion, and natural
religion, which he defines as " that knowledge or rudiment
of knowledge concerning God which may be obtained by

xxiv INTRODUCTION.

the contemplation of His creatures." The greatness, the
power, and the wisdom of God are revealed in the book
of His works. But of His nature and will we can know
so much only as He has chosen to reveal in the book of
His word. The contents of the latter are to be accepted
on faith. We are to believe absolutely what Scrip
ture says ; and the greater the difficulty, the greater the
merit of belief. Reason must be content with the task
of understanding and interpreting, so far as she can, the
text of the Bible. There is much in it that will always
appear puzzling and even contradictory, but we must be
content to accept the fact. God has willed that our
knowledge of Him should, in this life at least, be imper
fect. Our duty is to accept reverently what He has
chosen to tell us of Himself. But we are not to pry into
that which He has hidden. All must accept what God
has positively said ; but no man may compel another to
accept his own individual interpretations and inferences.
Such a divorce of faith from reason is, of course, quite
impossible. At the same time Bacon's position is intel
ligible enough. His own acceptance of the Christian
creed was little more than nominal. The Reformation
was, in the first instance, a return to the text of Scrip
ture, as distinguished from arbitrary interpretations of
that text. There was no thought of questioning the
claim of the Bible to be accepted as a Revelation.
Bacon accepted the creed of Christianity as we accept so
many of the commonplaces of the society in which we
live. But it was no vital part of his spiritual self, in the
sense in which his scientific convictions and interests
were. As a statesman, he wished to obtain acceptance
for a practical principle of compromise, which should

INTRODUCTION. xxv

unite all Englishmen upon essential matters of belief.
He was anxious, too, in the interests of science, to per
suade theologians that their jealousy of science was
unreasonable. Hence he argued that theology and
science cannot possibly come into competition. If theo
logians deprecated a criticism of the Book of God's
Word, on what principle could they claim the right to
doubt the Book of His Works ? Nature is, like the
Bible, a book written by God for our instruction. But
the two books have different objects, and are to be
studied by different methods. The object of the Bible
is not to teach science. Any attempts, therefore, to
elicit the truths of nature from the Bible must result in
false science ; and any attempt to limit the inquiries of
science in the interest of religion is essentially irrational.
Conversely, any attempt to find in nature what can only
be found in the Scriptures must end in heresjr. The
object, the method, and the evidence of science and
theology are entirely distinct. But though Bacon was
thus indifferent with regard to dogma, yet it is impos
sible to read his writings without seeing how sincere his
religion was, and how profoundly he was influenced by
it. He believed nothing for which warrant is not to
be found in Scripture ; at the same time we are not
surprised to find that he supports his beliefs by the
evidence of observation and reflection. There is a
double advantage in this procedure. It not only gives
certainty and precision to the beliefs themselves, but it also
affords proof of the divine origin of Christianity. Every
fresh analogy between Scripture and the work of God's
hands was to him a fresh proof that Scripture, too, comes
from God. A careful and thorough study of nature,

xxvi INTRODUCTION.

Bacon says, proves the existence of a God who created,
and who continues to regulate the physical universe. The
moral world is equally the object of His supervision and
guidance, as is proved by " the notable examples of His
judgments, chastisements, deliverances, and blessings,"
which history forces upon our observation. Lastly, in
the life of each individual man we may trace " His
fatherly compassion, His comfortable chastisements, His
visible Providence." Thus Bacon found in religion both
a stimulus and a consolation. So far as he was true to
himself, he worked constantly with the sense of divine
guidance and support. He worked in the spirit of an
apostle commissioned to reveal to man the glory and the
mercies of God. For mercy is the distinguishing char
acteristic of God. " In the first platform of the divine
nature itself the heathen religion speaketh thus, Best and
Greatest ; and the sacred Scriptures thus. His mercy is over
all His works." Nature and revelation alike teach us that
the first duty of man is " to aspire to a similitude of God
in goodness or love." Practical morality, indeed, may
be summed up in the one rule of charity. For charity
is " excellently called the bond of perfection, because it
comprehendeth and fasteneth all virtues together." Its
insistence upon the virtue of charity, and its correspond
ence in this respect with the teachings of nature are
among the proofs of the divine origin of Christianity.
The moral teaching of Christianity in this respect
naturally exercised a profound influence on a man of
Bacon's character and aims. He had by nature an even
temper and a kindly and humane disposition. "The
state and bread of the poor and oppressed," he says,
" have been precious in mine eyes ; I have hated all

INTRODUCTION. xxvii

cruelty and hardness of heart : I have (though in a
despised weed) procured the good of all men. If any
have been mine enemies, I thought not of them ; neither
hath the sun almost set upon my displeasure ; but I
have been as a dove, free from superfluity of malicious
ness." To this we must add his strong conviction that
human misery might be indefinitely relieved by scientific
discovery. We need not wonder that he was attracted
by a religion which exalted a life of active charity. By
its condemnation of a life of selfish isolation, Christianity
gave the death-blow to the doctrines of half the schools.
"Men must know that in this theatre of man's life it is
reserved only for God and angels to be lookers on."
Bacon was no philosopher. Indeed, the questions of
philosophy, if they had presented themselves to his
mind, would probably have been dismissed by him as
" barren." We are not therefore to look for any syste
matic treatment of the problem of conduct in his writings.
He would have said, and truly, that moral failure springs
more often from the want of will to do what is right,
than from ignorance of what right is. There are some
principles of conduct which are self-evident, and which
constitute what he calls "the law of nature." Further,
we have the positive commands of Scripture. The
faculty of reason, too, has been given to us to enable us to
develop and apply these. Lastly, there survive in man,
as relics of the purity of his first estate, certain imper
fect intuitions, insufficient indeed to inform him fully oi
his duty, but at the same time sufficient to tell him that
certain actions are wrong. When dealing with the
subject of conduct, Bacon lays the chief stress upon the
necessity of a good moral training, or, as he calls it,

xxviii INTRODUCTION.

"the Georgics of the mind." The science of conduct,
like all other sciences, must be " fruitful " ; and, like all
other sciences, it must be founded upon experience.
Moral diseases must be studied as diseases of the body
are. We require, first, an enumeration of the normal
types of character. Special attention should be paid to
such differences as involve a large number of subordinate
differences. In the next place, just as tKe physician
ascertains by anatomy the possible modifications of the
normal bodily structure, so we must ascertain the
varieties of disposition and temperament due to the
accidents of sex, climate, and circumstances. Lastly, as
the physician studies diseases and their cures, so we
require a complete analysis of the passions, which are, as
it were, the diseases of the mind, and a consideration of
the influences of habit, praise, reproof, reading, and all
the other cures for moral diseases. This is the course
which must be adopted, unless we mean " to follow the
indiscretion of empirics, which minister the same medicine
to all patients." There is a close analogy between the
methods and the objects of moral discipline and of
medicine. "For as we divided the good of the body
into health, beauty, strength, and pleasure, so the good
of the mind, inquired in rational and moral knowledges,
tendeth to this, to make the mind sound and without
perturbation; beautiful and graced with decency; and
strong and agile for all duties of life."

Bacon's writings have always been widely read and
admired. There is the stamp of greatness upon
them. We are not to look to him for any particular
discoveries. His acquaintance even with the results of
scientific inquiry in his own time was imperfect. In

INTRODUCTION. xxix

some cases he rejected the truth, and clung to old-
fashioned but erroneous beliefs. The method which he
invented is not the method by which science has achieved
her conquests. Indeed, it is from the nature of things
impossible that the Logician should anticipate the method
of science. He can only formulate it by a study of re
sults. The influence exercised by Bacon has been such
as we should expect from a thinker surveying the whole
field of knowledge. Inquirers were naturally gratified
by the dignity which he gave to their labours, and
encouraged by the prospects which he held out. He
gave to science a human interest. He gave it high
hopes and a definite aim. For ourselves his writings have
a great historical interest. The Advancement of Learning
and the Novum Organum help to bridge the gulf which
separates us from the era of Scholasticism. And, speak
ing generally, the world profits by an occasional survey
and criticism of its intellectual achievements and efforts.
Part of Bacon's influence is of course due to the charm
of his style. His sentences are often loosely constructed,
but they are generally clear and intelligible. He is
always interesting, because his own interest in his sub
ject never flags. Enthusiasm stimulates his eloquence.
His luxuriant imagination enlivens every page. He is
perhaps unrivalled in the combination of picturesqueness
with weight. This is well illustrated in the Essays. We
are alternately charmed by the play of fancy, and arrested
by a sentence into which the experience of a lifetime is
compressed. No language is too homely, no example
too simple, which will serve to drive home a truth. The
maxims of Bacon have become the commonplaces of
science. Yet his expression of them can never lose its

xxx INTRODUCTION.

charm and force. To the mass of men their positive
value is as great as it ever was. Scientific hypotheses
are now taken up, discussed, and adopted, without any
adequate comprehension of them, or any appreciation of
the evidence for and against them. In the sphere of
political and social discussion especially, there is need of
that patient and conscientious study and reflection advo
cated by Socrates in the old world, and by Bacon in the
new. The history of Bacon's fall will always serve to
point a moral ; yet it is true that he is one of our great
masters in the art of life. He has shown men how full
of interest life and the world are to every healthy mind.
He has directed them to high aims and worthy interests
as the true source of real and abiding satisfaction, and
has encouraged them by the assurance that wisdom is
justified by her children.

THE EPISTLE DEDICATOEY.

To the Eight Honourable my very good Lord the DUKE OF
BUCKINGHAM his Grace, Lord High Admiral of England.

EXCELLENT LORD,

SALOMON says, A good name is as a precious ointment ; and I
assure myself such will your Grace's name be with posterity.
For your fortune and merit both have been eminent. And
you have planted things that are like to last. I do now
publish my Essays ; which, of all my other works, have been
most current ; for that, as it seems, they come home to men's
business and bosoms. I have enlarged them both in number
and weight ; so that they are indeed a new work. I thought
it therefore agreeable to my affection and obligation to your
Grace, to prefix your name before them, both in English and
Latin. For I do conceive that the Latin volume of them
(being in the universal language) may last as long as books
last. My Installation I dedicated to the King ; my History
of Henry the Seventh (which I have now also translated into
Latin) and my portions of JYatural History to the Prince ;
and these I dedicate to your Grace ; being of the best fruits
that by the good increase which God gives to my pen and
labours I could yield. God lead your grace by the hand.

Your Grace's most obliged and faithful servant,

FR. ST. ALBAN.

THE TABLE.

1. Of Truth.

2. Of Death.

3. Of Unity in Religion.

4. Of Revenge.

5. Of Adversity.

6. Of Simulation and Dissim

ulation.

7. Of Parents and Children.

8. Of Marriage and Single

Life.

9. Of Envy.

10. Of Love.

11. Of Great Place.

12. Of Boldness.

13. Of Goodness, and Goodness

of Nature.

14. Of Nobility.

15. Of Seditions and Troubles.

16. Of Atheism.

17. Of Superstition.

18. Of Travel.

19. Of Empire.

20. Of Counsel.

21. Of Delays.

22. Of Cunning.

23. Of Wisdom for a Man's

Self.

24. Of Innovation.

25. Of Dispatch.

26. Of Seeming Wise

27. Of Friendship,

28. Of Expense.

Of Fame, a

29. Of the True Greatness of

Kingdoms and Estates.

30. Of Regiment of Health.

31. Of Suspicion.

32. Of Discourse.

33. Of Plantations.

34. Of Riches.

35. Of Prophecies.

36. Of Ambition.

37. Of Masks and Triumphs.

38. Of Nature in Men.

39. Of Custom and Education.

40. Of Fortune.

41. Of Usury.

42. Of Youth and Age.

43. Of Beauty.

44. Of Deformity.

45. Of Building.

46. Of Gardens.

47. Of Negotiating.

48. Of Followers and Friends.

49. Of Suitors.

50. Of Studies.

51. Of Faction.

52. Of Ceremonies and Re

spects.

53. Of Praise.

54. Of Vain Glory.

55. Of Honour and Reputation.

56. Of Judicature.

57. Of Anger.

58. Of Vicissitudes of Things,
fragment.

ESSAYS OR COUNSELS

CIVIL AND MORAL.

I. OF TRUTH.

WHAT 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 fix a 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 same veins, though there
be not so much blood in them as was in those 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 men's thoughts ; that doth bring lies in 10
favour ; but a natural though corrupt love of the lie itself.
One of the later school 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
for the lie's sake. But I cannot tell : this same truth is a
naked and open day-light, that doth not shew the masks and
mummeries and triumphs of the world, half so stately and
daintily as candle-lights. Truth may perhaps come to the
price of a pearl, that sheweth best by day ; but it will not 20
rise to the price of a diamond or carbuncle, that sheweth

A

2 BACOX'S ESSAYS. [i.

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, 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 dcemonum [the wine of devils], because it filleth

30 the imagination ; and yet it is but with the shadow 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 before. But howsoever 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

40 works of the clays, 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 matter or chaos ; then he breathed light into
the face of man ; and still 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 excel
lently well : It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to
see ships tost upon the sea ; a pleasure to stand in the window
of a castle, and to see a battle and the adventures thereof "below :

50 but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage
ground of Truth, (a hill not to be commanded, and where the
air is always pure and serene,) and to see the errors, and
wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale beloioj so
always that this prospect be with pity, and not with swelling
or pride. Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to have a man's
mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the
poles of truth.

i.] OF TRUTH. 3

To pass from theological and philosophical truth, to the
truth of civil business ; it will be acknowledged even by
those that practise it not, that clear and round dealing is 60
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 wind
ing 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 found false and perfidious. And therefore Montaigne
saith prettily, when he inquired the reason, why the word of
the lie should be such a disgrace and such an odious charge ?
saith he, If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as 70
much as to say, that he is brave towards God and a coward
towards men. For a lie faces God, and shrinks from man.
Surely the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith can
not 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 find faith upon the earth.

II. OF DEATH.

MEN 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 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 10
death are, when the Avhole body is corrupted and dissolved ;
when many times death passes with less pain than the tor-

4 BACON'S ESSAYS. [n.

ture 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 well said, Pompa mortis magis terret quain
mors ipsa: [The accompaniments of death frighten more than
death itself.} Groans and convulsions, and a discoloured face,
and friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like,
shew death terrible. It is worthy the observing, that there

20 is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it mates and
masters the fear of death ; and therefore death is no such
terrible enemy when a man hath so many attendants about
him that can 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 Emperor had slain himself, Pity (which is the tenderest
of affections) provoked many to die, out of mere compassion
to their sovereign, and as the truest sort of followers. Nay
Seneca adds niceness and satiety : Cogita quamdiu, eadem

30 feceris ; mori velle, non tantum fortis, aut miser, sed etiam
fastidiosus potest. A man would die, though he were neither
valiant nor miserable, only upon a weariness to do the same
thing so oft over and over. It is no less worthy to observe,
how little alteration in good spirits the approaches of death
make ; for they appear to be the same men till the last
instant. Augustus Caesar died in a compliment ; Livia,
conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale: [Farewell, Livia; as long
as you live forget not the days of our married life.] Tiberius
in dissimulation ; as Tacitus saith of him, Jam Tiberium vires

40 et corpus, non dissimulatio, deserebant : [his bodily strength was
deserting Tiberius, biit his dissimulation remained,] Vespasian
in a jest ; sitting upon the stool, Ut puto Deusjio: \_IthinJc
I am becoming a God.] Galba with a sentence : Feri, si ex
re sit populi Romani : [Strike, if it be for the good of the
Roman people /] holding forth his neck. Septimius Severus
iii dispatch, Adeste si quid mihi restat agendum : [Come quickly,
if there remains anything for me to do.] And the like. Cer
tainly the Stoics bestowed too much cost upon death, and by

IL] OF DEATH. 5

their great preparations made it appear more fearful. Better
saith he, qui finem vitce extremum inter munera ponat Natiirce: 50
[who accounts the end of life as one of the boons of nature.~\
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 time, scarce feels the hurt ; and therefore a
mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good doth avert
the dolours of death. But above all, believe it, the sweetest
canticle is, Nunc dimittis, [now Icttest thou tlvj servant depart ;]
when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations.
Death has this also ; that it openeth the gate to good fame, 60
and extinguished! envy. Extinctus amabitur idem : [Ife icko
was envied when alive, will be loved when dead.]

III. OF UNITY IN RELIGION.

RELIGION being the chief band of human 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 re
ligion of the heathen consisted rather in rites and ceremonies,
than in any constant belief. For you may imagine what
kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors and fathers
of their church were the poets. But the true God hath
this attribute, that he is a jealous God ; and therefoi'e his
worship and religion will endure no mixture nor partner. 10
We shall therefore speak a few words 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,
which 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 scandals ; yea, more than corruption

6 BACON'S ESSAYS. [m.

of manners. For as in the natural body a wound or solution

20 of continuity is worse than a corrupt 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 cometh to that pass,
that one saith Ecce in deserto, [Behold, he is in the desert,]
another saith Ecce in penetralibiw, [Behold, he is in the secret
chamber;] that is, when some men seek Christ in the con
venticles of heretics, and others in an outward face of a
church, that voice had need continually to sound in men's
ears, Nolite exire, — Go not out. The Doctor of the Gentiles (the

30 propriety of whose vocation drew him to have a special care
of those without) saith, If an heathen come in, and hear you
speak with several tongues, ivill he not say that you are mad?
And certainly it is little better, when atheists and profane
persons do hear of so many discordant and contrary opinions
in religion ; 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

40 this title of a book, The morris-dance of Heretics. For indeed
every sect of them hath a diverse posture or cringe by them
selves, which cannot but move derision in worldlings and
depraved politics, who 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
distilleth into peace of conscience. And it turneth the
labours of writing and reading of controversies into treatises
of mortification and devotion.

50 Concerning the Bounds of Unity ; the true placing of
them importeth exceedingly. There appear to be two
extremes. For to certain zelants all 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

in.] OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 7

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
reconcilements ; as if they would make an arbitrament
between God and man. Both these extremes are to be
avoided ; which will be done, if the league of Christians 60
penned by our Saviour Himself were in the two cross clauses
thereof soundly and plainly expounded : He that is not with
us is against m ; and again, He that is not against its is with
m ; that is, if the points fundamental, and of substance in
religion, were truly discerned and distinguished 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 were done less partially, it would be
embraced more generally.

Of this I may give only this advice, according to my small TO
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 contradiction. 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 ; where
upon he saith, In veste varietas sit, scissura non sit, [let there
be variety, but no division in the garment:'] they be two
things, Unity and Uniformity. The other is, when the
matter of the point controverted is great, but it is driven 80
to an over-great subtilty and obscurity ; so that it becometh
a thing rather ingenious than substantial. A man that is of
judgment and understanding shall sometimes hear ignorant
men differ, and know well within himself that those which
so differ mean one thing, and yet they themselves would
never agree. And if it come so to pass in that distance of
judgment which is between man and man, shall we not
think that God above, that knows the heart, doth not
discern that frail men in some of their contradictions intend
the same thing ; and accepteth of both ? The nature of such 90

8 BACON'S ESSAYS. [in.

controversies is excellently expressed by St. Paul in the
warning and precept that he giveth concerning the same,
Devita profanas vocum novitates, et oppositiones falsi nominis
scientice : [Avoid profane novelties of terms, and oppositions of
science falsely so called.] Men create oppositions which are
not ; and put them into new terms so fixed, as whereas the
meaning ought to govern the term, the term in effect
governeth the meaning. There be also two false peaces or
unities : the one, when the peace is grounded but upon an

100 implicit ignorance ; for all colours will agree in the dark :
the other, when it is pieced 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,

110 the spiritual and temporal; and both have their due office
and place in the maintenance of religion. But we may
not take up the thii-d 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 intermixture of practice
against the state ; much less to nourish seditions ; to authorise
conspiracies and rebellions ; to put the sword into the people's
hands ; and the like ; tending to the subversion of all govern
ment, which is the ordinance of God. For this is but to dash

120 the first table 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 relligio potuit suadere malorum :
[So great the evils to which religion could prompt.~\ What
would he have said, if he had known of the massacre in

in.] OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 9

France, or the powder treason of England ? He would
have been seven times more Epicure and atheist than he
was. For as the temporal sword is to be drawn with great
circumspection in cases of religion ; so it is a thing monstrous 130
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, / will ascend and be like the
Highest ; but it is greater blasphemy to personate God, and
bring him in saying, / 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
governments ? Surely this is to bring down the Holy Ghost,
instead of the likeness of a dove, in the shape of a vulture or 140
raven ; and set out of the bark of a Christian church a flag
of a bark of pirates and Assassins. Therefore it is most
necessary that the church by doctrine and decree, princes by
their sword, and all learnings, both Christian and moral, as
by their Mercury rod, do damn and send to hell for ever
those facts and opinions tending to the support of the same ;
as hath been already in good part done. Surely in counsels
concerning religion, that counsel of the apostle would be pre
fixed, Ira hominis non implet justitiam Dei: [The wrath of
man worketh not the righteousness of God.] And it was a 150
notable obsei-vation of a wise father, and no less ingenuously
confessed ; that those which held and persuaded pressure of
consciences, were commonly inter essed therein themselves for
their own ends.

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 law ; but the
revenge of that wrong putteth the law out of office. Cer
tainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy ;

10 BACON'S ESSAYS. [iv.

but in passing it over, he is superior ; for it is a prince's part
to pardon. And Salomon, I am sure, saith, It is the glory of
a man to pass by an offence. That which is past is gone, and
irrevocable ; and wise men have enough to do with things

10 present and to come ; therefore they do but trifle with them
selves, that labour in past matters. There is no man doth a
wrong for the wrong's sake ; but thereby to purchase him
self profit, or pleasure, or honour, or the like. Therefore
why should I be angry with a man for loving himself better
than me ? And if any man should do wrong merely out of
ill-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

20 be such as there is no law to punish ; else a man's enemy is
still beforehand, 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 not so much in doing the hurt as in making
the party repent. But base and crafty cowards 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 ; You shall
read (saith he) that we are commanded to forgive our enemies ;

30 but you never read that we are commanded to forgive our
friends. But yet the spirit of Job was in a better tune :
Shall we (saith he) take good at God's hands, and not be
content to take evil also ? And so of friends in a proportion.
This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his
own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.
Public revenges are for the most part fortunate ; 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, vindictive

40 persons live the life of witches ; who, as they are mis
chievous, so end they infortunate.

v.] OF ADVERSITY. 11

V. OF ADVEESITY.

IT was a high speech of Seneca (after the manner of the
Stoics), that the good things which belong to prosperity are to
be wished; but the good things that belong to adversity are to be
admired. Bona rerum secundarum optabilia, adversarum
mirabilia. Certainly 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), It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a
man, and the security of a God. Vere magnum, habere fragi-
litatem hominis, securitatem Dei. This would have done better 10
in poesy, where transcendences are more allowed. And the
poets indeed have 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 mystery ; nay, and
to have some approach to the state of a Christian ; that
Hercules, when he went to unbind Prometheus (by whom human
nature is represented), sailed the length of the great ocean in
an earthen pot or pitcher ; lively describing Christian resolu
tion, that saileth in the frail bark of the flesh thorough the
waves of the world. But to speak in a mean. The virtue of 20
Prosperity 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 cai'rieth 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
many hearse-like airs as carols ; and the pencil of the Holy
Ghost hath laboured more in describing the afflictions of Job
than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without
many fears and distastes ; and Adversity is not without 30
comforts and hopes. We see in needleworks and embroi
deries, it is more pleasing to have a lively work upon a sad
and solemn ground, than to have a dark and melancholy

12 BACON'S ESSAYS. [v.

work upon a lightsome ground : judge therefore of the plea
sure of the heart by the pleasure of the eye. Certainly
virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant when they are
incensed or crushed : for Prosperity doth best discover vice,
but Adversity doth best discover virtue.

VI. OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION.

DISSIMULATION is but a faint kind of policy or wisdom ; 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 sorted well with the arts of her hmband
and dissimulation of her son; attributing arts or policy to
Augustus, and dissimulation to Tiberius. And again, when
Mucianus encourageth Vespasian to take arms against Vitel-
lius, he saith, We rise not against the piercing judgment of

10 Augustus, nor the extreme caution or closeness of Tiberius.
These properties, of arts or policy and dissimulation or close
ness, are indeed habits and faculties several, and to be dis
tinguished. For if a man have that penetration of judgment
as he can discern what things are to be laid open, and what
to be secreted, and what to be shewed at half lights, and to
whom and when, (which indeed are arts of state and arts of
life, as Tacitus well calleth them,) to him a habit of dissimu
lation is a hinderance and^a poorness. But if a man cannot
obtain to that judgment, then it is left to him generally to

20 be 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, by one that
cannot well see. Certainly the ablest men that ever were
have had all an openness and frankness of dealing ; and a
name of certainty and veracity ; but then they were like
horses well managed ; for they could tell passing well when
to stop or turn ; and at such times when they thought the

vi.] OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 13

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 in- 30
visible.

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 without
hold to be taken, what he is. The second, Dissimulation, in
the negative ; when a man lets fall signs and arguments, that
he is not that he is. And the third, Simulation, in the
affirmative ; when a man industriously and expressly feigns
and pretends to be that he is not.

For the first of these, Secrecy ; it is indeed the virtue of a 40
confessor. And assuredly the secret man heareth many
confessions. For who will open himself to a blab or babbler ?
But if a man be thought secret, it inviteth discovery ; as the
more close air sucketh in the more open ; and as in confes
sion the revealing is not for worldly use, but for the ease of
a man's heart, so secret men come to the knowledge of many
things in that kind ; while men rather discharge their minds
than impart their minds. In few words, mysteries are due
to secrecy. Besides (to say truth) nakedness is uncomely, as
well in mind as body ; and it addeth no small reverence to 50
men's manners and actions, if they be not altogether open.
As for talkers, and futile persons, they are commonly vain
and credulous withal. For he that talketh what he knoweth,
will also talk what he knoweth not. Therefore set it down,
that an habit of secrecy is both politic and moral. And in this
part, it is good that a man's face 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 it is many times more marked and believed than a
man's words. 60

For the second, which is Dissimulation ; it followeth many
times upon secrecy by a necessity ; so that he that will be
secret must be a dissembler in some degree. For men are

14 BACON'S ESSAYS. [vi.

too cunning to suffer a man to keep an indifferent carriage
between both, and to be secret, without swaying the balance
on either side. They will so beset a man with questions,
and draw him on, and pick it out of him, that, without an
absurd silence, he must shew an inclination one way ; or if
he do not, they will gather as much by his silence as by his

70 speech. As for equivocations, or oraculous speeches, they
cannot hold out long. So that no man can be secret, except
he give himself a little scope of dissimulation ; 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, which because a man must

80 needs disguise, it maketh him practise simulation in other
things, lest his hand should be out of ure.

The great advantages of simulation and dissimulation are
three. First, to lay asleep opposition, and to surprise. For
where a 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 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 opens himself men will hardly show them-

90 selves adverse ; but will (fair) 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, Tell a lie and find
a troth. As if there were no way of discovery but by
simulation. There be also three disadvantages, to set it
even. The first, that simulation and dissimulation commonly
carry with them a shew of fearfulness, which in any business
doth spoil the feathers of round flying up to the mark. The
second, that it puzzleth and perplexeth the conceits of many,
that perhaps would otherwise co-operate with him ; and

vi.] OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 15

makes a man walk almost alone to his own ends. The third 100
and greatest, is, that it depriveth a man of one of the most
principal instruments for action ; which is trust and belief.
The best composition and temperature is to have openness in
fame and opinion ; secrecy in habit ; dissimulation in season
able use ; and a power to feign, if there be no remedy.

VII. OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

THE joys of parents are secret ; and so are their griefs and
fears. They cannot utter the one ; nor they will not utter
the other. Children sweeten labours ; but they make mis
fortunes 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
see the noblest works and foundations have proceeded from
childless men ; which have sought to express the images of
their minds, where those of their bodies have failed. So the 10
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 not only of their kind but of their work ; and
so both children 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, A wise son
rejoiceth the father, but an ungracious son shames the mother.
A man shall see, where there is a house full of children, one 20
or two of the eldest respected, and the youngest made
wantons ; but in the midst some that are as it were for
gotten, who many times nevertheless prove the best. The
illiberality of parents in allowance towards their children
is an harmful error ; makes them base ; acquaints them with
shifts ; makes them sort with mean company ; and makes

16 BACON'S ESSAYS. [vii.

them surfeit more when they come to plenty. And there
fore the proof is best, when men keep their authority
towards their children, but not their purse. Men have a

30 foolish manner (both parents and schoolmasters and servants)
in creating and breeding an emulation between brothers
during childhood, which many times sorteth to discord when
they are men, and disturbeth families. The Italians make
little difference between children and nephews or near kins
folk ; but so they be of the lump, they care not though they
pass not 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

40 choose betimes the vocations and courses they mean 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 mind 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, Optimum elige,
suave et facile illud faciet consuetudo : [Choose what is best,
custom will make it agreeable and easy.] Younger brothers
are commonly fortunate, but seldom or never where the

50 elder are disinherited.

VIII. OF MAERIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE.

HE 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 have children should have
greatest care of future times ; unto which they know they

viii.] OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 17

must transmit their dearest pledges. Some there are, who
though they lead a single life, yet their thoughts do end 10
with themselves, and account future times impertinences.
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 they may be thought so much the richer. For
perhaps they have heard some talk, Such an one is a great
rich man, and another except to it, Yea, but he hath a great
charge of children ; as if it were an abatement to his riches.
But the most ordinary cause of a single life is liberty, especi
ally in certain self-pleasing and humorous minds, which are 20
so sensible of every restraint, as they will go near to think
their girdles and garters to be bonds and shackles. Un
married men are best friends, best masters, best servants ;
but not always best subjects ; for they are light to run
away ; and almost all fugitives are of that condition. 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 servant five times worse
than a wife. For soldiers, I find the generals commonly in 30
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 humanity ; and single
men, though they may be many times more charitable,
because their means are less exhaust, yet, on the other side,
they are more cruel and hardhearted (good to make severe
inquisitors,) because their tenderness is not so oft called
upon. Grave natures, led by custom, and therefore constant,
are commonly loving husbands ; as was said of Ulysses, 40
vetulam suam prcelulit immortalitati : [he preferred his old
wife to immortality.'] 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

18 BACON'S ESSAYS. [vni.

the wife, if she think her husband wise ; which she will
never do if she find him jealous. Wives are young men's
mistresses ; companions for middle age ; and old men's
nurses. So as a man may have a quarrel to marry when
he will. But yet he was reputed one of the wise men, that
50 made answer to the question, when a man should marry ? —
A young man not yet, an elder man not at all. It is often
seen that bad husbands have very good wives ; whether it
be that it raiseth the price of their husband's kindness when
it comes ; 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.

IX. OF ENVY.

THERE 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 imag
inations and suggestions ; and they come 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. We see likewise the scripture calleth envy an evil eye;
and the astrologers call the evil influences of the stars evil
aspects ; so that still there seemeth to be acknowledged, in
10 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, (though not .unworthy to be
thought on in fit place,) we will handle, what persons are apt
to envy others ; what persons are most subject to be envied them-

ix.] OF ENVY. 19

selves ; and what is the difference beticeen public and private 20
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 come at even hand by depressing
another's fortune.

A man that is busy and inquisitive is commonly envious.
For to know much of "other men's matters cannot be be
cause all that ado may concern his own estate ; therefore it 30
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 matter for envy.
For envy is a gadding passion, and walketh the streets, and
doth not keep home : Non est curiosus, quin idem sit male-
volus : [All inquisitive persons are malevolent.}

Men of noble birth are noted to be envious towards new
men when they rise. For the distance is altered ; and it is
like a deceit of the eye, that when others come on they
think themselves go back. 40

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 an 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 Tamberlanes,
that were lame men.

The same is the case of men that rise after calamities and 50
misfortunes. For they are as men fallen out with the times ;
and think other men's harms 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

20 BACON'S ESSAYS. [ix.

want work ; it being impossible bnt many in some one of
those tilings should surpass them. Which was the character
of Adrian the Emperor ; that mortally envied poets and
painters and artificers, in works wherein he had a vein to

60 excel.

Lastly, near kinsfolks, 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 unto them their
own fortunes, and pointeth at them, and cometli oftener into
their remembrance, and incurreth likewise more into the
note of others ; and envy ever redoubleth from speech and
fame. Cain's envy was the more vile and malignant towards
his brother Abel, because when his sacrifice was better
accepted there was nobody to look on. Thus much for those

70 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
rewards 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 but
by kings. Nevertheless it is to be noted that unworthy per
sons are most envied at their first coming in, and afterwards

80 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 seerneth but right done to their birth. Besides, there
seemeth not much added to their fortune ; and envy is as
the sunbeams, that beat hotter upon a bank or steep rising
ground, than upon a flat. And for the same reason those

90 that are advanced by degrees are less envied than those that
are advanced suddenly, and per saltum.

rx. 1 OF ENVY. 21

Those that have 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 sometimes ;
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 life they
lead ; chanting a quanta patimur ! [How muck we suffer /]
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, 100
and not such as they call unto themselves. For nothing in
creased! envy more than an unnecessary and ambitious engross
ing of business. And nothing doth extinguish envy more than
for a great person to preserve all other inferior officers in
their full rights and pre-eminences of their places. For by
that means there be so many screens between him and envy.

Above all, 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 shewing how great
they are, either by outward pomp, or by triumphing over 110
all opposition or competition ; whereas wise men will rather
do sacrifice to envy, in suffering themselves sometimes of
purpose to be crossed and overborne in things that do not
much concern them. Notwithstanding so much is true, that
the carriage of 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. 120

Lastly, to conclude this part ; as we said in the beginning
that the act of envy had somewhat in it of witchcraft, so
there is no other cure of envy but the cure of witchcraft ;
and that is, to remove the lot (as they call it) and to lay it
upon another. For which purpose, the wiser sort of great
persons bring in ever upon the stage somebody upon whom
to derive the envy that would come upon themselves ; some-

22 BACON'S ESSAYS. [ix.

times upon ministers and servants ; sometimes upon col
leagues and associates ; and the like ; and for that turn there

130 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 public
envy is as an ostracism, that eclipseth men when 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

140 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 thereof, and
turneth them into an ill odour. And therefore there is little
won by intermingling 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

150 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
the state itself. And so much of public envy or discontent
ment, 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 all other affections it is the most importune

160 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 : [Envy takes no holidays.'] For it
is ever working upon some or other. And it is also noted

ix.] OF ENVY. 23

that love and envy do make a man pine, which other affec
tions do not, because they are not 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 subtilly, and in
the dark ; and to the prejudice of good things, such as is the 170
wheat.

X. OF LOVE.

THE stage is more beholding to Love, than the life of man.
For as to the stage, love is ever matter of comedies, and now
and then of tragedies ; but in life it doth much mischief ;
sometimes like a siren, sometimes like a fury. You may
observe, that amongst all the great and worthy persons
(whereof the memory remaineth, either ancient or recent),
there is not one that hath been transported to the mad
degree of love : which shews that great spirits and great
business do keep out this weak passion. You must except
nevertheless Marcus Antonius, the half partner of the empire 10
of Rome, and Appius Claudius, the decemvir and lawgiver ;
whereof the former was 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 heart, but also into a heart
well fortified, if watch be not well kept. It is a poor saying
of Epicurus, Satis magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus: [We
are a sufficiently large theatre one for another] ; as if man,
made for the contemplation of heaven and all noble objects,
should do nothing but kneel before a little idol, and make 20
himself a subject, though not of the mouth (as beasts are),
yet of the eye ; which was given him for higher purposes.
It is a strange thing to note the excess of this passion, and
how it braves the nature and value of things, by this ; that

24 BACON'S ESSAYS. [x.

the speaking in a perpetual hyperbole is comely in nothing
but in love. Neither is it merely in the phrase ; for whereas
it hath been well said that the arch-flatterer, with whom all
the petty flatterers have intelligence, is a man's self ; cer
tainly the lover is more. For there was never proud man

30 thought so absurdly well of himself as the lover doth of the
person loved ; and therefore it is well said, That it is im
possible to love and to be wise. Neither doth this weakness
appear to others only, and not to the party loved ; but to the
loved most of all, except the love be reciproque. For it is a
true rule, that love is ever rewarded either with the reci
proque or with an inward and secret contempt. By how
much the 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

40 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 hath his
floods in the very times of weakness ; which are great
prosperity and great adversity ; though this latter hath
been less observed : both which times kindle love, and make
it more fervent, and therefore shew it to be the child of 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 once with business,

50 it troubleth men's fortunes, and maketh men that they can
no ways be true 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 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 man
kind ; friendly love perfecteth it ; but wanton love cor-

60 rupteth and embaseth it.

XL] OF GREAT PLACE. 25

XI. OF GREAT PLACE.

MEN in great place are thrice servants : servants of the
sovereign or state ; servants of fame ; 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 self. The
rising unto place is laborious ; and by pains men come to
greater pains ; and it is sometimes base ; and by indignities
men come to dignities. The standing is slippery, and the
regress is either a downfall, or at least an eclipse, which 10
is a melancholy thing. Cum non sis qui fueris, non csse
cur velis vivere : [ When you are no longer what you have
been, there is no reason for wishing to live.] 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 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, 20
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 they have no time to tend their health either of
body or mind. Illi mors gravis incubat, qui notiis nimis
omnibus, ignotus moritur sibi: [Death falls heavy upon him 30
wlio dies too well known to others, but unknown to himself.] In
place there is license to do good and evil ; whereof the latter
is a curse : for in evil the best condition is not to will ; the
second not to can. But power to do good is the true and

26 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xi.

lawful end of aspiring. For good thoughts (though God
accept them) yet towards men are little better than good
dreams, except they be put in act ; and that cannot be with
out power and place, as the vantage and commanding ground.
Merit and good works is the end of man's motion ; and con
science of the same is the accomplishment of man's rest.

40 For if a man can be partaker of God's theatre, he shall like
wise be partaker of God's rest. Et conversus Dem, ut aspiceret
opera quce fecerunt manus suce, vidit qiiod omnia essent bona
nimis ; [and God turned to behold the u-orks which his hands
had made, and saw that they were all very good;] and then
the Sabbath. In the discharge of thy place set before thee
the best examples ; for imitation is a globe of precepts. And
after a time set before thee thine own example ; and ex
amine thyself strictly whether thou didst not best at first.
Neglect not also the examples of those that have carried

50 themselves ill in the same place ; not to set off thyself by
taxing their memory, but to direct thyself what to avoid.
Reform therefore, without bravery or scandal of former 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
degenerate ; 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

60 positive and peremptory ; and express thyself well when thou
digressest from thy rule. Preserve the right of thy place ;
but stir not questions of jurisdiction : and rather assume
thy right in silence and de facto, than voice it with claims
and challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of inferior
places ; and think it more honour to direct in chief than to
be busy in all. 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 chiefly

XL] OF GREAT PLACE. 27

four ; delays, corruption, roughness, and facility. For de- 70
lays ; give easy access ; keep times appointed ; go through
with that which is in 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 de
testation of bribery, doth the other. And avoid not only
the fault, but the suspicion. Whosoever is found variable,
and changeth manifestly without manifest cause, giveth
suspicion of corruption. Therefore always when thou 80
changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, and
declare it, together with the reasons that move thee to
change ; and do not think 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 corrup
tion. For roughness ; it is a needless cause of discontent :
severity breedeth feai*, but roughness breedeth hate. Even
reproofs from authority ought to be grave, and not taunting.
As for facility ; it is worse than bribery. For bribes come
but now and then ; but if importunity or idle respects lead 90
a man, he shall never be without. As Salomon saith, To
respect persons is not good ; for such a man will transgress for
a piece of bread. It is most true that was anciently spoken,
A place sheweth the man. And it sheweth some to the
better, and some to the worse. Omnium consensu capax
imperii, nisi imperasset. [if he had never been emperor, all
would have pronounced him fit for empire,] saith Tacitus of
Galba ; but of Vespasian he saith, Soliis imperantium, Ves-
pasianus mutatus in melius: [Vespasian was the one emperor
whom the possession of power improved/} though the one was 100
meant of sufficiency, the other of manners and affection. It
is an assured sign of a worthy and generous spirit, whom
honour amends. For honour 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

28 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xi.

violent, in authority settled and calm. All rising to great
place is by a winding stair ; and 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. Use the memory of thy
110 predecessor fairly and tenderly ; for if thou dost not, it is a
debt will sure be paid when thou art gone. If thou have
colleagues, respect them, and rather call them when they look
not 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, When he sits in place he is another man.

XII. OF BOLDNESS.

IT is a trivial grammar-school text, but yet worthy a wise man's
consideration. Question was asked of Demosthenes, what was
the chief part of an orator? he answered, action: what next?
action : what next again ? action. He said it that knew it
best, and had by nature himself no advantage 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

10 were all in all. But the reason is plain. There is in human
nature generally more of the fool than of the wise ; and there
fore those faculties by which the foolish part of men's minds is
taken are most potent. Wonderful like is the case of Bold
ness, in civil business ; what first ? Boldness : what second
and third ? Boldness. And yet boldness is a child of
ignoi-ance 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 wise

20 men at weak times. Therefore we see it hath done wonders
in popular states ; but with senates and princes less ; and

xii.] OF BOLDNESS. 29

more ever upon the first entrance of bold persons into action
than soon after ; 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 under
take great cures, and perhaps have been lucky in two or
three experiments, but want the grounds of science, and
therefore cannot hold out. Nay you shall see a bold fellow
many times do Mahomet's miracle. Mahomet made the
people believe that he would call an hill to him, and from 30
the top of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his
law. The people assembled ; Mahomet called the hill to
come to him, again and again ; and when the hill stood still,
he was never a whit abashed, but said, If the Mil will not come
to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill. So these men, when
they have promised great matters and failed most shame
fully, yet (if they have the perfection of boldness) they will
but slight it over, and make a turn, and no more ado. Cer
tainly to men of great judgment, bold persons are a sport to
behold ; nay and to the vulgar also, boldness hath somewhat 40
of the ridiculous. For if absurdity be the subject of
laughter, doubt you not but great boldness is seldom
without some absurdity. Especially it is a sport to see,
when a bold fellow is out of countenance; 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
come ; 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 cannot stir. But this last were fitter for a satire than
for a serious observation. This is well to be weighed ; that 50
boldness is ever blind ; for it seeth not dangers and incon
veniences. Therefore it is ill in counsel, good in execution ;
so that the right use of bold persons is, that they never
command in chief, but be seconds, and under the direction of
others. For in counsel it is good to see dangers ; and in
execution not to see them, except they be very great.

30 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xm.

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 Philanthropies ; 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, wretched thing ; no better
than a kind of vermin. Goodness answers to the theological
virtue Charity, and admits no excess, but error. The desire

10 of power in excess caused the angels to fall ; the desire of
knowledge in excess caused man to fall : but in charity there
is no excess ; neither can angel or man come in danger by it.
The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the
nature of man ; insomuch that if it issue not 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 alms to dogs and birds ; insomuch as Busbechius
reporteth, a Christian boy in Constantinople had like to have
been stoned for gagging in a waggishness a long-billed fowl.

20 Errors indeed in this virtue of goodness or charity may be
committed. The Italians have an ungracious proverb, Tanto
buon che val niente : So good, that he is good for nothing. And
one of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Machiavel, had the
confidence to put in writing, almost in plain terms, That
the Christian faith had given up good men in prey to those that
are tyrannical and unjust. Which he spake, because indeed
there was never law, or sect, or opinion, did so much
magnify goodness, as the Christian religion doth. There
fore, to avoid the scandal and the danger both, it is good to

30 take knowledge 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 ^Esop's cock a

xni.] OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE. 31

gem, -who would be better pleased and happier if he had a
barley-corn. The example of God teacheth the lesson truly ;
He sendoth his rain, and maketh his sun to shine, upon the just
and unjust ; but he doth not rain wealth, nor shine honour
and virtues upon men equally. Common benefits are to be
communicate with all ; but peculiar benefits with choice.
.And beware how in making the portraiture thou breakest 40
the pattern. For divinity maketh the love of ourselves the
pattern ; the love of our neighbours but the portraiture.
Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, and follow me: but
sell not all thou hast, except thou come and follow me ;
that is, except thou have a vocation wherein thoii mayest do
as much good with little means as with great ; for otherwise
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. 50
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 difficilness,
or the like ; but the deeper sort to envy and mere mischief.
Such men in other men's calamities are, as it were, in season,
and are ever on the loading part : not so good as the dogs
that licked Lazarus' sores ; but like flies that are still buzzing
upon anything that is raw ; misanthropi, that make it their
practice to bring men to the bough, and yet have never a
tree for the purpose in their gardens, as Timon had. Such 60
dispositions are the very errors of human nature ; and yet
they are the fittest timber to make great politiques of ; like
to knee timber, that is good for ships, that are ordained to
be tossed, but not for building houses, that 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 afflictions of others, it shows that

32 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xm.

70 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 injuries ; so that he
cannot be shot. If he be thankful for small benefits, it
shows that he weighs men's minds, and not their trash.
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 shows much of a divine nature, and a kind of
conformity with Christ himself.

XIV. OF NOBILITY.

WE will speak of Nobility first as a portion of an estate ,
then as a condition of particular persons. A monarchy
where there is 110 nobility at all, 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 are stirps of nobles. For
men's eyes are upon the business, and not upon the

10 persons ; or if upon the persons, it is for the business'
sake, as fittest, and not for flags 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 Low Countries in their govern
ment excel ; for where there is an equality, the consulta
tions are more 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 presseth their fortune. It is well

20 when nobles are not too great for sovereignty nor for justice ;
and yet maintained in that height, as the insolency of
infei'iors may be broken upon them before it come on too
fast upon the majesty of kings. A numerous nobility causeth

xiv.] OF NOBILITY. 33

poverty and inconvenience in a state ; for it is a sur
charge of expense ; 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 not in decay ; or 30
to see a fair timber tree sound and perfect. How much
more to behold an ancient noble family, which hath stood
against the waves and weathers of time. For new nobility
is but the act of power, but ancient nobility is the act of
time. Those that are first raised to nobility are commonly
more virtuous, 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 the memory of their virtues
remain to their posterity, and their faults die with them
selves. Nobility of birth commonly abateth industry ; and 40
he that is not industrious envieth him that is. Besides,
noble persons cannot go much higher : and he that standeth
at a stay when others rise, can 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 command.

XV. OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES.

SHEPHERDS of people had need know the calendars of tem
pests in state ; which are commonly greatest when things
grow to equality ; as natural tempests are greatest about the
Equinoctia. And as there are certain hollow blasts of wind
and secret swellings of seas before a tempest, so are there in
states :

c

34: BACON'S ESSAYS. [xv.

Ille etiam csecos instare tuniultus
Ssepe, monet, fraudesque et operta tumescere bella.
[ Warning is often given that dark troubles are impending,
10 And that treachery and secret wars are threatening .~]

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 Fame, saith she was sister to the Giants :
Illam terra parens, ira irritata deorum,
Extremam (ut perhibent) Cseo Enceladoque sororem
Progenuit ?

[Enraged against the Gods, Earth brought forth Fame,
20 Last of the giant brood. Sister she was

To Cceus and EnceladusJ]

As if fames were the relics of seditions past ; but they are
no less indeed the preludes of seditions to come. 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 come to that, that the best actions
of a state, and the most plausible, and which ought to give
greatest contentment, are taken in ill sense, and traduced :
for that shows the envy great, as Tacitus saith, conftata
30 magna iavidia, sen bene, seu male, gesta premunt : [When
the government is unpopular, good acts and bad acts alike
offend.] Neither doth it follow, that because these fames
are a sign of troubles, that the suppressing of them 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 in officio, sed tamen qui
mallent mandata imperantium interpretari, quam exequi ;
40 [They were ready to serve, but liked to criticize rather than obey
the orders of their officers ;] disputing, excusing, cavilling upon
mandates and directions, is a kind of shaking off the yoke,

xv.] OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 35

and assay of disobedience ; especially if in those disputings
they which are for the direction speak fearfully and tenderly,
and those that are against it audaciously.

Also, as Machiavel noteth well, when princes, that 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 time of Henry the
Third of France ; for first himself entered league for the 50
extirpation of the Protestants ; and presently after, the same
league was turned upon himself. For when the authority of
princes is made but an accessary to a cause, and that there
be other bands that tie faster than the band of sovereignty,
kings begin to be put almost 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 motion of the greatest persons in a govern
ment ought to be as the motions of the planets under primum
mobile (according to the old opinion), which is, that every of 60
them is carried swiftly by the highest motion, and softly in
their own motion. And therefore, when great ones in their own
particular motion move violently, and, as Tacitus expresseth
it well, liberius quam ut imperantium meminissent, [more freely
than is consistent icith obedience to authority] it is a sign the
orbs are out of frame. For reverence is that wherewith
princes are girt from God ; who threateneth the dissolving
thereof; Solvam cingula regum: [I will loose the girdles of kings.]

So when any of the four pillars of government are mainly
shaken or weakened (which are Religion, Justice, Counsel, 70
and Treasure), men had need to pray for fair weather. But
let us pass from this part of predictions (concerning which,
nevertheless, more light may be taken from that which
followeth) ; and let us speak first of the Materials of sedi
tions ; 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

36 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xv.

the times do bear it) is to take away the matter of them.
80 For if there be fuel prepared, it is hard to tell whence the
spark shall come that shall set it on fire. The matter of
seditions is of two kinds ; much poverty and much discon
tentment. It is certain, so many overthrown estates, so many
votes for troubles. Lucan noteth well the state of Eome
before the civil war,

Hinc usura vorax, rapidumque in tempore foenus,
Hinc concussa fides, et mult-is utile bellurn :
[Devouring usury, shaken credit, and wars advantageous t
many.]

90 This same multis utile helium is an assured and infallible
sign of a state disposed to seditions and troubles. And if
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 mea
sure the danger of them by this, whether they be just or
unjust : for that were to imagine people to be too reasonable ;

100 who do often spurn at their own good : nor yet by this,
whether the griefs whereupon they rise be in fact great or
small : for they are the most dangerous discontentments
where the fear is greater than the feeling : Dolendi modus,
tiinendi non item: [There is a limit to suffering, but not to
fear.} Besides, in great oppressions, the same things that
provoke the patience, do withal mate the courage ; but in
fears it is not so. Neither let any prince or state be secure
concerning discontentments, because they have been often,
or_ have been long, and yet no peril hath ensued : for as it is

110 true that every vapour or fume doth not turn into a storm;
so it is nevertheless true that storms, though they blow over
divers times, yet may fall at last ; and, as the Spanish pro
verb noteth well, The cord breaketh at the last by the weakest
pull.

xv.j OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 37

The Causes and Motives of seditions are, innovation in
religion ; taxes ; alteration of laws and customs ; breaking
of privileges ; general oppression ; advancement of unworthy
persons ; strangers ; dearths ; disbanded soldiers ; factions
grown desperate ; and whatsoever, in offending people,
joineth and knitteth them in a common cause. "120

For the Eemedies ; there may be some general preserva
tives, whereof we will speak : as for the just 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 130
improvement and husbanding of the soil ; the regulating
of prices of things vendible ; the moderating of taxes and
tributes, and the like. Generally, it is to be foreseen that
the population of a kingdom (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 live lower and gather more.
Therefore the multiplying of nobility and other degrees of 140
quality in an over-proportion to the common people, doth
speedily bring a state to necessity ; and so doth likewise an
over-grown clergy ; for they bring nothing to the stock ;
and in like manner, when more are bred scholars than pre
ferments can take off. .

It is likewise to be remembered, that forasmuch as the
increase of any estate must be upon the foreigner (for what
soever is somewhere gotten is somewhere lost), there be but
three things which one nation selleth unto another ; the
commodity as nature yieldeth it ; the manufacture ; and the 150

38 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xv.

vecture, or carriage. So that if these three wheels go,
wealth will flow as in a spring tide. And it cometh many
times to pass, that materiam superabit opus; that the work
and carriage is more worth than the material, and 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 monies in a state be not gathered into few
hands. For otherwise a state may have a great stock, and

160 yet starve. And money is like muck, not good except it be
spread. This is done chiefly by suppressing, or at least
keeping a strait hand upon the devouring trades of usury,
engrossing, 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 nobless and the commonalty. When one of
these is discontent, the danger is not great ; for common
people are of slow motion, if they be not excited by the
greater sort ; and the greater sort are of small strength,

170 except the multitude be apt and ready to move of them
selves. Then is the danger, when 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 rest of the gods would have bound Jupiter ; which
he hearing of, by the counsel of Pallas, sent for Briareus,
with his hundred hands, to come in to his aid. An emblem,
no doubt, to shew 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

180 evaporate (so it be without too great insoleiicy or bravery),
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 mought well become Prometheus,
in the case of discontentments ; for there is not a better
provision against them. Epimetheus, when griefs and evils

xv.] OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 39

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 carrying men from hopes to
hopes, is one of the best antidotes against the poison of dis- 190
contentments. 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 hath 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 they
believe not.

Also the foresight and prevention, that there be no likely
or fit head whereunto discontented persons may resort, and 200
under whom they may join, is a known, but an excellent
point of caution. I understand a fit head to be one that hath
greatness and reputation ; that hath confidence with the dis
contented 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 same party, that may oppose them,
and so divide the reputation. Generally, the dividing and
breaking of all factions and combinations that are adverse to 210
the state, and setting them at distance, or at least distrust,
among themselves, is not 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.

I have noted that some witty and sharp speeches which
have fallen from princes have given fire to seditions. Caesar
did himself infinite hurt in that speech, Sylla nescivit literas,
nonpotuit dictare ; [Si/lla had not skill of letters, therefore knew
not how to dictate :] for it did utterly cut off that hope which 220
men had entertained, that he would at one time or other give
over his dictatorship. Galba undid himself by that speech,

40 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xv.

legi a se militem, non emi: [/ do not buy soldiers, but enlist
them:~\ for it put the soldiers out of hope of the donative.
Probus likewise, by that speech, Si vixero, non opus erit
amplius Romano imperio militibus ; \If 1 live the Roman
empire will no longer want soldiers;} a speech of great
despair for the soldiers. And many the like. Surely
princes had need, in tender matters and ticklish times, to

230 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 flat things, and not so much noted.

Lastly, let princes, against all events, not be without some
great person, one or rather more, of military valour, near
unto them, for the repressing of seditions in their beginnings.
For without that, there \iseth to be more trepidation in court
upon the first breaking out of trouble than were fit. And
the state runneth the danger of that which Tacitus saith ;

240 A tque is habitus animorum fuit, ut pessimum f acinus auderent
pauci, plures vellent, omnes paterentur. But let such military
persons be assured, and well reputed of, rather than factious
and popular ; holding also good correspondence with the
other great men in the state ; or else the remedy is worse
than the disease.

XVI. OF ATHEISM.

I HAD rather believe all the fables in the Legend, and the
Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is
without a mind. And therefore God never wrought miracles
to convince atheism, because his ordinary works convince it.
It is 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 farther ; but when it beholdeth the chain of them,

xvi.] OF ATHEISM. 41

confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to Pro- 10
vidence 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 ele
ments, and one immutable fifth essence, duly and eternally
placed, need no God, than that an army of infinite small
portions or seeds unplaced, should have pi^oduced this order
and beauty without a divine marshal. The Scripture saith,
The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God ; it is not said,
The fool hath thought in his heart ; so as he rather saith it by 20
rote to himself, as that he would have, than that he can
throughly believe it, or be persuaded of it. For none deny
there is a God, but those for whom it maketh that there were
no God. It appeareth 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 all, you shall have of them 30
that will suffer 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 dissemble for his credit's sake, when he affirmed
there were blessed natures, but such as enjoy themselves
without having respect to the government of the world.
Wherein they say he did temporize ; though in secret he
thought there was no God. But certainly he is traduced ;
for his words are noble and divine : Non deos vulgi negare
profanum ; sed mdgi opinianes diis applicare profanum : [Pro- 40
fanity consists, not in denying the Gods of the vulgar, but in
applying to the Gods the conceptions of the mdgar.~\ Plato
could have said no more. And although he had the con
fidence to deny the administration, he had not the power to
deny the nature. The Indians of the West have names for

42 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xvi.

their particular gods, though they have no name for God (as
if the heathens should have had the names Jupiter, Apollo,
Mars, etc., but riot the word Deus) ; which shews that even
these barbarous people have the notion, though they have

50 not the latitude and extent of it. So that against atheists
the very savages take part with the very subtlest philo
sophers. The contemplative atheist is rare : a Diagoras, a
Bion, a Lucian perhaps, and some others ; and yet they seem
to be more than they are ; for that all that impugn a re
ceived religion or superstition are by the adverse part
branded with the name of atheists. But the great atheists
indeed are hypocrites ; which are ever handling holy things,
but without feeling ; so as they must needs be cauterized in
the end. The causes of atheism are ; divisions in religion, if

60 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 come to that which St.
Bernard saith, Ron est jam dicere, ut populus, sic sacerdos ;
quia nee sic populiis, ut sacerdos ; \0ne can now no longer say
that the priest is as the people, for the people are now better than
the priest ;] a third is, a custom of profane scoffing in holy
matters ; which doth by little and little deface the reverence
of religion. And lastly, learned times, especially with peace
and prosperity ; for troubles and adversities do more bow

70 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 not of kin to God by his spirit, he is
a base and ignoble creature. It destroys likewise magna
nimity, 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 maintained by a man ; who to
him is instead of a God, or melior natura ; which courage is
manifestly such as that creature, without that confidence of
a better nature than his own, could never attain So man,

80 when he resteth and assureth himself upon divine protection
and favour, gathereth a force and faith which human nature

xvi.] OF ATHEISM. 43

in itself could not obtain. Therefore, as atheism is in all
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, so it is in nations. Never was there such
a state for magnanimity as Eome. Of this state hear what
Cicero saith : Quam volumus licet, patrcs conscripti, nos amemus,
tamcn nee numero llispanos, nee robore Gallos, nee calliditate
Pcenos, nee artibus Grcecos, nee denique hoc ipso hujus gentis et
terrce domcstico nativoque sensu Italos ipsos et Latinos; sed 90
pietate, ac religione, atque hoc una sapientiq, quod Deorum
immortaUum numine omnia regi gubernarique perspeximus,
omnes gentes nationesque superavimus: [However highly we
may think of ourselves, yet we are not superior to the Spaniards
in numbers, to the Gauls in strength, to the Carthaginians in
cunning, nor even to the Italians and Latins in the homely and
native sense which characterizes this nation and land : but in
piety, religion, and the single wisdom of understanding that all
things are guided and governed by the Providence of the im
mortal Gods, we surpass all nations and peoples.] 100

XVII. OF SUPERSTITION.

IT were better to have no opinion of God at all, than such an
opinion as is unworthy of him. For the one is unbelief, the
other is contumely : and certainly superstition is the re
proach of the Deity. Plutarch saith well to that purpose :
Surely (saith he) / had rather a great deal men should say
there was no such man at all as Plutarch, than that they
should say that there 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 10
sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation ;
all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue,
though religion were not ; but superstition dismounts all

44 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xvn.

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 see the times inclined to atheism (as the time of Augustus
Ciesar) were civil times. But superstition hath been the
confusion of many states, and bringeth in a new primum

20 mobile, that ravisheth all the spheres of government. The
master of superstition is the people ; and in all superstition
wise men follow fools ; and arguments are fitted to practice,
in a reversed order. It was gravely said by some of the
prelates in the Council of Trent, where the doctrine of the
schoolmen bare great sway, that the schoolmen were like astro
nomers, which did feign eccentrics and epicycles, and such
engines of orbs, to save the phenomena ; though they knew there
were no such things ; and in like manner, that the schoolmen
had framed a number of subtle and intricate axioms and

30 theorems, to save the practice of the church. The causes of
superstition are, pleasing and sensual rites and ceremonies ;
excess of outward and pharisaical holiness ; over-great rever
ence of traditions, which cannot but load the church ; the
stratagems of prelates for their own ambition and lucre ; the
favouring too much of good intentions, which openeth the
gate to conceits and novelties ; the taking an aim at divine
matters by human, which cannot but breed mixture of
imaginations : and, lastly, barbarous times, especially joined
with calamities and disasters. Superstition, without a veil,

40 is a deformed thing ; for as it addeth deformity 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 cor-
rupteth to little worms, so good forms and orders corrupt
into a number of petty observances. There is a superstition
in avoiding superstition, when men think to do best if they
go farthest from the superstition formerly received ; there
fore care would be had that (as it fareth in ill purgings) the
good be not taken away with the bad ; which commonly is
done when the people is the reformer.

xviii.] OF TRAVEL. 45

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
tutorx 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 exercises or discipline
the place yieldeth. For else young men shall go hooded, and 10
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 diaries ; but in land-travel, wherein so much is to be
observed, for the most part they omit it ; as if chance were
fitter to be registered than observation. Let diaries there
fore be brought in use. The things to be seen and observed
are, the courts of princes, especially when they give audience
to ambassadors ; the courts of justice, while they sit and hear
causes ; and so of consistories ecclesiastic ; the churches and
monasteries, with the monuments which are therein extant ; 20
the walls and fortifications of cities and towns, and so the
havens and harbours ; antiquities and ruins ; libraries ; col
leges, disputations, and lectures, where any are ; shipping and
navies ; houses and gardens of state and pleasure, near great
cities ; armories ; arsenals ; magazines ; exchanges ; burses ;
warehouses ; exercises of horsemanship, fencing, training of
soldiers, and the like ; comedies, such whereunto the better
sort of persons do resort ; treasuries of jewels and robes ;
cabinets and rarities ; and, to conclude, whatsoever is memor
able in the places where they go. After all which the tutors 30
or servants ought to make diligent inquiry. As for triumphs,
masks, feasts, weddings, funerals, capital executions, and such
shows, men need not be put in mind of them ; yet are they

46 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xvin.

not to be neglected. If you will have a young man to put
his travel into a little room, and in short time to gather much,
this you must do. First as was said, he must have some en
trance 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 card or book describ-

40 ing 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
deserveth, but not long ; nay, when he stayeth in. one city
or town, let him change his lodging from one end and part of
the town to another ; which is a great adamant of acquaint
ance. 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 recommenda-

50 tion 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 acquaintance which is to be
sought in travel ; that which is most of all profitable, is ac
quaintance with the secretaries and employed men of ambas
sadors ; for so in travelling in one country, he shall suck
the experience of many. Let him also see and visit eminent
persons in all kinds, which are of great name abroad ; that
he may be able to tell how the life agreeth with the fame.

60 For quarrels, they are with care and discretion to be avoided.
They are commonly for mistresses, healths, place, and words.
And let a man beware how he keepeth company with choleric
and quarrelsome 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 be
hind 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,

xviii.] OF TRAVEL. 47

than forward to tell stories ; and let it appear that he doth 70
not change his country manners for those of foreign parts ;
but only prick in some flowers of that he hath learned abroad
into the customs of his own country.

XIX. OF EMPIEE.

IT is a miserable state of mind to have few things to 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 have many
representations of perils and shadows, which makes their
minds the less clear. And this is one reason also of that
effect which the Scripture speaketh of, That the king's heart
is inscrutable. For multitude of jealousies, 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. 10
Hence it comes likewise, that princes many times make
themselves desires, and set their hearts upon toys ; sometimes
upon a building ; sometimes upon erecting of an order ;
sometimes upon the advancing of a person ; sometimes upon
obtaining excellency in some art or feat of the hand ; as Nero
for playing on the harp, Domitiaii for certainty of the hand
with the arrow, Commodus for playing at fence, Caracalla for
driving chariots, and the like. This seemeth incredible unto
those that know, not the principle that the mind of man is
more cheered and refreshed by profiting in small things, than by 20
standing at a stay in great. We see also that kings that have
been fortunate conquerors in their first years, it being not
possible for them to go forward infinitely, but that they must
have some check or arrest in their fortunes, turn in their latter
years to be superstitious and melancholy ; as did Alexander
the Great ; Dioclesian ; and in our memory, Charles the Fifth ;
and others : for he that is used to go forward, and findeth a
stop, falleth out of his own favour, and is not the thing he was.

48 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xix.

To speak now of the true temper of empire ; it is a thing

30 rare and hard to keep ; for both temper and distemper consist
of contraries. But it is one thing to mingle contraries, an
other to interchange them. The answer of Apollonius to
Vespasian is full of excellent instruction. Vespasian asked
him, What was Nero's overthrcnv? He answered, Nero could
touch and tune the harp well ; biit in government sometimes he
med to loind the pins too high, sometimes to let them down too
low. And certain it is that nothing destroy eth authority so
much as the unequal and untimely interchange of power
pressed too far, and relaxed too much.

40 This is true, that the wisdom of all these latter times 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 suffer matter of trouble to be prepared ; for no
man can forbid the spark, nor tell whence it may come. The
difficulties in princes' business are many and great ; but the
greatest difficulty is often in their own mind. For it is
common with princes (saith Tacitus) to will contradictories :

50 Sunt plerumque regum voluntates vehementes, et inter se con
traries ; [As a rule, the desires of kings are strong and incon
sistent.] For it is the solecism of power to think to command
the end, and yet not to endure the mean.

Kings have to deal with their neighbours, their wives,
their children, their prelates or clergy, their nobles, their
second-nobles or gentlemen, their merchants, their commons,
and their men of war ; and from all these arise dangers, if
care and circumspection be not used.

First for their neighbours ; there can no general rule be

60 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 trade, by approaches, or the like),
as they become more able to annoy them than they were.

xix.] OF EMPIRE. 49

And this is generally the work of standing councils to foresee
and to hinder it. During that triumvirate 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 would straightways balance it, 70
either by confederation, or, if need were, by a war ; and
would not iu any wise take up peace at interest. And the
like was done by that league (which Guicciardine saith
was the security of Italy) made between Ferdinando King of
Naples, Lorenzius Medices, and Ludovicus Sforza, potentates,
the one of Florence, the other of Milan. Neither is the
opinion of some of the schoolmen to be received, that a war
cannot justly be made but upon a precedent injury or
provocation. For there is no question but a just fear of an
imminent danger, though there be no blow given, is a lawful 80
cause of a war.

For their wives ; there are cruel examples of them. Livia
is infamed for the poisoning of her husband ; Roxalana,
Solyman's wife, was the destruction of that renowned prince
Sultan Mustapha, and otherwise troubled his house and
succession ; Edward the Second of England his queen had
the principal hand in the deposing and murdering of her
husband. This kind of danger is then to be feared chiefly,
when the wives have plots for the raising of their own
children ; or else that they be advoutresses. 90

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 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 house ; for 100

D

50 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xix.

both Constantinus and Constance, his sons, died violent
deaths ; and Constantius, his other son, did little better ;
who died indeed of sickness, but after that Julianus had
taken arms against 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 distrust ;
except it were where the sons were up in open arms against

110 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 Canterbury ; 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, and Henry the Second. The danger
is not from that state, but where it hath a dependence of
foreign authority ; or where the churchmen come in and are

120 elected, not 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 safe ; and less able to perform anything that he
desires. I have noted it in my history of King Henry the
Seventh of England, who depressed 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.

130 So that in effect he was fain to do all things himself.

For their second-nobles ; there is not much danger from
them, being a body dispersed. They may sometimes dis
course 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 in authority
with the common people, they do best temper popular
commotions.

xix.] OF EMPIRE. 51

For their merchants ; they are rena portaj and if they
flourish not, a kingdom may have good limbs, but will have
empty veins, and nourish little. Taxes and imposts upon 140
them do seldom good to the king's revenue ; for that that
he wins in the hundred he leeseth 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.

For their men of war ; it is a dangerous state where they
live and remain in a body, and are used to donatives ; 150
whereof we see examples in the janizaries, and pretorian
bands of Rome ; but trainings of men, and arming them in
several places, and under several commanders, and without
donatives, are things of defence, and no danger.

Princes are like to heavenly bodies, which cause good or
evil times ; and which have much veneration, but no rest.
All precepts concerning kings are in effect comprehended in
those two remembrances; Memento quod es homo; and
Memento quod es Deus, or vice Dei; [Remember that you
are a man, and Remember that you are a God, or God's vice- 1 60
gerenti] the one bridleth their power, and the other their
will.

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 all faith and integrity. The wisest
princes need not think it any diminution to their greatness,

52 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xx.

or derogation to their sufficiency, to rely upon counsel. God
himself is not without, but hath made it one of the great

10 names of his blessed Son ; The Counsellor. Salomon hath
pronounced that in counsel is stability. 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 full of inconstancy, 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 ;

20 that it 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 Metis, 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 con
ceived by him and was with child, but Jupiter suffered her

30 not to stay till she brought forth, but ate her up ; whereby
he became himself with child, and 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
counsel of state. That first they ought -to refer matters
unto them, which is the first begetting or impregnation ; but
when they are elaborate, moulded, and shaped in the womb
of their counsel, and grow ripe and ready to be brought
forth, that then they suffer not their counsel to go through
with the resolution and direction, as if it depended on them ;

40 but take the matter back into their own hands, and make it
appear to the world that the decrees and final directions
(which, because they come forth with prudence and power,
are resembled to Pallas armed) proceeded from themselves ;

xxi] OF COUNSEL. 53

and not only from their authority, but (the more to add
reputation to themselves) from their head and device.

Let us now 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 of
affairs, whereby they become less secret. Secondly, the
weakening of the authority of princes, as if they were less of 50
themselves. Thirdly, the danger of being unfaithfully coun
selled, 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'
times, 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.
Neither is it necessary that he that consulteth what he
should do, should declare what he will do. But let princes 60
beware that the unsecreting of their affairs comes not from
themselves. And as for cabinet councils, it may be their
motto, Plenus rimarum sum : [Full of chinks.~\ One futile
person that maketh it his glory to tell, will do more hurt
than many that know it their duty to conceal. It is true
that there be some affairs which require extreme secrecy,
which will hardly go 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 70
king, such as is able to grind with a hand-mill ; and those
inward counsellors had need also be wise men, and especially
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 sheweth 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 dependences by his counsel ;

54 BACON'S ESSAYS. fxx.

80 except where there hath been either an over-greatness in
one counsellor or an over-strict combination in divers ;
which are things soon found and holpen.

For the last inconvenience, that men will counsel with an
eye to themselves ; certainly, non inveniet fidem super terrain,
[He shall not find faith upon the earth] is meant of the nature of
times, and not of all particular persons. There be that are in
nature faithful, and sincere, and plain, and direct ; not crafty
and involved ; let princes, above all, draw to themselves such
natures. Besides, counsellors are not commonly so united,
90 but that one counsellor keepeth sentinel over another ; so
that if any do counsel out of faction or private ends, it com
monly comes to the king's ear. But the best remedy is, if
princes know their counsellors, as well as their counsellors
know them :

Principis est virtus maxima nosse suos.

[The chief virtue of a ruler is to know his subjects.] And
on the other side, counsellors should not be too speculative
into their sovereign's person. The true composition of a
counsellor is rather to be skilful in his master's business,

100 than in his nature ; for then he is like to advise him, and not
to feed his humour. It is of singular use to princes if they
take the opinions of their council both separately and together.
For private opinion is more free ; but opinion before others
is more reverend. In private, men are more bold in their
own 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 princes to take counsel concerning matters, if they

110 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 secundum genera \by classes], as
in an idea, or mathematical description, what the kind and
character of the person should be ; for the greatest errors

xx.] OF COUNSEL. 55

are committed, and the most judgment is shown, in the
choice of individuals. It was truly said, Optimi consiliarii
inortui: [the dead are the best counsellors:} books will speak
plain when counsellors blanch. Therefore it is good to be
conversant in them, specially the books of such as themselves 120
have been actors upon the stage.

The councils at this day in most places are but familiar
meetings, where matters are rather talked on than debated.
And they run too swift to the order or act of council. It
were better that in causes of weight, the matter were pro
pounded one day and not spoken to till the next day ; in
node consilium : [the night should be spent in deliberation.] So
was it done in the commission of Union between England and
Scotland ; which was a grave and orderly assembly. I com
mend set days for petitions ; for both it gives the suitors 130
more certainty for their attendance, and it freee the meetings
for matters of estate, that they may hoc agcre. 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 com
mend 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 council of estate (as
it is in Spain), they are, in effect, no more than standing
commissions : save that they have greater authority. Let 140
such as are to inform councils out of their particular profes
sions, (as lawyers, seamen, mintmen, and the like,) be first
heard before committees ; and then, as occasion serves, before
the council. And let them not come in multitudes, or in a
tribunitious manner ; for that is to clamour councils, not to
inform them. 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 pre- 150
sides in council, let him beware how he opens his own

56 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xx.

inclination too much in that which he propoundeth ; for else
counsellors will but take the wind of him, and instead of
giving free counsel, sing him a song of placebo.

XXI. OF DELAYS.

FORTUNE is like the market ; where many times, if you can
stay a little, the price will fall. And again, it is sometimes
like Sibylla's offer ; which at first offereth the commodity at
full, then consumeth part and part, and still holdeth up the
price. For occasion (as it is in the common verse) turneth a
bald noddle, after she hath presented her locks in front, and no
hold 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 time the

10 beginnings and onsets of things. Dangers are no more light,
if they once seem light ; and more dangers have deceived men
than forced them. Nay, it were better to meet some dangers
half way, though they come nothing near, than to keep too
long a watch upon their approaches ; for if a man watch too
long, it is odds he will fall 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 come on,
by over -early buckling towards them ; is another extreme.

20 The ripeness or unripeness of the occasion (as we said) must
ever be well weighed , and generally 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 watch, and then to speed. For the helmet of Pluto, which
maketh the politic man go invisible, is secrecy in the counsel
and celerity in the execution. For when things are once
come 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.

xxii.] OF CUNNING. 57

XXII. OF CUNNING.

WE take Cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom. And
certainly there is a 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
and factions, that are otherwise 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
constitiition of one that hath studied men more than books. 10
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 aim ; so as the old rule to know a fool
from a wise man, Mitte ambos nudos ad ignotos, et videbis,
[Send them both naked to strangers, and you iinll see,] doth
scarce hold for them. And because these cunning men are
like haberdashers of small wares, it is not amiss to set forth
their shop.

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 20
there be many wise men that have secret hearts and trans
parent countenances. Yet this would be done with a demure
abasing of your eye sometimes, as the Jesuits also do use.

Another is, that when you have anything to obtain of
present despatch, you entertain and amuse the party with
whom you deal with some other discourse ; that he be not
too much awake 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 mought the less mind the bills. 30

The like surprise may be made by moving things when the
party is in haste, and cannot stay to consider advisedly of
that is moved.

58 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxn.

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
40 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 yourself,
you may lay a bait for a question, by shewing 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 Nehemiah did ; And I had not before that time
been sad before the king.

In things that are tender and unpleasing, it is good to
break the ice by some whose words are of less weight, and
50 to reserve the more weighty voice to come in as by chance,
so that he may be asked the question upon the other's speech ;
as Narcissus did, in relating to Claudius the marriage of
Messalina and Silius.

In things that a man would not be seen in himself, it is a
point of cunning to borrow the name of the world ; as to say,
The world says, or There is a speech abroad.

I knew one that, when he wrote a letter, he would put
that which was most material in the postscript, as if it had
been a bye-matter.

60 I knew another that, when lie came to have speech, he
would pass over that that he intended most ; and go forth,
and come 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 come
upon them ; and to be found with a letter in their hand, or
doing somewhat which they are not accustomed ; to the end
they may be apposed of those things which of themselves
they are desirous to utter.

xxii.] OF CUNNING. 59

It is a point of cunning, to let fall those words in a man's 70
own name, which he would have another man learn and use,
and thereupon take advantage. I knew two that were com
petitors for the secretary's place in Queen Elizabeth's time,
and yet kept good quarter between themselves ; and would
confer one with another upon the business ; and the one of
them said, That to be a secretary in the declination of a
monarchy was a ticklish thing, and that he did not affect it.
The other straight caught up those words, and discoursed with
divers of his friends, that he had no reason to desire to be
secretary in the declination of a monarchy. The first man 80
took hold of it, and found means it was told the Queen ; who
hearing of a declination of a monarchy, took it so ill, as she
would never after hear of the other's suit.

There is a cunning, which we in England call The turning
of the cat in the pan ; 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 matter passed
between 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 90
others by justifying themselves by negatives ; as to say, This
I do not; as Tigellinus did towards Burrhus, &e non
diversas spes, sed incolumitatem imperatoris simpliciter spectare :
[" 1 have no eye" he said, " to two conflicting aims, but only to
the emperor's safety."']

Some have 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.

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 100
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
fetch ; and how many other matters they will beat over, to

60 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxn.

come near it. It is a thing of great patience, but yet of
much use.

A sudden, bold, and unexpected question doth many times
surprise a man, and lay him open. Like to him that, having
changed his name and walking in Paul's, another suddenly

110 came behind him and called him by his true name, whereat
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 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

120 looses in the conclusion, but are no ways able to examine 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)
putting tricks upon them, than upon soundness of their own
proceedings. But Salomon saith, Prudeiis advertit ad gressus
suos: stultus divertit ad dolos: \The vise man taketh heed to
his steps: t/ie fool turneth aside to deceit.]

XXIII. OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF.

AN ant is a wise creature for itself, but it is a shrewd thing
in an orchard or garden. And certainly men that are great
lovers 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 ; especially to thy king and coun
try. It is a poor centre of a man's actions, himself. It is
right earth. For that only stands f.-ist upon his own centre ;
whereas all things that have affinity with the heavens, move
upon the centre of another, which they benefit. The refer-

xxin.] OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF. 61

ring of all to a man's self is more tolerable in a sovereign 10
prince : because themselves are not 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 re
public. For whatsoever 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 master or state. Therefore let
princes, or states, choose such servants as have not this mark ;
except they mean their service should be made but the acces
sary. That which maketh the effect more pernicious is that
all proportion is lost. It were disproportion enough for the 20
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 yet
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, 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 30
certainly it is the nature of extreme self-lovers as they will
set an house on fire, and it were but to roast their eggs ; and
yet these men many times hold credit with their masters,
because their study is but to please them and profit them
selves ; and for either respect 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, who digged and made 40
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 amantes, sine rivali [lovers of themselves, without a
rival\, are many times unfortunate. And whereas they

62 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxm.

have all their time sacrificed 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.

XXIV. OF INNOVATIONS.

As the births of living creatures at first are ill-shapen, so
are all Innovations, which are the births of time. Yet not
withstanding, 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 111, to man's nature as it stands perverted, hath a natural
motion, strongest in continuance ; but Good has a forced
motion, strongest at first. Surely every medicine is an inno
vation ; and he that will not apply new remedies must expect

10 new evils ; for time is the greatest 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 within themselves ; where
as new things piece not so well ; but though they help by
their utility, yet they trouble by their inconformity. Besides,
they are like strangers ; more admired and less favoured.
All this is true, if time stood still ; which contrariwise moveth

20 so round, 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 there
fore 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 otherwise, what
soever is new is unlocked for ; and ever it mends some, and
pairs others ; and he 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 experi-

xxiv.] OF INNOVATIONS. 63

ments in states, except the necessity be urgent, or the utility 30
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 not rejected, yet be held for a suspect ; and, as
the Scripture saith, that we make a stand upon the ancient
way, and then look about its, and discover what is the straight
and right way, and so to walk in it.

XXV. OF DISPATCH.

AFFECTED dispatch 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 times of sitting,
but by the advancement of the business. And as in races
it is not the large stride or high lift that makes the speed ;
so in business, the keeping close to the matter, and not
taking of it too much at once, procxireth dispatch. It is the
care of some only to come off speedily for the time ; or to 10
contrive some false periods of business, because 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 goetli commonly back
ward and forward in an unsteady manner. I knew a wise
man that had it for a by- word, when he saw men hasten to a
conclusion, Stay a little, that we may make an end the sooner.

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 20
dispatch. The Spartans and Spaniards have been noted
to be of small dispatch ; Mi venga la muerte de Spagna ; Let
my death come from Spain ; for then it will be sure to be long
in coming.

\

64 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxv.

Give good hearing to those that give the first information
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 back
ward, and be more tedious while he waits upon his memory,

30 than he could have been if he had gone on in his own course.
But sometimes it is seen that the moderator is more trouble
some than the actor.

Iterations are commonly loss of time. But there is no
such gain of time as to iterate often the state of the question ;
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 a race. Prefaces and
passages, and excusations, and other speeches of reference to
the person, are great wastes of time ; and -though they seem

40 to proceed of modesty, they are bravery. Yet beware of
being too material 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 singling out
of parts, is the life of dispatch ; so as the distribution be not
too subtle. For he that doth not divide will never enter well
into business ; and he that divideth too much will never
come out of it clearly. To choose time is to save time ; and
an unseasonable motion is but beating the air. There be

50 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 work of many, and the
first and last the work of few. The proceeding upon some
what 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.

xxvi.] OF SEEMING WISE. 65

XXVI. OF SEEMING WISE.

IT hath been an opinion that the French are wiser than they
seem, and the Spaniards seern wiser than they are. But
howsoever it be between nations, certainly it is so between
man and man. For as the Apostle saith of godliness, Having
a show of godliness, but deny ing the power thereof; so
certainly there are in point of wisdom and sufficiency,
that do nothing or little very solemnly: Magno conatu nugas.
It is a ridiculous thing and fit for a satire to persons of
judgment, to see what shifts these formalists have, and
what prospectives to make superficies to seem body that hath 10
depth and bulk. Some are so close and reserved, as they
will not shew their wares but by a dark light ; and seem
always to keep back somewhat ; and when they know within
themselves they speak of that they do not well know, would
nevertheless seem to others to know of that which they may
not well speak. Some help themselves 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 bent the other down to his chin ;
Hespondes, altero ad frontem sublato, altero ad mentum 20
depresso supercilio, crudelitatem tibi non placcre. Some think
to bear it 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, will
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 matter ; of whom A. Gellius
saith, Ilominem delirum, qui verborum minutiis rerum frangit
pondera : [A silly person who by verbal subtilties breaks up the 30
mass of matter :] Of which kind also Plato, in his Protagoras,
bringeth in Prodicus in scorn, and maketh him make a
speech that consisteth of distinctions from the beginning to

66 BACON'S ESSAYS. fxxvi.

the end. Generally, such men in all deliberations find ease
to be of the negative side, and affect a credit to object and
foretell difficulties ; for when propositions are denied, there
is an end of them ; but if they be allowed, it requireth a new
work ; which false point of wisdom is the bane of business.
To conclude, there is no decaying merchant, or inward
40 beggar, 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 for business a man some
what absurd than over-formal.

XXVII. OF FRIENDSHIP.

IT had been hard for him that spake it to have put more
truth and untruth together in few words, than in that
speech, Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a icild
beast or a god. For it is most true that a natural and secret
hatred and aversation towards society in any 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

10 conversation : such as is found to have been falsely and
feignedly in some of the heathens ; as Epimenides the
Candian, Nitma the Roman, Empedocles the Sicilian, and
Apollonius 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 riot 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
civitas, magna solitudo; [A great city is a great solitude;]

20 because in a great town friends are scattered ; so that there

xxvii.] OF FRIENDSHIP. 67

is not 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 affections 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 stoppings 30
and suffocations are the most dangerous in the body ; and it
is not much otherwise in the mind ; you may take sarza to
open the liver, steel to open the spleen, flower of sulphur
for the lungs, castoreum for the brain ; but no receipt
openeth the heart, but a true 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 or confession.

It is a strange thing to observe how high a rate great
kings and monarchs do set upon this fruit of friendship 40
whereof we speak : so great, as they purchase it many times
at the hazard of their own safety and greatness. For princes,
in regard of the distance of their 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 were companions and almost equals to themselves,
which many times sorteth to inconvenience. The modern
languages give unto such persons the name of favourites, or
privadoes ; as if it were matter of grace, or conversation.
But the Roman name attaineth the true use and cause 50
thereof, naming them 1'articipes curarnm ; [Sharers of their
cares;] for it is that which tieth the knot. And we see
plainly that this hath been done, not by weak and passionate
princes only, but by the wisest and most politic that ever
reigned ; who have oftentimes joined to themselves some of
their servants ; whom both themselves have called friends,

68 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxvu.

and allowed others likewise to call them in the same manner ;
using the word which is received between private men.

L. Sylla, when he commanded Rome, raised Pompey (after

60 surnamed the Great) to that height, that Pompey vaunted
himself for Sylla's over-match. 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 men adored the sun rising
than the sun setting. With J.ulius Ciesar, Decimus Brutus
had obtained that interest, as he set him down in his testa
ment for heir in remainder after his nephew. And this was
the man that had power with him to draw him forth to his

70 death. For when Csesar would have discharged the senate,
in regard of some ill presages, and specially a dream of
Calpurnia ; this man lifted him gently by the arm out of
his chair, telling him he hoped he would not- dismiss the
senate till his wife had dreamt a better dream. And it
seemeth his favour was so great, as Antonius, in a letter
which he recited verbatim in one of Cicero's Philippics, called
him venefica, witch; as if he had enchanted Csesar. Augustus
raised Agrippa (though of mean birth) to that height, as
when he consulted with Maecenas about the marriage of his

80 daughter Julia, Maecenas took the liberty to tell him, that he
must either marry his daughter to Agrippa, or take away his
life : there was no third way, he had made him so great. With
Tiberius Csesar, 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, hvec pro amicitia nostra non occultavi;
[in consideration of our friendship I have not hidden these
things from you ;] 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

90 between Septimius Severus and Plautianus. For he forced
his eldest son to marry the daughter of Plautianus ; and
would often maintain Plautianus in doing affronts to his

xxvii.] OF FRIENDSHIP. 69

son ; and did write also in a letter to the senate, by these
words : / love the man so well, as I wish he may over-live 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 found their own felicity (though as great as ever hap- 100
pened to mortal men) but as an half piece, except they
mought have a friend to make it entire ; and yet, which is
more, they were princes that had wives, sons, nephews ; and
yet all these could not supply the comfort of friendship.

It is not to be forgotten what Comineus observeth of his
first master, Duke Charles the Hardy ; namely, that he
would communicate his secrets with none ; and least of all,
those secrets which troubled him most. Whereupon he
goeth on and saith that towards his latter time that closeness
did impair and a little perish his understanding. Surely no
Comineus mought have made the same judgment also, if it
had pleased him, of his second master, Louis the Eleventh,
whose closeness was indeed his tormentor. The parable of
Pythagoras is dark, but true ; Cor ne edito ; Eat not the heart.
Certainly, if a man would give it a hard phrase, 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 redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in 120
halfs. 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 alchymists use to attribute to their stone for man's body ;
that it worketh all contrary effects, but still to the good and
benefit of nature. But yet without praying in aid of alchy
mists, there is a manifest image of this in the ordinary course

70 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxvu.

of nature. For in bodies, union strengtheneth and cherisheth

130 any natural action ; and on the other side weakeneth and
dulleth any violent impression : and even so it is 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 maketh daylight in the under
standing, out of darkness and confusion of thoughts. Neither
is this to be understood only of faithful counsel, which a man
receiveth from his friend ; but before you come to that,
certain it is that whosoever hath his mind fraught with

140 many thoughts, his wits and understanding do clarify and
break up, in the communicating and discoursing with
another : he tosseth his thoughts more easily ; he mar-
shalleth them more orderly ; he seeth how they look when
they are turned into words : finally, he waxeth wiser than
himself ; and that more by an hour's discourse than by a
day's meditation. It was well said by Themistocles to the
king of Persia, That speech was like cloth of Arras, opened and
put abroad ; whereby the imagery doth appear in figure ;
whereas in thoughts they lie but as in packs. Neither is this

150 second fruit of friendship, in opening the understanding,
restrained only to such friends as are able to give a man
counsel ; (they indeed are best ;) but even without that, a
man learneth of himself, and bringeth his own thoughts to
light, and whetteth his wits as against a stone, which itself
cuts not. In a word, a man were better relate himself to a
statua or picture, than to suffer his thoughts to pass in
smother.

Add now, to make this second fruit of friendship complete,
that other point which lieth more open and falleth within

160 vulgar observation ; which is faithful counsel from a friend.
Heraclitus saith well in one of his enigmas, Dry light is ever
the best. And certain it is, that the light that a man re
ceiveth by counsel from another, is drier and purer than that
which cometh from his own understanding and judgment ;

xxvii.] OF FRIENDSHIP. 71

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 flatterer.
For there is no such flatterer as is a man's self ; and there is
no such remedy against flattery of a man's self as the liberty 170
of a friend. Counsel is of two sorts ; the one concerning
manners, the other concerning business. For the first, the
best preservative to 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, sometime, too piercing and corrosive.
Reading good books of morality is a little flat and dead.
Observing our faults in others is sometimes improper for
our 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 behold what gross errors and extreme absurdities 180
many (especially of the greater sort) 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 sometimes into a glass, and presently forget their
oicn 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 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 and high 190
imaginations, to think himself all in all. But when all is
done, the help of good counsel is that which 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 not be faith
fully counselled ; 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 200

72 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxvn.

givetli 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 disease you complain of, but is unacquainted with your
body ; and therefore may put you in way for a present 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 fur-

210 thering any present business, how he dasheth upon other
inconvenience. And therefore rest not upon scattered coun
sels ; 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
kernels ; I mean aid and bearing a part in all actions and
occasions. Here the best way to represent to life the mani
fold use of friendship, is to cast and see how many things

220 there are which a man cannot do himself ; and then it will
appear that it was a sparing speech of the ancients, to say,
that a friend is another himself ; 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 may rest almost secure that
the care of those things will continue after him. So that a
man hath, as it were, two lives in his desires. A man hath a
body, and that body is confined to a place ; but where friend-

230 ship is, all 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 can
not sometimes brook to supplicate or beg ; and a number of
the like. But all these things are graceful in a friend's

xxvii.] OF FRIENDSHIP. 73

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 terms : 240
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 have not a friend, he may quit
the stage.

XXVIII. OF EXPENSE.

RICHES are for spending, and spending for honour and good
actions. Therefore extraordinary expense must be limited
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 expense ought to be limited by. a man's estate ;
and governed with such regard, as it be within his compass ;
and not subject to deceit and abuse of servants ; and ordered
to the best show, that the bills may be less than the estima
tion abroad. Certainly, if a man will keep but of even hand,
his ordinary expenses ought to be but to the half of his 10
receipts ; and if he think to wax rich, but to the third part.
It is 110 baseness for the greatest to descend and look into
their own estate. Some forbear it, not upon negligence alone,
but doubting to 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 well those whom he employ eth,
and change them often ; for new are more timorous and less
subtle. He that can look into his estate but seldom, it
behoveth him to turn all to certainties. A man had need, if 20
he be plentiful in some kind of expense, to be as saving again
in some other. As if he be plentiful in diet, to be saving in
apparel ; if he be plentiful in the hall, to be saving in the

74 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxvni.

stable ; and the like. For he that is plentiful in expenses 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,
30 he will revert to his customs : but he that cleareth by de
grees induceth a habit of frugality, and gaineth as well upon
his mind as upon his estate. Certainly, who hath a state to
repair, may not despise small things ; and 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.

XXIX. OF THE TKUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS
AND ESTATES.

THE speech of Themistocles the Athenian, which was haugh
ty 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 could make a small town a great city.
These words (hoi pen a little with a metaphor) may express
two differing abilities in those that deal in business of estate.
For if a true survey be taken of counsellors and statesmen,
there may be found (though rarely) those which can make a
10 small state great, and yet cannot fiddle : as on the other side,
there will be found a great many that can fiddle very cunning
ly, 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 decay. And, certainly,
those degenerate arts and shifts, whereby many counsellors
and governors gain both favour with their masters and esti
mation with the vulgar, deserve no better name than fiddling ;

xxix.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 75

being things rather pleasing for the time, and graceful to
themselves only, than tending to the weal and advancement
of the state which they serve. There are also (no doubt) 20
counsellors and governors which may be held sufficient negotiis
pares, able to manage affairs, and to keep them from preci
pices and manifest inconveniences ; which 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. An argument
fit for great and mighty princes to have in their hand ; to
the end that neither by over-measuring their forces, they leese
themselves in vain enterprises ; nor on the other side, by 30
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 and maps. But yet there is not anything amongst
civil affairs more subject to error, than the right valuation
i and true judgment concerning the power and forces of an
estate. The kingdom of heaven is compared, not to any great 40
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 that have
but a small dimension of stem, and yet apt to be the founda
tions of great monarchies.

Walled towns, stored arsenals and armouries, goodly races
of horse, chariots of war, elephants, ordnance, artillery, and
the like ; all this is but a sheep in a lion's skin, except the
breed and disposition of the people be stout and warlike. 50
Nay, number (itself) in armies importeth not much, where
the people is of weak corn-age ; for (as Virgil saith) It never
troubles a wolf how many the sheep be. The army of the

76 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxix.

Persians in the plains of Arbela was such a vast sea of peo
ple, as it did somewhat astonish the commanders in Alex
ander's army ; who came to him therefore, and wished him
to set upon them by night ; but he answered, He would not
pilfer the victory. A nd the defeat was easy. When Tigranes
the Armenian, being encamped upon a hill with four hundred

60 thousand men, discovered the army of the Romans, being not
above fourteen thousand, marching towards him, he made
himself merry with it and said, Yonder men are too many for
an ambassage and too few for a fight. But, before the sun set,
he found them enow to give him the chase with infinite
slaughter. Many are the examples of the great odds between
number and courage : so that a man may truly make a judge
ment, 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,

70 in base and effeminate people, are failing. For Solon said
well to Croesus (when in ostentation he shewed him his gold),
Sir, if any other come that hath better iron than you, he will be
master of all 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 subjects of martial disposition, know their own
strength ; unless they be otherwise wanting unto themselves.
As for mercenary forces (which is the help in this case), all
examples show that whatsoever estate or prince doth rest

80 upon them, he may spread his feathers for a time, .but he will
mew them soon after.

The blessing of Judah and Iss^char will never meet ; that
the same people or nation should be both the lion's whelp and
the ass between burthens : neither will it be, that a people over
laid with taxes should ever become valiant and martial. It
is true that taxes levied by consent of the estate do 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

I xxix.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 77

i and not of the purse. So that although the same tribute and 90
I tax, laid by consent or by imposing, be all one to the purse,
I yet it works diversely" upon the courage. So that you may
| conclude, that no people over-charged with tribute is fit for
I empire.

Let states that aim at greatness, take heed how their
I nobility and gentlemen do multiply too fast. For that maketh
I the common subject grow to be a peasant and base swain,
I driven out of heart, and in effect but the gentlemen's labourer.
I Even as you may see in coppice woods ; if you leave your

st;u Idles too thick, you shall never have clean underwood, but 100

I shrubs and bushes. So in countries, if the gentlemen be too

I many, the commons will be base ; and you will bring it to

! that, that not the hundredth poll will be fit for an helmet ;

especially as to the infantry, which is the nerve of an army ;

and so there will be great population and little strength.

! This which I speak of hath been no where better seen than

by comparing of England and France ; whereof England,

though far less in territory and population, hath been

(nevertheless) an over-match ; in regard the middle people

) of England make good soldiers, which the peasants of France 110

do not. And herein the device of King Henry the Seventh
| (whereof I have spoken largely in the history of his life) was
I profound and admirable ; in making farms and houses of
j husbandry of a standard ; that is, maintained with such a
proportion of land unto them, as may breed a subject to live
in convenient plenty and no servile condition ; and to keep
I the plough in the hands of the owners, and not mere hire
lings. And thus indeed you shall attain to Virgil's character
i which he gives to ancient Italy :

Terra potens armis atque ubere glebae. 120

[A land powerful in arms, and with a fertile soil.] Neither is

| that state (which, for any thing I know, is almost peculiar to

I 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 servants and attendants upon noblemen and gentlemen ;

78 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxix.

which are no ways inferior unto the yeomanry for arms.
And therefore, out of all question, the splendour and mag
nificence and great retinues and hospitality of noblemen and
gentlemen, received into custom, doth much conduce unto

130 martial greatness. Whereas, contrariwise, the close and
reserved living of noblemen and gentlemen causeth a penury
of military forces.

By all means it is to be procured, that the trunk of Nebu
chadnezzar's tree of monarchy be great enough to bear the
branches and the boughs ; that is, that the natural subjects
of the crown or state bear a sufficient proportion to the
stranger subjects that they govern. Therefore all states
that are liberal of naturalization towards strangers are fit
for empire. For to think that an handful of people can,

140 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 people in 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 Eomans. Therefore it sorted with them accordingly ;
for they grew to the greatest monarchy. Their manner was

150 to grant -naturalization (which they called jus civitatis [rights
of citizenship^), and to grant it in the highest degree ; that
is, not only jus commercii, jus connubii, jus hcereditatis [right
of trading, right of marriage, right of inheritance'] ; but also
jus suffragii and jus honorum [right of voting and right of
holding office]. 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 soil of other
nations. And putting both constitutions together, you will

160 say that it was not the Eomans that spread upon the world,
but it was the world that spread upon the Romans ; and that

xxix.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 79

was the sure way 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, to employ almost indifferently all
nations in their militia of ordinary soldiers ; yea, and some
times in their highest commands. Nay it seemeth at this 170
instant they are sensible of this want of natives ; as by the
Pragmatical Sanction, now published, appeareth.

It is certain, that sedentary and within-door arts, and
delicate manufactures (that 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 others, that they had 180
the use of slaves, which commonly did rid those manufactures.
But that is abolished, in greatest part, by the Christian law.
That which cometh nearest to it, is to leave tho^e arts chiefly
to strangers (which for that piirpose 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, etc. : not reckoning professed
soldiers.

But above all, for empire and greatness, it importeth most, 190
that a nation do profess arms as their principal honour,
study,, and occupation. For the things which we formerly
have spoken of are but habitations 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 arms ; a,nd then
they should prove the greatest empire of the world. The

80 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxix.

fabric of the state of Sparta was wholly (though not
wisely) framed and composed to that scope and end. The

200 Persians and Macedonians had it for a flash. The Gauls,
Germans, Goths, Saxons, Normans, and others, had it for a
time. Th.e Turks have it at this day, though in great
declination. Of Christian Europe, they that have it are, in
effect, only the Spaniards. But it is so plain, that every man
profiteth in that he most intendeth, that it needeth not to be
stood upon. It is enough to point at it ; that no nation
which doth not directly profess arms, may look to have
greatness fall into their mouths. And on the other side,
it is a most certain oracle of time, that those states that

210 continue long in that profession (as the Romans and
Turks principally have done) do wonders. And those that
have professed arms but for an age, have notwithstanding
commonly attained that greatness in that age which main
tained them long after, when their profession and exercise of
arms hath 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 (as
may be pretended) of war. For there is that justice im
printed in the nature of men, that they enter not upon wars

220 (whereof so many calamities do ensue) 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 always 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 wrongs, either upon borderers, merchants, or
politic ministers ; and that they sit not too long upon a pro-

230 vocation. Secondly, let them be prest and ready to give aids
and succours to their confederates ; as it ever was with the
Romans ; insomuch, as if the confederates had leagues defen
sive with divers other states, and, upon invasion offered, did

xxix.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 81

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 made on the behalf of a
kind of party, or tacit conformity of estate, I do not see how
they may be well justified : as when the Romans made a war
for the liberty of Graecia ; or when the Lacedaemonians and
Athenians made wars to set up or pull down democracies and 240
oligarchies ; or when wars were made 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 natural
body nor politic ; and certainly to a kingdom or estate, 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 serveth to keep the body in health ; 250
for in a slothful peace, both courages will effeminate and
manners corrupt. But howsoever it be for happiness, with
out all question, for greatness it maketh, to be still for the
most part in arms ; and the strength of the veteran army,
though it be a chargeable business, always on foot, is that
which commonly giveth the law, or at least the reputation,
amongst all neighbour states ; as may well be 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 master of the sea is an abridgment of a monarchy. 260
Cicero, writing to Atticus of Pompey his preparation against
Csesar, saith, Consilium Pompeii plane Themistoclcum est ;
putat enim, qui mari potitur, eum rerum potiri ; [The policy of
Pompey is like that of Themistocles. He thinks that power is
with him who commands the sea ;] and, without doubt, Pompey
had tired out Caesar, if upon vain confidence he had not left
that way. We see the great effects of battles by sea. The
battle of Actium decided the empire of the world. The
battle of Lepanto arrested the greatness of the Turk. There

82 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxix.

270 be many examples where sea-fights have been final to the
war ; but this is when princes or states have set up their
rest 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, with 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 not merely inland, but girt

280 with the sea most part of their compass ; and because the
wealth of both Indies seems in great part but an accessary
to the command 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 now, for martial
encouragement, some degrees and orders of chivalry ; which
nevertheless are conferred promiscuously upon soldiers and
no soldiers ; and some remembrance perhaps upon the scut
cheon ; and some hospitals for maimed soldiers ; and such

290 like things. But in ancient times, the trophies erected upon
the place of the victory ; the funeral laudatives and monu
ments for those that died in the wars ; the crowns and
garlands personal ; the style of Emperor, 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 ; were things able to
inflame all men's courages. But above all, that of the
triumph, amongst the Romans, was not pageants or gaudery,
but one of the wisest and noblest institutions that ever was.

300 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 perhaps 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

xxix.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 83

sons, for such wars as they did achieve in person ; and left
only, for wars achieved by subjects, some triumphal garments
and ensigns to the general.

To conclude : no man can by care taking (as the Scripture
saith) add a cubit to his stature, in this little model of a man's 310
body ; but in the great frame of kingdoms and common
wealths, it is in the power of princes or estates to add ampli
tude and ' greatness to their kingdoms ; for by introducing
such ordinances, constitutions, and customs, as we have now
touched, they may sow greatness to their posterity and suc
cession. But these things are commonly not observed, but
left to take their chance.

XXX. .OF EEGIMENT OF HEALTH.

THERE is a wisdom in this 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 agreeth not well ivith me, there
fore I ivill not continue it ; than this, I find no offence of this,
therefore I may use it. For strength of nature in youth
passeth over many excesses, which are owing a man till his
age. Discern of the coming on of years, and think not to do
the same things still ; for age will not be defied. Beware of
sudden change in any great point of diet, and if necessity 10
enforce it, fit the rest to it. For it is a secret both in nature
and state, that it is safer to change many things than one.
Examine thy customs of diet, sleep, exercise, apparel, and
the like ; and try, in any thing thou shalt judge hurtful, to
discontinue it by little and little ; but so, as if thou dost find
any inconvenience by the change, thou come back to it again :
for it is hard to distinguish that which is generally held good
and wholesome, from that which is good particularly, and fit
for thine own body. To be free-minded and cheerfully dis
posed at hours of meat and of sleep and of exercise, is one of 20

84 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxx.

the best precepts of long lasting. As for the passions and
studies of the mind ; avoid envy ; anxious fears ; anger
fretting inwards ; subtle and knotty inquisitions ; joys and
exhilarations in excess ; sadness not communicated. Enter
tain hopes ; mirth rather than joy ; variety of delights,
rather than surfeit of them ; wonder and admiration, 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

30 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 frequent 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 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 very
sharp, be cured only with diet and tendering. Celsus could

40 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 ex
treme : 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 mnsteries. Physicians are some
of them so pleasing and conformable to the humour of the
patient, as they press not the true cure of the disease ; and

50 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
forget not to call as well the best acquainted with your body,
as the best reputed of for his faculty.

xxxi.] OF SUSPICION. 85

XXXI. OF SUSPICION.

SUSPICIONS amongst thoughts are like bats amongst birds,
they ever fly by twilight. Certainly they are to be repressed,
or at the least well guarded : for they cloud the mind ; they
leese friends ; and they check with business, whereby busi
ness cannot go on currently and constantly. They dispose
kings to tyranny, husbands to jealousy, wise men to irre
solution and melancholy. They are defects, not in the heart,
but in the brain ; for they take place in the stoutest natures;
as in the example of Henry the Seventh of England. There
was not a more suspicious man, nor a more stout. And in 10
such a composition they do small hurt. For commonly 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 to
know little ; and therefore men should remedy suspicion by
procuring to know more, and not to keep their suspicions in
smother. What would men 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 ? Therefore there is 110 better way to moderate 20
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 true that he suspects, yet it may do him no hurt. Sus
picions that the mind of itself gathers are but buzzes ;
but suspicions that are artificially nourished, and put into
men's heads by the tales and whisperings of others, have
stings. Certainly, the best mean to clear the way in this
same wood of suspicions, is frankly to communicate them with
the party that he suspects. For thereby he shall be sure to 30
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 would not be done to

86 BACON'S ESSAYS. . [xxxi.

men of base natures ; for they, if they find themselves once
suspected, will never be true. The Italian says, Sospetto
licencia fede ; [Suspicion gives license to faith :] as if suspicion
did give a passport to faith ; but it ought rather to kindle it
to discharge itself.

XXXII. OF DISCOURSE.

SOME in their discourse desire rather commendation of wit,
in being able to hold all arguments, than of judgment, in
discerning what is true ; as if it were a praise to know what
might be said, and not what should be thought. Some have
certain common places and themes wherein they are good, and
want variety ; which kind of poverty is for the most part
tedious, and when it is once perceived, ridiculous. The
honourablest part of talk is to give the occasion ; and again
to moderate and pass to somewhat else ; for then a man
leads the dance. It is good, in discourse and speech of

10 conversation, to vary and intermingle 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
any thing too far. As for jest, there be certain things
which ought to be privileged from it ; namely, religion,
matters of state, great persons, any man's present business
of importance, and any case that deserveth pity. Yet there
be some that think their wits have been asleep, except they
dart out somewhat that is piquant and to the quick. That

20 is a vein which would be bridled ;

Parce, puer, stimulis, et fortius utere loris.
[Spare the spur, boy, and pull harder at the reins.'}
And generally, men ought to find the difference between
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

xxxn.] OF DISCOURSE. 87

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. 30
But let his questions not be troublesome ; for that is fit for
a poser. And let him be sure to 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 galliards. If ycm dissemble sometimes your
knowledge of that you are thought to know, 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, He must needs be a wise man, he 40
speaks so much of himself: and there is but one case 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 used ; for discourse
ought to 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 truly, was there never a flout or dry blow 50
given ? To which the guest would answer, Siich and suck a
thing passed. The lord would say, / thought he would mar a
good dinner. Discretion of speech is more than eloquence ;
and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal, is more
than to speak in good words or in good order. A good
continued speech, without a good speech of interlocution,
shows slowness ; and a good reply or second speech, without
a good settled speech, showeth shallowness and weakness.
As we see in beasts, that those that are weakest in the
course, are yet nimblest in the turn ; as it is betwixt the 60
greyhound and the hare. To use too many circumstances
ere one come to the matter, is wearisome ; to use none at all,
is blunt.

BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxxm.

XXXIII. OF PLANTATIONS.

PLANTATIONS are amongst ancient, primitive, and heroical
works. When the world was young it begat more children ;
but now it is old it begets fewer : for I may justly account
new plantations to be the children of former kingdoms. I
like a plantation in a pure soil ; that is, where people are
not displanted to the end to plant in others. For else it
is rather an extirpation than a plantation. Planting of
countries is like planting of woods ; for you must make
account to leese almost twenty years profit, and expect your

10 recompense in the end. For the principal thing that hath
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 not to be neglected, as far as may stand with
the good of the plantation, but no farther. 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
not only so, but it spoileth the plantation ; for they will ever
live like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy, and do
mischief, and spend victuals, and be quickly weary, and then

20 certify over to their country to the discredit of the planta
tion. 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 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,

30 turnips, onions, radish, artichokes of Hierusalem, maize, and
the like. For wheat, barley, and oats, they ask too much
labour ; but with peas and beans you may begin, both
because they ask less labour, and because they serve for

xxxiu.] OF PLANTATIONS. 89

meat as well as for bread. And of rice likewise cometh
a great increase, and it is a kind of meat. ' Above all,
there ought to be brought store of biscuit, oat-meal, flour,
meal, and the like, in the beginning, 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 40
plantations 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 com
mon stock ; and to be laid in, and stored up, and then deliv
ered out in proportion; besides some spots of ground that any
particular person will manure for his own private. Consider
likewise what commodities the soil where the plantation is
doth naturally yield, that they may some way help to defray
the charge of the plantation, (so it be not, as was said, to the
untimely prejudice of the main business,) as it hath fared 50
with tobacco in Virginia. Wood commonly aboundeth but
too much ; and therefore timber is fit to be one. If there be
iron ore, and streams whereupon 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 exper
ience. Growing silk likewise, if any be, is a likely commod
ity. Pitch and tar, where store of firs and pines are, will
not fail. So drugs and sweet woods, where they are, can
not but yield great profit. Soap-ashes likewise, and other
things that may be thought of. But moil not too much Tinder 60
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 counsel ; and
let them have commission to exercise martial laws, with some
limitation. And above all, let men make that profit of being
in the wilderness, as they have God always, and his service,
before their eyes. Let not the government of the plantation
depend upon too many counsellors and undertakers in the
country that planteth, but upon a temperate number ; and

90 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxxni.

70 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 not only
freedom from custom, but freedom to carry their commodities
where they may make their best of them, except there be
some special cause of caution. Cram not in people, by send
ing too fast company after company ; but rather hearken
how they waste, and send supplies proportionally ; but so as
the number may live well in the plantation, and not by sur
charge be in penury. It hath been a great endangering to

80 the health of some plantations, that they have built along the
sea and rivers, in marish and unwholesome grounds. There
fore, though you begin there, to avoid carriage and other like
discommodities, yet build still rather upwards from the streams
than along. It concerneth likewise the health of the planta
tion that they have good store of salt with 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 not win their favour by helping

90 them to invade their enemies, but for their defence it is not
amiss ; and send oft of them over to the country that plants,
that they may see a better condition than their own, and
commend it when they return. When the plantation grows
to strength, then it is time to plant with women as well as
with men ; that the plantation may spread into generations,
and not be ever pieced from without. It is the sinfullest
thing in the world to forsake or destitute a plantation once
in forwardness ; for besides the dishonour, it is the guiltiness
of blood of many commiserable persons.

XXXIV. OF EICHES.

I CANNOT call Riches better than the baggage of virtue. The
Roman word is better, impedimenta. For as the baggage is
to an army, so is riches to virtue. It cannot be spared nor

xxxi v.] OF RICHES. 91

left behind, but it liiudereth the inarch ; yea ami 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 rest
is but conceit. So saith Salomon, Where much is, there are
many to consume it ; and what hath the owner but the sight of it
with his eyes ? The personal fruition in any man cannot reach
to feel great riches : there is a custody of them ; or a power 10
of dole and donative of them ; or a fame of them ; but no
solid use to the owner. Do you not see 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, in the imagination of the rich
man. But this is excellently expressed, that it is in imagin
ation, and not always in fact. For certainly great riches have
sold more men than they have bought out. Seek uot proud 20
riches, but such as thou niayest get justly, use soberly, distri
bute cheerfully, and leave contentedly. Yet have no abstract
or friarly contempt of them. But distinguish, as Cicero saith
well of Rabirius Posthumus, In studio rei amplijicanda;,
apparebat, non avaritice prcedam, sed instrumentum bonitati
quceri : [In his zeal to increase his estate it was evident that he was
seeking not a prey for avarice, but a means of doing good.]
Hearken also to Salomon, and beware of hasty gathering of
riches ; Qui festinat ad divitias, non erit insons : [He that
maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.] The poets feign, 30
that when Plutus (which is Riches) is sent from Jupiter, he
limps and goes slowly ; but when he is sent from Pluto, he
runs and is swift of foot. Meaning that riches gotten by
good means and just labour pace slowly ; but when they
come by the death of others (as by the course of inheritance,
testaments, and the like), they come tumbling upon a man.
But it mought be applied likewise to Pluto, taking him for
the devil. For when riches come from the devil (as by fraud
and oppression and unjust means), they come upon speed.

92 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxxiv.

40 Tlie ways to enrich are many, and most of them foul. Parsi
mony is one of the best, and yet is not innocent ; for it with-
holdeth men from works of liberality and charity. The
improvement of the ground is the most natural obtaining of
riches ; for it is our great mother's blessing, the earth's ; but
it is slow. And yet where men of great wealth do stoop to
husbandry, 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 timber man, a great collier, a great corn-master, a

50 great lead-man, and so of iron, and a number of the like
points of husbandry. So as the earth seemed a sea to him
in respect of the perpetual importation. It was truly ob
served 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 the prime of
markets, and overcome those bargains which for their great
ness are few 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

60 by two things chiefly ; by diligence, and by 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'
necessity, broke by servants and instruments to draw them
on, put off others cunningly that would be better chapmen,
and the like practices, which are crafty and naught. 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 do greatly
enrich, if the hands be well chosen that are trusted. Usury

70 is the certainest means of gain, though one of the worst ; as
that whereby a man doth eat his bread in sitdore vulttis
alieni ; [in the sweat of another's face ;] and besides, doth
plough upon Sundays. But yet certain though it be, it hath
flaws ; for that the scriveners and brokers do value unsound
men to serve their own turn. The fortune in being the first

xxxiv.] OF RICHES. 93

in an invention or in a privilege, doth cause sometimes a
wonderful overgrowth in riches ; as it was with the first
sugar man in the Canaries. Therefore if a man can play the
true logician, to have as well judgment as invention, he may
do great matters ; especially if the times be fit. He that 80
resteth upon gains certain, shall hardly grow to great riches ;
and he that puts all upon adventures, doth oftentimes break
and come to poverty : it is good therefore to guard adventures
with certainties, that may uphold losses. Monopolies, and
coemption of wares for re-sale, where they are not restrained,
are great means to enrich ; especially if the party have
intelligence what things are like to come into request, and
so store himself beforehand. Riches gotten by service,
though it be of the best rise, yet when they are gotten by
flattery, feeding humours, and other servile conditions, they 90
may be placed amongst the worst. As for fishing for testa
ments and executorships (as Tacitus saith of Seneca, testa-
menta et orbos tanquam indagine capi, [the mils of the childless
were, so to say, caught vn a snare,]) it is yet worse ; by how
much men submit themselves to meaner persons than in
service. Believe not much them that seem to despise riches ;
for 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 sent flying to bring in more. Men leave their 100
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 lure to all the birds of prey round about to seize on
him, if he be not the better stablished in years and judgment.
Likewise glorious gifts and foundations are like sacrifices
iritliout salt ; and but the painted sepulchres of alms, which
soon will putrefy and corrupt inwardly. Therefore measure
not thine advancements by quantity, but frame them by
measure : and defer not charities till death ; for, certainly,
if a man weigh it rightly, he that doth so is rather liberal of 110
another man's than of his own.

94 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxxv.

XXXV. OF PROPHECIES.

I MEAN not 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 thou and thy sons
shall be with me. Homer hath these verses :

At domus ^Eneae cunctis dominabitur oris,
Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis.
[The house of JEneas shall rule over every land,
And his children's children, and those who sltall be born of
10 them.]

A prophecy, as it seems, of the Roman empire. Seneca the
tragedian hath these verses :

Venient annis

Srecula seris, quibus Oceanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos
Detegat orbes ; nee sit terris
Ultima Thule :

[Ocean in years to come shall loose her bands,
20 The vast earth be disclosed, and Tiphys show

New worlds, nor Thule be the farthest bound :]
a prophecy of the discovery of America. The daughter of
Polycrates dreamed that Jupiter bathed her father, and
Apollo anointed him ; and it came to pass that he was
crucified in an open place, where the sun made his body
run with sweat, and the rain washed it. Philip of Macedon
dreamed he sealed up his wife's belly ; whereby he did
expound it, that his wife should be barren ; but Aristander
the soothsayer told him his wife was with child, because
30 men do not use to seal up vessels that are empty. A
phantasm that appeared to M. Brutus in his tent, said to
him, Philippis iterum me videbis : [Thou shalt see me again at
Philippi]. Tiberius said to Galba, Tu quoque, Galba, de-
gustabis imperium : [Thou too, Galba, shalt taste of empire].

xxxv.] OF PROPHECIES. 95

In Vespasian's time, there went a prophecy in the East, that
those that should come 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 succes- 40
sion that followed him, for many years, made golden times.
Henry the Sixth of England said of Henry the Seventh,
when he was a lad, and gave him water, This is the lad that
shall enjoy the croicn for which we strive. 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 was slain upon a 50
course at tilt, the splinters of the staff of Montgomery going
in at his beaver. The trivial prophecy which I heard when
I was a, child, and Queen Elizabeth was in the flower of her
years, was,

When hempe is sponne
England's done :

whereby it was generally conceived, that after the princes
had reigned which had the principial letters of that word
hempe (which were Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and
Elizabeth), England should come to utter confusion ; which, 60
thanks be to God, is verified only in the change of the name ,
for that the King's style is now no more of England, but of
Britain. There was also another prophecy, before the year
of eighty-eight, which I do not well understand.
There shall be seen upon a day,
Between the Baugh and the May,
The black fleet of Norway.
When that that is come and gone,
England build houses of lime and stone,
For after wars shall vou have none. 70

96 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxxv.

It was generally conceived to be meant of the Spanish fleet
that came in eighty-eight : for that the king of Spain's sur
name, as they say, is Norway. The prediction of Kegio-
montanus,

Octogesimus octavus mirabilis annus,

[The eighty-eighth year shall be remarkable]

was thought likewise accomplished in the sending of that

great fleet, being the greatest in strength, though not in

number, of all that ever swam upon the sea. As for Cl eon's

80 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 pre
dictions of astrology. But I have set down these few only
of certain credit, for example. My judgment is, that they
ought all to be despised ; and ought to serve but for winter
talk by the fireside. Though when I say despised, I mean it
as for belief ; for otherwise, the spreading or publishing of
them is in no sort to be despised. For they have done much

90 mischief ; and I see many severe laws made 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 'collect.
As that of Seneca's verse. For so much was then subject to
demonstration, that the globe of the earth had great parts
100 beyond the Atlantic, which mought be probably conceived
not to be all sea : and adding thereto the tradition in Plato's
Timpeus, and his Atlanticus, it mought 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 passed.

xxxvi.] OF AMBITION. 97

XXXVI. OF AMBITION.

AMBITION is like clioler ; 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, 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 backward ; which is the
worst property in a servant of a prince or state. Therefore 10
it is good for princes, if they use ambitious men, to handle it
so as they be still progressive and not retrograde ; which
because it cannot be without inconvenience, it is good not to
use such natures at all. For if they rise not with their ser
vice, 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, except it be upon necessity, it is 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 service dispenseth with the rest ; and to 20
take a soldier 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, 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 less danger of 30
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

G

98 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxxvi.

fortified in their greatness. It is counted by some a weak
ness in princes to have favourites ; but it is of all others the
best remedy against ambitious great-ones. For when the
way of pleasuring and displeasuring lieth by the favourite, it
is impossible any other should be over-great. Another
means to curb them, is to balance them by others as proud

40 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 to
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 dangerous. As for the pulling of them down, if
the affairs require it, and that it may not be done with
safety suddenly, the only way is, the interchange continually

50 of favours and disgraces ; whereby they may not 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 every thing ; for that breeds con
fusion, and mars business. But yet it is less danger to have
an ambitious man stirring in business, than great in depend
ences. He that seeketh to be eminent amongst able men
hath a great task ; but that is ever good for the public.
But he that plots to be the only figure amongst cyphers is
the decay of a whole age. Honour hath three things in it ;

60 the vantage ground to do good ; the approach to kings and
principal persons ; and the raising of a man's 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. Gene
rally, 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 bravery ; and let them
discern a busy nature from a willing mind.

xxxvii.] OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS. 99

XXXVII. OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS.

THESE things are but toys, to come amongst such serious
observations. 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 quire, placed
aloft, and accompanied with some broken music ; and the
ditty fitted to the device. Acting in song, especially in
dialogues, hath an extreme good grace ; I say acting, not
dancing (for that is a mean and vulgar thing) ; and the
voices of the dialogue would be strong and manly, (a base 10
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 noted, that those things
which I here set down are such as do naturally take the
sense, and not respect petty wonderments. It is true, the
alterations of scenes, so it be quietly and without noise, are
things of great beauty and pleasure ; for they feed and
relieve the eye, before it be full of the same object. Let the 20
scenes abound with light, especially coloured and varied ;
and let the masquers, or any other, that are to come down
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 cheer
ful, and not chirpings or pulings. Let the music likewise be
sharp and loud, and well placed. The colours that show
best by candle-light, are white, carnation, and a kind of sea-
water-green ; and oes, or spangs, as they are of no great cost, 30
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 vizards are off ; not

100 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxxvu.

after examples of known attires ; Turks, soldiers, mariners,
and the like. Let anti-masques not be long ; they have been
commonly of fools, satyrs, baboons, wild-men, antics, beasts,
sprites, witches, Ethiopes, pigmies, turquets, nymphs, rustics,
Cupids, statuas moving, and the like. As for angels, it is
not comical enough to put them in anti-masques ; and any

40 thing that is hideous, as devils, giants, is on the other side as
unfit. But chiefly, let the music of them be recreative, 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
ladies, addeth state and variety. But all is nothing except
the room be kept clear and neat.

For justs, and tourneys, and barriers ; the glories of them
are chiefly in the chariots, wherein the challengers make their

50 entry ; especially if they be drawn with strange beasts : as
lions, bears, camels, and the like ; or in the devices 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.

XXXVIII. OF NATUEE IN MEN.

NATURE is often hidden ; sometimes overcome ; seldom ex
tinguished. Force maketh nature more violent in the return ;
doctrine and discourse maketh nature less importune ; 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 will 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 do with bladders or rushes ; but
10 after a time let him practise with disadvantages, as dancers
do with thick shoes. For it breeds great perfection, if the

xxxviii.] OF NATURE IN MEN. 101

practice be harder than the use. Where nature is mighty,
and therefore the victory hard, the degrees had need be, first
to stay and arrest nature in time ; 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,
come from drinking healths to a draught at a meal ; and
lastly, to discontinue altogether. But if a man have the
fortitude and resolution to enfranchise himself at once, that
is the best : 20

Optimus ille animi vindex laedentia pectus
Vincula qui rupit, dedoluitque semel.

[ Wouldst thou be free ? The chains that gall thy breast
With one strong effort burst, Q'.nd be at rest.]

Neither is the ancient rule amims, to bend nature as a wand
to a contrary extreme, whereby to set it right ; understand
ing it, where the contrary extreme is no vice. Let not a man
force a habit upon himself with a perpetual continuance, but
with some intermission. For bol h the pause reinf orceth the
new onset ; and if a man that is not perfect be ever in 39
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 ^Esop's damsel, turned
from a cat to a woman, who sat v ery demurely at the board's
end, till a mouse ran before her. 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 per- 40
ceived in privateness, for there is no affectation ; in passion,
for that putteth a man out of his precepts ; and in a new
case or experiment, for there custom leaveth him. They are
happy men whose natures sort w ith their vocations ; other
wise they may say, midtuin incoh i fuit anima mea, [my soul

102 BACON'S ESSAYS. [xxxvui.

hath been long a sojourner ;~\ when they converse in those
things they do not affect. In studies, whatsoever a man
commandeth upon himself, let him set hours for it ; but
whatsoever is agreeable to his nature, let him take no care
50 for any set times ; for his thoughts will fly to it of them
selves ; so as the spaces of other business or studies will
suffice. A man's nature r uns either to herbs or weeds ;
therefore let him seasonably water the one, and destroy the
other.

XXXIX. OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION.

MEN'S thoughts are much according to their inclination ;
their discourse and speeches, according to their learning and
infused opinions ; but their deeds are after as they have been
accustomed. And therefore as Machiavel well noteth,
(though in an evil-favoured instance,) there is no trusting to
the force of nature nor to the bravery of words, 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 undertakings ;

10 but take such an one as hath had his hands formerly in
blood. But Machiavel knnw not of a friar Clement, nor a
Ravillac, nor a Jaureguy, nor a 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 are as firm as butchers
by occupation ; and votary resolution is made equipollent to
custom even in matter of blood In other things the pre
dominancy of custom is every where visible ; insomuch as a
man would wonder to hear men profess, protest, engage, give

20 great words, and then do jiust 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 it is. The ] ndians (I mean the sect of their

xxxix.] OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION. 103

wise men) lay themselves quietly upon a stack of wood, and
so sacrifice themselves by fire. Nay the wives strive to be
burned with the corpses of their husbands. The lads of
Sparta, of ancient time, were wont to be scourged upon the
altar of Diana, without so much as queching. I remember,
in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's time of England, an
Irish rebel condemned, put up a petition to the deputy that 30
he might be hanged in a with, and not in an halter ; because
it had been so used with former rebels. There be monks in
Russia, for penance, that will 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 all means endeavour to obtain good customs.
Certainly 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 40
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 ; except it be in some minds that have not
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 conjoined
and collegiate is far greater. For there example teacheth,
company comforteth, emulation quickeneth, glory raiseth : 50
so as in such places the force of custom is in his exaltation.
Certainly the great multiplication of virtues upon human
nature resteth upon societies well ordained and disciplined.
For commonwealth 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 to be desired.

104 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XL.

XL. OF FOBTUNE.

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 quisque fortunes suce, [Every one may be the
architect of his own fortune,] saith the poet. And the most
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' error. Serpens nisi serpentem comcderit non fit
draco : [A serpent does not become a dragon except by eating

10 another serpent.] Overt and apparent virtues bring forth
praise ; but there be secret and hidden virtues that bring
forth fortune ; certain deliveries of a man's self, which have
no name. The Spanish name, disemboltura, partly expresseth
them ; when there be not stonds nor restiveness in a man's
nature ; but that the wheels of his mind keep way with the
wheels of his fortune. For so Livy (after he had described
Cato Major in these words, In illo viro tantum robur corporis et
animi fuit, ut qriocunque loco natus esset, fortunam sibi facturus
videretur; [He possessed such strength of mind and body, that

20 he could probably have made for himself a fortune, wherever he
had been born;]) falleth upon that, that he had versatile
ingenium. Therefore if a man look sharply and attentively,
he shall see Fortune : for though she be blind, yet she is not
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 ;
not seen asunder, but giving light together. So are there a
number of little and 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.

30 When they speak of one that cannot do amiss, they will
throw in into his other conditions, that he hath Poco di
matto : [a little of the fool.] And certainly there be not two
more fortunate properties, than to have a little of the fool,

XL.] OF FORTUNE. 105

and not too much of the honest. Therefore 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 his own way. An hasty fortune maketh
an enterpriser and remover ; (the French hath it better,
entreprenant, or remnant ;) but the exercised fortune maketh
the able man. Fortune is to be honoured and respected, and 40
it be but for her daughters, Confidence and Reputation.
For those two felicity breedeth ; the first within a man's
self, and the latter in others towards him. All wise men, to
decline the envy of their own virtues, use to ascribe them to
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,
Ccesarem portas, et fortunam ejus : [ You carry Ccesar and his
fortune,] So Sylla chose the name of Felix [Fortunate],
and not of Magnus [Great]. And it hath been noted, that 50
those who ascribe openly too much to their own wisdom and
policy, end infortunate. It is written that Timotheus the
Athenian, after he had, in the account he gave to the state
of his government, often interlaced this speech, and in this
Fortune had no part, never prospered in any thing he under
took afterwards. Certainly there be, whose fortunes are
like Homer's verses, that have a slide 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. 60

XLI. OF USURY.

MANY have made witty invectives against Usury. They
say that it is a 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 ;

106 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLI.

Ignavum fucos pecus a prsesepibus arcent.
[They drive away the drones, an idle herd, from their hives.]
That the usurer breaketh the first law that was made for
mankind after the fall, which was, in sudore vulttis tui comedes

10 panem tuum, not, in sudore vultils alieni : [in the siveat of thy
brow shalt thou eat bread ; not, in the sweat of another man's
brow,~\ That usurers should have orange-tawny bonnets,
because they do judaize. That it is against nature for
money to beget money ; and the like. I say this only, that
usury is a concessum propter driritiem cordis : [a thing allowed
on account of the hardness of man's heart :] 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 made suspicious and cunning propositions

20 of banks, discovery of men's estates, and other inventions.
But few have spoken of usury usefully. It is good to set
before us the incommodities and commodities of usury, that
the good may be either weighed out or culled out ; and
warily to provide, that while we make forth to that which is
better, we meet not with that which is worse.

The discommodities of usury are, First, that it makes
fewer merchants. For were it not for this lazy trade of
usury, money would not lie still, but would in great part
be employed upon merchandizing ; which is the vena porta of

30 wealth in a state. The second, that it makes poor merchants.
For as a farmer cannot husband his ground so well if he sit
at a great rent ; so the merchant cannot drive his trade 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 merchandizing. The fourth,
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 game most of the money will
be in the box ; and ever a state flourisheth when wealth is

40 more equally spread. The fifth, that it beats down the
price of land ; for the employment of money is chiefly

xo.] OF USURY. 107

either merchandizing 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 slug. 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 respects hindereth merchandizing,
yet in some other it advanceth it ; for it is certain that the 50
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 necessities would draw upon
them a most sudden undoing ; in that they would be forced
to sell their means (be 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 60
will not take pawns without use ; or if they do, they will
look precisely for the forfeiture. I remember a cruel monied
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 impossible
to conceive the number of inconveniences that will ensue, if
borrowing be cramped. Therefore to speak of the abolishing
of usury is idle. All states have ever had it, in one kind or
rate, or other. So as that opinion must be sent to Utopia. 70

To speak now of the reformation and reiglement 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 monied men to lend to the merchants, for

108 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLI.

the continuing and quickening of trade. This cannot be
done, except you introduce two several sorts of usury, a less
80 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 money. And it is to be noted, that the trade of
merchandize, being the most lucrative, may bear usury at a
good rate : other contracts not so.

To serve both intentions, the way would be briefly thus.
That there be two rates of usury ; the one free, and general
for all ; the other under licence only, to certain persons and
in certain places of merchandizing. First therefore, let
usury in general be reduced to five in the hundred ; and let
90 that rate be proclaimed to be free and current ; and let the
state shut itself out to take any penalty for the same. 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 five.
This by like reason will encourage and edge industrious and
profitable improvements ; because many will rather venture
in that kind than take five in the hundred, especially having

100 been used to greater profit. Secondly, let there be certain
persons licensed to lend to known merchants upon usury at a
higher rate ; and 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
all 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 master 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

1 10 answered some small matter for the licence, 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, that took
before ten or nine in the hundred, will sooner descend to

XLL] OF USURY. 109

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 merchandizing ; for then they
will be hardly able to colour other men's monies in the
country : so as the license of nine will not suck away the
current rate of five ; for no man will lend his monies far off, 120
nor put them into unknown hands.

If it be objected that this doth in a sort authorize usury,
which before was in some places but permissive ; the answer
is, that it is better to mitigate usury by declaration, than to
suffer it to rage by connivance.

XLIL OF YOUTH AND AGE.

A MAN that is young in years may be old in hours, if he have
lost no time. 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 have passed the meridian of their years ; as it was
with Julius Caesar, and Septimius Severus. Of the latter of 10
whom it is said, Juventutem egit erroribus, imo furoribiis,
plenam ; [I fe passed a youth full of errors, nay of madnesses.]
A.nd yet he was the ablest emperor, almost, of all 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 fitter
to invent than to judge ; fitter for execution than for counsel;
and fitter for new projects than for settled business. For
the experience of age, in things that fall within the compass 20

110 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLII.

of it. directeth them ; but in new things, abuseth them. The
errors of young men are the ruin of business ; but the errors
of aged men amount but to this, that more might have been
done, or sooner. Young men, in the conduct and manage of
actions, embrace more than they can hold ; stir more than
they can quiet ; fly to the end, without consideration of the
means and degrees ; pursue some few principles which they
have chanced upon absurdly ; care not to innovate, which
draws unknown inconveniences ; use extreme remedies at

30 first ; and that which doubleth all errors, will not acknow
ledge 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 themselves
with a mediocrity of success. Certainly it is good to com
pound 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 ;

40 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 men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams, 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 rather in the
powers of understanding, than in the virtues of the will and

50 affections. There be some have an over-early ripeness in
their years, which fadeth betimes. These are, first, such as
have brittle wits, the edge whereof is soon turned ; such as
was Hermogenes the rhetorician, whose books are exceeding
subtle ; who afterwards waxed stupid. A second sort is of
those that have some natural dispositions which have better
grace in youth than in age ; such as is a fluent and luxuriant

XLII.] OF YOUTH AND AGE. Ill

speech ; which becomes youth well, but not age : so Tully
saith of Hortensius, Idem manebat, neque idem decebat : [He
did not change, though change would have been becoming.] The
third is of such as take too high a strain at the first, and 60
are magnanimous more than tract of years can uphold. As
was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith in effect, Ultima
primis cedebant: [The end of his career was not equal to the
beginning."]

•7 «7 J

XLIIL OF BEAUTY.

VIRTUE is like a rich stone, best plain set ; and surely virtue
is best in a body that is comely, though not of delicate
features ; and that hath rather dignity of presence, than
beauty of aspect. Neither is it almost seen, that very beau
tiful persons are otherwise of great virtue ; as if nature were
rather busy not to err, than in labour to produce excellency.
And therefore they prove accomplished, but not of great
spirit ; and study rather behaviour than virtue. But this
holds not always : for Augustus Csesar, Titus Vespasianus,
Philip le Bel of France, Edward the Fourth of England, 10
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 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 hath not some strangeness in the
proportion. A man cannot tell whether Apelles or Albert
Durer were the more trifler ; whereof the one would make a
personage by geometrical proportions ; the other, by taking 20
the best parts out of divers faces, to make one excellent.
Such personages, I think, would please nobody but the
painter that made them. Not but I think a painter may
make a better face than ever was ; but he must do it by a

112 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLIII.

kind of felicity, (as a musician that maketh an excellent air
in music,) and not by rule. A man shall see faces, that if
you examine them part by part, you shall find never a good ;
and yet all together do well. If it be true that the principal
part of beauty is in decent motion, certainly it is no marvel
30 though persons in years seem many times more amiable ;
pulchrorum autummis pulcher ; [the autumn of the beautiful is
beautiful ;] for no youth can be comely but by pardon, and
considering 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 countenance ; but yet certainly again, if
it light well, it maketh virtue shine, and vices blush.

XLIV. OF DEFORMITY.

DEFORMED persons are commonly even with nature ; for as
nature hath done ill by them, so do they by nature ; being
for the most part (as the Scripture saith) void of natural
affection; and so they have their revenge of nature. Cer
tainly there is a consent between the body and the mind ;
and where nature erreth in the one, she ventureth in the
other. Ubi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero. But because
there is in man an election touching the frame of his mind,
and a necessity in the frame of his body, the stars of natural
10 inclination are sometimes obscured by the sun of discipline
and virtue. Therefore it is good to consider of deformity,
not as a sign, which is more deceivable ; but as a cause,
which seldom faileth of the effect. Whosoever hath any
thing fixed in his person that doth induce contempt, hath
also a perpetual spur in himself to rescue and deliver himself
from scorn. Therefore all 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 especially of this kind, to watch and

XLIV.] OF DEFORMITY. 113

observe the weakness of others, that they may have some- 20
what 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, in a great wit, deformity is an
advantage to rising. Kings in ancient times (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 towards one. But yet their trust 30
towards them hath rather been as to good spials and good
whisperers, than good magistrates and officers. And much
like is the reason of deformed persons. Still the ground is,
they will, if they be of spirit, seek to free themselves from
scorn ; which must be either by virtue or malice ; and there
fore let it not be marvelled if sometimes they prove excellent
persons ; as was Agesilaus, Zanger the son of Solyman,
^Esop, Gasca President of Peru ; and Socrates may go like
wise amongst them ; with others.

XLV. OF BUILDING.

HOUSES are built to live in, and not 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 house 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 10
gathereth as in troughs ; so as you shall have, and that
suddenly, as great diversity of heat and cold as if you dwelt

H

114 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLV.

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
Momus, ill neighbours. I speak not of many more ; want of
water ; want of wood, shade, and shelter ; want of fruitful-
ness, and mixture of grounds of several natures ; want of
prospect ; want of level grounds ; want of places at some
near distance for sports of hunting, hawking, and races ; too

20 near the sea, too remote ; having the commodity of navigable
rivers, or the discommodity of their overflowing ; too far off
from great cities, which may hinder business, or too near
them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh every thing
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, so it is good to know them, and think of them,
that a man may 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

30 Pompey well ; who, when he saw his stately galleries, and
rooms so large and lightsome, in one of his houses, said,
Surely an excellent place for summer, but how do you in winter ?
Lucullus answered, Why, do you not think me as wise as some
fowl are, that ever change their abode towards the ivinter ?

To pass from the seat to the house itself ; we will do as
Cicero doth in the orator's art ; who writes books De Oratore,
and a book he entitles Orator; whereof the former delivers
the precepts of the art, and the latter the perfection. We
will therefore describe a princely palace, making a brief

40 model thereof. For it is strange to see, now 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 two several sides ; a side for the banquet, as
is spoken of in the book of Hester, and a side for the house
hold ; the one for feasts and triumphs, and the other for
dwelling. I understand both these sides to be not only
returns, but parts of the front ; and to be uniform without,

XLV.] OF BUILDING. 115

though severally partitioned within ; and to be on both sides
of a great and stately tower in the midst of the front, that, 50
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 forty 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, (with
a partition between ;) both of good state and bigness ; and
those not to go all the length, but to have at the further end
a winter and a summer parlour, both fair. And under these
rooms, a fair and large cellar sunk under ground ; and 60
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 a piece, above the two wings ; and a
goodly leads upon the top, railed with statuas interposed ;
and the same tower to be divided into rooms, as shall be
thought fit. The stairs likewise to the 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, if you do not point any of
the lower rooms for a dining place of servants. For other- 70
wise you shall have the servants' dinner after your own : for
the steam of it will come 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 stair-cases, cast into
turrets, on the outside, and not within the row of buildings
themselves. But those towers are not to be of the height of 80
the front, but rather proportionable to the lower building.
Let the court not be paved, for that striketh up a great heat
in summer, and much cold in winter. But only some side
alleys, with a cross, and the quarters to graze, being kept

116 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLV.

shorn, but not too near shorn. The row of return on the
banquet side, let it be all stately galleries : in which galleries
let there be three, or five, fine cupolas in the length of it,
placed at equal distance ; and fine coloured windows of
several works. On the household side, chambers of presence
90 and ordinary entertainments, with some bed-chambers ; and
let all three sides be a double house, without thorough lights
on the sides, that you may have rooms from the sun, both
for forenoon and afternoon. Cast it also, that you may have
rooms both for summer and winter ; shady for summer, and
warm for winter. You shall have sometimes fair houses so
full of glass, that one cannot tell where to become to be out
of the sun or cold. For embowed windows, I hold them of
good use ; (in cities, indeed, upright do better, in respect of
the uniformity towards the street ;) for they be pretty

100 retiring places for conference ; and besides, they keep both
the wind and sun off ; for that which would strike almost
thorough 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
same square and height ; which is to be environed with the
garden on all sides ; and in the inside, cloistered on all sides,
upon decent and beautiful arches, as high 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

110 opening and windows towards the garden ; and be level
upon the floor, no whit sunken 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 was. 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 for an
infirmary, if the prince or any special person should be
sick, with chambers, bed-chamber, antecamera, and recamera,
joining to it. This upon the second story. Upon the ground

120 story, a fair gallery, open, upon pillars ; and upon the third

XLV.] OF BUILDING. 117

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 may be thought upon. 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 come to 130
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 embellishments, upon the wall ;
and a third court, to make a square with the front, but not
to be built, nor yet enclosed with a naked wall, but enclosed
with tarrasses, leaded aloft, and fairly garnished, on the three
sides ; and cloistered on the inside, with pillars, and not
with arches below. As for offices, let them stand at dis
tance, with some low galleries, to pass from them to the
palace itself. 140

XLVI. OF GAEDENS.

GOD ALMIGHTY first planted a Garden. And indeed it is the
purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest refreshment 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 come 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 January, and the latter part of November, ]Q
you must take such things as are green all winter : holly ;
ivy ; bays ; juniper ; cypress-trees ; yew ; pine-apple-trees ;

118 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLVI.

fir-trees ; rosemary ; lavender ; periwinkle, the white, the
purple, and the blue ; germander ; flag ; orange-trees ; lemon-
trees ; and myrtles, if they be stoved ; and sweet marjoram,
warm set. 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 early tulippa ; hyacinthus orientalis ; cha-

20 ma'iris ; fritellaria. For March, there come violets, specially
the single blue, which are the earliest ; the yellow daffodil ;
the daisy ; the almond-tree in blossom ; the peach-tree 'in
blossom ; the cornelian-tree in blossom ; sweet-briar. In
April follow, the double white violet; the wall-flower; the
stock-gilliflower ; the cowslip ; flower-de-lices, and lilies of
all natures ; rosemary-flowers ; the tulippa ; the double
piony ; the pale daffodil ; the French honeysuckle ; the
cherry-tree in blossom ; the dammasin and plum-trees in
blossom ; the white thorn in leaf : the lilac- tree. In May

30 and June come pinks of all sorts, especially the blush-pink ;
roses of all kinds, except the musk, which comes later ;
honeysuckles ; strawberries ; bugloss ; columbine ; the French
marigold ; flos Africanus ; cherry-tree in fruit ; ribes ; figs
in fruit ; rasps ; vine-flowers ; lavender in flowers ; the sweet
satyrian, with the white flower ; herba muscaria ; lilium con-
vallium ; the apple-tree in blossom. In July come gilli-
flowers of all varieties; musk-roses; the lime-tree in blossom ;
early pears and plums in fruit ; genitings, quadlins. In
August come plums of all sorts in fruit ; pears ; apricocks ;

40 berberries ; filberds ; musk-melons ; monks-hoods of all colours.
In September come grapes ; apples ; poppies of all colours ;
peaches ; melocotones ; nectarines ; cornelians ; wardens ;
quinces. In October and the beginning of November come
services ; medlars ; bullaces ; roses cut or removed to come
late ; holy-oaks ; and such like. These particulars are for
the climate of London ; but my meaning is perceived, that
you may have ver perpetrmm, [a perpetual spring,] as the place
affords.

XLVI.] OF GARDENS. 119

And because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the air
(where it comes and goes like the warbling of music) than in 50
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 of their
smells ; so that you may walk by a whole row of them, and
find nothing of their sweetness ; yea though it be in a morn
ing's dew. Bays likewise yield no smell as they grow. Rose
mary little ; nor sweet marjoram. That which above all
others yields the sweetest smell in the air, is the violet,
specially the white double violet, which comes twice a year ;
about the middle of April, and about Bartholomew-tide. 60
Next to that is the musk-rose. Then the strawberry-leaves
dying, with a most excellent cordial smell. Then the flower
of the vines ; it is a little dust, like the dust of a bent, which
grows upon the cluster in the first coming forth. Then
sweet-briar. Then wall-flowers, which are very delightful
to be set under a parlour or lower chamber window. Then
pinks and gilliflowers, especially the matted pink and clove
gilliflower. Then the flowers of the lime-tree. Then the
honeysuckles, so they be somewhat afar off. Of bean-flowers
I speak not, because they are field flowers. But those which 70
perfume the air most delightfully, not passed by as the rest,
but being trodden upon and crushed, are three ; that is,
burnet, wild-thyme, and watermints. Therefore 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 not
well to be under thirty acres 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 ; 80
besides alleys on both sides. And I like well that four acres
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

120 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLVI.

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
90 the shade in the garden by going in the sun thorough the
green, therefore you are, of either side the green, to plant a
covert alley, upon carpenters' work, about twelve foot in
height, by which you may go in the 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 car-

100 penters' work, of some ten foot high, and six foot broad ; and
the spaces between of the same dimensions with the breadth
of the arch. Over the arches let there be an entire hedge of
some four foot high, framed also upon carpenters' work ; and
upon the upper hedge, over every arch, a little turret, 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 flowers. Also

110 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
two covert alleys of the green may deliver you. But there
must be no alleys with hedges at either end of this great en
closure ; not at the hither end, for letting 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

120 leave it to variety of device ; advising nevertheless that

XLVI.] OF GARDENS. 121

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 children.
Little low hedges, round, like welts, with some pretty pyra
mids, I like well ; and in some places, fair columns upon
frames of carpenters' 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 fair mount, with three ascents, and alleys,
enough for four to walk abreast ; which I would have to be 130
perfect circles, without any bulwarks or embossments ; and
the whole mount to be thirty foot high ; and some fine ban-
queting-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 140
ornaments of images gilt, or of marble, which are in use, do
well : but the main matter is so to convey the water, as 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
not trouble ourselves : as, that the bottom be finely paved, 150
and with images ; the sides likewise ; and withal embellished
with coloured glass, and 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

122 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLVI.

spouts, and then discharged away under ground, by some
equality of bores, that it stay little. And for fine devices, of
arching water without spilling, and making it rise in several

160 forms (of feathers, drinking glasses, canopies, and the like),
they be pretty things to look on, but nothing to health and
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 wildness.
Trees I would have none in it, but some thickets made only of
sweet-briar and honeysuckle, and some wild vine amongst ;
and the ground set with violets, strawberries, and primroses.
For these are sweet, and prosper in the shade. And these
to be in the heath, here and there, not in any order. I like

170 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 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
are to be with standards of little bushes pricked upon their
top, and part without. The standards to be roses ; juniper ;

180 holly ; berberries ; (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 not out of course.

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 likewise 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

190 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 would

XLVI.] OF GARDENS. 123

be generally observed, that the borders wherein you plant
your fruit-trees be fair and large, and low, and not steep ;
and set with fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they
deceive the trees. At 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 200
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 not 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 over-cast days.

For aviaries, I like them not, except they be of that large- 210
ness 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 on the floor
of the aviary. So I have made a platform of a princely
garden, partly by precept, partly by drawing, not a model,
but some general lines of it ; and in this I have spared for
no cost. But it is 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 220
pleasure of a garden.

XLYII. OF NEGOCIATING.

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 draw an answer by letter back

124 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLVII.

again ; or when it may serve for a man's justification after
wards to produce his own 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 with
inferiors ; or in tender cases, where a man's eye upon the
countenance of him with whom he speaketh may give him a

10 direction how far to go ; and generally, where a man will re
serve to himself liberty, either to disavow or to expound. In
choice of instruments, it is 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, than those that are
cunning to contrive out of other men's business somewhat to
grace themselves, and will help the matter in report for
satisfaction sake. Use also such persons as affect the busi
ness wherein they are employed ; for that quickeneth much ;
and such as are fit for the matter ; as bold men for expostu-

20 lation, fair-spoken men for persuasion, crafty men for inquiry
and observation, froward and absurd men for business that
doth not well bear out itself. Use also such as have been
lucky, and prevailed before in things wherein you have
employed them ; 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 better dealing with men in appetite, than
with those that are where they would be. If a man deal

30 with another upon conditions, the start or first performance
is all ; which a man cannot reasonably demand, except
either the nature of the thing be such, which must go
before ; or else a man can persuade the other party that he
shall still need him in some other thing ; or else that he be
counted the honester man. All practice is to discover, or to
work. Men discover themselves in trust, in passion, at un
awares, and of necessity, when they would have somewhat
done and cannot find an apt pretext. If you would work
any man, you must either know his nature and fashions, and

XLVII.] OF NEGOCIATING. 125

so lead him ; or his ends, and so persuade him ; or his weak- 40
ness and disadvantages, 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 negociations of difficulty, a man
may not look to sow and reap at once ; but must prepare
business, and so ripen it by degrees.

XLVIII. OF FOLLOWEKS AND FEIENDS.

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 importune in suits. Ordinary
followers ought to challenge no higher conditions than
countenance, recommendation, and protection from wrongs.
Factious followers are worse to be liked, which follow not
upon affection to him with whom they range themselves,
but upon discontentment conceived against some other ;
whereupon commonly ensueth that ill intelligence that we 10
many times see between great personages. Likewise glorious
followers, who make themselves as trumpets of the com
mendation 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 likewise which are dangerous, being
indeed espials ; which inquire the secrets of the house, and
bear tales of them to others. Yet such men, many times,
are in great favour ; for they are officious, and commonly
exchange tales. The following by certain estates of men, 20
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

126 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLVIII.

popularity. But the most honourable kind of following is to
be followed as one that apprehendeth to advance virtue and
desert in all sorts of persons. And yet, where there is no
eminent odds in sufficiency, it is better to take with the
more passable, than with the more able. And besides, to

30 speak truth, in base times active men are of more use than
virtuous. It is true that in government it is good to use
men of one rank equally : for to countenance some extra
ordinarily, is to make them insolent, and the rest discontent ;
because they may claim a due. But contrariwise, in favour,
to use men with much difference and election is good ; for it
maketh the persons preferred more thankful, and the rest
more officious : because all 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

40 call it) by one, is not safe ; for it shows softness, and gives a
freedom to scandal and disreputation ; for those that would
not censure or speak ill of a man immediately, will talk
more boldly of those that are so great with them, and
thereby wound their honour. Yet to be distracted with
many is worse ; for it makes men to be of the last im
pression, and full of change. To take advice of some few
friends is ever honourable ; for lookers-on many times see
more than gamesters ; and the vale best discovereth the hill.
There is little friendship in the world, and least of all between

50 equals, which was wont to be magnified. That that is, is
between superior and inferior, whose fortunes may compre
hend the one the other.

XLIX. OF SUITORS.

MANY ill matters and projects are undertaken ; and private
suits do putrefy the public good. Many good matters are
undertaken with bad minds ; I mean not only corrupt minds,
but crafty minds, that intend not performance. Some

XLIX.] OF SUITORS. 127

embrace suits, which never mean to deal effectually in them ;
but if they see there may be life in the matter by some other
mean, they will be content to win a thank, 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 10
they could not otherwise have apt pretext ; without care
what become of the suit when that turn is served ; or,
generally, to make other men's business a kind of enter
tainment 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 in 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 countenance to compound the 20
matter than to carry it. If affection lead a man to favour
the less worthy in desert, let him do it without depraving
or disabling the better deserver. In suits which a man doth
not 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
referendaries, 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
barely, and in challenging no more thanks than one hath 30
deserved, is grown not only honourable but also gracious.
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 dis- 40

128 BACON'S ESSAYS. [XLIX.

courage some kind of suitors, but doth quicken and awake
others. But timing of 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 is sometimes equal to the first grant ; if a man show
himself neither dejected nor discontented. Iniquum petas ut

50 cequum feras, [ask more than is reasonable, that you may get as
much as is reasonable,] is a good rule, where a man hath
strength of favour : but otherwise a man were better rise
in his suit ; for he that would have ventured at first to have
lost the suitor, will not 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 not
in a good cause, it is so much out of his reputation. There
are no worse instruments than these general contrivers of
suits ; for they are but a kind of poison and infection to

60 public proceedings.

L. OF STUDIES.

STUDIES serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.
Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring ;
for ornament, is in discourse ; and for ability, is in the
judgment and disposition of business. For expert men
can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one ;
but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of
affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too
much time in studies is sloth ; to use them too much for
ornament, is affectation ; to make judgment wholly by their
10 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 by study ; and studies
themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except

L.] OF STUDIES. 129

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 observation. 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 to be tasted, others to be swal- 20
lowed, and some few to be chewed and digested ; that is,
some books are to be read only in parts ; others to be read,
but not curiously ; and some few to be 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 have a great 30
memory ; if he confer little, he had need have 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 witty ; the mathematics subtile ; natural philosophy
deep ; moral grave ; logic and rhetoric able to contend.
Abeunt stiidia in mores: [Studies pass into the character.]
Nay there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be
wrought out by fit studies : like as diseases of the body may
have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone
and reins ; shooting for the lungs and breast ; gentle walking 40
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 not apt to distinguish
or find differences, let him study the schoolmen ; for they are
cymini 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.

130 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LI.

LI. OF FACTION.

MANY have an opinion not wise, that for a prince to govern
his estate, or for a great person to govern his proceedings,
according to the respect of factions, is a principal part of
policy ; whereas contrariwise, 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,

10 that have strength in themselves, were 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. The lower and weaker faction is the firmer in con
junction ; 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 awhile

20 against the faction of Pompey and Csesar ; but when the
senate's authority was pulled down, Csesar and Pompey soon
after brake. The faction or party of Antonius and Octavianus
Csesar 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 same holdeth in private
factions. And therefore those that are seconds in factions
do many times, when the faction subdivideth, prove prin
cipals ; but many times also they prove cyphers and cashiered ;

30 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 now are ready for a new purchase. The traitor in

LT.] OF FACTION. 131

faction lightly goeth away with it ; for when matters have
stuck long in balancing, the winning of some one man casteth
them, and he getteth all the thanks. The even carriage
between 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 40
popes, when they have often in their mouth Padre commune :
and take it to be a sign of one that meaiieth to refer all to
the greatness of his own house. Kings had need beware
how they side themselves, and make themselves as of a
faction or party ; for leagues within the state are ever per
nicious to monarchies : for they raise an obligation paramount
to obligation of sovereignty, and make the king tanquam unus
ex nobis [as one of u-s], 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 in princes ; and much to the prejudice 50
both of their authority and business. 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.

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 and com
mendation of men as it is in gettings and gains : for the
proverb is true, That light gains make heavy purses ; for light
gains come thick, whereas great come but now and then. So
it is true that small matters win great commendation, because
they are continually in use and in note : whereas the occasion
of any great virtue cometh but on festivals. Therefore it cloth
much add to a man's reputation, and is (as Queen Isabella 10
said) like perpetual letters commendatory, to have good
forms. To attain them it almost sufficeth not to despise

132 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LIT.

them ; for so shall a man observe them in others ; and let
him trust himself with 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 his mind too much
to small observations ? Not to use ceremonies at all, is to

20 teach others not to use them again ; and so diminisheth respect
to himself ; especially they be not to be omitted to strangers
and formal natures ; but the dwelling upon them, and exalt
ing 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 im
printing passages amongst compliments, which is of singular
use, if a man can 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

30 of reverence ; and therefore it is good a little to be familiar.
He that is too much in any thing, so that he giveth another
occasion of satiety, maketh himself cheap. To apply one's
self to others is good ; so it be with demonstration that a
man doth it upon regard, and not upon facility. It is a good
precept generally in seconding another, yet to add somewhat
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 be too per-

40 feet 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 in
business to be too full of respects, or to be curious in observing
times and opportunities. Salomon saith, He that considereth
the wind shall not soiv, and he that looketh to the clouds shall
not 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, but free for exercise or motion.

LIII.] OF PRAISE. 133

LIII. OF PRAISE.

PRAISE is the reflexion of virtue. But it is as the glass or
body which giveth the reflexion. If it be from the common
people, it is commonly false and naught ; and rather followeth
vain persons than virtuous. For the common people under
stand not many excellent virtues. The lowest virtues draw
praise from them ; the middle virtues work in them astonish
ment or admiration ; but of the highest virtues they have no
sense of perceiving at all. But shows, and species virtutibus
similes, serve best with them. Certainly fame is like a river,
that beareth up things light and swoln, and drowns things 10
weighty and solid. But if persons of quality and judgment
concur, then it is (as the Scripture saith), Nomcn bonum instar
unguenti fragrantis ; [A good name like a fragrant ointment.']
It filleth all round about, and will not easily away. For the
odours of ointments are more durable than those of flowers.
There be so many false points of praise, 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, 20
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 defective, and is most out of coun
tenance in himself, that will the flatterer entitle him to per
force, spretd conscientid : \_in contempt of conscience.^ Some
praises come of good wishes and respects, which is a form
due in civility to kings and great persons, laudando prceci-
pere, \to teach by praising ;~\ when by telling men what they
are, they represent to them what they should be. Some men 30
are praised maliciously to their hurt, thereby to stir envy
and jealousy towards them ; pessimum genus inimicorum
laudantium ; [The worst kind of enemies are those who praise.'}

134 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LIU.

Insomuch as it was a proverb amongst the Grecians, that he
that was praised to his hurt, should have a push rise upon his
nose ; as we say, that a blister will rise upon one's tongue that
tells a lie. Certainly moderate praise, used with opportunity,
and not vulgar, is that which doth the good. Salomon saith,
He that praiseth his friend aloud, rising early, it shall be to him

40 no better than a curse. Too much magnifying of man or
matter doth irritate contradiction, and procure envy and
scorn. To praise a man's self cannot be decent, except it be
in rare cases ; but to praise a man's office or profession, he
may do it with good grace, and with a kind of magnanimity.
The cardinals of Eome, which are theologues, and friars, and
schoolmen, have a phrase of notable contempt and scorn
towards civil business : for they call all temporal business of
wars, embassages, judicature, and other employments, sbir-
rerie, which is under-sheriffries ; as if they were but matters

50 for under-sheriffs and catch-poles : though many times those
under-sheriffries do more good than their high speculations.
St. Paul, when he boasts of himself, he doth oft interlace, 7
speak like a fool ; but speaking of his calling, he saith, Mag-
nificabo apostolatum meum : [7 will magnify my office.']

LIV. OF VAIN-GLORY.

IT was prettily devised of ^Esop ; the fly sat upon the axle-
tree of the chariot wheel, and said, What a dust do I raise /
So are there some vain persons, that whatsoever goeth alone
or moveth upon greater means, if they have never so little
hand in it, they think it is they that carry it. They that are
glorious must weeds be factious ; for all bravery stands upon
comparisons. They must needs be violent, to make good
their own vaunts. Neither can they be secret, and therefore
not effectual ; but according to the French proverb, beaucoup
10 de bruit, peu de fruit ; much bruit, little fruit. Yet certainly
there is use of this quality in civil affairs. Where there is

LIV.] OF VAIN-GLORY. 135

an opinion and fame to be created either of virtue or great
ness, these men are good trumpeters. Again, as Titus Livius
noteth in the case of Antiochus arid the ^Etolians, There are
sometimes great effects of cross lies ; as if a man that nego-
ciates between two princes, to draw them to join in a war
against a third, doth extol the forces of either of them above
measure, the one to the other : and sometimes he that deals
between man and man, raiseth his own credit with both, by
pretending greater interest than he hath in either. And in 20
these and the like kinds, it often falls out that somewhat
is produced of nothing ; for lies are sufficient to breed 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 sharpeneth another.
In cases of great enterprise upon charge and adventure, 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 fame of learning, the night
will be slow without some feathers of ostentation. Qui de 30
contemnenda gloria libros scribunt, nomen mum, inscribunt.
[ Those who write books about despising glory, put their name
upon the book.] Socrates, Aristotle, Galen, were men full
of ostentation. Certainly vain-glory helpeth to perpetuate
a man's memory ; and virtue was never so beholden to
human nature, as it received his due at the second hand.
Neither had the fame of Cicero, Seneca, Plinius Secundus,
borne her age so well, if it had not been joined with some
vanity in themselves ; like unto varnish, that makes seelings
not only shine but last. But all this while, when I speak of 40
vain-glory, I mean not of that property that Tacitus doth
attribute to Mucianus ; Omnium, quce dixerat feceratque, arte
quadam ostentator : [In all that he said and did he had the art
of displaying himself to advantage .•] for that proceeds not of
vanity, but of natural magnanimity and discretion ; and in
some persons is not only comely, but gracious. For excusa-
tions, cessions, modesty itself well governed, are but arts of

136 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LIV.

ostentation. And amongst those arts there is none better
than that which Plinius Secundus speaketh of, which is to be
50 liberal of praise and commendation to others, in that wherein
a man's self hath any perfection. For, saith Pliny very
wittily, In commending another you do yourself right ; for he
that you commend is either superior to you in that you commend,
or inferior. If he be inferior, if he be to be commended, you
much more ; if he be superior, if he be not to be commended,
you much less. Glorious men are the scorn of wise men, the
admiration of fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of
their own vaunts.

LV. OF HONOUE AND EEPUTATION.

THE winning 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 much talked of, but inwardly little admired.
And some, contrariwise, darken their virtue 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 more honour than by

10 effecting a matter of greater difficulty or virtue, wherein he
is but a follower. If a man so temper 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 ill husband
of his honour, that entereth into any action, the failing where
in may disgrace him more than the carrying of it through
can honour him. Honour that is gained and broken upon
another hath the quickest reflexion, like diamonds cut with
facets. And therefore let a man contend to excel any com
petitors of his in honour, in outshooting them, if he can, in

20 their own bow. Discreet followers and servants help much
to reputation. Omnis fama a domesticis emanat : [all fame

LV.] OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 137

emanates from those of our household.'} Envy, which is the
canker of honour, is best extinguished by declaring a man's
self in his ends rather to seek merit than fame ; and by
attributing a man's successes rather to divine Providence
and felicity, than to his own virtue or policy. The true
marshalling of the degrees of sovereign honour are these.
In the first place are conditores imperiorum, founders of states
and commonwealths ; such as were Romulus, Cyrus, Csesar,
Ottoman, Ismael. In the second place are legislators, law- 30
givers ; which are also called second founders, or perpetid
principes, because they govern by their ordinances after they
are gone ; such were Lycurgns, Solon, Justinian, Eadgar,
Alphonsus of Castile, the Wise, that made the Siete partidas.
In the third place are liberatores, or salvatores, [liberators or
saviours,] 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 40
propagatores or propugnatores imperil ; [extenders or defenders
of empire ;] such as in honourable wars enlarge their terri
tories, or make noble defence against invaders. And in the
last place are patres patrice, [fathers of their country ;] which
reign justly, and make the times good wherein they live.
Both which last kinds need no examples, they are in such
number. Degrees of honour in subjects are, first participcs
curarum, [partners of their cares,] 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 ; 50
such as are princes' lieutenants, and do them notable services
in the wars. The third are gratiosi, favourites ; such as
exceed not this scantling, to be solace to the sovereign, and
harmless to the people. And the fourth, negotiis pares;
[men capable of affairs;] such as have great places under
princes, and execute their places with sufficiency. There
is an honour, likewise, which may be ranked amongst the

138 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LV.

greatest, which happeneth rarely ; that is, of such as
sacrifice themselves to death or danger for the good of
60 their country ; as was M. Begulus, and the two Decii.

LVI. OF JUDICATURE.

JUDGES ought to remember that their office is jus dicere, and
not jus dare,; to interpret law, and not to make 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 intro
duce novelty. Judges ought to be more learned than witty,
more reverend than plausible, and more advised than confi
dent. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper

10 virtue. Cursed (saith the law) is he that removeth the land
mark. The mislayer of a mere-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 foul
sentence doth more hurt than many foul examples. For
these do but corrupt the stream, the other corrupteth the
fountain. So saith Salomon, Fons turbatus, et vena corrupta,
est Justus cadens in causa sud coram adversaria: [A righteous
man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain or
a corrupt spring.] The office of judges may have reference

20 unto the parties that sue, unto the advocates that plead, unto
the clerks and ministers of justice underneath them, and to
the sovereign or state above them.

First, for the causes or parties that sue. There be (saith
the Scripture) that turn judgment into wormwood; and 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

LVI.] OF JUDICATURE. 139

to be spewed out, as the surfeit of courts. A judge ought to 30
prepare his way to a just sentence, as God useth to prepare
his way, by raising valleys and taking down hills : so when
there appeareth on either side an high hand, violent prosecu
tion, 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 fortiter emungit, elicit sanguinem ; [To blow the
nose violently makes it bleed;] and where the wine-press is
hard wrought, it yields a harsh wine, that tastes of the grape-
stone. Judges must beware of hard constructions and 40
strained inferences ; for there is no worse torture than the
torture of laws. Specially in case of laws penal, they ought
to have care that that which was meant for terror be not
turned into rigour ; and that they bring not upon the people
that shower whereof the Scripture speaketh, Pluet super eos
laqueos : [tie shall rain snares upon them.] For penal laws
pressed are a shower of snares upon the people. Therefore let
penal laws, if they have been sleepers of long, or if they
be grown unfit for the present time, be by wise judges
confined in the execution : Judicis afficium est, ut res, ita 50
tempora rerum, etc. : [It is the business of the judge to consider
the time as well as the matter.] 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 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 well-tuned cymbal.
It is no grace to a judge first to find that which he might
have heard in due time from the bar ; or to show quickness 60
of conceit in cutting off evidence or counsel too short ; or to
prevent 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 material points of

HO BACON'S ESSAYS. [LVI.

that which hath been said ; and to give the rme 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 of a staid and

70 equal attention. It is a strange thing to see that the bold
ness of advocates should prevail with judges ; whereas they
should imitate God, in whose seat they sit ; who repressetJt
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
bye-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 which obtaineth
not ; for that upholds in the client the reputation of his coun-

80 sel, and beats down 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
information, 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 hath declared his sentence ; but on the other side, let
not the judge meet the cause half way, nor give occasion for
the party to say his counsel or proofs were not heard.

Thirdly, for that that concerns clerks and ministers. The

90 place of justice is an hallowed place ; and therefore not only
the bench, but the foot-pace and precincts and purprise there
of, ought to be preserved without scandal and corruption. For
certainly Grapes (as the Scripture saith) will not be gathered
of thorns or thistles ; neither can justice yield her fruit with
sweetness amongst the briars and brambles of catching and
polling clerks and ministers. The attendance of courts is
subject to four bad instruments. First, certain persons that
are sowers of suits ; which make the court swell, and the
country pine. The second sort is of those that engage courts
100 in quarrels of jurisdiction, and are not truly amid ounce
[friends of the court], but parasiti curice [parasites of the court],

LVI.] OF JUDICATURE. HI

in puffing a court up beyond her bounds, for their own scraps
and advantage. The third sort is of those that may be ac
counted 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 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
flies for defence in weather, he is sure to lose part of his fleece. 110
On the other side, an ancient clerk, skilful in precedents, wary
in proceeding, and understanding in the business of the court,
is au excellent finger of a court ; and doth many times point
the way to the judge himself.

Fourthly, for that which may concern the sovereign and
estate. Judges ought above all to remember the conclusion
of the Eoman twelve tables, Sahis populi suprema lex ; [the
safety of the people is the highest law ;] and to know that
laws, except they be in order to that end, are but things
captious, and oracles not well inspired. Therefore it is an 120
happy thing in a state when kings and states do often consult
with judges ; and again when judges do often consult with
the king and state : the one, when there is matter of law in-
tervenient in business of state ; the other, when there is some
consideration of state intervenient in matter of law. For
many times the things deduced to judgment may be meum and
tuum, when the reason and consequence thereof may trench
to point of estate : I call matter of estate, not only the parts
of sovereignty, but whatsoever introduceth any great alter
ation or dangerous precedent ; or concerneth manifestly any 130
great portion of people. And let no man weakly conceive
that just laws and true 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 suppor
ted by lions on both sides : let them be lions, but yet lions
under the throne ; being circumspect that they do not check
or oppose any points of sovereignty. Let not judges also be

142 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LVI.

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 appli-
140 cation of laws. For they may remember what the Apostle
saith of a greater law than theirs ; JVos scimus quia lex bona
est, modo quis ed utatur legitime : [we know that the law is good,
provided that a man use it laiofuUy.~\

LVII. OF ANGER.

To seek to extinguish Anger utterly is but a bravery of the
Stoics. "We have better oracles : Be angry, but sin not. Let
not the sun go down upon your anger. Anger must be limited
and confined both in race and in time. We will first speak
how the natural inclination and habit to 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.

10 For the first ; there is no other way but to meditate and
ruminate 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, That
anger is like ruin, which breaks itself upon that it falls. The
Scripture exhorteth us To possess our souls in patience. Who
soever is out of patience, is out of possession of his soul.
Men must not turn bees ;

animasque in vulnere ponunt.

[Put their lives in the wounds they inflict.] Anger is certainly

20 a kind of baseness ; as it appears well in the weakness of
those subjects in whom it reigns ; children, women, old folks,
sick folks. Only men must beware 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

LVII.] OF ANGER. H3

is angry that feels not himself hurt ; and therefore tender
and delicate persons must needs be oft angry ; they have so
many things to trouble them, which more robust natures 30
have little sense of. The next is, the apprehension and con
struction of the injury offered to be, in the circumstances
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 cir
cumstances of contempt, they do kindle their anger much.
Lastly, opinion of the touch of a man's reputation doth
multiply and sharpen anger. Wherein the remedy is, that
a man should have, as Gonsalvo was wont to say, telam
honoris crassiorem, [honour of a stouter web.] But in all 40
retrainings of anger, it is the best remedy to win time ; and
to make a man's self believe, that the opportunity of his
revenge is not yet come, but that he foresees a time for it ;
and so to still himself in the mean time, and reserve it.

To contain anger from mischief, though it take hold of a
man, there be two things whereof you must have special
caution. The one, of extreme bitterness of words, especially
if they be aculeate and proper ; for communia maledicta
{common insults] are nothing so much ; and again, that in
anger a man reveal no secrets ; for that makes him not fit 50
for society. The other, that you do not peremptorily break
off, in any business, in a fit of anger ; but howsoever you
show bitterness, do not act anything that is not revocable.

For raising and appeasing anger in another ; it is done
chiefly by choosing of times, when men are frowardest and
worst disposed, to incense them. Again, by gathering (as
was touched before) all that you can find out to aggravate
the contempt. And the two remedies are by the contraries.
The former to take good times, when first to relate to a man
an angry business ; for the first impression is much ; and the 60
other is, to sever, as much as may be, the construction of the
injury from the point of contempt ; imputing it to misunder
standing, fear, passion, or what you will.

X44 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LVIII.

LVIII. OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS.

SALOMON saith, There is no new thing upon the earth. So that
as Plato had an imagination, That all knowledge was but
remembrance; so Salomon giveth his sentence, That all
novelty is but oblivion. Whereby you may see that the
river of Lethe runneth as well above ground as below.
There is an abstruse astrologer that saith, if it were not for
two things that are constant, (the one is, that the fixed stars ever
stand at like distance one from another, and never come nearer
together, nor go further asunder ; the other, that the diurnal

10 motion perpetually keepeth time), no individual ivould last one
moment. Certain it is, that the matter is in a perpetual flux,
and never at a stay. The great winding-sheets, that bury
all things in oblivion, are two ; deluges and earthquakes.
As for conflagrations and great droughts, they do not merely
dispeople and destroy. Phaeton's car went but a day. And
the three years' drought in the time of Elias was but par
ticular, and left people alive. As for the great burnings by
lightnings, which are often in the "West Indies, they are but
narrow. But in the other two destructions, by deluge and

20 earthquake, it is further to be noted, that the remnant of
people which hap to be reserved, are commonly ignorant and
mountainous people, that can give no account of the time
past ; so that the oblivion is all one as if none had been left.
If you consider well of the people of the West Indies, it is
very probable that they are a newer or a younger people
than the people of the old world. And it is much more
likely that the destruction that hath heretofore been there,
was not by earthquakes (as the ^Egyptian priest told Solon
concerning the island of Atlantis, that it was swallowed by an

30 earthquake,) but rather that it was desolated by a particular
deluge. For earthquakes are seldom in those parts. But,
on the other side, they have such pouring rivers, as the rivers
of Asia and Afric and Europe are but brooks to them. Their

LVIII.] OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. H5

Andes likewise, or mountains, are far higher than those with
ua ; whereby it seems that the remnants of generations of
men were in such a particular deluge saved. As for the
observation that Machiavel hath, that the jealousy of sects
doth much extinguish the memory of things ; traducing
Gregory the Great, that he did what in him lay to extinguish
all heathen antiquities ; I do not find that those zeals do any 40
great effects, nor last long ; as it appeared in the succession
of Sabinian, who did revive the former antiquities. '

The vicissitude or mutations in the superior globe are no
fit matter for this present argument. It may be, Plato's
great year, if the world should last so long, would have
some effect ; not in renewing the state of like individuals,
(for that is the fume of those that conceive the celestial
bodies have more accurate influences upon these things below
than indeed they have,) but in gross. Comets, out of ques
tion, have likewise power and effect over the gross and mass 50
of things ; but they are rather gazed upon, and waited upon
in their journey, than wisely observed in their effects ;
especially in their respective effects ; that is, what kind of
comet, for magnitude, colour, version of the beams, placing
in the region of heaven, or lasting, produceth what kind of
effects.

There is a toy which I have heard, and I would not have
it given over, but waited upon a little. They say it is
observed in the Low Countries (I know not in what part)
that every five and thirty years the same kind and suit of 60
years and weathers comes again ; as great frosts, great wet,
great droughts, warm winters, summers with little heat, and
the like ; and they call it the prime. It is a thing I do the
rather mention, because, computing backwards, I have found
some concurrence.

But to leave these points of nature, and to come to men.
The greatest vicissitude of things amongst men, is the vicis
situde of sects and religions. For those orbs rule in men's
minds most. The true religion is built upon the rock ; the

K

146 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LVIII.

70 rest are tossed upon the waves of time. To speak therefore
of the causes of new sects ; and to give some counsel con
cerning them, as far as the weakness of human judgment can
give stay to so great revolutions.

When the religion formerly received is rent by discords ;
and when the holiness of the professors of religion is decayed
arid full of scandal ; and withal the times be stupid, ignorant,
and barbarous ; you may doubt the springing up of a new
sect ; if then also there should arise any extravagant and
strange spirit to make himself author thereof. All which

80 points held when Mahomet published his law. If a new sect
have not two properties, fear it not ; for it will not spread.
The one is, the supplanting or the opposing of authority
established ; for nothing is more popular than that. The
other is, the giving licence to pleasures and a voluptuous
life. For as for speculative heresies, (such as were in ancient
times the Arians, and now the Arminians,) though they
work mightily upon men's wits, yet they do not produce any
great alterations in states, except it be by the help of civil
occasions. There be three manner of plantations of new

90 sects. By the power of signs and miracles ; by the eloquence
and wisdom of speech and persuasion ; and by the sword.
For martyrdoms, I reckon them amongst miracles ; because
they seem to exceed the strength of human nature : and I
may do the like of superlative and admirable holiness of life.
Surely there is no better way to stop the rising of new sects
and schisms, than to reform abuses ; to compound the smaller
differences ; to proceed mildly, and not with sanguinary per
secutions ; and rather to take off the principal authors by
winning and advancing them, than to enrage them by violence
100 and bitterness.

The changes and vicissitudes in wars are many ; but chiefly
in three things ; in the seats or stages of the war ; in the
weapons ; and in the manner of the conduct. Wars, in
ancient time, seemed more to move from east to west ; for
the Persians, Assyrians, Arabians, Tartars, (which were the

LVIII.] OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 147

invaders,) were all eastern people. It is true, the Gauls
were western ; but we read but of two incursions of theirs ;
the one to Gallo-Grsecia, the other to Rome. But East and
West have no certain points of heaven ; and no more have
the wars, either from the east or west, any certainty of 110
observation. But North and South are fixed ; and it hath
seldom or never been seen that the far southern people have
invaded the northern, but contrariwise. Whereby it is
manifest that the northern tract of the world is in nature
the more martial region : be it in respect of the stars of that
hemisphere; or of the great continents that are upon the
north, whereas the south part, for aught that is known, is
almost all sea ; or (which is most apparent) of the cold of
the northern parts, which is that which, without aid of
discipline, doth make the bodies hardest, and the courages 120
warmest.

Upon the breaking and shivering of a great state and
empire, you may be sure to have wars. For great empires,
while they stand, do enervate and destroy the forces of the
natives which they have subdued, resting upon their own
protecting forces ; and then when they fail also, all goes to
ruin, and they become a prey. So was it in the decay of the
Roman empire ; and likewise in the empire of Almaigne,
after Charles the Great, every bird taking a feather ; and
were not unlike to befall to Spain, if it should break. The 130
great accessions and unions of kingdoms do likewise stir up
wars : for when a state grows to an over-power, it is like a
great flood, that will be sure to overflow. As it hath been
seen in the states of Rome, Turkey, Spain, and others. Look
when the world hath fewest barbarous peoples, but such as
commonly will not marry or generate, except they know
means to live, (as it is almost every where at this day, except
Tartary,) there is no danger of inundations of people: but
when there be great shoals of people, which go on to populate,
without foreseeing means of life and sustentation, it is of 140
necessity that once in an age or two they discharge a portion

148 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LVTII.

of their people upon other nations ; which the ancient
northern people were wont to do by lot ; casting lots what
part should stay at home, and what should seek their for
tunes. When a warlike state grows soft and effeminate, they
may be sure of a war. For commonly such states are grown
rich in the time of their degenerating ; and so the prey
inviteth, and their decay in valour encourageth a war.

As for the weapons, it hardly falleth under rule and obser-
150 vation : yet we see even they have returns and vicissitudes.
For certain it is, that ordnance was known in the city of the
Oxidrakes in India ; and was that which the Macedonians
called thunder and lightning, and magic. And it is well
known that the use of ordnance hath been in China above
two thousand years. The conditions of weapons, and their
improvements, are, first, the fetching afar off; for that out
runs the danger; as it is seen in ordnance and muskets.
Secondly, the strength of the percussion; wherein likewise
ordnance do exceed all arietations and ancient inventions.
160 The third is, the commodious use of them; as that they may
serve in all weathers; that the carriage may be light and
manageable ; and the like.

For the conduct of the war: at the first, men rested
extremely upon number: they did put the wars likewise
upon main force and valour ; pointing days for pitched fields,
and so trying it out upon an even match : and they were
more ignorant in ranging and arraying their battles. After
they grew to rest upon number rather competent than vast ;
they grew to advantages of place, cunning diversions, and the
170 like: and they grew more skilful in the ordering of their
battles.

In the youth of a state, arms do flourish ; in the middle
age of a state, learning ; and then both of them together for
a time ; in the declining age of a state, mechanical arts and
merchandize. Learning hath his infancy, when it is but
beginning and almost childish : then his youth, when it is
luxuriant and juvenile : then his strength of years, when it

LVIII.] OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 149

is solid and reduced : and lastly, his old age, when it waxeth
dry and exhaust. But it is not good to look too long upon
these turning wheels of vicissitude, lest we become giddy. 180
As for the philology of them, that is but a circle of tales, and
therefore not fit for this writing.

LIX. A FEAGMENT OF AN ESSAY ON FAME.

THE poets make Fame a monster. They describe her in part
finely and elegantly ; and in part gravely and sententiously.
They say, look how many feathers she hath, so many eyes
she hath underneath ; so many tongues ; so many voices ;
she pricks up so many ears.

This is a flourish. There follow excellent parables ; as
that she gathereth strength in going : that she goeth upon
the ground, and yet hideth her head in the clouds : that in
the day-time she sitteth in a watch-tower, and flieth most by
night : that she mingleth things done with things not done : 10
and that she is a terror to great cities. But that which
passeth all the rest is ; they do recount that the earth, mother
of the Giants that made war against Jupiter and were by him
destroyed, thereupon in an anger brought forth Fame ; for
certain it is that rebels, figured by the giants, and seditious
fames and libels, are but brothers and sisters ; masculine and
feminine. But now, if a man can tame this monster, and
bring her to feed at the hand, and govern her, and with her
fly other ravening fowl and kill them, it is somewhat worth.
But we are infected with the style of the poets. To speak 20
now in a sad and serious manner. There is not in all the
politics a place less handled, and more worthy to be handled,
than this of fame. We will therefore speak of these points.
What are false fames ; and what are true fames ; and how
they may be best discerned ; how fames may be sown and
raised ; how they may be spread and multiplied ; and how
they may be checked and laid dead. And other things con-

150 BACON'S ESSAYS. [LIX.

cerning the nature of fame. Fame is of that force, as there
is scarcely any great action wherein it hath not a great part ;

30 especially in the war. Mucianus undid Vitellius, by a fame
that he scattered, that Vitellius had in purpose to remove
the legions of Syria into Germany, and the legions of Ger
many into Syria ; whereupon the legions of Syria were
infinitely inflamed. Julius Caesar took Pompey unprovided,
and laid asleep his industry and preparations, by a fame that
he cunningly gave out, how Caesar's own soldiers loved him
not ; and being wearied with wars, and laden with the spoils
of Gaul, would forsake him as soon as he came into Italy.
Livia settled all things for the succession of her son Tiberius,

40 by continual giving out that her husband Augustus was
upon recovery and amendment. And it is an usual thing
with the bashaws, to conceal the death of the great Turk
from the Janizaries and men of war, to save the sacking
of Constantinople and other towns, as their manner is.
Themistocles made Xerxes King of Persia post apace out
of Grsecia, by giving out that the Grecians had a purpose
to break his bridge of ships which he had made athwart
Hellespont. There be a thousand such like examples, and
the more they are, the less they need to be repeated ; because

50 a man meeteth with them every where. Therefore let all wise
governors have as great a watch and care over fames, as they
have of the actions and designs themselves.

The rest was not finished.

NOTES.

ESSAY I. OF TRUTH.

1. Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea, before whom Christ
was tried and condemned to death. He is introduced simply as
a type of the sceptical. In the first paragraph of this Essay
Truth is opposed to error, not, as in the second paragraph, to
lying. In the Adv., bk. i. 1. 3, Bacon says that truth is attain
able. Here he says that men do not care to know it. He
implies — as he does also in the Adv., bk. ii. 13. 4 — that men
prefer the freedom of scepticism to the monotony of a fixed
belief, and that they deliberately reject the truth in favour of
opinions which satisfy their vanity, their caprices, or their
imagination.

2. there be that, there are some who. Be is frequently used
for are. Abbott (Sh. Gr. § 300) notes the use of it to refer to a
number of persons considered as a kind or class.

giddiness, constant change of opinion, count, consider.

3. affecting, aiming at, desiring. It is used like the Latin
affectare. We use it to mean ' to assume ' or ' pretend to. ' Similarly
' affectation ' means ' pretence ' : as in Essay xxxviii. 41. In the
Adv. , bk. ii. 20. 9, he refers to Herillus, who " placed felicity in
extinguishment of the disputes of the mind, making no fixed nature
of good and evil, esteeming things according to the clearness of
the desires, or the reluctation ; which opinion was revived in
the heresy of the Anabaptists, measuring things according to
the motions of the spirit, and the constancy or wavering of
belief. "

4. sects, alluding to the various sceptical schools of philosophy
in Greece.

6. discoursing, unsteady. In the Adv. , bk. ii. 7. 7, he uses
the word discoursing in the sense of ' continually shifting, ' the
metaphor being taken from treacherous ground, wits, minds.

which are of the same veins, etc., i.e. they preach scepticism
like the ancient philosophers, but they cannot support their
scepticism by such good arguments. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 13. 4.
The word ' vein ' signifies ' disposition ' or ' inclination. '
"

152 NOTES. [i.

10. imposetli upon, restrains. The Latin word imponere means
to lay (a yoke) upon.

in, We should say ' into.'

12. One of the later, etc. He probably refers to the Philo-
pseudes of Lucian (\V.). He was a satirist and humourist born at
Samosata on the Euphrates about 125 A. n.

13. is at a stand, etc. , cannot understand why it is that.

14. they make for pleasure, see the account of Poetry given
in Adv., bk. ii. 4.

make for, conduce to.

16. I cannot tell, I know not how it is.

this same truth, etc. Truth dispels pleasing illusions, as
daylight reveals the tinsel of the stage.

17. masks, etc. See Essay xxxvii.

18. stately, used as an adverb.

19. Truth may perhaps, etc. Truth, which is unchanging,
wants the charm of variety.

25. as one would, arbitrary.
27. unpleasing, unpleasant.

29. the wine of devils, cf. Adv., bk. ii. 22. 13. Ellis says
that the expression is made up of the saying of Augustine, that
poetry is the wine, of error, and the saying of Hieronymus, that it
is the food of demons. By the Fathers he means those priests of
the early Church whose writings have been accepted as authori
tative on matters of doctrine.

35. which only doth judge itself, only those who have sought,
found, and enjoyed the truth, know what its value is.

37. knowledge, In the Latin translation this word is rendered
" the receiving and assenting to what is true " ; while ' belief ' is
rendered " the enjoyment and embracing of the truth."

39. creature, often used by Bacon in the sense of 'a created
thing. '

41. his sabbath work, his occupation during the leisure
(Sabbath) which he has enjoyed since the work of creation was
finished. Cf. Bacon's Confession of Faith, " I believe that as at
the first the soul of man was not produced of heaven or earth,
but was breathed immediately from God : so that the ways and
proceedings of God with spirits are not included in nature ; that
is, in the laws of heaven or earth ; but are reserved to the law of
his secret will and grace : so that God worketh still, and resteth
not from the work of redemption as he doth from the work of
creation : but continueth working to the end of the world ; at

i.] OF TRUTH. 153

wha time that work also shall be accomplished, and an eternal
Sabbath shall ensue. " See Essay xi. 38.

42. the illumination of Ms spirit, i.e. the illumination of men's
minds by means of his spirit. Similarly in Adv., bk. ii. 1. 13,
he calls God " the Father of illuminations or lights." Similarly,
in a prayer which he has left, he says, "Thou, O Father, who
gavest the visible light as the first-born of thy creatures, and
didst pour into man the intellectual light as the top and con
summation of thy workmanship, be pleased to protect and govern
this work, which coming from thy goodness, returneth to thy
glory " : and again, " Illuminate the eyes of our mind and under
standing with the bright beams of thy Holy Spirit." So Milton,
in his invocation to the Holy Spirit, says, " What in me is dark,
Illumine": and again, "So much the rather thou, Celestial
Light, Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate." Par. Lost, bk. i. 22, and bk. iii. 51.

43. the matter, we should omit the article. Cf. Essay Iviii.
11.

45. the poet, Lucretius, born about B.C. 95. He wrote a poem
" on the nature of things," explaining and defending the atomistic
philosophy.

beautified, was an ornament to.

46. the sect, viz. , the Epicureans.

otherwise, etc., in all respects but their zeal for truth.
Bacon condemns the atheism of the Epicureans, cp. Essay xvi. and
Adv., bk. ii. 6. 1 ; and also their doctrine that pleasure is the
highest good, Adv., bk. ii. 20. 9. He praises the method of the
Atomists, Adv., bk. ii. 7. 7- Epicurus, who was an atomist in
physics, and a Hedonist in ethics, was born B.C. 342.

51. not to be commanded, which has an advantage over every
other.

53. so that, provided that.

56. move in charity, as the stars do in their spheres. See note
on Essay xv. 58. Charity should be our sole motive : the element
in which we live should be habitual acquiescence in the divine
will : all our reasonings should rest upon truths. Dante ends
his poem by saying that supreme blessedness consists in the
total surrender of our will to God's will. " But already my will
and desires were being turned, like a wheel in even motion, by
the Love, which moves the sun and stars in heaven." For the
metaphor of the poles of truth, cf. Adv., bk. ii. 14. 2, "The
nature of man doth extremely covet to have somewhat in his
understanding fixed and immovable, and as a rest and support of
the mind. And therefore, as Aristotle endeavoureth to prove,
that in all motion there is some point quiescent ; and as he

154 NOTES. [i.

elegantly expoundeth the ancient fable of Atlas (that stood fixed,
and bare up the heaven from falling) to be meant of the poles or
axle-tree of heaven, whereupon the conversion is accomplished ;
so assuredly men have a desire to have an Atlas or axle-tree
within to keep them from fluctuation, which is like to a perpetual
peril of falling. Therefore men did hasten to set down some
principles about which the variety of their disputations might
turn."

60. clear and round, honest and straightforward. Cf. ' clear
ness of dealing,' Essay vi. 30. For round, cf. Essay vi. 97.

63. embaseth, deteriorates.

64. the serpent, Satan tempted Eve in the form of a serpent,
so the serpent is taken as the type of deceit. Bacon is referring
to the words of the curse pronounced upon the serpent by God
after the temptation, " Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field : upon
thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of
thy life," Gen. iii. 14.

67. Montaigne, Essays, bk. ii. 18. He was a French writer in
the sixteenth century.

76. when Christ cometh, namely, for the final judgment of
mankind. See Luke xviii. 8, where however faith means, not
good faith, but belief in God. Cf. Essay xx. 85.

ESSAY II. OF DEATH.

3. The wages of sin, a Scriptural expression. Death was
imposed as a penalty upon mankind for the sin of Adam and
Eve.

7. You shall read, you will find. Abbott points out that shall
properly connoted obligation or compulsion. "You shall see,"
he says, " was especially common in the meaning ' you will '
applied to what is of common occurrence, or so evident that it
cannot but be seen." Sh. Gr. § 315.

13. quickest of sense, most sensitive.

14. only as a philosopher, etc., i.e., uninformed by the light
of revelation.

16. The accompaniments of death, etc., probably suggested by
a passage in Seneca's Epistles. (W.) Seneca was a Roman
philosopher and dramatist of the first century A.D.

18. blacks, mourning.

19. shew, make it appear.

20. mates, overpowers.

ii.] OF DEATH. 155

23. of him, from death.

25. pre-occupateth, anticipates, viz. by suicide.

Otho, see Tacitus, Hist., ii. 49. The Roman Emperor
Otho committed suicide after his defeat by the army of Vitellius
at Bedriacum, A.D. 69.

29. Seneca, cf. Adv., bk. ii. 21. 1.

niceness, fastidiousness.

32. upon a weariness to do, because tired of doing.
34. in good spirits, in noble and strong minds.

36. Augustus Csesar, etc. This story, and the one given below
about Vespasian, are quoted from Suetonius. He lived A.D. 75-
160, and wrote biographies of the Caesars. He does not give a
chronological account of events, but divides each biography into
sections, one dealing with the Emperor's virtues and vices,
another with his mode of life, another with his personal pecu
liarities, etc. Cf. " When I read in Tacitus the actions of Nero
and Claudius, with circumstances of time, inducements, and
occasions, I find them not so strange ; but when I read them in
Suetonius Tranquillus, gathered into titles and bundles and not
in order of time, they seem more monstrous and incredible."
Adv., bk. ii. 8. 5.

38. Tiberius succeeded Augustus as Roman Emperor. Tacitus
was a Roman historian, born about the year 54 A.D.

41. Vespasian, Roman Emperor, A.D. 69-79.

43. Galba, Roman Emperor, A.D. 68-9. He was killed by in
surgent troops in the capital. Tacitus, Hist., i. 41.

44. strike, addressed by Galba to his murderers.

45. Septimius Severus, Roman Emperor, A.D. 193-211.

48. the Stoics, see note on Essay v. 2. The name is derived
from the stoa, or porch, in which Zeno lectured.

bestowed too much cost upon, made too much of.

49. Better saith he, etc. Juvenal, Satire, x. 358. Cf. Adv.,
bk. ii. 21. 5, and bk. i. 8. 1.

57. dolours, pain. It is a Latin word. Cf. "I esteem it the
office of a physician ... to mitigate pain and dolors." Adv. bk. ii.
10. 7.

58. Now lettest thou, etc. A Jew named Simeon, having lived
long enough to see Christ, expressed his willingness to die in a
passage beginning " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in
peace," Luke ii. 29.

61. He who, etc. Horace, Ep., ii. 1. 14.

156 NOTES. [m.

ESSAY III. OF UNITY IN RELIGION.

IN illustration of this Essay the student should read the Adv.,
bk. i. 1, and bk. ii. 6. and 25. Here Bacon expresses strongly
his aversion to theological controversy. He held that the dogmas
of religion do not admit either of discovery or proof by human
reason. They are revealed, and are to be taken on faith. There
is therefore no room for controversy as to the first principles of
theology. Human reason may be legitimately and usefully
employed in deducing what is involved in the text of Scripture ;
but human reasonings are not to be put on the same level with
the positive declarations of Scripture. Bacon would allow perfect
freedom of judgment, limited only by the express words of the
Bible. The subject of religious controversies was an important
one at the time, owing to the disputes between the High Church
and the Puritanical parties. See Spedding's Francis Bacon and
His Times, vol. i., pp. 17, 35, and 429.

2. contained, held together. A broken band will hold nothing
together.

4. The reason was, etc. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 25. 4, "The religion
of the heathen had no constant belief or expression, but left all
to the liberty of argument."

7. doctors, teachers, cf. below, 1. 29. Bacon means that the
religious beliefs of the Greeks and Romans consisted of myths
drawn from the poets. He has some remarks on the origin and
interpretation of myths in Adv. , bk. ii. 4. 4. See note on Essay
v. 14.

9. jealous, the attribute is taken from one of the command
ments given by God to the Jews.

17. For, as regards.

19. manners, morals. " It were perhaps edifying to remark
what a singular thing customs (in Latin mores) are ; and how
fitly the virtue, vir-tus, manhood or worth, that is in a man, is
called his morality or customariness. Fell slaughter, one of the
most authentic products of the Pit you would say, once give it
customs, becomes War, with laws of War ; and is customary and
moral enough." Carlyle.

24. Behold, he is in the desert, Christ told his disciples that
false Christs should arise, and addressed to them the following
warning, " Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in
the desert ; go not forth : behold, he is in the secret chambers ;
believe it not." Bacon understands the warning to have reference
not to the appearance of individuals, each of whom should claim
to be Christ, but to the multiplication of sects, each of which
should claim the exclusive possession of the truth about Christ.
There can be but one true belief : and men still need the warning

in.] OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 157

not to go forth from the Church and set up heresies of their own
in place of this belief. Cf. " It was foretold by Christ saying,
that in the latter times it should be. said, Lo, here, lo, there is Christ :
which is to be understood, not as if the very person of Christ
should be assumed and counterfeited, but his authority and pre
eminence, which is to be the truth itself, should be challenged
and pretended." Of Church Controversies.

29. The Doctor, i.e. St. Paul.

30. propriety, peculiarity. The Latin word proprius (proper)
signifies that which belongs to a thing in its own right. Hence
the logical term property, in the sense of a distinguishing mark.

31. those without, those who are not members of the Church.

36. the chair of the scorners, Psalm i. 1 .

37. vouched, quoted as evidence. He is alluding to Rabelais,
a French humourist of the fifteenth century. Cf. " For pre
cedents, in the producing and using of that kind of proof, of all
others it behoveth them to be faithfully vouched." Case of the
Post-nati of Scotland.

40. morris dance, a dance formerly common in England on
festival days, and especially on May-day, and not yet entirely
out of use. The name appears to indicate that it was borrowed
from the Morriscos or Moors, but nothing is known of its origin.
(W.)

43. politics, politicians.

44. within, those who are members of the Church.

51. importeth, is of importance.

52. zelants, zealots.

54. is not the matter, is not what they are interested in. The
words quoted above were addressed by Jehu to the messengers
of Joram, king of Israel, whom he was marching to attack.
Kings ii. 10. 40.

55. following, sect.

56. accommodate, come to an agreement about, effect a com
promise.

Laodiceans, in Revelation iii. 14, the Church of Laodicea
is rebuked for lukewarmness.

57. witty, ingenious. Cf. Essay xxxii. 1 ; and xli. 1.

58. arbitrement, arbitration.

61. the two cross clauses, the Latin translation has "the
clauses which at first sight seem to contradict one another. " In
the Adv. , bk. ii. 25. 9, he says that the heat of many contro
versies would be abated if the points fundamental, and the
points of further perfection only were with piety and wisdom

158 NOTES. [m.

distinguished — for " we see of the fundamental points, our
Saviour penneth the league thus, He that is not with us is against
-us ; but of points not fundamental, thus, He that is not against
us is with us. " Christians must agree upon essential points, and
lukewarmness as to these is unpardonable. But variety of
opinion upon unessential points is admissible. For example,
different forms of Church government and different forms of
ritual and worship are allowable, since no definite rule as to
these is laid down in the Bible. Cf . ' ' We contend about cere
monies and things indifferent, about the external policy and
government of the Church, in which kind if we would but
remember that the ancient and true bonds of unity are one faith,
one baptism, and not one ceremony, one policy ; if we would
observe the league amongst Christians that is penned by our
Saviour, he that is not against us is with its : if we could but
comprehend that saying, the diversities of ceremonies do set forth
the unity of doctrine, and that religion hath parts which belong to
eternitf/, and parts ivhich pertain to time ; and if we did but know
the virtue of silence, and slowness to speak, commended by St.
James, our controversies of themselves would close up and grow
together ; but most especially if we would leave the over-weaning
and turbulent humours of these times, and revive the blessed
proceeding of the Apostles and Fathers of the primitive church,
which was, in the like and greater cases, not to enter into assertions
and positions, but to deliver counsels and advices, we should need
no other remedy at all ; brother, if that which you set down as an
assertion you would deliver by way of advice, then were, reverence
due to your counsel, whereas faith is not due to your affirmation.
St. Paul was content to speak thus, I, and not the Lord : and,
according to my counsel. But now men do too lightly say, Not I,
but the Lord : yea, and bind it with a heavy denunciation of his
judgments, to terrify the simple, which have not sufficiently
understood out of Solomon that the causeless curse shall not come."
Of Church Controversies.

66. merely, used in its literal sense of 'purely,' 'entirely.'
The Latin word merus meant ' unmixed. '

good intention, In a letter to Essex Bacon says, "And
for the other point, that is the proceeding, like a good Protestant,
upon express warrant, and not upon good intention, your lordship
in your wisdom knoweth that as it is most fit for you to desire
convenient liberty of instructions, so it is no less fit for you to
observe the due limits of them." Cf. Essay xvii. 35. The en
forcement of the celibacy of the priesthood in the Romish church
is based on ' good intention ' only. It is not distinctly prescribed
in Scripture.

68. less partially, The Latin translation has " with less of
party feeling."

HI.] OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 159

75. Christ's coat, etc. After the passage quoted in the note
on 1. 61 Bacon continues, " So we see the coat of our 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." Unity as to essential points is consistent with
difference as to unessential points. It is said in the Bible that
the coat of Christ was made of one piece, but that the garment
of the Queen, who is made to represent the Church, was of
divers colours. The seamless coat of Christ symbolizes the unity
of the Church as to essential points. The variegated garment of
the Church symbolizes the legitimate variety of opinion and
practice in minor matters. The metaphor of the coat is worked
out in Swift's Tale of a Tub. The analogy between clothes and
opinions is borrowed by Carlyle in his Sartor Resartus,

78. be, see note on Essay i. 2.

83. snail, we should say ' will. ' See note on Essay ii. 7.

88.' doth not discern, the ' not ' should be omitted.

94. Avoid profane novelties, etc. Cf. Adv. bk. i. iv. 5.

95. are not, do not exist. Cf. Essay xvii. 13.

96. whereas the meaning, etc. Language should be the instru
ment of thought ; but if men suppose that wherever there are two
distinct terms there must be two distinct things corresponding to
them, then thought is the slave of language. Cf. Adv. ii. 14. 11.

100. all colours, etc. Just as the inharmoniousness of a
combination of colours is not apparent in the dark, so the
incompatibility of opinions is not apparent to one whose mind is
darkened by ignorance. Swift in the Tale of a Tub says,
"Martin (Luther) and Jack (Calvin), i.e. the Reformed Church
and the Dissenters, had lived in much friendship and agreement
under the tyranny of their brother Peter, (the Romish Church),
as it is the talent of fellow-sufferers to do ; men in misfortune
being like men in the dark, to whom all colours are the same :
but when they came forward into the world, and began to display
themselves to each other and to the light, their complexions
appeared extremely different ; which the present posture of
affairs gave them sudden opportunity to discover."

101. pieced, as we say patched up.

104. Nebuchadnezzar's image, the image which King Nebuchad
nezzar saw in a dream. See Daniel ii. 33. Men may agree in a
belief simply because the inconsistency or inadequacy of it is not
apparent to themselves. Such uniformity is valueless. Or again,
they may purchase an artificial unity by admitting contradictory
beliefs on essential points : whereas unity, to be real, must be
based upon a clear understanding and acceptance of the funda
mental doctrines of Scripture.

160 NOTES. [m.

107. muniting, strengthening. The Latin word munire means
to fortify.

109. be, see Essay i. 2.

113. that is to propagate, these words explain the meaning of
the phrase ' ' to take up Mahomet's sword. "

115. practice, intrigue.

120. so to consider, etc. Zeal for Christianity must be tempered
by a regard for our duty to men. Church and state have each
legitimate modes of protecting Christianity, but proselytizing
zeal is no excuse for persecution or rebellion. The first violates
the rights of others ; the second is directed against the divine
institution of government. The phrase "dash the first table
against the second " is suggested by the statement in the Bible
that the Jewish law was delivered by God to Moses written on
two tables of stone. The first table defined man's duty to God,
the second his duty to man. Cf. " The Scripture teacheth -us to
judge and denominate men religious according to their works of
the second table ; because they of the first are often counterfeit,
and practised in hypocrisy. So St. John saith, that a man doth
vainly boast of loving God ivhom he never saw, if he love not his
brother whom he hath seen. And St. James saith, This is true
religion, to visit the fatherless and the widow." Of Church Con
troversies.

121. Lucretius, 1. 95. See Note on Essay i. 45. The Greeks, on
their way to attack Troy, were detained through the wrath of
Diana by contrary winds at Aulis. Agamemnon, the Greek
leader, sacrificed his daughter to propitiate the goddess.

126. the massacre in France, alluding to the massacre of the
Protestants on St. Bartholomew's day in 1572.

128. Epicure, Epicurean. See note on Essay i. 46. Cf. xvi. 33.

132. the Anabaptists, see Adv. bk. ii. 20. 9. This sect came
into prominence in the fifteenth century . They carried to extreme
lengths the principles of the independence of the individual judg
ment and the importance of individual conviction in religion.
They came into violent conflict with the constituted authorities
in Germany through their attempts to establish an ideal Christian
commonwealth with absolute equality, and community of goods.
Bacon in one of his charges says ' ' The Anabaptists . . . prefer the
putting down of magistrates : and they can chant the Psalm,
To bind their king* in chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron.
This is the glory of the saints, much like the temporal authority
that the Pope challengeth over princes. But this is the difference,
that that (viz. the religious zeal of the Mahomedans) is a furious
and fanatical fury, and this is a sad and solemn mischief : he
imagineth himself as a law, a law-like mischief. "

in.] OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 161

133. I will ascend, etc., Isaiah xiv. 14. Cf. Adv. ii. 22. 15.
"Aspiring to be like God in power, the angels transgressed and
fell : / ivtil ascend and be like the Highest."

134. to personate, to assign a character to. The Latin word
persona means literally the mask in which an actor played, and
so a part or character, taring Mm in, like a character on the
stage.

135. the Prince of darkness, Satan, the spirit of evil.

140. the likeness of a dove, referring to the account of the
baptism of Jesus, in which it is said that, as he came out of the
water, the Spirit was seen to descend upon him in the likeness of
a dove.

145. Mercury rod, The god Mercury was represented with a
rod in his hand leading departed spirits to the other world.

148. would be, ought to be.

151. father, see Note on Essay i. 29.

153. interessed, the old form of interested.

ESSAY IV. OF REVENGE.

1. wild, used in the sense of natural (cf. Essay xlvi. 164), as
opposed to the condition of a civilized society.

4. putteth the law out of office, usurps the function of law.
Wrongs should be punished, not by the sufferers of them, but by
the properly constituted tribunals.

10. trifle with themselves, the Latin translation adds "and
distress themselves to no purpose."

15. merely, see note on Essay iii. 66. The Latin translation
has ' out of pure ill-nature. '

16. why? What then?

20. Else a man's enemy, etc., i.e., otherwise while the party
wronged inflicts only one punishment on his enemy, he himself
has to endure both the original injury and the penalty for illegal
revenge.

26. Cosmus, Duke of Florence in the sixteenth century.

27. neglecting, negligent.

30. we are commanded, sc. by Christ.

31. Job, a person whose history is given in the Bible. He was
distinguished by his patience and piety under misfortune.

33. And so of friends, etc. , and the same applies, in some man
ner, to friends. If we accept good at their hands, we must some
times be content to accept evil too.

162 NOTES. [iv.

37. Caesar, i.e., Julius. Pertinax, a Roman emperor murdered
by rebellious soldiers in the second century. Bacon means that
Augustus who avenged the death of Tiberius, Septimius Severus
who avenged the death of Pertinax, and Henry IV. all prospered.

38. Henry the Third, the Latin translation has "that great
French Kin;j Henry IV." Both Henry III. and Henry IV. were
assassinated, the one in 1589, the other in 1610.

41. infortunate, unfortunate. The same form occurs in Shake
speare. See King John, ii. 178. In the Adv. (bk. ii. 1. 4) Bacon
expresses himself cautiously with regard to witchcraft. "Neither
am I of opinion, in this history of marvels, that superstitious
narrations of sorceries, witchcrafts, dreams, divinations, and the
like, when there is an assurance and clear evidence of the fact, be
altogether excluded. For it is not yet known in what cases and
how far effects attributed to superstition do participate of natural
causes : and therefore howsoever the practice of such things
is to be condemned, yet from the speculation and consideration
of them light may be taken, not only for the discerning of the
offences, but for the further disclosing of nature." As for the
law, Bacon says in one of his charges, ' ' For witchcraft, by the
former law it was not death, except it were actual and gross
invocation of evil spirits, or making covenant with them, or
taking away life by witchcraft : but now by an act in his
Majesty's times, charms and sorceries in certain cases of procuring
of unlawful love or bodily hurt, and some others, are made
felony the second offence ; the first being imprisonment and
pillory."

ESSAY V. OF ADVERSITY.

1. high, The word connotes presumptuousness or exaggeration.
Cf. Essays xix. 133 and xxvii. 190.

2. the Stoics, Zeno, born about 340, was the founder of the
Stoic school. The Stoics held that the end of man's life is virtue.
Consequently they inculcated indifference to all external objects
which came into competition with virtue.

5. miracles, suggested by the phrase ' to be admired ' (mirabilia)
in the preceding sentence.

8. It is true greatness, etc. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 20. 5.

9. security, freedom from care. It is a Latinism.
11. transcendences, exaggerations.

14. mystery, a hidden meaning. In Adv., bk. ii. 4. 4, Bacon
describes poesy parabolical, " that is, when the secrets and
mysteries of religion, policy, or philosophy, are involved in fables
or parables. ... In heathen poesy we see the exposition of fables

v.] OF ADVERSITY. 163

doth fall out sometimes with great felicity. ... Nevertheless in
many the like encounters, I do rather think that the fable was
first, and the exposition devised, than that the moral was first,
and thereupon the fable framed ... but yet that all the fables and
fictions of the poets were but pleasure and not figure, I interpose
no opinion. Surely of those poets which are now extant, even
Homer himself (notwithstanding he was made a kind of scripture
by the later schools of the Grecians), yet I should without any
difficulty pronounce that his fables had no such inwardness in his
own meaning. But what they might have upon a more original
tradition, is not easy to affirm ; for he was not the inventor of
many of them. " In the Latin translation Bacon expresses a more
decided preference for the opinion that the myths were, from the
first, consciously allegorical. Read the Preface to The Wisdom
of the A ncients. The substance of the theory there expressed is
that " long before the days of Homer and Hesiod, a generation
of wise men had flourished on the earth, who taught the mysteries
of nature in parables ; that after they and what they taught had
alike passed away and been forgotten, the names and incidents
of these parables still floated in tradition ; but that they were
then taken merely for tales of old times, and falling into the
hands of poets and minstrels were altered, adorned, and added to
at pleasure, without regard to the original meaning till they
settled into the shape in which we find them. The problem,
therefore, was to get rid of the overgrowths and to recover and
interpret the original parable," Spedding, Francis Bacon and
J/is Times, vol. i. p. 564. On this subject see also Sir Thomas
Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, bk. i. ch. 6.

16. Hercules, In another passage Bacon interprets this myth as
presenting "an image of God the Word hastening in the frail
vessel of the flesh to redeem the human race. " See The Wisdom
of the Ancient*, § 26.

18. lively, cf. stately, Essay i. 18.

19. thorough, through.

20. to speak in a mean, to come down from grandiloquent to
moderate language.

21. Prosperity, etc. The Old Testament constantly promises
worldly prosperity as the reward of obedience to God's law. In
the New Testament, which supplements the Old (carrieth the
clearer revelation of (J oil's favour), and promises greater blessings,
(its blessing carrieth tlie greater benediction) the disciples of Christ
are constantly told that it will be one of their privileges to suffer
for the sake of their religion.

26. David's harp, etc., the Psalms— a collection of hymns forming
one of the books of the Bible.

164 NOTES. [v.

27. the pencil of the Holy Ghost, referring to the doctrine that
the writers of the sacred books were directly inspired by God.

30. distastes, annoyances. The sadness of the unfortunate is
relieved by the brightness of hope and consolation, while fears
and distastes poison the pleasures of the prosperous.

36. like precious odours, as the scent of spices becomes
stronger as we crush them, so the inherent strength of a man
manifests itself the more as he is pressed by adversity.

37. incensed, burned. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 25, "The good, if any
be, is due as the fat of the sacrifice, to be incensed to the honour,
first of the Divine Majesty, etc."

38. discover, bring to light.

ESSAY VI. OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION.

1. Dissimulation, etc. He means that dissimulation is a poor
substitute for policy, and is habitually employed only by those
who are wanting in ability and decision. With the whole of this
passage the student should compare A dv. , bk. ii. 23. 36, where he says
that of these deep dissimulations "it seemeth Tacitus made this
judgment, that they were a cunning of an inferior form in regard
of true policy ; attributing the one to Augustus, the other to
Tiberius ; when speaking of Livia, he saith, She combined the
diplomacy of her husband (Augustus) with the dissimulation of her
son (Tiberius)." In the same passage he points out how dissem
blers must often fail, because even their friends can give no
assistance to men whose intentions and actions they do not
understand.

2. asketh, requires, wit, cf. Essay i. 6.

4. politics, politicians.

5. Tacitus saith, Bacon means that the distinction between
policy and dissimulation is marked in the contrast which Tacitus
draws between Augustus and Tiberius. Tac. Ann., v. 1. For
Tacitus, see note on Essay ii. 38.

sorted, suited, agreed with.

12. several, distinct.

13. that ... as, such that.

15. at half-lights, The Latin translation has " as it were, in
twilight." Cf. " The king's manner of showing things by pieces
and by dark lights so muffled it, that it hath left it almost as
a mystery to this day."

19. obtain, we should say attain.

vi.] OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 165

20. close, secret. The wise man will ' vary in particulars ' — i. e.
he will see when openness is expedient, and when secrecy, just as
a man with the use of his eyes can see when it is safe, and when
dangerous, to walk quickly. But as a blind man must walk slowly
everywhere, so he who wants the light of wisdom must always
hide his purposes and dissemble. For uniform secrecy and dis
simulation are safer than an inopportune betrayal of his intentions.

25. a name, a reputation, of, for.

26. managed, trained.

30. clearness, openness. Cf. Essay i. 60. People naturally
look without suspicion upon those who as a rule make no secret
of their acts and intentions.

34. when a man, etc. , when a man gives nobody an opportunity
of remarking or inferring what he is. Cf. " Observation, what
he finds." Essay xxx. 2.

38. Industriously, purposely. It is a Latinism.

39. That, we should say what.

40. For, see Essay iii. 17, and below, 11. 61 and 74.

43. discovery, disclosure. Men are tempted to open their
minds to those who have the reputation of being silent.

47. kind, manner. Cf. Essay xli. 99.

discharge, unburden.
52. futile, talkative. The word means literally ' leaky. '

55. politic and moral, It is politic or wise because it leads to
the knowledge of many things. It is moral because it is becom
ing, and is, to a certain extent, a safeguard against the habit of
lying.

56. give his tongue leave to speak, Our looks must not con
tradict our words. It is of no use, for instance, to express
satisfaction in words, if we have already betrayed dissatisfaction
by our looks. In the Adv., bk. ii. 23. 3, he says, " A man may
destroy the force of his words with his countenance." Cf. also
Adv., bk. ii. 23. 16.

57. discovery, see note on 1. 43. Notice that it is by the man
himself that the disclosure of himself, i. e. of his feelings, is made.
Cf. Essay Iv. 1, "the revealing of a man's virtue," where it is the
man himself who displays his own merits. In making a general
remark Bacon uses the word ' a man ' where we should use the
indefinite ' one ' : see Essay vii. 7 and 20, "a man shall see," i.e.
one may see : and the possessive case of ' a man ' is used by him
where we should use a reflexive pronoun. For instance, in Essay
Iv. 22, the passage beginning " Envy, which is the canker," etc.,
means ' ' One will most easily extinguish envy by giving out that

166 NOTES. [vi.

his object is merit rather than fame, and by attributing his
successes," etc.

tracts, traits.

63. must be a dissembler, etc. Men will insist on drawing
from us some explanation of our acts and wishes, so that, if we
are unwilling to give a true account of them, we must give a
false one. If we maintain an obstinate silence, men will draw
their own inferences.

64. indifferent, neutral. The word now expresses not mere
neutrality, but positive unconcern. In Essay viii. 28, the word
signifies ' a matter of no consequence. '

65. between both, viz. , openness and dissimulation.

68. absurd, ' ' The Latin absurdus is applied to the answer
given by a deaf man (surdus) which has nothing to do with the
question ; hence it signifies deaf to reason, unreasonable." W.

73. the skirts or train of secrecy, it necessarily follows secrecy.
As we cannot conceal our purposes by absolute silence, we must do
so by dissimulation.

78. Tearfulness, timidity.

of, we should say from. But we still say, That comes of,
I.e. results from, doing so and so.

79. main, great.

86. a fair retreat, Failure involves loss of reputation. But
if a man does not acknowledge, or even disclaims desire for, an
object, his failing to obtain it will never be known. Cp. Adv.,
bk. ii. 23. 41, "Another precept of this knowledge is, not to
engage a man's self peremptorily in anything, though it seem not
liable to accident ; but ever to have a window to fly out at, or a
way to retire : following the wisdom in the ancient fable of the
two frogs, which consulted when their plash was dry whither
they should go ; and the one moved to go down into a pit, because
it was not likely the water would dry there ; but the other
answered, True, but if it do, how shall we get out again ? "

87. take a fall, a metaphor from wrestling.

90. turn their freedom, etc., i.e. they will not agree with him
even though they do not openly contradict him. fair, so we use
just adverbially, in the sense of simply.

92. Tell a lie, etc. Cp. Adv., bk. ii. 23. 18.

97. round, direct. While the bold man is drawing nearer and
nearer to his object, the timid man is wasting time in cunning
attempts to conceal the real drift and purpose of his actions.
In the Adv., bk. ii. 23. 36, he says that "the continual habit of
dissimulation is but a weak and sluggish cunning and not greatly
politic."

vi.j OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 167

98. conceits, ideas. It is a common use of the term in Bacon.

103. composition and temperature, temperament. The words
mean literally combination and blending. Cf. Essay xix. 29 and
136.

openness in fame, a reputation for openness.

105. a power to feign, a power of simulation.

ESSAY VII. OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

2. They cannot utter the one, their joys are too great to be
expressed in words.

nor . . . not, The double negative is common in Bacon.

3. sweeten labours, etc. Labour is pleasant where there are
children to be benefited by it. Misfortune is bitter where there
are children to be injured by it. Children rob death of its
terrors, because the parents live again, as it were, in their
children.

7. proper, see note on Essay iii. 30.

a man shall see, see notes on Essay ii. 7 and vi. 57.
12. are the first raisers of, The Latin translation has, "who
first bring honours into their family. "

15. creatures, see note on Essay i. 39.

16. The difference, etc., i.e. the degrees in the love which
parents show to their different children.

18. A wise son, etc., Prov. x. 1. He quotes it again, Adv.,
bk. ii. 23. 6. His comment on it in the De Aug. is, " The father
takes more pleasure than the mother in a wise and prudent son,
because he understands better the value of virtue, and because
he sees in his son's goodness the result of his own training. But
when the son does not turn out well, the mother is more grieved
than the father, partly because of her greater tenderness, partly
because she thinks that her own indulgence may have spoilt the
boy."

21. made wantons, indulged to excess.

25. acquaints, makes acquainted.

26. sort with, consort with.

27. surfeit more, more prone to luxury and excess.

28. the proof is best, the result is best.
32. sorteth to, issues in.

35. so, provided that.

168 NOTES. [vn.

42. too much apply themselves to, pay too much regard to.
Montaigne gives the same advice in his Essays, bk. i. ch. 25.

44. affection, used here in the ordinary sense of ' liking for ' a
course or vocation.

47. Choose what is best, etc. A sentence of Pythagoras pre
served by Plutarch. (W.)

48. Younger brothers, etc. Being brought up on the under
standing that they will have to work for their living, they
acquire habits of industry, thrift, and prudence. But if they
enter unexpectedly into possession of property, they are often
ruined by sudden prosperity.

ESSAY VIII. OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE.

1. He that hath, etc. The necessity of providing for wife and
children prevents a man from running risks of any kind.

5. which, We should say ivho. Abbott (Sh. Gr. § 266) says
that which, like that, is less definite than who. Who indicates an
individual, which a " kind of person."

6. it were great reason, etc., we might reasonably suppose.
Cf. Adv., bk. ii. Introd., "It might seem to have more con
venience, though it come often otherwise to pass (excellent king)
that those which are fruitful in their generations, and have in
themselves the foresight of immortality in their descendants,
should likewise be more careful of the estate of future times, unto
which they know they must transmit and commend over their
dearest pledges." Who does most for posterity — the man with
children or the childless man ? On the one hand, he who has
children will naturally labour for the good of the age in which
they will have to live. On the other hand, he who is hampered
with the cares of a family has less leisure, less freedom, and less
wealth than the childless man. Moreover the childless man has
this further incentive to labour, that he cannot hope to be re
membered at all except by the good which he may do, or the
reputation which he may establish.

9. who . . . their thoughts, The construction is irregular.

10. their thoughts, etc., they do not care to be remembered
after death.

account impertinences, are indifferent to. Cf. Adv., bk. ii.
2. 9. The word impertinence is used in its literal sense of ' a thing
irrelevant. '

15. because, in order that. Abbott (Sh. Gr. § 117) illustrates
this use of it as referring to the future, not, as with us, to the

viii.] OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 169

17. except, take exception

20. humorous, fanciful.

21. as, that.

sensible of, sensitive to.

24. light, The word in the Latin translation is the word
commonly used to describe a soldier without baggage.
26. churchmen, priests.

28. indifferent, see note on Essay vi. 64.

29. facile, easily worked upon. In the Adv., bk. ii. 23. 6, the
term ' facile ' is applied to a judge who is a respecter of persons.

30. For, see Essay iii. 17.

36. exhaust, This form of the participle is common in Bacon.

37. they, observe the second nominative introduced for the
sake of clearness.

40. Ulysses, In Adv., bk. i. 8. 7, he mentions Ulysses, "who
preferred an old woman (his ivife Penelope] to immortality, being
a figure of those which prefer custom and habit before all excell
ency." Calypso, an enchantress into whose hands the Greek
Ulysses fell on his return from Troy, promised him immortality
if he would stay with her. He preferred to return to his wife.

48. So as, so that.

a quarrel, a reason. The meaning of the word has been
extended from a cause of complaint to a cause of any kind.

51. A young man, etc. The saying is attributed to Thales of
Miletus. He was reckoned among the seven wise men of Greece,
and was the first Greek philosopher.

ESSAY IX. OF ENVY.

1. affections, feelings or passions.

to fascinate, Bacon was inclined to share the opinion that
the thoughts, beliefs, and feelings of one person could directly
influence and affect the state of another. It seems reasonable
enough, he says, to suppose that one mind may influence another,
just as one body may infect another. See Adv. , bk. ii. 11. 3.
In his Natural History, Cent. x. §§ 939. seqq., he gives certain
experiments " touching the emission of immateriate virtues from
the minds and spirits of men, either by affections, or by imagina
tions, or by other impressions. " In § 944 he says, ' ' 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 envy, which is called the evil eye. As

170 NOTES. [ix.

for love, the Platonists, some of them, go so far as to hold that
the spirit of the lover doth pass into the spirits of the person
loved : which causeth the desire of return into the body whence
it was emitted : whereupon followeth that appetite of contact and
conjunction which is in lovers. And this is observed likewise,
that the aspects which 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 glory, in triumph,
and joy. The reason whereof is, for that at such times the spirits
come forth most into the outward parts, and so meet the percus
sion of the envious eye more at hand : and therefore it hath been
noted that after great triumphs, men have been ill-disposed for
some days following. We see the opinion of fascination is ancient,
for both effects : of procuring love ; and sickness caused by envy :
and fascination is by the eye. But yet if there be any such infec
tion from spirit to spirit, there is no doubt but that it worketh by
presence, and not by the eye alone ; yet most forcibly by the
eye." It was thought, then, that lovers and envious persons
could, when in the presence of those whom they loved or envied,
exert a direct influence upon them, the effect being produced by
an outflow of the spirits through the eye. Men selected the eye
as the organ of transmission because of its soft and transparent
nature.

With regard to the term spirits, Bacon held that there is in
every tangible substance a body of such extreme rarity as to be
perceptible only by its effects, to which he gives the name of
spirit or the mortuary spirit, to distinguish it from the vital spirit.
Both the mortuary and the vital spirit exist in living creatures.
The latter is a subtle compound of air and fire diffused throughout
the body : and, so long as it remains in the body, life is preserved.
Those therefore who wish for long life must keep their bodies in
such a state that the vital spirit cannot force its way out. But
the state of our bodies depends upon the condition and activity
of the mortuary spirit, which may be controlled and modified in
a number of ways. The whole subject is discussed at length in
his History of Life and Death. The influence of thefeelings upon
the spirits, with which we are now most directly concerned, is
considered under the heading ' Modes of preserving the youth and
freshness of the spirits,' §§80-99.

9. still, always.

10. ejaculation, used in its literal sense of ' a darting out.'

17. curiosities, subtleties. Cf. curious in 1. 11. In the Adv.,
bk. i. 4. 6, he uses curiosity as synonymous with subtlety.

ix.] OF ENVY. 171

23. feed upon, The Latin translation adds, " and find pleasure
in."

26. will seek to come at even hand, will endeavour to make
his own inferiority appear less. We should say ' to be even
with.'

depressing, disparaging.

30. estate, condition.

31. play-pleasure, In the Latin translation it is "a pleasure
like that of the stage." The mere spectacle delights.

34. gadding, wandering. The less we go out of our way to
study the fortunes of others, the less we shall have to envy.
The quotation which follows is from the Roman dramatist
Plautus, Stick., i. 3. 55.

35. home. We should say ' at home.'

37. new men, a term applied in Rome to the first members of
families who held high office.

45. wants, defects.

in that, This explains the previous sentence — His natural
defects will redound to his honour if it be said, etc.

47. affecting, see Essay i. 8.

48. Narses, A.D. 472-568, the famous general of the Roman
Emperor Justinian.

Agesilaus, King of Sparta in the fourth century B.C.
Tamberlanes, the great Mongol conqueror. He lived in the
fourteenth century. With this passage cf. Essay xliv.

56. work, matter for envy.

59. a vein, see Essay i. 6. Cf. Adv., bk. i. 7. 6. " Adrian was
the most curious man that lived, and the most universal inquirer ;
insomuch as it was noted for an error in his mind, that he
desired to comprehend all things, and not to reserve himself for
the worthiest things ; falling into the like humour that was long
before noted in Philip of Macedon ; who, when he would needs
over-rule and put down an excellent musician in an argument
touching music, was well answered by him again, God forbid, sir
(saith he), (hat your fortune should be .«o bad CM to know the-ie things
better than I. "

63. upbraid unto them, reproach them with, a Latinism.
incurreth, in its literal sense of 'runs into.'

67. Cain, Cain and Abel were two sons of Adam. Cain slew
Abel in a fit of jealousy because, on an occasion when they both
offered a sacrifice to God, that of Abel was accepted while Cain's
was rejected.

172 NOTES. [ix.

75. liberality, The Latin translation has " rewards which
exceed a man's deserts."

84. darken it, throw it into the shade. Cf. Essay Iv. 5. Cf.

" And you are darkened in this action, sir,

Ev'n by your own." Shakespeare, CorioL, iv. 7.

92. travels, labours. Travel and travail were not distinguished.

96. politic persons, politicians.

102. engrossing, monopolizing.

109. being never well, being never satisfied.

112. of purpose, purposely.

115. so, see note on Essay vii. 35.

118. disavow fortune, A man who seems ashamed of his
position confesses that he has not deserved it.

124. the lot, the spell. The word ' sorcerer ' is derived from
sors, the Latin word for lot. It was believed that certain
diseases were due to the presence of evil spirits, and that the
patient could only be cured if the spirit were charmed out of him
and driven into another person, or into some creature or thing.
For instance, it is narrated in the Bible that Christ cured some
men of madness by conjuring the evil spirits out of them into a
herd of swine, so transferring the disease from the men to the
swine.

127. derive, turn aside. It is a Latinism.

130. undertaking1, rash, ready to undertake anything.
so, provided that.

133. yet, at least.

135. an ostracism, the Latin translation has " a healthy ostra
cism. " Ostracism is a Greek word denoting the sentence of
banishment sometimes passed upon men whose presence was
thought dangerous to the peace of the state. The word is de
rived from ostrakon, the oyster shell on which the citizens recorded
their votes.

144. there is little won, etc., a government gains little by inter
mingling agreeable and popular acts with its unpopular ones.
Such concessions are generally attributed to fear, and make the
authors of them contemptible rather than popular,

145. plausible, used in its literal sense of 'deserving applause.'
With the whole of this passage cf. Essay xv., p. 34.

148. them, redundant.

150. kings and estates, monarchies and republics. The same
expression is used Adv., bk. i. 3. 6.

ix.] OF ENVY. 173

155. the state itself, the Latin translation has "the king or the
state itself."

159. of all other affections, this form of expression is somewhat
common in Bacon. We should say 'of all the affections.'
importune, importunate.

168. The envious man, Matthew xiii. 25.

ESSAY X. OF LOVE.

1. beholding, indebted, beholden. Cf. 'loading,' Essay xiii.
55 ; ' owing,' Essay xxx. 7.

2. is ever matter of comedies, always affords material for a
comedy.

4. sometimes like a siren, sometimes tempting to self-indul
gence, sometimes goading to passion. Antony illustrates the
first case, Othello the second. The sirens were women who were
believed by the sweetness of their singing to entice to destruction
sailors who passed near their island. See Homer's Odyssey,
bk. xii. 39 and 167.

8. great spirits, cf. Essay ii. 34.

11. the decemvir, a member of the Council of Ten to whom the
government of Rome was entrusted. The story of his attempt
upon the chastity of Virginia is told in one of Macaulay's Lays.

13. inordinate, without self-control.

17. Epicurus, See note on Essay i. 46. In the Adv., bk. i. 3. 7,
he says, "It is a speech for a lover, and not for a wise man, ' We
are a sufficiently large theatre one for another. ' "

24. braves, The Latin translation has " tramples upon. " The
word is common in the sense of to treat with contempt or insult.

26. Neither is it, etc. This extravagance and exaggeration do
not appear in the language of lovers only, but in their thoughts
also.

27. it hath been well said, etc., the quotation is from Plutarch.
(W.)

28. have intelligence, are in league with.

31. it is impossible, etc., from the sentences of Publilius Syrus
(W. ), " To love and to be wise is scarcely granted to God. " Pub
lilius Syrus was a native of Antioch. He lived in the first century
B c. A collection of moral sentences was made in the Christian era
from his plays, and adulterated witli sentences from other sources
in the beginning of the Middle Ages. This saying is quoted again,
Adv., bk. ii. 1. 15: "But my hope is that if my extreme love to learn-

174 NOTES. [x.

ing carry me too far, I may obtain the excuse of affection ; for that
it is not granfed to man to love and to be wine." Cf. Burke, "To
tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not
given to man.'

35. with the reciproque, with a return of love, fieciproque in
the line above means mutual.

36. By how much, etc. , a Latinism : ' for which reason men
ought to be more on their guard. '

which loseth, which, besides all the sacrifice that it entails,
fails of its own object.

39. He that preferred Helena, In the Adv., bk. i. 8. 7, he
refers to the judgment of Paris, " that judged for beauty and love
against wisdom and power." The story is told in Tennyson's
(Enone. The goddess Discord threw into heaven a golden apple,
inscribed ' for the fairest. ' It was claimed by Juno, Minerva,
and Venus. Paris, a Trojan shepherd, was chosen umpire.
Each goddess tempted him with a bribe, Juno with power,
Minerva with wisdom, Venus with the promise of a beautiful
woman. He decided in favour of Venus, and was rewarded with
the love of Helen, wife of the Greek Menelaus. His elopement
with her led to the Trojan war.

42. quitteth, renounces.

hath his floods, is at its height. For his, see note on Essay
xix. 86.

times of weakness, the Latin translation has, " at the very
times when the mind is most soft and weak. " Cf . Essay xii. 20.

47. make it keep quarter, keep it within bounds.

49. check with, interfere with.

51. no ways, in no way.

52. martial men, etc. Cf. Aristotle's Politics, bk. ii. ch. 6.
' ' The old mythologer would seem to have been right in uniting
Ares and Aphrodite (the god of war and the goddess of love), for
all warlike races are prone to the love either of men or of
women. "

60. embaseth, see Essay i. 63.

ESSAY XI. OF GREAT PLACE.

3. so as, see Note on viii. 48.

5. lose, The Latin translation has "to strip oneself of."

9. The standing is slippery, it is difficult to retain power when
it is reached.

XL] OF GREAT PLACE. 175

12. When you are no longer, etc. Quoted from Cicero, Ep. ad
Fam., vii. 3.

14. privateness, life without office.

the shadow, retirement. It is a Latin idiom. In Adv.,
bk. i. 2. 6, he quotes from Seneca, " Some men live so much in
the shade that whenever they are in the light they seem to be in
trouble." The Latin word for 'in the shadow ' is umbratilis. In
his Praixe, of Queen Elizabeth, Bacon talks of "an umbratile life
still under the roof."

29. death falls, etc. Quoted from the Thyesles of Seneca.

34. to can, to be able.

36. put in act, acted upon.

38. motion, activity.

conscience, consciousness.

45. Sabbath is a Hebrew word signifying rest. Cf. Essay i. 41.
It is said in the Bible that God rested after the work of creating
the world, which is described as " very good." Similarly, Bacon
says, whoever will imitate God in doing good shall obtain the rest
and peace of a satisfied conscience. To be "a partaker of God's
theatre " means to look on what God looked on, viz. good done.

46. a globe, a collection. He means that from the examples of
the past we may devise a body of rules for our own guidance.

48. whether thou didst not, etc. , whether you have degenerated
during your tenure of office.

51. taxing, censuring.

52. bravery, ostentation.

54. Reduce things, etc., i.e. go back to the first establishment
of things, and consider what modifications of the original rules are
required by change of time and circumstances. Reduce here has
its literal sense of ' carry back. '

58. Seek to make, etc. In the Latin translation it is, ' ' Strive
that all acts done in virtue of the authority which you possess be
restrained by fixed rules."

60. positive and peremptory, adhering strictly to rules laid
down. In the Ailv., bk. i. 2. 1, he refers to the opinion that
learning makes men " too peremptory or positive by strictness of
rules and axioms."

express thyself well, give a clear explanation of your con
duct. For an illustration of the rule now laid down the student
may read the speech delivered by Bacon on taking his seat in
Chancery.

63. voice it, etc., claim it noisily. The Latin translation
has "noisily stir up and raise questions about it."

176 NOTES. [XL

64. of inferior places, of your subordinates.

67. the execution of thy place, the performance of the duties of
your office. Cf. above, 1. 45, " the discharge of thy place."

70. facility, See note on Essay viii. 29. For, see Essay iii. 17.
Cf. below, 1. 86.

72. interlace, intermix. Finish one thing before beginning
another, but, etc., unless you are obliged.

75. used, practised.

83. steal it, do it by stealth.

84. inward, intimate. A favourite, who apparently possesses
no claim to favour, is regarded as an instrument for the secret
conveyance of bribes to his master.

90. respects, considerations. The Latin word respicere means
to look to, to regard, to care for. Cf. Essay xxx. 36, "In sick
ness respect health." Cf. Essay xvi. 36, "to have respect to."
Cf. Essay xiv. 13. In the English Bible, we have " God is no
respecter of persons."

91. shall never be without, he will always be beset by im
portunity and idle respects. For the quotation see Prov. xxviii.
21.

94. A place, etc. The saying is attributed to several of the
seven wise men of Greece. For the quotations which follow see
Tac. Hist., i. 49, and i. 50. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 22. 5.

101. sufficiency, ability to rule.

affection, see note to Essay ix. 1. For manners, see
Essay iii. 19.

102. whom honour amends, If a man is improved by office and
authority, it is a sure sign that he possesses a noble mind. The
construction is irregular.

103. honour is or should be, etc. Cf. Adv. , bk. ii. 23. 46, "Being
without well-being is a curse, and the greater the being the greater
the curse." Honour, like the Latin honores, means office.

104. as in nature, etc. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 10. 2, "So that it
is no marvel though the soul so placed enjoy no rest, if that prin
ciple be true that The motion of things is rapid out of their place,,
mid quiet in their place. "

105. ambition, the struggle for office. The Latin word ambitus
means canvassing.

in authority, when the struggle is over and office is won.

108. to side himself, to range himself on the side of one faction.
Cf. Essay Ii.

109. to balance himself, to be neutral. When we have

XL] OF GREAT PLACE. 177

nothing more to gain from a party, why should we support it at
the risk of incurring the enmity and opposition of another party ?

114. remembering, mindful. The Latin translation has, "Do
not be too mindful of your place or mention it too often in your
daily discourse or private conversation." Men are flattered by
the affability of the great, who should therefore practise it. For
by so doing they win friends whom they may one day need.

116. when he sits in place, when he is discharging the duties
of his office.

ESSAY XII. OF BOLDNESS.

I. It, viz. the answer given by Demosthenes,
trivial, trite.

9. invention, see Adv., bk. ii. 13. 6-10, where he discusses
" invention of speech or argument." The use of it, he says, " is
no other but out of the knowledge whereof our mind is already
possessed, to draw forth or call before us that which may be per
tinent to the purpose which we take into our consideration."

II. more of the fool, etc. Cf. Adv., ii. 23. 21, " The Italian
proverb is elegant, and for the most part true. There is com
monly less money, less wisdom, and less good faith than men do
account upon."

13. wonderful, see note on Essay i. 18.

16. to other parts, The Latin translation has " to the other
parts of civil knowledge. " The word civil means ' relating to man
as a member of a political society. ' Bacon discusses ' civil know
ledge ' in the Adv., bk. ii. 23. The sum of his remarks is that
men form societies for companionship, profit, and protection.
Accordingly ' civil knowledge' has to consider how a man should
behave in company, how he may be successful in his undertakings,
and how he shall be governed.

21. popular states, democracies.

24. Mountebanks, quacks; cf. Adv., bk. i. 2. 3, "We see it is
accounted an error to commit a natural body to empiric physicians,
which commonly have a few pleasing receipts whereupon they are
confident and adventurous, but know neither the causes of diseases,
nor the complexions of patients, nor peril of accidents, nor the
true method of cures, .... so by like reason it cannot be
but a matter of doubtful consequence if states be managed by
empiric statesmen, not well mingled with men grounded in
learning. " Cf. Essay 1. 4. For mountebank*, Sir T. Brown uses
the form saltimbancoes (Lat. saltare in banco), i.e. mounted on
benches.

178 NOTES. [xii.

27. want, are without.

the grounds, the principles.

37. they, see note on Essay viii. 37.

38. slight it over, make light of it.

47. stand at a stay, literally, they stand still. For the, spirits
see note on Essay ix. 1. The Latin translation has "But bold
men, in such a case, are taken by surprise and helpless."

48. a stale, stalemate, when by a move of one player the pieces
are so placed that his opponent cannot move without exposing
one of his pieces to check.

ESSAY XIII. OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF
NATURE.

1. affecting, see Essay i. 3.

2. that, cf. Essay vi. 39.

4. Goodness is the virtue of benevolence. Goodness of nature
is a natural kindliness of disposition. With the whole of this
passage, cf. Adv., bk. ii. 20. 7, and 22. 15.

9. Charity, In the Adv., bk. i. 1. 3, he defines charity as the
habit of referring everything to the good of men and mankind.
no excess but error, explained below, 1. 20 seqq.

14. insomuch, etc. The Latin translation has " if through want
of object or opportunity it cannot be practised towards men."

17. as, that. Busbechius was a Flemish diplomatist and
traveller, 1522-1592.

18. a Christian boy, The offender was a Venetian goldsmith.
He caught a bird whose bill, when open, would admit a man's
fist, and, by way of a joke, fixed the bird alive over his door,
with a stick in its mouth to keep its beak distended. (W. ) In
the Latin translation the story is given correctly.

19. a waggishness, we should not use the article here.

22. so good, etc., such a character, for instance, as the good-
natured man of Goldsmith.

23. doctors, see note on Essay iii. 7.

Machiavel lived 1469-1527. He is the subject of one of
Macaulay's Essays.

27. did magnify, notice the omission of the relative that.
30. take knowledge of, notice.

32. facility, See note on Essay viii. 29.

33. JEsop's cock, cf. Adv., bk. i. 8. 7. Do not cast your pearls
before swine.

xiii.] OF GOODNESS, ETC. 179

37. shine, make to shine.

39. communicate, see note on Essay viii. 36.

41. divinity, theology. He refers to the commandment of
Christ, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

43. sell all, etc. , a command addressed by Christ to a rich man
who asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. Mark x. 21.

51. There be that, etc. See note on Essay i. 2. Cf. Adv.,
bk. ii. 22. 4, " So further deserved it to be considered by Aris
totle, That there its a disposition in conversation (supposing it in
things which do in no sort touch or concern a man's self) to soothe
and please ; and a disposition contrary to contradict and cross ;
and deserveth it not much better to be considered, That there is
a disposition, not in conversation or talk, but in matter of more
serious nature (and supposing it still in things merely indifferent)
to take pleasure in the good of another : and a disposition contrari
wise to take distaste at the good of another ? which is that property
which we call good nature or ill-nature, benignity or malignity."

53. difflcilness, obstinacy.

54. mere, See note on Essay iii. 66.

55. are in season, i.e. they nourish on the calamities of others.
on the loading part, i. e. they aggravate calamities. Load
ing means laden. Cf. Essay x. 1.

57. Lazarus, Luke xvi. 21, the name of a beggar in one of
Christ's parables, who is represented as lying hungry and sick at
a rich man's gate, while the dogs come and lick his sores.

still, always.

60. Timon, Plutarch in his life of Antony says of Timon, a
misanthropical Athenian, said to have lived during the Pelopon-
nesian War, that he once addressed the Athenian assembly as
follows — " I have a small piece of ground, 0 Athenians, in which
grows a fig-tree. Many Athenians have before now hanged
themselves on it. Being about to build on the ground, I wished
to give public notice of the fact, in order that, if any one among
you wishes to hang himself, he may do so before the fig-tree is
cut down." Cf. —

" I have a tree which grows here in my close,
That mine own use invites me to cut down,
And shortly must I fell it : tell my friends,
Tell Athens, in the sequence of degree
From high to low throughout, that whoso please
To stop affliction, let him take his haste,
Come hither, ere my tree hath felt the axe,
And hang himself. "

Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, v. 1.

180 NOTES. [xin.

61. errors, The Latin translation has " sores and ulcers."

62. politiques, politicians.

63. knee-timber, crooked timber. Success in political life
requires a peculiar and unnatural hardness of disposition.

64. shall stand, are meant to stand.

74. trash, money. The word meant originally ' bits of broken
sticks found under trees, ' and so generally ' refuse. '

75. St. Paul's perfection, etc. , i. e. if we are willing to sacrifice
our own salvation to secure that of another. St. Paul in his
letter to the Romans, ix. 3, says, " I could wish that myself
were accursed (anathema) from Christ for my brethren."
Similarly in Exodus, xxxii. 32, Moses says to God, " Yet now,
if thou wilt forgive their sin, well : and if not, blot me, I pray
thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." Cf. Adv.,
bk. ii. 20. 7.

that he would, this explains in what the perfection consists.

ESSAY XIV. OF NOBILITY.

I. estate, state.

4. attempers, moderates.

6. for, see note on Essay iii. 17.

8. stirps, families. The word is properly a singular Latin
noun signifying a stock or a family. The power of the nobility
prevents the monarch from becoming a despot. The subjects
too are less jealous of power which is shared by many than of
power which is centred in one individual.

II. flags, insignia. Fitness, not rank, is the qualification for
employment.

13. respects, regard for the rank of individuals. Cf. Essay xi.
90. The Latin translation has, " They care more for the common
good than for rank."

16. indifferent, impartial. See note on Essay vi. 64.

19. presseth their fortune, cf. Essay xxix. 95.

21. that ... as, such that.

22. broken upon, they serve as a breakwater.

25. of necessity, necessary.

26. weak in fortune, poor.

29. reverend, venerable. Bacon also uses the form reverent
in the same sense. Reverend is used passively on the analogy of
the Latin gerundive ending in endus. The word is now used
as the conventional title of a clergyman.

xiv.] OF NOBILITY. 181

33. weathers, storms.

36. more virtuous, i.e. they possess more eminent qualities.
However unscrupulous they may be in the means which they
employ, they at least possess the qualities which command
success. The Latin word virtus means properly ' manly worth.'

42. standeth at a stay, cf. Essay xii. 47.

44. the passive envy, they are not objects of envy.

because they are, The Latin translation has "because the
nobles seem to be born possessed of honour."

46. of, amongst.

47. a better slide, etc. , there will be less friction. The Latin
translation has "they will find their business proceed more
smoothly. "

ESSAY XV. OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES.

1. calendars, the signs by which sedition may be foretold.

2. when things grow to equality, when distinctions of rank dis
appear. There is of course no real analogy between citizens of
equal position and days and nights of equal length. Fanciful
analogies of this sort are frequent in Bacon's writings.

9. Given, viz. , by the sun. Quoted from Virgil, Georg. i. 465.

12. false news, etc. The Latin translation has " lying rumours
of change bandied about on all sides and eagerly caught up by the
people." Before the Indian Mutiny an old prophecy that British
power was doomed was revived and given fresh currency.

15. fame, rumour. Virgil, ^En. iv. 179. Cf. Adv. , bk. ii. 4.
4, where, after quoting the same passage from Virgil, he says the
fable is ' ' expounded that when princes and monarchs have sup
pressed actual and open rebels, then the malignity of people
(which is the mother of rebellion) doth bring forth libels and
slanders, and taxations of the states, which is of the same kind
with rebellion but more feminine." Cf. The Wisdom of the
Ancients, § 9. The giants of Greek mythology attempted, by
piling mountains one upon another, to make a road by which they
might reach Jupiter and deprive him of his power.

24. right, see note on Essay i. 18.

27. plausible, see note on Essay ix. 145.

29. envy, cf. Essay ix.

Tacitus, Hist. i. 1. The quotation is inaccurate. Tacitus
says, "When an emperor is once hated, men find fault with good
actions as well as bad. "

182 NOTES. [xv.

33. that, redundant.

36. going about, constant endeavour.

37. Tacitus, Hist. ii. 39. Here again the quotation is in
accurate. Hi the original it is, "The soldiers were ready, but
inclined rather to interpret than to obey the orders of their
commanders. "

41. cavilling upon, The Latin translation has 'eluding by
quibbles. '

43. assay of, attempt at.

44. fearfully and tenderly, timidly and shyly. Cf. Essay vi. 78.

48. it is, etc. In the Latin translation it is, "The same
thing happens as when a boat is upset," etc.

50. league, The Holy League was organized in 1576 by the Duke
of Guise, nominally in defence of the Catholic religion, but really
to secure the succession of Catholics to the French throne.

53. that, redundant. Abbott (Sh. Gr. § 287) says it was affixed
like .so and a-s to words originally interrogative to give them a
relative meaning. It was then affixed by analogy to other words.
A king loses authority when obedience to him ceases to be the
most sacred duty.

57. of, we should say ' for. '

59. primum mobile, The sovereign is the primum mobile of those
who are powerful in a state. According to the old astronomy the
heavenly bodies were set in a series of spheres, having the earth
as their common centre. The outermost of these spheres was
called the primnm mobile, or ' first moved. ' It completed its re
volution in twenty-four hours and communicated its motion to
the inner spheres. The planets had also a slow movement of
their own distinct from the rapid motion which the spheres de
rived from the primum mobile. Similarly those who are powerful
in a state should be slow and peaceable in "their own particular
motion," i.e. in the pursuit of their own ends, but quick to move
in obedience to their primum mobile, i.e. the sovereign. Cf. the
end of Essay li.

60. Every, each. Notice the change to the plural in ' their. '
64. more freely, inaccurately quoted from Tac. Ann., iii. iv.

68. I will loose, etc., Isaiah xlv. 1. Wright says that the MS.
has "who threateneth the dissolving thereof as one of his great
judgments. "

69. So, the word introduces another sign of approaching
trouble.

mainly, strongly.
72. this part of predictions, this part, viz. predictions.

xv.] OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 183

79. bear it, permit it.

80. if there be fuel, etc. Cf. the saying of Aristotle that
trifling events are often the occasion but never the cause of
sedition. Cf. Essay xix. 44.

83. discontentment, The Latin translation has ' ' weariness of
the existing condition of things."

so many, etc., all who are ruined will vote for change.
They have nothing to lose, and they may gain by change,
estates, fortunes.

85. the civil war, i.e., between Caesar and Pompey. The quo
tation is from the Pharsalia of Lucan, i. 181.

90. This same, etc. In his Essay Of the True Greatness of
Britain Bacon says, "It is necessary in a state that shall grow
and inlarge, that there be that composition which the poet
speaks of, nvultvi utile bellum (that many should find an advantage
in war) : an ill condition of a state, no question, if it be meant
of a civil war, as it was spoken ; but a condition proper to a
state that shall increase, if it be taken of a foreign war. For
except there be a spur in the state, that shall excite and prick
them on to wars, they will but keep their own, and seek no further. "

93. the mean people, the lower classes.

104. There is a limit, etc. , quoted from the 8th Epistle of Pliny,
a Roman provincial governor under the Emperor Trajan.

106. mate, see note on Essay ii. 20. Grievous oppression breaks
a man's spirit, but an alarm of danger inspires even the timid
with courage.

110. fume, smoke. It is the Latin word fumus. The word
fume is also used metaphorically to express ' a foolish idea. ' See
Essay Iviii. 47: and cf. Adv., bk. ii. 1. 6, "Such natural
philosophy as shall not vanish in the fume of subtle, sublime, or
delectable speculation," etc.

113. the Spanish proverb, We say " It is the last straw that
breaks the camel's back."

1 1 8. strangers, There is discontent in England now at the general
employment of foreign clerks and foreign workmen. Similarly
Americans have grumbled at the competition of Chinese labour.

121. For, See note on Essay iii. 17. Cf. below, 1. 164.

122. the just cure, the proper cure. The wisdom of the states
man must discern the particular remedy which special circum
stances require.

126. material cause, what he calls above 'the materials,' or
' the matter, ' of seditions. In the language of Aristotle, which
was adopted by Bacon, ' the matter ' or ' the material cause ' is
the stiiff of which a thing is made.

184 NOTES. [xv.

127. to which purpose, The student will notice that Bacon
advocates the interference of government with industry to a degree
which modern economists would hardly sanction. After Adam
Smith's demonstration of the results of a policy of protection there
was, perhaps naturally, an excessive reaction of opinion in favour
of a universal policy of laisser aller. Opinion is now in some
quarters again veering round towards a policy of more extended
state interference. We may explain this partly by reference to the
exaggerated anticipations of prosperity formed when free trade
was finally adopted, partly by the natural desire of newly en
franchised masses of voters to use their power in some positive
way for the improvement of their own condition, and partly by
the conviction of some independent theorists that unlimited com
petition does not as a matter of fact lead to the most equitable
distribution of a nation's wealth.

128. opening, removing all hindrances to. We still talk of
1 a new opening ' for trade, in the sense of ' a new field ' or
' opportunity. '

well-balancing, i.e. providing that what conies into the
country does not exceed in value what goes out of it. See below,
1. 146. In his Advice to Sir George Villiers Bacon says, " Let
the foundation of a profitable trade be thus laid, that the ex
portation 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. "

131. husbanding, cultivation.

133. foreseen, provided. A Latinism.

135. the stock, the produce.

139. live lower, etc., live more economically and save more.

141. quality, rank.

147. the increase, No nation can increase its own wealth
except at the expense of a foreign nation. This is a fallacy.
Inasmuch as different countries are fitted by nature for the
production of different things, it is evident that all countries
gain by international exchange.

151. vecture, The Latin word veho means 'to carry.' Bacon,
in a speech in the House of Commons, said, "There is contained
an article in the treaty between Spain and us that we shall not
transport any native commodities of the Low Countries into
Spain : nay, more, that we shall not transport any mami-
factures of the same countries ... The reason is because even
those manufactures, although the materials come from other
places, do yield unto them a profit and sustentation, in regard
their people are set on work by them ; they have a gain likewise

xv.] OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 185

in the price, and they have a custom in the transporting — all
which the policy of Spain is to debar them of."

155. the Low- Countrymen, etc. Bacon means that though they
have no advantage of soil, yet by their skill in manufacture and
by their extensive carrying trade they are rendered richer than
the most favoured countries.

160. muck, manure.

1G2. strait, strict. Both words originate in the Latin stringere,
' to draw tight.' Cf. Essay xx. 81, "a strict combination."

163. engrossing, monopolies.

165. is, notice the singular verb.

pasturages, Bacon means that pasture land affords
occupation and home to fewer labourers than arable land does.

167. discontent, discontented. See note on Essay viii. 36.

168. the greater sort, the higher classes. Cf. " the younger
sort," Essay xviii. 1.

173. the poets, etc. In the Adv., bk. ii. 4. 4, referring to the
same fable, he says it is " 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 come in on their side. "

180. so, see note on Essay vii. 35.
bravery, bravado.

182. endangereth, runs the risk of. It now means 'exposes to
danger. '

183. imposthumations, abscesses. It is of no avail simply to
drive discontent beneath the surface.

184. The part, etc. Forethought should imitate the action of
Afterthought, i.e. a wise mode of providing against sedition is to
take care that the people shall never be reduced to despair. Cf.
The Wisdom of the Ancients, § 26. mought, might.

188. artificial, often used by Bacon in the sense of skilful. We
now oppose it to natural or real.

192. proceeding, administration. Cf. 1. 213.

194. peremptory, inevitable. In the Adv., bk ii. 22. 8, he
uses the word to signify ' ' what cannot be changed. "

196. particular persons, individuals.

197. to brave, ostentatiously to pretend.
203. hath confidence with, is trusted by.

205. his own particular, The Latin translation has " in his
own private affairs."
207. fronted, confronted.

186 NOTES. [xv.

211. at distance, at enmity. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 22. 6.

217. Csesax, etc. There is a play on the word dictate. Cf.
Adv., bk. i. 7. 29. Sulla was elected Perpetual Dictator B.C.
82, but resigned power B.C. 79.

222. Galba, See note on Essay ii. 43. Tacitus, Hist. i. 5,
records that this speech irritated the Praetorians (see note on
Essay xix. 151), who found that the donative promised in Galba's
name was withheld.

225. Probus, was Emperor 276-282 A. D. " The imprudence of
Probus is said to have inflamed the discontent of his troops.
More attentive to the interests of mankind than to those of the
army, he expressed the vain hope that, by the establishment of
universal peace, he should soon abolish the necessity of a standing
and mercenary force. The unguarded expression proved fatal to
him." Gibbon, ch. xii. The story is told by Vopiscus, a Latin
historian of the fourth century.

229. tender, critical.

230. short speeches, In the Adv. , bk. ii. 23. 16, Bacon advises
" that more trust be given to countenances and deeds than to
words ; and in words rather to sudden passages and surprised
words than to set and purposed words. "

233. flat, dull.

237. there useth to be, there generally is.

242. Atque is habitus, etc. " Such was the temper of men's
minds that, while there were few to venture on so atrocious a
treason, many wished it done, and all were ready to acquiesce."

assured, trustworthy.

243. popular, courting the favour of the people.

holding good correspondence with, fairly matched with.

ESSAY XVI. OF ATHEISM.

1. I had rather, etc. In the Adv., bk. i. 1, Bacon says that
it is only a shallow science which makes men atheists. The
wider and deeper a man's knowledge of nature is, the firmer will
be his conviction of the truths of religion. In bk. ii. 6. 1, he
says that the existence, power, and goodness of God are proved by
natural theology from the world, which is the work of His hands.

the Legend, The Golden Legend, a collection of lives of
saints and other stories, written by Jacobus de Voragine, a
Dominican, born about 1230. He takes his name from the place
of his birth in the state of Genoa.

2. theTalmud, contained the civil and canonical laws of the Jews.
4. convince, refute.

xvi.] OF ATHEISM. 187

7. about, round.

8. second causes, efficient causes. Cf. Adv., bk. i. 1. 3. " 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 the highest
cause ; but when a man passeth on further, and seeth the depend
ence of causes, and the works of Providence, then, according to
the allegory of the poets, he will easily believe that the highest
link of nature's chain must needs be tied to the foot of Jupiter's
chair," i.e. that the series of natural phenomena is directed by
God.

10. confederate, bound together, united.

13. Leucippus and Democritus, They taught the atomic
theory. Democritus was born B.C. 460. The real date of
Leucippus' birth is not known. For Epicurus see note on Essay
i. 46.

14. four mutable elements, etc., referring to the Aristotelian
quintessence, or fifth essence, of which the heavenly bodies are
composed.

15. fifth essence, Wright quotes from Holland's Plutarch, p.
808, ' ' Aristoteles of Stagira, the son of Nicomachus, hath put
down for principles these three, to wit, a certain form called
JKnfelechia, Matter, and Privation : for elements, four, and for a
fifth Quintessence, the heavenly body which is immutable."

17. portions or seeds, the atoms.

unplaced, The Latin translation has "wandering without
order and at random."

19. The fool, etc., Psalm xiv. 1.

21. as that he would have, as what he wishes to believe.

23. for whom it maketh, to whose advantage it is. Cf. Essay
i. 14.

27. fainted in it, distrusted it.

30. which is most of all, what is most extraordinary.

you shall have, see note on Essay ii. 7. For of see
Essay xiv. 46.

31. that, some who. Cf. Essay i. 2.

36. without having respect to, without concerning themselves
with. See note on Essay xi. 90. See Tennyson's Lotu* Eaters.

45. the nature, He could not deny the existence of God,
though he denied the divine government of the world.

52. the contemplative atheist, the speculative atheist, the man
who is really convinced of the non-existence of God, as distin
guished from those who are not really convinced, and those whose

188 NOTES. [XVL

denial of God is the expression rather of a wish than of a
conviction.

Diagoras of Melos lived in the fifth century B.C. ; Bion in
the third century B.C. For Lucian, see note to Essay i. 12.
54. for that, because.

62. scandal of priests, scandals caused by immoral priests. St.
Bernard was born 1091 A.D. See Adv., bk. i. 3. 2.
68. reverence of religion, cf. Essay xv. 57.

75. generosity, nobleness. The Latin word generosus means
properly 'of good birth,' and so the qualities which should dis
tinguish men of rank.

76. maintained, upheld, supported. The word means literally
' held by the hand. ' Its more common meaning now is ' to sup
port a person ' in the sense of providing him with the means of
living. Used intransitively, ' I maintain ' means ' I hold the
opinion.' Cf. the use of the word tenable.

78. confidence of, trust inspired by.

80. assureth himself, encourages himself.

ESSAY XVII. OF SUPERSTITION.

I. no opinion, The Latin translation adds "or an uncertain one."
Bacon said in the last Essay that the moral use of religion is that
it exalts human nature. On the other hand, an unworthy con
ception of God, so far as it influences character and action, can
only be degrading in its effects. In this Essay Bacon has in view
the doctrines and practice of the Catholic Church. The various
Catholic plots of his time naturally made him dwell upon the
political effects of superstition. In a letter to a friend who had
joined the Catholic Church he writes, "And I entreat you much
sometimes to meditate upon the extreme effects of superstition in
this last Powder Treason : fit to be tabled and pictured in the
chamber of meditation, as another hell above the ground ; and
well justifying the censure of the heathen, that superstition is far
worse than atheism ; by how much it is less evil to have no
opinion of God at all, than such as is impious towards his divine
majesty and goodness. "

7. would eat his children, According to the Greek myth Saturn,
or rather Kronos, devoiired his children. The quotation is from
Plutarch, De Superstitione, ch. 10. Plutarch, a Boeotian by birth,
lived in the first century A. D. He wrote biographies in pairs.
Selecting some eminent Greek and Roman, he gave an account of
each, and ended with a comparison of the two.

II. piety, used, as in Latin, to signify 'natural affection.

XVIL] OF SUPERSTITION. 189

13. were not, did not exist. Cf. Essay iii. 95.

14. erecteth an absolute monarchy, cf. Adv., bk. i. 8. 3.
" There is no power on earth which sets up a throne or chair of
estate in the spirits and souls of men, and in their cogitations,
imaginations, opinions, and beliefs, but knowledge and learning.
And therefore we see the detestable and extreme pleasure that
arch heretics, and false prophets, and impostors are transported
with, when they once find in themselves that they have a sup
eriority in the faith and conscience of men." The authority of
law and morality is necessarily invalidated by a theology which
sets the arbitrary dicta of an infallible church above both.

15. it makes men, etc. The Latin translation has " it maketh
men cautious and careful of their own safety."

16. as looking no further, because they have nothing to look
to beyond their own interests in this world.

18. civil, tranquil.

19. primum mobile, see note on Essay xv. 59.

20. ravisheth, carries with it in its movement. The Church
usurps the functions of government. The word ravish means to
seize or carry off by force. Cf. rape, rapine, rapacious, etc.
"In this encyclopaedic and round of knowledge, like the great
and exemplary wheels of heaven, we must observe two circles ;
that, while we are daily carried about and whirled on by the
swing and rapt of the one, we may maintain a natural and
proper course in the slow and sober wheel of the other." Sir T.
Brown.

23. in a reversed order, rules of conduct ought to be deduced
from principles of reason. Superstition invents arguments to
justify its precepts.

gravely, The Latin translation has, " it was a weighty
saying of certain prelates." The Council of Trent met in the
year 1545. Its object was to express the judgment of the Church
on the questions raised by the Reformers.

25. the Schoolmen, teachers in the schools. The name is given
to the philosophers of the middle ages. Speaking generally,
the Scholastic philosophy was an application of the logic of
Aristotle to the development and explanation of the doctrines of
Christianity. It lasted from the ninth to the fourteenth century.
Bacon gives a criticism of the Schoolmen in the Adv., bk. i. 4.
5-7, and bk. ii. 25. 11.

27. engines of orbs, i.e. orbits so contrived as to save, i.e. to
explain or be consistent with the phenomena. Cf. Adv. , bk. ii.
8. 5, " The same phenomena in astronomy are satisfied by the
received astronomy of the diurnal motion, and the proper
motions of the planets, with their eccentrics and epicycles, and

190 NOTES. [xvn.

likewise by the theory of Copernicus. " Eccentrics and epicycles
were invented to explain the apparently irregular movements of
the planets, including the sun and moon. They revolved in
"epicycles," i.e. small circles, the centres of which described
larger circles. These larger circles were called " eccentric," be
cause the earth was not the centre of them. Eccentric means
literally "from the centre," and epicycle, "a circle added."
Bacon himself did not accept the Copernicaii theory.

32. Pharisaical, The Pharisees were a sect of the Jews noted
for their ostentatious observance of the minutest ceremonies of
the Mosaic ritual.

33. reverence of, cf. Essay xv. 57, and xvi. 68.

35. good intentions, see note on Essay iii. 66.

36. conceits, The Latin translation has " ethelothreskeia," a
word used by St. Paul, and rendered in the English version
' ' will-worship. " In the third Essay he distinguishes ' ' points of
good intention " from " points fundamental and of substance in
religion." Bacon means that if the Church is to enforce univer
sally whatever individuals may think it right to do, new and
arbitrary rules of conduct will certainly come into existence.

the taking an aim, etc. The Latin translation has, " The
constant and foolish search for human analogies to explain things
divine. " We still say ' to make a shot ' for ' to guess. '

42. As wholesome meat, etc. Talking of the process by which
reasonable iisage generates unreasonable usage, Sir Henry Maine
says, "Analogy, the most valuable of instruments in the maturity
of jurisprudence, is the most dangerous of snares in its infancy.
Prohibitions and ordinances, originally confined, for good reasons,
to a single description of acts, are made to apply to all acts of
the same class, because a man menaced with the anger of the
gods for doing one thing feels a natural terror in doing any other
thing which is remotely like it. After one kind of food has been
interdicted for sanitary reasons, the prohibition is extended to
all food resembling it, though the resemblance occasionally
depends on analogies the most fanciful. So again, a wise pro
vision for insuring general cleanliness dictates in time long
routines of ceremonial ablution ; and that division into classes
which at a particular crisis of social history is necessary for the
maintenance of the national existence, degenerates into the most
disastrous and blighting of all human institutions — Caste. "
Ancient Law, ch. i. For the metaphor employed in the text,
cf. Adv., bk. i. 4. 5, " Surely, like as many substances in nature
which are solid do putrify and corrupt into worms, so it is the
property of good and sound knowledge to putrify and dissolve
into a number of subtle, idle, and unwholesome, and (as I may
term them) vermiculate questions, which have indeed a kind of

xvii.] OF SUPERSTITION. 191

quickness and life of spirit, but no soundness of matter or good
ness of quality."

44. There is a superstition, etc. In the natural reaction against
the beliefs and practices of Hinduism, is there not a tendency in
this country to adopt without discrimination the ideas and insti
tutions of England ? And is not that most valued which is most
strange and most opposed to the old Hindu modes of thought and
conduct ? Amongst the causes of Church controversies in his
day Bacon notices the tendency of the Reformers to go to the
extreme opposite of everything Romish. He says men should
remember that "it is a consideration of much greater wisdom
and sobriety to be well advised, whether in general demolition of
the institutions of the Church of Rome, there were not, as men's
actions are imperfect, some good purged with the bad, rather
than to purge the Church, as they pretend, every day anew ;
which is the way to make a wound in the bowels, as is already
begun." Cf. Swift, Tale of a Tub, section vi.

47. care would be had, The Latin translation has, "In reform
ing a religion care ought to be taken." Cf. Essay iii. 148.

faretli, happens.

ESSAY XVIII. OF TRAVEL.

1. the younger sort, cf. Essay xv. 168.

3. hath some entrance into, has acquired some knowledge of.

5. grave, trustworthy.

I allow, I approve. It is the Latin allaudare, to laud, or
praise.

so that, provided that.

6. hath the language, knows the language well.

10. hooded, The metaphor is taken from falconry.
15. observation, what they deliberately go to see.

23. disputations, The Universities used to require a candi
date for a degree to maintain or oppose a given thesis. Cf. Adv. ,
bk. ii. Introd. § 12. The following passage from Sir Frederick
Pollock's reminiscences is interesting: — "Acts and opponencies
to be kept in the University schools were in my time still in
existence, and, although shorn of all real significance, were
necessary preliminaries to taking the B.A. degree. Early in
1835 I had to oppose Coleiiso as the keeper of an act. The pro
positions he undertook to maintain were —

192 NOTES. [xvm.

(i. ) The opinion of Newton in his third section, bk. i., is

correct,
(ii. ) The opinion of Hamilton in his book on conic sections is

correct.

(iii. ) The opinion of Paley on drunkenness is correct.
The two men thus pitted against each other used to meet before
hand to arrange their arguments, and usually in the evening at
tea given in the rooms of the man keeping the act. Accordingly
I went to Colenso in St. John's College, and we rehearsed
together our little farce. In the schools there was no audience
except the two men who had to attend for a similar purpose.
A moderator presided, and the act-keeper and opponent mounted
a sort of rostrum in succession. A very good argument might
provoke from the moderator an optime disputasti (you have
argued very well), a fair one was dismissed with a bene dispu
tasti (you have argued well), and satis disputasti (you have argued
enough) was the meed of the unfortunate man who failed to play
his part in the comedy with credit."
21. so, similarly, likewise.

23. are, see note on Essay iii. 95.

24. of state, magnificent.

25. magazines, stores of any kind belonging to the state,
burses, "Bourse" is still the French word for the exchange.

It is the same word as purse. By exchanges and burses he means
places of exchange.

31. triumphs, masks, see Essay xxxvii.
39. card, chart. Cf. Essay xxix. 37.

45. adamant, magnet. The Latin translation has " This is
certainly a magnet for the attraction of many acquaintances and
intimacies." Cf. Shakespeare, Trail, and Cress, iii. 2. 186 —
" As true as steel, as plantage to the moon,
As sun to day, as turtle to her mate,
As iron to adamant."

Talking of the wit of Queen Elizabeth, Bacon says that it is " as
the adamant of excellencies, which draweth out of any book
ancient or new, out of any writing or speech, the best."

47. diet, take his meals.

55. employed men, the private secretaries.

58. in, we should say of. But in the Latin translation it is
" persons eminent in every kind."

59. the life, the real person. The Latin translation has " The
expression, the countenance, the figures, and the gestures."

GO. For, see Essay iii. 17.

xvin.] OF TRAVEL. 193

61. healths, toasts.

place, precedence.

words, The Latin translation has " insulting words."
63. engage him into, entangle him in.
69. advised, thoughtful.

71. country manners, the manners of his country. The ex
pression now would mean the manners of the country as opposed
to those of the town.

72. prick in, plant. Cf. Essay xlvi. 178. Cf. "Farewell,
Monsieur Traveller : look you lisp and wear strange suits ; dis
able all the benefits of your own country ; be out of love with
your nativity, and almost chicle heaven for making you that
countenance you are, or I will scarce think you have swam in
a gondola." As You Like It, Act iv. Sc. 1.

ESSAY XIX. OF EMPIRE.

3. being at the highest, etc. Cf. "But princes, upon a far other
reason, are best interpreted by their natures, and private persons
by their ends. For princes being at the top of human desires,
they have for the most part no particular ends whereto they
aspire, by distance from which a man mought take measure and
scale of the rest of their desires ; which is one of the causes that
maketh their hearts more inscrutable." Adv., bk. ii. 23. 21.

6. clear, undisturbed. As clouds overshadow a clear sky, their
serenity is disturbed by anticipations of evil.

7. the Scripture, Prov. xxv. 3.

9. that should marshal, etc. , i. e. , to which other desires should
be subordinated. A man haunted by jealousies and fears is
naturally capricious and uncertain ; nor can we guess at the likes
or dislikes of one who has no definite or leading object in life.

12. Toys, trifles.

13. an order, The Latin translation has "establishing some
order or college. "

15. Nero, etc., names of Roman emperors.
21. standing at a stay, cf. Essay xii. 47.

25. Alexander the Great, Wright quotes from Holland's Plu
tarch, "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,

194 NOTES. [XTX.

Have I not (quoth he) good cause to weep, that being as there are
an infinite number of worlds, I am not yet the lord of one."
Diocletian abdicated eight years before his death and spent that
time in retirement. Charles V. abdicated in 1556, and devoted
the remainder of his life to religious observances.

29. temper, literally ' mixing. ' It denotes a judicious blending
of severity with indulgence, as distinguished from distemper,
which signifies a capricious transition from the one to the other.
In a speech in the House of Commons Bacon told the same story
about Apollonius and Vespasian, and remarked upon it, ' ' Here
we see the difference between regular and able princes, and
irregular and incapable, Nerva and Nero. The one tempers and
mingles the sovereignty with the liberty of the subject wisely ;
and the other doth interchange it, and vary it unequally and
absurdly."

32. Apollonius, born at Tyana in Cappadocia. He was a
diviner and reputed worker of miracles, who lived in the first
century A.D.

41. fine deliveries, etc., skilful modes of escaping from and
averting threatening danger.

43. grounded, reasonable. Cf. "And senators or councillors
likewise, which be learned, do proceed upon more safe and sub
stantial principles, than councillors which are only men of
experience : the one sort keeping danger afar off, whereas the
other discover them not till they come near hand, and then
trust to the agility of their wit to ward or avoid them." Adv.,
bk. i. 7. 3. Cf. grounds, Essay xii. 28.

44. to try masteries with, to contend for superiority with.
46. the spark, the same metaphor is used in Essay xv. 80.

48. their own mind, the Latin translation has "their own de
sires and character. " The substance of the following quotation is
in Sallust's History of the War with Jugurtha, ch. 113. Cf.
"Sallust noteth that it is usual with kings to desire contradic
tories : but for the most part the desires of sovereigns are as
changeable as they are strong, and are often contradictory." Adv.,
bk. ii. 22. 5.

52. the solecism, the natural defect. Of power, The Latin
translation has "of excessive power."
the mean, the means.

59. For, Essay iii. 17. It is repeated in this sense at the
beginning of the following paragraphs.

63. embracing of trade, The Latin translation has " by draw
ing trade to themselves."

64. as, that.

xix.] OF EMPIRE. 195

72. take up peace at interest, purchase an immediate peace at
the cost of subsequent loss.

73. Guicciardine, an Italian historian, 1483-1540. The league
was formed in the year 1480.

77. schoolmen, see note on Essay xvii. 28.

83. infamed, infamous. Livia was the wife of the Roman
emperor Augustus. Cf. Essay vi. 1.

Roxalana, the wife of the Turkish sultan, Solyman the
Magnificent, who reigned from 1520 to 1566. Mustapha was her
step-son. She procured his assassination in order to secure the
succession to her own son.

86. his queen, In very early .times his was substituted by
mistake for the 's of the genitive. The change occurred most
frequently in the case of nouns ending in a sibilant, owing to the
coincidence of sound : e.g. 'Mars his queen.' Abbott's Sh. Gr.
§ 217. His, as being the old genitive of it, was also used where
we use its ; see Essay x. 42, etc.

90. advoutresses, adulteresses, that, which follows when, would
be omitted now, and when would be repeated. See note on xv. 53.

91. of dangers, i.e. caused by, or resulting from dangers.
95. was fatal . . . as, was so fatal that.

97. for that, cf. Essay xvi. 54.

99. towardness, docility. Crispus was executed in the year
326 A.D.

103. that, see above, 1. 90.

104. Demetrius was executed in the year 181 B.C. on account of
an accusation falsely preferred against him by his brother.

110. Selymus, Solyman the Magnificent. Bajazet was one of
his sons who rebelled against him and was executed by him.
115. try it, contend.

118. that state, the order of the clergy. But, except, it hath
a dependence of, it is dependent upon, but where, except where.
Bacon is thinking of the troubles which resulted from the conflict
of the Civil with the Papal jurisdiction.

119. churchmen, cf. Essay viii. 26.

120. particular, cf. Essay xv. 196.

122. it, We should say ' It is not amiss to keep them at a
distance.'

123. to depress, to press down, to humble,
more absolute, cf. Essay xiv. 4.

129. They, Notice the repetition of the nominative. Cf. Essay
viii. 37.

196 NOTES. [xix.

130. Fain, the word expresses reluctant acquiescence in what
is inevitable.

133. discourse high, as we say talk big, i.e. brag and bluster.

134. that they grow not, i.e. preventing them from growing.
It explains how they act as a counterpoise.

135. immediate, used in its literal sense. No one stands be
tween them and the people.

136. temper, moderate. The word means literally to mix, to
combine in due proportion (cf. above, 1. 29), and so metaphori
cally to regulate. So distemper means a disturbance of elements
in combination, and so, metaphorically, a disease.

138. vena porta, The metaphor is historically curious ; for no
one would have used it since the discovery of the circulation of
the blood and of the lacteals. But in Bacon's time it was supposed
that the chyle was taken up by the veins which converge to the
vena porta. The latter immediately divides into branches, and
ultimately into four ramifications, which are distributed through
out the substance of the liver, so that it has been compared to the
trunk of a tree giving off roots at one extremity and branches at
the other. Bacon's meaning therefore is that commerce concen
trates the resources of a country in order to their redistribution.
The heart, which receives blood from all parts of the body and
brings it into contact with the external air, and then redistributes
it everywhere, would I think have taken the place of the vena
porta after Harvey's discovery had become known : especially as
the latter is a mere conduit and not a source of motion. Ellis.

140. nourish little, intransitive. In the Latin translation it is
" Have a thin habit of body."

141. that that lie wins, etc. The Latin translation has " What
he gains in parts he loses in the whole, the total amount of trade
being diminished." Taxes diminish, of course, the power of pur
chasing. Excessive taxation therefore involves stagnation of
trade, and a consequent diminution of the public revenue. A
hundred was an old territorial division in England intermediate
between the township and the county or shire. Leeseth. loseth.

147. the point of religion, etc. Cf. Essay xv. 115.

149. men of war, soldiers. We iise the term now in the sense
war-ships.

151. the Janizaries, a Turkish corps established in 1326. The
praetorian bands were instituted by Augustus. Both the janizaries
and the praetorians were intended as a safeguard to their sovereign :
and both, being spoilt by indulgence and conscious of power,
became a danger to the ruler and the state.

152. several, distinct.

xx.] OF COUNSEL. 197

ESSAY XX. OF COUNSEL.

6. obliged, used in the literal sense of ' ' bound. "

8. sufficiency, ability. Cf. Essay xi. 101.

9. hath made it, Isaiah ix. 6. The quotation which follows is
from Prov. xx. 18.

12. Agitation, Notice the play on the word. The Latin
agitare means both to toss and to discuss.

14. inconstancy, inconsistency. Cf. below, 1. 69, constantly.

15. Salomon's son, Rehoboam. Following the advice of young
councillors, he attempted to govern with undue severity. The
result was that the greater part of his subjects revolted and set
up an independent state.

17. the beloved kingdom of God, the Jewish kingdom.
20. for, see iii. 17.

26. whereby they intend, the meaning of which is.
36. elaborate, elaborated. Cf. Essay xv. 167.
43. resembled, compared.

50. of themselves, by themselves : without the help of advice.
By less he means ' not fit for their work. '

54. doctrine, teaching. The Latin translation has " The teach
ing of some among the, Italians. "

55. cabinet councils, secret councils. The Latin translation
has "Secret councils, commonly called cabinets. " Wright says
that the MS. adds, " which hath turned Metis the wife to Metis
the mistress, that is, councils of state to which princes are married,
to councils of gracious persons recommended chiefly by flattery
and affection." This was suppressed because of its obvious
application to James' favourites.

61. the unsecreting, the disclosure.

63. futile, see Essay vi. 52.

64. to tell, The Latin translation has ;'to know and to reveal
secrets."

66. be, see note on Essay i. 2.

67. which, viz. secrecy. A matter which is to be kept secret
should not be spoken of to more than one or two persons.

71. such as is able, etc. The Latin translation has " who is
strong in his own strength," i.e. who can manage his own affairs.

72. inward, intimate.

75. imparted himself, communicated his intentions to. Morton
and Fox were the Bishops of Ely and Exeter. Wright quotes
from Bacon's History of Henry VII., "About this time the King

198 NOTES. [xx.

called unto his Privy Council John Morton and Richard Fox, 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. "

76. For, cf. Essay iii. 17.

the fable sheweth the remedy, he has already explained one
meaning of the fable to be that kings should appropriate the
wisdom of their advisers.

79. his dependences, his dependents. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 23. 17,
i( Mutianus advanced many of the friends of Antonius : wherein,
under pretence to strengthen him, he did desolate him, and won
from him his dependences. "

81. over-strict, see note on Essay xv. 162.

82. holpen, remedied. Cf. " Men are to imitate the wisdom of
jewellers : who if there be a grain, or a cloud, or an ice which
may be ground forth without taking too much of the stone, they
help it." Adv., bk. ii. 21. 5.

85. he shall not find, etc. See the conclusion of Essay i.

86. there be that, see note on Essay i. 2.

96. the chief virtue, etc. From an epigram of the Roman
Martial, born A.D. 43.

97. speculative, prying into. Cf. " To, be speculative into
another man to the end to know how to work him, or wind him,
or govern him, proceedeth from a heart that is double and cloven
and not entire and ingenuous ; which as in friendship it is want
of integrity, so towards princes or superiors is want of duty."
Adv., bk. i. 3. 7.

98. person, character. See note on Essay iii. 134.
composition, see note on Essay vi. 103.

104. reverend, deserving of respect. See note on Essay xiv. 29.

105. obnoxious, exposed to, influenced by. A Latinism : lit.
it means ' liable to punishment. '

107. to preserve freedom, i.e. that they may not hesitate to
say what they think, as they might do in the presence of their
superiors. For ' the inferior sort ' and ' the greater sort,' cf.
Essay xv. 168, and Essay xviii. 1.

108. to preserve respect, the Latin translation has " That they
may give their advice more modestly."

111. the life of the execution, etc. The law remains a dead-
letter when no one is interested in enforcing it. Cf. "A purposed
neglect, or, what is worse, a literal but perverse and malignant
obedience must be the ruin of the wisest counsels": and "I
think it impossible that any king can cordially infuse vivacity

xx.] OF COUNSEL. 199

and vigour into measures which he knows to be dictated by those
who, he must be persuaded, are in the highest degree ill-affected
to his person." Burke. In a letter to Villiers Bacon says,
" The impediments are as much or more in the persons which are
live, instruments than in the dead business itself. "

1 13. by classes, one general idea, or one mathematical definition,
embraces the characteristics of a whole class of things. Such
general knowledge of man is not sufficient. Cf. Adv., bk. ii.
23. 14, "Informations of particulars, touching persons and
actions, are as the minor propositions in every active syllogism :
for no excellency of observations (which are as the major pro
positions) can suffice to ground a conclusion, if there be errors
and mistaking in the minors. "

115. should be, ought to be.

119. blanch, connected etymologically with 'blink 'and 'flinch.'
It means 'to shrink,' or 'be afraid.' In Essay xxvi. 28, it is
used transitively in the sense of ' to avoid. ' Cf . " It is over
usual to blanch the obscure places and discourse upon the plain."
Adv., bk. ii. 19. 1.

120. conversant in, familiar with.

121. have been actors upon the stage, The Latin translation
has " Who have guided the helm of the state."

123. debated, The Latin translation has "duly weighed and
discussed."

124. act, resolution. It is used like the Latin actum to signify
the result of debate.

126. spoken to, discussed. Bacon was himself a member of
the Commission appointed in the year 1604 to deal with the
question of the union of the two kingdoms.

132. estate, state.

133. ripening, we should say 'preparing.' Bacon means the
collecting and arranging of the information required by the
Council. It may be said that, if a committee is composed of the
adherents of two parties in equal numbers, neither party will have
an advantage. Bacon says that it is better not to admit partizans
at all.

134. indifferent, see note on Essay vi. 64.

136. standing, perpetual. In a letter of advice to the king
Bacon suggested the appointment of commissions for the follow
ing provinces : for advancing the clothing of England : for
staying treasures within the realm, and the ' reiglement of
moneys : for the provision of the realm with corn and grain,
and the government of the exportation and importation thereof :
and directing of public granaries, if cause be : for introducing

200 NOTES. [xx.

and nourishing manufactures within the realm, for the setting
people a-work : for preventing the depopulation of towns and
houses of husbandry, and for nuisances and highways : for the
recovery of drowned lands : for the suppression of the grievance
of informers : for the better proceedings in the plantation of
Ireland : for the provision of the realm with all kinds of warlike
defence, ordnance, powder, munition, and armour.

137. for some provinces, for particular subjects. The Latin
word provincia was used in the sense of ' a department of the
public service ' before it meant ' a district. '

be, see note on Essay i. 2.

138. divers particular councils, The Latin translation has
" different subordinate councils." The special committees in
Spain resemble the standing councils which Bacon advocates.

142. mintmen, persons skilled in coinage.

145. tribunitious, overbearing. The tribunes in the Roman
state were the magistrates who specially represented the people
as distinguished from the aristocracy.

to clamour, to shout them down.
148. sway, direct.

153. take the wind of him, follow his lead. They will be guided
by him as a ship follows the direction of the wind. Of=from,
as it sometimes does still, after words like 'to borrow,' and 'to
take.' Cf. our expression " to know which way the wind blows,"
i.e. in what direction things are tending. Shakespeare talks of
men who ' ' turn their halcyon beaks with every gale and vary of
their masters," Lear, ii. 2. 84. It was believed that if the king
fisher or halcyon was hung up in the air by the neck, its bill was
always directly against the wind.

154. a song of placebo, the vesper hymn for the dead, so called
because it begins with the words, " I will please (placebo) the
Lord in the land of the living." They will sing a song of placebo
means here simply, they will do what the king wishes.

ESSAY XXI. OF DELAYS.

3. Sibylla's offer, Cf. Adr., bk. ii. 23. 33. The Roman king
Tarquin refused to buy nine books which an old woman offered
him. She went away and burnt three of the books, and then
returned and asked as much as before for the remaining six.
The king laughed at her. She then went and burnt three more
of the books, and still asked the same price for the remaining
three. The king was so struck by her conduct that he consulted

xxi.] OF DELAYS. 201

his augur, who told him to buy the three books, adding that he
had done wrong in not buying the nine, for that they were the
books of the Sibyl, and contained great secrets. The Sibylline
books were consulted by the Romans in times of political diffi
culty and danger.

5. the common verse, Adagla, p. 687, ed. Grynasus. Grynseus
was a Suabian by birth. He was born towards the end of the
fifteenth century. He was well known as a scholar and a
theologian. See also Phaedrus, v. 8. (W.)

6. and no hold taken, i.e. after she has presented her locks and
found that no hold is taken of them. ' Taken ' depends upon
' has. ' If we ever let slip an opportunity it may never recur.

13. nothing, used adverbially : not at all.
19. buckling, preparing to meet them.

22. Argus was set by Juno as a guard over lo. For Briareus,
see Essay xv. 175.

24. the helmet of Pluto, See Homer, II. , v. 845. It rendered
the wearer invisible. Cf. The Wisdom of the Ancients, chap. vii.

25. the politic man, the politician.

ESSAY XXII. OF CUNNING.

1. take Cunning for, we mean by cunning.
4. there be that, see note on Essay i. 2.

pack the cards, arrange the cards deceitfully. Many men
have not the wisdom to make use of advantages which they havre
had cunning enough to obtain.

6. weak, wanting in ability.

7. persons, The Latin translation has "the characters and
habits of individuals."

8. are perfect in men's humours, The Latin translation has
" know the favourable times for approaching men."

9. real, Res is the Latin word for matters, so ' the real part '
means matters or business as distinguished from persons.

part of business, cf. "this part of predictions," Essay xv.
72. In the Adv., bk. ii. 23. 14, he dwells on the importance of
" procuring good information of particulars touching persons,
their natures, their desires, and ends, their customs and
fashions, their helps and advantages, and whereby they chiefly
stand : so again their weaknesses and disadvantages, and where
by they lie most open and obnoxious ; their friends, factions,

202 NOTES. [xxn.

dependences ; and again their opposites, enviers, and competi
tors, their moods and times, you alone know the favourable times
for approaching him ; their principles, rules, and observations,
and the like ; and this not only of persons, but of actions ; what
are on foot from time to time, and how they are conducted,
favoured, and opposed, and how they import, and the like."

11. practice, intrigue.

12. but, only.

alley, a bowling alley. Under the head of "Bowl-Alley
or Bowling- Alley " Nares (Glossary) gives " a covered place for
the game of bowls, instead of a bowling-green." He quotes,
"Whether it be in open wide places, or in close allies — the
choosing of the bowls is the greatest cunning. "—Country Content
ment, G. Markham, p. 58. (W.) A man who plays bowls well
in the alley to which he is accustomed may play badly in a
strange one. Similarly a cunning man may be able to work upon
an individual whose character and habits he has studied, though
for want of a general knowledge of human character he will fail
when he has to deal with a stranger.

13. so as, see note on Essay viii. 48. The Greek philosopher
Aristippus was the author of the saying which Bacon quotes.

16. and because, etc. It will be well to enumerate the little
tricks with which they are always ready. Cf. below, 1. 112. A
haberdasher is generally connected with a Norse word signifying
things of small value. Skeat connects it with ' the haversack ' in
which the pedlar carried his wares.

19. wait upon, carefully watch. Cf. " the motions of the coun
tenance and parts .... do disclose the present humour
and state of the mind and will. For, as your majesty saith most
aptly and elegantly, as the tongue speaketh to the ear so the gesture
speaketh to the eye. And therefore a number of subtile persons,
whose eyes do dwell upon the faces and fashions of men, do well
know the advantage of this observation, as being most part of
their ability ; neither can it be denied but that it is a great dis
covery of dissimulation, and a great direction in business."
Adv., bk. ii. 9. 2.

20. Jesuits, an order in the Catholic Church founded in the
sixteenth century.

21. there be, see note on Essay i. 2.

22. would be, cf. Essay iii. 148.

24. when you have, etc. The Latin translation has "When
there is anything which you wish to obtain and carry through
easily and quickly."

30. estate, state.

xxii.] OF CUNNING. 203

30. mought, cf. Essay xv. 184.

33. that, cf. Essay vi. 39, and below, 1. 38.

34. would, wishes to.
doubts, fears.

35. handsomely, used in its proper sense of ' dexterously. '

36. in such sort, in such a way.

39. took himself up, checked himself.

45. what the matter is, etc., what your change of countenance
means. The Jewish prophet Nehemiah, being in exile and wishing
to return to Judaea, assumed a sorrowful look in the presence of
Artaxerxes. The king asked the meaning of his sad looks, and
the question afforded him an opportunity of making his request.
Nehem. ii. 1.

48. tender, delicate, difficult to approach,
unpleasing, cf. Essay i. 27.

51. He, i.e. the person whose voice is more weighty. Messalina,
wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius, forced a noble named
Silius to marry her. Narcissus, the Emperor's secretary, wishing
to inform the Emperor of this, but afraid to do so directly,
ordered two women with whom the Emperor was intimate to
mention the fact to him. They did so, and the Emperor then sent
for Narcissus to inquire as to the truth of this report. Tac.
Ann. xi. 30.

57. he, see note on Essay viii. 37.

66. be found, i.e. procure themselves to be surprised and found.

68. apposed, questioned. We use the word ' to pose ' for ' to
puzzle with a question. ' Cf . Essay xxxii. 32.

72. thereupon take advantage, The Latin translation has "so
as by this means to ensnare and overthrow the other."

two, possibly Sir Robert Cecil and Sir Thomas Bodley. (W.)

74. kept good quarter, etc. , were on friendly terms. In Essay
x. 48, ' to keep quarter ' is used in a different sense.

76. declination, decline.

77. affect, see note on Essay i. 3.

78. caught up those words, The Latin translation has " took in
good faith these words which were spoken with sinister intent."

82. as, see note on Essay viii. 21.

84. The turning, etc. Wright quotes the following explanation
from Singer's edition of the Essays — " It was originally, no doubt,
' cate in the pan,' but thus popularly corrupted. The allusion
is probably to the dexterous turning or shifting the side of a pan
cake by a sleight of hand familiar to cooks." The word ' cat-a-

204 NOTES. [xxii.

pan ' occurs in a popular English song as equivalent to ' turn
coat. '

86. lays it as if another, etc. , imputes it to another.

90. to glance and dart at others, indirectly to accuse others.

92. Tigellinus, Tac. Ann. xiv. 57. He was the profligate fav
ourite and minister of the Roman Emperor Nero. Burrhus, who
with Seneca had superintended the education of Nero, and who
tried to control him for good, was put to death A.D. 63.

96. as, that.

98. keep themselves more in guard, they protect themselves
because they affirm nothing explicitly.

99. carry it, spread it abroad.
101. stick, hesitate.

104. how far about they will fetch, in what a roundabout way
they will approach the subject.

beat over, We have an expression ' to beat about the
bush ' in the sense of ' to hesitate before coming to the point. '
The metaphor is taken from beating the jungle to start the game.
So also it means 'to search carefully from point to point.' Cf.
Essay 1. 46. With this passage cf. Essay xlvii. 25.

108. lay him open, reveal what he wishes to hide.

109. Paul's, "The body of old St. Paul's church in London
was a constant place of resort for business and amusement.
Advertisements were fixed up there, bargains made, servants
hired, politics discussed," etc. Nares, Gloss, s. ?;. , quoted by
Wright, who adds that frequent allusions are made to it by
Shakespeare and the dramatists of his time.

112. small wares, cf. above, 1. 17.
114. for that, cf. Essay xvi. 54.

116. resorts, springs or sources. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 2. 5. "Such
histories do rather set forth the pomp of business than the true
and inward resorts thereof. "

117. the main, the important part. Bacon means that cunning
can do no more than take advantage of opportunities for setting
things afoot, and finding a way out of a difficulty. So it may be
compared to a house which should contain nothing but a way in
and a way out.

120. looses, modes of escape. Cf. deliveries, Essay xix. 41.

in the conclusion, the Latin translation adds " of delibera
tions."

are, notice the omission of the nominative.
no ways, cf. Essay x. 51.

xxn.] OF CUNNING. 205

122. would be thought, etc. They wish to be regarded as men
who are more fitted to decide matters for others than to discuss
them with others.

123. abusing, deceiving. The quotation which follows is from
Prov. xiv. 15.

125. proceedings, cf. Essay xv. 192.

ESSAY XXIII. OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF.

1. shrewd, mischievous. Cf. Adv. , bk. ii. 23. 10. " Many are
wise in their own ways that are weak for government or counsels ;
like ants, which is a wise creature for itself, but very hurtful for
the garden." The part of the Advancement referred to should be
read in illustration of this Essay.

3. waste the public, The Latin translation has "do harm to
the state." With this passage cf. Adv., bk. i. 3. 7.

6. himself, The Latin translation has "his own interest."

7. It is right earth, it is exactly like the earth, which, in Bacon's
opinion, was the fixed centre round which the heavens revolved.
In the Interpretation of Nature Bacon says, "The appetites to
give and to receive are figured in the universal frame of the
world, the one in the beam of heaven which issues forth, and the
other in the lap of the earth which takes in. " For his, see note
on Essay xix. 86.

10. a man's self, see note on Essay vi. 57.

14. affairs, The Latin translation has "state affairs."

15. crooketh, bends.

16. eccentric to, different from. The interests of the individual
and those of the state, being sometimes opposed, form, as it were,
the centres of different circles of activity. See note on EsSay
xvii. 27.

17. princes or states, cf. " kings or estates," Essay ix. 150.

18. except they mean, unless they mean to employ them merely
as instruments having no independent or discretionary power.

23. carry things, prevail, be preferred.

25. set a bias, etc., private interests and jealousies divert the
selfish man from the path of loyalty, just as the bias diverts the
bowl from the straight line. See note on Essay xxii. 12. Of ex
plains what it is that gives the bias. Cf. " The corrupter sort of
mere politiques, that have not their thoughts established by
learning in the love and apprehension of duty, nor never look

206 NOTES. [xxni.

abroad into universality, do refer all things to themselves, and
thrust themselves into the centre of the world, as if all lines
should meet in them and their fortunes ; never caring, in all
tempests, what becomes of the ship of estates, so they may save
themselves in the cock-boat of their own fortune ; whereas men
that feel the weight of duty, and know the limits of self-love,
use to make good their places and duties, though with peril."
Adv., bk. i. 3. 6.

28. is after the model of, is proportionate to. They barter away
the interests of the state for their own advantage : and what they
gain after all is small in comparison with the harm which they do
to the state.

29. the hurt they sell, etc . Their own advantage is gained at
the cost of the state.

31. it is the nature ... as, their nature is such that.

32. and, if.

35. for either respect, to gain either of these two ends. See
note on Essay xi. 90.

36. their affairs, the business of their masters.

41. crocodiles were fabled to moan and sigh like a person in
distress, in order to allure travellers near them, and even to shed
tears over their prey in the act of devouring it. Cf. " As the
mournful crocodile with sorrow snares relenting passengers,"
Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI., iii. 1. Cf. Bullokar's Expositor (1616),
" Crocodile's tears do signify such tears as are feigned, and spent
only with intent to deceive or do harm."

42. would, wish to.

47. self -wisdom, i.e. their ingenuity in providing for them
selves.

ESSAY XXIV. OF INNOVATIONS.

1. the births, the offspring. The word ' innovation ' means
simply changes, without connoting, as it generally does now,
that the changes are for the worse. The student will notice that
in this Essay Bacon simply jots down certain antitheta, or general
considerations which may be urged for or against changes. Cf.
De. Aug., bk. vi., Antith., xl.

3. as those, etc., cf. Essay 14. 36.

6. For ill, etc. , the perverted nature of man has a natural in
clination towards what is bad, and therefore things tend to de
teriorate by mere continuance.

8. Surely, The word introduces an argument in favour of

xxiv.] OF INNOVATIONS. 207

change. Cf. "A state without the means of some change is
without the means of its conservation," Burke.

10. if time of course alter, etc., if things deteriorate by the
mere lapse of time. Cf. "Time is truly compared to a stream,
that carrieth down fresh and pure waters into that salt sea of
corruption which environeth all human actions. And therefore
if man shall not by his industry, virtue, and policy, as it were
with the oar, row against the stream and inclination of time, all
institutions and ordinances, be they never so pure, will corrupt
and degenerate." Of the Pacification of the Church.

14. it, see note on Essay viii. 37.

fit, The Latin translation has "suited to the times." It
is no sufficient argument for changing a system or an institution
that it is theoretically defective.

15. confederate, cf. Essay xvi. 10. ' Within themselves ' is
the Latin inter se, i. e, ' together. '

16. piece not so well, do not fit in with the old. Cf. Essay iii.
101.

17. inconformity, their not harmonizing with the old.

20. froward, perverse, unreasoning. Cf . "A contentious
retaining of custom is a turbulent thing, as well as innovation.
A good husband is ever pruning in his vineyard, or his field : not
unseasonably indeed, not unskilfully, but lightly ; he findeth ever
somewhat to do. " Of Church Controversies. ' Turbulent ' means
' causing confusion and embarrassment. '

22. the new, the age in which they live.

It were good, etc. Cf. "It is one of the excellencies of a
method in which time is amongst the assistants that its operation
is slow and in some cases almost imperceptible," Burke.

27. pairs, impairs, mends, improves the condition of. Con
sider e.g. the substitution of railways for stage carriages.

he that is holpen, he who is a gainer. Cf. Essay xx. 82.

33. pretendeth, urges as an excuse.

34. suspect, a thing suspected.

35. as the Scripture saith, Jeremiah vi. 16. Cf. "Antiquity
envieth there should be new additions, and novelty cannot be
content to add but it must deface : surely the advice of the
prophet is the true direction in this matter, Stand upon the
ancient paths and see which is the straight and good road and walk
in it. Antiquity deserveth that reverence, that men should make
a stand thereupon and discover what is the best way ; but when the
discovery is well taken, then to make progression." Adv., bk. i.
5. 1.

37. to walk, The construction is irregular.

208 NOTES. [xxv.

ESSAY XXV. OF DISPATCH.

I. Affected dispatch, The Latin translation has "an excessive
striving after haste." For ' affected ' cf. note on Essay i. 3. A man
can scarcely do a thing well if his first object be to do it quickly.

4. crudities, The Latin translation has " sour juices." Crudus
is the Latin word for ' undigested. '

7. lift, The Latin translation adds "but a lower and even
motion of the feet."

10. only to come, etc. The Latin translation has "only to
appear to have done much in a short time. "

II. to contrive, etc., to make it appear that the business is
finished, though it is not really so. Period, conclusion.

because, in order that. Cf. Essay viii. 15; Essay xxxiv. 14.

12. to abbreviate, to economize time.

13. And business, etc. If, through a desire to get through
business quickly, a point is slurred over or neglected at one meet
ing, it will inevitably tiirn up to interrupt the proper business of
a subsequent meeting.

15. a wise man, Sir Amyas Paulet, with whom Bacon went to
France in 1576 : see Apopth., 76. In Howell's Familiar Letters,
vol. ii. lett. 17, the saying is attributed to Sir Francis Walsing-
ham. (W.) Cf. the proverb, " More haste less speed."

16. a byword, a proverb.

20. at a dear hand, at a high price. The question is whether
a thing is worth the time that was spent upon it.

Spaniards, In a speech in the House of Commons Bacon
said, " His Lordship ascribed these delays, not so much to malice
or alienation of mind towards us, as to the nature of the people
and nation (Spain), which is proud and therefore dilatory : for
all proud men are full of delays, and must be waited on ; and
especially to the multitude and diversities of tribunals and places
of justice, and the number of the king's councils full of referrings,
which ever prove of necessity to be deferrings ; besides the great
distance of territories : all which have made the delays of Spain
to come into a byword through the world. Wherein I think his
Lordship might allude to the proverb of Italy, Mi venga la
morte di Spafjna, Let my death come from Spain, for then it is
sure to be long in coming."

29. waits upon his memory, strives to recollect what is
wanted.

32. the actor, etc. The Latin translation has "the speaker."
Bacon means that however wearisome the informer's story may

xxv.] OF DISPATCH. 209

be, it is sometimes not so wearisome as the interruptions of the
person who tries to guide and control (moderate) him in the
manner of telling his story.

33. But there is, etc. , speakers must be kept to the point.
36. curious, cf. Essay ix. 17.

38. passages, The Latin translation has "graceful transi
tions. " In passing from point to point the speaker may waste
time in the effort to avoid abruptness.

excusations, excuses, apologies.

40. bravery, ostentation.

41. being too material, going straight to the point. An orator
will, if he is wise, prepare men's minds gradually for a proposal
against which they are prejudiced. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 17. 10.

46. so as, provided that.

56. more pregnant of direction, more serviceable for guidance.
Unless written proposals are put before a meeting, the discussion
is apt to wander into mere generalities. On the other hand, the
very criticism which shows a given mode of dealing with a problem
to be inadequate points at the same time to the conditions of a
satisfactory solution.

57. generative, fertilizing. If we are to press the simile, we
must say that dust, existing in indefinite amount, symbolizes a
discussion to which no limits are set. Ashes, on the other hand,
being the definite quantity of matter resulting from the destruc
tion of a given substance by fire, symbolize the positive plan
which results from the destruction of a measure by criticism.

ESSAY XXVI. OF SEEMING WISE.

4. the Apostle, St. Paul, 2 Timothy iii. 5.

6. there are . . . that, there are some who. After ' solemnly '
the Latin translation adds " having little wisdom."

sufficiency, cf. Essay xx. 8.

9. formalists, pretenders to wisdom. The Latin word trans
lated ' xhow ' in the quotation from St. Paul is species, and means
literally ' form ' or ' appearance. '

10. prospectives, The Latin translation has " how they use,
as it were, an art of prospective." Prospectives were glasses
contrived to give an appearance of solidity to objects in a picture.

11. as, that.

210 NOTES. [xxvi.

12. seem always, The Latin translation has "would be

thought to suggest more than they say. "

14. that, cf. Essay vi. 39.

would ... seem, wish to appear.
16. well, The Latin translation has " safely. "
22. to bear It, to succeed.

25. impertinent, cf. ' impertinence,' Essay viii. 10.
curious, trifling. See note on Essay ix. 17.

26. would have, wish to have. Cf. " For confidence, it is the
last but the surest remedy, namely, to depress and seem to
despise whatsoever a man cannot attain ; observing the good
principle of the merchants, who endeavour to raise the price of
their own commodities, and to beat down the price of others."
Adv., bk. ii. 23. 32.

28. blanch, avoid. See note on Essay xx. 119.

A. Gellius, This is a mistake. Bacon is quoting from
memory the substance of what Quintilian says about Seneca.
(W. ) Quintilian was a famous Roman rhetorician born about
A.D. 40. Cf. Adv., bk. i. 4. 6. A politician, criticising an
opponent's policy as compared with his own, often blinds his
hearers to the substantial identity of the two by concentrating
their attention upon quite unimportant distinctions between
them which his subtilty enables him to invent, and his rhetorical
skill to emphasize.

31. Protagoras, the name of one of the Platonic dialogues.
Protagoras and Prodicus were two Sophists, or public teachers,
well known in Athens at the end of the fifth and the beginning
of the fourth century B.C.

34. find ease to be, etc., prefer to criticise the proposals of
others rather than make proposals of their own. For ' of ' we
should say ' on. '

35. affect a credit, try to obtain a reputation by making objec
tions. For ' affect,' see note 011 Essay i. 3.

36. when propositions are denied, when proposals are rejected.

37. allowed, cf. Essay xviii. 5.

38. false point of wisdom, pretended wisdom. The Latin
translation has " spurious kind of wisdom. "

39. inward beggar, one who is in reality a beggar, though out
wardly he maintains a show of wealth. The Latin translation
has, " one who squanders his estate in secret."

40. hath . . . their. Notice the change from singular to plural.
42. sufficiency, see note above, 1. 6.

xxvi.] OF SEEMING WISE. 211

42. may make shift, etc., may manage to acquire a reputation.
The Latin translation adds "with the common people."

44. you were better take, Abbott (Sft. Gr. § 352) points out
that this represents an old impersonal idiom. " Me were liefer,"
i.e. "It would be more pleasant to me"; "Me were loth";
' ' Him were better. " The change to the personal construction
seems to have arisen from an erroneous feeling that ' ' me were
better " was ungrammatical.

45. formal, see note on " formalists " above.

ESSAY XXVII. OF FRIENDSHIP.

This Essay was written at the special request of his friend Toby
Matthew in commemoration of an intimacy which had been tried
by adversity and prosperity on both sides, and endured to the end
without cloud or interruption on either. Spedding's Francis
Bacon and his Times, vol. i. p. 521.

3. Whosoever, etc. , Aristotle's Politics, i. i. A man, says
Aristotle, may be so degraded as to be unfit for society, or he may
be self-sufficient, and therefore may not need society. In the first
case he resembles a beast, in the second he resembles God. In
the Ethics, bk. x. ch. vii. , Aristotle gives the following reasons for
preferring a contemplative to an active life — "It is the highest
kind of life, it can be enjoyed uninterruptedly for the greatest
length of time, it is the most pleasant, it is the most self-sufficient,
it alone is loved for its own sake, and it implies leisure. " With
the whole of this passage cf. Adv., bk. ii. 20. 8.

5. aversation, aversion.

7. should have, We should say 'has.' The word ' should '
shows that he is quoting the opinion of another.

9. to sequester, to withdraw.

a man's self, see note on Essay vi. 57. Describing the death
of Essex, Bacon says, " He never mentioned nor remembered
there, wife, children, or friend, nor took particular leave of any
that were present, but wholly abstracted and sequestered himself
to the state of his conscience and prayer."

10. conversation, mode of life. The Latin translation has
"for nobler studies."

11. Epimenides, a sage and poet of Crete, who lived in the sixth
century B. c. He is said to have fallen asleep in a cave when a
boy, and to have remained asleep for fifty-seven years.

12. Numa was the second king of Rome. He 1'etired at times
into a cave, where he is said to have received instruction from the
Nymph Egeria.

212 NOTES. [xxvii.

13. Apollonius, see note on Essay xix. 32.

18. meeteth with it, expresses it.

19. A great city, etc., Adagio,, p. 506. A comic poet quoted
by Strabo, xvi. p. 738, punning upon the name of Megalopolis,
(lit. the great city), a town of Arcadia, said, " The great city is a
great desert." Strabo applies it to Babylon. (W.)

23. mere, used in its literal sense of 'pure.' Cf. Essay iii. 66.

26. he taketh it of, he derives it from.

27. humanity, human nature.
32. sarza, sarsaparilla.

38. civil, as distinguished from the confessions which the
Catholic Church orders penitents to make to the priest.

41. as, that. Cf. 11. 67, 75, 83, 94.

43. in regard of, because of. Cf. 1. 71.

47. sorteth to, results in.

49. privartoes, intimate friends. Wright quotes from Bacon's
History of Henry VII. , where he says, speaking of the Duchess of
Burgundy and Perkin Warbeck, that " She sent him unknown
into Portugal .... with some Privado of her own to have an
eye upon him." Read Bacon's letter to Villiers on the duties of
a king's favourite. Spedding's Francis Bacon and His Times,
vol. ii. p. 151. In his Advice to Sir George Villiers Bacon says,
"Kings and great princes, even the wisest of them, have had
their friends, their favourites, their privadoes in all ages ; for
they have their affections as well as other men. Of these they
make several uses ; sometimes to communicate and debate their
thoughts with them, and to ripen their judgments thereby ; some
times to ease their cares by imparting them ; and sometimes to
interpose them between themselves 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." Favourite was
a technical term to denote a private and confidential councillor
chosen by the king out of personal affection. Cf . Essay xxxvi. 34,
and Iv. 54.

grace or conversation, condescension or society.

51. Sharers of their cares, The title was given by the Roman
Emperor Tiberius to his minister Sejanus. Dio Cass. Iviii. 4 ;
Tac. Ann. iv. 2. (W.)

59. Sylla, see note on Essay xv. 217.

60. to that height that, to such a height that.
62. the pursuit, the canvassing.

G3. that, see note on Essay xv. 53.

xxvii.] OF FRIENDSHIP. 213

65. more men, etc. Cf. _<4dr.,bk. ii. 23. 6.

67. that interest as, such influence that.

68. his nephew, afterwards Augustus Caesar.

72. Calpurnia, the wife of Caesar.

73. he hoped, The Latin translation has " He hoped that Caesar
would not put such a slight upon the senate as to dismiss it until
his wife had dreamed a better dream. " See Shakespeare, Jul.
Cita. ii. 2. (50.

76. Cicero, Philippic*, xiii. 1L

78. that height as, such a height that.

79. Maecenas, the favourite minister of Augustus. He is best
known through the writings of Horace as an enlightened patron
of literature.

88. in respect of, cf. "in regard of," above.

89. the like or more, etc. The Latin translation has " An
instance of equal or even greater friendship than that is seen. "

90. Septimius Severus, Emperor of Rome A. D. 193 — 211.

Flautianus was Praetorian Prefect. In virtue of his office,
" he, in every department of administration, represented the
person, and exercised the authority of, the Emperor. Plautianus'
reign lasted above ten years, till the marriage of his daughter
with the eldest son of the Emperor, which seemed to assure his
fortune, proved the occasion of his ruin. The animosities of the
palace, by irritating the ambition and alarming the fears of
Plautianus, threatened to produce a revolution, and obliged the
Emperor, who still loved him, to consent with reluctance to his
death." Gibbon, ch. 5.

92. maintain, cf. Essay xvi. 76.

93. by, we should say ' in. '

95. Trajan was emperor A.D. 98-1 17 ; and Marcus Aurelius, A.D.
161-180. In the Adv., bk. i. 7. 5, Bacon says of Trajan, "He was
for his person not learned : but if we will hearken to the speech
of our Saviour, that saith, He that recdveth a prophet in the name
of a prophet shall have a prophet's reward, he deserveth to be
placed amongst the most learned princes, for there was not a
greater admirer of learning or benefactor of learning .... On
the other side, how much Trajan's virtue and government was
admired and renowned, surely no testimony of grave and faithful
history doth more, lively set forth than that legend tale of
Gregorius Magnus, bishop of Rome, who was noted for the
extreme envy he bare towards all heathen excellency : and yet
he is reported out of the love and estimation of Trajan's moral
virtues, to have made unto God fervent and passionate prayers
for the delivery of his soul out of hell : and to have obtained it,

214 NOTES. [xxvn.

with a caveat that he should make no more such petitions." Of
Marcus Aurelius he says, Adv., bk. i. 7. 8, "He was named the
Philosopher. As he excelled all the rest in learning, so he ex
celled them likewise in perfection of all royal virtues .... And
the virtue of this prince, continued with that of his predecessor,
made the name of Antoninus so sacred in the world, that though
it was extremely dishonoured in Commodus, Caracalla, and
Heliogabalus, who all bore the name, yet when Alexander
Severus refused the name because he was a stranger to the
family, the Senate with one acclamation said, Let the name of
Antoninus be a.s the name of Augustus. In such renown and
veneration was the name of these two princes in those days, that
they would have had it as a perpetual addition in all the
Emperors' style."

101. as an half piece, incomplete.

105. Comineus, Philip de Commines, a French historian, born
1446.

Charles the Hardy, Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy
(1433-1477). He was for a long time engaged in hostilities
against Louis XI. Charles and Louis are prominent characters
in Scott's Quentin Durward.

109. closeness, reserve. Cf. Essay vi. 33.

110. perish, destroy.

111. mought, cf. Essay xv. 184.

112. Louis the Eleventh, King of France from 1461-1483.

113. parable, proverb.

114. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher. He was a native of
Samos, and was born about 590 B.C.

117. admirable, marvellous. Cf. " to be admired," Essay v. 4.
119. works, produces.

125. use, cf. Essay xxii. 23.

126. still, cf. Essay ix. 9.

127. praying in aid of, invoking the assistance of. Cf. Adv.,
bk. ii. 17. 10, "Whatsoever science is not consonant to pre
suppositions must pray in aid of similitudes. "

129. in bodies, The Latin translation has " in natural objects. "

union, etc., he means that joy, being a natural motion, is
increased by friendship ; whereas grief, being a violent impression,
is weakened by it. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 5. 2, and Nat. Hint., Cen
tury i. § 92.

133. affections, feelings. See note on Essay ix. 1. Cf. below,
1. 165.

xxvu.] OF FRIENDSHIP. 215

140. clarify, become clear.

141. break up, He means that the man's ideas, from being
huddled together in a confused mass, gradually become detached
and sorted.

142. tosseth, see note on Essay xx. 12. Bacon means that the
man looks at tilings from different points of view.

143. orderly, cf. Essay i. 18.

147. cloth of Arras, tapestry. It is so called from the town of
Arras, in Artois, Avhere it was principally made.

148. put abroad, unfolded.

in figure, The Latin translation has "distinctly." See
Plutarch's Life, of Themintodes, ch. 29.

149. they, i.e. thoughts.
151. restrained, confined.

155. a man were better, it would be better for a man to. Cf.
Essay xxvi. 44. To is sometimes inserted, as in the next line.

161. Heraclitus saith, etc. The philosopher, Heraclitus, born
at Ephesus, lived in the sixth century B.C. He was called ' the
obscure.' Bacon quotes the saying again, Adv., bk. i. 1. 3. The
vord ' dry ' is used in the sense of ' clear ' or ' pure. ' What
Bacon means is that our reasoning is biassed by our prejudices
and feelings. Cf. Xov. Org. , i. 49, " The mind of man is not like
a dry light, but it receives from the will and affections a taint
which produces capricious or arbitrary sciences, for what a man
wishes to be true, that he is inclined to believe to be true."

156. statua, This form of the word occurs again in Essay xlv.
64, and in xxxvii. 38. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 1. 2, and Shakespeare,
Julius Ccesar, iii. 2. 192.

167. that, that which.

169. there is no such flatterer, etc. Cf. Essay liii.

172. manners, conduct. See note on Essay iii. 19.

for, cf. Essay iii. 17.

174. a man's self, see note on Essay vi. 57-
177. unproper, unsuitable.
183. St. James, i. 23. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 23. 23.
Cf . ' ' 0 wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us !
It wad frae monie a blunder free us

An' foolish notion :

What airs in dress and gait wad lea'e us,
And ev'n devotion ! " — Burns.

216 NOTES. [xx vn.

In a letter to Sir Edward Coke, Bacon says, ' ' That which I have
propounded to myself is, by taking this seasonable advantage,
like a true friend, though far unworthy to be counted so, to shew
you your true shape in a glass ; and that not in a false one to
flatter you, nor yet in one that should make you seem worse than
you are, and so offend you ; but in one made by the reflection of
your own words and actions."

184. presently, immediately.

185. favour, face.

a man may think, etc. The Latin translation has, "It is
an old saying that eyes are better than an eye, though some deny
it : it is wisely said also that a looker-on often sees more than one
who is engaged in the game." Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 21. 7. Writing
on the pacification of the English Church, Bacon says, "It is
very true that these ecclesiastical matters are things not pro
perly appertaining to my profession : which I was not so incon
siderate but to object to myself : but finding that it is many
times seen that a man that standeth off, and somewhat removed
from a plot of ground, doth better survey it and discover it than
those which are upon it, I thought it not impossible, but that J,
as a looker on, might cast mine eyes upon some things which the
actors themselves, especially some being interested, some led and
addicted, some declared and engaged, did not or could not see. ):
Cf. Essay xlviii. 1. 40 stqq.

188. the twenty-four letters, cf. Essay xxxviii. 15.

190. fond and high, foolish and presumptuous. Cf. "to dis
course high," Essay xix. 133.

191. when all is done, after all. The Latin translation has
"whatever may be said to the contrary."

199. entire, the Latin integer, literally untouched, entire : so,
sincere, honest.

200. bowed, bent.

crooked, cf. Essay xxiii. 15.
207. kind, cf. Essay vi. 47.
209. estate, cf. Essay ix. 30.
211. rest upon, depend upon.

scattered counsels, advice from a number of people

218. to life, vividly. We should say ' to the life.'

219. to cast, to reckon.

221. sparing, it fell short of the truth.

222. for that, cf. Essay xvi. 54.

223. in desire of, before they have attained.

xxvn.] OF FRIENDSHIP. 217

225. the bestowing, The Latin translation has "the mar
riage."

226. secure, sure. See note on Essay v. 9.

228. in his desires, so far as his desires are concerned. If he
dies before they are accomplished, his friend survives to carry
them out.

237. which are blushing, which cause a blush.

238. proper, see note on Essay iii. 30.

240. upon terms, The Latin translation has ' ' without loss of
honour. "
242. sorteth with, see note on Essay vi. 5.

ESSAY XXVIII. OF EXPENSE.

1. spending for honour, i.e. spending is for honour.

3. voluntary undoing, etc. The Latin translation has ' ' Volun
tary poverty is due sometimes to one's country, and not only to
the kingdom of heaven. " Patriotism sometimes requires that we
should make a sacrifice of our possessions.

4. the kingdom of heaven, Bacon is thinking of such a
passage as the following, " Then said Jesns unto his disciples,
Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into
the kingdom of heaven." — Matt. xix. 24. Cf. Essay xiii. 43.

6. as, that.

9. if a man, etc. The Latin translation has " if a man does
not wish to suffer a diminution of his wealth." Literally it
means " if a man wishes his income to equal his expenditure."
doubting, cf. Essay xxii. 34.

13. upon, by reason of. Cf. Essay ii. 32.

14. in respect, in case.

18. new, i.e. new servants.

20. to certainties, The Latin translation explains it to mean
that both his income and his expenditure should be fixed. It is
only a man of leisure who can calculate from time to time how
much he has, and how much, therefore, he can afford to spend at
a given time or on a given object. Busy men must so invest
their money as to return a fixed amount, and of this they must
set aside a fixed amount for expenditure. Notice that the con
struction is irregular.

23. if he be plentiful in the hall, if he spend much upon his
house.

218 NOTES. [xxviii.

25. clearing, freeing from debt.

26. a man's estate, see note on Essay vi. 57.
as well, quite as much.

28. disadvantageafole, disadvantageous.
32. who, he who.

a state, a property.

ESSAY XXIX. OF THE TRUE GREATNESS OF
KINGDOMS AND ESTATES.

THIS Essay will be found incorporated in the De Aucj. viii. 3.
See my note on Adv. , bk. ii. 23. 47. In the Latin transla
tion the title of the Essay is "On Extending the Limits of
Empire." Wright remarks that the beginning of the Essay
seems to have been the discourse " Of the True Greatness of the
Kingdom of Britain," written in 1608, which was never com
pleted, but was turned into a general treatise " Of the True
Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates."

2. had been, would have been. Cf . 1. 266.
4. He could not fiddle, cf. Adv., bk. i. 3. 8.

6. holpen with a metaphor, if with a little assistance from the
imagination we transfer it to politics. Metaphor is a Greek
word signifying 'transference.' In Adv., bk. i. 7. 17, he uses the
Latin equivalent, 'translation,' ''Consider further, for tropes of
rhetoric, that excellent use of a metaphor or translation, where
with he taxed Antipater," etc.

7. estate, state.

11. cunningly, skilfully. This is the proper meaning of the
word. In the English translation of the Bible we have, " If I
forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her cunning,"
i.e. skill.

13. as, that. Cf. 1. 232.

21. sufficient, capable.

22. manage, a metaphor from horsemanship. Cf. Essay vi. 26.

23. which, see note on Essay viii. 5.

27. an argument, a subject. It is a Latinism.

29. leese, cf. Essay xix. 141.

31. fearful, timid. Cf. Essay vi. 78.

33. doth fall under, admits of.

xxix.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 219

37. cards, cf. Essay xviii. 39.

40. is compared, viz., by Christ. Matt. xiii. 31.

42. a property, see note on Essay iii. 30.

44. apt, in its literal sense of ' fitted. '

51. importeth not, is not of much consequence. Cf. Essay iii.
51.

55. This saying of Alexander is quoted again, Adv., bk. i. 7. 17.
The battle of Arbela was fought B. c. 330.

58. Tigranes, King of Armenia, ascended the throne about the
beginning of the first century B.C. The battle referred to took
place at Tigranocerta, the capital of Western Armenia, when
Tigranes was defeated by the Roman Lucullus.

63. ambassage, embassy.

65. of the great odds between, how unequally matched are
numbers and courage.

69. trivially, tritely. Cf. Essay xii. 1.

71. Croasus, king of Lydia, B.C. 5fiO. He was conquered by
Cyrus the Persian. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 23. 38. In his Essay Of
the True Greatness of Britain, Bacon quotes the same story, and
remarks that ' ' the records of all times do concur to falsify that
conceit, that wars are decided not by the sharpest sword, but by
the greatest purse."

74. think soberly of, have but a small opinion of.
militia, army.

77. they, i.e. the subjects.

79. rest upon, depend upon.

81. mew them, shed them : moult. It is the Latin mutare,
1 to change. '

82. The blessing, etc. The Jewish patriarch Jacob before his
death called his sons before him and foretold the character and
destiny of each. He described the warlike Judah as "a lion's
whelp"; but Isaachar he described as "a strong ass crouching
down between two burdens .... bowing his shoulder to bear,
and becoming a servant unto tribute." Genesis xlix.

87. less, The Latin translation adds "than those which are
imposed simply by authority."

the excises, etc. In the Netherlands, in the seventeenth
century, heavy duties were levied upon commodities to meet the
expenses of the war with Spain.

88. subsidies, the sums voted by Parliament.
91. by imposing, by authority. Cf. Essay i. 10.

220 NOTES. [xxix.

95. Let states, etc. Cf. Essay xiv. 23.

100. staddles, young trees left standing in a wood after the
underwood has been cleared away.

103. poll, head.

109. in regard, because.

the middle people, the Latin translation has "the farmers
and people of lower rank."

111. Henry the Seventh, Bacon in his history says that, at
the time, large estates were growing up, and there was a general
tendency to convert arable land into pasture. The result of this
was "a decay of people and, by consequence, a decay of towns,
churches, tithes, and the like." There ensued withal "a decay
and diminution of subsidies and taxes." To remedy these defects
it was ordered ' ' that all houses of husbandry, that were used
with twenty acres of ground, and upwards, should be maintained
and kept up for ever ; together with a competent proportion of
land to be used and occupied with them." Bacon remarks upon
the advantage of having these farms, as it were, of a standard.
They maintained " an able body out of penury, and did, in effect,
amortize a great part of the lands of the kingdom unto the hold
and occupation ofjthe yeomanry or middle people, of a condition
between gentlemen and cottagers or peasants. " Further, the mili
tary power of the kingdom was increased, for ' ' the principal
strength of an army consisteth in the infantry or foot : and to
make good infantry, it requireth men bred, not in a servile or
indigent fashion, but in some free or plentiful manner " Cf.
Spedding's Francis Bacon and His Times, vol. i. pp. 208-9.

116. to keep, the construction is irregular. Bacon means that
one of the advantages of the system was that, under it, the land
was tilled by the owner.

133. Nebuchadnezzar's tree, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
dreamt that he saw a large tree cut down all but the stump,
which was left in the ground. The dream was interpreted to
mean that he was to be deprived for a time of his empire. Daniel
iv. 10.

141. it may hold, etc. The sentence is loosely constructed.
The meaning is " As for supposing that a handful of people can
hold a large empire, such an empire must be short-lived."

142. nice, etc., i.e. they seldom naturalized. Nice, fastidious.
Cf. Essay ii. 29.

143. they kept their compass, they confined their dominion
within narrow limits.

145. their boughs were becomen, etc. The Latin translation
explains this to mean, when their empire had so far extended

xxix.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 221

that the crowd of foreign subjects could not well be controlled by
native Spartans. For becomen, cf. holpen, Essay xx. 82 ; gotten,
ix. 142.

146. a windfall, anything thrown down by the wind.

148. sorted, resulted.

150. naturalization, Full Roman citizenship comprised the
(ius suffrayii) right of voting in the popular assemblies, the right
of being eligible to all public offices (his honorum), the right of
contracting a regular marriage (ius connuhii), and the right of
acquiring, transferring, and holding property of all kinds according
to the Roman laws (hi* commercii). With regard to the third of
these rights, no regular marriage coiild be contracted by
parties between whom it did not exist. For instance, in early
times a marriage between a patrician and a plebeian would affect
the status of the children. The rights of citizenship in the first
instance were possessed by the patricians only : but they were from
time to time extended to all who were likely to bring strength or
influence to the community. It was not until after a long
struggle that the plebeians entered into the possession of full
citizenship. It was conferred at first by the king acting with the
consent of the Comilia Centuriata. During the flourishing period
of the republic, when citizenship was valued and sought for, it
could only be given by an express law. When individual rulers
like Marius and Sulla arose, they obtained and exercised freely
the power of granting civilax. Under the empire it was given by
the Emperor, and at last Caracalla bestowed it on all the free
inhabitants of the Roman world. It had really come to be less
valued when at the end of the Social War all the Italian states
were admitted to it. See Ramsay's Roman Antiquities. In his
Discourse of the Union of England and Scotland, Bacon says,
" But that which is chiefly to be noted in the whole continuance
of the Roman government ; they were so liberal of their naturali
zations, as in effect they made perpetual mixtures. For the
manner was to grant the same, not only to particular persons,
but to families and lineages ; and not only so, but to whole cities
and countries. So as in the end it came to that, that Rome was

a common country, as some of the civilians call it So likewise

the authority of Nicholas Machiavel seemeth not to be con
temned ; who enquiring the causes of the growth of the Roman
Empire, doth give judgment ; there was not one greater than
this, that the state did so easily compound and incorporate with
strangers. It is true, that most estates and kingdoms have taken
the other course : of which this effect hath followed, that the
addition of further Empire and territory hath been rather matter
of burden, than matter of strength unto them : yea, and farther
it hath kept alive the seeds and roots of revolts and rebellions for
many ages. . . . For abilities and freedoms, they were amongst

222 NOTES. [xxix.

the Romans of four kinds, or rather degrees. Jim connubii, jus
civitatis, jus suffragii and jus petitionis or fionorum. Jus connubii
is a thing in these times out of use : for marriage is open between
all diversities of nations. Jus civitatis answereth to what we
call denization or naturalization. Jus suffragii answereth to the
voice in parliament. Jus petitionis answereth to place in council
or office. And the Romans did many times sever these freedoms,
granting jus connubii without civitas, and civitas without suffra-
(jium, and suffragium without jus petitionis, which was commonly
with them the last." Again, in his speech of The General
Naturalization of the Scottish Nation, he says, "Wheresoever
several kingdoms or estates have been united in sovereignty, if
that union hath not been fortified and bound in with a farther
union, and namely, that which is now in question, of naturaliza
tion, this hath followed, that at one time or other they have
broken again, being upon all occasions apt to revolt and relapse
to the former separation." Bacon says the same thing in his
Essay Of the True Greatness of Britain.
155. singular, single.

157. colonies, The Roman colonies were mainly of the nature
of military outposts established to secure newly acquired territory,
or to overawe turbulent neighbours. They did of course produce
the effect which Bacon ascribes to them.

158. plant, A colony is an off-shoot of the mother country.
Cf. Essay xxxiii.

159. both constitutions, viz., the practice of naturalizing, and
the practice of colonizing. Bacon means that, instead of being
subjected to an alien dominion, the whole world became Roman.

163. contain, keep in check.

164. Sure, we must bear in mind.

165. great body of a tree, the expression is of course suggested
by the reference above to Nebuchadnezzar's " tree of monarchy."

168. indifferently, without distinction.

169. militia, army. The application of Bacon's remarks to
British policy in India is easy. A similar policy too was the
secret of Akbar's success.

172. Pragmatical Sanction, Wright quotes Ellis's note, Bacon's
Works, vol. i. p. 798 : " Soon after the accession of Philip IV. a
royal decree or Praymatica was published which attempted to
carry out some of the recommendations of the council, and which
gave certain privileges to persons who married, and further im
munities to those who had six children." Cf. my note on Adv.,
bk. i. 5. 2.

177. travail, work.

XXTX.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 223

178. broken of it, checked or interfered with in this their
natural inclination.

if they shall be preserved, if they are to be preserved ; if
we wish them to be preserved.

179. it was great advantage, But it must be remembered that
when the classes referred to were treated really as slaves, in our
sense of the term, they constituted a serious political danger to
the states of the ancient world.

181. rid, dispose of.
185. contain, confine.

190. it importeth, cf . Essay iii. 51.

191. their, notice the plural after the singular 'nation.'
193. habilitations, trainings.

195. sent a present to, bequeathed to them the advice that.

196. intend, devote their attention to. Cf. below, ' in that he
most intendeth,' 1. 205.

198. though not wisely, Bacon does not mean that they were
unwise in framing it with a view to war, but that they did not
frame it skilfully with a view to war.

199. scope, Used in its literal sense of aim or object.

200. had it, i. e. were organized with a view to war.
for a flash, for a short time.

203. declination, cf. note on Essay xxii. 76.

205. that, used for ivhat. Cp. Essay vi. 39.

206. stood upon, dwelt upon.

207. may look, can expect.

209. oracle of time, a lesson of history.

213. that greatness ... which maintained, i.e., a greatness which
maintained.

217. just occasions as may be pretended, The Latin transla
tion has "just occasions, or at least pretexts." Notice them
after the singular ' state. '

218. that, such.

221. quarrels, grounds. Cf. Essay viii. 48.
225. they, observe the repetition of the nominative. Cf. Essay
viii. 37.

227. pretend to greatness, make greatness their object.

228. sensible of, cf. Essay viii. 21.

borderers, The Latin translation has "dependents on the
border." The Afghans are borderers on the Indian Empire.

224 NOTES. [xxix.

229. politic ministers, representatives of the state.

they sit not too long, revenge must follow immediately
upon an insult.

230. prest, ready.

233. upon invasion offered, when threatened with invasion.

237. conformity of estate, similarity of political institutions.
Greeee was throughout its history divided against itself. The
attack of Philip of Macedon upon the liberties of Greek states
first afforded the Romans a pretext for interfering in the affairs
of Greece. In earlier times, there was in every Greek state an
oligarchical party looking for assistance to Sparta, and a demo-
cratical party looking for assistance to Athens. Desire to
strengthen the democratical and the oligarchical party respec
tively in Greece was the real, if not the declared motive for many
of the wars in which Athens and Sparta engaged.

247. body politic, state.

estate, a republic, as distinguished from a monarchy.

249. fever, cf. Hitt. Henry VII. , "When the King was
advertised of this new insurrection, being almost a fever that
took him every year, etc."

251. courages, spirits,
effeminate, grow effeminate.

252. manners, see note on Essay iii. 19.
corrupt, grow corrupt.

253. it maketh, see note on Essay i. 14.
still, always.

255. chargeable, expensive.

256. the law, The Latin translation has "the power of de
ciding matters."

260. abridgment, The Latin translation has "an epitome."

261. Pompey his, see note on Essay xix. 86.

264. Themistocles, It was Themistocles who in the year 480
B.C. persuaded the Athenians to meet the invading Persians at sea
instead of on land.

266. had, would have.

268. Actium, By defeating Antony at Actium B.C. 31, Octavi-
anus, afterwards known as Augustus, became master of the Roman
world.

269. Lepanto. In the battle of Lepanto, 1571, the naval power
of Turkey was broken by the united Papal, Spanish, and Vene
tian forces.

xxix.] TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS. 225

270. there be, cf. 1. 285. See note on Essay i. 2.
have been final to, have put an end to.

271. set up their rest upon, have risked everything upon.
Nares (Glossary) thus explains it: "A metaphor from the once
fashionable and favourite game of primero : meaning to stand
upon the cards you have in your hand, in hopes they may prove
better than those of your adversary. " Quoted by Wright.

279. merely, see note on Essay iii. 66.

283. in respect of, in comparison with.

284. reflected, used intransitively.

291. funeral laudatives, The student should read the famous
oration of Pericles, Thucyd. ii. 35.

293. personal, granted to individuals. These decorations were
granted for acts of distinguished gallantry in the field.

style, title. Imperator (emperor) was originally a military
title. It was assumed first by Augustus to denote suprane power,
civil as well as military.

294. triumphs, Roman generals, on their return from a suc
cessful campaign, were sometimes allowed a triumphal procession
through the city to the temple of Jupiter. The captives taken
in the war marched in the procession, in which also were carried
the spoils of the campaign.

297. that of the triumph, notice that there is no noun to which
that properly refers. The triumph is one of ' the things ' referred
to in the previous sentence. Cf. 32. 31.

298. gaudery, display.

305. impropriate, appropriate.

308. ensigns, the Latin insirjnia : badges, decorations.
310. little model of a man's body, i.e. man's body which is a
model on a small scale of the state. For of, cf . Essay xv. 72.

312. estates, see note on 1. 247.
315. touched, glanced at.

ESSAY XXX. OF REGIMENT OF HEALTH.

Regiment, management.
5. I find no offence of, it seems to do me no harm.

7. which are owing, etc. The Latin translation has " Which
nevertheless, when old age at last comes upon him, will be exacted
from him as a debt." For ou-ij>g, cf. loading, Essay xiii. 56.

226 NOTES. [xxx.

8. discern of, discern, take account of.

11. it is a secret, etc., cf. Essay xxiv. 13.

15. so as, in such a way that.

18. particularly, for you individually.

21. of long lasting, to secure a long life. Cf. 1. 42.

23. fretting inwards, The Latin translation has ' ' restrained
within." Cf. Essay xxxvi. 3.

35. accident, symptom.

36. respect, consider. Cf. below, " they respect not the con
dition of the patient. " See note on Essay xi. 90.

37. action, exercise.

put to, force them to.
39. tendering, care.

Celsus, a writer on medicine, born B. c. 53.

47. masteries, The Latin translation has "will gain strength."
He means that a strong constitution will conquer a disease.

48. pleasing, indulgent.

51. as, that.

52. temper, cf. Essays vi. 103 and xix. 29.

55. faculty, skill, With the whole of this Essay the student
should read Bacon's remarks on medicine, Adv. , bk. ii. 10, and
also his History of Life and Death. Rawley, in his life of Bacon,
says, ' ' It hath been desired that something should be signified
touching his diet, and the regimen of his health, of which, in
regard of his universal insight into nature, he may perhaps be to
some an example. For his diet, it was rather a plentiful and
liberal diet, as his stomach would bear it, than a restrained :
which he also commended in his book of the History of Life, and
Death. In his younger years he was much given to the finer and
lighter sorts of meats, as of fowls, and such like ; but afterwards,
when he grew more judicious, he preferred the stronger meats,
such as the shambles afforded, as those meats which bred the
more firm and substantial juices of the body, and less dissipable ;
upon which he would often make his meal, though he had other
meats upon the table. You may be sure he would not neglect that
himself, which he so much extolled in his writings, and that was
the use of nitre ; whereof he took in the quantity of three grains
in thin warm broth every morning, for thirty years together next
before his death. And for physic, he did indeed live physically,
but not miserably ; for he took only a maceration of rhubarb,
infused into a draught of white wine and beer mingled together
for the space of half an hour, once in six or seven days, immedi-

xxx.] OF REGIMENT OF HEALTH. 227

ately before his meal (whether dinner or supper), that it might
dry the body less ; which (as he said) did carry away frequently
the grosser humours of the body, and not diminish or carry away
any of the spirits, as sweating doth. And this was 110 grievous
thing to take. As for other physic, in an ordinary way (what
soever hath been vulgarly spoken) he took not."

ESSAY XXXI. OF SUSPICION.

3. guarded, kept under control,

4. leese, cause the loss of.

check with, interfere with. Cf, Essay x. 49.

5. currently, uninterruptedly. Bacon says of James I. "His
speech is swift and cursory," i.e. flutnt.

I. not in the heart, i.e. they do not imply want of courage.
8. stoutest, most courageous.

II. composition, temperament. See note on Essays vi. 103
and xix. 29.

13. fearful, timid. Cf. Essay vi. 78.

16. and not to keep, and should not keep. To is redundant.
Cf. Essay xxiv. 37.

to keep in smother, to stifle. The Latin translation has
"for suspicions are fostered by smoke and darkness." Our sus
picions of a man are often seen to be unfounded when we come to
know his motives and to understand the circumstances in which
he is placed. In a letter to Sir Robert Cecil Bacon says, " I
trust on, and yet do not smother what I hear. "

17. Do they think, etc. The Latin translation has "Do they
think that all whose services they engage, or with whom they
have dealings, are angels or saints ? "

21. to account upon such suspicions as true, The Latin trans
lation has " to provide remedies as if they were true."
23. as, that.

25. buzzes, The Latin translation has "empty noises."

26. artificially, The Latin translation has "by the arts of
others."

33. would, we should say should. Cf. Essay iii. 148.
36. gives license to faith, frees men from the obligation to be
loyal.

38. discharge itself, free itself from suspicion. A man who finds
himself suspected should be the more eager to show that the
suspicion is undeserved.

228 NOTES. [xxxn.

ESSAY XXXII. OF DISCOURSE.

1 . of wit, for their ingenuity.

2. to bold, etc., to support any argument.

5. common places, subjects. The word place in the sense of
subject is suggested by the Latin word locus, which means both a
place and a subject. Topic is the Greek topos, which means a
place.

8. moderate, control the discourse. Of. Essay xxv. 32.

11. intermingle, etc. A skilful talker will know how to intro
duce considerations of general interest to illustrate and relieve
the monotony of the immediate subject of conversation.

14. jade, over-drive. The Latin translation has "when a man
dwells too long on a subject, he becomes wearisome. "

20. would be, ought to be. The line which follows is from
Ovid., Met., ii. 127.

24. saltness, wit. The Latin word sal, salt, is used in this
sense.

25. he, notice the repetition of the subject. Cf. Essay viii. 37.

27. content, please others.

28. apply, suit.

31. that, the habit of putting awkward questions. See note
on Essay xxix. 297.

32. a poser, one who puts questions. The Latin translation
has " an examiner. " Cf. Essay xxii. 68.

33. would, wishes to.

35. use to, cf. Essay xv. 237.

36. galliards, the name of a dance.

If you dissemble, etc. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 13. 4. "Socrates
used to disable his knowledge, to the end to enhance his know
ledge." In the corresponding passage in the De Aug. Bacon
adds — " By denying that he knew things which he manifestly did
know, he thought that he would get the reputation of knowing
things which he really did not know. "

37. 38. that, for ' that which,' cf. Essay vi. 39.
44. pretendeth, lays claim.

Speech of touch towards others, malicious sayings about
others.

46. as a field, The Latin translation has " Conversation should
be like an open field in which one may walk about : not like the
highway, which leads home. "

xxxii.] OF DISCOURSE. 229

50. a dry blow, a jest.
54. agreeably, suitably.

56. interlocution, conversation. Conversation, above all things,
requires readiness. The man who does not possess it is compared
below to the greyhound. He can run on, but cannot turn about.

57. without a good settled speech, without the power of speak
ing continuously. A man may be clever enough to keep up a
conversation, though his knowledge is not sufficient to afford
material for a continuous speech. Such a man is compared below
to the hare. He can turn about, but cannot run on. Cf. Adv.,
bk. ii. 14. 6. " The difference is good which was made between
orators and sophisters, that the one is as the greyhound, which
hath his advantage in the race, and the other as the hare, which
hath her advantage in the turn, so as it is the advantage of the
weaker creature."

59. in the course, in running.

61. to use too many circumstances, to dwell too much upon
incidental matters connected with the main subject of the speech.

63. blunt, The Latin translation has " is abrupt and unpleas-
ing." Cf. Essay xxv. 37. Of Bacon's own conversation Rawley
says, " He was no dashing man, as some men are (he did not use
his wit, as some do, to put others out of countenance,) 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 coassessors to
take their turns. Wherein he would draw a man on and allow
him to speak upon such a subject, as wherein he was peculiarly
skilful, and would delight to speak. And for himself, he con
temned no man's observations, but would light his torch at every
man's candle. His opinions and assertions were for the most
part binding, and not contradicted by any ; rather like oracles
than discourses ; which may be imputed either to the well-
weighing of his sentence by the scales of truth and reason, or
else to the reverence and estimation wherein he was commonly
had, that no man would contest with him ; so that there was no
argumentation, or pro and con (as they term it) at his table : or
if there chanced to be any, it was carried with much submission
and moderation."

ESSAY XXXIII. OF PLANTATIONS.

1. Plantations, colonies. See note on Essay xxix. 158.

2. When the world, etc. This sounds strange when we look at
the vast Colonial Empire of Great Britain, which began with the

230 NOTES. [xxxin.

charter given to Virginia in 1606. We imist remember too
that ' ' there was once 'a Greater Spain, a Greater Portugal, a
Greater France, and a Greater Holland, as well as a Greater
Britain, but from various causes these four Empires have either
perished or have become insignificant. Greater Spain disappeared,
and Greater Portugal lost its largest province, Brazil, half a
century ago in wars of independence similar to that which tore
from us our American colonies. Greater France and a large
part of Greater Holland were lost in wars and became merged in
Greater Britain. " With Bacon's metaphor contrast the following
explanation: — "The appropriation by a settled community of
lands on the other side of an ocean is wholly different from the
gradual diffusion of a race (the Greeks) over a continuous ter
ritory or across narrow seas. Slight motives calling into operation
moderate forces may suffice for the latter, but the former demands
a prodigious leverage. In the life of Columbus it may be re
marked that he needs the help of the state at every turn. It is
the state which has equipped him and paid the expense of the
discovery. Moreover when the discovery is made, it is observable
that no irresistible impulse prompts the European to take advan
tage of it. When the floodgates are thrown open, there is no
stream ready to flow, for in Europe at that time there was no
superfluous population seeking an outlet, only individual adven
turers ready to go in search of gold. Columbus can make no
progress but by proving to the sovereigns that the territory he
discovers will yield revenue to them." Seeley, 7'Ae Expansion of
England. For the origin and nature of Roman Colonies, see note
on Essay xxix. 157.

9. to leese, to lose. Cf. Essay xix. 141.
13. stand with, be consistent with.

20. certify over, etc. The Latin translation has " Will send
home news calculated to harm and discredit the colony." Some
of the Australian colonies have within recent years complained
of parts of their territory being turned into penal settlements.
In his Advice, to Sir Geor/je Villiers, Bacon says, "If any trans
plant themselves into plantations abroad, who are known schis
matics, outlaws, or criminal persons, they are to be sent for back
upon the first notice : such persons are not fit to lay the foundation
of a new colony."

24. a country of plantation, where a colony is to be founded.

25. of itself, The Latin translation has ' ' without cultivation. "
28. victual, we should use victuals. Cf. 1. 40.

esculent, the Latin word for eatable.

30. Hierusalem, Jerusalem.

31. For, as for. Cf. below, " For beasts," etc.

xxxin.] OF PLANTATIONS. 231

33. ask, cf. Essay vi. 2.

35. a great increase, abundant crops.

42. certain, fixed.

let the main part, etc. This is put more clearly in the
Latin. " Of the ground which is turned into gardens or corn
land let the largest part be assigned to public granaries : and
let the crops be stored in these granaries and divided in a fixed
proportion. Care however must be taken that there shall be
some portions of ground left on which the industry of individuals
may find employment." For to we should say for,

44. to be laid, cf. Essay xxiv. 37.
46. manure, cultivate.

for his own private, for himself. Private is a substantive.

48. that they may some way, etc. The Latin translation has
" that part of the expenditure may be met by exporting them to
places where they are highly valued. "

49. so, provided that. The order of this and the following
sentence is inverted in the Latin translation.

As was said, 1. 10.

51. wood, etc. The Latin translation has " In unoccupied
districts forests for the most part abound : and therefore wood
suited for building, for ships, and other such purposes is to be
reckoned one of the chief commodities."

54. brave, fine.

55. would be, etc., ought to be tried. The Latin translation has
" the making of black salt by the heat of the sun.'

56. growing silk, vegetable silk. It is the produce of the
silk-cotton tree of South America. (W.)

if any be, if there is any.

57. are, notice the plural verb. For ' to be ' in the sense of
' to exist, ' cf . Essay iii. 95 ; we should say ' where there is abund
ance of,' etc.

59. soap ashes, etc. The Latin translation has " Ashes which
men use for soap would yield large profits. So too would other
things which may be discovered. "

60. moil, work. The Latin translation has, "Trust not too
much to mines, especially at first. For mines are deceptive and
costly, and by fostering fair hopes they render men idle in other
things."

61. useth, cf. Essay xv. 237.

65. Above all, etc. Solitude is, or should be, favourable to
religious meditation.

232 NOTES. [xxxiu.

65. that profit ... as, such profit that.

68. undertakers, contractors. The Latin translation has,
"Let not the colony be dependent upon too large a council
residing in the mother country ; nor, on account of its small
revenues, let it be subjected to too large a number ; but let the
number of those who look after and manage the affairs of the
colony be moderate." The word undertaker was used in its
proper sense of one who undertook, one to whom a, business was
entrusted. In a speech in the House of Commons Bacon said,
"There were undertakers for the plantations of Derry and
Coleraine in Ireland, the better to command and bridle those
parts. " Perhaps the nearest equivalent is commiwioners. Else
where Bacon uses the word to describe the colonists themselves.
temperate, moderate.

71. for they look ever, etc. We are reminded of the pressure
which the Directors of the East India Company so often brought
to bear upon their servants.

72. custom, duties on exports and imports. Bacon recom
mended James I. to grant to the colonists in Ireland " liberty to
transport any of the commodities growing upon the countries
now planted ; liberty to import from hence all things appertain
ing to their necessary use, custom free ; liberty to take timber
and other materials in your Majesty's woods there, and the like.''

74. makes their best of them, we should say, ' make the most
they can of them,' i.e. sell them most profitably.

77. how they waste, how their population decreases.

78. by surcharge, through excess of population.

81. marish, marsh : lit. mere-ish, full of meres or pools.

83. discommodities, inconveniences,
still, always.

85. that they may use it, etc. The Latin translation has
' ' with which to season food that would probably go bad without
it." Notice they after the singular plantation. Cf. Essay xxix.
216.

88. gingles, rattles.

89. guard, caution.

90. it is not amiss, viz. to help them.

91. of them, i.e. some of them.

96. Pieced, cf. Essay iii. 101.

97. destitute, desert : a Latinism.

99. commiserable, miserable and deserving of pity. Cf . ' ' This
was also the end of this noble and commixerable person, the Earl
of Warwick." — Hist. Henr;/ VII.

xxxiv.] OF RICHES. 233

ESSAY XXXIV. OF RICHES.

1. better, The Latin translation has " by a more appropriate
name."

2. impedimenta, The Latin word signifying ' baggage ' means
literally 'a hindrance.'

7. conceit, opinion.

9. The personal fruition, etc. When a certain point has been
reached, any additional wealth contributes nothing to the per
sonal enjoyments of the owner. He can hoard it : he can divide
it : he can make presents : he may be talked about : but, as he
already had enough to satisfy every want and gratify every taste,
so far as he personally is concerned, it is of no real use to him.
It may be worth while to point out that in the language of
political economy ?i-se means capacity to satisfy a desire : it is not
opposed to pleasure. Diamonds therefore have a very great
' value in use. '

12. feigned, fictitious, fanciful.
14. because, in order that.

20. proud riches, riches which serve only for display, since
they exceed what is required for use.

22. abstract, The Latin translation has "such as is felt by
a person n-ho ha* withdrawn himxelf from the world." This is the
literal meaning of the Latin word abstractus.

32. Pluto, the god of the lower world.
34. pace, advance.

36. tumbling, cf . ' ' No man I suppose will think that I mean
fortunes are not obtained without all this ado ; for I know they
come tumbling into some men's laps." Adv. bk. ii. 23. 43.

37. mought, might. Cf. Essay xv. 184.

39. upon speed, quickly.

40. to enrich, to grow rich.

49. collier, owner of coal-mines,
corn-master, corn owner.

50. lead-man, owner of lead-mines.
so, cf. Essay xviii. 21.

51. husbandry, cf. Essay xv. 131.
So as, so that.

52. in respect of, cf Essay xxvii. 88.

53. himself, he himself, viz. , the speaker.

54. when a man's stock, etc. , when a man is so rich that he

234 NOTES. [xxxiv.

can afford to wait for a favourable market, and can secure
bargains which are beyond the means of ordinary men, etc.

55. expect, as in Latin, to wait for.

56. overcome, lit. make his own.

58. mainly, greatly. Cf. Essay xv. 69.

63. broke, deal, do business. The meaning is, ' When a man
bribes other men's servants to induce their masters to sell to
him, and puts out of the way others who would have offered a
higher price. '

64. chapmen, purchasers. Cf.

" Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye,
Not uttered by base sale of chapmen's tongues."

Sh. Loves L. L., ii. 1.

Ben Jonson uses the form copeman : cf. to chop, Essay Ivi. 84.
To chap or chop meant to exchange, from ceap, a market. Cf.

"How now, how now, chop-logic ! What is this?"

Sh. fiomeo and Jul., iii. 5. 150.

65. naught, bad.

68. the seller and upon the buyer, i.e. the person who sells it
to, and the person who buys it from him who bought it to resell.

69. usury, cf. Essay xli.
74. for that, because.

value, exaggerate the wealth of.
unsound, whose credit is not good.

79. Play the true logician, cf . ' ' The arts intellectual are four
in number ; divided according to the ends whereunto they are
referred : for man's labour is to invent (discover) that which is
sought or propounded : or to judge that which is invented : or to
retain that which is judged : or to deliver over (teach) that
which is retained." Adv., bk. ii. 12. 3.

80. fit, favourable.

81. resteth upon, cf. Essay xxix. 79.
85. coemption, buying up.

89. it, i.e.. the acquisition of wealth by service. The structure
of the sentence is irregular throughout.

though it be of the best rise, The Latin translation has
"has a dignity of its own." 'Rise' is used in the sense of
'source.' The Latin translation adds "of kings and nobles"
after ' ' service. "

90. They, cf. Essay viii. 37.

xxxiv.] OF RICHES. 235

92. Tacitus, Annals, xiii. 42.

97. and none worse, etc. The Latin translation has " Nor
will you find anywhere people more tenacious than these are
when they begin to grow rich."

98. penny- wise, stingy in small things. Cf . the phrase ' ' penny-
wise and pound-foolish."

104. the better stablisned, i.e. unless his strength of mind is
in proportion to his wealth. The better, the richer he is, the
more he requires the experience of age.

105. glorious, ostentatious, like the Latin gloriosus.

sacrifices without salt, In the letter referred to in the
last note on this Essay, Bacon says, " I find it a positive precept
of the old (Jewish) law, that there should be no sacrifice without
salt : the moral whereof, besides the ceremony, may be, that
God is not pleased with the body of a good intention, except it
be seasoned with that spiritual wisdom and judgment, as it be
not easily subject to be corrupted and perverted : for salt, in the
Scripture, is a figure both of wisdom and lasting. "

106. painted, fair on the outside only. It is suggested by the
Scriptural expression ' a whited sepulchre. '

107. corrupt, cf. Essay xxix. 252.

108. advancements, gifts.

frame them by measure, let the gift be in proportion to
the object. In Adv., bk. ii. 1. 2, he talks of works and acts
" which are rather matters of magnificence and memory than of
progression and proficience." In illustration of Bacon's meaning
the student should not fail to read a very important letter
written by Bacon to King James on the subject of a legacy left
by a man called Sutton for the foundation of, a hospital. The
letter is given in Spedding's Francis Bacon and Uix Times, pp.
647-654.

ESSAY XXXV. OF PROPHECIES.

1. divine prophecies, On the subject of Scriptural prophecies
Bacon says (Adv. , bk. ii. 3. 2), "History of prophecy consisteth
of two relatives, the prophecy and the accomplishment ; and
therefore the nature of such a work ought to be, that every
prophecy of the Scripture be sorted with the event fulfilling the
same, throughout the ages of the world ; both for the better
confirmation of faith, and for the better illumination of the
Church touching those parts of prophecies which are yet unful
filled ; allowing nevertheless that latitude which is agreeable and

236 NOTES. [xxxv.

familiar unto divine prophecies; being of the nature of their
author, with whom a thousand years are but as one day ; and
therefore are not fulfilled punctually at once, but have springing
and germinant accomplishment throughout many ages ; though
the height or fulness of them may refer to some one age. This is
a work which I find deficient ; but is to be done with wisdom,
sobriety, and reverence, or not at all. "

2. natural predictions, predictions made on the basis of ascer
tained laws of nature, such, for instance, as the prediction of an
eclipse.

3. of certain memory, cf. 1. 85, "of certain credit," i.e. sup
ported by trustworthy evidence.

from hidden causes, as distinguished from 'natural pre
dictions ' where the causes of the event predicted are known.

4. Pythonlssa, a woman endowed with the spirit of divination.
" The Pythian " was an epithet of Apollo, the god who delivered
oracles at Delphi. Saul, King of Israel, consulted a witch on
the eve of a struggle with his enemies the Philistines. The
witch summoned the spirit of the prophet Samuel, who thus
addressed Saul, " The Lord will deliver Israel with thee into
the hand of the Philistines : and to-morrow shall thou and thy
sons be with me." 1 Samuel xxviii. 19.

5. Homer, The lines which Bacon quotes are from Virgil,
jEn. iii. 97. They are altered by Virgil from Homer, II. xx.
307-8. " ./Eneas, and the children who shall come after him,
shall reign over the Trojans."

20. Tiphys, the pilot of the Argo, a ship famous in Greek
mythology. He is the type of those who make voyages of
discovery.

23. Polycrates, ruler of Samos in the sixth century B.C. The
story which follows is told by Herodotus, iii. 124.

30. do not use, cf. Essay xv. 237.

31. a phantasm, cf. Shakespeare, Julius Cce,tar, iv. 3. 275.

33. Tiberius, The story is told by Tacitus, Ann. vi. 20.
Galba, who was consul at the time, became emperor in the
year 68 A.D.

35. In Vespasian's time, etc. Tacitus, describing certain pro
digies said to have occurred during the siege of Jerusalem, says
— " Some few of the Jews put a fearful meaning upon these
events, but in most there was a firm persuasion that in the
ancient records of their priests was contained a prediction of
how at this very time the East was to prove powerful, and
rulers, coming from Judaga, were to acquire universal empire.

xxxv.] OF PROPHECIES. 237

These mysterious prophecies had pointed to Vespasian and Titus,
but the common people, with the usual blindness of ambition,
had interpreted these mighty destinies of themselves, and could
not be brought even by disaster to believe the truth." Hist.
v. 13. For Vespasian, see Essay i. 41.

35. there went, Cf. " It seemed to him that he was advertised
of the battles of the frogs and mice, that the old tales went of."
Adv., bk. i. 8. 1. We still say 'the story goes,' or 'the story
runs. ' This last expression is the English equivalent of the Latin
is current.

36. of, for 'from.'

37. which ... it, notice the irregular construction. Cf. Essay
xxxvi. 12.

38. Domitian, see Essay xix. 17.

42. Henry the Sixth, cf. Shakspeare, 3 Henry VL, iv. 6. 68.

46. curious arts, magic. Cf. "At this time the king began
again to be haunted with spirits by the magic and curious arts of
the Lady Margaret." Hist. Henry VII. In the Adv., bk. i. 4.
11, Bacon includes magic and astrology among the arts "which
have had better intelligence and confederacy with the imagin
ation of man than with his reason." But, he says, " the ends or
pretences of both are noble." He defines magic thus, " Natural
magic pretendeth to call and reduce natural philosophy from
variety of speculations to the magnitude of works " : and in the
I)e Aug. thus, " The proper function of natural magic is to apply
the knowledge of hidden causes to the production of wonder
ful results." But, he says, with regard both to magic and
astrology, and also alchemy, " the derivations and prosecutions
to their ends, both in the theories and in the practices are full of
error and vanity ; which the great professors themselves have
sought to veil over and conceal by enigmatical writings, and
referring themselves to auricular traditions and such other
devices, to save the credit of impostures." Bacon himself wished
to reconstitute the art of magic upon a sound basis. The differ
ence between magic as it was and magic as he wished it to be
is made plain by the following passage : ' ' We may note in these
sciences which hold so much of imagination and belief, as this
degenerate natural magic, alchemy, and astrology, and the like,
that in their propositions the description of the means is ever
more monstrous than the pretence or end. For it is a thing more
probable, that he that knoweth well the natures of weight, of
colour, of pliant and fragile in respect of the hammer, of volatile
and fixed in respect of the fire, and the rest, may superinduce
upon some metal the nature and form of gold by such mechanism
as longeth to the production of the natures afore rehearsed, than
that some grains of the medicine projected should in a few

238 NOTES. [xxxv.

moments of time turn a sea of quicksilver or other material into
gold. So it is more probable that he that knoweth the nature of
arefaction, the nature of assimilation of nourishment to the thing
nourished, the manner of increase and clearing of spirits, the
manner of the depredations which spirits make upon the humours
and solid parts, shall by ambages of diets, bathings, anointings,
medicines, motions, and the like, prolong life, or restore some
degree of youth or vivacity, than that it can be done with the
use of a few drops or scruples of a liquor or receipt. The true
natural magic is that great liberty and latitude of operation
which dependeth upon the knowledge of forms (causes)." Of
astrology Bacon says, " It pretendeth to discover that corre
spondence or concatenation which is between the superior globe
and the inferior." Adv., bk. i. 4. 11. In the De Aug. he regrets,
in the sphere of physic, the absence of a rational astrology based
on physical laws. In his time he complains that " astrology was
so full of fictions that he could scarcely find anything sound in
it." Bacon believed himself that it might enable us to predict
not only natural phenomena, such as frosts, floods, earthquakes,
etc. , but wars, seditions, schisms, transmigrations of peoples,
and, in short, all commotions or great revolutions of things,
natural as well as civil. He thought also that it might be of
use in the choice of favourable times for undertakings. " We
must not," he says, " altogether reject the choice of times, though
we should place less reliance on it than on predictions. For we
see that in sowing, and planting, and grafting, an observation of
the age of the moon is a thing not altogether to be despised."
Bacon gives his views at some length in the De Aug., bk. iii. ch. 4.
Cf. Sir Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica, bk. i. ch. 10 ;
and Rdi'jio Me.dlcl, § 30.

50. was slain, Henry II. of France was killed at a tourna
ment in 1559.

52. trivial, common. Cf. Essay xii. 1.

57. whereby it was conceived, which was interpreted to mean
that, etc.

58. prineipial, initial. Lat. principium, a beginning.
62. for that, cf. Essay xvi. 54. See below, 1. 72.

style, title.

of Britain, in consequence of the union of England and
Scotland.

66. the Baugh, " Mr. Daniel has suggested to me that the
' Baugh ' is probably the Bass Rock, and the ' May ' the Isle of
May in the Frith of Forth. " (W. )

68. when that, when. See Essay xv. 53.

xxxv.] OF PROPHECIES. 239

73. Regiomontanus, Johannes Midler. He is called Regio-
montamis, i.e. of the royal mount, because he was born at
Kbnigsberg, i.e. the king's hill. The date of the prophecy was
A.D. 1475. (W.)

79. Cleon, a prominent democrat in Athens in the fifth century
B.C. He was of low birth and a leather-seller by trade. The
comic dramatist Aristophanes in his play of The Knights, v. 195
seqif. introduces an oracle to the effect that ''a dragon shall get
the better of the leather-eagle," i.e. of Cleon. The dragon, he
goes on to explain, symbolizes a sausage-seller, "for both a
dragon and a sausage are long."

81. of, for 'by.'

88. the spreading or publishing, cf. the end of the last Essay
in the book.

89. in no sort, not at all, in no way.

91. given them grace, brought them into favour.

92. men mark, etc. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 14. 9, "The root of all
superstition is that to the nature of the mind of all men it is
consonant for the affirmative or active to affect more than the
negative or privative. So that a few times hitting or presence
countervails ofttimes failing or absence ; as was well answered
by Diagoras to him that showed him in Neptune's temple the
great number of pictures of such as had scaped shipwreck, and
had paid their vows to Neptune, saying, Advise noiv, you that
think it folly to invocate Neptune in tempest. Yea, but (saith
Diagoras) where are they painted that are droivned ? "

96. divination is discussed in the Adv., bk. ii. 11. 2. It is
either artificial or natural. The first is a prophecy based upon
some sign or argument, whether on a mere coincidence, as in
heathen auguries, or on a knowledge of causes, as in the pre
diction of an eclipse by an astronomer. Natural divination is
that foresight with which, under certain conditions, the mind is
supposed to be endowed. This also is of two kinds. Firstly,
when the mind is self-absorbed, and not distracted, it is thought
that it may see into the future, in which case the divination is
primitive. Secondly, it is thought that in certain ecstatic states
of mind the future is revealed to it by God and spirits, in which
case the divination is by wflitxion.

97. collect, infer. A Latinism.

102. Atlanticus, the treatise commonly known as the Critias.

mought, might. Cf. Essay xv. 184. In the two treatises
referred to Plato mentions a tradition that there had existed a
vast island in the Atlantic, which was afterwards submerged.

240 NOTES. [xxxvi.

ESSAY XXXVI. OF AMBITION.

3. his, cf. Essay xix. 86.

4. adust, parched. " Anger, when checked, is a kind of tor
ment, and makes the spirit prey upon the juices of the body, but
when left to itself and allowed to escape, it is beneficial."
//ittorjf of Life and Death, § 85. Cf. Essay xxx. 22, " Avoid
anger fretting inwards."

6. still, continually. Cf. below, "That they be still pro
gressive."

they, cf. Essay viii. 37.
8. discontent, discontented. Cf. Essay viii. 36.

an evil eye, cf. Essay ix.

10. property, see note on Essay iii. 30.

a prince or state, a king or a republic. Cf. Essay ix. 150.

11. to handle it so as, so to manage matters that.

12. which ... it, cf. Essay xxxv. 37.

15. they will take order to, they will endeavour to.

17. upon, cf. Essay ii. 32 ; and below, 1. 67.

18. of necessity, necessary.

19. be they never so, etc. , no matter how ambitious they may be.

20. dispenseth with, makes up for other defects.

23. envy, unpopularity.

24. seeled, blinded by having its eyes sewn up. Ambition
blinds men to danger and unpopularity.

28. Sejanus, the friend and minister of Tiberius. When the
emperor became jealous and suspicious of him, Macro took his
place as commander of the praetorian guards.

29. resteth, remains.

30. of, for 'from.'

32. popular, cf. Essay xv. 243. Shakespeare makes Richard IT.
say of Bolingbroke that he

" Observed his courtship to the common people,
How he did seem to dive into their hearts
With humble and familiar courtesy ;
What reverence he did throw away on slaves,
Wooing poor craftsmen with the craft of smiles
And patient underbearing of his fortune,
As 'twere to banish their affects with him.
Off goes his bonnet to an oyster-wench ;
A brace of draymen bid God speed him well,

xxxvi.] OF AMBITION. 241

And had the tribute of his supple knee,
With ' Thanks, my countrymen, my loving friends ; '
As were our England in reversion his,
And he our subjects' next degree in hope."
36. when the way, etc. When the king distributes favours
and the reverse through the favourite. Bacon is probably think
ing of the position of Buckingham. Cf. Bacon's letter to him,
given in Speddiiig's Francis Bacon and His Times, vol. ii. p. 151.
39. to balance them, " In the government of states it is some
times necessary to bridle one faction with another." Adv. , bk.
ii. 22. 6. For the metaphor of ' the ship, ' cf . Essay xv. 48.

43. inure, accustom.

44. obnoxious, liable. Cf. Essay xx. 105.

45. fearful, timid. Cf. Essay vi. 78.

46. stout, bold. Cf. Essay xxxi. 8.

48. that, coupled with ' if. ' See note on Essay xv. 53.

51. of ambitions, etc. Of the different forms of ambition, that
which aims at prevailing in great things is less harmful than
that, etc.

55. dependences, followers. Cf. Essay xx. 79.

59. the decay, used transitively, as we use ' ruin. '

61. a man's, see note 011 Essay vi. 57.

63. discern of, cf. Essay xxx. 8.

65. princes and states, cf. Essay ix. 150.

66. sensible of, sensitive to. The Latin translation has ' ' are
more led by." Cf. Essay viii. 21.

67. bravery, love of display.

68. busy, meddling.

discern, used in its proper sense of distinguish.

ESSAY XXXVII. OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS.

Masques and Triumphs, Bacon himself had a great fancy for
these. On the occasion of the marriage of a princess in 1612 he
was the chief contriver of a masque presented by the Inns of
Court, the subject of which was the marriage of the Thames and
the Rhine. At Christmas, 1593, Bacon took part in "divers plot*
and dericex " arranged by the students at Gray's Inn. A descrip
tion of the entertainment is given in Speddiiig's Francis Bacon
and Hi* Times, vol. i. p. 137 seqq. At another time he took
part in arranging "a device" for the entertainment of Queen

Q

242 NOTES. [xxxvi r.

Elizabeth. See Ibid. vol. i. p. 173. Both Elizabeth and James
were extremely fond of these performances. The best known
masques are those of Ben Jonson. In the introduction to one
of them he says, " Two years being now past, that her Majesty
had intermitted these delights, and the third almost come, it was
her Highness's pleasure again to glorify the court, and command
that I should think on some fit presentment," etc.

1. toys, cf. 1. 54, and Essay xix. 12.

3. daubed with cost, extravagantly showy. ' To daub ' means
properly ' to plaster. '

6. broken music, Mr. Chappell, in his Popular Music, of the
Olden Time*, explained this to mean music on stringed instruments,
" the term originating probably from harps, lutes, and such other
stringed instruments as were played without a bow, not having
the capability to sustain a long note to its full duration of
time." But in a note on Shakespeare, Henri/ V., i. 11. 127, where
the expression also occurs, Mr. Wright explains that Mr. Chappell
subsequently changed his opinion and gave the following explana
tion. Some instruments, such as viols, violins, flutes, etc. , were
formerly made in sets of four, which when played together formed
' a consort. ' If one or more of the instruments of one set were
substituted for the corresponding ones of another set, the result
was no longer ' a consort ' but ' broken music. '

7. ditty, song. It is the Latin dictum, a word.

device, This was the common name for such pageants.

acting in song, as in a modern opera, where the actors sing
instead of speaking.

9. dancing in song, i.e. to dance and sing at the same time, as
distinguished from dancing to .so?«/, which means that one person
sings and another dances.

10. would be, ought to be.

12. dainty, pretty.

13. taking the voice by catches, singing one after another.
Sacred music is often sung in this wray in churches.

anthem is a corruption of antiphon, alternate voices.

14. turning dances into figure, inventing complicated dances.
Thus we find in one of Ben Jonson's masques that the characters,
" dancing forth a most curious dance, full of excellent device
and change, ended it in the figure of a diamond."

15. curiosity, cf. Essay ix. 17.

And generally, etc. I am describing what is naturally
attractive, without regard to mere artifices for exciting surprise.
For respect, see note on Essay xi. 90.

xxxvn. J OF MASQUES ANT) TRIUMPHS. 243

18. so, provided that.

22. let the maskers, etc. The scene (Latin sccena, a stage)
was a raised platform. It could be turned round, each face of it
presenting a different scene. When the curtain rose the specta
tors saw upon the scene a group of allegorical figures with appro
priate surroundings, as in a modern tableau rivant. These
figures first moved in dumb show (motions) : and then some or
all of them came down from the scene, and in speech or song
explained the meaning of the symbolical representation.

25. that, for what, Cf. Essay vi. 39.

30. oes, bright round spots. Cf. Shakspeare, Mids. A7ight
Dream iii. 2. —

" Fair Helena, that more engilds the night
Than all yon fiery oes and eyes of light."

spangs, spangles.

31. they, cf. Essay viii. 37.

35. anti-masques, An anti-masque was a grotesque interlude
between the acts of the masque, to which it served as a foil and
contrast, and hence its name. But Jonson uses antic-masque, i.e.
a masque in which antics or grotesque figures took part, but it
is uncertain whether this is the true etymology. (W. ) Ben
Jonson in an introduction to one of his masques says — "And
because her Majesty (best knowing that a principal part of life,
in these spectacles, lay in their variety) had commanded me to
think on some dance or show, that might precede hers, and hare
the place of a first or false masque: I was careful to decline, not
only from others, but mine own steps in that kind, since the last
year I had an antimasque of boys : and therefore now devised
that twelve women, in the habit of hags or witches, sustaining
the persons of Ignorance, Suspicion, Credulity, etc. , the opposites
to good fame, should fill that part, not as a masque, but a
spectacle of strangeness, producing multiplicity of gesture, and
not unaptly sorting with the current, and whole tale of the
device."

37. turquets, little figures representing Turks.

38. statuas, cf. Essay xxvii. 156.

48. justs and tourneys, cf. " The very practice of chivalry in
'justs and tourneys,' which are but images of martial action,
appear by ancient precedents not to be lawful without the king's
license obtained." Decree of the Star Chamber ayainst Duds.
The chief difference between a tourney and a joust was that the
former was an encounter between bodies of men, and the latter
between single combatants. They were rapidly going out of
fashion in Bacon's time.

244 NOTES. [xxxvu.

48. barriers, the lists within which a tournament was fought,
and so, the fight itself. Nares, Glossary, s.v. A mimic fight
was sometimes part of a masque. Ben Jonson introduces a
solemnity of barriers, in which two parties ranged on opposite
sides of the hall tilt across a bar.

52. bravery, finery.

ESSAY XXXVIII. OF NATURE IN MEN.

1. Nature, disposition and character.

2. in the return, i.e. when the force is withdrawn.

3. doctrine, cf. Essay xx. 54.

importune, importunate. Cf. Essay ix. 160.

6. often, equivalent to an adjective : frequent.

7. a small proceeder, one who makes small progress.

8. though by often prevailings, although he generally succeed.
With this passage cf. Adv., bk. ii. 19. 2. and bk. ii. 22. 8-12.

11. if the practice, etc., i.e., if a man trains himself to do
more difficult things than he is ever required to do.

14. in time, i.e. in respect of time. We must not act immedi
ately upon a natural impulse.

15. when he was angry, The Latin translation adds ' before he
did anything.' Cf. Essay xxvii. 188.

21. optimus ille, etc. Ovid, Remedies for Lowe , v. 293.

34. lay, for 'lie.'

37. the board, the table.

39. put himself to, i.e. accustom himself to the temptation.
The habitual drunkard finds it hard to abstain from wine when
it is offered to him. He is moved ivith it, i.e. he finds it difficult
to resist it.

41. privateness, The Latin translation has ' in his intercourse
with his friends. '

affectation, see note on Essay i. 3.
in passion, cf. Adt\, bk. ii. 23. 18.

44. sort with, suit. Cf. Essay vi. 5.

45. my soul, etc. Psalm cxx. 6, "My soul hath long dwelt
with him that hateth peace." Bacon often quotes the words in
the sense of " My mind has long been employed upon (conversed
in) uncongenial subjects." Writing to Sir Thomas Bodley,
Bacon says, " I think no man may more truly say with the

xxxviii.] OF NATURE IN MEN. 245

psalm Multum incola fuit anima than myself : for I do confess,
since I was of any understanding, my mind hath in effect been
absent from that I have done ; and in absence are many errors,
which I do willingly acknowledge ; and, amongst the rest, this
great one that led the rest ; that knowing myself by inward
calling to be fitter to hold a book, than to play a part, I have led
my life in civil causes ; for which I was not very fit by nature,
and more unfit by the preoccupation of my mind."

46. converse in, cf. Essay xx. 120.

47. whatsoever a man commandeth upon himself, The Latin
translation has " Whatever is not congenial."

51. so as, so that.

the spaces, the intervals.

ESSAY XXXIX. OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION.

3. infused opinions, opinions derived from without. It is
opposed to inclination, or natural disposition,
after as, according as.

5. evil- favoured, ugly. Cf. 'favour,' Essay xxvii. 185, and
xliii. 13.

6. bravery, boastfulness.

7. corroborate, strengthened. Cf. Essay viii. 36.
rest upon, cf. Essay xxix. 79, and below, 1. 53.

11. Machiavel, Talking of the qualities required in an
assassin Machiavelli says that only those experienced in such
affairs should be chosen. Discourses, iii. 6.

friar Clement assassinated Henry III. of France, A.D. 1589.
Ravaillac killed Henry IV. of France, A.D. 1610. Jaureguy
attempted to kill William the Silent, Prince of Orange, 1582 A.D.
In the year 1584 the Prince was shot by Baltazar Gerard.

13. nature ... nor ... are not, neither nature, nor the engage
ments of words, is so forcible, etc.

15. of the first blood, who are committing murder for the first
time.

16. votary, produced by a vow. In his Discourse in Praise of
Queen Elizabeth, Bacon says that a conspiracy against her was
" strengthened and bound by vows and sacraments."

18. as, that.

23. the sect, i.e. the gymnosophists. Cf. Cic. Tusc. Disp., v.
27.

246 NOTES. [xxxix.

28. queening, The Latin translation has "uttering a cry."
But Nares in his Glossary says that ' to quick ' or ' quech ' means
to ' stir or twist. ' He quotes —

" Like captived thrall
With a strong iron chain and coller bound,
That once he could not move nor quick at all."

Spenser, F. Q., v. 9. 33.
32. it had been so used, that had been the custom.

34. engaged, bound. Properly the word means ' bound by a
pledge. '

44. take the ply, be bent in any direction.

47. simple, applied to individuals and not to numbers (copu
late). In his discussion on poetry in the De A^^g., Bacon re
marks that men, when gathered together in numbers, are much
more open to impressions than when they are alone.

50. comforteth, strengthens.

51. in his exaltation, at its height. Exaltation was a techni
cal term in astrology, signifying that position of a planet in which
its influence is greatest. For his, see note on Essay xix. 86.

54. Commonwealth, A man asked Pythagoras what was the
best education he could give his son : and the sage replied,
" Make him a citizen of a well-governed state."

ESSAY XL. OF FORTUNE.

1. but, equivalent to ' that.'

to fortune, The Latin translation has " to promote or de
press men's fortunes." With what follows cf. Adv., bk. ii. 23.
10.

2. fitting virtue, favourable to the display of any good qualities
a man may possess.

10. apparent, conspicuous.

12. deliveries, literally, modes of extricating himself from
difficulties. Bacon means simply a power of checking any
tendency or characteristic in ourselves, which, if allowed free
play, would interfere with our success. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 23. 33.

14. stonds, hindrances. In Adr., bk. ii. 22. 10., he talks of
" knots and stonds of the mind." The sentence beginning "when
there be," etc., explains what he means by " certain deliveries "
or " desemboltura. " For the metaphor which follows cf. Adv.,
bk. ii. 23. 33 : " But from whatsoever root or cause this restive-

XL.] OF FORTUNE. 247

ness of mind proceedeth, it is a thing most prejudicial, and
nothing is more politic than to make the wheels of our mind
concentric and voluble with the wheels of fortune. "

15. that, joined with ' when.' See note on Essay xv. 53.
21. falleth upon that, notes the fact.
33. properties, see note on Essay iii. 30.
36. without, outside.

38. remover, a restless man.

39. exercised, practised.

40. and it be but for, if only for the sake of. Cf. Essay xxiii. 32.

41. Confidence and Reputation, The Latin translation adds,
"And these in their turn breed courage and influence."

42. felicity, good fortune.

43. to decline the envy, to turn aside the unpopularity. With
this passage cf. Adv., bk. ii. 23. 11.

use to, cf. Essay xv. 237.

48. You carry, etc. These words were addressed by Caesar to
a boatman who hesitated to take him across from Greece to Italy,
B.C. 49.

52. infortunate, cf. Essay iv. 41.

Timotheus took a leading part in the arrangement of an
alliance between Athens and Thebes against Sparta, B.C. 378.

54. interlaced, introduced into his speech the saying that, etc.
Cf. Essay xi. 72.

56. there be whose, there are some whose. Cf. Essay i. 2.

57. have a slide and easiness, The Latin translation has
' ' flow more easily. "

59. in respect of, cf. xxix. 283.

60. it is much, depends to a great extent upon ourselves. In
his life of Timoleon, Plutarch says that "as the verses of other
poets appear laboured when compared with those of Homer,
which, besides their force and grace, have the appearance of
having been composed with ease, so, compared with the painful
campaigns of Agesilaus and Epaminondas, those of Timoleon,
combining ease with honour, appear to those who judge rightly
to have been the result not of fortune, but of fortunate virtue. "
Timoleon was an inhabitant of Corinth ; his victories effected the
liberation of Sicily about the middle of the fourth century B.C.
Epaminondas, the great Theban general, died B.C. 362, and
Agesilaus of Sparta, B.C. 361.

NOTES. rXLi.

ESSAY XLI. OF USURY.

I. Witty, cf. iii. 57.

Usury, Used simply to denote ' lending at interest,' not
necessarily 'usurious interest,' which opinion would still con
demn. The opinion of the Christian world was hostile to loans
on interest, partly on account of a clause in the Mosaic law
which forbade Jews to take interest from Jews. But in early
times the feeling was strong and general. Nor need we wonder
at it. Grote points out that, in a primitive society, borrowers
were generally distressed men soliciting aid, so that a loan on in
terest presented the repulsive idea of making profit out of the
distress of the borrower. History of Greece, vol. iii. p. 109.
In Greece and Rome the predominance of military interests en
gendered a feeling of contempt for anything connected with trade ;
and in the minds of men like Plato and Aristotle this feeling was
strengthened by the conviction that the best elements in human
nature can only find satisfaction in a life of artistic and philosophic
culture. In the Middle Ages the hatred of interest was intensified
by the unpopularity of the Jews, who were the chief money
lenders. Under the conditions of modern industrial organiza
tion loans at interest are contracts entered into voluntarily, as
beneficial to both parties. The prohibition of them would
paralyze trade. It may of course be argued that for the protec
tion of borrowers the state ought to fix a maximum rate of
interest. But the answer to this is that usury laws are generally
evaded, with the effect of enhancing the rate of interest, that the
interests of embarrassed men cannot outweigh the general in
terests of industry, and that the interests of solvent men are best
secured by the free competition of the money market. See
Walker, Political Economy, pt. vi. ch. i. With the opening of
this Essay cf. Essay xxxiv. 69.

3. the tithe, Ten per cent, was the rate sanctioned by an Act
passed under Henry VIII. Under Edward VI. usury was for
bidden, but the rate of ten per cent, was again sanctioned under
Elizabeth. It was not until the present reign that usury laws
were altogether abolished. By the Mosaic law a tenth of every
man's substance was offered to God. Cf. " This incessant and
Sabbathless pursuit of a man's fortune leaveth not tribute which
we owe to God of our time ; who (we see) demandeth a tenth of
our substance, and a seventh, which is more strict, of our time."
Adv., bk. ii. 23. 46

II. in the sweat, etc. The necessity of labour was one of the
penalties inflicted by God upon man at the time of the fall of
Adam. Cf . "If it be admitted that imagination hath power,
and that ceremonies fortify imagination, and that they be used
sincerely and intentionally for that purpose ; yet I should hold

XLI.] OF USURY. 249

them unlawful, as opposing to that first edict which God gave
unto man, In the tticeat. of thy brow tshalt thou eat bread.'' Adv.,
bk. ii. 11.2.

1 2. orange-tawny, Yellow was the distinctive colour worn by
the Jews.

13. they do judaize, The Jews were the great money-lenders,
it is against nature, by a quibble derived from the Greek

word TO/COS, which means both interest and offspring, Aristotle
condemns interest on the ground that, money being by nature
barren, it is unnatural to make it fructify. Cf. Shakespeare,
Merchant of Venice, i. 3. 94 —

" Ant. Is your gold and silver ewes and rams ?
Shy. I cannot tell — I make it breed as fast."
and ibid. 1 35 —

" Ant. When did friendship take

A breed of barren metal of his friend?"
18. as, that.

20. banks, Towards the end of this Essay Bacon again suggests
that banks were regarded with suspicion. He means, I suppose,
that people were unwilling to trust their money to bankers.

discovery of men's estates, i. e. requiring men to report the
amount and source of their income. If this were done, the amount
of money lent at interest in the kingdom and the rate of interest
would be known. Bacon can see that loans are advantageous to
trade, yet in treating of usury he has principally in mind those who
borrow to spend uiiproductively. In his History of Henry VII.
he says, "There were also made good and politic laws by that
Parliament against usury, which is the bastard use of money,
and against unlawful chievances and exchanges, which is bastard
usury." He quotes also from an address of the king to Parlia
ment. "His Grace prays you to repress the bastard and barren
employment of money to usury and unlawful exchanges, that they
may be, as their natural use is, turned upon common and lawful
and royal trading." For discovery, see note on Essay vi. 43.

22. incommodities, inconveniences. In Essay xxxiii. 83, he
uses the form discommodities.

23. weighed out, considered or separated.

24. make forth to, proceed to.

26. First, etc. The first, third, and sixth of these arguments
are answered by the first argument in the following paragraph.
The answer to the second is that competition reduces the rate of
interest for all whose credit is good. With regard to the fourth
argument wre may remark, firstly, that large capitalists are a ne
cessity when trade is on a large scale, and, secondly, that ' the

250 NOTES. [XLT.

usurer ! is not necessarily " at certainties." There is speculation
in money-lending as in trade. The fifth argument assumes that
what is borrowed is spent unproductively. Of course so far as
this is so, wealth is diminished. It must always be remembered
that when trade was undeveloped, the people ignorant, com
munications imperfect, and competition limited, there would be a
stronger case than at present for legislation with regard to usury.
The law sometimes protects the Indian ryot by ' going behind the
bond.'

29. vena porta, See note on Essay xix. 138.

31. husband, cf. Essay xv. 131.

if lie sit, if he is settled on his farm.

34. customs, including all revenues raised by taxes upon
commodities.

kings or states, cf. Essay ix. 150.

39. and ever, etc. , cf . Essay xv. 1 60.

42. purchasing, The Latin translation has ' ' purchasing landed
estates. "

45. slug, hindrance. Cf. "They are but remoracs and hind
rances to stay and slug the ship from further sailing." Adv. , bk.
ii. 7. 7.

46. estates, cf. a state, Essay xxviii. 32.
52. so as, so that. Cf. 1. 70.

54. stand, stoppage.

57. far under foot, for less than they are worth.

61. take pawns without use, lend on mortgage without interest.

62. look precisely, etc. , will foreclose.

63. would say, was in the habit of saying.

70. Utopia, the ideal state described by Sir Thomas More.

71. reiglement, regulation.

75. grinded, for ground : blunted.

78. Quickening, giving life to. The word quick means properly
living. The English prayer book preserves the sense in the
expression "the quick and the dead." Spenser employs it as a
substantive in the sense of 'a living thing.' 'The quick,' for the
living or sensible parts of an animal body, is still in use ; as in
"cutting to the quick" ; and in the metaphorical application to
the feelings of the mind, as being "touched to the quick" by a
reproach. Nares, Glossary H.V.

81. will be to seek for, will find it difficult to get.

91. shut itself out to take, undertake not to exact : to take, for
from taking.

XLI.] OF USURY. 251

94. land, i.e. the annual return from money invested in land
will exceed that from money lent at interest by one per cent.

97. edge, stimulate.

98. venture in that kind, invest their money in "industrious
and profitable employments."

kind, cf. Essay vi. 47.

101. to known merchants, The Latin translation adds, "and
to no one else."

105. shall, for will. See note on Essay ii. 7.

106. he. Notice the singular after 'borrowers.'
bank, See note on 1. 20.

108. mislike, dislike.

109. in regard of, cf. Essay xxvii. 43.

let the state, etc., i.e. the money-lenders are to pay a small
fee to the state for their license.

110. Answered, guaranteed. The lenders are to be 'respon
sible ' for this amount to the state.

111. the abatement, viz., the fee paid to the state.
116. restrained, confined. Cf. Essay xxvii. 151.

118. colour other men's monies, lend other peoples' money
in their own name. If those who are licensed to lend at 1 0 per
cent, could borrow with a view to lending again, all money would
be lent at the higher rate. This cannot happen, so long as 10
per cent, is allowed only in " certain towns of merchandizing,"
because people living in the country will not lend to strangers in
a distant town. To colour is to make a thing seem what it is not.

1 22. in a sort, in a manner. Cf . ' in no sort, ' Essay xxxv. 89.
With regard to Bacon's proposal the student will notice, firstly,
that it is directed to the relief of a particular class, and, secondly,
that it amounts to a tax upon trade, the result of which would be
to increase the price of living.

124. by declaration, by public recognition of it.

ESSAY XLII. OF YOUTH AND AGE.

10. Septimius Severus, See note on Essay xxvii. 90.

14. reposed, calm.

15. Cosmus, See note on Essay iv. 26.

Gaston de Foix, born 1469. He was a nephew of Louis

252 NOTES. [XLII.

XII. He distinguished himself as commander of the French
troops in Italy, and was killed at the battle of Ravenna in 1512.

16. in age, i.e. in old men. Cf. 1. 39, 'men in age.'

17. composition, temperament. Cf. Essay vi. 103.

18. to invent than to judge, cf. Essay xxxiv. 79.

19. settled, The Latin translation has ordinary.
21. them, viz. the old.

abuseth, misleads. Cf. Essay xxii. 123.

24. manage, management.

25. embrace, etc. , undertake more than they can carry through.

stir more, etc., they act inconsiderately, and so provoke
tumults and discontents which they cannot suppress. Bacon
means that caution and experience are the virtues of age. Its
faults (1. 32) are nervousness and want of 'go.'

28. absurdly, to be taken with "pursue." For absurdly, cf.
Essay vi. 68.

care not to, do not hesitate to.
31. unready, badly-trained.

34. the full period, cf. Essay xxv. 11.

35. to compound, lit. to mix : to employ old and young together.
38. for succession, for the future.

40. externe, external.

44. your young1 men, etc. Cf. Adv., bk. i. 3. 3, "And will
you hearken to the Hebrew Rabbins ? Your young men shall see
visions, and your old mm shall dream dream* ; say they, youth is
the worthier age, for that visions are nearer apparitions of God
than dreams." The word Rabbi means properly ' a master.'

50. affections, See note on Essay ix. 1.

there be some have, there are some who have. Cf. Essay
i. 2.

have an over- early ripeness, exactly equivalent to 'are
precocious ' (Latin prae, before, and coquere, to ripen).

53. Hermogenes lived in the reign of Marcus Aurelius.

55. which have better grace, are more becoming.

57. Tully, Cicero.

58. Hortensius, an orator contemporary with Cicero.

61. tract of years, length of years. What Livy really says of
Scipio Africanus is, that in his old age circumstances were
not favourable for the display of his natural qualities.

xuii.J OF BEAUTY. 253

ESSAY XLIII. OF BEAUTY.

I. virtue, etc. Cf. Essay Hi. 1. To parody a well-known
line, " Virtue un-adorned 's adorned the most."

4. almost, generally.

7. they, viz. very beautiful persons.

of great spirit, high-minded. Cf. 1. 12, 'great spirit*':
cf. 'good spirits,' Essay ii. 34; and ' if they be of spirit,' Essay
xliv. 34.

9. Vespasianus, Emperor from 69 to 79 A.D.

10. Philip, 1285 A.D.

II. Alcibiades lived in the fifth century B.C.
Ismael ascended the throne in 1499.

13. favour, beautiful features. Cf. Essay xxvii. 185, and
xxxix. 5.

14. motion, the Latin translation adds "both of countenance
and body " : i.e. graceful expression and graceful features.

18. Apelles, not Apelles but Zeuxis, a Greek painter born about
the middle of the fifth century B. c. When painting a picture for
the temple of Juno Lacinia at Croton, he selected five of the
most beautiful virgins of the country, that his painting might
present the best features of each.

19. Durer, a German painter, 1471-1528 A.D. The allusion is
to his treatise " On the proportion of the parts of the human
body." (W.)

more, greater. Cf.

" To beg of thee,

It is my more dishonour than thou of them." Sh. Coriol. iii. 2.
would make, wished to make.

24. was, cf. Essay iii. 95.

25. felicity, cf. xl. 42.

26. shall see, see note on Essay ii. 7.
that, of such a kind that.

27. a good, i.e. a good part.

28. all together, all the parts together.
do well, are pleasant to look upon.

30. amiable, loveable.

32. can be comely, The Latin translation has "can preserve
comeliness always."

but by pardon, unless we make allowances for his youth,
and reckon it to make the comeliness complete.

254 NOTES. [xmi.

34. are easy to corrupt, easily rot.

36. out of countenance, The Latin translation has " repenting
too late" : lit. "ashamed of" the excesses of youth. Cf. Essay
xii. 44.

37. if it light well, if beauty alight upon a worthy person.
maketh the vices blush, men are ashamed of their vices in

the presence of those who are beautiful and virtuous.

ESSAY XLIV. OF DEFORMITY.

Of Deformity, Chamberlain in a letter to Sir Dudley Carlton,
written Dec. 17, 1612, soon after the publication of the second
edition of the Etssays, says, ' ' Sir Francis Bacon hath set out new
Essays where, in a chapter of Deformity, the world takes notice
that he paints out his little cousin (the Earl of Salisbury) to the
life." (W.) In the Adv., bk. ii. 22. 5, Bacon mentions " those
impressions of nature which are imposed upon the mind by ...
beauty and deformity." Cf. Essay ix. 41.

2. so do they by nature, they disgrace nature by their want of
the ordinary feelings of humanity.

6. she ventureth in the other, there is always a risk that
mental defects may accompany bodily deformity.

9. the stars of natural inclination, It was thought that the
conjunction of planets under which a person was born deter
mined his character. Cf. " This is that which will indeed
dignify and exalt knowledge, if contemplation and action may
be more nearly and straitly conjoined and united together than
they have been ; a conjunction like unto that of the two highest
planets, Saturn, the planet of rest and contemplation, and
Jupiter, the planet of civil society and action." Adv., bk. i.
5. 11.

12. deceivable, deceptive, because, as he has just explained,
a deformed person may alter his nature by discipline and virtue.

14. Induce, used in its literal sense of 'to bring upon.' Cf.
reduce, Essay xi. 54.

15. rescuing, cf. "In this righting and helping of a man's self
in his own carriage, he must take heed to show not himself dis
mantled and exposed to scorn and injury, by too much dulceness,
goodness, and facility of nature ; but show some sparkles of
liberty, spirit, and edge. Which kind of fortified carriage, with
a ready rescussing (rescuing) of a man's self from scorns, is some
times of necessity imposed upon men by somewhat in their person
or fortune; but it ever succeedeth with good felicity." Adi:,
bk. ii. 23. 32.

XLIV.] OF DEFORMITY. 255

16. extreme, cf. Essay i. IS. With the whole of this passage
cf. Essay ix. 48.

26. upon the matter, taking everything into consideration.
wit, mind. Cf. Essay i. 6.

30. obnoxious, dependent. Cf. Essay xx. 105.
officious, used in its literal sense of ' ready to serve.'

31. spials, spies.

32. much like, etc., i.e. and the same holds true in the case of
deformed persons.

33. the ground is. The Latin translation has ' ' the rule which
we have laid down holds good." Cf. Essay xii. '27.

34. if they be of spirit, cf. Essay xliii. 7.

37. Agesilaus, see note on Essay ix. 48.

Zanger, son of Solyman the Magnificent. See note on
Essay xix. 83.

38. Gasca lived in the sixteenth century. He put down the
rebellion of Pizarro in Peru in 1547 A.D.

JEsop lived in the sixth century B.C. He was a slave.

Socrates, cf. Adv., bk. i. 3. 8. "I refer them also to that
which Plato said of his master Socrates, whom he compared to
the gallipots of apothecaries, which on the outside had apes and
owls and antiques, but contained within sovereign and precious
liquors and confections : acknowledging that to an external
report he was not without superficial levities and deformities,
but was inwardly replenished with excellent virtues and powers."
The ugliness of Socrates was proverbial.

ESSAY XLV. OF BUILDING.

Of Building, see Green's History of the Enc/Uili People, vol. ii.
p. 390. In his Praise of Queen Elizabe/h, Bacon says, "The
opulency of the peace such, as if you have respect, to take one
sign for many, to the number of fair houses that have been built
during her reign, as Augustus said, ' that he had received the
city of brick, and left it of marble,' so she may say, she received
it a realm of cottages, and hath made it a realm of palaces." In
his Obxerrationn on a Libel he says, "There was never the like
number of fair 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 thirty-three, which have been all new-built within that time —
whereof the meanest was never built for two thousand pounds."

256 NOTES. [XLV.

5. fair, beautiful. Cf. 11. 42 and 59.
seat, site.

9. knap, knoll. It is the same word as knob. It is connected
with a verb meaning to strike, and so means properly ' a lump
raised by a blow.'

11. so as, so that.

12. several, cf. Essay xix. 152 ; and below, 11. 28, 44, and 49.

14. ill ways, bad roads.

15. Momus, the god of fault-finding. In ^sop's Fable, 275,
he finds fault with a house built by Athene, because it was not
built upon wheels so as to be removed, if necessary, from bad
neighbours.

20. having, The Latin translation has "not having," which
is required by the sense.

21. discommodity, cf. Essay xxxiii. 83.

23. lurcheth, swallows up.

24. where a man hath, etc. The Latin translation is as
follows, "A site where a man possesses or can acquire large
estates, and, on the other hand, a site where he cannot stretch
his wings. I do not mention all these points as thinking that
any house can be free from all these inconveniences, but in order
that we may avoid as many of them as possible. "

25. all which . . . them, cf. Essay xxxv. 37.
28. sort, arrange.

31. lightsome, light.
34. fowl, birds.

41. the Vatican, the Papal residence in Rome,
the Escurial, in Madrid.

44. The banquet, The dining hall. Cf. below, 11. 52 and 86.

45. the book of Hester, one of the books of the Jewish Scrip
tures. Hester was the wife of King Ahasuerus.

46. triumphs, shows. Cf. Essay xxxvii.

48. returns, sides built back from the front and forming a
court.

49. severally, differently.

53. and under it, etc. The Latin translation has ' ' and under
it another room of the same length and breadth to hold every
thing that is required for displays, games, etc. , and to serve as a
dressing room for the actors."

56. at the first, The Latin translation lias " especially."

XLV.] OF BUILDING. 257

59. under these rooms, The Latin translation adds, ' ' with
the exception of the chapel. "

64. a goodly leads, a leaded roof,
statuas, cf. Essay xxvii. 156.
interposed, at intervals.

66. The stairs, etc. The Latin translation has " a winding
staircase, in flights of six steps each." The word newel is
explained as " a pillar of stone or wood, where the steps terminate
in a winding staircase. " (W.)

69. point, appoint.

71. shall, for will. Cf. Essay ii. 7 ; and below, 1. 95.

74. sixteen, The Latin translation has " twenty. "

78. cast into, literally ' contrived within. ' The staircases
are to be in the turrets, and the turrets are to stand " outside
the row of buildings." Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 18. 9, "In buildings
there is great pleasure and use in the well casting of the stair
cases."

83. some side alleys, etc. The court is to be turfed. But
there is to be a paved walk round it, and another crossing the
turf from end to end and side to side.

84. alleys, walks. Cf. Essay xlvi. 74. It is the French aller.
totjo.

to graze, to be turfed.

85. The row of return, the whole side of the court,
near, we should say dose.

88. of several works, The Latin translation has " on which
are painted columns, figures of all kinds, flowers, and the
like."

89. On the household side, The Latin translation adds "and
also the third side which faces the front."

chambers of presence, reception rooms.

91. thorough, cf. Essay v. 19.

92. from, away from, not exposed to.

"For't must be done to-night,
And something from the palace."

Shakespeare, Macbeth iv. 1. 132.

93. Cast it, arrange the building so that, etc.

94. rooms, The Latin translation has ' ' both sitting rooms
and bedrooms."

95. You shall have, i.e. you will find.

n

258 NOTES. [XLV.

96. to become, to betake oneself. Cf. Shakespeare's 3 Henry
VI. ii. 1. 10,

" I cannot joy, until I be resolved
Where our right valiant father is become."

97. For, as regards.

embowed windows, bow windows.

98. in respect of, cf. Essay xxvii. 88

103. on the sides only, i.e. two on each side.

104. inward, we should say inner.

106. cloistered, etc. Bacon has already explained that each
side is to be "a double house." In this inner court, the inner
half of all four sides on the ground floor is to consist of cloisters.
The outer half, facing the garden (or, according to the Latin
version, the outer half of the sides only, and not of the two ends)
is to be a grotto or summer house, (estivation, from Lat. aesta*,
mmmer).

113. to be paved, etc., i.e. with turf in the middle, and a
paved walk round and across it.

116. foresee, This is the literal meaning of the word 'pro
vide.' Cf. Essay xv. 133.

118. ante-camera, antechamber ; recamera, a room behind.

119. Upon the ground story, that is, as is explained in the
Latin translation, at the end of the inner court. He has not as
yet said anything about this. See above, note on cloistered.

120. upon the third story, The Latin translation adds " on
all three sides."

123. the further side, i.e. the end. The Latin translation adds
" on the second floor."

by way of return, i. e. jutting out into the garden. See
above, note on returns.

129. avoidances, outlets for the water. The Latin translation
adds "that the inner half of the upper story, which faces the
court, should consist of colonnades and sheltered walks for the
use of invalids."

thus much, etc. The Latin translation adds " I say
nothing of baths and fish-ponds."

131. with a wall about it, The Latin translation adds " and
trees planted along the wall."

132. of the same, The Latin translation has "of the same
size. "

134. not to be built, not to be enclosed by buildings of any
sort.

OF BUILDING. 259

136. tarrasses, terraces. The Latin translation has "with
walks built not upon arches but upon pillars, and covered
at the top with lead or paved with stone, and decorated at the
sides with elegant little statues of the colour of brass. "

139. low, The Latin translation adds "and covered."

ESSAY XLVI. OF GARDENS.

Gardens, Amongst Bacon's private memoranda are some
" directions for a plot to turn the pond-yard (in his dwelling at
Gorhambury) into a place of pleasure by enclosing and laying
it out in broad walks and terraces, with banks and bowers set
with choice trees and flowers, and a lake in the middle with
several islands in it, variously furnished and adorned for rest,
exercise, and refreshment, and pleasure of eye, ear, smell, taste,
and spirits." See Spedding's Francis Bacon and His Times,
vol. i. p. 539.

1. a Garden, referring to the garden of Eden in which Adam
and Eve were placed.

4. handyworks, The Latin translation has " are works of the
hand only, not savouring of nature."

5. civility, civilization,
stately, cf. Essay i. 18.

7. hold it, think.

15. stoved, kept warm.

warm set, The Latin translation has " planted along a
wall and towards the sun."

51. that delight, the pleasure derived from the scent of flowers.

52. perfume the air, The Latin translation has ' ' before they
are plucked."

53. fast, tenacious.

60. Bartholomew-tide, St. Bartholomew's day is Aug. 24th.

69. so, provided that.

74. alleys, see note on Essay xlv. 84

76. For, as regards. Cf. 11. 119, 135, 163, 184, 199, 210.

83. to either side, i. e. to the alleys or walks on either side.

86. it will give you, etc. The Latin translation has " a walk is
to be cleared across it by which you may approach a hedge. "

87. go in front upon, advance towards.

91. of, for on.

92. covert, sheltered. Cf. 1. 113.

260 NOTES. [XLVI.

94. knots, beds.

96. they be, cf. Essay i. 2.
toys, cf. Essay xix. 12.

102. entire, continuous.

109. slope, sloping.

111. to leave, this depends on " understand." It is equivalent
to "that there should be left." For the change, cf. Essay
xxiv. 37.

113. deliver, lead.

115. for letting, because it would intercept.

121. busy, elaborate. The word busy means properly active,
as in Essay xliii. 6. Then it is used in a bad sense to denote
over-activity, or interference, as in Essay xxxvi. 68. Here it
means not ' the person who labours ' — but ' the thing on which
the labour is bestowed. '

124. welts, edges.

127. fair, cf. Essay xlv. 5 ; and below, 11. 156, 194, 200.

closer, The Latin translation has ' ' narrower and more
sheltered." Cf. 1. 189.

129. with three ascents, there are to be three flights of steps,
and at the top of each flight a space is to be levelled all roxind
the hill, broad enough for four to walk abreast.

131. embossments, projections in architecture.

133. chimneys, fire-places,
cast, cf. Essay xlv. 93.

136. pools, The Latin translation adds " and fish-ponds."

139. receipt, receptacle.

142. as, that.

149. curiosity, ingenuity. Cf. Essay ix. 17.

153. rails of low statuas, cf. " railed with statuas interposed,"
Essay xlv. 64.

158. equality of bores, The Latin translation has " tubes of
equal dimensions. " Sore is the Latin forare in per-J "orate.

161. nothing to, i.e. contributing nothing to. Cf. 1. 220.

165. trees I would have none, etc. The Latin translation has
" except that here and there I direct rows of trees to be planted
with walks on the tops, covered by branches of trees and having
windows. Underneath the ground should be plentifully planted
with sweet-smelling flowers, breathing their fragrance upwards.
With this exception I wish the heath to be without trees."

168. and these to be, etc. The Latin translation has "I wish
the thickets and the walks over the trees to be, etc. "

XLVI.] OF GARDENS. 261

178. pricked, cf. Essay xviii. 72.

180. but here and there, but only occasionally, because the
scent is oppressive.

183. out of course, irregularly. The Latin translation has
" unsightly."

190. because of going wet, that you may not have to walk in
the wet.

192. would be, ought to be.

196. deceive the trees, i.e. defraud the trees of nourishment.

197. leaving the wall, i.e. so that, when you stand upon the
mount, the wall of the enclosure shall not be higher than your
breast.

203. so as, so that.

205. rest upon, depend upon. Cf. Essay xxix. 79.

210. that largeness as, such a size that.

213. on the floor, After this sentence the Latin translation has
" As for making walks upon hills and pretty ascents, these things
are gifts of nature and cannot be made everywhere. I have men
tioned those things only which can be had in any place. "

214. platform, model. Cf. "The main and primitive division of
moral knowledge seemeth to be into the exemplar or platform of
good, and the regiment or culture of the mind. " Adv. , bk. ii. 20. 3.

215. by drawing, etc., in outline only.

218. set their things together, The Latin translation adds
" with biit little taste."

ESSAY XLVII. OF NEGOCIATING.

2. a man's self, see note on Essay vi. 57.

5. it may be danger, etc., i.e. there may be danger of being
interrupted.

8. tender, delicate. Cf. Essay xv. 229.
a man's eye, etc., cf. Essay xxii. 19.

11. to disavow, The Latin translation has " to unsay. " Bacon
means that a personal interview affords such opportunities for
explanation that there can be no. misunderstanding as to the
speaker's wishes or opinions.

14. the success, the result.

16. will help, etc., i.e. will give a too favourable report, so as
to please their employer. Cf. "reporting the success barely,"
Essay xlix. 29.

17. satisfaction sake, Abbott (Sh. Gr. § 22) says that the

262 NOTES. [XLVII.

reason for this license is to be found in an increasing dislike and
disuse of the inflection in '«.

affect, are well disposed to.

18. quickeneth much, The Latin translation has "stimulate
them to industry."

21. absurd, see note on Essay vi. 68.

22. doth not well, etc. The Latin translation has "which is
at all discreditable."

25. prescription, title : their reputation for constant good luck.
Never having failed, they look on success as a right.
It is better, etc., cf. Essay xxii. 102.

28. in appetite, who want something. He who has all that he
wants has nothing to gain by helping others.

30. the start, etc. The question is, how I am to persuade a
man to do something for me before I do what I have promised to
do for him. He may naturally think that when I have got what
I want, I shall decline to perform my part of the bargain. Bacon
says that I may persuade him by convincing him that I shall
want his services again, so that I shall certainly keep faith with
him now. Or, if I have a high reputation for integrity, he will
trust me.

32. which, for that it.

34. that, redundant.

35. practice, negotiation.

to work, i.e. to accomplish something. To "work a man "
means to " influence " him.

36. discover themselves, cf. Essays v. 38, vi. 43, xli. 20.
at unawares, this at is redundant.

39. fashions, habits.

41. have interest in him, have influence over him. With this
passage cf. Adv., bk. ii. 23. 18-20. The substance of the passage
is that a man must thoroughly understand those with whom he
has to deal. He must be distrustful, believing rather in looks
than in words, and in words wrung from a man by strong feeling,
than in prepared speeches. Most men reveal secrets at some
time : but a man's actions may be contrived to mislead. We may
gain different kinds of information about men from their friends,
their enemies, and their servants. WTe may judge them by their
characters, or their aims ; but we must be on our guard against
crediting men with too much depth and wisdom. We must
judge of princes by their character only, for they have all objects
of desire at their command.

47. ripen, cf. Essay xx. 37 and 133.

XLVIII.] OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS. 263

ESSAY XLVIII. OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS.

1. followers, In his Observations on a Libel, Bacon says, " Con
cerning the nobility, it is true that there have been in ages past
noblemen, as I take it, both of greater possessions and of greater
command and sway than any one at this day. One reason why
the possessions are less, I conceive to be, because certain sump
tuous veins and humours of expence, as apparel, gaming, main
taining of a kind of followers, and the like, do reign more than
they did in times past."

2. his train, A number of dependents hamper a man, as the
peacock's tail impedes his flight.

3. charge, cf. Essay xxix. 255.

4. importune, cf. Essay ix. 159.

5. to challenge, to claim. Cf. " The errors I claim and chal
lenge to myself as mine own." Adv. , bk. ii. 25. 5. Ordinary
followers ought not to expect from their patron more than his
good-will, his recommendation, when they require it, and pro
tection.

8. upon, by reason of. We should say out of. Cf. Essay ii. 32.

10. that ill intelligence, those misunderstandings.

11. glorious, boasting. Cf. Essay xxxiv. 105. Braggarts,
who go about singing their master's praises, are to be avoided.
They ruin projects by divulging anything and everything : and
they diminish their master's reputation, and make him unpopular.

17. espials, spies.

19. officious, See note on Essay xliv. 30.

20. exchange tales, i.e. if they carry their master's secrets to
others, they reveal the secrets of others to their masters.

estates, rank or order. Cf. 'state,' Essay xix. 118. It
has always been thought " civil " that a man should have depen
dents of his own profession.

22. to him, i. e. that soldiers should follow a soldier.

28. civil, literally " befitting a citizen." The Latin translation
ha.s "seemly." Bacon means that it is not inconsistent with the
subordinate position that befits a citizen, and therefore even
monarchs, who are most jealous of a rival power, have not
objected to it.

24. so, provided that.

25. popularity, cf. Essay xv. 243.

26. apprehendeth to, knows how to.

27. where there is, where no one man is distinctly and conspi-

264 NOTES. [XLVIII.

cuously superior to another, it is better to employ the more
commonplace man.

28. sufficiency, ability. Cf. Essay xi. 101.

33. discontent, cf. Essay xv. 167.

34. they may claim a due, men of equal rank may claim equal
treatment as a right.

in favour, i.e. in things which are matters of indulgence.
It is opposed to "in government."

35. election, choice : discrimination.
37. officious, See note above, 1. 19.

of favour, and therefore cannot as "in government" be
claimed as a right.

39. hold out, continue to the end.
41. disreputation, disrepute.

those ... them ... their, notice the plural. The sentence
begins with the singular "a man." Cf. Essay xli. 105.

44. to be distracted, etc., cf. Essay xxvii. 211.

45. of the last impression, Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 22. 4. He means
a man who takes the opinion simply of the person to whom he
happens to have spoken last.

47. lookers-on, etc. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 21. 7: and Essay xxvii.
185. For discover, cf. Essay v. 38.

50. magnified, The Latin translation adds " amongst the
ancients."

51. comprehend, used in its literal sense of 'to include.' If
the superior is prosperous, the inferior is so too.

ESSAY XLIX. OF SUITORS.

1. ill, for bad, as in Essay xlv. 5.

are undertaken, viz. by men who promise to exert their in
fluence to get a petition granted. When influence is exerted to
gain for individuals what they do not deserve, or what cannot be
given to them without doing an injustice to others, the public
interest suffers. Cf. the end of the Essay. In Bacon's time, as
has often been the case in India, one who had not interest at
court found it difficult to get a hearing. Men pretended to
influence who had it not, and those who had it often deceived
those who entrusted their petitions to them.

5. embrace suits, i.e. undertake to get a petition granted.

XLIX.] OF SUITORS. 265

6. if they see, etc. The Latin translation has " if they see that
the thing is likely to be carried through by the exertions of some
one else." If they see that the petitioner will get by means of
another what they did not intend to help him to get, they will
try to persuade him that he is really indebted to them, either
wholly or in part. At the least, until the suit is decided, they
will get something out of him, by persuading him that they can
further his suit. Notice the singular 'a thank' for ' thanks.'

9. Some take hold, etc. For instance, if A, whom I dislike,
has applied for a vacant situation, I may support the application
of B, simply to keep A out.

10. or to make, etc. For instance, in urging the claims of B
as against those of A to an appointment, I may take occasion to
inform the government of some fault of which A has been guilty.

12. when that turn, etc., when they have gained their own
immediate object.

13. kind of entertainment, etc., an introduction. The Latin
translation has ' ' to make other men's business a bridge to their
own. "

14. Nay some, etc. If I want to keep A from getting anything,
my best plan is to promise to help him to get it, and then do
nothing in the matter. Depending upon me, he will make no
efforts on his own account.

15. let fall, as we say 'to drop.'

16. in some sort, cf. Essay xli. 122 ; and Essay xxxv. 89.

1 7. either a right, etc. In a dispute about property, one man
must be in the right and the other in the wrong. If the arbi
trator is prejudiced in favour of him who is in the wrong, let him
not give an absolute verdict in his favour : but let him use his
influence to induce the two parties to come to an agreement
between themselves. Compound, used like the Latin componere
in the sense of 'to settle a quarrel.' Cf. " That which troubled
them most was the conceit that they dealt with a rout of people,
with whom there was no composition, or condition, or orderly
treaty." Hist. Henry VII. We talk of a man compounding, i.e.
making an arrangement, with his creditors.

21. If affection, etc. Of two candidates for a place, one will
be better qualified than the other. If I give it to the inferior
man, I need not take away the other man's character to justify
my action.

22. depraving or disabling1, The Latin translation has
" bringing false accusations against him, and speaking maliciously
of him." For disable in the sense of disparage, cf. a letter to Sir
Edward Coke, in which Bacon says, "You take to yourself a
liberty to disable my law, my experience, my discretion. "

266 NOTES. [XLIX.

27. referendaries, those to whom he refers the matter and on
whose advice he acts.

led by the nose, deceived.

28. distasted, disgusted. Cf. distastes, Essay v. 30.

29. denying, refusing.

reporting the success barely, giving a true and unvarnished
report of the success of their efforts, and not " helping the matter
in report for satisfaction sake." Essay xlvii. 16.

30. challenging, cf. Essay xlviii. 5.

31. gracious, something to be thankful for: a favour. Men
have been so disgusted by the delays and the tricks (abuses) of
those who have undertaken to help them, that they are actually
grateful to those who have the simple honesty to say at once
that they will not help them, when they do not intend to help
them — to say exactly what they have succeeded in doing, and
not to feed them with false hopes — and to ask to be paid only for
what they have actually done.

32. of favour, as distinguished from what is claimed as a right.
to take little place, to be of little weight. The first appli
cant ought not necessarily to succeed.

33. his trust, i. e. the trust of the first comer. If a petitioner,
whose suit is refused, gives us some information which we could
not otherwise have obtained, we are not to take advantage of the
information (note), but rather reward him, and leave him free to
get what lie wants by any other means that are open to him. For
discovery, cf. Essay vi. 43.

37. of a suit, of what is asked for. This refers to ' a suit of
favour.' A man who gives an important office to an unfit person
cannot afterwards excuse himself by saying that he did not know
the importance of the office.

38. of the right thereof, The Latin translation has, ' To pass
negligently over the justice of it.' When a thing is sought as a
right by A, and we give it to B, without allowing A to iirge his
own claims in full, it shows that we know that we are doing
wrong, or that we do not care to do right.

39. mean, cf. Essay xix. 53.

40. voicing them to be in forwardness, Literally, proclaiming
that they are going on well : feeding the petitioners with hopes.

41. quicken, stimulate. Cf. Essay xlvii. 18.

42. timing of the suit, Make your request at a time when
the person to whom it is made is in a good humour, and when
you are safe from those who are likely to oppose it.

45. his mean, the person who is chosen to present his petition.

XLIX.] OF SUITORS. 267

Cf. " In most things men are ready to abuse themselves in think
ing the greatest means to be the best, when it should be the
fittest." Adv., bk. ii. 23. 38.

46. them that deal, etc. The Latin translation has " those
who meddle with few affairs rather than those who undertake
anything. "

47. The reparation, etc. A man who takes a refusal good-
humouredly will be perfectly contented if he gets what he wants
the next time he asks for it.

52. hath strength of favour, is a favourite of the person to
whom he addresses the petition. Any man would reject at once
an extravagant demand, if made by a comparative stranger.

rise in his suit, The Latin translation has "to rise
gradually to that which he wants, and at least to get something."
For were better, cf. Essay xxvi. 44.

53. for he, etc. When a man first comes to us as a petitioner,
we may either listen to him or dismiss him. But if we dismiss
him, after having actually conferred favours upon him, we lose
his goodwill and support, and our former acts of kindness to him
are thrown away. Being discontented, he will make us no
return for them.

56. letter, a testimonial.

58. worse instruments, The Latin translation has "a more
pernicious class of men."

ESSAY L. OF STUDIES.

1. Studies, etc. The. Latin translation has " Studies and the
reading of books serve for pleasure in reflection, for ornament in
speech, and for assistance in business."

2. privateness and retiring, seclusion and retirement.

4. expert men, men of experience. See note on Essay xii. 24,
and cf. Adv., bk. i. 2. 3. Cf. " Hence it proceedeth that princes
find a solitude in regard of able men to serve them in causes of
estate, because there is no education collegiate which is free ;
where such aswere so disposed mought give themselves to histories,
modern languages, books of policy and civil discourse, and other
the like enablements unto service of estate." Adv., bk. ii.,
Introd. § 8.

6. plots, plans.

9. is affectation, The Latin translation adds "and betrays
itself. "

268 NOTES. [L.

10. is the humour, etc. The Latin translation has " and does
not succeed."

12. proyning, pruning.

13. too much at large, too vague.

14. bounded in, limited : corrected. English people have a
special horror of ' doctrinaire ' politicians.

Crafty men, etc., they think that cunning and ingenuity
will supply the place of experience.

17. without, outside. Of. Essay xl. 36.

23. curiously, carefully. The Latin translation has " much
time is not to be spent upon them."

26. would be, ought to be.

28. flashy, The Latin translation has "tasteless." In the
Adv., bk. ii. 17. 11, Bacon talks of "the canker of epitomes."

29. conference, conversation and discussion.

writing, etc. The Latin translation has " Writing and a
collection of notes impresses and fixes what we have read deeper
in the mind." Cf. " I am not ignorant of the prejudice imputed
to the use of common-place books, as causing a retardation of
reading, and some sloth or relaxation of memory. But because
it is but a counterfeit thing in knowledges to be forward and
pregnant, except a man be deep and full, I hold the entry
of common places to be a matter of great use and essence in
studying, as that which assureth copie of invention, and con-
tracteth judgement to a strength." Adv., bk. ii. 15. 1.

31. present, ready.

32. cunning, Cf. Essay xxvi. 13, and Shakespeare, Merchant
of Venice, i. 1. 88.

33. that, for ivhat.

34. witty, ingenious. Bacon certainly showed ingenuity in his
interpretation of "poesy parabolical." See Adv., bk. ii. 4. 4,
and his treatise on The Wisdom of the Ancients. Poetry in his
view was but an exercise of the imagination.

37. stond, Cf. Essay xl. 14. Cf. " Many parts of nature
cannot be invented with sufficient subtlety, nor demonstrated
with sufficient perspicuity, nor accommodated unto use with
sufficient dexterity, without the aid and intervening of the
mathematics. . . . Men do not sufficiently understand the
excellent use of the pure mathematics, in that they do remedy
and cure many defects in the wit and faculties intellectual. For
if the wit be too dull, they sharpen it ; if too wandering, they
fix it ; if too inherent in the sense, they abstract it." Adv. , bk.
ii. 8. 2. Cf. also bk. ii. 19. 2.

i,] OF STUDIES. 269

wit, mind. Cf. 11. 42, 43, 44.

38. studies, etc. Cf. "It is not without truth which is said,
that studies have an influence and operation upon the manners
of those that are conversant in them." — Adv., bk. i. 3. 4.

39. Bowling, playing at bowls.

40. shooting, the Latin translation has "archery."

42. wandering, cf. " If a child be bird-witted, that is, hath not
the faculty of attention, the mathematics giveth a remedy there
unto ; for in them, if the wit be caught away but a moment, one
is new to begin. "

43. never so little, no matter how little.

46. carvers, etc. Cf. " Antoninus Pius was a prince ex
cellently learned, and had the patient and subtle wit of a
schoolman ; insomuch as in common speech (which leaves no
virtue un taxed), he was called a carver or divider of cummin
seed, which is one of the least seeds : such a patience he had and
settled spirit to enter into the least and most exact differences
of causes." Adv. , bk. i. 7. 7. For the tendency of the School
men to "distinguish or find differences," see Adv., bk. i. 4. 6.
For the Schoolmen, see Essay xvii. 25.

beat over matters, see note on Essay xxii. 104. The
Latin translation has " If his mind is not quick at passing from
one matter to another." Cf. "The mind of man is altogether
slow, and so unfitted to pass to remote and different examples
by which conclusions are tried, as it were, by fire. " — Nov. Org.
i. 47. The faculty of discovering resemblances and analogies
and that of noting differences are often opposed by Bacon.. See
Nov. Ore], i. 55.

48. the lawyers' cases, where all depends on finding precedents
relative to the case in hand.

ESSAY LI. OF FACTION.

2. estate, kingdom.

3. according to the respect, etc., i.e. that a wise king's policy
should be determined by the interests and wishes of powerful
parties : literally with an eye to. See note on Essay xi. 90.

5. in ordering, etc., i.e. in arranging matters which concern
all men equally.

6. nevertheless, in spite of their belonging to different factions.

270 NOTES. [M.

in dealing, etc. The Latin translation has ' ' in coaxing,
conciliating, and managing individuals."

with correspondence to, in a manner appropriate to each.

9. Mean men, men in a humble position. Cf. Essay xv. 93.

10. were better, cf. Essay xxvi. 44.

11. indifferent, impartial. See note on Essay vi. 64.

Yet even, etc. It is true that a man at the beginning of
his career must be a member of one party : but he will find the
road to success more easy if, though belonging to one party, he
have the reputation of being not distasteful to the opposite
party. Both parties may combine to promote such a man.

12. he, viz. the beginner.

13. which, for who. It refers not to 'faction,' but to 'man.'
most passable with, most acceptable to.

giveth best way, The Latin translation has ' ' prepares the
road to power."

15. stiff, The Latin translation has "determined and per
sistent."

27. are seconds, hold a subordinate place.

32. once placed, as soon as they have obtained the position
which they wished.

take in with, side with.

33. belike, probably.

34. for a new purchase, The Latin translation has " to make
new friends."

35. lightly, easily.

goeth away with it, carries off the prize.

36. casteth, decides.

37. The even carriage, neutrality.

38. of, for from ; cf. ' to rise of,' Essay vi. 78.

39. trueness to a man's self, i. e. a regard to his own interests,
with end to make, with a view of making.

40. suspect, suspicious. See Essay xxiv. 34.
42. to refer, etc., cf. Essay xxiii. 10.

48. the League, See note on Essay xv. 50.

51. The motions, etc. See note on Essay xv. 59.

53. proper, their own. See Essay iii. 30.

ui.J OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS. -271

ESSAY LII. OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS.

Respects, good manners.

I. real, sterling worth requires to be set off by attractive
manners (good forms, 1. 12).

3. a foil, a set off. Cf. Essay xliii. 1.

8. are ... in note, are noticed.

10. Isabella, Queen of Castile. Born 1450, died 1494.

II. letters commendatory, testimonials. An attractive manner
is in itself a recommendation.

14. If he labour, etc. Cf. "If behaviour and outward carriage
be intended too much, first it may pass into affectation, and then
What is more unseemly than to carry the stage into real life, to act
a man's life ? But although it proceed not to that extreme, yet
it consumeth time, and employeth the mind too much. And
therefore, as we iise to advise young students from company-
keeping, by saying, Friend* are thieves of time ; so certainly the
intending of the discretion of behaviour is a great thief of medi
tation. Again, such as are accomplished in that form of urbanity
please themselves in it, and seldom aspire to higher virtue ;
whereas those that have defect in it do seek comeliness by re
putation ; for where reputation is, almost everything becometh ;
but where that is not, it must be supplied by puntos and com
pliments." Adv., bk. ii. 23. 3.

18. that breaketh, etc., who trains or accustoms himself to
the observance of minute rules : who is over-punctilious.

21. they be, cf. Essay i. 2.

22. formal, punctilious.

24. the faith, viz. which others have in him. An exaggerated
politeness is suspected to be insincere.

25. imprinting, impressive.

29. to keep state, to be dignified.

33. so, etc. , provided that we let them see that we do it from
admiration of them, and not out of mere good-nature.

To apply one's self, to accommodate oneself : to humour.
38. allow, approve. See note on Essay xviii. 5.

40. be they never, etc. , no matter how able (sufficient) they
may be. Cf. Essay xxxvi. 19.

41. that attribute, viz. of paying studied and therefore insin
cere compliments.

43. respects, rules of behaviour. Cf. the title of the Essay.

272 NOTES. [LII.

In the passage of the Adv. referred to above, Bacon says that
good manners express self-respect and respect for others.

curious, etc., a man must not be so punctilious as to let
favourable opportunities pass. Cf . ' ' There is no greater impedi
ment of action than an over-curious observance of decency, and
the guide of decency, which is time and season. For as Salomon
saith, He who looke.th to the winds doth not soiv, and he that
rer/ardeth the clouds shall not reap ; a man must make his oppor
tunity as oft as find it. To conclude, behaviour seemeth to me
as a garment of the mind, and to have the conditions of a gar
ment. For it ought to be made in fashion ; it ought not to be
too curious ; it ought to be shaped so as to set forth any good
making of the mind and hide any deformity ; and above all it
ought not to be too strait or restrained for exercise or motion."
Adv., bk. ii. 23. 3.

48. point device, studied. Shakespeare uses the word, but
the origin of it is uncertain.

ESSAY LIII. OF PEAISE.

I. it is as, it resembles.

3. naught, worthless. Of. Essay xxxiv. 65.
6. work, cf. Essay xxvii. 119.

8. shows, cf. 'a show of godliness,' Essay xxvi. 5. The Latin
phrase is taken from Tacitus' description of the character of
Caius Piso, Ann. xv. 48.

9. fame, etc. The same interpretation is applied to time,
Adv., bk. i. 5. 3.

II. of quality and judgment, so in the passage of the Adv.
quoted on Essay liv. 42, he couples ' men of wisdom and rank '
as those whose opinion is really valuable.

12. concur, sc. in praising a man.

14. away, used as a verb : ' will not depart. ' For the metaphor,
cf. " That will not alter Solomon's judgement, The memory of
the just is blessed, but the. name of the ivicked shall rot : the one
flourisheth, the other either consumeth to present oblivion, or
turneth to an ill odour. " A dv. , bk. ii. 2. 9.

16. There be so many, Praise is so often bestowed where it is
not deserved that it is naturally regarded with suspicion. For
a suspect, cf. Essay xxiv. 34.

17. of, for 'from.'

18. he will have, etc., he will have a number of complimentary
expressions ready, which may be applied indiscriminately to all

LIII.] OF PRAISE. 273

whom he wishes to flatter. He, viz. the person who praises.
Cf. ' he ' in 1. 18, and ' they ' in 1. 30.
20. the arch-flatterer, cf. Essay xxvii. 169.

24. out of countenance, ashamed. Cf. Essay xliii. 36.

25. entitle him to perforce, insist on giving him the credit of.
27. respects, we should use the singular.

33. the worst kind, etc., quoted from Tacitus' account of
Agricola, the Roman governor of Britain under Vespasian and
Domitian, born A.D. 40.

34. it was a proverb, Theocritus, Idyll, ix. 24, says, " I
shall not raise a blister on your nose, by calling you beautiful."
Theocritus was a pastoral poet, born at Syracuse in the third
century B.C.

35. should, see note on Essay xxvii. 7.
a push, a pimple.

36. one's tongue, we should say ' the tongue of one who.'

37. used with opportunity, cf. "It is flattery to praise in
absence ; that is, when either the virtue is absent, or the occasion
is absent ; and so the praise is not natural, but forced, either in
truth or in time." Adv., bk. ii. 21. 8.

38. vulgar, such as might be applied to any one.

39. he that praiseth, etc., cf. Essay xlviii. 12. The quotation
is from Prov. xxvii. 14. " The probity of Aristeides procured for
him some jealousy from persons who heard it proclaimed with
offensive ostentation. We are told that a rustic and unlettered
citizen gave his ostracizing vote, and expressed his dislike against
Aristeides, on the simple ground that he was tired of hearing him
always called the Just. The purity of the most honourable man
will not bear to be so boastfully talked of as if he were the only
honourable man in the country ... , and the story just alluded to
illustrates that natural reaction of feeling produced by absurd
encomiasts, or perhaps by insidious enemies under the mask of
encomiasts, who trumpeted forth Aristeides as The Just man of
Attica, so as to wound the legitimate dignity of every one else."
Grote, Gr. Hist., vol. 4, p. 266.

41. irritate, provoke.

43. To praise, as for praising. Cf. Adv., bk. ii. 23. 30.
a man's, one's own. See on Essay vi. 57.

45. which, for 'who.'
theologues, theologians.

46. notable, remarkable.

47. civil, opposed to ecclesiastical. By disparaging civil
affairs they, by implication, exalt ecclesiastical.

274 NOTES. fun.

48. embassage, embassy. In Essay xxix. 63, he uses ' am-
bassage. '

50. catch-poles, bailiffs. Cf. Essay Ivi. 107.

though many times, etc. The Latin translation has, " Yet,
if it be rightly weighed, it is not amiss to vary speculation with
business. " Their contempt for affairs is not altogether justifiable.
52. he, redundant. Cf. Essay viii. 37. The references are to
2 Cor. xi. 23, and Rom. xi. 13.
interlace, cf. Essay xi. 72.

ESSAY LIV. OF VAIN-GLORY.

I. of, for 'by.'

3. whatsoever goeth, whatsoever goes of itself, or is set in
motion by persons more powerful. The words ' go ' and ' move
upon ' are suggested by the metaphor of the chariot.

4. if they have, etc. , no matter how little they have to do
with it.

5. carry it, the Latin translation has ' ' turn the whole machine. "
So possibly it may mean that the business ' moves on ' them, as
the chariot does on its wheels. But probably Bacon meant by
it ' are chiefly instrumental in bringing it about. ' So we say ' to
carry the day,' ' to carry a thing through.' Cf. Essay Iv. 15.

6. glorious, boastful. See on Essay xxxiv. 105, and below,
1. 57.

bravery, boasting, which implies a depreciation of others

9. not effectual, they cannot be effectual. Cf. xlviii. 14.

10. bruit, noise.

II. civil, opposed to military. See 1. 23.

12. fame of, reputation for. Cf. 1. 29. For trumpeters, see
Essay xlviii. 12.

14. the .Sitolians, a tribe in Greece.

15. of, resulting from.

cross lies, i.e. lies told to each of two parties about the
other. Antiochus III. was king of Syria in the second cen
tury B.C.

20. interest, influence. He exaggerates to each his influence
with the other.

22. of, for ' out of. ' For instance, the JEtolian Thoas, by his
exaggerated representations of the strength of the Greeks,
induced Antiochus to assist them in a revolt against Rome : and

LIV.] OF VAIN-GLORY. 275

on the other hand he encouraged the revolt of the Greeks by
magnifying the power of Antiochus.

23. substance, something substantial, an act as opposed to a
mere thought.

25. glory, boasting. Each is anxious to surpass the boasted
exploits of another.

26. upon charge, etc. The Latin translation has, "which are
undertaken at the expense and risk of individuals."

27. composition, combination,
put life into, cf. Essay xli. 78.

29. the ballast, cf. " Surely not a few solid natures, that want
this ventosity (art of puffing themselves) and cannot sail in the
height of the winds, are not without some prejudice and dis
advantage by their moderation." Adv., bk. ii. 23. 30. The
quotation which follows is from Cicero, Tusc. Disp. i. 15.

33. Socrates, I have quoted on Essay xxxii. 36 a passage
in which Bacon attributes to Socrates a desire to get credit for
knowledge which he did not possess. In the Adv., bk, ii. 7. 2,
he says of Aristotle, that his delight was ' ' to confound and
extinguish all ancient wisdom : insomuch as he never nameth or
mentioneth an ancient author or opinion, but to confute and
reprove ; wherein for glory, and drawing followers and disciples,
he took the right course." Bacon probably wished to insinuate
that Galen tried to attract admiration by the novelty of his
theories.

Galen, a writer on medicine in the second century A.D.

35. beholden, indebted.

36. as, that.

his, for ' its. ' See Essay xix. 86.

at the second hand, i. e. from human nature ; not at first
hand, i.e. through her own efforts. The Latin translation has,
"Virtue owes her reputation less to human nature than to her
self.

37. had, would have. Cicero, in his speeches, constantly
reminds his hearers of his services to his country. Bacon often
attributes a certain presumptuousness to Seneca and the Stoics
(cf. Essay v. 1), nor can we read his letters without feeling that
he was very well satisfied with himself. Pliny in one of his
letters boasts of his independence as an advocate in opposing the
most powerful men in the state, including even friends of the
Emperor ; and says that his success made men willing to listen
to him, and opened for him a road to fame. In another letter he
records that the Emperor Nerva called him an honour to the age

276 NOTES. [MV.

in which he lived. In another letter he records the pleasure
which his wife took in reading his books.

Plinius Secundus, Pliny the Younger, see note on Essay xv.
104.

38. borne her age, continued fresh.

39. seelings, ceilings. The word means properly a covering,
and was applied to flooring and wainscotting as well as to what
we now call the ceiling. Skeat, however, in his dictionary refers
it to the Latin coelum, French del, the heaven — literally a
canopy. In any case the present spelling is due to a confusion
of it with del.

41. I mean not of, I am not thinking of.

42. Mucianus, cf. Essay vi. 8. Cf. "There is a great advan
tage in the well setting forth of a man's (one's own) virtues,
fortunes, merits ; and again in the artificial covering of a man's
weaknesses, defects, disgraces ; staying upon the one, sliding
from the other ; cherishing the one by circumstances, gracing the
other by expositions, and the like. Wherein we see what Tacitus
saith of Mutianus, who was the greatest politique of his time,
In all that he did and said he had the art of displaying himself to
advantage ; which requireth indeed some art, lest it turn tedious
and arrogant ; but yet so as ostentation (though it be to the first
degree of vanity) seemeth to me rather a vice in manners than in
policy : for as it is said, Slander boldly, something always sticks :
so, except it be in a ridiculous degree of deformity, Puff yourselj
boldly, something always sticks. For it will stick with the more
ignorant and inferior sort of men, though men of wisdom and
rank do smile at it and despise it ; and yet the authority won
with many doth countervail the disdain of a few. But if it be
carried with decency and government, or with a natural, pleasant,
and ingenious fashion ; or at times when it is mixed with some
peril and unsafety (as in military persons) ; or at times when
others are most envied ; or with easy and careless passage to it
and from it, without dwelling too long, or being too serious ; or
with an equal freedom of taxing a man's self, as well as gracing
himself ; or by occasion of repelling or putting down others'
injury or insolency ; it doth greatly add to reputation." Adv.,
bk. ii. 23. 30.

46. excusations, cf. Essay xxv. 37.

47. cessions, concessions.

well governed, if not allowed to go too far. Cf. " the
pride that apes humility."

52. wittily, ingeniously. Cf. Essay 1. 34. Bacon is quoting
loosely from Pliny's Letters, vi. 17. Why does Bacon so often
quote inaccurately ? Rawley in his life of Bacon says, "I have

LIV.] OF VAIN-GLORY. 277

often observed, and so have other men of great account, that if
he had occasion to repeat another man's words after him, he had
an xise 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."
On this passage Mr. Spedding remarks, ' ' This is probably the
true explanation of a habit of Bacon's which seems at first sight
a fault, and perhaps sometimes is — a habit of inaccurate quota
tion. In quoting an author's words, especially when he quotes
them merely by way of voucher for his own remark, or in ac
knowledgment of the source whence he derived it, or to suggest
an allusion which may give better effect to it, he very often
quotes inaccurately. Sometimes, no doubt, this was uninten
tional, 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 occa
sion. In citing the evidence of witnesses, on the contrary, in
support of a narrative statement or an argument upon matter of
fact, he is always very careful." In addition, we may note that
Bacon occasionally referred his secretary to a passage which he
wanted to quote, and wrote it down as he remembered it from
the secretary's reading. Moreover, in those days, scholars knew
the books which they did know much better than most of us
know any book, except perhaps the Bible. Quotations were
freely made, and books freely referred to in conversation. The
actual text was altered in the process ; to say nothing of the fact
that the slightest hint or indication was sufficient to recall the
passage intended to the mind of the hearer. The best illustration
that I can think of is the following passage from Trevelyan's Life
of Macaulay — " When Macaulay and his sister were discoursing
together about a work of history or biography, a bystander
would have supposed that they had lived in the times of which
the author treated, and had a personal acquaintance with every
human being who was mentioned in his pages. Pepys, Addison,
Horace Walpole, Dr. Johnson, Madame de Genlis, the Due de
St. Simon, and the several societies in which those worthies
moved, excited in their minds precisely the same sort of concern,
and gave matter for discussions of exactly the same type, as most
people bestow upon the proceedings of their own contemporaries.
The past was to them as the present, and the fictitious as the
actual. The older novels, which had been the food of their early
years, had become part of themselves to such an extent that, in
speaking to each other, they frequently employed sentences from
dialogues in those novels to express the idea, or even the business,
of the moment. On matters of the street or of the household
they would use the very language of Mr. Elton and Mr. Bennett,
Mr. Woodhoiise, Mr. Collins, and John Thorpe, and the other
inimitable actors on Jane Austen's unpretending stage : while

278 NOTES. [LIV.

they would debate the love affairs and the social relations of their
own circle in a series of quotations from Sir Charles Grandison
or Evelina."

53. that, for ' what.' Cf. Essay vi. 39.

58. the idols of parasites, The Latin translation has, "Para
sites (flatterers) prey and feed upon them."

ESSAY LV. OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION.

1. The winning, etc. Fame is obtained by showing off one's
worth to the best advantage. See note on Essay vi. 57. The
Latin translation has " a true and well-deserved reputation rests
on a display of ability, " etc. Cf. " Next to the well understand
ing of a man's self, there followeth the well opening and revealing
a man's self (i.e. setting oneself off to the best advantage) ;
wherein we see nothing more usual than for the more able man
to make the less show."

2. without disadvantage, He explains in the next sentence
the two ways in which men do themselves injustice. The man
who does everything for effect is despised as a mere popularity
hunter. The too retiring man does not attract the attention
which his character and abilities deserve.

3. affect, strive after. Cf. " affected dispatch," Essay xxv. 1.

5. darken, lit. ' obscure.' Cf. Essay ix. 84.

6. so as, so that. Cf. 1. 11.

they be undervalued, etc., they do not get the reputation
which they deserve.

8. given over, we should say 'given up,' i.e. abandoned in
despair.

with so good circumstance, The Latin translation has " so
fitly and happily. "

11. temper, mix. If with actions that please one party he
combine actions that please another.

13. the music, etc. , there will be more to sing his praises.

husband, economist. The word from meaning a careful
manager of a house has been extended to mean a careful manager
generally. Similarly the Greek word economy means properly
the management of a household. ' ' It was because a monarch or
statesman was conceived to have the function of arranging the
industry of the country somewhat as the father of a family
arranges the industry of his household, that the art which
afforded him guidance in the performance of this function was
called Political Economy." — Sidgivick. For similar extensions of

LV.] OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 279

the meaning of words, cf. obnoxious, Essay xx. 105 ; and engaged,
Essay xxxix. 34. In one of his letters to the king Bacon says,
" I was a good husband to you, though none for myself."

16. Honour that is gained, etc. The Latin translation has
" Honour which is comparative and depresses another." We are
most famous when we succeed where others fail. In a letter
advising Essex to undertake the administration of Irish affairs,
Bacon urges as a reason that "the world will make a kind of
comparison between those that set it out of frame and those that
bring it into frame ; which kind of honour giveth the quickest
kind of reflection. "

17. the quickest, the brightest ; or, to give the literal meaning
of quickest (see on Essay xli. 78), the most vivid. (Latin vivere,
to live. ) The word broken is suggested by the analogy between
the collision of two rivals and the cutting of one diamond by
another.

18. contend, strive. For the metaphor which follows, cf. "I
doubt not but learned men with mean experience would far
excel men of long experience without learning, and outshoot
them in their own bow," i.e. beat them in their own subject.
Adv., bk. ii. 23. 4.

21. All fame, etc., Cicero, De Petit. Cons. v. 17. Cf. " General
fame is light, and the opinions conceived by superiors or equals
are deceitful ; for to such men are more masked : the truer report
comes from those who know them at home." — Adv. , bk. ii. 23. 19.

23. by declaring, etc., i.e. by making it clear to the world that
his object is, etc.

24. by attributing, etc. Cf. Essay xl. 43.

26. The true marshalling, i.e. arranged in the order of merit.
Cf. Spedding's Francis Bacon and his Times, vol. ii. pp. 170-1.

27. sovereign honour, contrasted with ' honour in subjects,'
1.47.

are, notice the plural verb. It is suggested by the plural
degrees.

29. Romulus, the founder of Rome.

Cyrus founded the Persian empire in the sixth century B.C.
Caesar, Julius. The Empire really dates from him.

30. Ottoman, founder of the Ottoman dynasty in the thirteenth
century A.D.

Ismael, see note on Essay xliii. 11.

33. Lycurgus, the Spartan legislator, probably in the eighth
century B.C.

Solon, the Athenian legislator, in the sixth century B.C.

280 NOTES. [LV.

Justinian, the Roman emperor, in the sixth century A.D.
Justinian is best known for his simplification of the Roman law.
Elsewhere Bacon says, ' ' 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 un
certainties, unto that course of the civil law which is now in use."
Cf. also, "From the time of Augustus there was such a race of
wit and authority between the commentaries and decisions of
the lawyers, and the edicts of the Emperor, as both law and
lawyers were out of breath. Whereupon Justinian in the end
recompiled both, and made a body of laws such as might be
wielded, which himself calleth gloriously, and yet not above
truth, the edifice or structure of a sacred temple of justice, built
indeed out of the former ruins of books, as materials, and some
novel constitutions of his own. "

Eadgar, See Green's History of the English People, vol. i. ,
p. 95.

34. Alphonsus, Cf. "King Edgar collected the laws of this
kingdom and gave them the strength of a faggot bound, which
formerly were dispersed ; which was more glory to him than his
sailing about the island with a potent fleet ; for that was, as the
Scripture saith, "the way of a ship in the sea"; it vanished,
but this lasteth. Alphonso the Wise, the ninth of that name,
King of Castile, compiled the digest of the laws of Spain, in-
titled the Siete Partidas : an excellent work, which he finished
in seven years. And as Tacitus noteth well, that the Capitol,
though built in the beginning of Rome, yet was fit for the great
monarchy that came after ; so that building of laws sufficeth the
greatness of the Empire of Spain, which since hath ensued."
Bacon, Of a Digest of Laivs.

36. compound, settle. See on Essay xlix. 17.

38. Vespasianus, A.D. 69-79. After the death of Nero there
were struggles between rival competitors for the Roman Empire,
which were put an end to by Vespasian.

Aurelianus, 270-275 A. D. , in a number of campaigns restored
peace to various provinces of the Roman Empire.

39. Theodoricus, born A.D. 455, delivered Italy from the rule of
Odoacer. See Gibbon, ch. xxxix.

King Henry VII. , put an end to the wars of the Roses.
Henry the Fourth. See note on Essay iv. 38. He ended
the struggle between the Catholics and Protestants.

44. fathers of their country, Bacon is fond of addressing
James by this title. The Romans conferred it on citizens who
rendered distinguished services to their country.
48. partners, etc., cf. Essay xxvii. 51.

LV.] OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 281

49. discharge upon, shift the burden (charge) on to.

51. Lieutenant, one who holds the place of another (Latin
locum tenens), a deputy.

52. favourites, cf. Essay xxvii. 48, and xxxvi. 34. In the first
of these two passages so called favourites are identified with
those whom he here calls partners of the cares of kings. In this
class he would include Buckingham. In Essay xxxvi. 34, they
are ministers invested with authority, and are useful as standing
between the king and unpopularity. In this Essay he means by
favourites simply the king's private friends — those whom he
chooses 'as a solace,' or 'as matter of grace or conversation,'
Essay xxvii. 49.

scantling, limit.

56. execute their places, perform the duties of. Cf. " the dis
charge of thy place," Essay xi. 45.

sufficiency, cf. Essay xx. 8.

60. Regulus, a Roman commander in the first Punic war.
Having been taken prisoner by the Carthaginians he was sent by
them to Rome to offer terms of peace. These were by Regulus'
own advice rejected, and he, on his return to Carthage, was
tortured to death, as was, Regulus was an example of this.
M. = Marcus.

the two Decil, In the war between the Romans and the
Latins Publius Decius devoted himself to death in battle, B.C. ,'>40.
His son did the same in the war against the Samnites, B.C. 295.

ESSAY LVI. OF JUDICATURE.

5. stick, hesitate.

to pronounce, solemnly to proclaim dogmas.

6. by show of, under pretext.

7. witty, ingenious. In illustration of this Essay the student
should read Bacon's speech to Justice Hutton, when he was
called to be one of the judges of the Common Pleas. Spedding's
Francis Bacon and His Times, vol. ii. p. 213.

8. more reverend than plausible, respected rather than popular.
Generally Bacon used the word ' plausible ' in the sense of ' de
serving applause ' ; but in this passage it is rendered in the Latin
translation by a word signifying ' a favourite. ' For reverend, see
Essay xiv. 29.

advised, cautious. Cf. Essay xviii. 69.

10. the law, i.e. the Jewish law.

11. mere-stone, boundary-stone.

282 NOTES. [LVI.

12. capital, chief.

13. One foul sentence, cf. Adv. , bk. ii. 23.6, " One judicial
and exemplar iniquity in the face of the world doth trouble the
fountains of justice more than many particular injuries passed
over by connivance." In the corresponding passage of the De
Aug. he says, "An unjust judgment in a conspicuous case is
above all things to be avoided, especially if it involves not the
acquittal of the guilty, but the condemnation of the innocent. A
few crimes may be overlooked without serious consequences, but
the judgment seat must not take the part of injustice."

23. for, as regards. Cf. 11. 56, 89, 115.

There be that, there are some who. Cf. Essay i. 2.

31. as God useth, the reference is to haiali xl. 4, "Every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low." For useth, cf. Essay xv. 237.

34. power, i.e. when one party is patronized by the great and
powerful.

great counsel, i.e. when the pleaders on the two sides are
not equally matched.

35. to make, in making.

39. wrought, pressed. Cf. "I dislike that laws should not be
continued, or disturbers be unpunished ; but laws are likened to
the grape, that being too much pressed yields an hard and un
wholesome wine." On Church Controversies.

46. He shall rain, Psalm xi. 6. This is a favourite quotation
with Bacon in this connexion.

48. of long, for a long time past.

52. Rawley says of Bacon, " When his office called him, as he
was of the king's council learned, to charge any offenders, either
in criminals or capitals, he was never of an insulting or domineer
ing nature over them, but always tender-hearted, and carrying
himself decently towards the parties (though it \vas his duty to
charge them home), but yet as one that looked upon the example
with the eye of severity, but upon the person with the eye of
pity and compassion."

58. well-tuned cymbal, a Scriptural expression. If a judge
talk too much, his voice is like a discordant note in music. In
his Speech to Justice Hntton Bacon says, " That you affect not
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 talka
tive, nor with impertinent flying out to show learning. "

59. grace, credit.

61. conceit, intelligence ; prevent, anticipate.

LVL] OF JUDICATURE. 283

63. to direct the evidence, The Latin translation has ' ' to
determine the order in which the proofs are taken." The more
obvious meaning would be ' to determine what evidence is
admissible. "

64. impertinency, irrelevancy. Cf. Essay viii. 10.

68. of, for 'from.' Cf. Essay liii. 17.

glory, vanity. Cf . ' glorious, ' Essay xxxiv. 105.
willingness, eagerness.

69. staid, steady.

74. favorites, viz., amongst the pleaders.

76. byeways, The Latin translation has "indirect ways of
approaching the judges." Cf. Essay xi. 84.

77. gracing, compliment.

78. fair, well.

obtaineth not, is unsuccessful.

80. conceit, opinion.

81. civil, moderate. Used much as we use it in opposition to
' rude. '

84. chop with, bandy words with. See note on ' chapmen, '
Essay xxxiv. 64.

89. ministers, attendants.

91. footpace, a dais, or landing ; purprise, an inclosure.

95. catching and polling, greedy and avaricious. Cf. below,
" the poller and exacter of fees," 1. 107- Writing about Ireland,
Bacon says, " For justice, the barbarism and desolation of the
country considered, it is not possible that they should find any
sweetness at all of justice : if it shall be, which hath been the
error of times past, formal, and fetched far off from the state ;
because it will require running up and down for process, and
give occasion for polling and exactions by fees, and many other
delays and charges. " ' To poll ' meant lit. ' to cut off the hair
from the head,' and so, to strip, to rob.

110. weather, a storm.

112. understanding, intelligent.

117. twelve tables, "Not in the laws of the twelve tables, but
in Cic. de Ler/ibus, iii. 3. §8." (W.) The twelve tables, a code
of Roman law drawn up in the middle of the fifth century B.C.

] 19. in order to, such as to promote that end.

125. For many times, etc. In the Adv., bk. ii. 23. 49, Bacon
talks of the "influence which laws touching private right of
property have into the public state." For example, the right of
the sovereign to grant monopolies was often questioned in Bacon's

284 NOTES. [LVI.

time. These monopolies were complained of both as involving
an illegitimate exercise of the prerogative, and as being bur
densome to the subject. In this case questions of property
would be mixed up with political questions ; for if the law sup
ported the claim of a monopolist it would legalize the exercise
of the prerogative, and vice versa. Consultations between king
and judges were not unfrequent. For instance, before com
mencing a prosecution, the Crown would consult the judges as
to the chances of success. The practice was resorted to because
the Crown was discredited in public estimation if it failed in a
prosecution. See Gardiner's History of England, ch xxxiii.
For trench to, we should say ' trench upon. '

133. that one moves, he means "one of which moves," etc.

135. lions, etc. In his speech to Justice Hutton, Bacon bids
him "weigh and remember with yourself that the twelve judges
of the realm are as the twelve lions under Solomon's throne ;
they must be lions, but yet lions under the throne ; they must
show their stoutness in elevating and bearing up the throne. "

140. the Apostle, St. Paul, who is referring to the Jewish law.
1 Tim. i. 8.

ESSAY LVII. OF ANGER.

1. bravery, boast.

2. Stoics, cf. Essay v. 2.

oracles, i.e. directions given in the Bible. The quotations
are from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians, iv. 26.

4. in race and In time, The Latin translation has " how far
and how long."

6. attempered, moderated, controlled.
10. For, as regards. Cf. 11. 26, 54.
14. ruin, something falling. Latin mere, to tumble,
upon that, etc. , i. e. upon that on which it falls.

19. put their lives, etc., Virgil, Ge.org. iv. 238.

20. baseness, The Latin translation adds " and below the
dignity of a man. "

22. Only men, etc. The Latin translation has " Accordingly,
when they chance to be angry, let men be careful (at least if they
wish to be mindful of their own dignity) to unite their anger not
with fear but with contempt of those with whom they are
angry. "

LVII.J OF ANGER. 285

31. construction, interpretation. The meaning of the sentence
is, that a man who is quick to see signs of contempt in the cir
cumstances of a wrong done to him is easily stirred to anger.
Cf. the last sentence of the Essay.

37. opinion of the touch, etc., i.e. if a man think that his
reputation is affected. In the Ada., bk. ii. 20. 12, Bacon says,
when talking of men, "who did retire too easily from civil
business, for avoiding of indignities and perturbations," that "the
resolution of men truly moral ought to be such as Gonsalvo said
the honour of a soldier should be, of a coarser iveb, and not so
fine as that everything should catch in it and endanger it."
Fernandez Gonsalvo of Cordova, commonly called The Great
Captain, and certainly one of the most successful soldiers of the
age in which he lived, was employed by the King of Spain in his
Italian wars. He died at (Granada) in (December, 1575). (E.)

45. contain, keep.

48. aculeate and proper, pointed and appropriate to the person
addressed. Acidnis is the Latin word for a sting. For proper,
see note on Essay iii. 30.

57. touched, mentioned.

59. good times, The Latin translation has " a time when he
is calm and in a joyful mood."

60. an angry business, i.e. something which will make him
angry.

61. to sever, to prevent him from interpreting the injury as a
sign of contempt.

ESSAY LVIII. OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS.

2. Plato. Cf. Adv., bk. i. 1, "I have of ten thought that of all
the persons living that I have known, your majesty were the
best instance to make a man of Plato's opinion, that all know
ledge is but remembrance, and that the mind of man by nature
knoweth all things, and hath but her own native and original
notions (which by the strangeness and darkness of this taber
nacle of the body are sequestered) again revived and restored :
such a light of nature I have observed in your majesty, and such
a readiness to take flame and blaze from the least occasion pre
sented, or the least spark of another's knowledge delivered."
Plato's argument is this — We have ideas which are prior to
experience. For instance, the idea of equality is a standard by
which we measure perceived objects. It is therefore prior to
them. But sensation begins with birth. We must therefore
have brought with us the idea of equality from some previous

286 NOTES. ILVIII.

state of existence. It is a mythical way of expressing the truth
that in the process by which experience is acquired the mind is
not a mere passive recipient of impressions from without.

3. sentence, the Latin senlentia, an opinion.

5. Lethe, the river of forgetfulness in the lower regions.

9. the diurnal motion, i.e. of the heavens round the earth.
Bacon himself did not accept the Copernican theory.

11. the matter, see note on Essay i. 43.

12. at a stay, cf. ' to stand at a stay,' Essay xii. 47.

14. merely, utterly. Cf. Essay iii. 66.

15. Phaeton, Bacon had in his mind the following passage in
Plato's Timaeus — "Many and manifold are the destructions of
mankind that have been and shall be : the greatest are by fire
and by water : but besides these there are lesser ones in countless
other fashions. For indeed that tale that is also told among you
that Phaethon, the child of the sun, yoked his father's chariot,
and for that he could not drive in his father's path, lie burnt up
all things upon earth, and himself was smitten by a thunderbolt
and slain — this story, as it is told, has the fashion of a fable ; but
the truth of it is a deviation of the bodies that move round the
earth in the heavens, whereby comes at long intervals of time a
destruction with much fire of the things that are upon earth.

. When the gods send a flood upon the earth, cleansing

her with waters, those in the mountains are saved

The commonwealth has only just been enriched with letters and
all else that cities require : and again after the wonted term of
years like a recurring sickness comes rushing on them the torrent
from heaven : and it leaves only the unlettered and untaught
among you, so that as it were you become young again with a
new birth, knowing nought of what happened in the ancient times
either in our own country or in yours." Mr. Archer Hind's
Timaeus, p. 7 1 . It was a favourite idea with Bacon that civiliza
tions have existed and perished, leaving no trace of themselves.
The Latin translation has ' ' The car of Phaeton was a type of the
short duration of a conflagration, lasting only for a day."

16. Elias was a Jewish prophet.

was but particular, confined to a limited space.

21. hap, happen.

23. the oblivion, etc., past times are just as much buried in
oblivion as if. Cf. " In all inductions, whether in good or vicious
form, the same action of the mind which inventeth, judgeth ; all
one as in the sense." Adv. bk. ii. 14. 1.

28. told Solon, viz. in the Timaem of Plato. See last note on
Essay xxxv.

LVIII.] OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 287

32. as, that.

39. Gregory the Great, Pope A.D. 590-604. Cf. Adv., bk. i.
6. 14, " Neither could the emulation and jealousy of Gregory
the first of that name, bishop of Rome, ever obtain the opinion
of piety or devotion ; but contrariwise received the censure of
humour, malignity, and pusillanimity, even amongst holy men, in
that he designed to obliterate and extinguish the memory of
heathen antiquity and authors." Cf. " It is commonly believed
that Pope Gregory the First attacked the temples and mutilated
the statues of the city : that by the command of the barbarian
the Palatine Library was reduced to ashes, and that the history
of Livy was the peculiar mark of his absurd and mischievous
fanaticism. The writings of Gregory himself reveal his implac
able aversion to the monuments of classic genius, and he points
his severest censure against the profane learning of a bishop who
studied the Latin poets, and pronounced with the same voice the
praises of Jupiter and those of Christ. But the evidence of his
destructive rage is doubtful and unreal." Gibbon, ch. xlv.

that he did, etc., this explains what the traducing or
calumny wras.

40. zeals, efforts of fanaticism.
do, produce.

42. Sabinian, the successor of Gregory the Great.

43. the superior globe, the heavens.

44. Plato's great year, See the Timaeus, 39 D. The perfect
year is when all the heavenly bodies, having accomplished their
revolutions, return at the same time to the same point of the
heavens from which they started in the beginning. Cf. ' ' One
general council is not able to extirpate one single heresy : it may
be cancelled for the present ; but revolution of time, and the like
aspects from heaven, will restore it, when it will nourish till it be
condemned again. For, as though there were a metempsychosis,
and the soul of one man passed into another, opinions do find,
after certain revolutions, men and minds like those that first begat
them. To see ourselves again, we need not look for Plato's year:
every man is not only himself ; there have been many Diogeneses,
and as many Timons, though but few of that name ; men are
lived over again ; the world is now as it was in ages past ; there
was none then, but there hath been some one since that parallels
him, and is, as it were, his revived self." Bel. Medici, pt. 1. § 6.

46. in renewing the state, etc. , i. e. in bringing the same indivi
duals back into existence.

47. fume, see note on Essay xv. 110.

48. accurate, down to small details.

influences, a term in astrology. Cf. Essay ix. 8.

288 NOTES. [LVIII.

51. waited upon, watched.

54. version, direction ; literally, turning.

55. lasting, In the Latin translation are added, ' ' the season
of the year, and the direction of the comets' path."

57. toy, a trifle. Cf. Essay xix. 12.

58. given over, passed over without notice. The expression
is used in a different sense in Essay Iv. 8.

60. suit, succession.

63. it, The Latin translation has "such a circle of years."

68. orbs, literally the spheres in which the stars are set. See
note on Essay xv. 59. Men are moved by religion as the planets by
the spheres, and the spheres by one another.

69. upon the rock, cf . ' ' The divine foundation is upon the
rock." Adv. bk. ii. 23, 46. In one of his parables Christ con
trasts the foolish man, who builds his house upon the sands, with
the wise man, who builds it on the rock. Addressing Peter too,
whose name signifies a rock, Christ said, " Thou art Peter,
and upon this rock will I build my church."

70. To speak, The infinitive, used absolutely, introduces a fresh
set of remarks. So we say "to proceed" or "to return from
this digression."

73. give stay to, The Latin translation has "delay or remedy."

75. when the holiness, etc., cf. "scandal of priests," Essay
xvi. 62. Cf . ' ' It cannot be denied, but that the imperfections in
the conversation and government of those which have chief place
in the church, have ever been principal causes and motives of
schisms and divisions." Of Church Controversies.

77. doubt, fear. Cf. Essay xxii. 34.

78. extravagant, the word means literally wandering beyond
bounds. The word now has the special meaning of ' passing the
bounds of economy.' The Latin translation has "immoderate
and paradoxical. "

82. authority, viz. the government. In mentioning these two
properties, Bacon is thinking of the Anabaptists, (Essay iii. 132)
and of Mahomet.

86. the Arians, so called after Arius, who, in the fourth cen
tury A.D., taught a doctrine that was pronounced heterodox as to
the nature of the second person of the Christian Trinity.

Arminians, the followers of Arminius, a Dutch theologian
born 1560 A.D. In opposition to the Calvinistic doctrine of pre
destination he insisted upon the freedom of the human will.

87. wits, minds. Cf. Essay i. 6.

i,vm.] OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 289

88. except it be, etc. The Latin translation has "except on
occasion of political disturbances. " Cf. "Politics often mingle
with religious dissent, not that there exists any natural connec
tion between them, but that statesmen are aware of the advantage
to be derived from the attachment of a religious party to their
interests." Lingard's History of England, vol. vii. ch. 2.

92. For, as regards. Cf. 1. 163.

96. To compound, cf. Essay xlix. 17.

102. stages, as we say ' the theatre ' of a war.

108. Gallo-Grsecia, Galatia. The invasion took place B.C. 278.
The Gauls under Brennus took Rome about B.C. 390.

110. East and West are relative terms. A point East of one
place is West of another. We cannot say therefore with any
certainty of observation, i.e. precision, that the movement is
from East to West, or West to East.

115. in respect of, cf. Essay xxvii. 43.

118. apparent, used in the proper sense of manifest. Cf.
Essay xl. 10.

120. courages, cf. Essay xxix. 251.

121. warmest, The Latin translation adds, "As is clear in the
case of the Araucians, who being situated furthest south far sur
pass in bravery all the Peruvians. "

123. For great empires, etc. Cf. his Essay of The True Great
ness of Britain, " Persia at a time was strengthened with large
territory, and at another time weakened ; and so was Rome.
For while they nourished in arms, the largeness of territory was
a strength to them, and added forces, added treasure, added
reputation : but when they decayed in arms, their greatness
became a burden. For their protecting forces did corrupt,
supplant, and enervate the natural and proper forces of all their
provinces, which relied and depended upon the succour and
direction of the state above. And when that waxed impotent
and slothful, then the whole state laboured with her own
magnitude, and in the end fell with her own weight. And that
no question was the reason of the strange inundations of people
which both from the East and North-West overwhelmed the
Roman Empire in one au'e of the world, which a man upon
the sudden would attribute to some constellation or fatal revolu
tion of time, being indeed nothing else but the declination of the
Roman Empire, which having effeminated and made vile the
natural strength of the provinces, and not being able to supply it
by the strength imperial and sovereign, did as a lure cast abroad,
invite and entice all the nations adjacent, to make their fortunes
upon her decays. And by the same reason there cannot but
ensue a dissolution to the state of the Turk."

290 XOTES. [LVIII.

127. a prey, The Latin translation adds " to other nations."

128. Almaigne, Germany.

129. every bird, etc. The Latin translation has "the in
dividual birds claiming their own feathers again. "

1 30. were not unlike, etc. , i.e. the same would probably happen
to Spain.

132. over-power, excessive power.

139. go on to, continue to.

140. foreseeing, making provision for. Cf. Essay xv. 133.
sustentation, sustenance.

of necessity, cf. Essay xiv. 2o.

141. discharge upon, cf. Essay lv. 49.

145. they, notice the plural after the collective noun state..
Cf. Essay xxxiii. 85.

148. encourageth a war, encourage others to attack them.

149. it, viz. the subject of changes in weapons.

150. returns, periods.

151. ordnance, The Latin translation has "gunpowder and
cannon. "

152. in India, The Latin translation adds "in the time of
Alexander the Great. " Mr. Wright says that Bacon's memory
seems to have been at fault for this statement.

156. fetching, striking. Fetch is connected with/ae<, a journey.
So to fetch afar off means properly to travel a long distance.

outruns the danger, The Latin translation has "anticipates
the danger from the enemy."

159. ordnance, used in the plural as including different kinds
of weapons.

arietations, " Aries " was the Latin term for a " batter
ing ram."

160. the commodious use, i.e. that they be convenient for use.

163. rested upon, depended on. Cf. Essay xxix. 79.

164. they did put, etc. The Latin translation has "they
trusted to the valour of the soldiers." We should omit the did.
When two parts of a verb might be confused Bacon sometimes
takes care to distinguish them. Thus he uses gotton, as ' got '
might be confused with the past tense of ' get.'

1C5. pointing, cf. Essay xlv. 69.
166. upon an even match, on equal terms.
167 battles, bodies of troops. Cf. " They say that the king
divided his army into three battles," and, "Neither had they

LVIII.J OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 291

brought forward their main battle, which stood far away into the
heath, near the ascent of the hill." hist. Henry V 11.

175. his, see note on Essay xix. 86.

178. reduced, The Latin translation has "more accurate."
The word means "kept within limits," as opposed to luxuriant
or "growing wild."

179. exhaust, exhausted. Cf. Essay viii. 36. With this passage,
cf. Adv., bk. ii. 10. 13, "For as it hath been well observed that
the arts which flourish while virtue is in growth are military ;
and while virtue is in state, are liberal ; and while virtue is in
declination, are voluptuary : so I doubt that this age of the
world is somewhat upon the descent of the wheel." After the
word "exhaust," the Latin translation adds, "though garrulous
as ever." Bacon is thinking of an age of critics and commen
tators, as opposed to an age of original production.

181. the philology, the accounts given of them, such for
instance as the circumstantial account given of the rise and fall
of the island of Atlantis in the Timaeux and the Critias of Plato.

LIX. A FRAGMENT OF AN ESSAY ON FAME.

I. Fame, rumour. For what follows see Virgil, ^En., iv. 175-
190. With the whole passage cf. Essay xv. 11.

II. that which passeth, cf. Essay xv. 10 seqq. Passeth,
surpasses.

14. in an anger, in a fit of anger.

19. fly, i.e.. attack. Cf. " As we use to hunt beast with beast,
and/y bird with bird." Adv., bk. ii. 22. 6. For fowl, cf. Essay
xlv. 34.

20. To speak, cf. Essay Iviii. 70.

21. sad, sober. " Of this wisdom it seemeth some of the ancient
Romans in the saddest and wisest times were professors." Adv.,
bk. 23. 5.

22. politics, writings on politics.

a place, a topic. Cf. Essay xxxii. 5.

25. discerned, cf. Essay xxxvi. 68.

28. that force as, such force that.

32. into Germany, Service was harder in Germany and the
climate more inclement than in Syria. The story is told by
Tacitus, Hist., ii. 80.

39. Livia, see note on Essay vi. 1 . During the last illness of

292 NOTES. [LIX.

Augustus " Livia surrounded the house and its approaches with
a strict watch, and favourable bulletins were published from
time to time, till, provision having been made for the demands
of the crisis, one and the same report told them that Augustus
was dead and that Tiberius Nero was master of the state/'
Tacitus, Ann., i. 5.

41. upon, as we say ' on the point of.'

42. bashaws, Pashas.

43. Janizaries, see note on Essay xix. 151.
men of war, cf. Essay xix. 149.

44. as their manner is, i.e.. it is the custom of the soldiers to
sack the cities when a Sultan dies.

45. Themistocles, This happened after the battle of Salamia
in the year 480 B.C.

50. let all wise governors, cf. Essay xxxv. 84.

INDEX TO NOTES.

Abstract. 34, 22.
Absurd, 6, 68; 42, 28; 47, 21.
Abuse, to, 2'1, 123; 42, 21.
Accident, an, 30, 35.
Acquaint, to, 7, 25.
Act, to, put in, 11, 36.
Act, an, 20, 124.
Aculeate, 57, 48.
Adamant, 18, 45.
Adjective, used for Adverb,
1, 18; 5, 18; 12, 13; 15, 24.
Admirable, 27, 117.
Adust, 36, 4.
Advancement, 34, 108.
Adverbs and expressions equi
valent to them —

At unawares, 47, 36.

In a sort, 41, 122.

In no sort, 35, 89.

In some sort, 49, 16.

In such sort, 22, 36.

Nothing, 21, 13.

Nothing to, 46, 161.

No ways, 10, 51, 22, 120.

Of long 56, 48.

Of necessity, 14, 25.

Of purpose, 9, 112.

Out of course, 46, 183.

Still, for always, 9, 9; 13, 57,
27, 126; 29, 253; 33, 83;
36, 6.

To life, 27, 218.

Upon speed, 34, 39.

Upon the matter, 44, 26.
Advised, 18, 69; 56, 8.

Advoutress, an, 19, go.
Affect, to, 1, 3; 13, I ; 9, 47;

25, i; 26,35; 47, 17; 55,3.
Affections, 1, 34; 7, 44; 9, I ;

11, 101; 27, 133; 42, 50.
Agitation, 20, 12.
Agreeably, 32, 54.
Alley, an, 45, 84; 46, 74.
Allow, to, 18, 5; 26, 37; 52, 38.
Almost, 43, 4.
Ambassage, 29, 63.
Ambition, 11, 105.
Angry, 57, 60.
Answer, to, 41, 109.
Anti-camera, an, 45, 118.
Apparent, 40, 10; 58, 118.
Appose, to, 22, 68.
Apply, 7, 42; 32, 28; 52, 32.
Apt, 29, 44.
Arbitrement, 3, s8.
Argument, an, "29, 27.
Arietation, 58, 159.
Article, use of, 1,43; 1^> '9;

58, 1 1; 59, 14.
Artificial, 15, 188.
Ask, to, 6, 2; 33, 33.
Assay, an, 15, 43.
Assured, 15, 242.
Assure oneself, to, 16, 80.
Attemper, to, 14, 4; 57, 6.
Avoidance, an, 45, 129.
Away, as a rerb, 53, 14.

B

Banquet, a, 45, 44.
Barriers, 37, 48.

293

294

BACON'S ESSAYS.

Battle, a, 58, 167.

Be, for are, 1, 2; 8,78; 13, 51;

20,66,86; 22, 21 ; 29, 270,

285 ; 52, 21.
Be, to, for to exist, 3, 95; 17,

135 18, 23.

Beat over, to, 22, 104; 50, 46.
Become, to, 45, 96.
Beholding, 10, I.
Better, you were, 26, 44; 49, 52.
Blanch, to, 20, 119; 26,28.
Blushing, 27, 237.
Bore, a, 46, 158.
Bowed, 27, 200.
Brave, 33, 54.
Brave, to, 10, 24; 15, 197.
Bravery, 11, 52; 15, 180; 25, 40;

36, 67; 37, 52; 54, 6; 57, i.
Broke, to, 34, 63.
Buckle, to, 21, 19.
Burse, a, 18, 25.
Busy, 46, 121.
Buzzes, 31, 25.

C

Can, to, 11, 34.

Capital, adj., 56, 12.

Card, a, 18, 39; 29, 37.

Carry it, to, 54, 5.

Cast, to, 27, 219; 45, 78, 93:

51,36.

Challenge, to, 48, 5; 49, 30.
Chapman, 34, 63.
Charge, to, 48, 3.
Chargeable, 29, 255.
Check with, to, 10, 49; 31, 4.
Chimney, a, 46, 133.
Chop, to, 34, 64.
Chop with, to, 56, 84.
Churchmen, 8, 26; 19, 119.
Civil, 17, 18; 53, 47; 54, ii;

56, 8 1 ; 48, 23.
Civility, 46, 5.
Clamour, to, tr. v., 20, 145.
Clear, clearness, 1, 60; 6, 30.
Coemption, 34, 85.
Collect, to, 35, 97.

Collier, a, 34, 49.
Comfort, to, 39, 50.
Command upon, to, 38, 48
Commiserable, 33, 99.
Commonplace, a, 32, 5.
Communicate, 13, 39.
Compound, to, 49, 20; 55,36;

58, 96.
Composition, 6, 103; 20, 98;

31, 11; 54, 27.
Comprehend, to, 48, 51.
Conceit, 6, 98; 17, 36; 34, 7;

56, 6 1, 80.

Confederate, 16, 10; 24, 15.
Confidence, to have, with, 15,

203.
Conjunctions and expressions

equivalent to them —
As, for that, 8, 21, 48; 11, 3;

19,64; 22, 13; 26, 11; 27,

75-
Because, for that, 8, 15; 25,

Ii; 34, 14.
For that, for because, 16, 54;

19, 975 22, 113; 34, 74;

35, 62.
In regard, for because, 29,

109.

In respect, for in case, 28, 14.
So, for provided that, 7, 35;

9, 115; 15, 180; 25, 46;

33, 49; 37, 18.
So, for such, 27, 98.
So that, for provided that,

1, 535 IS, 5-
That, used redundantly, 15,

33, 53; 19, 103; 27, 63;

35, 68; 36, 48; 47, 34.
Conscience, 11, 38.
Construction, a, 57, 31.
Contain, to, 29, 163, 185; 57,4$.
Contend, to, 55, 18.
Conversant in, to be, 20, 120.
Converse in, to, 38, 46.
Conversation, 27, 10, 49.
Convince, to, 16, 4.
Correspondence, to hold with,

15, 243.

INDEX TO NOTES.

295

Corroborate, 39, 7.

Corrupt, to, 29, 252; 34, 107.

Corn-master, a, 34, 49.

Cost, to bestow, upon, 2, 48.

Count, to, 1, 3.

Country, adj., 18, 71.

Courages, 29, 251; 58, 120.

Creature, 1, 39; 7, 15.

Crook, to, 23, 15; 27, 200.

Cunningly, 29, n.

Curious, Curiosity, Curiously,

9, 17; 46, 149; 50, 23.
Currently, 31, 5.

D

Darken, to, 9, 84; 55, 5.
Decay, the, 36, 59.
Deceivable, 44, 12.
Decline, to, 40, 43.
Deliveries, 19, 41; 40, 12.
Dependence, a, to have of,

19, 1 1 8.

Dependences, 20, 79; 36, 55.
Depress, to, 9, 26; 19, 123.
Derive, to, 9, 127.
Destitute, to, 33, 97.
Diet, to, 18, 47.
Difficilness, 13, 53.
Disable, to, 49. 23.
Disadvantageable, 28, 28.
Discern of, to, 30, 8; 36, 63.
Discern, to, 36, 68; 59, 25.
Discharge, to, 55, 49; 58, 141.
Discommodities, 33, 83.
Discontent, 15, 167; 36, 8;

48, 33. _

Discourse high, to, 19, 133.
Discoursing, 1, 6.
Discover, Discovery, 5, 38 ;

6, 43; 41, 20; 47, 36.
Dispense with, to, 36, 20.
Disputations, 18, 23.
Disreputation, 48, 41.
Distance, to set at, 15, 211.
Distaste, subs., 5, 30.
Distaste, to, 49, 28.
Do, to, 58, 40.

Do, used with the past tense,

58, 164.

Doctor, 3, 7, 29; 13, 23.
Doctrine, 20, 54; 38, 3.
Dolours, 2, 57.

Doubt, to, 22. 34; 28, 14; 58, 77.
Dry blow, a, 32, 50.

Eccentric, 23, 16.
Edge, to, 41, 97.
Effeminate, to, 29, 251.
Ejaculation, 9, 10.
Elaborate, 20, 36.
Embase, to, 1, 63; 10, 60.
Embassage, an, 53, 48.
Embossment, 46, 131.
Embowed window, an, 45, 97.
-en, past participle in, 9, 142;

20, 82; 29, 6, 145.
Endanger, to, 15, 182.
Engaged, 39, 34.
Engross, to, 15, 163.
Enrich, to, 34. 40.
Ensigns, 29, 308.
Entire, 27, 199; 46, 102.
Entrance, to have, into, 18, 3.
Espials, 48, 17.
Estate, 9, 30, 150; 14, i; 20, 132;

22, 30; 27. 209; 29, 7, 247;

41, 46; 48, 20; 51, 2
Every, each, 15, 60.
•Evil-favoured, 39, 5.
Except, to, 8, 17.
Excusations, 25, 38; 54, 46.
Exhaust, 8, 36; 58, 179.
Expect, to, 34, 55.
Extravagant, 58, 78.

Facile, Facility, 8, 29; 11, 70;

13, 32; 52, 34.
Fain, 19, 130.
Faint in, to, 16, 27.
Fair, 6, 90.
Fame, 15, 15; 53, 9; 54, 12.

296

BACON'S ESSAYS.

Fare, to, 17, 47.

Fashion, a, 47, 39.

Fast, 46, 53.

Favour, 27, 185; 43, 13.

Fearful, Fearfulness, 6, 78; 15,

44; 31, 13; 36, 45.
Felicity, 40, 42; 43, 25; 55, 26.
Fetch, to, 22, 104; 58, 156.
Final, 29, 270.
Flash, a, 29, 200.
Flashy, 50, 28.
Flags, 14, ii.
Fly, to, 59, 19.
Following, 3, 55.
Foot, to sell under, 41, 57.
Foot-pace, a, 56, 91.
Foresee, to, 15, 133; 45, 116;

58, 140.
Fowl, 45, 34.
Fronted, 15, 207.
Fume, 15, no; 58,47-
Futile, 6, 52; 20, 63.

G

Gaudery, 29, 298.

Genitive case, the, 19, 86; 29,

261; 36, 3; 39, 51; 47, 17:

58, 175-
Giddiness, 1, 2.
Gingles, 3:}, 88.
Give over, to, 55, 8; 58, 58.
Glory, 54, 25; of), 68.
Glorious, 34, 105; 54, 6.
Gracing, 56, 77.
Graze, to, 45, 84.
Grinded, 41, 75.
Grounded, 19, 43.
Grounds, 12, 27.

H

Habilitations, 29, 193.
Half-lights, to show at, 6, 15.
Hand, at a dear, 25. 20.
Hand, to come at even, 9, 26.
Hand, to keep of even, 28, 9.
Handsomely, 22, 35.

Hap, to, 58, 21.
Holpen, 20, 82.
Hooded, 18, 10.
Husband, a, 55, 13.
Husband, to, 15, 131; 41, 31.
Husbandry, 34, 51.

Immediate, 19, 135.
Impart oneself, to, 20, 75.
Impertinence, 8, 1 1 ; 56, 64.
Impertinent, 26, 25.
Import, to, 3, 51 ; 29, 51.
Importune, 9, 159; 38, 3; 48,4.
Impose upon, to, 1, 10; 29, 91.
Imposthumations, 15, 183.
Impropriate, to, 29, 305.
Incensed, 5, 37.
Incommodities, 41, 22.
Inconstancy, 20, 14.
Incur, to, 9, 65.
Indifferent, 6, 64; 14, 16; 20,

134; 29, 1 68.
Induce, to, 44, 14.
Industriously, 6, 38.
Infamed, 19, 83.
Inf ortunate, 4,41; 40, 52.
Inordinate, 10, 13.
Intelligence, to have with, 10,

28.

Intend, to, 29, 196, 205.
Interessed, 3, 153.
Interlace, to, 11, 72; 40, 54;

53, 52.

Inure, to, 36, 43.
Invention, 12, 9.
Inward, 11, 84; 20, 72.
Irritate, to, 53, 41.

Jade, to, 32, 14.

K

Kind, a, 6, 47; 41, 99.

Knap, a, 45, 9.

Knowledge, to take of, 13, 30.

INDEX TO NOTES.

297

Lay, to, 38, 34.

Leadman, a, 34, 50.

Leese, to, 19, 142; 29,29; 33,9-

Lightsome, 45, 31.

Loading, 13, 56.

Loose, a, 22, 120.

Lot, the, 9, 124.

Lurch, to, 45, 23.

M

Main, adj., 6, 79.
Main, subs., 22, 117.
Mainly, 15, 69; 34, 58.
Maintain, to, 16, 76; 27, 92.
Make for, to, 1, 14; 16, 23.
Man, a, indefinite use of the

word, 2, 22; 6, 57; 23, 10;

47, 2.

Manage, subs., 42, 24.
Manage, to, 6, 26; 29, 22.
Manners, 3, 19; 11, 101, 27, 172.
Manure, to, 33, 46.
Marish, 33, 8 1.
Masks, 18, 32.

Masteries, to try with, 19, 44.
Masteries, to be taught, 30 47.
Mate, to, 2, 20; 15, 106
Material cause, the, 15, 126.
Mean, the. 19, 53; 49, 45.
Mean people, the, 15, 93; 51, 9.
Meet with, to, 27, 18.
Mere, Merely, 3, 66; 4, 15;

-13. 54; 27, 23; 58, 14.
Merestone, a, 56, II.
Mintmen, 20, 142.
Mislike, to, 41, 108.
Moil, to, 33, 60.
More, 43, 19.
Motion, 11, 38.

Mought, 15, 184; 34,37; 35, 102.
Mnmting, 3, 107.

N

Naught, 34, 65; 53,3-
Negative, double, 7, 2.

Neglecting, 4, 27.

Nice, 29, 142.

Niceness, 2, 29.

Nominative, a second, 8, 37;

12, 37; 19, 129; 22, 57;

24, 14; 29, 225; 32, 25;

34, 90.

Nominative omitted, 22, 120.
Notable, 53, 46.
Nourish, to, 19, 140.

O

Obliged, 20, 6.

Obnoxious, 20, 105; 36, 44;

44, 30.

Obtain, to, 6, 19; 56, 78.
Oes, 37, 30.
Offence, 30, 5.
Officious, 44, 30; 48, 19.
Overcome, to, 34, 56.
Over-power, an, 58, 132.
Owing, 30, 7.

Pair, to, 24, 27.

Parable, a, 27, 113.

Partially, 3, 68.

Particular, 15, 196, 205; 19, 120.

Particularly, 13, 18.

Pass, to, 59, 11.

Peremptory, 11, 60; 15, 194.

Period, a, 25, 1 1 ; 42, 34.

Perish, to, 27, 109.

Person, a, 20, 98.

Personate, to, 3, 134.

Piece, to, 3, 101; 24, 16; 33, 96.

Piety, 17, n.

Place, a, 59, 22.

Placebo, to sing a song of, 20,

154.

Plantation, a, 29, 157; 33, i.
Platform, a, 46, 214.
Plausible, 9, 145; 15, 27; 56, 8.
Ply, the, to take, 39, 44.
Point, to, 45, 69; 58, 165.
Point-device, 52, 48.

298

BACON'S ESSAYS.

Politic, adj., 9, 96; 21, 25; 29,
229, 247.

Politics, subs., 59, 22.
-3,43; 6,4-

Politiques, sat&.s., 13, 62.

Poll, a, 29, 103.

Poll, to, 56, 96.

Popular, popularity, 15, 243;
36, 32; 48, 25.

Poser, a, 32, 32.

Practice, 3, 115; 22, II; 47, 35.

Pray in aid of, to, 27, 127.

Preoccupate, to, 2, 25.

Prepositions and phrases equi
valent to them —
For, for as regards, 3, 17;
6, 40; 8, 30; 11, 70, 86;

14, 6; 19,59.

From, away from, 45, 92.

In, for into, 1, 10.

In order to, 56, 1 19.

In regard of, for because of,

27, 43; 41, 109.
In respect of, for because of,

27. 88; 34, 52; 58, 115.
In respect of, for in compari
son with, 2S), 283 ; 40, 59.
Of, for amongst, 14, 46 ; 16,

30.

Of, for by, 35, 81.
Of,/orfor, 6, 25; 15, 57; 16,

68; 17, 33; 32, i.
Of, for from, 2, 23; 53, 17.
Of, for namely, 15, 72; 22, 9;

29, 310.

Of, for on, 19, 118; 26, 35.
Of, for out of, 54, 22.
Of, for resulting from, 19, 91;

54, 15.

Of, for some of, 33, 91.
To, for for, 33, 43.
Upon, at the expense of,

15, 147.

Upon, for by reason of, 2, 32;

36, 17; 48,8.
Without, for outside, 40, 36;

50, 17.
Prest, 29, 230.

Pretend, to, 24, 33; 29, 227;

32, 44.

Prevent, to, 56, 62.
Prick in, to, 18, 72; 46, 178.
Principial, 35, 58.
Privateness, 11, 15; 50, 2.
Proceeding, 15, 192; 22, 125.
Pronouns, use of —

Relative omitted, 42, 50.
Relative with redundant pro
noun, 8, 9; 9, 148; 35, 37;
36, 12; 45, 25.
That, for some who. 1, 2;

13, 51; Hi, 31.

That, for that which, 6, 39 ;

13,2; 16, 21 ; 22,33; 32,37.

That, for such, 6, 13; 14, 21 ;

27, 60; 29, 218; 33, 65;

46, 210.

Who, for he who, 28, 32.
Which, for who, 8, 5; 29, 23;

53, 45.
Proof, 7, 28.
Proper, propriety, 3, 30 ; 7, 7 ;

51, 53; 57, 48.
Province, 20, 137.
Purprise, a, 56, 91.
Push, a, 53, 35.
Put abroad, 27, 148.

Q

Quarrel, 8, 48; 29, 221.
Quarter, to keep, 10, 48; 22, 74.
Quech, to, 39, 28.
Quicken, to, 41, 78; 49, 41:

R

Ravish, to, 17, 20.
Real, 22, 9.
Recamera, a, 45, 1 1 8.
Receipt, a, 46, 139.
Reciproque, 10, 35.
Reduce, to, 11, 54.
Referendary, a, 49, 27.
Reflect, to, 29, 284.
Regiment, ,30, i.

INDEX TO NOTES.

299

Reiglement, 41, 71.
Remembering, 11, 114.
Remover, a, 40, 38.
Resemble, to, 20, 43.
Resorts, 22, 116.
Respects, 11, 90; 14, 13; 23, 35;

52, 43 ; 53, 27.
Respect, to have, to, 16, 36.
Respect, to, 30, 36; 37, 17.
Rest, to, 36, 29.

Rest upon, to, 29, 79; 34, 81;

53, 163.

Rest, the, to set upon, 29, 271.
Restrain, to, 27, 151; 41, 116.
Return, a, 45, 48, 85, 123;

58, 150.
Reverend, 14, 29; 20, 104;

56 8

Rid, to, 20, 181.
Rise, a, 34, 89.
Round, 1, 60; 6, 97.
Ruin, 57, 14.

S

Sad, 59, 21.

Saltness, 32, 24.

Scantling, a, 55, 53.

Seat, a, 45, 5.

Security, 5, 9.

Seek, to be to, 41, 81.

Seeling, a, 54, 39.

Sensible, of, 8, 21; 29, 228;

36, 66.

Sentence, a, 58, 3.
Sequester, to, 27, 9.
Several, 19, 153 ; 45, 13, 28,

44, 49-
Shadow, the, 11, 16.

Shall, for will, 2, 7; 3, 83; 7,
7, 20; 16, 30; 41, 105;

45, 95.
Shew, to, 2, 19.

Should, indirect use of, 27, 7 ;

53, 35-

Show, a, 26, 5 ; 53, 8.
Shrewd, 23, i.
Slide, a, 14, 47.

Slight over, to, 12, 38.

Slope, 46, 109.

Smother, to keep in, 31, 16.

Sort, to, 45, 28.

Sort to, to, 7, 32; 27, 47.

Sort with, to, 6, 5 ; 7, 26 ; 27,

242; 38, 44.
Speak to, to, 20, 126.
Speculative into, 20, 97.
Spangs, 37, 30.
Spial, a, 44, 31.
Stand upon, to, 29, 206.
Stand, a, 41, 54.
Stand, to be at a, 1, 13.
Stay, to be at a, 58, 12.
— to give to, 58, 73.
— to stand at a, 12, 47 ; 14,

42; 19, 21.
Stale, a, 12, 48.
State, a, 19, 118.
Statua, 27, 156.
Steal, to, 11, 83.
Stirps, 14, 8.
Stonds, 40, 14 ; 50, 37.
Stove, to, 46, 15.
Strait, 15, 162.
Strict, 20, 81.
Success, 47, 14.
Sufficient, sufficiency, 11, 101 ;

20, 8; 26, 42; 29, 21 ; 48,

28; 55, 56.
Suit, a, 58, 60.

Suspect, 24, 34 ; 51,40: 53, 17.
Sustentation, 58, 140.

Take in with, to, 51, 32.
Take oneself up, to, 22, 39.
Tarras, a, 45, 136.
Tax, to, 11, 51.
Temper, 19, 29; 30, 52.
Temper, to, 19, 136; 55, II.
Temperate, 33, 69.
Temperature, 6, 103.
Tender, tenderly, 15, 44, 229

22, 48; 47, 8.
Theologue, a, 53, 45.

300

BACON'S ESSAYS.

Thorough, 5. 19.

Toss, to, 27, 142.

Touch, a, 57, 37.

Touch, to, 29, 315; 57, 57.

Touch, subs., 32, 44.

Towardness, 19, 99.

Toy, a, 19, 12 ; 37, I ; 58,

57-

Tracts, 6, 57.
Trash, 13, 74.
Travel, 9, 92.
Tribunitious, 20, 145.
Triumphs, 18, 31; 45, 46.
Trivial, 12, i ; 29, 69 ; 35,

52.

Try it, to, 19, 115.
Turquets, 37, 37.

U

Understanding, adj., 56, 112.
Undertakers, 33, 68.
Undertaking, 9, 130.
Unpleasing, 1, 27.
Unproper, 27, 177.
Upbraid, to, 9, 63.
Use, to, 15, 237; 27, 125; 32.

35; 33, 61; 39, 32.
Unsecrete, to, 20, 61.

Value, to, 34, 74.
Vein, a, 1,6; 9, 59.
Version, a, 58, 54.
Virtue, virtuous, 14, 36.
Voice, to, 11, 63; 49, 40.
Votary, 39, 16.
Vulgar, 53, 38.

W

Wait upon, to, 22, 19 ; 25, 29;

58, 51.

Want, a, 9, 45.
War, men of, 19, 149; 59, 43.
Weather, 14, 33; 56, no.
Welt, a, 46, 124.
Wind, to take the, 20, 153.
Wit, witty, 1, 6; 6, 2: 41, i ;

44, 26; 50, 34; 56, 7 ; 54,

52; 58, 87.

Work, to, 3, 150; 27, 1 19; 53, 6.
Would, for ought to, 3, 148;

17,47; 22, 22; 31, 33; 32,

20; 37, 10; 46, 192.

Zeals, 58^ 40.
Zelants, 3, 52.

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The Guardian — " Speaking generally of Macmillan's Series we may say
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school Shakespeare. The introductory remarks are not too much burdened
with controversial matter ; the notes are abundant arid to the point, scarcely
any difficulty being passed over without some explanation, either by a para
phrase or by etymological and grammatical notes."

The School Guardian — "A handy edition of The Tempest, suitable for
the use of colleges and schools generally. Mr. Dekhton has prefixed to the
volume an introduction on the date, origin, construction, and characters of
the play, and has added a pretty full collection of notes, with an index of
reference to the passages of the text in question. The ' get up ' of this series
is a model of what such books should be."

— MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. By the same. 2s.; sewed, Is. 9d.
The Schoolmaster — " The notes on words and phrases are full and clear."
The Glasgow Herald — "The notes occupy a larger space than the text

of the play, and are supplemented by a valuable index to the notes, so that

if one remembers any notable word he can find at once a reference that leads

to the proper explanatory note."

— A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. By the same. Is. 9d. ; sewed,

Is. 6d.
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The Practical Teacher — "The introduction is a good summary of the play,
and the notes are precise, clear, and, we need hardly add, full. A student
who has mastered the contents of this volume will have a thorough acquaint
ance with the play, and be prepared for any test of his knowledge of it to
which he may have to be subjected."

— As You LIKE IT. By the same. Is. 9d. ; sewed, Is. 6d.
— TWELFTH NIGHT. By the same. Is. 9d. ; sewed, Is. 6d.
The Educational Kewt — " This is an excellent edition of a good play."

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The Literary World — "The Introduction gives a good historical and
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— KING JOHN. By the same. Is. 9d.; sewed, Is. 6d.
— EICHARD II. By the same. Is. 9d. ; sewed, Is. 6d.
— HENRY V. By the same. Is. 9d. ; sewed, Is. 6d.

The Scotsman — "The text is excellent, the introduction is sufficiently
learned, and elucidates not this play alone, but the dramatic scope of the
Lancastrian tetralogy, and the notes are very full, very explanatory, and not
often superfluous."

The Educational Times — "We have examined the notes with consider
able care, and we have found, in almost every case, that a full and clear
explanation is given of each difficulty. . . . The notes are clear and
comprehensive."

— RICHARD III. By C. H. TAWNEY, M.A., Principal and
Professor of English Literature, Presidency College, Calcutta.
2s. fid.; sewed, 2s.
The School Guardian—" Of Mr. Tawney's work as an annotator we

can speak in terms of commendation. His notes are full and always to the

point."

— CORIOLANUS. By K. DEIGHTON. 2s. 6d. ; sewed, 2s.

— MACBETH. By the same. Is. 9d. ; sewed, Is. 6d.
The Educational Jleview — "This is an excellent edition for the student.

The notes are suggestive, . . . and the vivid character sketches of Mac
beth, and Lady Macbeth are excellent."

MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON.

SHAKESPEARE — JULIUS CAESAR. By K. DEIOHTON. la. 9d .;

sewed, Is. 6d.

The Guardian — "Of Julius Caesar and the Merchant of Venice, edited by
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notes are admirably suited to the use of middle forms, being brief, numerous,
and accurate. Besides affording evidence of scholarly attainments on the part
of the annotator, they show a perfect knowledge of the limits of a schoolboy's
capacity, and a rare ability to explain away his difficulties in a simple and
interesting manner."

— HAMLET. By the same. 2s. 6cl. ; sewed, 2s.

— KING LEAH. By the same. Is. 9d. ; sewed, Is. 6d.

— OTHELLO. By the same. 2s.; sewed, Is. 9d.

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The Scotsman — " Mr. Deighton has adapted his commentary both in
Othello and in Cymbeline, with great skill to the requirements and capacities
of the readers to whom the series is addressed."

SOUTHEY — LIFE OF NELSON. By MICHAEL MACMILLAN, B.A.

3s.; sewed, 2s. 6d.

The Literary World — "This is included in ' Macmillan's English Classics '
series. The book well deserved such a place. It is too late in the day
in such a notice as this to write one word in praise of Southey's clear and
beautiful English. Mr. Michael Macmillan furnishes an introduction and
notes. The former is a model in its way — explanatory, critical, informing;
tho latter are a marvel of fulness and carefulness, and withal nearly as
interesting to read as the bouk itself. What with these notes and the capital
index, a student ought to be able to 'know the book" from beginning to end."

SPENSER— THE FAIRY QUEEN. Book I. By H. M. PERCIVAL, M. A.

[In the press.

TENNYSON— SELECTIONS. By F. J. ROWE, M.A., and W. T.
WEBB, M.A. New Edition. Enlarged. 3s. 6d. The
poems contained in the volume are : — " Recollections of the
Arabian Nights," "The Lady of Shalott," " Oenone," "The
Lotos Eaters," "A Dream of Fair Women, " "Morted" Arthur,"
"Dora," " Ulysses," "Tithonus," "Sir Galahad," " The Lord
of Burleigh," " Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington,"
" The Revenge," " The Palace of Art," "The Brook," " The
Voyage," and "Demeter and Persephone."
The Scotsman— " The choice of pieces is well made, and the notes are

admirable."
The Journal of Education — "It should find a wide circulation in

English schools The notes give just the requisite amount of

help for understanding Tennyson, explanations of the allusions with which his

Eoems teem, and illustrations by means of parallel passages. A short critical
itrodui;: ion gives the salient features of his style with apt examples."
The Literary World—" The book is very complete, and will be a good
introduction to the study of Tennyson's works generally."

—ENOCH ARDEN. By W. T. WTEBB, M.A. 2s.

— AYLMER'S FIELD. By the same. 2s.

—THE PRINCKSS. By P. M. WALLACE, B.A. 3/6.

— THE COMING OF ARTHUR and THE PASSING OF ARTHUR. By

F. J. ROWE, M.A. 2s.
WORDSWORTH— SELECTIONS. By F. J. ROWE, M.A., and W. T.

WEBB, M.A. [In preparation.

MACMTLLAN AND CO., LONDON.

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34 Bacon's Essays