PR ■ Y Class _ LZ&k Book Jttj. Copyright W. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. J?eattfs CDngltsl) Classics THE ESSAYS OR COUNSELS CIVIL AND MORAL OF FRANCIS BACON EDITED BY FRED ALLISON HOWE, LL.B., Ph.D. HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA BOSTON, U.S.A. D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 1908 ■V <7j lUBRARYof C(;r Two Copies r!>' FEB 29 1908 5h £ ^ ffod d\ AH.*./* ilHl'.. W., Of, CO FY iot f£>f Copyright, 1908, By D. C. Heath & Co. PREFACE This volume aims to supply the student with a clear, accurate text of Bacon's Essays, together with such assistance in the way of references and notes as is requisite to their appreciation. Rather more than the usual amount of help appears necessary in the case of a writer remote enough to use English that sounds somewhat foreign to ears unaccustomed to any but the modern idiom ; whose copiousness of allusion and illustration is often a hindrance rather than an aid to clearness, since time has swept aside many of the beliefs from which such illustrations took their point ; and whose style, in the Essays, is compressed to sententiousness, if not often to obscurity. Whenever possible the author has been allowed to explain himself, one passage being cited to illuminate another ; and the student's interpretation has been put upon a practical basis of self-help through references to authority, or through inductive questions, direct information being supplied only when that ap- peared to be the' necessary or the most economical method. The notes have been written with the aim to stimulate and direct the student's thinking and research rather than to take the place of such effort. Here and there a direct connection is made in the notes between some view or theory of life and conduct expressed in the text and ideas now current. To use the frequent occasions which the Essays offer for such connection, putting the questions there discussed to the test of actual experience, is to make use of the chief means of interest in the study. Written exercises in the interpretation of the Essays will give useful opportunities for comparative study of subject-matter and occasion for noting all essential character- istics of style. The test of success in the study of the Essays is, iii IV PREFACE whether or not, as a consequence, the student's own thinking is invigorated and vitalized. The Glossary sums up the chief verbal difficulties in one list for convenient examination and cross-reference. The introductory matter is intended to give a point of view and to furnish the broad outlines of the social and historical background, to be filled in by 'supplementary reading from such books as are named in the reference list. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction vii The Period vii Biographical Sketch of Bacon xiii Bacon's Character ........ xx Bacon's Influence upon- the Advancement of Science . xxii Bacon as a Writer xxiv Reference Books xxxii Chronology xxxiv Leading English Writers Contemporary with Bacon xxxvii ESSAYS * I. Of Truth i II. Of Death 4 III. Of Unity in Religion 6 IV. Of Revenge 12 V. Of Adversity 13 VI. Of Simulation and Dissimulation . . 15 VII. Of Parents and Children 18 VVIII. Of Marriage and Single Life .... 20 ^IX. Of Envy 22 X. Of Love 28 XL Of Great Place 30 XII. Of Boldness 34 XIII. Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature .. . 37 XIV. ' Of Nobility 39 XV. Of Seditions and Troubles . . . .41 XVI. Of Atheism 49 XVII. Of Superstition 53 XVIII. Of Travel 55 XIX. Of Empire 58 * For courses having a limited time and as an aid to those who prefer a more thorough reading of a smaller number of essays, the following list is suggested as containing essays representative of Bacon's style and the scope of his plan, and appealing directly to modern interests: Essays i, ii, iv, v, vi, ix, xi, xii, xiii, xviii, xx, xxi, xxiii, xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxvii, xxviii, xxix, xxx, xxxi, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxvi, xxxviii, xxxix, xl, xiii, xlvii, 1, lii, liii, lv, lvii. VI CONTENTS PAGE XX. Of Counsel 63 XXI. Of Delays 68 XXII. Of Cunning 69 XXIII. Of Wisdom for a Man's Self ... 73 XXIV. Of Innovations 75 XXV. Of Dispatch 77 XXVI. Of Seeming Wise 79 XXVII. Of Friendships 80 XXVIII. Of Expense 89 XXIX. Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates 90 XXX. Of Regiment of Health . . . .101 XXXI. Of Suspicion 103 XXXII. Of Discourse 105 XXXIII. Of Plantations 107 XXXIV. Of Riches in XXXV.. Of Prophecies . . . . . . 115 XXXVI. Of Ambition 118 XXXVII. Of Masques and Triumphs . . . .121 XXXVIII. Of Nature in Men 123 XXXIX. Of Custom and Education . . . . 125 XL. Of Fortune 127 XLI. Of Usury 129 XLII. Of Youth and Age 134 XLIII. Of Beauty 136 XLIV. Of Deformity 137 XLV. Of Building 139 XLVI. Of Gardens 144 XLVII. Of Negotiating 151 XLVIII. Of Followers and Friends . . . . 153 XLIX. Of Suitors 155 L. Of Studies^, 157 LI. Of Faction 159 LII. Of Ceremonies and Respects . . .161 LIII. Of Praise 163 LIV. Of Vainglory 165 LV. Of Honor and Reputation . . . .167 LVI. Of Judicature 169 LVII. Of Anger 174 LVIII. Of Vicissitude of Things . . . .177 A Fragment of an Essay: Of Fame . . 183 Notes 185 Glossary 229 Index 237 INTRODUCTION ■ The Period Some men are great because they outrun their own age and anticipate the future ; some are great because they em- body in themselves the characteristics of their own time. Francis Bacon was great because he did both. Here we shall note how he reflected the tendencies of his own time. Later, in considering his influence upon after times, we shall have occasion to see how he outstripped the age in which he lived. Bacon's life practically covers the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. In general this period was one of settled political and social conditions, of peace and material prosperity. Such a time, affording men freedom to follow other pursuits than that of mere self-preservation, is always favorable to intel- lectual culture and general progress. Human energies can then be employed in extending man's dominion over nature through exploration, discovery, and invention, and in deepen- ing and broadening human life and character, through the cultivation of art, of philosophy, and of literature. The Reign of Elizabeth. — When, in 1558, two years before the birth of Francis Bacon, Elizabeth ascended the throne of England, she found the realm in a wretched state. The mis- /rule of her sister Mary had helped to intensify the hatred and strife between Protestants and Roman Catholics ; the coun- try had suffered humiliation and defeat in war ; the nation was deeply in debt ; and a feeling of social and political instability and a fear of foreign invasion were rife among all classes of people. viii FRANCIS BACON Whatever her faults, Queen Elizabeth possessed an unusual endowment of shrewd good sense, and displayed great political sagacity in dealing with the difficult problems presented by the situation with which she was confronted. She chose as her counselors able and energetic men, and began at once the task of extricating the country from its most serious difficul- ties, pursuing a steady policy of preserving peace both among the factions of her realm, and between England and foreign nations. She began by concluding a treaty with France, and exerted every effort to allay the internal dissensions of the country, repressing religious controversy with a strong hand. Yet, although she exacted outward conformity to the estab- lished religion, she firmly refused to make inquisition into the private beliefs of the people, or to countenance religious per- secution. Gradually the country grew more united, and the dangers of religious strife became less threatening. With the destruction of the Armada in 1588, the menace of foreign invasion passed, and left the English people a unit in national loyalty and patriotic pride. Industrial Development in England. — The consequences of this condition of settled peace were far-reaching. England entered at once upon an era of wonderful industrial and com- mercial development. Better methods of tilling the soil were found, and the earth was made to yield a greater abundance and a better quality of food for the support of human life. English ships found their way into all parts of the world, carrying out the products of domestic industry, and bringing back the gold, sugar, and tobacco of the New World, the cotton of India, and the silks and spices of the Far East. Instead of exporting wool to be manufactured into cloth in Holland, England had induced Dutch weavers to set up their looms within her borders, and had soon developed the industry at home. Wealth poured into the country, and living became easier and life more pleasant. Dwellings were improved; INTRODUCTION ix rushes were discarded for carpets, and chimneys rendered the fireside more cheerful and attractive. The printing-press was bringing the means of wider learning within the reach of the common people. It was a time of great material pros- perity, a time in which the entire nation felt a new joy and enthusiasm in life and a new impetus to progress. Intellectual Progress. — Nor was the period one of material advancement alone, but of intellectual progress as well. Won- derful discoveries were made in science ; and the New World beyond the sea, that offered to men's imaginations an ever potent charm and stimulus, seemed but the physical prototype of a soon-to-be-discovered and no less marvellous domain of human intellect. It is little wonder that roseate hopes and extravagant speculations were kindled. As men heard the wonderful accounts of discoveries from explorers newly re- turned from strange and distant lands or discussed the latest marvels of scientific research, they could hardly do less than dream of some New Atlantis, wherein science should achieve a speedy conquest over the secret forces of Nature. To live in England during such a time meant to enjoy a wider field for activity and a greater scope of individual oppor- tunity than had ever before been offered to man. Behind this national spirit of progress was, of course, intense personal aspiration and ambition. The English Renaissance, like the earlier Italian, expressed itself largely in a deep interest in, and devotion to, certain forms of art, and especially literature. No. period of English letters before or since is graced with such names as those of Sidney, Spenser, Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, and Bacon. Merely to mention them is to recall the Golden Age of English letters. Individualism. — Like the Italian Renaissance also, the era under consideration was marked by a distinctly increasing tendency on the part of the people at large to improve their widening opportunities by seeking each for himself a more x FRANCIS BACON complete realization of his personal interests and aims. This individualistic movement expressed itself in many forms. One of these was the extravagant and exaggerated fashions of dress and deportment, frequently copied from foreign coun- tries, and freely adapted to individual taste or whim. Portia's description of the costume and manners of her English suitor in the Merchant of Venice (Act I, sc. 2) is only the most familiar of the allusions to this love of what was striking and even eccentric in costume and conduct with which the litera- ture of the time abounds : " How oddly he is suited! I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behavior everywhere." For an expression of Bacon's view of this tendency, read the closing sentences of the essay Of Travel. This individualistic spirit reveals itself to some extent in the eager interest shown in matters of personal accomplishment. It shows itself in the assiduity with which the Italian art of fencing was cultivated ; in the new interest in music, and its popular study and practice ; in the polite study of Greek and Italian ; and in the development of the social art as set forth in numerous manuals of courtesy and polite manners mostly translated from the Italian. It is reflected in Bacon's frequent references to personal policy and social conduct, as in the es- says Of Ceremonies and Respects, Of Discourse, and Of Travel. "The Art of Advancement." — Still another indication of the emphasis upon the individual is found in the increased atten- tion given to means and methods of personal advancement, the earnest study of what Bacon calls " the art of advancement in life," the art based upon " wisdom for a man's self." In literature this personal aspiration for power and greatness found expression in such works as the tragedies of Christopher Marlowe and the heroic drama generally ; but it was in political life that the readiest opportunity was offered for the practical realization of such ambitions. Hence the art of INTRODUCTION xi politics was attentively studied by those whose station and other qualifications were favorable to advancement in the service of the state. The means and methods of rising to places of distinction and power were studied as if they were principles reducible to an exact science. For illustration, in the essay Of Great Place Bacon writes : " 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. 11 This art of politics, like the other arts, came into England from Italy ; but before we examine it further we must note one or two important considerations. The dominant political ideas of a nation are potent influences in the lives of the people ; but we must not suppose that the art of politics as employed by professional politicians in Bacon's time comprised all such ideas. Political as well as religious differences had been adjusted outwardly, but under- neath the plans of the ambitious politician and the policy of the rigid ecclesiastic there were at work democratic and re- formatory ideas and influences that soon after the time of Bacon brought about a complete political reconstruction. But the political ideas that chiefly influenced Bacon in a practi- cal way were those underlying Italian statecraft ; with demo- cratic notions of government he concerned himself little except by way of reprobation. Italian Influence. — The chief foreign influence affecting English life and literature, especially during the earlier part of this period, was Italian. It was to Italy that English scholar- ship, for example, turned for inspiration and direction. A visit to that country was considered an essential part of a com- plete education ; and the Italian language and literature were assiduously studied by those who aspired to the distinction of culture. Italian books were liberally translated into English, and Italian life, history, and manners were freely drawn upon by English writers. Bacon frequently refers to Italy and the xii FRANCIS BACON Italians, especially Machiavelli, as in the essays Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature, Of Custom and Education, and Of Fortune. Especially in demand by the English playwrights as popular dramatic material were the secret plottings, intrigues, treachery, and assassinations popularly regarded as the princi- pal occupations of Italian political life. The extent of this " Italian craze " might be inferred from the violent denuncia- tions it received in such books as Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie and in Puritan tracts like Philip Stubbs 1 s Anafomie of Abuses. The Italian statesman Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), as the English people of Elizabethan times conceived him, was the embodiment of their idea of Italian political morality. Elizabethan literature contains many passages showing that his name was a synonym for treachery and tyranny and that his influence was held as a deadly poison, though of course absolutists in government like Francis Bacon were more favorably disposed toward him. He was judged rather by hearsay than by his writings, and many views were attributed to him of which he was not guilty. According to the histo- rian J. R. Green, his influence first entered England through Thomas Cromwell, whose state policy was closely modelled on that of Machiavelli's Prince and Discourses on Livy. Machia- velli's reputation has improved in later years, since it has been recognized that he was the first to apply scientific methods to politics, and that his views only reflected the spirit of the times ; yet no amount of research into the his- tory of his age can make his principles less vicious in them- selves. Bacon's Political Principles. — It was from Machiavelli that English politicians who aspired to power and greatness took much of their " art of getting on." The cardinal prin- ciple of that art was that the means is justified by the end — anything to win. Bacon, whose father was immersed in poli- INTRODUCTION xiii tics, came early within the influence of Machiavellian ideas, and spent his life in the midst of political scheming and intrigue. The Puritan training received from his mother rendered underhand methods of success distasteful to him, but he gradually yielded to the demands of policy, finding it impossible for a politician to maintain one standard of moral conduct for his professional, and a different one for his pri- vate, personal life. The influence of Machiavelli upon Bacon is no doubt accountable in some degree for the frequent dis- cussion in the Essays of the duties and policy of princes {Of Counsel, Of Ambition) ; the belief that " crookedness " is es- sential to political success {Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature) ; the opinion that " a habit of secrecy is politic and moral,'" that " dissimulation followeth upon secrecy by a ne- cessity," with its implication of the morality of deceit ; the principle that if a man cannot exercise sound judgment what to conceal and what to reveal, then he may dissemble as the safest policy ; and like views {Of Simulation and Dissimu- lation) . It is an interesting study to trace in Bacon's Essays the indications of such influences as have here been discussed. The student should add to his knowledge of the general con- ditions of the period under consideration, and observe how these are reflected in the thoughts and motives of one of the greatest men that period produced. Biographical Sketch of Bacon Bacon's Boyhood. — The boyhood of Francis Bacon, un- like that of many great men, was one whose every circum- stance was favorable to the growth of genius. He was born in a social class of influence and distinction. His father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, was Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, one of Queen Elizabeth's trusted officers of state, whose duties xiv FRANCIS BACON brought him into intimate association with the leaders of government. His mother, a daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, — another of whose daughters had become the wife of Sir William Cecil, afterward Lord Burleigh, Lord Treasurer of England, — was a woman of unusual intellectual power and attainments. Francis, born January 22, 1560, at York House, London, his father's official residence, was the youngest child of the family, which included six children of the Lord Keeper's former marriage, besides Francis' own elder brother Anthony. Francis was a delicate child, with a precocious gravity of deportment and a readiness of wit that greatly amused the Queen, who used to call him her little Lord Keeper. We are told that when a mere child he once ran away from his com- panions to investigate the cause of a singular echo he had observed in a vault in St. James' Fields, and that at the age of twelve he engaged in some ingenious speculations concern- ing the art of legerdemain. The Beginning of his Philosophy. — In his thirteenth year Francis entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he re- mained nearly three years. It was during this time, accord- ing to some accounts, that he conceived the great intellectual revolution that has since been associated with his name. It was this aim, so early defined, that, according to his biogra- pher Mr. Spedding, determined the course of his whole after life, supplying the motive for his long struggle for position and power as the necessary means of attaining that higher end. His studies at Cambridge impressed him with the unproduc- tiveness of much of the philosophy in vogue at that time, which he used to say was strong only for disputation and con- tention, but useless in furthering the well-being of mankind. The Beginning of his Political Life. — It was his father's plan that Francis should be trained for diplomatic life; ac- cordingly after leaving Cambridge he took service with Sir INTRODUCTION xv Amyas Paulet, the English ambassador to Paris. After about two years of diplomatic training in this stirring capital, dur- ing which time the young man made good use of his oppor- tunities, he was recalled to London by the unexpected death of his father. Here he found that his father's purpose to set aside for him a certain sum of money had been frustrated by death, and that he must at once apply himself to the serious business of earning a living. Although hardly fitted by nature for the legal profession, at the age of eighteen he be- gan the study of law at Gray's Inn, after having tried in vain to secure a government position that would enable him to devote himself to philosophical study. According to his own belief, expressed later in life, it was because his uncle, then Lord Treasurer of England, looked on him as a rival of his cousin, the younger Cecil, that he received no aid from that source in his political ambitions. In 1584, Bacon was elected member of the House of Com- mons as representative of Melcombe Regis, and he served in a like capacity for a number of years thereafter. About this time he sketched the first outlines of his inductive philosophy, in a Latin treatise which he named (as he wrote not long before his death) "with great confidence and a magnificent title, 'The Greatest Birth of Time.'" While representing Mid- dlesex in the Parliament of 1593, he gave deep offense to the Queen by a speech in which he urged constitutional objections against her proposal to raise money by subsidy for national defense. In her resentment Elizabeth for a time forbade him her presence, and long refused to listen to the pleas of his friends and himself for governmental preferment. The Career of Essex. — Among these friends, the most con- spicuous and the most persistent in Bacon's behalf was the Earl of Essex, a young nobleman about six years the junior of Bacon, whose acquaintance the latter had made about 1688, and whose brief and tragic career is closely associated with xvi FRANCIS BACON Bacon's own life history. Essex was proud, generous, impet- uous, and ambitious of military glory; he was a prime favorite of the Queen, who entrusted to him more than one martial en- terprise and consulted him in numerous matters of state policy. But his influence with Elizabeth proved insufficient, despite all his urgency, to persuade her to find a place for his friend Fran- cis Bacon, who sued in vain for the place of Attorney, and then for that of Solicitor-General. Piqued at the Queen's obduracy, and moved by loyalty to his friend, Essex made Bacon a present of an estate since known as Twickenham Park, which Bacon later sold for a sum equivalent to about sixty thousand dollars. Some six years after receiving this gift Bacon explained that in accepting it he had expressly stipulated against any implied obligation on his part that might conflict with his loyalty to the Queen. Gradually the relations between Essex and Queen Elizabeth grew strained, though Bacon did all he could to urge his friend to employ conciliatory tactics, giving him a series of minute directions how to humor the Queen's moods and to flatter her, as by undertaking a project that he knew she would not favor for the sole purpose of pleasing her by dropping it at her request. The climax came through the failure of Essex to put down the Irish uprising known as Tyrone's rebellion. At the very time when he had won every advantage over the forces of the Irish leader, Essex, suspecting that plots against him were hatching in his absence, disobeyed the Queen's injunction to accept nothing but complete surrender, and to remain in Ireland until ordered home ; he concluded a hasty compromise with the enemy, and hurried back to London to defend him- self against the accusations of his political enemies. The out- come was that he was at first placed under restraint, and though soon afterward given his liberty, was not restored to the Queen's favor. For some months the haughty and high-tempered Earl INTRODUCTION xvii chafed under the marks of the Queen's displeasure, until at last he rushed into the fatal error of encouraging an uprising among his adherents, in an attempt to enlist the support of the citizens of London against the government. For this treason he was arrested, tried, convicted, and executed. Bacon's Prosecution of Essex. — Bacon took a leading part in the prosecution of his friend and benefactor and conducted the case with what seemed unnecessary harshness and persistency. This action has attached to Bacon's name a stigma of ingrati- tude and disloyalty from which, in spite of the many plausible excuses that have been offered, it has never yet been entirely cleared. The impression that he deliberately sacrificed Essex in the hope of currying favor with the Queen is strengthened by the fact that he undertook to justify the execution of Essex by writing " A declaration of the Practices and Treasons at- tempted and committed by Robert, late Earl of Essex, and his accomplices," making use of every possible means of black- ening the memory of the unfortunate young nobleman. But if Bacon hoped by such means to gain any substantial favors at the hands of Elizabeth, he was disappointed. Knighthood; Marriage. — The death of the Queen in 1603 and the accession of James I encouraged Bacon to make a new attempt to gain a place for himself; and he lost no time in getting himself recommended to the new King's favor. Soon afterward we find him receiving the honor of knighthood, and in 1604 an appointment as " ordinary member of His Majesty's Learned Counsel." In 1 606, having "found out an alderman's daughter to his liking, a handsome maiden," Alice Barnham, Bacon married her. Her dowry was a liberal one, though less than Bacon had hoped to secure by an earlier suit for the hand of Sir William Hatton's rich young widow, who had preferred to be- come the wife of Bacon's famous political rival and enemy, Sir Edward Coke. xviii FRANCIS BACON Political Advancement. — Bacon was made Solicitor-General in 1607; Attorney-General in 1613; a member of the Privy Council in 1616; Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in 1617; Baron Verulam of Verulam, and Lord Chancellor in 1618; and Viscount St. Albans in 1620. Thus after years of struggle and impatient waiting, his ambition for place and power was rewarded in full measure. But the right moment for the use of this attainment in furthering his philosophical aims did not seem to arrive, and the height to which he had risen served only to render his impending downfall more tragically disastrous. Political Downfall. — In 1620 Bacon was charged by a dis- appointed suitor with accepting money for the furtherance of a suit being tried before him. The charge was investigated by Parliament, whose determination to make an example of the offender was, it would seem, not wholly inspired by a pure love of justice. Unable to defend himself against the accusation of corruption in office, supported by the evidences produced, Bacon wrote and transmitted to Parliament his " confession and humble submission of me the Lord Chancellor," wherein he admitted himself guilty of having received gifts from parties to suits tried before him, but disclaimed any criminal intent, and denied having been influenced in his decisions by such presents. The penalty imposed upon him was severe, or rather would have been, had it been exacted to the full. He was fined forty thousand pounds, forbidden ever again to hold public office, banished from the court, and sentenced to imprisonment during the pleasure of the King. He was confined in the Tower, but was almost immediately released ; his fine was re- mitted ; and most of the other punishment was revoked by the King's act. (Note what Bacon says about bribery in the essay Of Great Place.) His Studies in Science and Philosophy. — Bacon never recovered from the effects of his loss of position and the disgrace it involved. However, he could at last devote his INTRODUCTION xix undivided attention to the prosecution of his philosophical and scientific aims, and this he proceeded to do for the rem- nant of his lifetime, with an energy that seems like a sort of expiation for his long neglect of them. Even in his college days Bacon reprobated the futile scholastic philosophy that was still taught. He felt that philosophy should be based upon a study of Nature, and should begin by developing a logical method for such study. This conviction led him into a long search for a more fruitful scientific method. He had made a preliminary survey of the subject in his Greatest Birth of Time already mentioned ; but during his middle life his political duties gave him no leisure for such work, although, as his writings indicate, he never relinquished his purpose of perfecting his method of scientific investigation. In 1603 he completed the first book of the Advancement of Learning, and he continued to use his available time in writing upon the interpretation of Nature. The Advancement of Learning was published in 1605, and the next year was translated into Latin. In 1620 he published his Novum Orgamim, or new instru- ment for the advancement of knowledge, of which only the first part was completed, showing the nature of the new method of inquiry which he would substitute for the old instrument or method, the Grganon of Aristotle. After his downfall he had but five years of life in which to perfect the details of his method, a time far too short for so great a work. His death was due to the results of cold in- curred in making an experiment with snow as a means of preserving meat. On a cold March day, he stopped his coach in the snow on his way to Highgate, and buying a hen from a woman by the way, had it dressed and stuffed its body with snow. Taking a sudden chill he was forced to seek shelter at the house of a stranger, Lord Arundel, where he died on Easter morning, April 9, 1626. XX FRANCIS BACON Bacorts Character His Character revealed in the Essays. — It is in the Essays that Bacon reveals more fully and clearly than elsewhere in his writings the distinguishing traits of his character. From a study of his more pretentious works we could make out certain general qualities of his genius which he shared with other men of great intellectual gifts ; but without an acquaint- ance with the Essays, in which he embodied his most earnest and intimate beliefs about the conduct of life, we could not completely possess ourselves with his essential personality. Making use of a knowledge of his life as an aid to the inter- pretation of the Essays, one may arrive at a fair conception of the kind of man who lived the one and wrote the other. Various Views. — It is true that his biographers have main- tained widely different views of his character. Some, like Mr. Spedding, exalt him as a lofty minded philanthropist whose every action sprang directly from an unselfish purpose to better human life by putting into man's hand the key to Nature's treasure-house ; others, like Macaulay, construe much of his life as the evidence and result of base and selfish motives ; and still others see in him strangely contradictory qualities, though perhaps not going quite to the length of regarding him, with Pope, as " the wisest, brightest, meanest, of mankind." But in spite of these divergencies of view, the general verdict of time upon Bacon's character is clear enough. His Moral Endowment. — Gifted by nature with a breadth, a force, and a clearness of thought that made the handling of great and lofty themes his habit and recreation ; possessed also of a rare versatility of mind that rendered him almost equally at home in the realm of the commonplace and minute, — an intellectual endowment ranking him next to Shake- speare himself in the peerage of English genius, — Bacon, nevertheless, fell far below the master poet in certainty and INTRODUCTION xxi stability of moral purpose and conviction. That he could see clearly enough what right motives and right conduct are is abundantly attested in his writings, particularly in the Essays; but that he often embraced the wrong in practice, and advo- cated it in theory as necessary to success, is no less clear in his writings and in his life. We are told that he stooped reluctantly to the adoption of these unworthy means of " getting on in life " ; but even a reluctant yielding is a proof of moral weakness. It is but little palliation of this weakness that he only shared, as his apologists sometimes urge, in the prevailing low morality of the times in which he lived. This merely shows that in this one fundamental characteristic he was not great enough to rise above the low general level of his day. His Coldness of Nature. — In another respect Bacon's nature was less richly endowed, less fully rounded, than that of Shakespeare ; his intellect was not so evenly balanced by a capability of feeling and emotion. In him no sentiment or affection arose to warm or tinge the cold clear light of his intellectual vision. His was a singularly passionless nature ; he seemed not to possess the power either to hate his enemies or to love his friends, — only to make a cool, calculating use of each as his purposes might require. Though, as Ben Jon- son testifies of him, " he was one of the greatest men, and most worthy of admiration, 1 ' it does not appear that he in- spired any warmer feeling than admiration among his closest associates. He had only one personal friend, and him he basely deserted when to do so appeared to favor his own ad- vancement, and not to do so seemed fraught with possible danger. It was not without a thought of her wealth that he once sought the hand of a certain young widow ; and it may not be without significance that the fair Alice whom he after- ward married was provided with a liberal dowry. He says that men ought to beware of the " weakness " of love, which XX11 FRANCIS BACON is " the child of folly," since " it is impossible to love and be wise. 1 ' We might guess that if he should try his hand at poetry, he could not put his heart into it, and so it was ; such verse as he did attempt lacked the spirit and feeling of poetry, and added nothing to his literary reputation. The strongest argument against the theory that Bacon wrote the plays known as Shakespeare's is that in all we positively know of the life and works of the one writer there is none of the emotional depth and power that constitute the chief and peculiar charm of the other. His Power of Will. — Like most men who have influenced the world, Bacon had an unswerving will, which he kept at the service of his intellect. In the face of long-continued failure he slowly pushed his way upward to a place of great power and distinction, only to fall at last through his lack of moral integrity. Had he chosen to enlist all his powers from the start in the pursuit of the one purpose he felt himself in- tended to accomplish, instead of yielding to the allurements of political ambition under the self-persuasion that a position of influence was essential to the attainment of that higher end, he would have been spared much of the disappointment that clouded the closing years of his life, and the world would no doubt have been the gainer. BacorCs Influence upon the Advancement of Science Current Methods in Philosophy and Science. — The philoso- phy in vogue at Cambridge was condemned by Bacon because of its inability to promote what he termed the " Kingdom of Man over Nature. 11 This philosophy had advanced but little beyond that of the Schoolmen of the Middle Ages. The system of logic taught in the universities was substantially that of Aristotle^ Organon, or Analytic. It dealt merely with the forms of the reasoning process. It analyzed the modes INTRODUCTION xxiii of deducing inferences from related propositions that were assumed to be true for the purposes of the argument ; but it offered no effective method of establishing the truth of the propositions analyzed. That is, the Aristotelian logic was well developed on the deductive, but was very imperfect on the inductive side. Hence, it was of little use as an instru- ment for the discovery of the laws of Nature. According to Bacon, the inductive method as applied to science in his day was merely " induction by simple enumeration " ; that is, the formation of general conclusions upon the basis of a few ob- served instances or particulars. While some notable scientific discoveries were being made by independent investigators, the physical sciences, where studied at all, were largely speculative in character. Most people, unaware or careless of the wonder- ful complexity of Nature, regarded these sciences as tolerably complete, and so did not feel the need of a more perfect method of scientific investigation. As a consequence, pro- gress in the application of scientific principles to practical life and industry, and in the deduction of useful inventions, was still left chiefly to accident. Bacon's "New Instrument. 1 ' — Bacon labored to perfect a " new instrument " for the study of Nature, a method which he has described, so far as he completed it, in his Novum Or- ganum. He proposed the substitution of observation and experiment for vague speculation. He would form his sci- entific hypotheses only after a wide and careful search, by means of observation aided by numerous experiments, for " instances " of the phenomenon or law under investigation. He would set down in orderly tables the affirmative instances, or those in which heat, for example, was present ; the negative instances, or those in which it might be expected, but did not occur; and the comparative instances, or those wherein it was found in greater or lesser degree, according to the variation of some other circumstance. From the study of these tables xxiv FRANCIS BACON a "first vintage," or hypothesis, might be inferred; and this was to be tested by numerous " helps of the understanding to a true induction," most of which he did not live to complete. f Bacon's ultimate aim was to put into man's hand the keys to the kingdom of Nature. He believed that the method he ad- vocated would speedily reveal the yet undiscovered secrets of Nature, and work a wonderful transformation in human life. Science has, indeed, wrought a great change in the world since Bacon's time ; but it is still a disputed question as to how much credit for that change his work deserves. His Influence. — To regard Bacon as the creator of the experimental method, or as the originator of modern science, would be to exaggerate his influence. But he was the first to coordinate and organize into a systematic doctrine all the elements of the inductive method, and to elucidate its applica- tion to the study and interpretation of the phenomena of Nature. He it was who first insisted upon the necessity of verifying inductive conclusions by a more critical and authori- tative appeal to experiment. He stood at the parting of the ways between mediaeval and modern science and philosophy, and labored for a future for the human family that should be greater and happier than the past. Beyond all question he is entitled to high respect as a great thinker, who looked far ahead of his own age, and who has been no small power in the progress of later times. Bacon as a Writer His Rank. — Bacon's name has a place in the history of letters as well as in that of philosophy. By his contemporaries he was recognized as belonging to the first rank as a writer, and in the judgment of succeeding generations he holds a place with. the greatest figures of England's greatest era of letters, Shakespeare and Spenser. Though it is in the Novum INTRODUCTION xxv Organum and the Advancement of Learning that he has ex- erted his greatest influence, it is the Essays that have been most widely read, and by them his readers have known him best. The Word Essay. — The word essay is radically the same as assay ; but modern usage has appropriated the latter form to metallurgy, and applies the former to a species of literature. In Bacon's time this distinction had not been made. The word, which came into England from the French, meant a trial or attempt ; hence its application to a kind of literary composi- tion, the aim of which was to present a short and informal, rather than a methodical and finished, study of a particular subject. In a dedication written for the edition of 1612 Bacon says, " The word essay is late, but the thing is ancient. For Seneca's Epistles to Lucilius, if one mark them well, are but essays, that is, dispersed meditations." But however ancient the origin of essay writing, there is no doubt that Bacon's work in this direction was influenced in some meas- ure by the example of the first great modern essayist, Michel de Montaigne. Montaigne's Essays. — Montaigne published the first two books of his Essays in 1580, at Bourdeaux. Bacon knew Montaigne not only as the great French essayist, but also as the friend of his elder brother Anthony. Between 1579 and 1592 this brother was traveling about the continent, and some two years after the first publication of Montaigne's Essays he became acquainted with their author. No doubt one result of this acquaintance was that the French essays were early brought to the attention of Francis Bacon ; and they may have suggested to him the idea of noting down his ob- servations and reflections after his own more direct and con- cise manner ; in consequence of which he became the first of an almost unbroken succession of English essayists. The Early Editions of Bacon's Essays. — The first edition xxvi FRANCIS BACON of Bacorfs Essays was published in 1597, and comprised the following titles : i. Of Studies ; ii. Of Discourse ; iii. Of Cere- monies and Respects ; iv. Of Followers and Friends ; v. Of Suitors ; vi. Of Expense ; vii. Of Regimen of Health ; viii. Of Honor and Reputation ; ix. Of Faction ; x. Of Negotiating. In 1 612 appeared a second and enlarged edition of forty essays. In the dedication the author refers to them as " cer- tain brief notes set down rather significantly than curiously," that is, more for their meaning than their style ; and says that he has endeavored to make them " not vulgar, but of a nature whereof a man shall find much in experience, and little in books." The final edition was published in 1625, and contained fifty-eight essays. In the dedication to the Duke of Bucking- ham the author writes : " I do now publish my Essays, which, of all my works, have been most current, for that, as it seems, they come home to men's business and bosoms. I have en- larged them both in number and weight, so that they are in- deed a new work. ... I do conceive that the Latin volume of them, being in the universal language, may last as long as books last. 11 Bacon, like most of the English scholars under the influ- ence of the current devotion to the classical languages, re- garded his native tongue as unstable as well as unscholarly, and predicted that it would sometime " play the bankrupt with books " written in it. Hence he had not only the Essays, but all his principal works, translated into Latin, that they might not be lost to posterity. The Wisdom of the Essays. — The practical wisdom of Bacon reveals itself in every sentence of the Essays. One authority, Saintsbury, declares that since Socrates there has been no other writer so intellectually dynamic and stimulative as Bacon. Archbishop Whately writes : " When a man comes to reflect and observe, and his faculties enlarge, he sees INTRODUCTION xxvii more in the Essays than he did at first, and still more as he advances further, his admiration of Bacon's profundity in- creasing as he himself grows intellectually. 11 The eminent Scotch philosopher, Dugald Stewart, bears like testimony, which is confirmed by the judgment of every earnest student of the Essays : " After the twentieth perusal one seldom fails to remark in them something overlooked before. 11 The Method of the Essays. — Bacon was a lifelong col- lector of adages and pithy sayings ; the maxims of " prover- bial philosophy " appealed to his practical nature. It is usually from such brief pregnant sentences or axioms that he develops his subjects in the Essays, weighing and balancing each side of the question, to determine its moral and practical status. His scientific spirit shows itself in this recognition of both the " pros and cons, 11 in his avoidance of the error of over- looking or ignoring every view of the subject except the par- ticular view he favors. The resulting impression is that of judicial fairness, although at times this appearance of candor is only a disguise for real partisanship of opinion. Insight into his method of developing a subject is afforded by his remarks prefatory to his collection of Antithesis of Things, toward the close of the sixth book of the Advancement of Learning: " I would have all topics which there is frequent occasion to handle studied and prepared beforehand ; and not only so, but the case exaggerated both ways with the utmost force of the wit, and urged unfairly, as it were, and quite beyond the truth. And the best way of making such a collection, with a view to use as well as brevity, would be to contract these commonplaces into certain acute and concise sentences to be as skeins or bottoms of thread which may be unwinded at large when they are wanted. 11 In studying the Essays it is interesting to notice how Bacon " unwinds " these threads of thought which, as they lie on opposite sides of the " skein, 1 ' xxviii FRANCIS BACON se.em to run in contrary directions, and, straightening them out so that they no longer pursue opposite courses, re-winds them into a compact sphere of conclusions. It is an excellent practice for the student to reverse this process by analyzing out and setting down in parallel columns the antithetical proposi- tions from which the essay is developed. He may then profit- ably compare these propositions with Bacon's Antitheses cited above, many of which are concerned with the same subjects that are treated in the Essays. Their Subject-matter. — The Essays deal with the practical art or conduct of life, their subtitle, Counsels Givil and Moral, well conveying the nature of their content. Many of the essays are essentially the self-counsels of a keenly observant, ambitious man who would possess himself of the surest and most direct means of worldly success. In them their author has much to say about "business," the carrying on of the affairs of private and civil life ; and his practical counsels contain much worldly wisdom such as that found in the utterances of a later writer, Benjamin Franklin. His shrewd insight into the minutiae of practical conduct and affairs is remarkable, though of the merely local and particular he says little or nothing. No less striking is the breadth of his interest and thought. Many of his themes are far-reaching and lofty in scope and dig- nity, such as the duties of rulers, the policy of empire, and the true greatness of kingdoms. Some are of universal and profound ethical interest, dealing with the immutable principles govern- ing human life and action, the essential nature of truth, good- ness, adversity, and the like. They recognize that " goodness, of all virtues and dignities of the mind, is the greatest " ; but they also recognize that in the present state of the world virtue cannot find full exercise. Hence Bacon, in personal conduct, like Machiavelli in political, sometimes stoops to counsel the use of what is expedient when he thinks what is simply honest will not avail. The practical man, he argues, cannot succeed INTRODUCTION xxix except by studying, and taking advantage of, the weaknesses of human nature. He recognizes clearly enough the low standard of morality involved in such a policy, but regards such a stand- ard as necessary to the art of getting on in life under its ex- isting conditions. The student of Bacon's Essays should be clearly aware of this weakness in Bacon's practical ethics, and not be misled by the authority of a great intellect that was not always quite true to its possessor's higher moral nature. Nevertheless, the Essays are replete with the garnered wis- dom of philosophers and sages ; they contain many good and true thoughts ; they reveal the inner workings of one of the greatest minds ; (and by stimulating the earnest reader's own powers of thought and reflection they will amply repay his closest study. Bacon's Literary Style. — The characteristics of Bacon's style are such as one might expect from his practical aims ; his language is for use rather than ornament. His chief concern is to express his thought with clearness and in as few words as possible. His sentences are short, pointed, incisive, and often of balanced structure. Many of them have the force of epigrams and maxims. Directness, terseness, and forcefulness are Bacon's most prominent qualities of style. His manner is energetic and abrupt rather than fluent and graceful. He makes frequent use of figurative language, but not so much for beauty of expression as for clearness of thought. In distinction from that of his Essays, the style of his philosophical works is elaborate and ornamental. Occasional Obscurity in the Essays. — In spite of the gen- eral clearness of the Essays, the student will find occasional passages that seem somewhat difficult to understand. This apparent obscurity is due to several causes. One of these is the brevity and compression of the expression. Let the stu- dent test this by trying to condense some of the essays. This terseness sometimes leads to the omission of connective and xxx FRANCIS BACON transition elements that the reader's own intelligence must supply from the context. The student will do well occasionally to amplify one of the essays by writing out in full all the im- plicit connective phrases to show the dependence of each thought upon those contiguous. Again, the order of thoughts is not always due to a careful, logical organization. It is a good exercise sometimes to re- arrange the sentences in logical order as well as to supply con- nective elements. Looseness of grammatical construction, particularly the ambiguous use of pronouns, presents occa- sional difficulties of interpretation. Another source of diffi- culty in the understanding of the Essays is Bacon's .abundant use of allusions and quotations, especially from classical au- thors, as Tacitus, Ovid, Virgil, and Plutarch. This is a characteristic of many Elizabethan writers, and renders a com- mentary necessary for their study. The notes that follow the Essays in this volume will afford much of the required help. But the chief cause of obscurity in the Essays is the fact that they contain many words of Latin derivation employed in their Latin sense, which has in most cases become obsolete. For example, the word officious is used by Bacon in the sense of able to serve ; not until after the middle of the eighteenth century did it acquire its present meaning of offensively anxious to assume official authority. In the essay Of Envy the word curious is used in the sense of careful about details (Lat. cura, care) ; and the word derive is employed in its Latin meaning of to drain off, from de, from, and rivus, a stream. Again, in the same essay, we find plausible meaning worthy of applause, its original Latin significance. For a helpful discussion of Elizabethan English the student may consult the Introduction to Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar. The Study of the Essays. — Bacon's Essays cannot be read as one might read the Essays of Elia, for example. The mind must be held closely to every detail of the thought. The INTRODUCTION xxxi meaning of each sentence must be kept in mind as each suc- cessive sentence is interpreted, and the relationship between the thoughts carefully observed. Frequently it will be neces- sary for the student to dwell deliberately upon each phrase or even word, in order completely to grasp the meaning intended, so full is the thought and so compact the form of expression. Often sentences somewhat distantly separated have close and fine relationships and correspondences ; the interpreta- tion of each thought should be tested by constant reference to the context. Every essay studied should be carefully ana- lyzed, and a complete topical outline of it should be made. In doing this the student will discover that Bacon's paragraphs are often loosely constructed, — not always logical in thought and arrangement, and sometimes lacking in unity, although this lack is as a rule only apparent, being due at times to the compressed style of the expression. In studying the Essays the student should keep before him two main objects : to acquire a complete grasp of the thought, and to use the thought to interpret the character and personality of the author. Changes in the Essays. — The first version of the essay Of Discourse is printed with the notes on that essay to enable the student to note the general character of the changes made in the Essays between the first edition (1597) and the final edition (1625), from which the selections in this volume are taken. This early version also indicates the character of the spelling of English words that prevailed in Bacon's time, al- though far less uniformity was observed in this matter than now prevails. In this volume Bacon's spelling has been modernized, except in the case of a few words, the older form of which presents enough interest to call for comment in the notes. The paragraphing and punctuation have also been brought into conformity with present usage. REFERENCE BOOKS A FEW of the more easily accessible books of value to students of Bacon's Essays are listed below. These books should be kept in a sec- tion of the bookcase by themselves, and reserved tor the use of the stu- dents of the Essays. Students should be encouraged to use these books, and be required to look up and report upon assigned topics treated in them. Abbott, Edwin A. A Shakespearian Grammar. Indispensable to a study of Bacon's English. Francis Bacon : An Account of His Life and Works. The best short account of the subject. ARBER, Edward. A Harmony of the Essays. A "parallel column" comparison of the different versions of the Essays, together with the Latin translation. Contains a valuable introduction, includ- ing the first Life of Bacon, that by Dr. Rawley. BACON, F. Works, edited by James Spedding, Robert Ellis, and Doug- las Heath. This is the standard edition of Bacon's complete works, and should be accessible to students of the Essays. Bacon's Essays. Editions by E- A. Abbott, F. G. Selby, Aldis Wright, Henry Morley. Bacon's Novum Organum, and Advancement of Learning, in Bohn's Philosophical Library. Bible. Authorized Version. BOAS, MRS. F. Shakespeare' s England. BREWER, E. C. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Church, R. W. Francis Bacon (English Men of Letters). Clear, concise account. Dictionary. Webster's International. Standard. Century. Skeat's. EINSTEIN, Lewis. The Italian Renaissance in England. An interest- ing and invaluable aid in developing the " social background " of the Essays. EMERSON, O. F. A Brief History of the English Language. A con- venient help for the teacher, but not the sort of book that students readily use. Encyclopaedia Britannica, ninth edition, xxxii REFERENCE BOOKS xxxiii Fischer, Kuno. Francis of Verulam. A scholarly estimate of Bacon as a philosopher. Translated from the German. Fowler, T. Francis Bacon. GAYLEY, C. M. Classic Myths. GOADBY, EDWIN. The England of Shakespeare. Green, J. R. Short History of the English People. Harper s Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. HUTTON, L. Literary Landmarks of London. Lee, Sidney. Great Englishmen of the Sixteenth Century. An excel- lent concise account of Bacon. LEWES, G. H. Biographical History of Philosophy. LEWIS, C. T. Francis Bacon. In the Warner Classics; Studies of Great Authors, Vol. I (Philosophers and Scientists). This is a very favorable view of Bacon. Lippincott's Pronouncing Biographical Dictionary. LORD, JOHN. Beacon Lights of History, Vol. Ill (ch. xxxv). LOUNSBURY, T. R. History of the English Language. Macaulay, T. B. Essays on Bacon, and Machiavelli. Both these essays are of much value to the student of Bacon. Machiavelli, N. Discourses on Livy. The Prince. MlNTO, W. Manual of English Prose Literature. Contains an analy- sis of Bacon's style. Montaigne, Michel de. Essays. Translated by Charles Cotton, and edited by W. C. Hazlitt. A comparison of Montaigne's diffusive style with Bacon's compact style would be worth making. Students might with profit read, or hear read, one or more essays of Montaigne. MORLEY. English Writers. Morris, George S. British Thought and Thinkers. NASMITH, D. Makers of Modem Thought. Short accounts of Machia- velli, Montaigne, Bacon. Not of great value to students of Bacon. NlCHOL, J. Francis Bacon : his Life and Philosophy. Ordish, T. F. Shakespeare's London. Plato. Dialogues. Translated by Henry Davis. Bohn Library. Plutarch's Lives. Remusat, de, Charles. Bacon; sa vie, son temps, sa philosophic, et son influence jusqu'a nos jours. Shakespeare' s Works. SAINTSBURY, G. A Short History of English Literature. XXXIV CHRONOLOGY SKEAT, W. W. Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. This book should be consulted daily by students of the Essays. SMITH, WILLIAM. Classical Dictionary. Dictionary of Greek and Roinan Antiquities. Spedding, James. Letters and Life of Francis Bacon. SYMONDS, J. A. Francis Bacon. (Encyclopaedia Britannica.) TAINE, H. A. History of English Literature. WARNER, C. D. People for Whom Shakespeare Wrote. WHIPPLE, E. P. Literature of the Age of Elizabeth. WINTER, W. Shakespeare 's England. CHRONOLOGY 1558. Elizabeth becomes queen. 1561. Francis Bacon born, January 22. 1563. Dissolution of the Council of Trent. 1566. Revolt of the Netherlands. 1570. Excommunication of Elizabeth. 1 571. Defeat of the Turks near Lepanto. 1572. Massacre of St. Bartholomew. 1573. Bacon enters Cambridge. 1576—78. Visits France with Sir Amyas Paulet. 1579. Death of Sir Nicholas Bacon. 1582. Francis Bacon admitted as " Utter Barrister." 1584. Represents Melcombe Regis in the House of Commons. 1584. Assassination of William of Orange. 1585. Bacon probably writes The Greatest Birth of Time. 1587. Mary Stuart executed. 1588. The Spanish Armada destroyed. 1588. Death of Leicester. 1589. Earl of Essex becomes the Queen's favorite. 1593. Bacon opposes the Queen's subsidy measure and loses her favor. 1593-95. He tries in vain to secure the office of Attorney, and that of Solicitor-General. 1595. Tyrone's Rebellion. CHRONOLOGY xxxv 1595. Essex presents Bacon with an estate. 1597. First edition of the Essays. 1598. Essex quarrels with the Queen. 1598. Edict of Nantes. 1598. Death of Bacon's uncle, Lord Burleigh. 1599. Victory of Tyrone in Ireland. 1599. Essex is sent to put down the Irish rebellion. 1599. He makes truce with Tyrone and returns to England. 1600. He is imprisoned, but soon released. 1601. His rising against the government; trial and execution. 1 601. Bacon writes an account of the Practices and Treasons attempted and committed by Robert, the late Earl of Essex and his Complices. 1601. Francis Bacon's brother Anthony dies. 1602. Death of Queen Elizabeth. 1603. James I becomes king. 1603. Bacon writes the first book of the Advancement of Learning. 1603. Bacon becomes Sir Francis Bacon. 1604. Bacon appointed member of the King's Learned Counsel. 1605. Advancement of Learning published. 1605. Gunpowder plot. 1606. Bacon marries Alice Barnham. 1607. He becomes Solicitor-General. 1607. The Virginia colony founded. 1610. Invention of the thermometer. 1610. Death of Bacon's mother. 161 1 . Authorized, or " King James," Version of the Bible pub- lished. 161 2. First English settlement in India. 1613. Bacon becomes Attorney-General. 1 61 3. The Romanoff dynasty founded in Russia. 1614. Logarithms invented by Napier. 1614. Prosecution and torture of Peacham (before Bacon). 1614. The " Addled Parliament." 1 61 6. Bacon receives appointment as Privy Councilor. xxxvi CHRONOLOGY 1617. Bacon becomes Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. 1 61 8. Bacon made Lord Chancellor. 1618. Beginning of the Thirty Years' War. 1 6 18. Bacon becomes Baron Verulam of Verulam. 1618. Sir Walter Raleigh executed. 1620. Publication of the Novum Organum. 1620. Bacon made Viscount St. Alban. 1620. He is charged with bribery. 1621. Transmits his " confession and humble submission " to Parliament. 1621. Is imprisoned in the Tower, but soon released. 1 62 1. Bacon retires to Gorhambury. 1 62 1. Publishes his History of Henry VII. 1624. New Atlantis probably written. 1625. Final edition of the Essays. 1626. Death of Francis Bacon, April 9. LEADING ENGLISH WRITERS CONTEMPORARY WITH BACON 15 1 5-1568. Roger Ascham. 1584-1616. Francis Beaumont. 1577-1640. Robert Burton. 1 5 59-1 634. George Chapman. 1 520-1 604. Thomas Churchyard. 1562-1619. Samuel Daniel. 1573-1631. John Donne. 1 588- 1 623. Giles Fletcher. 1555- 1624. Stephen Gosson. 1560-1592. Robert Greene. 1552-1616. Richard Hakluyt. 1 545-1 630. Gabriel Harvey. 1 593-1 633. George Herbert. ?-i650. Thomas Heywood. 1554-1600. Richard Hooker. 1558-1625. Thomas Lodge. 1554-1606. John Lyly. 1564-1593. Christopher Marlowe. 1575-1634. John Marston. 1 583-1 640. Philip Massinger. 1570-1627. Thomas Middleton. 1 530-161 1. Richard Mulcaster. 1567-1601. Thomas Nash. 1558— 1597. George Peele. 1552-1618. Sir Walter Raleigh. 1 585-1 642. William Rowley. 1536-1608. Thomas Sackville. 1 564-1 6 1 6. William Shakespeare. 1 5 54- 1 5 86. Sir Philip Sidney. 1552-1599. Edmund Spenser. 1593-1683. Izaak Walton. 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; affect- ing • 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 diffi- culty and labor 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° favor; 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 daylight, that doth not show the masks, and mummeries, and triumphs of the world half so stately and daintily as candle-lights. Truth may perhaps come Reference Marks : ° = See Notes ; • = See Glossary. Numerals refer to footnotes. I 2 BACON'S ESSAYS [i to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day ; but it will not rise to the price of a diamond or carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights. A mixture of a lie° doth ever add pleasure. Doth any man doubt that, if there were taken out of men's minds vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one would, 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 damonum} because it filleth 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 howso- ever these things are thus in men's depraved judgments and affections,* yet truth, which only doth judge itself, teacheth that the inquiry of truth, which is the love- making, or wooing of it ; the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it ; and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it; is the sovereign good of human nature. The first creature ' of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense ; the last was the light of reason ; and His Sabbath work ever since is the illumination of His Spirit. First He breathed light upon the face of the 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 excellently well : " It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea ; a pleasure to stand in the 1 The wine of demons. [See note.] I] OF TRUTH 3 window of a castle, and to see a battle, and the adventures thereof, below : but no pleasure is comparable to the stand- ing upon the vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be commanded, and where the air is always clear and serene), and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below : " 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. 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 the honor of man's nature ; and that mixture of false- hood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious. And there- fore 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 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 cannot possibly be so highly expressed as in that it shall be the last peal to call the judgments of God upon the genera- tions of men : it being foretold that when Christ cometh " He shall not find faith upon the earth.". 4 BACON'S ESSAYS [n 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 death are, when the whole body is corrupted and dissolved ; when many times death passeth with less pain than the torture of a limb, for the most vital parts are not the quickest of sense. And by him that spake only as a philosopher and natural man, it was well said, Pompa mortis magis ferret quant mors ipsa} Groans, and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks,* and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible. It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it mates ° 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 ; honor aspireth to it ; grief flieth to it ; fear preoccupateth* it : nay, we read, after Otho ° the emperor had slain himself, pity, which is the tenderest of affec- i The parade of death terrifies more than death itself. — Seneca, Epistle iii. ii] OF DEATH 5 tions,* 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 feceris ; mori velle, non tantum /or/is, aut miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest} A man would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable, only upon a weari- ness 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 mentor vive, et vale? Tiberius in dissimulation ; as Tacitus saith of him, Jam Tiberium vires et corpus, non dis- simulatio, deserebant? Vespasian in a jest, sitting upon the stool : Utputo, Deus fio. K Galba with a sentence : Feri, si ex re sit popnli Romani' holding forth his neck. Septimius Severus in dispatch : Adeste,si quid mihi res tat agendum ; 6 and the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed too much cost upon death, and by their great preparations made it appear more fearful. Better saith he, Qui finem vitce extremum inter munera ponat natural It is as natural to die as to 1 Think how long you have been doing the same things ; the desire to die may be felt not by the brave alone, or the wretched, but also by the fastidious. 2 Livia, remember well our wedded life, and farewell. 3 Tiberius was now losing his strength and vitality, but not his dis- simulation. 4 I suppose that I am becoming a god. 5 Strike if it be for the good of the people of Rome. 6 Hasten, if anything remains for me to do. 7 Who reckons the last end of life among the blessings of Nature. — Juvenal, Satire x. 358. 6 BACON'S ESSAYS [ill 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 k good doth avert the dolors of death. But above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is, Nunc dimittis, 1 when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also ; that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy°. — Extincttis amabitur idem? 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, be- cause the religion 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 therefore his worship and religion will endure no mix- ture nor partner. 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. 1 Now dismiss us. 2 Let him die, to-morrow you will love him. — Horace, Epistles ii. i. 14. in] OF UNITY IN RELIGION 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 of manners. For as in the natural body, a wound, or solution of continuity, is worse than a corrupt humor, 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 ; x another saith, Ecce in penetralibus ; 2 that is, when some men seek Christ in the conventicles of heretics, and others in an outward face of a church, that voice had need continually to sound in men's ears, Nolite exire, go not out. The doctor of the Gentiles, the 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, will 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 con- trary 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 this title of a book, " The Morris-dance of Heretics" ; for indeed every sect of them hath a diverse posture or cringe by themselves, 1 Behold, he is in the desert. — Matt. xxiv. 26. 2 Behold, he is in the secret chambers. 8 BACON'S ESSAYS [m which cannot but move derision in worldlings and de- praved 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 labors of writing and reading of controversies into treatises of mortification and devotion. Concerning the bounds of unity, the true placing of them importeth exceedingly. There appear to be two extremes. For to certain zealots all speech of pacifica- tion is odious. " Is it peace, Jehu?" " What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me." Peace is not the matter, but following and party. Contrariwise, cer- tain 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 arbitrement between God and man. Both these extremes are to be avoided ; which will be done if the league of Christians, penned by our Savior himself, were in the two cross clauses thereof soundly and plainly expounded : " He that is not with us is against us " ; and again, " He that is not against us is with us " ; that is, if the points fundamental and of substance in religion were truly discerned and 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 par- tially, it would be embraced more generally. Of this I may give only this advice, according to my small model. Men ought to take heed of rending God's in] OF UNITY IN RELIGION 9 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 colors " : whereupon he saith, In veste varietas sit, scissura non sit; 1 they be two things, unity and uniformity. The other is, when the matter of the point controverted is great, but it is driven to an over- great subtilty and obscurity, so that it becometh a thing rather ingenious than substantial. A man that is of judg- ment 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 dis- cern that frail men, in some of their contradictions, intend the same thing, and accepteth of both? The nature of such 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? 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 implicit ignorance ; 1 In the garment there maybe divers colors, but let there be no rent. - Avoid profane novelties of terms and oppositions of science falsely so called. — Tim. vi. 20. IO BACON'S ESSAYS [in for all colors will agree in the dark : the other, when it is pieced up upon a direct admission of contraries in fun- damental points. For truth and falsehood in such things are like the iron and clay in the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image — they may cleave, but they will not incorporate. Concerning the means of procuring unity, men must beware that in the procuring or muniting of religious unity, they do not dissolve and deface the laws of charity and of human society. There be two swords amongst Christians, the spiritual and temporal, and both have their due office and place in the maintenance of religion. But we may not take up the third sword, which is Mahom- et's sword, or like unto it : that is, to propagate religion by wars, or by sanguinary persecutions to force con- sciences ; except it be in cases of overt scandal, blasphemy, or intermixture of practice against the state : much less to nourish seditions, to authorize conspiracies and rebellions, to put the sword into the people's hands, and the like, tending to the subversion of all government, which is the ordinance of God. For this is but to dash 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 religio potuit suadere malorum. 1 What would he have said if he had known of the massa- cre in France, or the powder treason ° of England ? He would have been seven times more epicure and atheist than he was ; for as the temporal sword is to be drawn 1 So great the evils to which religion could prompt. ill] OF UNITY IN RELIGION II with great circumspection in cases of religion, so it is a thing monstrous to put it into the hands of the common people. Let that be left unto the Anabaptists and other furies. It was great blasphemy when the devil said, " I will ascend, and be like the Highest" ; but it is a greater blasphemy to personate God, and bring Him in saying, " I will descend, and be like the prince of darkness." And what is it better to make the cause of religion to descend to the cruel and execrable actions of murdering princes, butchery of people, and subversion of states and governments? Surely this is to bring down the Holy Ghost, instead of the likeness of a dove, in the shape of a vulture or raven ; and to set, out of the bark of a Chris- tian Church, a flag of a bark of pirates and assassins. Therefore it is most necessary that the Church by doc- trine and decree, princes by their sword, and all learn- ings, both Christian and moral, as by their mercury rod,° dp damn and send to hell forever those facts and opinions tending to the support of the same ; as hath been already in good part done. Surely in councils concerning reli- gion, that counsel of the apostle would be prefixed, Ira hominis non implet justitiam Dei} And it was a notable observation of a wise father, and no less ingeniously con- fessed, that " those which held and persuaded pressure of consciences were commonly interested therein them- selves for their own ends." 1 The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. — James i. 20. 12 BACON'S ESSAYS [iv IV. OF REVENGE Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. For as for the first wrong, it doth but offend the law; but the revenge of that wrong putteth the law out of office. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over he is superior ; for it is a prince's part to pardon. And Solomon, I am sure, saith,° " It is the glory of a man to pass by an offense." That which is past is gone and irrevocable, and wise men have enough to do with things present and to come. Therefore they do but trifle with themselves that labor in past matters. There is no man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake ° ; but thereby to purchase himself profit, or pleasure, or honor, 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 brier, which prick or scratch because they can do no other. The most tolerable sort of revenge is for those wrongs which there is no law to remedy ; but then let a man take heed the revenge be such as there is no law to punish, else a man's enemy is still beforehand, and it is two for one.° Some, when they take revenge, are desirous the party should know whence it cometh. This is the more gen- erous, 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 v] OF ADVERSITY 1 3 against perfidious or neglecting friends, as if those wrongs were unpardonable. " You shall read," saith he, " that we are commanded to forgive our enemies ; 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 con- tent 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 fortu- nate ; as that for the death of Caesar ; for the death of Pertinax ; for the death of Henry III of France ; and many more. But in private revenges it is not so. Nay, rather, vindictive persons live the life of witches, who, as they are mischievous, so end they infortunate. V. OF ADVERSITY It was a high speech of Seneca, after the manner of the Stoics, that the good things which belong to pros- perity 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 adver- sity. 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 fragilitatem hominis, securitatem Dei). This would have done better in poesy, where transcendencies are more allowed. And the poets, indeed, 14 BACON'S ESSAYS [v 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 de- scribing Christian resolution, that saileth in the frail bark of the flesh thorough* the waves of the world. But to speak in a mean,' the virtue of 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 carrieth the greater benediction and the clearer revelation of God's favor. 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 labored more in describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon. Pros- perity is not without many fears and distastes, and adver- sity is not without comforts and hopes. We see in needle- works and embroideries it is more pleasing to have a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground than to have a dark and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground. Judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart by the pleasure of the eye. Certainly virtue is like precious odors, most fra- grant when they are incensed or crushed ; for prosperity doth best discover ■ vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue. vi] OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION 15 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 politicians that are the great dissemblers. Tacitus saith Livia sorted* well with the arts of her husband 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 Vitellius, he saith, " We rise not against the piercing judgment of Augustus, nor the extreme caution or closeness of Tiberius." These properties of arts or policy, and dissimulation or closeness, are indeed habits and faculties several, and to be distinguished. 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 showed 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 dissimulation is a hindrance and a poorness. But if a man cannot obtain ■ to that judgment, then it is left to him generally to 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 case indeed required dissimula- 16 BACON'S ESSAYS [vi tion, if then they used it, it came to pass that the former opinion spread abroad of their good faith and clearness of dealing made them almost invisible. There be three degrees of this hiding and veiling of a man's self. The first, closeness, reservation, and se- crecy, 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 confessor ; and assuredly the secret man heareth many confessions, for who will open himself to a blab or a babbler? But if a man be thought secret it inviteth dis- covery, as the more close air sucketh in the more open. And as in confession, 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 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 a 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 vi] OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION 17 how much it is many times more marked and believed than a man's words. 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 too cunning to suffer a man to keep an in- different* carriage between both, and to be secret, with- out 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 show an inclination one way ; or if he do not, they will gather as much by his silence as by his speech. As for equivocations, or oraculous speeches, they cannot hold out long. So that no man 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 needs disguise, it maketh him practice 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 sur- prise ; 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 1 8 BACON'S ESSAYS [vn through or take a fall. The third is, the better to dis- cover the mind of another • for to him that opens him- self, men will hardly show themselves 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 show 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 cooperate with him, and makes a man walk almost alone to his own ends. The third, and greatest, is that it depriveth a man of one of the 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 seasonable 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 labors, 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 vii] OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN 19 see the noblest works and foundations ° have proceeded from childless men, which have sought to express the images of their mind where those of their bodies have failed ; so the care of posterity is most in them that have no posterity. They that are the first raisers ° of their houses are most indulgent towards their children, be- holding 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 Solomon 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 or two of the eldest respected, and the youngest made wantons ; but in the midst some that are, as it were, forgotten, who many times, nevertheless, prove the best. The illiberality of parents in allowance towards their children is a harmful error — makes them base, ac- quaints them with shifts, makes them sort with mean com- pany, and makes them surfeit more when they come to plenty ; and, therefore, the proof is best when men keep their authority towards their children, but not their purse. Men have a foolish manner, both parents, and school- masters, and servants, in creating and breeding an emula- tion between brothers during childhood, which many times sorteth* to discord when they are men, and disturbeth fami- lies. The Italians make little difference between childtei and nephews or near kinsfolks ; but so they be of the lump N 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 20 BACON'S ESSAYS [vm uncle or a kinsman more than his own parent, as the blood happens. Let parents 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 them- selves 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 Mud faciet consuetudo} Younger brothers are commonly for- tunate, but seldom or never where the elder are disin- herited. VIII. OF MARRIAGE 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 must transmit their dearest pledges. Some there are who, though they lead a single life, yet their thoughts do end 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 1 Choose what is best : habit will make it pleasant and easy. viii] OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE 21 perhaps they have heard some talk, " Such a 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, especially in certain self-pleasing and humorous minds, which are so sensible of every restraint, as they will go near to think their girdles and garters to be bonds and shackles. Unmarried men are best friends, best masters, best serv- ants, but not always best subjects ; for they are light to run away, and almost all fugitives are of that con- dition. A single life doth well with churchmen, for charity will hardly water the ground where it must first fill a pool. It is indifferent for judges and magistrates, for if they be facile and corrupt you shall have a servant five times worse than a wife. For soldiers, I find the generals commonly, in their hortatives, put men in mind of their wives and chil- dren. 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 be many times more charitable, because their means are less exhaust, yet, on the other side, they are more cruel and hard- hearted, 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, Vetulam suam pratulit immortalitati} It is one of the best bonds, both of chas- tity and obedience, in the wife if she think her husband wise, which she will never do if she find him jealous. 1 He preferred his old wife to immortality. 22 BACON'S ESSAYS [ix Wives are young men's mistresses, companions for middle ages, 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 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 imaginations 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 the act of envy an ejaculation * or irradiation of the eye. Nay, some have been so curious * as to note that the tim,es 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 ix] OF ENVY 23 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 themselves ; and what is the difference be- tween public and private envy. A man that hath no virtue in himself ever envieth virtue in others. For men's minds will either feed upon their own good or upon others' evil ; ° and who wanteth the one will prey upon the other ; and whoso is out of hope to attain to another's virtue will seek to come at even hand by depressing another's fortune. A man that is busy and inquisitive is commonly envi- ous. For to know much of other men's matters cannot be because all that ado may concern his own estate ; therefore it must needs be that he taketh a kind of play- pleasure in looking upon the fortunes of others. Neither can he that mindeth but his own business find much matter for envy, for envy is a gadding passion, and walketh the streets, and doth not keep home. Non est curiosus, quin idem sit malevolus} Men of noble birth are noted to be envious towards new men when they rise, for the distance is altered, and it is like a deceit of the eye, that when others come on they think themselves go back. Deformed persons, and eunuchs, and old men, and bastards are envious ; for he that cannot possibly mend his own case will do what he can to impair another's, except these defects light upon a very brave and heroical 1 No one is meddlesome who is not also malevolent. 24 BACON'S ESSAYS [IX nature, which thinketh to make his natural wants part of his honor ; in that it should be said that an eunuch or a lame man did such great matters, affecting the honor of a miracle ; as it was in Narses ° the eunuch, and Agesi- laus ° and Tamerlane, that were lame men. The same is the case of men that rise after calamities and 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 vainglory, are ever envious ; for they cannot want work, it being impossible but many in some one of those things should surpass them ; which was the charac- ter of Adrian, the emperor, that mortally envied poets and painters, and artificers in works wherein he had a vein* to excel. Lastly, near kinsfolk, and fellows in office, and those that have been bred together, are more apt to envy their equals when they ° are raised ; for it doth upbraid unto them their own fortunes, and pointeth at them, and cometh oftener in 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, be- cause, when his sacrifice was better accepted, there was nobody to look on. Thus much for those that are apt to envy. Concerning those that are more or less subject to envy : First, persons of eminent virtue, when they are advanced, are less envied, for their fortune seemeth but due unto them ; and no man envieth the payment of a debt, but ix] OF ENVY 25 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 persons are most envied at their first com- ing in, and afterwards overcome it better ; whereas, con- trariwise, 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 luster, for fresh men grow up that darken it. Persons of noble blood are less envied in their rising, for it seemeth but right done to their birth. Besides, there seemeth not much added to their fortune ; and envy is as the sunbeams, that beat hotter upon a bank or steep rising ground than upon a flat. And for the same reason, those that are advanced by degrees are less envied than those that are advanced suddenly, and per saltum} Those that have joined with their honor great travels,* cares, or perils, are less subject to envy, for men think that they earn their honors hardly, and pity them some- times ; and pity ever healeth envy. Wherefore, you shall observe that the more deep and sober sort of politic per- sons, in their greatness, are ever bemoaning themselves what a life they lead, chanting a Quanta patimur ; 2 not that they feel it so, but only to abate the edge of envy. But this is to be understood of business that is laid upon men, and not such as they call unto themselves ; for nothing increaseth envy more than an unnecessary and ambitious engrossing of business, and nothing doth ex- 1 At a bound. 2 How much do we suffer! 26 BACON'S ESSAYS [ix tinguish envy more than for a great person to preserve all other inferior officers in their full rights and pre-emi- nences 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 showing how great they are, either by outward pomp, or by triumphing over all opposition or competition ; whereas wise men will rather do sacrifice to envy, in suffering themselves some- times 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 arrogance and vainglory, doth draw less envy than if it be in a more crafty and cunning fashion. For in that course a man doth but disavow fortune, and seemeth to be conscious of his own want in worth, and doth but teach others to envy him. Lastly, to conclude this part : as we said in the begin- ning that the act of envy had somewhat in it of witchcraft, so there is no other cure of envy but the cure of witch- craft, 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 some- body upon whom to derive * the envy that would come upon themselves ; sometimes upon ministers and serv- ants, sometimes upon colleagues and associates, and the like. And for that turn there are never wanting some persons of violent and undertaking natures, who, so they may have power and business, will take it at any cost. ix] OF ENVY 27 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 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 odor. And there- fore there is little won by intermingling of plausible • ac- tions ; 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 princi- pal 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 discontentment, and the difference hereof 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 and continual ; for of other affections there is occasion given but now and then, and therefore it is well said, 28 BACON'S ESSAYS [x Invidia festos dies non agit} for it is ever working upon some or other. And it is also noted that love and envy do make a man pine, which other affections do 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 among the wheat by night " ; as it always cometh to pass that envy worketh subtly and in the dark, and to the prejudice of good things, such as is the 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 shows that great spirits and great business do keep out this weak passion. You must except, nevertheless, Marcus Antonius, the half-partner of the Empire 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 1 Envy keeps no holidays. x] OF LOVE 29 well kept. It is a poor saying of Epicurus, Satis mag- num alter alteri theatrum sumus, 1 as if man, made for the contemplation of heaven and all noble objects, should do nothing but kneel before a little idol and make himself 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 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 certainly the lover is more. For there was never proud man thought so absurdly well of himself as the lover doth of the person loved, and therefore it was well said that it is impossible 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 re- warded either with the reciproque, 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 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 ad- versity ; though this latter hath been less observed, 1 We are a great enough object of contemplation one for another. 30 BACON'S ESSAYS [xi which both times kindle love and make it more fervent, and, therefore, show 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 seri- ous affairs and actions of life ; for if it check ■ once with business 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 mankind, friendly love perfecteth it, but wanton love corrupteth and embaseth it. 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 is a melancholy thing. Cum non sis xi] OF GREAT PLACE 3 1 qui fueris, non esse cur velis vivere} Nay, retire men cannot when they would, neither will they when it were reason, but are impatient of privateness, even in age and sickness, which require the shadow ° ; like old townsmen, that will be still ' sitting at their street door, though there- by 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 they can- not 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. //// 7110 rs gravis incubat, qui notus nimis omnibus, ignotus moritur sibi. 2 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 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 without power and place, as the vantage and commanding ground. Merit and good works is the end of man's motion, and conscience of the same is the 1 When you are no longer what you have been, there is no reason for wishing to live. 2 Upon him who dies too well known to others, but unknown to himself, death comes with all its terrors. 32 BACONS ESSAYS [xi accomplishment of man's rest. For if a man can be partaker of God's theater he shall likewise be partaker of God's rest. Et conversus Dens, ut aspiceret opera, qua fecerunt manus suce, vidit quod omnia essent bona nimis; x 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 examine thyself strictly, whether thou didst not best at first. Neglect not also the examples of those that have carried 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 ob- serve wherein and how they have degenerated ; but yet ask counsel of both times : of the ancient time what is best, and of the latter time what is fittest. Seek to make thy course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect; but be not too positive and peremp- tory, 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 chal- lenges. Preserve likewise the rights of inferior places, and think it more honor 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 1 And God turned to behold the works that his hands had made, and saw that all was very good. — Gen. i. 31. xi] OF GREAT PLACE 33 away such as bring thee information, as meddlers, but accept of them in good part. The vices of authority are chiefly four : delays, cor- ruption, roughness, and facility. For delays, 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 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 favorite, if he be inward, and no other apparent cause of esteem, is commonly thought but a by-way to close corruption. For roughness, it is a needless cause of dis- content ; severity breedeth fear, 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 a man he shall never be without. As Solomon 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 showeth the man " ; and it showeth some to the better, and some to the worse. Omnium consensu, capax im- 34 BACON'S ESSAYS [xn peril, nisi impemsset, 1 saith Tacitus of Galba; but of Vespasian he saith, Solus impera,7itium Vespasia?ius mutatus in melius? Though the one was meant of suffi- ciency, the other of manners and affection. It is an assured sign of a worthy and generous spirit, whom honor amends. For honor is, or should be, the place of virtue, and as in nature things move violently to their place and calmly in their place, so virtue in ambition is violent, in authority settled and calm. All rising to great place is by a winding stair j ° 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 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, re- spect 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 De- mosthenes, What was the chief part of an orator? He 1 Had he never been emperor universal opinion would have held him fit to rule. — TACITUS, History i. 49. 2 Vespasian alone was changed for the better by empire. — Tacitus, History i. so. xii] OF BOLDNESS 35 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 in- vention, elocution, and the rest — nay, almost alone, as if it were all in all. But the reason is plain. There is in human nature generally more of the fool than of the wise ; and therefore those faculties by which the foolish part of men's minds is taken are most potent. Wonderful like is the case of boldness in civil business.* What first? Boldness. What second and third ? Boldness. And yet boldness is a child of ignorance and baseness, far inferior to other parts. But nevertheless it doth fascinate and bind hand and foot those that are either shallow in judg- ment or weak in courage, which are the greatest part — yea, and prevaileth with wise men at weak times. There- fore, we see it hath done wonders in popular • states, but with senates and princes less ; and more ever upon the first entrance of bold persons into action than soon after ; for boldness is an ill keeper of promise. Surely, as there are mountebanks for the natural body, so there are mountebanks for the politic body ; men that undertake 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 a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his law. The people assembled ; 36 BACON'S ESSAYS [xn 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 hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill." So these men, when they have promised great matters and failed most shamefully, yet, if they have the perfection of boldness, they will but slight it over, and make a turn, and no more ado. Certainly to men of great judgment bold persons are a sport to behold. Nay, and to the vulgar also boldness hath somewhat 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 boldness is ever blind, for it seeth not dangers and inconveniences. 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 execu- tion not to see them, except they be very great. XIII] GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE 37 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 philanthro- pia; • and the word humanity, as it is used, is a little too light to express it. Goodness I call the habit, and good- ness 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. Good- ness answers to the theological virtue charity, and admits no excess, but error. The desire 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. Errors, indeed, in this virtue of goodness or charity, may be committed. The Italians have an ungracious proverb, Tan to buon die 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 38 BACON'S ESSAYS [xm he spake because indeed there was never law, or sect, or opinion, did so much magnify goodness as the Chris- tian religion doth. Therefore, to avoid the scandal and the danger both, it is good to take knowledge of the errors of a habit so excellent. Seek the good of other men, but be not in bondage to their faces or fancies j for that is but facility or softness, which taketh an honest mind prisoner. Neither give thou yEsop's cock a gem, who would be better pleased and happier if he had a barley- corn. The example of God teacheth the lesson truly : " He sendeth his rain and maketh his sun to shine upon the just and the unjust " j ° but He doth not rain wealth nor shine honor and virtues upon men equally. Common benefits are to be communicated with all, but peculiar benefits with choice. And beware how in making the por- traiture thou breakest the pattern ; for divinity ° maketh the love of ourselves the pattern, the love of our neighbors 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 thou 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. For there be that in their nature do not affect • the good of others. The lighter sort of malignity turneth but to a crossness, or frowardness, or aptness to oppose, or difficileness,* or the like ; but the deeper sort to envy and mere* mischief. Such men, in xiv] OF NOBILITY 39 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 dispositions are the very errors of human nature, and yet they are the fittest timber to make great politics * 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 his heart is like the noble tree ° that is wounded itself when it gives the balm. If he easily pardons and remits offenses, 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 per- fection 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, 40 BACON'S ESSAYS [xiv where there is no nobility at all, is ever a pure and absolute tyranny, as that of the Turks ; for nobility attempers sover- eignty, 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, not upon the persons ; or if upon the persons, it is for the business' sake, as fittest, and not for flags and pedigree. We see the Svvitzers 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 government excel, for where there is an equality, the consultations are more indifferent, and the payments and tributes more cheerful. A great and potent nobility addeth majesty to a monarch, but diminished! power ; and putteth life and spirit into the people, but presseth their fortune. It is well when nobles are not too great for sovereignty nor for justice, and yet maintained in that height as the insolence of inferiors may be broken ° upon them, before it come on too fast upon the majesty of kings. A numerous nobility causeth poverty and inconvenience in a state, for it is a surcharge 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 honor and means. As for nobility in particular persons, it is a reverend thing to see an ancient castle or building not in decay, or 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. xv] OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES 41 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 he that is not industrious envieth him that is. Besides, noble persons cannot go much higher ; and he thatstandeth 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 pos- session of honor. 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 tempests 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 tem- pest, so are there in states : Ille etiam ccecos instare tumultus Scepe monet, fraudesque et operta tumescere bella?- Libels and licentious discourses against the state, when they are frequent and open, and in like sort false news 1 He also [the sun] often warns us of the approach of unseen troubles and of gathering treason and dark-plotted wars. — Virgil, Georgics i. 465. 42 BACON'S ESSAYS [xv 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, Cceo Enceladoque sororem Progennit. 1 As if fames were the relics of seditions past; but they are no less indeed the preludes of seditions to come. How- soever he noteth it right, that seditious tumults and se- ditious 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, Conjiata magna invidia, sen dene, sen male, gesta premunt 2 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 iamen qui mallent mandata imperantium interpretari quam exsequiS' Disputing, excusing, caviling upon mandates and directions, is a kind of shaking off the yoke and assay 1 Earth, her parent, provoked by the anger of the gods, brought her forth, they say, the youngest of the family, sister of Cceus and Enceladus. — VIRGIL, ALneid iv. 179. 2 When envy is once aroused, good acts and bad acts alike offend. — Tacitus, History i. 7. 3 They were ready to serve, and yet more disposed to construe com- mands than execute them. — TACITUS, History ii. 39. xv] OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES 43 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 III of France ; for first, himself entered league ° for the extirpation of the Protestants, and presently after, the same league was turned upon himself. For when the authority of princes is made but an accessory 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 motions of the greatest persons in a government ought to be as the motions of the planets under pri/mtm mobile ,° according to the old opinion, which is that every of them is carried swiftly by the highest motion, and softly in their own motion. And therefore, when great ones in their own particular motion move violently, and, as Tacitus expresseth it well, liberius, quam ut imperantium meminissent} 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 regicm? So when any of the four pillars of government are mainly shaken or weakened (which are religion, justice, 1 More freely than is consistent with respect for their rulers. — TACITUS, Annals iii. 4. 2 1 w ill loose the girdles of kings. — Isaiah xlv. 1. 44 BACON'S ESSAYS [xv counsel, 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 follovveth ; and let us speak first of the materials of seditions ; then of the motives of them ; and, thirdly, of the remedies. Concerning the materials of seditions, it is a thing well to be considered ; for the surest way to prevent seditions, if the times do bear it, is to take away the matter of them. 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 discontentment. It is certain, so many overthrown estates, so many votes for troubles. Lucan noteth well the state of Rome before the civil war : Hinc usura vorax, rapidumque in tempore fcenus, Hinc concussa fides, et multis utile bellum?- This same multis utile bellum is an assured and infal- lible 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 humors in the natural, which are apt to gather a preternatural heat, and to inflame. And let no prince measure the danger of them by this, whether they be just or unjust, for that were to imagine people to be too reasonable, who do often spurn at their own good ; 1 Hence came voracious usury, and interest swift in time ; hence shaken credit and war profitable to many. — Pharsalia i. 181, 2. xv] OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES 45 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, timendi non item} Besides, in great oppressions, the same things that provoke the patience, do withal make the courage, but in fears it is not so. Neither let any prince or state be secure concerning dis- contentments because they have been often or have been long, and yet no peril hath ensued ; for as it is true that every vapor 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 proverb noteth well, " The cord breaketh at the last by the weakest pull." The causes and motives of seditions are innovation in religion, taxes, alteration of laws and customs, breaking of privileges, general oppression, advancements of un- worthy persons, strangers, dearths, disbanded soldiers, factions grown desperate ; and whatsoever in offending people joineth and knitteth them in a common cause. For the remedies, there may be some general preserva- tive, 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 1 There is a limit to suffering, but not to fear. — PLINY, Letters viii. 17. 6. 46 BACON'S ESSAYS [xv 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 quality, in an over proportion to the common people, doth speedily bring a state to necessity ; and so doth likewise an overgrown clergy, for they bring nothing to the stock ; and in like manner, when more are bred scholars than preferments can take off. It is likewise to be remembered that forasmuch as the increase of any estate must be upon the foreigner (for whatsoever is somewhere gotten is somewhere lost), there be but three things which one nation selleth unto an- other : the commodity as nature yieldeth it ; the manu- facture ; and the 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 su- perabit 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 treasures and moneys in a state be not gathered into few hands ; for otherwise a state may have a great stock, and yet starve. And money is like muck, not good ex- XV] OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES 47 cept it be spread. This is done chiefly by suppressing, or, at the 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 noblesse 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, except the multitude be apt and ready to move of themselves. 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 Ju- piter, 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 show how safe it is for mon- archs to make sure of the good will of common people. To give moderate liberty for griefs and discontentments to evaporate, so it be without too great insolency or bravery, is a safe way ; for he that turneth the humors back, and maketh the wound bleed inwards, endangereth malign ulcers, and pernicious impostumations.* The part of Epimetheus might well become Prometheus in the case of discontentments, for there is not a better provision against them. Epimetheus, when griefs and evils flew abroad, at last shut the lid, and kept Hope in the bottom of the vessel. Certainly the politic and artificial nourishing and entertaining of hopes, and carrying men from hopes to hopes, is one of the best antidotes against the poison of discontentments. And it is a certain sign 48 BACON'S ESSAYS [xv 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 which they believe not. Also the foresight and prevention that there be no likely or fit head, whereunto discontented persons may resort, and under whom they may join, is a known, but an excellent point of caution. I understand a fit head to be one that hath greatness and reputation, that hath confidence with the discontented party, and upon whom they turn their eyes, and that is thought discontented in his own particu- lar ; which kind of persons are either to be won and recon- ciled 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 the state, and setting them at distance, or at least distrust amongst 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 fac- tion, 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 nesei- vitliteras, non potuit die tare? for it did utterly cut off that hope which men had entertained, that he would at one time or other give over his dictatorship. Galba undid himself 1 Sulla did not know his letters and could not dictate. xvi] OF ATHEISM 49 by that speech, Legi a se militem, non emi, 1 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? a speech of great despair for the soldiers ; and many the like. Surely, princes had need,, in tender matters and ticklish times, to beware what they say, espe- cially 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 valor, near unto them, for the repressing of seditions in their beginnings; for without that there useth to be more trepidation in court upon the first breaking out of troubles than were fit. And the state runneth the danger of that which Tacitus saith, Atque 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 1 That he was in the habit of levying soldiers, not buying them. 2 If I live, the Roman empire shall have no more need of soldiers. 8 Such was the state of feeling that, while there were few to venture on so foul a deed, many wished it done, and all acquiesced in it. 50 BACON'S ESSAYS [xvi frame is without a mind. And therefore God never wrought miracle to convince atheism, because His ordinary works convince it. It is true that a little philosophy in- clineth 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 confederate and linked to- gether, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity. Nay, even that school which is most accused of atheism doth most demonstrate religion, that is, the school of Leucippus, and Democritus, and Epicurus. For it is a thousand times more credible that four mutable elements, and one im- mutable fifth essence duly and eternally placed, need no God, than that an army of infinite small portions, or seeds unplaced, should have produced this order and beauty without a divine marshal. The Scripture saith, " The fool hath said 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 rote to himself, as that he would have, than that he can thor- oughly 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 that will suffer for atheism, and not xvi] OF ATHEISM 5 1 recant ; whereas if they did truly think that there were no such thing as God, why should they trouble them- selves ? Epicurus is charged that he did but dissemble for his credit's sake when he affirmed there were blessed natures, but such as enjoyed themselves without having respect to the government of the world ; wherein they say he did temporize, though in secret he thought there was no God. But certainly he is traduced, for his words are noble and divine, Non Deos vulgi negare profanum ; sed vulgi opiniones Diis applicare profanum. 1 Plato could have said no more. And although he had the confidence to deny the administration, he had not the power to deny the nature. The Indians of the West have names for their particular god, though they have no name for God ; as if the heathens should have had the names Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, etc., but not the word Deus, which shows that even those barbarous people have the notion, though they have not the latitude and extent of it. So that against atheists the very savages take part with the very subtlest philosophers. 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 received 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 1 It is not denying the existence of the gods of the people, but the application to the gods of the opinions of the people, that makes real profanity. 52 BACON'S ESSAYS [xvi they be many ; for any one main division addeth zeal to both sides, but many divisions introduce atheism. An- other is scandal of priests, when it is come to that which St. Bernard saith, Non est jam dicere, ut popidus, sic sacerdos : quia nee sic populus, ut sacerdos} A third is 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 men's minds to religion. They that deny a God destroy man's nobility, for cer- tainly 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 ig- noble creature. It destroys likewise magnanimity 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, when he resteth and assureth himself upon Divine protection and favor, gathereth a force and faith which human nature 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 it- self above human frailty. As it is in particular persons, so it is in nations. Never was there such a state for magnanimity as Rome ; of this state hear what Cicero saith, Quam volumus, licet, patres conscripti, nos amemus, 1 One can no longer say " As the people, so the priest," for the people are not so bad as the priest. xvii] OF SUPERSTITION 53 tamen nee numero Hispanos, nee robore Gallos, nee ealli- date Pcenos, nee artibus Grceeos, nee denique hoc ipso hujus gentis et terrce domestico nativoque sensu Italos ipsos et Latinos ; sed pietate, ae religione, atque hae una sapientia, quod deorum immortalium numine omnia regi, gubemarique perspeximus, omnes gentes, nationes- que superavinius} 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 super- stition is the reproach of the Deity. Plutarch saith well to that purpose. " Surely," saith he, " I 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 con- tumely is greater towards God, so the danger is greater towards men. Atheism leaves a man to sense, to phi- losophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation ; all which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, though reli- gion were not. But superstition dismounts all these, and 1 We may esteem ourselves, Conscript Fathers, as highly as we please ; yet we cannot match the Spaniards in numbers, the Gauls in bodily strength, the Carthaginians in cunning, the Greeks in art, or indeed our own Italians and Latins in the domestic and native affec- tion which characterizes this land and nation. But in piety, and re- ligion, and recognition of the one great truth that all things are regulated and directed by the providence of the immortal gods, we have surpassed all nations and peoples. 54 BACON'S ESSAYS [xvn 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 Augus- tus Caesar) were civil • times. But superstition hath been the confusion of many states, and bringeth in a new/n- mum 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 astronomers, 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 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 reverence of traditions, which cannot but load the Church ; the stratagems of prelates for their own ambition and lucre ; the favoring too much of good intentions, which openeth the gate to conceits and novel- ties ; 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 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 xviii] OF TRAVEL 55 deformed. And as wholesome meat corrupteth 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 furthest from the superstition formerly received. Therefore care would be had that, as it fareth in ill-pur- gings, the good be not taken away with the bad, which commonly is done when the people is the reformer. XVIII. OF TRAVEL Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education ; in the elder, a part of experience. He that traveleth into a country before he hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school, and not to travel. That young men travel under some tutor or grave servant, I allow • well ; so that he be such a one that hath the language and hath been in the country before, whereby he may be able to tell them what things are worthy to be seen in the country where they go, what acquaintances they are to seek, what exercises or discipline the place yieldeth. For else young men shall go hooded, and look abroad little. It is a strange thing that in sea voyages, where there is nothing to be seen but sky and sea, men should make 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, therefore, be brought in use. The things to be seen and observed are the courts of princes, especially when they give audience to ambassa- 56 BACON'S ESSAYS [xvm dors; 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 ex- tant ; the walls and fortifications of cities and towns ; and so the havens and harbors ; antiquities and ruins ; libraries, colleges, disputations, and lectures, where any are; shipping and navies; houses and gardens of state and pleasure near great cities ; armories, arsenals, maga- zines, 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 rari- ties ; and, to conclude, whatsoever is memorable in the places where they go : after all which the tutors or serv- ants ought to make diligent inquiry. As for triumphs, masks, feasts, weddings, funerals, capital executions, and such shows, men need not to be put in mind of them ; yet are they 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 entrance into the language before he goeth. Then he must have such a servant or tutor as knoweth the country, as was likewise said. Let him carry with him also some card ° or book describing the country where he traveleth, 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 acquaintance. Let him sequester himself xvm] OF TRAVEL 57 from the company of his countrymen, and diet in such places where there is good company of the nation where he traveleth. Let him, upon his removes from one place to another, procure recommendation to some person of quality residing in the place whither he removeth, that he may use his favor 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 acquaintance with the secretaries and employed men of ambassadors ; for so in traveling 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. 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 en- gage him into their own quarrels. When a traveler re- turned! home, let him not leave the countries where he hath traveled altogether behind him, but maintain a cor- respondence by letters with those of his acquaintance which are of most worth. And let his travel appear rather in his discourse than in his apparel or gesture ; ° and in his discourse let him be rather advised ' in his answers than forward to tell stories. And let it appear that he doth 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. 58 BACON'S ESSAYS [xix XIX. OF EMPIRE 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 make 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 jeal- ousies and lack of some predominant desire that should marshal and put in order all the rest, maketh any man's heart hard to find or sound. Hence it 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, Domitian for certainty of the hand with the arrow, Commodus for playing at fence, Cara- calla 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 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, Diocletian, and in our memory, Charles V, and others; for he that is used to go for- xix] OF EMPIRE 59 ward, and findeth a stop, falleth out of his own favor, and is not the thing he was. To speak now of the true temper of empire, it is a thing rare and hard to keep, for both temper and distemper con- sist of contraries. But it is one thing to mingle contraries, another to interchange them. The answer of Apollonius to Vespasian is full of excellent instruction. Vespasian asked him, "What was Nero's overthrow?" He an- swered, " Nero could touch and tune the harp well, but in government sometimes he used to wind the pins too high, sometimes to let them down too low." And cer- tain it is, that nothing destroyeth authority so much as the unequal and untimely interchange of power pressed too far, and relaxed too much. 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 contra- dictories : Sunt plerumque regum voluntates vehementes, et inter se contraries. 1 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 neighbors, their wives, 1 The desires of kings are generally violent and inconsistent with one another. 60 BACON'S ESSAYS [xix their children, their prelates or clergy, their nobles, their second nobles or gentlemen, their merchants, their com- mons, and their men of war ; and from all these arise dangers if care and circumspection be not used. First, for their neighbors, there can no general rule be given, the occasions are so variable, save one, which ever holdeth ; which is, that princes do keep due sentinel that none of their neighbors 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. And this is generally the work of standing councils to foresee and to hinder it. During that triumvirate of kings, King Henry VIII of England, Francis I, King of France, and Charles V, 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, either by confederation or, if need were, by a war, and would not in any wise take up peace at interest. And the like was done by that league (which, Guicciardini saith, was the security of Italy) made between Ferdinando, King of Naples, Lorenzius Medicis, and Ludovicus Sforza, poten- tates, 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 cause of a war. For their wives, there are cruel examples of them. Livia is infamed for the poisoning of her husband ; Roxo- lana, Solyman's wife, was the destruction of that renowned prince, Sultan Mustapha, and otherwise troubled his house xix] OF EMPIRE 6l and succession; Edward II of England his queen had the principal hand in the deposing and murder of her husband. This kind of danger is then to be feared, chiefly when the wives have plots for the raising their own children, or else that they be advoutresses. For their children, the tragedies likewise of dangers from them have been many ; and generally, the entering of the 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 II was thought to be supposititious. The de- struction of Crispus, a young prince of rare towardness, by Constantinus the Great, his father, was in like manner fatal to his house ; for 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 destruc- tion of Demetrius, son to. Philip II 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 them ; as was Selymus I against Bajazet, and the three sons of Henry II, 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 Ansel- mus 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, 62 BACON'S ESSAYS [xix William Rufus, Henry I, and Henry II. The danger is not from that. state, but where it hath a dependence of foreign authority ; or where the churchmen come in, and are 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 VII 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 cooperate with him in his business, 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 discourse high, but that doth little hurt ; besides, they are a counterpoise to the higher nobility, that they grow not too potent ; and lastly, being the most immediate in authority with the common people, they do best temper popular commotions. For their merchants, they are vena porta ; and if they flourish not, a kingdom may have good limbs, but will have empty veins, and nourish little. Taxes and imposts upon them do seldom good to the king's revenue, for that that he wins in the hundred he loseth in the shire ; the par- ticular 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 xx] OF COUNSEL 63 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 ; 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 defense, 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 compre- hended in those two remembrances, Memento quod es homo ; and Memento quod es Deus, or vice Dei ; l 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 com- mit the parts of life; their lands, their goods, their children, their credit, some particular affair ; but to such as they make their counselors, 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, or derogation to their suf- ficiency, to rely upon counsel. God himself is not without, but hath made it one of the great names of His blessed Son, "the Counselor. " Solomon hath pronounced that "in counsel is stability." Things will have their 1 Remember that you are a man. Remember that you are a god or God's representative. 64 BACON'S ESSAYS [xx 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. Solomon'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 forever best discerned : that it was young counsel, for ° the persons ; and violent counsel, for the matter. 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 themselves ; thirdly, the danger of being unfaithfully counseled, and more for the good of them that counsel, than of him that is counseled. 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 counselors, 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 beware that the unsecreting of their affairs comes not from themselves. And as for cabinet councils, it may be their motto, Plenus rimarum sum ; 1 one fu- tile • person, that maketh it his glory to tell, will do more 1 I am full of leaks. xx] OF COUNSEL 65 hurt than many that know it their duty to conceal. It is true there be some affairs which require extreme secrecy, which will hardly go beyond one or two persons besides the king. Neither are those counsels unprosperous ; for besides the secrecy, they commonly go on constantly in one spirit of direction without distraction. But then it must be a prudent king, such as is able to grind with a hand-mill ;° and those inward* counselors had need also be wise men, and especially true and trusty to the king's ends; as it was with King Henry VII of England, who in his greatest business imparted himself to none, except it were to Morton and Fox.° For weakening of authority, the fable showeth the remedy. Nay, the majesty of kings is rather exalted than diminished when they are in the chair of counsel ; neither was there ever prince bereaved of his dependencies* by his council, except where there hath been either an over-greatness in one counselor, or an over-strict com- bination 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 terram x 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, counselors are not commonly so united but that one counselor 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, 1 He shall not find faith upon the earth. 66 BACON'S ESSAYS [xx if princes know their counselors, as well as their coun- selors know them : Principis est virtus maxima nosse stcos. 1 And on the other side, counselors should not be too speculative • into their sovereign's person. The true composition of a counselor is rather to be skillful in their master's business than in his nature, for then he is like to advise him, and not to feed his humor. 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 rever- end. In private men are more bold in their own humors, and in consort men are more obnoxious • to others' humors ; 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 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, as in an idea or mathematical description, what the kind and character of the person should be ; for the greatest errors are committed, and the most judgment is shown, in the choice of individuals. It was truly said, optimi consiliarii martui? Books will speak plain when counselors blanch. Therefore it is good to be conver- sant in them, specially the books of such as themselves have been actors upon the stage. 1 The greatest excellence in a ruler is to know his own subjects. [See note.] 2 The dead are the best counselors. xx] OF COUNSEL 67 The councils at this day, in most places, are but familiar meetings, where matters are rather talked on than de- bated ; and they run too swift to the order or act of council. It were better that in causes of weight the matter were propounded one day and not spoken to till the next day ; in node consilium} So was it done in the commission of union between England and Scotland, which was a grave and orderly assembly. I commend set days for petitions ; for both it gives the suitors more certainty for their attendance and it frees the meetings for matters of estate that they may hoc agere? In choice of committees for ripening business for the council, it is better to choose indifferent • persons than to make an indifferency by putting in those that are strong on both sides. I commend also standing commissions ; as for trade, for treasure, for war, for suits, for some prov- inces ; • 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 such as are to inform councils out of their particular professions, 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 clamor 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 counselors' opinions that sit lower. A king, when he 1 In the night there is counsel. [See note.] 2 To do this. [See note.] 68 BACON'S ESSAYS • [xxi presides in council, let him beware how he opens his own inclination too much in that which he propoundeth ; for else counselors will but take the wind ° of him, and in- stead 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 some- times like Sibylla's offer, ° which at first offereth the com- modity 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 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 halfway, 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. 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 1 I will please. [See note.] xxii] OF CUNNING 69 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 council 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 We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom ; and certainly there is great difference between a cunning man and a wise man, not only in point of honesty, but in point of ability. There be that can pack the cards, and yet cannot play well ; so there are some that are good in can- vasses 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 humors that are not greatly capable of the real part of business, which is the constitution of one that hath stud- ied men more than books. Such men are fitter for practice than for counsel, and they are good but in their own alley ; turn them to new men and they have lost their aim ; so as the old rule, to know a fool from a wise man, Mitte ambos nudos ad ignotos, et videbisj- 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 1 Turn them both adrift among strangers, and you shall see. yo BACONS ESSAYS [xxn you speak with your eye, as the Jesuits give it in precept ; for there be many wise men that have secret hearts and transparent countenances. Yet this would be done with a demure abasing of your eye sometimes, as the Jesuits also do use. Another is that when you have anything to obtain of present dispatch, 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 counselor and secretary that never came to Queen Eliza- beth 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. The like surprise may be made by moving things when the party is in haste, and cannot stay to consider advis- edly of that is moved. If a man would cross a business that he doubts some other would handsomely and effectually move, let him pretend to wish it well, and move it himself in such sort as may foil it. The breaking off in the midst of that one was about to say, as if he took himself up, breeds a greater appetite in him with whom you confer, to know more. And because it works better when anything seemeth to be gotten from you by question than if you offer it of yourself, you may lay a bait for a question by showing another visage and countenance than you are wont, to the end to give occasion for the party to ask what the matter is of the change ; as 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 xxn] OF CUNNING 71 break the ice by some whose words are of less weight, and 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 by- matter. I knew another that when he came to have speech he would pass over that that he intended most, and go forth and come back again, and speak of it as 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. It is a point of cunning to let fall those words in a man's own name which he would have another man learn and use, and thereupon take advantage. I knew two that were competitors for the secretary's place in Queen Elizabeth's time, and yet kept good quarter between them- selves, and would confer one with another upon the busi- ness, 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 72 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxn 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 took hold of it, and found means it was told the Queen, who hearing of a declination of the 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 a 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 mat- ter 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 others by justifying themselves by negatives ; as to say, " This I do not," as Tigellinus did towards Burrhus ; Se non diversas spes, sed incolumitatem imperatoris simplici- ter spec tare} 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 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 come near it. It is a thing of great patience, but yet of much use. 1 He had no divergent aims, but looked solely to the safety of the emperor. — TACITUS, Annals xiv. 57. xxin] OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF 73 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 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 cun- ning 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 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 Solo- mon saith, Prudeiis advertit ad gressus suos : stultus diver- tit ad dobs} 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 1 The wise man looks to his own steps ; the fool turns aside* to deceit. — Proverbs xiv. 15. 74 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxm king and country. It is a poor center of a man's actions, himself. It is right earth. For that only stands fast upon his° own center ; whereas all things that have affinity with the heavens move upon the center of another, which they benefit. The referring of all to a man's self is more tolerable in a sovereign prince, because themselves are not only them- selves, but their good and evil is at the peril of the public fortune. But it is a desperate evil in a servant to a prince, or a citizen in a republic. For 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 accessory. That which maketh the effect more pernicious is that all proportion is lost. It were disproportion enough for the servant's good to be preferred before the master's ; but yet it is a greater extreme when a little good of the servant shall carry things against a great good of the master's. And yet that is the case of bad officers, treasurers, ambassadors, generals, and other false and cor- rupt 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 certainly it is the nature of extreme self-lovers as ' they will set a house on fire, and ■ it were but to roast their eggs. And yet these men many times hold credit with their mas- xxiv] OF INNOVATIONS 75 ters, because their study is but to please them, and profit themselves ; and for either respect they will aban- don 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 room for him. It is the wisdom of croco- diles, 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 riva/i, 1 are many times unfortunate And whereas they 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, notwithstanding, as those that first bring honor into their family are commonly more worthy than most that succeed, so the first precedent, if it be good, is seldom attained by imitation. For ill, to man's nature as it stands per- verted, hath a natural motion, strongest in continuance ; but good, as a forced motion, strongest at first. Surely every medicine is an innovation, and he that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils. For time is the greatest innovator ; and if time of course alter things 1 Lovers of themselves without a rival. ?6 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxiv 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, whereas 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 favored. All this is true if time stood still, which contrariwise moveth so round* that a froward retention of custom is as turbulent a thing as an innova- tion ; and they that reverence too much old times are but a scorn to the new. It were good, therefore, that men in their innovations would follow the example of time itself, which indeed in- novateth greatly, but quietly, and by degrees scarce to be perceived. For otherwise, whatsoever is new is unlooked 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 experiments in states, except the necessity be urgent, or the utility evident ; and well to beware that it be the reformation that draweth on the change, and not the desire of change that pretendeth the reformation. And, lastly, that the novelty, though it be 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 us and discover what is the straight and right way, and so to walk in it." xxv] OF DISPATCH 77 XXV. OF DISPATCH Affected dispatch is one of the most dangerous things to business that can be. It is like that which the phy- sicians call predigestion, or hasty digestion, which is sure to fill the body full of crudities and secret seeds of dis- eases. 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, procureth dispatch. It is the care of some only to come off speed- ily for the time, or to 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 goeth commonly backward and forward in an unsteady manner. I knew a wise man° that had it for a byword, 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 dispatch. The Spartans and Spaniards have been noted to be of small dispatch : Mi veiiga la muerte de Spagna ; Let my death come from Spain ; for then it will be sure to be long in coming. Give good hearing to those that give the first infor- mation in business, and rather direct them in the begin- ning than interrupt them in the continuance of their speeches ; for he that is put out of his own order will go y8 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxv forward and backward, and be more tedious while he waits upon his memory, than he could have been if he had gone on in his own course. But sometimes it is seen that the moderator ° is more troublesome 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 ques- tion, for it chaseth away many a frivolous speech as it is coming forth. Long and curious ■ speeches are as fit for dispatch as a robe or a 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 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 preoccupation 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 three parts of business — the prep- aration, 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 somewhat* conceived in writing doth for the most part facilitate dispatch ; for though it should be wholly rejected, yet that negative is more pregnant of direction than an indefinite, as ashes are more generative than dust. xxvi] OF SEEMING WISE 79 XXVI. OF SEEMING WISE It hath been an opinion that the French are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards seem wiser than they are. But howsoever it be between nations, certainly it is so between man and man. For as the Apostle saith of godliness, " having a show of godliness, but denying 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 superfi- cies to seem body that hath depth and bulk. Some are so close and reserved as they will not show 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 neverthe- less 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 ; respondes, altero ad frontem sublato, altero ad mentum depresso supercilio, crudelitatem tibi non placere? Some think to bear • it by speaking a great word, and being per- emptory, and go on and take by admittance that which they cannot make good. Some, whatsoever is beyond 1 Trifles with great effort. 2 With one brow lifted to your forehead, and the other depressed to your chin, you answer that cruelty does not please you. — Cicero, In Pisonem vi. So BACON'S ESSAYS [xxvn their reach, will seem to despise or make light of it as impertinent " or curious," and so would have their igno- rance seem judgment. Some are never without a differ- ence, and commonly, by amusing men with a subtlety, blanch ' the matter ; of whom A. Gellius ° saith, Hominen delirum, qui verborum minutiis rerum frangit pondera} 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 the end. Generally, such men in all deliberations find ease to be of the negative side, and affect a credit to object and fore- tell 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 ° 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 employ- ment, for certainly you were better take for business a man somewhat 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 wild beast or a god." For it is most true that a 1 A madman who, with fine-spun verbal niceties, fritters away the weighty matters of business. xxvii] OF FRIENDSHIP 8 1 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 conversation ; ■ such as is found to have been falsely and feignedly in some of the heathen, as Epimenides the Candian, Numa the Roman, Emped- ocles ° 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 not 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 ; ] because in a great town friends are scattered, so that there is not that fellowship, for the most part, which is in less neighborhoods. 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 fullness and swellings of the heart, which passions of all kinds do cause and induce. We know diseases of stoppings 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, 1 A great city, a great solitude. 82 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxvn 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, suspi- cions, 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 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 sortetrr to inconvenience. The modern languages give unto such persons the name of favorites or privadoes, as if it were matter of grace or conversation ; but the Roman name attaineth the true use and cause thereof, naming them participes curarum} 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 arid most politic that ever reigned ; who have often- times joined to themselves some of their servants, whom both themselves have called friends 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 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 pur- 1 Partakers of cares. [See Essay LV.] xxvn] OF FRIENDSHIP 83 suit 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 Julius Caesar, Decimus Brutus had obtained that interest as he set him down in his testament for heir in remainder after his nephew. And this was the man that had power with him to draw him forth to his death ; for when Caesar would have discharged the senate, in regard of some ill presages, and especially 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 dreamed a better dream. And it seemeth his favor was so great as Antonius, in a letter which is recited verbatim in one of Cicero's Philippics, calleth him venefica, witch, as if he had enchanted Caesar. Augustus raised Agrippa, though of mean birth, to that height, as, when he consulted with Maecenas about the marriage of his 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 Caesar, 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 : Hcec pro amicitia nostra non occultavi ; l and the whole senate dedicated an altar to friendship, as to a goddess, in respect of the great dearness of friendship between them two. The like or more was between Septimus Severus and Plautianus, for he forced his eldest son to marry the daughter of Plau- tianus, and would often maintain Plautianus in doing 1 On account of our friendship I have not concealed these things. 84 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxvn affronts to his son ; and did write also in a letter to the senate by these words : " I 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 happened to mortal men, but as a half-piece, except they might 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 understand- ing." Surely Comineus moughf have made the same judgment also, if it had pleased him, of his second mas- ter, Louis XI, 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 halves. For there is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend but he joyeth xxvn] OF FRIENDSHIP 85 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 alche- mists 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 alchemists, there is a manifest image of this in the ordi- nary course of nature. For in bodies, union strengthen- ed and cherisheth any natural action ; and, on the other side, weakeneth and dulleth any violent impression ; and even so is it of minds. The second fruit of friendship is healthful and sov- ereign for the understanding, as the first is for the affec- tions. For friendship maketh indeed a fair day in the affections* from storm and tempests ; but it maketh daylight in the understanding, out of darkness and confusion of thoughts ; neither is this to be understood only of faith- ful counsel, which a man receiveth from his friend. But before you come to that, certain it is that whosoever hath his mind fraught with many thoughts, his wits and understanding do clarify and break up° in the commu- nicating and discoursing with another : he tosseth his thoughts more easily ; he marshalleth them more or- derly ; 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 medita- tion. 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 second fruit of friendship, in opening the under- 86 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxvn standing, restrained only to such friends as are able to give a man counsel ; they indeed are best, but even with- out 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 re- late* himself to a statue or picture than to suffer his thoughts to pass in smother.' Add now, to make this second fruit of friendship com- plete, that other point which lieth more open, and falleth within vulgar 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 receiveth by counsel from another is drier and purer than that which cometh from his own understanding and judgment, which is ever infused and drenched in his affections and customs ; so as • there is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is be- tween 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 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 sometimes too piercing and corrosive. Reading good books of morality is a little flat and dead. Observing our faults in others is sometimes unproper ' 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 xxvii] OF FRIENDSHIP 87 errors and extreme absurdities 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 own shape and favor.'" 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 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 an- other business of another man, it is well ; that is to say, better perhaps than if he asked none at all ; but he run- neth two dangers : one, that he shall not be faithfully counseled ; for it is a rare thing, except it be from a perfect and entire friend, to have counsel given, but such as shall be bowed and crooked to some ends which he hath that giveth it ; the other, that he shall have counsel given, hurtful and unsafe, though with good meaning, and mixed partly of mischief and partly of remedy. Even as if you would call a physician that is thought good for the cure of the 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 88 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxvn man's estate will beware by furthering any present busi- ness how he dasheth upon other inconvenience. And, therefore, rest not upon scattered counsels; they will rather distract and mislead than settle and direct. After these two noble fruits of friendship, peace in the affections and support of the judgment, followeth the last fruit, which is like the pomegranate, full of many kernels ; I mean aid and bearing a part in all actions and occa- sions. Here the best way to represent to life ° the mani- fold use of friendship is to cast' and see how many things 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 friendship 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 cannot sometimes brook to supplicate or beg, and a number of the like. But all these things are graceful in a friend's 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 xxvin] OF EXPENSE 89 to his son, but as a father ; to his wife, but as a husband ; to his enemy, but upon terms ; ° 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 honor 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 estimation abroad. Certainly, if a man will keep but of even hand, his ordinary expenses ought to be but to the half of his receipts ; and if he think to wax rich, but to the third part. It is no baseness for the greatest to descend and look into their own estate. Some forbear it, not upon negligence alone, 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 employeth, and change them often ; for new are more timorous and less subtle. He that can look into his estate but seldom, it behooveth him to turn all to certainties.* A man had need, if he be 90 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxix plentiful in some kind of expense, to be as saving again in some other : as, if he be plentiful in diet, to be sav- ing in apparel ; if he be plentiful in the hall, to be saving in the stable, and the like. For he that is plentiful in expenses of all kinds will hardly be preserved from de- cay. 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 disadvantage- able as interest. Besides, he that clears at once will re- lapse ; for finding himself out of straits he will revert to his customs : but he that cleareth by degrees induceth a habit of frugality, and gaineth 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 dishonorable 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 TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES The speech of Themistocles, the Athenian, which was haughty and arrogant in taking so much to himself, had been a grave and wise observation and censure, applied at large to others. Desired at a feast to touch a lute, he said he could not fiddle, but yet he could make a small town a great city. These words, holpen 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 counselors and statesmen, there may xxix] OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES 91 be found, though rarely, those which can make a small state great, and yet cannot fiddle ; ° as, on the other side, there will be found a great many that can fiddle very cunningly,' 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 counselors and governors gain both favor with their masters and estimation with the vulgar, deserve no better name than fiddling ; being things rather pleasing for the time, and graceful to themselves only, than tend- ing to the weal and advancement of the state which they serve. There are also, no doubt, counselors and gov- ernors which may be held sufficient, negotiis pares} able to manage affairs, and to keep them from precipices 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 there- of: an argument' fit for great and mighty princes to have in their hand ; to the end that neither by over-measuring their forces they lose themselves in vain enterprises, nor, on the other side, by undervaluing them they descend to fearful and pusillanimous counsels. The greatness of an. estate in bulk and territory doth fall under measure, and the greatness of finances and revenue doth fall under computation. The population may appear by musters ; and the number and greatness of cities and towns by cards ■ and maps. But yet there is 1 Equal to their work. [See Essay xxxiii.] g2 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxix not anything amongst civil affairs more subject to error than the right valuation and true judgment concerning the power and forces ° of an estate. The kingdom of heaven is compared, not to any great kernel or nut, but to a grain of mustard seed ; ° which is one of the least grains, but hath in it a property and spirit hastily to get up and spread. So are there states great in territory, and yet not apt ' to enlarge or command ; and some that have but a small dimension of stem, and yet apt to be the foundations of great monarchies. Walled towns, stored arsenals and armories, goodly races of horse, chariots of war, elephants, ordnance, artil- lery, and the like — all this is but a sheep in a lion's skin, except the breed and disposition of the people be stout and warlike. Nay, number itself in armies importeth not much where the people are of weak courage ; for, as Virgil saith, it never troubles a wolf how many the sheep be. The army of the Persians, in the plains of Arbela, was such a vast sea of people as it did somewhat astonish the commanders in Alexander'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 ; and the defeat was easy. When Tigranes, the Armenian, being encamped upon a hill with four hundred thousand men, discovered the army of the Romans, being not above fourteen thousand, marching toward him, he made him- self merry with it, and said, " Yonder men are too many for an embassage, 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 xxix] OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES 93 may truly make a judgment that the principal point of greatness in any state is to have a race of military men. Neither is money the sinews of war, as it is trivially ' said, where the sinews of men's arms, in base and effeminate people, are failing ; for Solon said well to Croesus, when in ostentation he showed 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 dis- position, know their own strength, unless they be other- wise wanting unto themselves. As for mercenary forces, which is the help in this case, all examples show that whatsoever estate or prince doth rest upon them, he may spread his feathers for a time, but he will mew them soon after. The blessing of Judah and Issachar will never meet, that the same people or nation should be both the lion's whelp and the ass between burdens. Neither will it be that a people overlaid 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, and not of the purse. So that although the same tribute and tax laid by consent, or by imposing, be all one to the purse, yet it works diversely upon the courage. So that you may conclude that no people overcharged with tribute is fit for empire. 94 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxix Let states that aim at greatness take heed how their nobility and gentlemen do multiply too fast ; for that maketh the common subject grow to be a peasant and base swain, driven out of heart, and in effect but the gentle- man's laborer. Even as you may see in coppice woods, if you leave your staddles " too thick you shall never have clean underwood, but shrubs and bushes. So in countries, if the gentlemen be too many the commons will be base ; and you will bring it to that, that not the hundred • poll will be fit for a helmet, especially as to the infantry, which is the nerve of an army ; and so there will be great popula- tion, and little strength. This which I speak of hath been nowhere better seen than by comparing of England and France, whereof England, though far less in territory and population, hath been, nevertheless, an overmatch ; in re- gard the middle people of England make good soldiers, which the peasants of France do not. And herein the device of King Henry VII,° whereof I have spoken largely in the history of his life, was profound and admirable, in making farms, and houses of husbandry, of a standard ; that is, maintained with such a proportion of land unto them, as may breed a subject to live in convenient plenty, and no servile condition, and to keep the plow in the hands of the owners, and not mere hirelings. And thus indeed you shall attain to Virgil's character, which he gives to ancient Italy : Terra potens armis, atqite ubere glebce. 1 Neither is that state (which, for anything I know, is almost peculiar to England, and hardly to be found any- 1 A land mighty in arms and in fertility of soil. — ALneid i. 531. xxix] OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES 95 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, which are no ways inferior unto the yeomanry for arms. And, therefore, out of all question, the splendor and magnificence, and great retinues, and hospitality of noblemen and gentlemen, received into custom, doth much conduce unto 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 Nebuchadnezzar'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, 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 Romans ; therefore it sorted ' with them accordingly, for they grew to the greatest monarchy. Their manner was to grant naturalization, which they called jus civitatis, 1 and to grant it in the highest degree ; that is, not only jus 1 The right of citizenship. 96 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxix cotnmercii, 1 jus connubii, 2 jus hereditatis? but also jus suff?'agii, A and jus honorum h : 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 say that it was not the Romans that spread upon the world, but it was the world that spread upon the Romans ; and that was the sure way of greatness. I have marveled 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 sometimes in their highest commands. Nay, it seemeth this 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 vigor. Therefore it was great advantage in the ancient 1 The right of commerce. 2 The right of marriage. 3 The right of inheritance by will. 4 The right of suffrage. 6 The right of holding public office. xxix] OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES 97 states of Sparta, Athens, Rome, and others, that they had 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 those arts chiefly to strangers, which for that purpose are the more easily to be received, and to con- tain 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 that a nation do profess arms as their principal honor, study, and occupation ; for the things which we formerly have spoken of are but habilitations • towards arms, and what is habilitation without intention and act? Romulus, after his death, as they report or feign, sent a present to the Romans that above all they should intend • arms, and then they should prove the greatest empire of the world. The fabric of the state of Sparta was wholly, though not wisely, framed and composed to that scope ' and end. The Persians and Macedonians had it for a flash.* The Gauls, Germans, Goths, Saxons, Normans, and others had it for a time. The Turks 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 in- tendeth, 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 continue long in that 98 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxix 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 maintained 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 occa- sions, as may be pretended, of war; for there is that justice imprinted in the nature of men, that they enter not upon wars, 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 com- mand. The Romans, though they esteemed the extend- ing the limits of their empire to be great honor 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 provocation. Secondly, let them be prest • and ready to give aids and succors to their confederates, as it ever was with the Romans ; insomuch as, if the confederate had leagues defensive with divers other states, and upon in- vasion offered did implore their aids severally, yet the Romans would ever be the foremost, and leave it to none other to have the honor. 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 i 7:» : xxix] OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES 99 of Graecia ; or when the Lacedaemonians and Athenians made wars to set up or pull down democracies and oligarchies ; or when wars were made by foreigners (under the pretense 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 ; for in a slothful peace, both courages will effeminate and manners corrupt. But howsoever it be for happiness, without all question, for greatness it maketh to be still for the most part in arms; and the strength of a 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 neighbor 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 mon- archy. Cicero, writing to Atticus of Pompey his° prep- aration against Caesar, saith, Consilium Pompeii plane Themistocleum est ; putat enim, qui 77iari potitttr, eum rerum potiri} And without doubt Pompey had tired out Caesar, if upon vain confidence he had not left that way. 1 The plan of Pompey is clearly that of Themistocles ; for he believes that he who is master of the sea will acquire the mastery of all. — Cicero, Ad Att'uum x. 8. LOFC. IOO BACON'S ESSAYS [xxix 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 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 with the sea most part of their compass ; and because the wealth of both Indies seems in great part but an accessory to the command of the seas. The wars of latter ages seem to be made in the dark, in respect of the glory and honor 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 promiscu- ously upon soldiers and no soldiers ; and some remem- brance perhaps upon the escutcheon, and some hospitals for maimed soldiers and such-like things. But in ancient times the trophies erected upon the place of the victory, the funeral laudatives and monuments 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 re- turn, the great donatives and largesses upon the disband- ing of the armies, were things able to inflame all men's xxx] OF REGIMENT OF HEALTH ioi courages. But, above all, that of the triumph ° among the Romans was not pageants or gaudery, but one of the wisest and noblest institutions that ever was, for it con- tained three things : honor to the general, riches to the treasury out of the spoils, and donatives to the army. But that honor, 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 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 body ; but in the great frame of king- doms and commonwealths it is in the power of princes or estates to add amplitude and greatness to their king- doms. For by introducing such ordinances, constitu- tions, and customs, as we have now touched, they may sow greatness to their posterity and succession. But these things are commonly not observed, but left to take their chance. XXX. OF REGIMENT 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 with me, therefore I will not continue it," than this, " I find no offense of this, therefore I may use it." For strength 102 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxx 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 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 anything thou shalt judge hurtful to dis- continue 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 disposed at hours of meat and of sleep and of exercise is one of the best precepts of long lasting. As for the passions and studies of the mind, avoid envy, anxious fears, anger, fretting inwards, subtle and knotty inquisitions, joys and exhilarations in excess, sadness not communicated. Entertain 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 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, ex- cept it be grown into a custom ; for those diets alter the body more and trouble it less. Despise no new accident xxxi] OF SUSPICION 103 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 sick- nesses which are not very sharp, be cured only with diet and tendering.* Celsus could never have spoken it as a physician had he not been a wise man withal, when he giveth it for one of the great precepts of health and last- ing, that a man do vary and interchange contraries, but with an inclination to the more benign extreme. Use fasting and full eating, but rather full eating ; watching and sleep, but rather sleep ; sitting and exercise, but rather exercise ; and the like. So shall nature be cher- ished, and yet taught masteries. Physicians are some of them so pleasing and conformable to the humor of the patient, as they press not the true cure of the disease ; and some other are so regular in proceeding according to art for the disease as they respect not sufficiently the condition of the patient. Take one of a middle temper ; or if it may not be found in one man, combine two of either sort ; and forget not to call as well the best acquainted with your body as the best reputed of for his faculty. 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 lose friends, and they check ■ with busi- ness, whereby business cannot go on currently • and con- stantly. They dispose kings to tyranny, husbands to 104 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxi jealousy, wise men to irresolution 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 VII of England. There was not a more suspi- cious man nor a more stout. And in such a composi- tion 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 no better way to moderate suspicions than to account upon such suspicions as true, and yet to bridle them as false ; for so far a man ought to make use of suspicions as to provide as, if that should be true that he suspects, yet it may do him no hurt. Suspicions 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 suspi- cions is frankly to communicate them with the party that he ° suspects ; for thereby he shall be sure to know more of the truth of them than he did before, and withal shall make that party more circumspect not to give further cause of suspicion. But this would not be done to men of base natures ; for they, if they find themselves once suspected, will never be true. The Italian says, Sospetto xxxn] OF DISCOURSE 105 licentiafede, 1 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 judg- ment 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 commonplaces and themes, wherein they are good, and ° want variety ; which kind of poverty is for the most part tedious, and, when it is once per- ceived, ridiculous. The honorablest 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 conversation, to vary and intermingle speech of the present occasion ° with arguments, tales with rea- sons, asking of questions with telling of opinions, and jest with earnest; for it is a dull thing to tire, and as we say now, to jade,° anything too far. As for jest, there be certain things 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 de- serveth 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 is a vein which would be bridled. _ ...... , . Farce, puer, sttmuhs, et fortius utere torts. 1 1 Suspicion discharges [i.e. dismisses or banishes] faith. 2 Boy, spare the spur, and pull harder on the reins. — OVID, Metamorphoses ii. 127. 106 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxn 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 con- tent ° much ; but especially if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom he asketh. For he shall give them occasion to please themselves in speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge. But let his questions not be 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 j as musicians use* to do with those that dance too long galliards.* If you 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 speaks so much of himself." And there is but one case wherein a man may commend himself with good grace ; and that is in com- mending virtue in another, especially [ if it be such a vir- tue whereunto himself pretendeth. Speech of touch ° towards others should be sparingly used, for discourse ought to be as a field, without corning 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 given?" To which the guest would xxxin] OF PLANTATIONS 107 answer, such and such a thing passed. The lord would say, " I 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 weak- est in the course are yet nimblest in the turn, as it is be- twixt the greyhound and the hare. To use too many circumstances • ere one come to the matter is wearisome ; to use none at all is blunt. XXXIII. OF PLANTATIONS Plantations are amongst ancient, primitive, and heroi- cal 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 for- mer 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 plan- tation. Planting of countries is like planting of woods, for you must make account to lose almost twenty years' profit, and expect your 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 further. It is a shameful and unblessed 108 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxm 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 certify • over to their country to the discredit of the plantation. The people wherewith you plant ought to be gardeners, plowmen, laborers, smiths, carpenters, join- ers, fishermen, fowlers, with some few apothecaries, sur- geons, 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, pineapples, olives, dates, plums, cherries, wild honey, and the like, and make use of them. Then con- sider what victual or esculent things there are which grow speedily and within the year, as parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions, radish, artichokes of Jerusalem, maize, and the like. For wheat, barley, and oats, they ask too much labor, but with peas and beans you may begin, both because they ask less labor, and because they serve for 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, oatmeal, 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 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 gar- dens or corn, be to a common stock, and to be laid in xxxin] OF PLANTATIONS 109 and stored up, and then delivered 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 busi- ness, as it hath fared with tobacco in Virginia. Wood commonly aboundeth but too much, and therefore tim- ber 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 cli- mate be proper for it, would be put in experience. Growing silk likewise, if any be, is a likely commodity. Pitch and tar, where store of firs and pines are, will not fail. So drugs and sweet woods, where they are, cannot but yield great profit; soap ashes, likewise, and other things that may be thought of. But moil not too much under ground, for the hope of mines is very uncertain, and useth to make the planters lazy in other things. For government, let it be in the hands of one assisted with some 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 counselors and undertakers in the country that planteth, but upon a temperate number; and let those be rather noblemen and gentlemen than merchants ; for they look ever to the present gain. Let there be freedoms from custom till the plantation be of strength ; 110 BACONS ESSAYS [xxxm 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 sending too fast company after company, but rather hearken how they waste, and send supplies proportionably ; but so as the number may live well in the plantation, and not by surcharge be in penury. It hath been a great endangering to the health of some plantations that they have built along the sea and rivers in marsh and unwholesome grounds. Therefore, though you begin there, to avoid carriage and other like discom- modities, yet build still rather upwards from the streams than along. It concerneth likewise the health of the plantation 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 favor by helping them to invade their enemies, but for their defense 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 men, that the plantation may spread into generations, and not be ever pieced from without. It is the sinfulest thing in the world to forsake or destitute a plantation once in forwardness, for, besides the dishonor, it is the guiltiness of blood of many corn- miserable persons. xxxiv] OF RICHES III XXXIV. OF RICHES 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 are riches to virtue. It cannot be spared, nor left behind, but it hindereth the march ; yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or disturbeth the victory. Of great riches there is no real use, except it be in the distribution ; the rest is but conceit. So saith Solomon, "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 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 in great riches? But then you will say, they may be of use, to buy men out of dan- gers or troubles. As Solomon saith,° " Riches are as a stronghold in the imagination of the rich man." But this is excellently expressed, that it is in imagination, and not always in fact. For certainly great riches have sold more men than they have bought out. Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave content- edly. Yet have no abstract* or friarly contempt of them, but distinguish, as Cicero saith well of Rabirius Posthu- mus, In studio rei amplificandce. apparebat, non avaritice 112 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxiv prcedarn, sed instrumentum bonitati quceri} Hearken also to Solomon, and beware of hasty gathering of riches : Qui festinat ad divitias, non erit insons? The poets feign that when Plutus, which is riches, is sent from Jupiter, he limps and goes slowly, but when he is sent from Pluto, he runs and is swift of foot ; meaning that riches gotten by good means and just labor 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 moughf be applied like- wise 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. The ways to enrich are many, and most of them foul. Parsimony is one of the best, and yet is not innocent ; for it withholdeth men from works of liberality and charity. The improvement of the ground is the most natural obtaining of riches, for it is 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 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 observed by one, 1 It was apparent that in his anxiety to increase his riches he sought not the satisfaction of avarice, but the means of doing good. — CICERO, Pro Rabirio ii. 2 He who makes haste after riches will not be without guilt. — Proverbs xxviii. xxxiv] OF RICHES 113 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 over- come * those bargains, which for their greatness 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 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 should 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 is the certainest means of gain, though one of the worst, as that whereby a man doth eat his bread in sudore vultus alieni j 1 and besides, doth plow 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 in an invention, or in a privilege, doth cause sometimes a wonderful over- growth 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 1 In the sweat of another's brow. Cf. Genesis iii. 10. 114 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxiv 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 there- fore to guard adventures with certainties that may uphold losses. Monopolies, and coemption of wares for resale, 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 humors, and other servile conditions, they may be placed among the worst. As for fishing for testaments and executorships, as Tacitus saith of Seneca, Testamenta et orbos tanqua?n indagine capi} 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 set flying to bring in more. Men leave their riches either to their kindred, or to the public ; and moderate portions prosper best in both. A great estate 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 established in years and judgment. Likewise, glorious gifts and foundations ° are like sacrifices without salt, and but the painted sepulchers 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 1 Wills and childless parents taken as with a net. xxxv] OF PROPHECIES 115 weigh it rightly, he that doth so, is rather liberal of another man's than of his own. XXXV. OF PROPHECIES I mean not to speak of divine prophecies, nor of hea- then oracles, nor of natural predictions, but only of proph- ecies that hath 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 ALneas cunctis dominabitur oris, Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab Mis. 1 A prophecy, as it seems, of the Roman Empire. Seneca the Tragedian hath these verses : Venient annis Scecula seris, quibus oceanus Vinculo, rerum laxet, et ingens Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos Detegat orbes ; nee sit terris Ultima Thule:" 1 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. A phan- tasm that appeared to M. Brutus in his tent said to him, 1 The house of ^Eneas shall rule in every land, and his children's children, and those who shall spring from them. — Iliad xx. 307, 8. 2 In later ages the times shall come when Ocean shall relax the bounds of the world, and the vast earth shall lie revealed, and Tiphys shall disclose new worlds, and Thule be no longer the limit of all lands. Il6 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxv Philippis iterum me videbis} Tiberius said to Galba, Tu quoque, Galba, degustabis imperium. 2 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 Savior, yet Tacitus expounds it of Vespasian. Domitian dreamed, the night before he was slain, that a golden head was growing out of the nape of his neck; and indeed the succession that followed him for many years made gol- den times. Henry VI of England said of Henry VII, when he was a lad, and gave him water, " This is the lad that shall enjoy the crown for which we strive." When I was in France, 1 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 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 spun, England's donne; " whereby it was generally conceived that after the princes had reigned which had the principal letters of that word hempe (which were Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth), England should come to utter confusion; which, thanks be to God, is verified only in the change of 1 Thou shalt see me again at Philippi. 2 Thou, too, Galba. shalt have a taste of empire. xxxv] OF PROPHECIES Ii; the name, for that the king's style is now no more of England, but of Britain. There was also another proph- ecy before the year 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 is come and gone, England, build houses of lime and stone, For after wars shall you have none." It was generally conceived to be meant of the Spanish fleet that came in eighty-eight; for that the King of Spain's surname, as they say, is Norway. The prediction of Regiomontanus, Octogesimus octavus mirabilis annus} 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 Cleon's dream, I think it was a jest ; it was that he was devoured of a long dragon, and it was expounded of a maker of sausages that troubled him exceedingly. There are numbers of the like kind, especially if you include dreams and predictions of astrology. But I have set down these few only of certain credit, for example. My 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 mischief. And I see 1 The eighty- eighth year shall be remarkable. Il8 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxvi 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 ob- scure traditions, many times turn themselves into proph- ecies ; while the nature of man, which coveteth divina- tion, 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 beyond the Atlantic, which might be probably conceived not to be all sea ; and adding thereto the tradition in Plato's Timaeus and his Atlanticus, it might encourage one to turn it to a prediction. The third and last, which is the great one, is, that almost all of them, being infinite in number, have been impostures, and by] idle and crafty brains merely contrived and feigned after the event passed. XXXVI. OF AMBITION Ambition is like choler, which is a humor 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 ris- ing, and still* get forward, they are rather busy than dan- gerous ; but if they be checked in their desires they become secretly discontent, and look upon men and mat- ters with an evil eye,° and are best pleased when things xxxvi] OF AMBITION 119 go backward ; which is the worst property in a servant of a prince or state. Therefore it is good for princes, if they use ambitious men, to handle it so as* they be still' pro- gressive 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 service they will take. order to make their service fall with them. But since we have said it were good not to use men of ambitious natures, except it be upon necessity, it is fit we speak in what cases they are of necessity. Good com- manders in the wars must be taken, be they never so ambitious, for the use of their service dispenseth with the rest ; and to 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 pull- ing 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 them if they be of mean birth than if they be noble ; and if they be rather harsh of nature than gracious and popular; and if they be rather new raised than grown cunning and fortified in their greatness. It is counted by some a weak- ness in princes to have favorites ; but it is, of all others, the best remedy against ambitious great ones. For when the way of pleasuring and displeasuring lieth by the favorite, it is impossible any other should be over-great. 120 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxvi Another means to curb them is to balance them by others as proud as they. /But then there must be some middle counselors 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 ob- noxious* 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 of favors 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 everything ; for that breeds confusion, and mars business ; but yet it is less danger to have an ambitious man stirring in busi- ness than great in dependencies.* 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 ciphers is the decay of a whole age. Honor hath three things in it : 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. Generally, let princes and states choose such ministers as are more sensible of duty than of rising, and such as love business rather upon conscience than upon bravery ■ ; and let them discern a busy nature from a willing mind. xxxvn] OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS 12 1 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 choir, 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 bass and a tenor, no treble ; and the ditty high and tragical, not nice or dainty. Several choirs 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 scenes abound with light, specially colored 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 cheerful, and not chirpings or pulings ; let the music likewise be sharp and loud, and well placed. The colors that show best by 122 BACONS ESSAYS [xxxvil candlelight are white, carnation, and a kind of sea water green; and oes* or spangs,* as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost and not discerned. Let the suits of the masquers be graceful, and such as become the person when the vizards are off; not after examples of known attires — Turks, soldiers, mariners, and the like. Let antimasques not be long ; they have been commonly of fools, satyrs, baboons, wild men, antics, beasts, sprites, witches, Ethiopes, pygmies, turquets, nymphs, rustics, cupids, statues moving, and the like. As for angels, it is not comical enough to put them in antimasques, and anything 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 odors sud- denly 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 jousts, and tourneys, and barriers, the glories of them are chiefly in the chariots wherein the challengers make their entry ; especially if they be drawn with strange beasts, as lions, bears, camels, and the like ; or in the de- vices of their entrance ; or in the bravery of their liveries ; or in the goodly furniture of their horses and armor. But enough of these toys. xxxvm] OF NATURE IN MEN 1 23 XXXVIII. OF NATURE IN MEN Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished. Force maketh nature more violent in the return ; doctrine and discourse maketh nature less importune* j 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 practice with helps, as swimmers do with bladders or rushes ; but after a time let him practice with disadvantages, as dancers do with thick shoes; for it breeds great perfection if the practice be harder than the use.' Where nature is mighty, and therefore the 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 dis- continue altogether. But if a man have the fortitude and resolution to enfranchise himself at once, that is the best ; Optimus Me animi vindex, Icedentia pectus Vinculo, qui rupit, dedoluitque seme/. 1 Neither is the ancient rule amiss, to bend Nature as a wand to a contrary extreme, whereby to set it right ; 1 He is the best liberator of the spirit who bursts from his breast the galling chains and ceases once for all to grieve. — Ovid, Remedia Amoris, 294. 124 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxvm understanding it where the contrary extreme is no vice. Let not a man force a habit upon himself with a per- petual continuance, but with some intermission. For both the pause reinforceth the new onset, and if a man that is not perfect be ever in practice, he shall as well practice 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 re- vive upon the occasion or temptation. Like as it was with y£sop's° damsel, turned from a cat to a woman, who sat very demurely at the board's end till a mouse ran before her. Therefore let a man either avoid the occa- sion altogether, or put himself often to it, that he may be little moved with it. A man's nature is best perceived in privateness, for there is no affectation ; in passion, for that putteth a man out of his precepts ; and in a new case or experiment, for there custom leaveth him. They are happy men whose natures sort* with their vocations ; otherwise they may say, Multum incola fuit anima mea, 1 when they converse in those things they do not affect.* In studies, whatsoever a man command- eth° upon himself, let him set hours for it; but whatso- ever is agreeable to his nature let him take no care 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. 1 My soul has sojourned long. — Psalms cxx. 6. xxxix] OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION 125 A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds ; there- fore let him seasonably water the one and destroy the other. XXXIX. OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION Men's thoughts are much according to their inclina- tion ; 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-favored ° in- stance), 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 undertak- ings, but take such a one as hath had his hands formerly in blood. But Machiavel knew not of a friar Clement, nor a Ravaillac, 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 predomi- nancy of custom is everywhere visible ; insomuch as a man would wonder to hear men profess, protest, engage, give great words, and then do just as they have done be- fore, 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. 126 BACON'S ESSAYS [xxxix The Indians (I mean the sect of their 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 he might be hanged in a withe and not in a 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 endeavor to obtain good customs. Certainly cus- tom is most perfect when it beginneth in young years ; this we call education, which is, in effect, but an early custom. So we see, in languages the tongue is more pliant to all expressions and sounds, the joints are more supple to all feats of activity and motions in youth than afterwards. For it is true that late learners cannot so well take the ply, 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 ; xl] OF FORTUNE 1 27 so as' in such places the force of custom is in his* exalta- tion/ Certainly, the great multiplication of virtues upon human nature resteth upon societies well ordained and disciplined ; for commonwealths 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. XL. OF FORTUNE It cannot be denied but ° outward accidents conduce much to fortune; favor, opportunity, death of others, occasion fitting virtue.* But chiefly, the mold of a man's fortune is in his own hands. Faber quisque fortunce suce, 1 saith the poet. And the most frequent of ex- ternal causes is, that the folly of one man is the fortune of another; for no man prospers so suddenly as by others' errors. Serpens nisi serpentem comederit non fit draco? 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 quocunque 1 Every one is the architect of his own fortune. 2 The serpent without swallowing the serpent cannot become the dragon. 128 BACON'S ESSAYS [xl loco natus esset,fortunam sibi facturus videretur 1 — 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. When they speak of one that cannot do amiss, they will throw in into his other conditions that he hath poco di matto. 3 And certainly, there be not two more fortunate properties than to have a little of the fool 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 with- out himself he goeth not his own way. A 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 honored and respected, and' it be but for her daughters, Confidence and Reputation. For those two felicity breedeth ; the first within a man's self, the latter in others towards him. All wise men, to decline* the envy of their own virtues, use* to ascribe them to Providence and fortune; for so 1 In this man there was so much vigor of body and mind that, what- ever might have been his birth, it appeared certain that he would have made a fortune for himself. 2 A versatile mind. 3 A little of the fool. xli] OF USURY 129 they may the better assume them, and besides it is great- ness 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} So Sylla chose the name oifelix 2 and not of magnus* ; and it hath been noted that those that 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 anything he undertook 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. XLI. OF USURY Many have made witty invectives against usury. They say that it is pity the devil should have God's part, which is the tithe ; that the usurer is the greatest Sabbath breaker, because his plow goeth every Sunday ; that the usurer is the drone that Virgil speaketh of: Ignavum fucos pecus a prczsepibus arcent ; 4 /hat the usurer breaketh the first law that was made for man- kind after the fall, which was In sudore vultus tut comedes 1 You have as passengers Caesar and his fortune. 2 Fortunate. s Great. 4 The lazy swarm of drones they drive from their hives. 130 BACON'S ESSAYS [xli pattern tuum, not in sudore vultus alieni; x 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 duritiem cordis; - for since there must be borrowing and lending, and men are so hard of heart as they will not lend freely, usury must be permitted. Some others have made suspicious and cunning propositions of banks, dis- covery 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 merchandising, which is the vena porta of wealth in a state. The second, that it makes poor mer- chants ; 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 merchandising. The fourth, that it bringeth the treasure of a realm or state into a few hands j 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 1 In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread ; not in the sweat of another's brow. 2 A concession on account of hardness of heart. xli] OF USURY 131 wealth is more equally spread. The fifth, that it beats down the price of land ; for the employment of money is chiefly either merchandising or purchasing, and usury waylays both. The sixth, that it doth dull and damp all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein money would be stirring, if it were not for this 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 respect hindereth mer- chandising, yet in some other it advanceth it ; for it is certain that the greatest part of trade is driven by young merchants, upon borrowing at interest; so as if the usurer either call in or keep back his money, there will ensue presently a great stand of trade. The second is, that were it not for this easy borrowing upon interest, men's 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 will not take pawns without use, or if they do, they will look precisely for the forfeiture. I remember a cruel moneyed man in the country that would say, " The devil take this usury, it keeps us from forfeitures of mortgages and bonds." The third and last is, that it is a vanity to conceive that there would be ordinary borrowing without profit, and it is im- possible to conceive the number of inconveniences that will ensue if borrowing be cramped. Therefore to speak of the abolishing of usury is idle. All states have ever 132 BACON'S ESSAYS [xli had it in one kind or rate, or other ; so as that opinion must be sent to Utopia. To speak now of the reformation and reglement of usury, how the discommodities of it may be best avoided and the commodities retained. It appears by the balance of commodities and discommodities of usury, two things are to be reconciled ; the one, that the tooth of usury be grinded that it bite not too much ; the other, that there be left open a means to invite moneyed men to lend to the merchants, for the continuing and quickening of trade. This cannot be done except you introduce two several sorts of usury, a less and a greater. For if you reduce usury to one low rate it will ease the common borrower, but the merchant will be to seek for money. And it is to be noted that the trade of merchandise, being the most lucrative, may bear usury at a good rate ; other contracts not so. To serve both intentions the way would be briefly thus : that there be two rates of usury j the one free and general for all, the other under license only to certain persons, and in certain places of merchandising. First, therefore, let usury in general be reduced to five in the hundred ; and let 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 im- xli] OF USURY 133 provements, because many will rather venture in that kind than take five in the hundred, especially having been used to greater profit. Secondly, let there be certain persons licensed to lend to known merchants upon usury at a higher rate, and let it be with the cautions following. Let the rate be, even with the merchant himself, some- what 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 answered some small matter for the license, and the rest left to the lender ; for if the abate- ment 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 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 merchandising, for then they will be hardly able to color other men's moneys in the country; so as the license of nine will not suck away the current rate of five ; for no man will send his moneys far off, nor put them into unknown hands. If it be objected that this doth in a sort authorize usury, which before was in some places but permissive, the answer is, that it is better to mitigate usury by decla- ration than to suffer it to rage by connivance. 134 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlii XLII. 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. Gen- erally, 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 whom it is said, juventutem egit erroribus, imo furoribus, ple- nam. 1 And 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 Fois,° and others. On the other side, heat and vivacity in age is an excel- lent 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 com- pass 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 1 He passed his youth full of errors, even of madness. xlii] OF YOUTH AND AGE 135 some few principles, which they have chanced upon, ab- surdly ° ; care not to innovate, which draws unknown in- conveniences ; use extreme remedies at first ; and (that which doubleth all errors) will not acknowledge or re- tract 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 compound employments of both. For that will be good for the present, because the virtues* of either age may correct the defects of both ; and good for succession, that young men may be learners, while men in age are actors ; and, lastly, good for extern ac- cidents, because authority followeth old men, and favor and popularity youth. But for the moral part, perhaps youth will have the preeminence, 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 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 136 BACON'S ESSAYS [xliii exceeding subtle, who afterwards waxed stupid. A sec- ond 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 speech, which becomes youth well, but not age. So Tully saith of Hortensius, Idem manebat neque idem decebat. 1 The third is of such as take too high a strain at the first, and are magnanimous, more than tract of years can uphold ; as was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith in effect, Ultima primis cedebant? XLIII. 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 pres- ence than beauty of aspect. Neither is it almost seen that very beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue, as if Nature were rather busy not to err than in labor to produce excellency. And therefore they prove accom- plished, but not of great spirit, and study rather behavior than virtue. But this holds not always ; for Augustus Caesar, Titus Vespasianus, Philip le Bel of France, Edward IV of England, Alcibiades of Athens, Ismael, the Sophy of Persia, were all high and great spirits, and yet the most beautiful men of their times. In beauty, that of favor is more than that of color ; and that of decent and gracious motion more than that of favor. That is the best part of beauty which a picture cannot express — no, nor the first 1 He remained the same, but this was not so seemly [as he advanced in years]. 2 The end did not equal the beginning. [See note.] xliv] OF DEFORMITY 1 37 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 Diirer were the more tri- fler ; whereof the one would make a personage by geo- metrical proportions, the other, by taking the best parts out of divers faces to make one excellent. Such person- ages, I think, would please nobody but the painter that made them. Not but I think a painter may make a bet- ter face than ever was ; but he must do it by a kind of felicity, as a musician that maketh an excellent air in music, and not by rule. A man shall 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, though persons in years seem many times more amiable; Pulchrorum aututnnus pulcher ; x for no youth can be comely but by pardon, and considering the youth as to make up the comeliness. Beauty is as sum- mer 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 virtues 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 1 The autumn of beautiful things [or persons] is beautiful. 138 BACON'S ESSAYS [xliv nature. Certainly there is a consent between the body and the mind, and where nature erreth in the one she ventureth in the other ; Ubi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero. But because there is in man an election, touch- ing the frame of his mind, and a necessity in the frame of his body, the stars of natural 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 anything fixed in his person that doth induce contempt, hath also a perpetual spur in himself to rescue and deliver himself from scorn ; there- fore all deformed persons are extreme bold ; first, as in their own defense, 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 observe the weakness of others, that they may have some- 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 pos- session. So that, upon the matter, in a great wit deform- ity 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 towards them hath rather been as to good spials and good whisperers than good magis- trates and officers. And much like is the reason of de- xlv] OF BUILDING 1 39 formed 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 therefore let it not be marveled if sometimes they prove excellent persons, as was Agesilaus, Zanger, the son of Solyman, ^Esop, Gasca, president of Peru ; and Socrates may go likewise amongst them, with others. XLV. OF BUILDING Houses are built to live in, and not to look on ; there- fore 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 unwhole- some, but likewise where the air is unequal ; as you shall see many fine seats set upon a knap of ground environed with higher hills round about it, whereby the heat of the sun is pent in, and the wind gathereth as in troughs, so as you shall have, and that suddenly, as great diversity of heat and cold as if you dwelt in several places. Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill markets ; and, if you will consult with Momus,° ill neigh- bors. I speak not of many more, — want of water, want of wood, shade, and shelter, want of fruitfulness, and mix- ture 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 near the sea, too remote ; having the commodity of navigable rivers, or the discommodity of their overflowing ; too far off from 140 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlv great cities, which may hinder business ; or too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear ; where a man hath a great living laid together, and where he is scanted ; all which, as it is impossible perhaps to find together, 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 an- swered Pompey well, who, when he saw his stately gal- leries 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 fowls are, that ever change their abode towards the winter?"- 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 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 household ; 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, though severally partitioned within ; and to be on both sides of a great and stately tower, in the midst of the xlv] OF BUILDING 141 front, that, as it were, joineth them together on either hand. I would have on the one 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 prepar- ing 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 parlor, both fair ; and under these rooms a fair and large cellar sunk under ground ; and likewise some privy kitchens, with butteries and pantries, and the like. As for the tower, I would have it two stories of eighteen foot high apiece, above the two wings, and a goodly leads' upon the top, railed, with statues 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 color ; 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- 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 staircases cast into turrets on the outside, and not within the row of buildings themselves ; but those towers are not to be of the height 142 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlv of the front, but rather proportionable to the lower build- ing. 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 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 colored windows of several works. On the household side, chambers of presence 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 imbowed 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 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 opening and windows towards the garden, xlv] OF BUILDING 143 and be level upon the floor, no whit sunk under ground, to avoid all dampishness. And let there be a fountain, or some fair work of statues, 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, antecam- era and recamera joining to it. This upon the second story. Upon the ground story, a fair gallery, open, upon pillars ; and upon the third story, likewise, an open gal- lery 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, dain- tily 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 the front, three courts ; a green court plain, with a wall about ; 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 inclosed with a naked wall, but inclosed with terraces, leaded aloft, and fairly gar- nished on the three sides ; and cloistered on the inside with pillars, and not with arches below. As for offices, let them stand at distance, with some low galleries to pass from them to the palace itself. 144 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlvi XLVI. OF GARDENS God Almighty first planted a garden ; and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest refresh- ment to the spirits of man, without which buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks ; 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, you must take such things as are green all winter : holly, ivy, bays, Juni- per, cypress trees, yew, pineapple trees, fir trees, rose- mary, lavender; periwinkle, the white, the purple, and the blue ; germander, flags, orange trees, lemon trees, and myrtles, if they be stoved ; and sweet marjoram, warm set. There followeth for the latter part of January and February the mezerion tree, which then blossoms ; crocus vernus, both the yellow and the gray ; primroses, anemones, the early tulip, hyacinthus orientalis, chamairis, frettellaria. For March, there come violets, especially the single blue, which are the earliest ; the yellow daffo- dil, the daisy, the almond tree in blossom, the peach tree in blossom, the cornelian tree in blossom, sweetbrier. In April follow the double white violet, the wallflower, the stock gilliflower, the cowslip, flower-de-luces, and lilies of all natures, rosemary flowers, the tulip, the double peony, the pale daffodil, the French honeysuckle, the cherry tree in blossom, the damascene and plum trees in blossom, xlvi] OF GARDENS 145 the whitethorn in leaf, the lilac tree. In May and June come pinks of all sorts, especially the blush pink ; roses of all kinds, except the musk, which comes later ; honey- suckles, 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 convallium, the apple tree in blossom. In July come gil- liflowers of all varieties, musk roses, the lime tree in blos- som, early pears and plums in fruit, ginnitings, quadlins. In August come plums of all sorts in fruit, pears, apricocks, barberries, filberts, musk melons, monkshoods of all col- ors. In September come grapes, apples, poppies of all colors, peaches, melocotones, nectarines, cornelians, war- dens, quinces. In October and the beginning of Novem- ber, come services, medlars, bullaces, roses cut or removed to come late, holly oaks, and such like. These particu- lars are for the climate of London ; but my meaning is perceived that you may have ver perpetuum, as the place affords. And because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the air, where it comes and goes like the warbling of music, than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that delight than to know what be the flowers and plants that do best perfume the air. Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers 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 morning's dew. Bays likewise yield no smell as they grow, rosemary little, nor sweet marjoram. That which above all others yields the sweet- est smell in the air is the violet, especially the white 146 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlvi double violet, which comes twice a year, about the mid- dle of April, and about Bartholomew-tide ; 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 sweetbrier; then wallflowers, which are very delightful to be set under a parlor, 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 oft*. Of bean flowers I speak not, because they are field flowers. But those which 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 water mints ; there- fore you are to set whole alleys of them, to have the pleas- ure when you walk or tread. For gardens, speaking of those which are indeed princelike, 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, 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 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 inclose the garden. But because the alley will be long, and in great xlvi] OF GARDENS 147 heat of the year or day, you ought not to buy 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 shade into the garden. As for the making of knots or figures with divers colored 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 carpenters' work of some ten foot high and six foot broad, and the spaces between of the same dimension 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 colored glass gilt, for the sun to play upon ; but this hedge I in- tend to be raised upon a bank, not steep, but gently slope, of some six foot, set all with flowers. Also I understand that this square of the garden should not be the whole breadth of the ground, but to leave on either side ground enough for diversity of side alleys, unto which the two covert alleys of the green may deliver you ; but there must be no alleys with hedges at either end of this great inclosure; not at the hither end for letting* your pros- pect 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. 148 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlvi For the ordering of the ground within the great hedge, I leave it to variety of device, advising, nevertheless, that whatsoever form you cast it into, first it be not too busy or full of work, wherein I, for my part, do not like images cut out in juniper or other garden stuff; they be for children. Little low hedges round like welts, with some pretty pyramids, 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 perfect circles without any bulwarks or embossments, and the whole mount to be thirty foot high ; and some fine banqueting house, with some chimneys neatly cast, and without too much glass. For fountains, they are a great beauty and refreshment, but pools mar all, and make the garden unwholesome, and full of flies and frogs. Fountains I intend to be of two natures : the one that sprinkleth or spouteth water, the other a fair receipt of water of some thirty or forty foot square, but without fish, or slime, or mud. For the first, the ornaments of images gilt, or of marble, which are in use do well ; but the main matter is so to convey the water as it never stay either in the bowls or in the cistern, that the water be never by rest discolored green or red, or the like, or gather any mossiness or putrefaction. Be- sides 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 xlvi] OF GARDENS 149 beauty, wherewith we will not trouble ourselves ; as that the bottom be finely paved, and with images, the sides likewise, and withal embellished with colored glass, and such things of luster, encompassed also with fine rails of low statues. But the main point is the same which we mentioned in the former kind of fountain, which is, that the water be in perpetual motion, fed by a water higher than the pool, and delivered into it by fair spouts, and then dis- charged 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 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 sweetbrier 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 also little heaps in the nature of molehills, 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 to be with standards of little bushes, pricked upon 150 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlvi their top, and part without. The standards to be roses, juniper, holly, barberries, but here and there, because of the smell of their blossom, red currants, gooseberries, rosemary, bays, sweetbrier, 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, where- soever the sun be. You are to frame some of them like- wise for shelter, that when the wind blows sharp you may walk as in a gallery. And those alleys must be likewise hedged at both ends to keep out the wind, and these closer alleys must be ever finely graveled, 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 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 inclosure breast high to look abroad into the fields. For the main garden I do not deny but there should be some fair alleys, ranged on both sides with fruit trees, and some pretty tufts of fruit trees, and arbors 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 shape, 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 tern- xlvii] OF NEGOTIATING 151 perate parts of the year, and in the heat of summer for the morning and the evening or overcast days. For aviaries, I like them not, except they be of that largeness as they may be turfed, and have living plants and bushes set in them, that the birds may have more scope and natural nestling, and that no foulness appear in the floor of the aviary. So I have 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 statues and such things for state and magnificence, but nothing to the true pleas- ure of a garden. XLVII. OF NEGOTIATING It is generally better to deal by speech than by letter, and by the mediation of a third than by a man's self. Letters are good when a man would draw an answer by letter back again, or when it may serve for a man's justification afterwards 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 direction how far to go ; and generally, where a man will reserve to himself liberty either to disavow or to expound. In choice of instruments, it is better to choose men 152 BACONS ESSAYS [xlvii 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 business wherein they are employed (for that quickeneth much) and such as are fit for the matter ; as bold men for expostulation, fair-spoken men for persuasion, crafty men for inquiry and observation, fro ward 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 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 unawares ; 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 so lead him ; or his ends, and so persuade him ; or xlviii] OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS 153 his weakness 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 con- sider their ends to interpret their speeches ; and it is good to say little to them, and that which they least look for. In all negotiations of difficulty a man may not look to sow and reap at once, but must prepare business, and so ripen it by degrees. XLVIII. OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS Costly followers are not to be liked, lest while a man maketh his train longer he make his wings shorter. I reckon to be costly not them alone which charge the purse, but which are wearisome and importune in suits. Ordinary followers ought to challenge no higher condi- tions than countenance, recommendation, and protection from wrongs. Factious followers are worse " to be liked, which 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 many times see between great personages. Likewise glorious followers, who make them- selves as trumpets of the commendation of those they follow, are full of inconvenience, for they taint business through want of secrecy, and they export honor 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 favor, for they are officious,' and commonly 154 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlviii exchange tales. The following by certain estates of men, answerable to that which a great person himself profess- eth (as of soldiers to him that hath been employed in the wars, and the like), hath ever been a thing civil,* and well taken even in monarchies, so it be without too much pomp or popularity. But the most honorable 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 speak truth, in base times ac- tive 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 extraordinarily is to make them insolent, and the rest discontent, because they may claim a due. But contrariwise in favor, to use men with much difference and election is good ; for it maketh the persons preferred more thankful, and the rest more offi- cious,' because all is of favor. It is good discretion not to make too much of any man at the first, because one cannot hold oat that proportion. To be governed, as we call it, by one is not safe, for it shows softness, and gives a freedom to scandal and disreputation ; 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 honor. Yet to be distracted with many is worse, for it makes men to be of the last impres- sion and full of change. To take advice of some few friends is ever honorable, for lookers-on many times see more than gamesters, and the vale best discovered* the hill. There is little friendship in the world, and least xlix] OF SUITORS 155 of all between equals, which was wont to be magnified. That that is, is between superior and inferior, whose for- tunes may comprehend the one the other. XLIX. OF SUITORS Many ill matters and projects are undertaken ; and pri- vate suits do putrefy the public good. Many good mat- ters are undertaken with bad minds ; I mean not only corrupt minds, but crafty minds, that intend not per- formance. Some 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 con- tent to win a thank or take a second reward, or at least to make use in the meantime of the suitor's hopes. Some take hold of suits only for an occasion to cross some other or to make an information, whereof they could not 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 entertainment to bring in their own. Nay, some undertake suits with a full pur- pose to let them fall, to the end to gratify the adverse party or competitor. Surely there is in some sort a right in every suit, either a right of equity, if it be a suit of controversy, or a right of desert, if it be a suit of petition. If affection lead a man to favor the wrong side in justice, let him rather use his countenance to compound* the matter than to carry it. If affection lead a man to favor 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, 156 BACON'S ESSAYS [xlix it is good to refer them to some friend of trust and judg- ment, that may report whether he may deal in them with honor ; 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 deserved, is grown not only honorable but also gracious. In suits of favor 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 other- wise 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 igno- rant 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 j for voic- ing them to be in forwardness may discourage some kind of suitors, but doth quicken and awake others. But timing of the suit is the principal. Timing, I say, not only in re- spect 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 great- est 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 him- self neither dejected nor discontented. Iniquum petas, ut cequum /eras 1 is a good rule where a man hath strength of favor ; but otherwise a man were better rise in his suit, 1 Ask more than is fair, so that you may get what is fair. — QUINTIUAN, Inst. Orat. iv. 5, 16. L ] OF STUDIES 157 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 favor. 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 instru- ments than these general contrivers of suits, for they are but a kind of poison and infection to 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 mar- shaling 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 rules is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience. For natural abilities are like natural plants, that need proyn- ing • by study ; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them ; for they teach not their own use, but that is a wisdom without them and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to 158 BACON'S ESSAYS [l weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, 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 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 mathe- matics, subtle ; natural philosophy, deep ; moral, grave ; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. 1 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 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 differ- ences, let him study the schoolmen, for they are cymini sectores? If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to 1 Studies become habits. 2 Splitters of cummin seeds. [See note.] li] OF FACTION 159 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. 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 pro- ceedings, according to the respect of factions, is a prin- cipal part of policy ; whereas, contrariwise, the chiefest wisdom is, either in ordering those things which are gen- eral, 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 considera- tion of factions is to be neglected. Mean men, in their rising, must adhere ; but great men, that have strength in themselves, were better to maintain themselves indifferent and neutral. Yet even in beginners, to adhere so moder- ately, 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 conjunction ; and it is often seen that a few that are stiff do tire out a greater number that are more moderate. When one of the factions is extinguished, the remain- ing subdivideth ; as the faction between Lucullus and the rest of the nobles of the senate, which they called optimates, held out awhile against the faction of Pompey and Caesar ; but when the senate's authority was pulled down, Caesar and Pompey soon after brake. The faction or party of Antonius and Octavius Caesar against Brutus and Cassius, held out likewise for a time ; but when Brutus and Cassius 160 BACON'S ESSAYS [li were overthrown, then soon after Antonius and Octavius 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 principals ; but many times also they prove ciphers and cashiered ; for many a man's strength is in opposition ; and when that faileth he grow- eth 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 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 popes, when they have often in their mouth, Padre commune ; l and take it to be a sign of one that meaneth 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 pernicious to monarchies ; for they raise an obligation paramount to obligation of sovereignty, and make the king tanquam units ex nobis, 2 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 both of their authority and business. The motions of factions under kings ought to 1 Common Father. 2 As one of us. lii] OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS 161 be like the motions, as the astronomers speak, of the infe- rior 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 commendation 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 doth much add to a man's reputation, and is, as Queen Isabella said, like perpetual letters commendatory, to have good forms.* To attain them, it almost sufficeth not to despise them ; for so shall a man observe them in others, and let him trust himself with the rest. For if he labor too much to express them, he shall lose their grace, which is to be nat- ural and unaffected. Some men's behavior is like a verse, wherein every syllable is measured. How can a man com- prehend great matters that breaketh his mind too much to small observations ? Not to use ceremonies at all, is to 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 exalting them above the moon is not only tedi- 162 BACON'S ESSAYS [lii ous, but doth diminish the faith and credit of him that speaks. And certainly, there is a kind of conveying of effectual and imprinting 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 famil- iarity; and therefore it is good a little to keep state. Amongst a man's inferiors one shall be sure of reverence ; and therefore it is good a little to be familiar. He that is too much in anything, so that 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 some- what 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 perfect in com- pliments ; 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 too curious • in observing times and opportunities. Solomon saith, " He that considereth the wind shall not sow ; and he that looketh to the clouds shall not reap." A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Men's be- havior should be like their apparel ; not too strait or point device, but free for exercise or motion. liii] OF PRAISE 163 LIII. OF PRAISE Praise is the reflection of virtue ; but it is as the glass or body which giveth the reflection. If it be from the common people it is commonly false and naught, and rather followeth vain persons than virtuous ; for the com- mon people understand not many excellent virtues. The lowest virtues draw praise from them ; the middle virtues work in them astonishment or admiration " ; but of the highest virtues they have no sense or perceiving at all. But shows and species virtutibus similes l serve best with them. Certainly, fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid. But if persons of quality and judgment concur, then it is, as the Scripture saith, Nomen bonunt instar unguenti fragrantis? It filleth all round about, and will not easily away; for the odors 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, 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 con- scious to himself that he is most defective, and is most out of countenance ° in himself, that will the flatterer en- 1 Appearances resembling virtues. 2 A good name is like sweet-smelling ointment [better than precious ointment. — Eccl. vii. 1]. 164 BACON'S ESSAYS [liii title him to perforce, spreta conscientia} Some praises come of good wishes and respects, which is a form due in civility to kings and great persons, laudando pracipere ; 2 when by telling men what they are, they represent to them what they should be. Some men are praised maliciously to their hurt, thereby to stir envy and jealousy towards them: pessimum genus inimicorum laudantium ; 3 inso- much 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. Solomon saith, "He that praiseth his friend aloud, rising early, it shall be to him 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 magnanim- ity. The cardinals of Rome, 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 em- ployments, sbirrerie,* which is under-sherirlries, as if they were but matters for under-sheriffs and catch-polls* ; though many times those under-sheriffries do more good than their high speculations. St. Paul, when he boasts of himself, he doth oft interlace, " I speak like a fool " ; 1 Defying consciousness, or conscience. [See note.] 2 To teach by praising. 8 The worst kind of enemies are those who flatter. LIV] OF VAINGLORY 16$ but speaking of his calling, he saith, Magnificabo aposto- latum meum} LIV. OF VAINGLORY It was prettily devised of ^Esop : The fly sat upon the axletree of the chariot wheel, and said, " What a dust do I raise ! " So are there some vain persons that whatso- ever 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 needs 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 de bruit, peu de fruit ; much bruit, little fruit. Yet, certainly, there is use of this quality in civil affairs ; where there is an opinion and fame to be created, either of virtue or greatness, these men are good trumpeters. Again, as Titus Livius noteth, in the case of Antiochus and the ^Etolians, there are sometimes great effects of cross lies ; as if a man that negotiates between two princes, to draw them to join in a war against the third, doth extol the forces of either of them above measure, the one to the other. And some- times he that deals between man and man raiseth his own credit with both by pretending greater interest than he hath in either. And in these and the like kinds it often falls out that somewhat is produced of nothing ; for lies are sufficient to breed opinion, and opinion brings on substance. 1 I will magnify my apostleship. — Romans xi. 13. 1 66 BACON'S ESSAYS [liv In military commanders and soldiers vainglory is an es- sential 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 na- tures 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 flight will be slow without some feathers of ostentation. Qui de contemnenda glo- ria libros scribunt, nomen suum inscribunt. 1 Socrates, Aristotle, Galen, were men full of ostentation. Certainly vainglory helpeth to perpetuate a man's memory ; and virtue was never so beholding to human nature as it re- ceived its 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 ceilings not only shine but last. But all this while, when I speak of vainglory, I mean not of that property that Tacitus doth attribute to Mucianus, Omnium, quoz dixerat feceratque, arte quadam ostentator? For that proceeds not of vanity, but of natural magnanimity and discretion, and in some persons is not only comely, but gracious. For excusations, cessions, modesty itself well governed, are but arts of ostentation. And amongst those arts there is none better than that which Plinius Secundus speaketh of, which is to be liberal of praise and commendation to others in that wherein a man's self hath 1 Those who write books about despising glory, put their own name on the book. — ClCERO, Tusculan Disputations i. 15. 2 He had a kind of art of setting forth to advantage all that he had said and done. —TACITUS, History ii. 80. lv] OF HONOR AND REPUTATION 167 any perfection. For, saith Pliny, very wittily, " In com- mending 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 slaves of their own vaunts. LV. OF HONOR AND REPUTATION The winning of honor is but the revealing of a man's virtue and worth without disadvantage. For some in their actions do woo and affect honor and reputation; which sort of men are commonly much talked of, but in- wardly 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 honor than by affecting 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 honor that en- tereth into any action, the failing wherein may disgrace him more than the carrying of it through can honor him. Honor that is gained and broken upon another hath the quickest reflection, like diamonds cut with facets. 168 BACON'S ESSAYS [lv And, therefore, let a man contend to excel any competi- tors of his in honor, in outshooting them, if he can, in their own bow. Discreet followers and servants help much to reputation : Om?iis fama a domesticis etnanat} Envy, which is the canker of honor, 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 tru£ marshaling of the degrees of sovereign honor ° are these : In the first place are conditores i??iperi- orum, founders of states and commonwealths ; such as were Romulus, Cyrus, Caesar, Ottoman, Ismael. In the second place are legislatives, lawgivers, which are also called second founders, or perpetui principes, 2 because they govern by their ordinances after they are gone ; such were Lycurgus, Solon, Justinian, Edgar, Alphonsus of Castile, the Wise, that made the Siete partidas? In the third place are liberatores, or salvatores ; 4 such as com- pound* the long miseries of civil wars, or deliver their countries from servitude of strangers or tyrants ; as Au- gustus Caesar, Vespasianus, Aurelianus, Theodoricus, King Henry the Seventh of England, King Henry the Fourth of France. In the fourth place are propagatores, or propugnatores imperii ;* such as in honorable wars en- large their territories, or make noble defense against in- vaders. And in the last place are patres patrice? which 1 All fame emanates from servants. 2 Perpetual rulers. 3 The Seven Parts. [See note.] 4 Deliverers or preservers. 5 Extenders, or defenders, of the empire. 6 Fathers of their country. lvi] OF JUDICATURE 1 69 reign justly, and make the times good wherein they live. Both which last kinds need no examples, they are in such number. Degrees of honor in subjects are : first, participes cura- ru?n, 1 those upon whom princes do discharge the greatest weight of their affairs ; their right hands, as we call them. The next are duces belli? great leaders ; such as are princes' lieutenants, and do them notable services in the wars. The third are gratiosi, favorites ; such as exceed not this scantling • to be solace to the sovereign and harm- less to the people. And the fourth, negotiis pares ; s such as have great places under princes, and execute their places with sufficiency. There is an honor, likewise, which may be ranked amongst the greatest, which happeneth rarely ; that is, of such as sacrifice themselves to death or danger for the good of their country \ as was M. Regulus ° and the two Decii.° LVI. OF JUDICATURE Judges ought to remember that their office isjusdicere 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 pro- nounce that which, they do not find, and by show of antiquity to introduce novelty. Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverend than plausible, and 1 Partakers of cares. 2 Leaders in war. 3 Equal to their duties. I/O BACON 1 S ESSAYS [lvi more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue. " Cursed," saith the law, "is he that removeth the landmark." The mislayer of a merestone 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 Solomon, Fons turbatus, et vena corrupta, est Justus cadens in causa sua coi-am adversario} The office of judges may have reference unto the parties that sue, unto the advocates that plead, unto the clerks and ministers of justice underneath them, and to the 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 to be spewed out as the surfeit of courts. A judge ought to prepare his way to a just sentence, as God useth to prepare His way, by raising valleys and taking down hills ; so when there appeareth on either side a high hand, violent prosecution, cunning advantages taken, combination, power, great counsel, then is the virtue of a judge seen to make inequality equal, that he may plant his judgment as upon an even ground. Qui i A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring. — Proverbs xxv. 26. lvi] OF JUDICATURE 171 for titer emungit, elicit sanguinem ; l and where the wine press is hard wrought it yields a harsh wine that tastes of grapestone. Judges must beware of hard constructions and 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 rigor, and that they bring not upon the people that shower whereof the Scripture speaketh, Pluet super eos laqueosr 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 officium est, ut res, ita te?npora rerutn* etc. 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 over-speaking 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 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 1 The wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood. — Proverbs xxx. 33. 2 He shall rain snares upon them.— Psalms xi. 6. 3 It is the judge's duty [to consider] not only the facts but the cir- cumstances of the facts. 172 BACON'S ESSAYS [lvi the material points of that which hath been said, and to give the rule or sentence. Whatsoever is above these is too much, and proceedeth either of glory and willingness to speak, or of impatience to hear, or of shortness of memory, or of want of a staid and equal attention. It is a strange thing to see that the boldness of advocates should prevail with judges ; whereas they should imitate God, in whose seat they sit, who represseth the presumptuous and giveth grace to the modest. But it is more strange that judges should have noted favorites, which cannot but cause multiplication of fees and suspicion of by-ways. There is due from the judge to the advocate some com- mendation and gracing where causes are well handled and fair pleaded, especially towards the side which ob- taineth not, for that upholds in the client the reputation of his counsel and beats down in him the conceit of his cause. There is likewise due to the public a civil repre- hension of advocates where there appeareth cunning counsel, gross neglect, slight information, indiscreet press- ing, or an overbold defense. 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 de- clared his sentence; but, on the other side, let not the judge meet the cause halfway, nor give occasion to the party to say his counsel or proofs were not heard. Thirdly, for that that concerns clerks and ministers. The place of justice is a hallowed place, and therefore not only the bench, but the footpace and precincts and pur- prise* thereof, ought to be preserved without scandal and corruption. For certainly " Grapes," as the Scrip- ture saith, " will not be gathered of thorns or thistles " ; lvi] OF JUDICATURE 1 73 neither can justice yield her fruit with sweetness amongst the briers and brambles of catching and polling clerks and ministers. The attendance of courts is subject to four bad instruments. First, certain persons that are sow- ers of suits, which make the courts well and the country- pine. The second sort is of those that engage courts in quarrels of jurisdiction, and are not truly amid curia, but parasiti curice} in puffing a court up beyond her bounds for their own scraps and advantage. The third sort is of those that may be accounted the left hands of courts : persons that are full of nimble and sinister tricks and shifts whereby they pervert the plain and direct courses of courts and bring justice into oblique lines and laby- rinths. 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 defense in weather, he is sure to lose part of his fleece. On the other side, an ancient clerk, skillful in precedents, wary in proceeding, and understanding in the business of the court, is an 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 Roman twelve tables, Salus populi su- prema lex; 2 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 a 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; 1 Friends of the court . . . parasites of the court. 2 The safety of the people is the highest law. — ClCERO, De Legibus iii. 3, 8. 174 BACON'S ESSAYS [lvii the one, when there is matter of law intervenient in busi- ness 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 tuuin, 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 alteration, or dangerous precedent, or concerneth mani- festly any 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 Solomon's throne was supported 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 so ignorant of their own right as to think there is not left to them, as a principal part of their office, a wise use and application of laws ; for they may remember what the apostle saith of a greater law than theirs : Nos scimus quia lex bona est, modo quis ea utatur legitime} 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 1 We know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. — I Timothy i. 8. lvii] OF ANGER 1 75 habit to be angry may be attempered and calmed ; sec- ondly, how the particular motions of anger may be re- pressed, or, at least, refrained from doing mischief; thirdly, how to raise anger, or appease anger, in another. For the first, there is no other way but to meditate and 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." Whosoever is out of patience is out of possession of his soul. Men must not turn bees : Animasque in vulnere ponunt?- Anger is certainly a kind of baseness, as it appears well in the weakness of those subjects in whom it reigns : chil- dren, women, old folks, sick folks. Only, men must be- ware that they carry their anger rather with scorn than with fear, so that they may seem rather to be above the injury than below it ; which is a thing easily done if a man will give law to himself ° in it. For the second point, the causes and motives of anger are chiefly three. First, to be too sensible of hurt ; for no man is angry that feels not himself hurt ; and there- fore, tender and delicate persons must needs be oft angry, they have so many things to trouble them which more robust natures have little sense of. The next is, the appre- hension and construction 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 1 And leave their lives in the wound. 176 BACON'S ESSAYS [lvii than the hurt itself. And therefore, when men are ingen- ious in picking out circumstances 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 Con- salvo ° was wont to say, telam honoris crassioretn} But in all refrainings 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 meantime 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, espe- cially if they be aculeate and proper (for communia mal- e dicta 2 are nothing so much) ; and again, that in anger a man reveal no secrets ; for that makes him not fit 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 other is to sever, as much as may be, the construc- tion of the injury from the point of contempt, imputing it to misunderstanding, fear, passion, or what you will. 1 A thicker covering for his honor. [See note.] 2 Ordinary abuse. lviii] OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS 177 LVIII. OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS Solomon saith, " There is no new thing upon the earth" ; so that, as Plato had an imagination, that all knowledge was but remembrance, so Solomon 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 an- other, and never come nearer together, nor go further asunder ; the other, that the diurnal motion perpetually keepeth time), no individual would 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 particular, 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 earthquake, it is further to be noted that the remnant of people which hap to be reserved are com- monly 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 destruc- tion that hath heretofore been there was not by earth- 178 BACON'S ESSAYS [lviii quakes (as the Egyptian priest told Solon concerning the island of Atlantis, that it was swallowed by an 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 Africa and Europe are but brooks to them. Their Andes likewise, or mountains, are far higher than those with us, whereby it seems that the remnants of genera- tions 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 great effects nor last long, as it ap- peared 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 question, have likewise power and effect over the gross and mass 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, color, 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 lviii] OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS 179 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 years and weathers comes about 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 vicissitude of sects and religions, for those orbs rule in men's minds most. The true religion is built upon the rock ; the rest are tossed upon the waves of time. To speak, therefore, of the causes of new sects, and to give some counsel concerning 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 and 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 extrava- gant and strange spirit to make himself author thereof. All which 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 oppos- ing of authority established ; for nothing is more popular than that. The other is the giving license 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, 180 BACON'S ESSAYS [lviii except it be by the help of civil occasions. There be three manner of plantations of new 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 persecutions ; and rather to take off the principal authors, by winning and advancing them, than to enrage them by violence 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 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-Graecia, 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 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 ap- lviii] OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS iSl parent) of the cold of the northern parts, which is that which, without aid of discipline, doth make the bodies hardest, and the courages 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 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 people, but such as commonly will not marry or generate except they know means to live, as it is almost everywhere 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 necessity that once in an age or two they discharge a portion of their people upon other nations, which the ancient north- ern people were wont to do by lot, casting lots what part should stay at home and what should seek their fortunes. 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 valor encourageth a war. 1 82 BACON'S ESSAYS [lviii As for the weapons, it hardly falleth under rule and observation ; 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 has been in China above two thousand years. The conditions of weapons and their improvement are, first, the fetching afar off; for that outruns 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. 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 valor, 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 like ; and they grew more skillful in the ordering of their battles. In the youth of a state, arms do flourish ; in the mid- dle age of a state, learning ; and then both of them to- gether for a time ; in the declining age of a state, mechan- ical arts and merchandise. 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 is solid and reduced ; and lastly, his old age, when it waxeth dry and exhaust. But it is not good OF FAME 183 to look too long upon these turning wheels of vicissitude, lest we become giddy. As for the philology of them, that is but a circle of tales, and therefore not fit for this writing. A FRAGMENT OF AN ESSAY OF FAME The poets make Fame a monster. They describe her in part finely and elegantly, and in part gravely and sen- tentiously. 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 daytime she sitteth in a watch tower, and flieth most by night ; that she mingleth things done with things not done ; 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 now in a sad and a 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 1 84 BACON'S ESSAYS 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 concern- ing the nature of fame. Fame is of that force as there is scarcely any great action wherein it hath not a great part, especially in the war. Mucianus undid Vitellius by a fame that he scat- tered, that Vitellius had in purpose to remove the legions of Syria into Germany, and the legions of Germany into Syria j whereupon the legions of Syria were infinitely in- flamed. 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 the 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 by continual giving out that her husband Augustus was upon recovery and amendment. And it is a 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 Grecia 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 a man meeteth with them everywhere. Therefore let all wise governors have as great a watch and care over fames as they have of the actions and designs themselves. NOTES On page v are listed the essays most suitable for a course in secondary schools, where there is rarely time for careful reading and study of the complete text. These essays are here annotated more fully than the others, with a view to affording helpful guidance to the younger students. ■ In these notes the books named below are frequently referred to. They will be found especially helpful in the study of the Essays. Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar. Bacon's Works, edited by Ellis and Spedding. Bible. Authorized Version. Einstein. The Italian Renaissance in England. Encyclopasdia Britannica, ninth edition. Gayley. Classic Myths. Green. Short History of the English People. Harper's Classical Dictionary. Lippincott's Biographical Dictionary. Plato's Dialogues. Plutarch's Lives. Shakespeare's Works. Smith's Classical Dictionary. Webster's International, or any other standard Dictionary. I. OF TRUTH The word truth is here used to mean (i) the truth of fact, or philo- sophic truth, and (2) the truth of motive, or conduct, i.e., truthfulness. Does Bacon keep the two meanings distinct throughout the essay ? Philosophers of that kind. The Skeptics, of whom the first, Pyrrho, taught in Athens B.C. 300. They held absolute knowledge to be un- attainable by man. See Bacon's Works, iv. 69; v. 9. 185 1 86 NOTES [n Imposeth upon. Places a necessity of belief upon. In what sense does that take away the freedom of the mind ? In favor. In is often used in Elizabethan English where we should use into. One of the . . . Grecians. Probably Lucian, one of whose charac- ters expresses a thought much like the one here set forth. Explain masks, mummeries, triumphs. A mixture of a lie. Are the instances given by Bacon " lies " ? Vinum da^monum. The wine of demons. Explain the metaphor. See Bacon's Works, v. 26. Such as we spake of before. That is, such a lie as we spoke of before. Truth, which only doth judge itself. The truth [as attained by the human mind] is the sole judge of the correctness of thought [truth]. In judging truth there is no appeal to any other standard than the truth itself. Love-making, or wooing of it, or, as Bacon elsewhere puts it, " the happy match between the mind of man and the nature of things." Compare Wordsworth : — " The discerning intellect of man, When wedded to this goodly universe." The poet that beautified the sect, etc. Lucretius, who was the ornament of the Epicurean school of philosophy. Bacon here para- phrases a passage from his De Rerum Natura. He regarded the Epi- curean philosophy as rather vain and trivial. Not to be commanded. What do we mean by, " The hill commands a fine view of the surrounding country " ? Move in charity, etc. From what source is the figure drawn, and what does it mean ? Who was Montaigne, and how was Bacon influenced by him ? See Introduction. The French writer borrows the thought from Plutarch's Lysander. Find faith, etc. See Luke xviii. 8. Does faith here mean truth, as the context implies ? II. OF DEATH Is fear of darkness natural to children ? As a tribute due unto nature. Explain. in] OF UNITY IN RELIGION 187 Does he mean the fear is not a strong fear, or that such fear is weak- ness ? It is worthy the observing. Cf. 2 Henry VI, iii. 1. 278, " The deed is worthy doing." What is the modern phrase ? It mates, etc. (Fr. mater, to enfeeble, humiliate.) Shakespeare and Bacon use the word in the sense of confound, overcome. Win the combat of him. From whom ? Personification of Death ? Look up the circumstances of Otho's death. Is there any principle of arrangement underlying the order in which Bacon mentions the passions ? They appear, etc. What is the antecedent of the pronoun ? But the Stoics aimed not so much to prepare for death by inculcating contempt for it, as to elevate the soul above the body through a high, philosophic kind of living. Pursuit. Used metaphorically. How does death extinguish envy ? III. OF UNITY IN RELIGION See Bacon's Advertisement touching the Controversies of the Church of England, 158Q. In the edition of 1612 this essay was entitled Of Religion, and re- ferred principally to the hostility of the Roman Church toward Protes- tant nations; whereas the present essay (1625) is chiefly concerned with the internal dissensions of the Church of England. (See Green's chapter on Puritan England.) Bacon looked at religion from the politician's standpoint, seeing in nonconformity to the Established Church only a disturbing force likely to prove a menace to the per- manency of civil government. The subject has little importance for our day and country. The doctor of the Gentiles. St. Paul, 1 Cor. xiv. 23. Master of scoffing. Rabelais, 1483-1553. Dash the first table against the second. The reference is to the two tables of stone on which the Decalogue was written. The expres- sion means : to make the first table, which teaches duty toward God, antagonistic to the second table, which teaches duty toward man. Massacre in France. St. Bartholomew, Paris, 1572. Powder treason. Gunpowder Plot, London, 1605. Mercury rod. The caduceus with which Mercury summoned to Hades the souls of the dead. Virgil, ALneid, iv. 243. 1 88 NOTES [iv IV. OF REVENGE In Bacon's time the practice of dueling as a means of settling private quarrels was much in vogue. See, for example, Einstein's The Renais- sance in England. Bacon severely deprecated this custom, which he undoubtedly had in mind in certain parts of this essay. Wild justice. Wild in the sense of uncultivated, as distinct from legal justice. A metaphor drawn from plant life. How does private revenge put the law out of office ? Solomon . . . saith. Find the passage alluded to, Prov. xix. That which is past, etc. Does Bacon mean that past offenses might better be left unpunished ? No man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake. How does this agree with some of the views expressed in the essay Of Truth ? In another essay Bacon says, " The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man" {Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature, Essay xiii). Can do no other. For this use of other, as a pronoun, see Shake- spearian Grammar, paragraph 12. And it is two for one. Explain the meaning. This is the more generous. Do you think this opinion, and the rea- son given for it in the next sentence, sound ? Cosmus became Duke of Florence in 1537. The spirit of Job. Job ii. 10. Augustus Caesar, Septimius Severus, and Henry IV, the respective avengers of the death of Julius Caesar (B.C. 44), Pertinax (A.D. 93), and Henry III (1598), were prosperous thereafter. Witches. Bacon, despite his intellectual greatness, shared with most people of his day the superstitions concerning witchcraft. Did Shakespeare ? V. OF ADVERSITY Who was Seneca ? See Biographical Dictionary. Bacon often refers to the Stoics. Look the subject up in some good encyclopaedia or history, finding out (a) when they flourished, (&) what their leading doctrines were, and (c) what were their relations to other philosophical schools of the time. Why does Bacon give the Latin sentences after having given the English translation of them ? vi] OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION 189 Study out the connection between the thoughts expressed in the first five sentences. What double meaning is in the phrase, command over nature ? What nature is it, the command over which appears most clearly in ad- versity ? Prometheus. Look up the myth in Smith's Classical Dictionary. Bacon's interpretation of classical myths is highly fanciful, as appears in his De Sapientia Feterum, or Wisdom of the Ancients. See translation, Works, xiii, 75 seq. Bacon's method of interpreting the myths involves the untenable position that, long before the days of Homer, Greece en- joyed an era of much higher intellectual and spiritual culture than after- ward, during which period were evolved mythic fables charged with political, social, ethical, and scientific wisdom not yet fully attained by later times. For an explanation of modern methods of mythological interpretation see article, " Mythology," by Andrew Lang, in Ency- clopaedia Britannica, ninth edition. Is material prosperity generally set forth in the Old Testament as a blessing, as, for example, in the story of Jacob's life ? How is adversity represented in the Beatitudes, Matt, v ? Which carrieth, etc. Is the antecedent blessing, etc. or New Testa- ment ? Yet, even in, etc. Read what Macaulay, in his essay on Bacon, says about this sentence. Incensed. Burned as incense. What appropriate suggestion is con- veyed by the idea of incense ? VI. OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION Explain the reasoning of the first paragraph. Is it entirely logical ? Who was Tacitus, and for what is he noted ? What is Bacon's distinction between arts or policy, and dissimula- tion or closeness ? Habits and faculties several. What does several mean ? Com- pare the legal phrase, "jointly and severally." Vary in particulars. Suit his degree of frankness to particular cases. Made them almost invisible. What is the literal meaning ? Inviteth discovery. Discovery in its literal meaning. What word in the next sentence conveys the same idea ? Cf. Of Adversity (Essay v) t and the last sentence of this paragraph. In that kind. The Latin version has, " for the same reason." 190 NOTES [vii Face give tongue leave to speak. That is, the face should not speak first itself. Indifferent carriage between both. To what does both refer ? If, as Bacon asserts in the preceding paragraph, " a habit of secrecy- is moral," but " no man can be secret except he give himself a little scope of dissimulation," what must one conclude as to Bacon's idea of the morality of dissimulation ? Fair let him go on. Fair = fairly. See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph i. An obsolete meaning of fairly is quietly. See Interna- tional Dictionary. Turn their freedom of speech to freedom of thought. People do not like to contradict a frank person, but are for that very reason all the more free to differ from him in their unspoken opinions, thus turning their freedom to speak adversely into a greater freedom of thinking adversely. Point out clearly the connection of the thought expressed by the quoted proverb with that of the context. Round. Direct. [See Glossary.] Does the metaphor come from falconry or archery ? Trust and belief. Of others in him ? How are these " the principal instruments for action " ? Composition and temperature. Combination and tempering. What is " untempered mortar " ? See Dictionary, temper. VII. OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN In the course of his Essays, Bacon deals with all of the leading rela- tionships of mankind, domestic, civil and political, ethical, religious, legal, etc. In this essay and the next, family relations are discussed. Note the repetition in one essay of certain views expressed in the other. Bacon had no children : is there a touch of self-commendation im- plied in any of his expressions ? What indications are there here of his practical wisdom ? Of his liberality in money matters ? Criticise the unity and the coherence of the essay. Foundations. Permanent, endowed institutions, as schools, churches, and hospitals. First raisers of their houses. Founders of notable lines of de- scendants. ix] OF ENVY 191 VIII. OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE Compare the opinions here set forth with those expressed in the essays Of Love (x) , and Of Friendship (xxvii) . Does Bacon regard love, or friendship, as the higher sentiment and relationship ? Do you find evidence in what he says, and in what he omits, of his coldness of nature ? (See Introduction.) Of his scientific temper of mind ? May have a quarrel. In the Latin translation quarrel is rendered ansa, handle, i.e., pretext, or excuse. One of the wise men. Thales, one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, B.C. 640-545. Plutarch relates that when urged by his mother to marry, Thales protested that he was too young, and afterwards, that he was too old. IX. OF ENVY Evil eye. In his Natural History ( Works, ii. 653) , Bacon 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 oculus malus (the evil eye) . . . It hath been noted that it is most dangerous when an envious eye is cast upon persons in glory and triumph and joy ; the reason whereof is for that, at such times the spirits come forth most into the outward parts, meet the percussion of the envious eye more at hand." This belief in and so the power of the evil eye to inflict injury by a sort of fascination was another of the superstitions that Bacon shared with his times, al- though he attempts to justify it on scientific grounds. Evil aspects. What bearing has this astrological phrase upon the concluding statement in the sentence ? Spirits. The body was supposed to contain a substance called spirit, which could be controlled and modified ; it was prone to rise to the head and issue at the eyes. Mark the different divisions of the essay as outlined in the second paragraph. What does evil in paragraph 3 mean ? Wickedness, or misfortune ? Is there a true antithesis here between good and evil ? Study this pas- sage closely. For to know much, etc. That is, it is not because the knowledge of other men's affairs is necessary to his own good that a man seeks it 192 NOTES [x Play-pleasure. Does this mean pleasure taken in play, or pleasure in watching a play on the stage ? Narses. Exarch of Italy, A.D. 553-565. See Gibbon's Rome, ch. xliii. Agesilaus, king of Sparta, died B.C. 360. See Plutarch's account oi him. Tamerlane, or Timur, born 1335. The story of this Asiatic conqueror was used by Christopher Marlowe, the great predecessor of Shakespeare, as the subject of his tragedy, Tamburlaine the Great. Adrian, or Hadrian, became Emperor of Rome A.D. 117. When they are raised. What is the antecedent of they? Envy is as the sunbeams, etc. Express the thought in literal instead of figurative language. Being never well. Being never content or well satisfied. Do sacrifice to envy. What was the object, or underlying idea, in the offering up of sacrifices ? Of purpose. See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 175. Suffering themselves . . . to be crossed. Bacon advised Essex to use this means of conciliating Queen Elizabeth. Disavow fortune. Deny that his greatness is the natural and merited gift of fortune, and imply that he won it by shrewd scheming. Remove the lot. Apparently an allusion to a belief that a bewitched person could be cured by a transfer of some " lot " or mark of bewitch- ment from himself to another. There is yet, etc. What unexpressed consideration is implied by the adversative^/? Ostracism. What does the word now mean ? What is its deriva- tion ? (See Skeat's Etymological Dictionary.') What ancient Greek judicial custom is connected with the etymology ? The envious man. Matt. xiii. 25. X. OF LOVE Does Bacon here consider love as a universally pervasive force working out the highest good of humanity ; or does he consider it in a lower and more restricted sense ? In the essay Of Friendship (xxvii), he says, " For a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love.'' How does this agree with the conception of love presented here ? Is he speaking of the same phase of love ? Arch-flatterer. Note that the same idea is expressed in the essays Of Praise (liii) and Of Friendship (xxvii). XI] OF GREAT PLACE 193 XI. OF GREAT PLACE Place means office or position ; e.g., a "place hunter" is an office seeker. What three points of connection are there between the first two sentences ? How does the context show that privateness does not mean privacy, but private life ? Which require the shadow. Express this in literal language. When this essay was written, Bacon was enjoying eminent success as a hunter of " great places." If he thought such eminence so great an obstacle to happiness as he here professes to think it, why did he so per- sistently continue to seek it ? Or is this view only his quanta patimur, the use of which he explains in the essay Of Envy ? To can. Can originally meant to know, to have skill. Here, not to can means not to be able. Cf. Hamlet, iv. 7. 85 : — " I've seen myself and served against the French, And they can well on horseback." Conscience. The poet Sir John Denham (d. 1668) writes : — "The sweetest cordial we receive at last Is conscience of our virtuous actions past." What evident meaning, now obsolete, has conscience ? Theater is derived from Greek deacrdcu, to see. Partaker of God's theater appears to mean, sharer with God in the contemplation of good works accomplished. Globe of precepts. Globe is used metaphorically to convey the idea of a complete and perfectly ordered body. Reduce things, etc. Trace things to their first principles. Express thyself well, etc. See middle of next paragraph for the explanation of this. Interlace not business. Do not mingle irrelevant matters with the main business in hand. For corruption, etc. What does Bacon mean by binding one's hands? Is the offering of a bribe a crime under our laws, as well as the re- ceiving of one ? If he be inward, i.e., intimate. Cf. Job xix. 19. Note Shakespeare's 194 NOTES [xn use of the word as a noun in Measure for Measure, ii. 2. 138 : " I was an inward of his." Close corruption. What is the meaning of the expression, " They are keeping the matter very close " ? Cf. Macbeth, iii. 5.7: " The close contriver of all harms." Facility means easiness. Easiness sometimes means the quality of being tractable, pliable, compliant ; as, " He is an easy ruler." " He has an easy nature." " An easy-going fellow." Solomon saith. Prov. xxviii. 21. To respect persons = a respect- ing, or favoring, of persons. Of sufficiency. In the Latin version the meaning is expressed by arte imperatoria, the art of governing ; administrative ability. Expand the next sentence so as to correct the confused grammatical construction. Explain the metaphor in winding stair. To side a man's self. Latin, alteri parti adherere, adhere to one party or the other. What does balance himself mean ? Point out some of the passages in this essay that are obviously based upon Bacon's own experience in seeking and administering high public office. XTI. OF BOLDNESS Trivial. This word has an interesting history. Look up its etymology in Skeat, or the International Dictionary. See trivially in the essay, Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates (xxix). This anecdote of Demosthenes occurs in Cicero's De Oratore. Chief part. Burke uses the expression, " men of considerable parts." What is the meaning ? In what other sentence of this para- graph does the word mean qualities or powers ? What adjective form is used adverbially in this paragraph ? See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 1. Why does Bacon call boldness the child of ignorance and baseness ? Do you recall a popular saying that expresses the same thought ? Out of countenance, etc. The facial expression of ordinary persons in embarrassment is marked by changefulness due to natural sensi- bility ; but in like circumstances the self-confident look of a bold per- son, whose spirits are less mobile, is fixed and " wooden," not instantly altered by the disconcerting situation, but continuing in absurd incon- gruity with it. xiii] GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE 195 The spirits. Recall the use and the explanation of this word in Essay ix, Of Envy. What is a stale-mate in chess ? Bacon was by nature somewhat nervous and diffident in public. This essay reads like the self-counsel of a man who would correct his own deficiency in boldness. Certain memoranda in his notebook indicate his resolve to assume on given occasions a self-confident manner, but not to overdo it. XIII. OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE Throughout the study of this essay keep distinct the two ideas of the title as defined in the second sentence. Which is primary and fundamental, inclination or habit ; motive or outward act ? To which category does charity, or love, belong (fourth sentence)? In what sense does goodness — the habit, or practice, of doing good — "answer to" charity? How are the motive and the action related ? Admits no excess, but [does admit] error. These two ideas are next successively discussed. Turks . . . give alms to dogs and birds. In Oriental cities dogs and birds are protected because they diminish the chances of pesti- lence by devouring the garbage of the streets, no other means for its disposal usually being provided. Is the motive (inclination) in this case one of kindness to animals, or one of self-interest ? Busbechius. Augier Ghislen Busbecq, a learned Flemish traveler (1552-1592) sent by Emperor Ferdinand as ambassador to the court of Solyman II. He wrote an interesting account of his sojourn at the Sultan's capital. Nicholas Machiavel. See Introduction. For a fuller comment upon him see Bacon's Works, v. 17. In bondage to their faces. Compliant to the expression of every passing whim of others. iEsop's cock. Plato, Dialogues, Phaedrus, iii. 12. yEsop's Fables, xiii. He sendeth his rain, etc. Matt. v. 45. Common benefits. The common necessities of life are to be be- stowed upon any and all who may lack them without regard to other conditions ; but special benefits are to be conferred only with due con- sideration of attendant circumstances. 196 NOTES [xiv Divinity. Theology. The reference is to Christ's commandment, Matt. xix. 19. Sell all thou hast. Matt. xix. 21. Bacon has said that goodness cannot be carried to excess ; does he fall into self-contradiction here by warning against overdoing acts of charity ? When a good thing is " carried to excess," is it still a good thing ? Then can there logically be any " excess " of goodness, — only " error " ? Natural malignity. See the essay Of Reve?ige (iv), ninth sentence. Lazarus. Luke xvi. 21. Timon. Read the story of Timon in Plutarch's Antony, near the close. Timon one day announced to the Athenians that he was about to cut down a certain tree in his garden whereon a number of citizens had hanged themselves ; and extended to them a cordial invitation to make use of the tree for the like purpose, if they pleased, before he had it felled. Cf. Shakespeare's Timon 0/ Athens, v. 2. 208-15. Errors. The Latin translation has " sores and ulcers." Knee-timber. Naturally crooked timber used in shipbuilding for the ribs of vessels. What is Bacon's implied estimate of the politicians of his time ? The noble tree. The balsam tree, from which myrrh is obtained by incision. St. Paul's perfection. Rom. ix. 3, and 2 Tim. ii. 10. XIV. OF NOBILITY It is the social order, not the quality, of nobility, that is here dis- cussed. The growth of democratic principles since Bacon's time has rendered this class of far less importance than formerly. Note what is said in the next essay, and in Essay xxix, about the danger in the rapid increase of the nobility. In the latter essay, and in Essay xix, it appears that Bacon regarded the nobility, not only as a possible danger, but also as a benefit to the state ; whereas Machiavelli unqualifiedly condemns the nobility as an idle and worthless class, " very pernicious wherever they are." Broken upon them. Cf. Of Ambition (xxxvi) : " There is also great use of ambitious men in being screens to princes." Find a simi- lar view expressed in Essay ix. Rarely any rising but by a commixture of good and evil arts. See Introduction : Biographical Sketch of Bacon. In the De Augmen- tis he writes : " As for evil arts ... I will not certainly deny that he xvii] OF SUPERSTITION 197 may advance it quicker and more compendiously. But it is in life as it is in ways; the shortest way is commonly the foulest and muddiest; and surely the fairer way is not much about." XV. OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES Another subject that interested Bacon as a politician and statesman. What other essays deal with political subjects ? Aristotle, Politics, Bookv, discusses "the causes of revolution in states, and of what nature they are; what elements work ruin in particular states, and out of what, and into what they mostly change." Among the causes of revolutions he notes the predominance of individuals, faction, ambition of great men, encroachment of the notables. Many of Bacon's views on this subject are similar to those of Machia- velli. See Discourses, iii, for example. The League. The Holy League, originated in 1575. Primum mobile (first moved) . The tenth or highest heaven, believed by Ptolemaic astronomers to revolve once every twenty-four hours around the earth as a center, and to carry with it the lower heavens containing the planets. This is one of the favorite illustrations of Bacon. He evidently did not believe in the primum mobile; neither did he accept the Copernican theory of the revolution of the earth around the sun. XVI. OF ATHEISM Bacon treats this subject in his Meditationes Sacrcs, expounding the text, " The fool hath said in his heart there is no God." See Arber, A Harmony of the Essays. Note the close connection between this essay and the next : one deals with the lack of true religious faith, the other with false ideas of religion. Atheism and superstition are compared at the beginning of Essay xvii. The Legend. The Golden Legend, a collection of Lives of Saints and other tales compiled in the thirteenth century by Jacob Voragine, archbishop of Genoa. Fifth essence. The quintessence, assumed by Aristotle to be the stuff of which the heavenly bodies were composed. The four elements are earth, air, fire, and water. XVII. OF SUPERSTITION The title of Plutarch's essay, Of Superstition, or Indiscreet Devotion, suggests the sense in which Bacon uses the word superstition, viz., that 198 NOTES [xviii expressed in the second rather than the first definition of the word in the International Dictionary. It is possible that Plutarch's essay suggested to Bacon the writing of this and the preceding essay. It considers among the topics : " Ig- norance respecting God may lead either to atheism or superstition. Atheism and superstition compared. In avoiding superstition do not fall into atheism," and the like. No opinion of God. Bacon seems to hold the view that one may believe in God's existence, and yet have no conception of his nature. See the first sentence of the preceding essay. Primum mobile. See note, Essay xv. XVIII. OF TRAVEL In Elizabethan times travel was so highly regarded as a means of education that no young gentleman's schooling was thought complete without the " grand tour " on the continent. Italy, the center of courtesy, culture, and art, was the objective point, though the traveler usually visited other foreign countries, particularly France. As a con- sequence of this interest in travel many books were written about foreign countries, and handbooks for travelers, the forerunners of our modern guidebooks, were published, wherein travel was discussed much as if it were a distinct art. People did not travel solely for pleasure, but chiefly for the serious purposes of wider culture. Nevertheless the Puritans regarded the craze for foreign travel as a source of much evil, attribut- ing the spread of vice in society largely to the effects of bad foreign example. For a very interesting account of the whole matter see the third chapter of Einstein's The Italian Renaissance in England. Note how many of Bacon's ideas about travel were shared by others, as shown by the extracts from contemporary writers quoted by Einstein. Goeth to school. The Latin version has "grammar school." Explain. What popular Elizabethan sport may be alluded to in hooded ? See International Dictionary, under Falcon. Magazines. The Latin has "public stores and granaries." Burses. Latin bursa, purse. The sign of a purse was anciently set up over the place where merchants met. Some card. What is " the shipman's card" mentioned in Macbeth, i. 17 ? See derivation. xx] OF COUNSEL 199 Adamant. How did the obsolete meaning of magnet or loadstone become attached to this word ? See International Dictionary. Cf. Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 1. 195. Healths. The reference seems to be to quarrels occasioned by toasts, or by " drinking the health." Apparel or gesture. The affectation of foreign fashions was exces- sive in Bacon's time. The literature of the period contains many references to the fops who aped foreign dress and manners. See Einstein, 164-168. Also Merchant of Venice, i. 2. 79, etc. How do you account for the fact that among the things to be par- ticularly observed while traveling in foreign lands Bacon makes no mention of natural scenery or of the physical characteristics and the products of the countries visited, matters that would greatly interest a traveler nowadays ? Does it show that in Bacon's time the prevailing interests were distinctively humanistic ? XIX. OF EMPIRE Bacon was fond of dwelling upon lofty themes. Here he discusses kings rather than empire, or sovereignty. Do you find any allusions to King James ? Toys. Trifles ; matters of mere amusement. One of these " toys " forms the subject of Essay xxxvii. See the first two sentences. King James was very fond of such entertainments. True temper of empire. True proportion and blending of the ele- ments of empire. The wisdom of all these latter times. Did Bacon have a high opinion of the political wisdom of his age ? This passage aptly char- acterizes Elizabeth's state policy. Edward . . . his queen. His was in early times used in place of the 's of the genitive. See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 217. XX. OF COUNSEL This essay was first published in 1607. At that time Bacon was ambitious of securing favor and influence with the king. Do you find passages in the essay that suggest this ? Trust. Does this mean that the giving of counsel is the greatest 200 NOTES [xx obligation resting upon man in his relation to his fellow-man ; or that seeking counsel is the occasion and evidence of the greatest confidence placed by one man in another ? Note the next sentence. Is it the seeker or the giver of counsel who necessarily has confidence in the other ? Can the word confidences in the next sentence mean the same as trust in this sentence ? Why other? Commit. Do men " commit the parts of life " in the sense in which they " commit the whole " ? Is the argument sound ? What is the antecedent of the last pronoun in the sentence ? They are obliged. Counselors are bound. The Counselor. See Isaiah ix. 6. Solomon. See Prov. xx. 18. Solomon's son. Read the account in i Kings xi. 6-xii. 20. King Rehoboam lost the kingdom through listening to the advice of the young men to use threats and violence, instead of following the counsel of the old men to promise reforms in the government. Bacon draws the inference that bad counsel can be best discerned by two marks ; it is given by the young, and it favors the use of violence. Is the conclusion reasonable ? For the persons. In what sense is for used ? See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 140. Cabinet councils. Not the Cabinet, or Privy Council, of Great Britain in its present form and office, but rather, secret, unofficial coun- cils. See Cabinet in Standard or International Dictionary. Latin : " inner councils, which are commonly called cabinets." Extreme secrecy, which will hardly go, etc. Great secrecy can be maintained only with much difficulty if intrusted to more than one or two persons. Which refers to secrecy. Able to grind with a hand-mill. A proverbial figure like, " able to hoe one's own row." Explain the point of the remark from the con- text. Morton. John Morton was Master of the Rolls and Privy Councilor under Henry VI ; Bishop of Ely and Lord Chancellor under Edward IV; and Archbishop and Cardinal under Henry VII. Richard Fox was Privy Councilor and Keeper of the Great Seal under Henry VIII, and later, Bishop of Winchester. Elsewhere Bacon characterizes Morton and Fox as " vigilant men and secret, and such as kept watch with him [the king] almost upon all men else." The fable showeth the remedy. Bacon means here that the king xxi] OF DELAYS 201 should use the conclusions arrived at through counsel as if they were his own independent decisions. The fable of Jupiter and Metis is omitted from this edition of the essay. Holpen has been superseded by what participial form ? See Shake- spearian Grammar, paragraph 343. Nature of times. This saying applies only to a special time, not to all persons at any time. See Luke xviii. 8 ; also the end of Essay i. Principis est virtus, etc. One of the epigrams of Martial, a Latin poet of the first century A.D. Secundum genera. According to classes; that is, each individual person must be studied and chosen on his own particular merits. In nocte consilium. In the night there is counsel; meaning that between one day and the next one's judgments have time to mature and become settled. Union between England and Scotland. When James VI of Scot- land became James I of England, 1603. See Spedding's Life of Bacon, iii. 240. Hoc agere. Literally, To do this; a phrase commonly used by the Romans to mean, " to give attention to the particular business in hand." Ripening business. How does a committee " ripen business " ? Tribunitious. The modern form is tribunitian or tribunitial. The Roman tribunes sometimes made their demands in an offensive man- ner, exaggerating their responsibility as the guardians of the rights of the common people. Take the wind of him. Take the cue from, and merely echo his opinions. Placebo. I will please. The beginning of a vesper hymn. Ps. cxvi. 9. XXI. OF DELAYS Sibylla's offer. Look up the story of the sale of the Sibylline books to Tarquinius, seventh king of Rome. Deceived with too long shadows. Deceived in the height, or in the nearness of the enemy ? Note the context. Argus. Argus " Panoptes," the All-seeing, so called because he had a hundred eyes. After his death Juno transferred his eyes to the tail of her favorite bird, the peacock. See the full account in Smith's Classical Dictionary. Briareus, or ^Egeon, son of Uranus. He was one of three brothers, all huge monsters, and had a hundred hands. Homer's lliad t i. 403. 202 NOTES [xxn Helmet of Pluto. Pluto, the king of the underworld, during the war of the gods and giants, received from the Cyclopes a helmet that pos- sessed the magic power of rendering its wearer invisible. It was a symbol of Pluto's invisible kingdom. See Harper's Classical Dictionary. XXII. OF CUNNING Compare this essay with Essay vi. While cunning is " a sinister or crooked wisdom " requiring shrewdness or skill, it is not a mark of true wisdom. It is the chief point of " wisdom for a man's self," which Bacon, in theory, condemns in the next essay, though in his own politi- cal practice he often made use of it. It is one of the " evil arts " he thought necessary for rapid advancement in life. See last note, Essay xiv. It is an art that concerns the persons rather than the business involved; the art of manipulating "human nature," or of " working men," as Bacon terms it in the last paragraph of Essay xlvii. Narcissus. See Tacitus, Annals, xi. 30. Cat in the pan. Cat = cate, or cake, alluding to the dexterity of a cook in turning the pancakes. Looses. Means of escape ; a figure from archery. A loose was the act of discharging the arrow. XXIII. OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF Note the points of correspondence between the two sides of the analogy set forth in the first two sentences. Divide with reason. Cf. : " Divinity maketh the love of ourselves the pattern, the love of our neighbors but the portraiture." — Of Good- ness, and Goodness of Nature (xiii) . " This above all : to thine own self be true, And it shall follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." — Hamlet, i. 38. Right earth. The earth exactly. Bacon did not accept the Coper- nican theory, but held that the starry heavens revolved round the earth as a fixed center. Hence the analogy here employed. Make sure of the full meaning of the phrase, " affinity with the heavens." His own center. His was the older possessive form of it as well as of he. This double use led to confusion, and finally to the formation of the possessive form its. See, for an example of the older usage, Gen. i. xxiv] OF INNOVATIONS 203 12. Its first came into use about the beginning of the seventeenth cen- tury. Shakespeare uses it only ten times in all his works. See Louns- bury, History of the English Language, p. 129. Which they benefit. Not like the ant in the garden already men- tioned, or the man wise only for himself. Good and evil is at the peril of, etc. The thought is that the wel- fare of the public is dependent upon that of the prince. Of their own petty ends, etc. This explains what gives the bias. After the model of. Can you find a clearer and more familiar phrase? Bear in mind the topic of the paragraph as set forth in the first sentence. Crocodiles. " Crocodile tears " = hypocritical tears. " In olden times it was a current belief that the crocodile moans and sighs like a human being in great distress, in order to allure travelers within reach ; and even sheds tears over its victims while devouring them." — Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. XXIV. OF INNOVATIONS Trace carefully the connection between the thoughts contained in the first paragraph. In what sense can innovations be said to be ill-shapen ? Note the beginning of the next paragraph. Most that succeed. Does succeed here mean attain success, or come after? Study the context carefully. The first precedent ... is seldom attained by imitation. The in- novation is not often equaled in excellence by imitation. Does the view expressed in the next sentence accord with that set forth in the sixth sentence of the essay Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature (xiii) ? Every medicine is an innovation. Medicine is used broadly to mean any remedial measure or agent, the product of the " wisdom and coun- sel " mentioned in the latter part of the sentence. Explain why a medi- cine is in its very nature an innovation. Of course. In due course of events; not in the colloquial sense of certainly. It is fit. The Latin translation has aptum tamen esse temporibus ; it is nevertheless suited to the circumstances. Piece not so well. Bacon seems to have had in mind Matt. ix. 16. 204 NOTES [xxv Holpen. See note Of Counsel (xx). As the Scripture saith. See Jer. vi. 16. XXV. OF DISPATCH Affected dispatch. This suggests the adage, "The more haste the less speed." Does affected here mean pretended, or is it used in the older sense of desired, implying a hurried method of work ? Study the simile in the following sentence. Crudities. Crudus is the Latin word for undigested. Times of sitting. Time spent upon business. In the comparison that follows, what is it that corresponds in business to " large stride " and " high lift " respectively, in races ? False periods. False appearances of having finished business, brought about by " cutting off" (next sentence) . Cf. Of Youth and Age (xlii) : " Drive business home to the full period." By contracting. Shorten business by wise economy of labor ? A wise man. Elsewhere Bacon attributes the saying to Sir Amyas Paulet. See Biographical Sketch of Bacon, Introduction, page xv. Moderator . . . actor. The moderator is the person who tries to guide or control (moderate) the speaker. (Cf. moderate in Essay xxxii.) The Latin translation renders " the actor " as " the speaker." Passages. The Latin has transitiones, i.e., transitions from one part of the subject to another, wherein time is wasted. Too material. Too insistent upon adhering closely to the matter, or main issue of the discussion. As ashes. Explain the meaning of the simile. " Negative" corre- sponds to " ashes " in what respect ? What remains after the " fire " of debate ? Why " more generative " ? How does " an indefinite " result correspond to " dust " ? Is dust less " generative " than ashes ? XXVI. OF SEEMING WISE The Apostle. See 2 Tim. iii. 5. There are . . . that do nothing or little very solemnly. Supply those. The relative clause is ambiguous ; what are the two meanings, and which is the right one ? Prospectives. Perspective glasses through which objects are viewed. Explain the metaphor in connection with what follows. Piso. An unprincipled Roman magistrate, father-in-law to Caesar. xxvn] OF FRIENDSHIP 205 He aided in the banishment of Gicero, who retaliated by attacking him in two of his orations, from one of which Bacon quotes. Smith's Classical Dictionary, Piso, 6. A. Gellius. Aulus Gellius was a Latin grammarian and author who flourished in the second century A.D. Aldis Wright says the quotation is from Quintilian, Inst. Orat. x. i. Protagoras. See Plato's Dialogues. In this dialogue Prodicus is represented as making a speech in which he draws nice distinctions be- tween words in a ridiculous way. Requireth a new work. In the execution of the proposition, or in the development of the discussion ? Remember the subject of the essay. Inward beggar. A poverty-stricken person who puts on an outward show of wealth to conceal his condition. Is the first their in the sen- tence the correct pronominal form ? XXVII. OF FRIENDSHIP Bacon's discussion of this subject in his Ethics, Books 8 and 9, may be profitably compared with this essay (1625). Also, the treatment of the same theme in the edition of 1612, as follows : — " There is no greater desert or wilderness then to bee without true friends. For without friendship, society is but meeting. And as it is certaine, that in bodies inanimate, union strengtheneth any natural motion, and weakeneth any violent motion ; so amongst men, friend- ship multiplieth joies and divideth griefs. Therefore whosoever want- eth fortitude, let him worship Friendship. For the yoke of Friendship maketh the yoke of fortune more light. There bee some whose lives are, as if they perpetually plaid upon a stage, disguised to all others, open onely to themselves. But perpetuall dissimulation is painfull ; and hee that is all Fortune, and no Nature is an exquisit Hierling. Live not in continuall smother, but take some friends with whom to communicate. It will unfold thy understanding; it will evaporate thy affections ; it will prepare thy businesse. A man may keepe a corner of his minde from his friend, and it bee but to witnesse to himselfe, that it is not upon facility, but upon true use of friendship that hee impart- eth himselfe. Want of true friends, as it is the reward of perfidious natures; so it is an imposition upon great fortunes. The one deserve it, the other cannot scape it. And therefore it is good to retaine sin- cerity, and to put it into the reckoning of ambition, that the higher one 206 NOTES [xxvn goeth, the fewer true friends he shall have. Perfection of friendship, is but a speculation. It is friendship, when a man can say to himselfe, I love this man without respect of utility. I am open hearted to him, I single him from the generality of those with whom I live ; I make him a portion of my owne wishes." Him that spake it. Aristotle, Politics, i. i. Epimenides flourished B.C. 600. He was said to have slept con- tinuously for fifty-seven years in a cave where he had chanced to fall asleep. According to tradition, he lived 299 years. Numa was, according to legendary belief, the founder of Roman re- ligious worship. He was said to have been taught by the goddess Egeria in a grove near Rome. Empedocles, a Sicilian philosopher, flourished about 444 B.C. He was reputed to have been a magician, and to have cast himself into the crater of Etna that his complete disappearance might confirm the be- lief that he was not a mortal but a god. Apollonius lived in the first century A.D. The account of his life by Philostratus is replete with reputed miracles and fables. What figure drawn from the New Testament occurs in the next sentence ? To want true friends. Obviously want does not mean desire. Cf. " It wants an hour of sunset." Civil shrift. Civil as opposed to what other sort ? As they purchase. What is the connective now used instead of as in such constructions ? See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 109. See three instances of this use in the next paragraph. Lucius Cornelius Sylla. See Plutarch's account of Sylla, Caesar, and Brutus. Augustus raised Agrippa, etc. What pronouns in this sentence are ambiguous ? Plautianus. See Gibbon : Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. v. He was Praetorian Prefect, and was finally put to death by Severus. Comineus. Philip de Comines, 1445-1509. Charles the Hardy (or the Bold) of Burgundy was the antagonist of Louis XI of France. Comineus spent his earlier years at the court of Charles, but afterward took service with Louis. Look up Pythagoras ; alchemists ; the philosopher's stone. Parable. Bacon uses the word for a figurative saying or metaphor, rather than in its present sense. It means a comparison. xxvii] OF FRIENDSHIP 207 For in bodies. Body, in the physicist's sense of mass or portion of matter. This is one of the maxims in Bacon's Prima Philosophia. Point out exactly how it illustrates the thought of the four preceding sentences. Clarify and break up. What familiar natural phenomenon do you think Bacon had in mind ? Explain the thought. Cloth of Arras. Tapestry manufactured at Arras, France. This manufacture was not carried on before the Middle Ages. When did Themistocles live? (Point out the anachronism.) See Plutarch's account of him. In thoughts they lie. What is the antecedent oithey? Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, flourished B.C. 500. Dry light, as contrasted with the light of the intellect when moistened or softened by the feelings and habits of the individual. (See Bacon's Apophthegyns , No. 268.) Cf. note on humors, Of Ambition (xxxvi). There is no such flatterer, etc. In the essay Of Love Bacon writes, " The arch-flatterer, with whom all the petty flatterers have intelligence, is a man's self." Concerning manners. From what follows do you think manners means social behavior, or moral conduct ? St. James i. 23-24. The four-and-twenty letters. An account of the letters /and U in the dictionary will indicate why Bacon speaks of the alphabet as con- taining only twenty-four letters. Fond . . . imaginations. Fond is used in the archaic sense ex- plained in International Dictionary, def. 1. The thought is, that if a man is to think himself all in all, he may foolishly credit such absurdities as those mentioned, if he will. Represent to life. Latin, advivum, to the life; realistically. Sparing speech. A speech rather understating the truth. Bestowing of a child. Latin, collocatione filii in matrimonium, bestowing a son in marriage. Upon terms. Latin, nisi salva dignitate, without preserving his honor, i.e., except on honorable terms. Do you think the essay presents a somewhat cold and calculating, or a warm and generous, view of friendship ? 208 NOTES [xxviii XXVIII. OF EXPENSE Voluntary undoing, etc. The Latin translation has, " Voluntary pov- erty is due sometimes to one's country, and not only to the kingdom of Heaven." Cf. Matt. xix. 23, 24. Such regard as. This use of as is not infrequent in Shakespeare and contemporary writers. Compass here means power of attention and control. Bacon did not live up to this rule. " To the end of his life, with all his parade of account books and notebooks, his servants remained uncontrolled, and his household laxly supervised. Such petty details were beneath the attention of one who was born for the service of mankind." — ABBOTT. Show, etc. So that one's expenses may be thought greater than they really are. What advantage in this ? Note how, in the essay 0/ Dis- course (xxxii), Bacon likewise regards the over-estimation of one's knowledge an advantage. Doubting. Robert of Gloucester (thirteenth century) writes : — " Edmond was a good man and doubted God." Shakespeare has, " I doubt some foul play." In what now obsolete sense does Bacon evidently use the word ? In respect, etc. Think of a more modern way of expressing the idea of this phrase. Searching. What special meaning here ? " He should never be whole until the best knight of the world had searched his wounds." — Malory, Morte D' Arthur. XXIX. OF THE TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES The original of this essay was a treatise Of the True Greatness of Britain, written in 1608. The title of the Latin version of the essay is De proferendis Imperii finibus (Of Extending the Boundaries of the Empire), indicating that true greatness as here used means not mere bulk but the power of a nation to extend its influence and control over wider and wider territory. Bacon advised the King to undertake the foundation of a great Western Empire by martial conquest, as the best means of allaying internal strife ; and when all prospect of such a war failed, he advocated a war against the Turks. xxix] OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES 209 Themistocles, an Athenian general and statesman, died circ. B.C. 450. (See Plutarch's Life.) Metaphor means transference. (See derivation in International Dictionary.) The words are helped (in what way ?) by being trans- ferred from their personal application as used by Themistocles, to politics. Fiddle. Did Bacon do any such " fiddling " as he condemns ? (See his advice to Essex as to conciliating the Queen, and many other such instances.) Has manage a figurative use in " manage affairs, and to keep them from precipices," etc. See derivation in International Dictionary, and ' manege. Note the use of the word in Essay vi, Of Simulation and Dissimulation. Power and forces, substituted for the word greatness in the edition of 1612. Mustard seed. What is the source of the figure ? What is the meaning of stout in paragraph 3 ? See next sentence. Look up the battle of Arbela (Plutarch's Life of Alexander) . Darius had over a million soldiers ; Alexander, thirty-five thousand. Tigranes. See Plutarch's Life of Lucullus. Tigranes was King of Armenia B.C. 96-56. The words of Solon are quoted from Machiavelli's Discourses, Book II. Blessing of Judah and Issachar. See Gen. xlix. 9, 14. Low Countries. The people willingly submitted to heavy taxation for public defense against Spain. In regard (of) was formerly used to convey the idea now expressed by on account of. (Here, on account of the fact that, etc.) King Henry VII. See Bacon's History of Henry VLL (pub. 1621). Nebuchadnezzar's tree. See Dan. iv. 10-37. (Cf. Machiavelli, Discourses, ii. 4.) Compass, i.e., their original small territory. Singular, single. Shakespeare does not use the word in this sense, but Holinshed, in his Chronicle, published when Shakespeare was thir- teen years old, writes, " They agreed to try the matter together in a singular combat." And putting both constitutions together. Explain "both consti- tutions." What is the" point in, It was the world that spread upon the Romans ? 210 NOTES [xxix Pragmatical sanction. See explanation in Webster's International Dictionary. Soon after the accession of Philip IV a royal decree was published (1622) intended to promote an increase in the number of marriages in Spain. Contain the principal bulk, etc. Contain is still used, reflexively, in this sense of restrain, in such phrases as, " We could not contain our- selves." See Plutarch's account of Romulus. Sent a present. Latin, legavit, bequeathed. That is, he bequeathed them the advice that they should intend arms. It needeth not to be stood upon. Cf. " I stand upon my rights." Is the argument sound that because certain great nations were also warlike, greatness cannot be attained by a peaceful nation ? Tacit conformity of estate. The context suggests that the reference is to the establishment by one state, or government, in a foreign state, of some political party or form of government that will be tacitly, though not outwardly, conformable to the influence and interests of the state to which it owes its origin and maintenance. Is there no better way in which the power of a nation can be exer- cised than in war ? Cf. Bacon's views with those of Machiavelli, Dis- courses, i. 6. It maketh to be still, etc. Try transposing the parts of the sen- tence : To be always for the most part in arms maketh for greatness, etc. Abridgment of a monarchy. Latin, epitome, i.e. (in modern figu- rative phrase), a monarchy "in a nutshell." Pompey his = Pompey's. For the explanation of this form of the possessive see Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 217. Actium, B.C. 31. Augustus defeated Antony. Lepanto. A celebrated naval battle between the Turks and the Christians in 1571, in which the latter, commanded by John of Austria, won a decisive victory, which as Bacon says, " hath put a hook into the nostrils of the Ottomans to this day." Set up their rest. A figurative expression of obscure origin, appar- ently meaning, staked their all. Not merely inland. See mere in the essay Of Friendship (xxvii). See merely in the second paragraph of the essay Of Revenge (iv). Can you think of any modern use of the word in which it expresses some- thing of the idea of wholly or entirely ? Remembrance . . . upon the escutcheon. A commemorative device upon the coat of arms. xxx] OF REGIMENT OF HEALTH 21 1 The style of emperor. After a victory the Roman soldiers often saluted their general with the title ("style") of " imperator," or emperor. See International Dictionary, imperator. That of the triumph. The Latin translation has mos Me triumph- al! di, that custom of the triumph. Some such word as custom seems to have dropped out of the English version. What was the Roman " triumph"? Model of, etc. Of here is appositional ; the meaning is : this small frame, man's body. XXX. OF REGIMENT OF HEALTH Regiment in this sense is now obsolete. The modern form is regimen. For strength of nature, etc. For introduces a reason to support the conclusions expressed in the preceding sentence. Note the logical dependency. Owing. Latin, Tandem velut debita exigentur, will finally be ex- acted like debts. If necessity enforce it. Ambiguous. Does the antecedent of it precede or follow the pronoun in this sentence ? For it is a secret. Machiavelli advises " a new prince in a new conquest to make everything new." Discourses, i, 26. By little and little. What is the usual present form of the phrase ? Find similar thoughts in the essays Of Innovations (xxiv) and Of Nature in Men (xxxviii). Of long lasting. This is rendered in the Latin translation by ad prolongandam vitam, for prolonging life. Why mirth rather than joy ? Except it be grown into a custom. But should one not strive against a bad custom ? Find an opinion on this point in the essay Of Custom and Education (xxxix) . In health [respect] action. What seems to be the meaning of action in view of the next three sentences ? Celsus was a Roman writer of treatises on medicine who lived at the time of Caesar Augustus. Taught masteries. Disciplined to submit to varying conditions, or to overcome them ? Latin, robur acquiret, will acquire strength. Regular in proceeding according to art. How does this criticism ot medical practice express Bacon's scientific spirit and method ? 212 NOTES [xxxi XXXI. OF SUSPICION Fly by twilight. In this metaphor the resemblances are between thoughts and birds ; suspicions and bats ; twilight and what ? The answer is suggested by the sentence below : " Men should remedy sus- picion by procuring to know more." Heart. The heart is here regarded as the seat of courage, as the words stoutest and stout that follow, indicate. Recall the use of stout in the essay Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates (xxix). As to provide as = so to provide that. See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraphs 106, 109, 275. Buzzes . . . stings. Express in other words the literal meaning of this figure. That he suspects. What is the antecedent of the pronoun? Would not be done. What auxiliary verb is now used in such con- structions instead of would? XXXII. OF DISCOURSE Compare with the text the first version (1597), which is as follows : — Some in their discourse desire rather commendation of wit, in being able to holde all arguments, then of Iudgment in discerning what is true ; as if it were a praise to knowe what might be saide, and not what should be thought; some haue certain common places, and theames, wherein they are good, and want variety : W ch kinde of Poverty is for the most parte tedious, and now and then ridiculous : the honorablest parte of talke is to giue the occasion, and againe to moderate, and passe to somewhat else: It is good to vary, and mixe speache of the pres- ent occasion w th arguments, tales w th reasons : asking of questions w th telling of opinions; and lest w th earnest: but some things are privileged from lest, namely, Religion, matters of state, greate persons, all mens present business of Importaunce, and any case that deserveth pitty : He that questioneth much, shall learne much, and content much, especially if he apply his questiones to the skill of the party of whom he asketh : for he shall giue them occasion to please themselues in speak- ing, and himselfe shall continually gather knowledge: if sometimes you dissemble your knowledge of that you are thought to knowe, you shall bethought another time to knowe, that w ch you knowe not; speache of a mans selfe is not good often ; and there is but one thing wherein a xxxiii] OF PLANTATIONS 21 3 man may^commend himselfe w th good grace, and that is commending vertue in another; especially if it be such a vertue as whervnto himselfe pretendeth : Discretion of speache is more than eloquence, and to speake agreeably to him w th whome we deale, is more than to speake in good wordes or in good order : a good continued speache, w th out a good speache of Interloquution showeth slownes ; and a good second speache w th out a good set speache showeth shallownes. To vse to many circumstaunces ere one come to the matter is wearisome, and to vse none at all is blunt. Good, and want, etc. What other conjunction would better express the connection? Give the occasion. Suggest or inspire conversation. Speech of the present occasion with arguments. Matters of pass- ing interest with those of permanent importance. What indicates that the meaning of jade, to weary with riding, was new in Bacon's time ? But cf. Twelfth Night, ii. v ; Antony and Cleo- patra, iii. 1. Content much. Give much content or pleasure to others. Does Bacon seem to think it an advantage to be credited with knowl- edge not possessed ? Does he approve dissimulation as a means of securing such credit ? Cf. the essays Of Simulation and Dissimulation (vi) and Of Seeming Wise (xxvi). That as here used = what, or that which. See Shakespearian Gram- mar, paragraph 244. Note omission of the relative below in, " I knew one was wont to say," etc. Speech of touch, etc. Speech having reference to others. As a field. Extending in all directions, not like a road running to some particular point. Explain the point of the anecdote in paragraph 6. Agreeably. In a way suited to him. (Does the context justify this interpretation ?) XXXIII. OF PLANTATIONS In Bacon's day the word plantation was commonly used where we should use colony, as " the Virginia Plantation." The origin of this use is suggested in the sentence, " Planting of countries is like planting of woods." What observations made by Bacon apply to England's early colonies in America ? 214 NOTES [xxxiv Bay-salt. Salt made by evaporating sea water in shallow pits or basins. XXXIV. OF RICHES Why is the Latin word better than the English? Conceit. This word has been narrowed in meaning since Eliza- bethan times. Here it means conception, imagination, idea. Where much is, etc. Find the passage quoted from Eccl. v. Solomon saith. Pro v. xviii. Come upon speed. What preposition is now used in such a phrase? (We still say "come on the run," etc.) See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 180. Came very hardly. Hardly differs in what way from its current meaning ? Explain grindeth double, etc. Value unsound men. Represent them as financially responsible. Privilege. See monopolies below. Explain play the true logician, etc. Monopolies. Look up the matter of private monopolies in Eliza- bethan England. Sir Walter Raleigh, for example, was granted the exclusive privilege of selling tavern and wine retailers' licenses. Under James I monopolies were abolished by law. Of the best rise. Of the greatest honor. Fishing for testaments. In a notebook or diary written by Bacon in 1608 (see Life, Spedding, Vol. IV, p. 63), is a memorandum ex- pressing Bacon's purpose of practicing to be inward with my Lady Dor- set per Champners ad utilit. testam., that is, contriving to become a close friend of Lady Dorset by means of Champners, for testamentary purposes. The context seems to indicate that Bacon was thus " fishing for testaments " for the purpose, not of enriching himself, but of pro- moting the advancement of science. Glorious gifts and foundations. Ostentatious bequests for chari- table or public purposes. Explain the simile. XXXV. OF PROPHECIES Essay xvii deals with religious superstition ; Of Prophecies examines one form of what may be termed scientific superstition. In the Advance- ment of Learning Bacon writes : " The nature of the human is more xxxvi] OF AMBITION 215 affected by affirmatives and actives than by negatives and privatives ; whereas by right it should be indifferently disposed toward both ; but now a few times hitting or presence produces a much stronger impres- sion on the mind than many times failing or absence, — a thing which is the root of all vain superstition and credulity." This error is one of what Bacon calls the Idols of the Tribe. See the last " cause of super- stition" mentioned in paragraph 2 of Essay xvii. Pythonissa. I Sam. xxviii. 19. Atlanticus. Plato's treatise, commonly known as the Critias, a dialogue about an unknown island called Atlantis. The early naviga- tors of the sixteenth century were influenced in some degree by the stories of this fabled island in the west. XXXVI. OF AMBITION Humor. According to mediaeval physiology the body contained four humors, or moistures, the predominance of any one of which deter- mined the disposition, or temperament ; excess of blood produced the sanguine temperament ; of phlegm, the phlegmatic ; of choler, or bile, the choleric, or bilious; and of black bile (Greek, /xeAcryxoXia), the melancholy. That curious old book of Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, published about five years before Bacon's death, contains much of the old physiology. They are rather busy. Redundant pronouns were often inserted by the older writers for greater clearness. Evil eye. See note on the essay Of Envy (ix). Never so ambitious. What is the modern form of the idiom ? Ba- con's phrase is the more logical. Can you expand it to its full grammat- ical form so as to show this fact ? Dispenseth with. See Webster's International Dictionary, def. 3. The usefulness of their services outweighs the other consequences of their ambition, however ill those may be. It was a common belief in Bacon's time that a seeled dove, if liberated, would continue to mount straight upward until it fell from exhaustion. Macro was a favorite of Tiberius. He is said to have been acces- sory to the murder of Tiberius by Nero. Justify the statements beginning, There is less danger. Who was the favorite of King James to whom Bacon appears to allude? Read the story of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, in Green's Short History of the English People. 2l6 NOTES [xxxvn The ship will roll. Explain the figure. Honor hath three things in it: the vantage ground to do good. Find another expression of this view in the first paragraph of the essay Of Great Place (xi). XXXVII. OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS Masques were first heard of in England in the reign of Henry VIII. They were popular all through the reign of Elizabeth, but reached their fullest development under James I. Ben Jonson was the greatest of the masque writers, and Inigo Jones the greatest deviser of scenery and stage machinery. The masque was an elaborate dramatic entertainment made up of dialogue, dancing, and music, introducing many allegorical and other characters. They sometimes involved a cost as high as ^20,000. See Herbert A. Evans, English Masques. Triumphs were gorgeous processions in honor of great personages. Queen Elizabeth was fond of such spectacles and parades. Says Green : " Her delight was to move in perpetual progresses from castle to castle through a series of gorgeous pageants, fanciful and extravagant as a caliph's dream." Broken music. Music having different harmonic parts. See Troilus and Cressida, iii. 1. 20, 52. XXXVIII. OF NATURE IN MEN The meaning of the word nature in this essay is indicated by the qualifying phrase of the title. Custom. Until a course of action has become habitual it is not yet a part of the nature. Arrest nature in time. In respect of time ; keep nature waiting, as it were. The pause reinforceth the new onset, etc. Practice a new habit in- termittently, because relief from its discipline renders each renewal of practice more perfect, and so helps to establish the habit desired. Whereas the weariness of continuous practice leads to the admission of errors which, being also practiced, obstruct the acquirement of the new habit. Lay buried. Modern usage requires what form of the verb ? xxxix] OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION 217 .ZEsop's fable of Venus and the cat. " What is bred in the bone will come- out in the flesh." Converse in. Live or associate with. In Bacon's time the word con- versation was common in the sense of behavior or course of life. Cf. its use in the " King James " version of the Bible, 1 Peter iii. 2, James iii. 13, and elsewhere. Commandeth upon himself. Note the meaning of this as indicated by the antithesis with the phrase, " agreeable to his nature." XXXIX. OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION Compare the introductory thoughts concerning the relation between nature and custom with those of the preceding essay. After as. After was often used in the sense of according. Compare such expressions in the " King James " version of the Bible, as Isaiah xi. 3 : " He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears." Note the parallelism of construction, and the three points of connec- tion, between the first two sentences. Evil-favored. In what sense is the instance quoted from Machiavelli's Discourses, iii. 6, "evil-favored" ? Undertakings. Does this mean attempts, or does it mean promises to perform ? That is, does the word refer to words or deeds ? Keep the preceding sentences closely in mind. Friar Clement assassinated Henry III of France, 1589. Ravaillac murdered Henry IV of France, 1610. Jaureguy, in 1582, made an attempt to assassinate William the Silent, Prince of Orange, severely wounding him. Baltazar Gerard murdered William the Silent in 1584. Nor the engagement, etc. How would a modern writer construct this sentence ? Of the first blood. Men committing murder for the first time. Votary resolution. See International Dictionary, under votary, where this passage is quoted as an illustration. The Indians. The Hindoos. See suttee, and sutteeism, in the Inter- national Dictionary. Engaged. Gage = pledge or pawn. Engaged literally means bound by a pledge. Here it has the general meaning of bound or held. 218 NOTES [xl Principal magistrate. What is the meaning of the metaphor ? Take the ply. Latin, plicare = to fold or bend. What familiar adage does the figure suggest ? XL. OF FORTUNE For the use of but in the first sentence see Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 122. Faber quisque, etc. In the Advancement of Learning, ii. 24. 8, Bacon attributes the origin of the maxim to a verse of Plautus. Disemboltura or disenvoltura. A turning of oneself inside out. Milken way. An obsolete form of the adjective. What is the dis- tinction in meaning between such forms as silky and silken; woody and wooden ; woolly and woolen ? See Shakespearian Grammar, para- graph 444. Enterpriser and remover. An adventurous and an unsettled, rest- less man. Timotheus. See the story near the beginning of Plutarch's Life of Sylla. Timotheus was a famous Athenian general who lived in the fourth century B.C. Timoleon. See his life by Plutarch (near the end). He was a Greek statesman and general. He died B.C. 337. Read the short account of him in Smith's Classical Dictionary. It is much, etc. The Latin version has, " rests principally with our- selves." XLI. OF USURY The word usury meant originally payment for the use of anything, particularly for the use of borrowed money. It has been narrowed since Bacon's time to mean an illegally high rate of interest. The be- lief was formerly current that to take interest on money was indefensible from a moral and religious point of view. See Deut. xxiii. 19, etc. No doubt the feeling was intensified by prejudice against the Jews, who were the money lenders of Europe. See Grote, History of Greece, iii. 147, note, for an historical sketch of usury. Orange-tawny, or yellow, was the color legally prescribed for Jews. Can you harmonize these statements? " For were it not for this lazy trade of usury, money . . . would in great part be employed in mer- chandising." " If the userer call in or keep back his money, there will ensue presently a great stand of trade." xlii] YOUTH AND AGE 219 XLII. YOUTH AND AGE Compare the views contained in this essay with those in Bacon's History .of Life and Death, Works, v. 319 : — " Youth has modesty and a sense of shame, old age is somewhat hardened ; a young man has kindness and mercy, an old man has be- come pitiless and callous ; youth has a praiseworthy emulation, old age ill-natured envy ; youth is inclined to religion and devotion by reason of its fervency and inexperience of evil, in old age piety cools through the lukewarmness of charity and long intercourse with evil, together with the difficulty of believing ; a young man's wishes are vehement, an old man's moderate ; youth is fickle and unstable, old age more grave and constant ; youth is liberal, generous, and philanthropic, old age is covetous, wise for itself, and self-seeking ; youth is confident and hopeful, old age diffident and distrustful ; a young man is easy and obliging, an old man churlish and peevish ; youth is frank and sincere, old age cautious and reserved; youth desires great things, old age re~ gards those that are necessary ; a young man thinks well of the present, an old man prefers the past ; a young man reverences his superiors, an old man finds out their faults." Old in hours. What is the literal meaning ? Cf. " youth in thoughts," below. Invention of young men. See below : " Young men are fitter to in- vent than to judge." Explain from the context what invention means. Natures that have much heat. Cf. "heat and vivacity in age," below. What do we mean by " a cool temper " ; " coldness of nature " ? Septimius Severus. A Roman emperor, a.d. 193-211. Cosmus. See note, Of Revenge (iv). Gaston de Fois (Foix). Nephew of Louis XII of France. After a brilliant career as commander of the French armies in the war with the Spaniards and Italians, he fell in the battle of Ravenna, 1512, at the age of twenty-three. Fitter for execution than for counsel. Find a passage in the essay Of Counsel (xx) expressing the same thought. Abuseth them. What is the literal meaning of ab + use ? Of course, the antecedent of them is things. The errors of young men are the ruin of business. How does 220 NOTES [xliii the character of youthful errors compare with that of the errors of age? Note how this paragraph and the next are related to each other. Means and degrees. The idea of means necessarily implies what correlative idea ? Is the surest means of attaining a desired end some- times to work toward it " by degrees " ? Think of a good illustration, or find one in one of the other essays. Absurdly. In a perverse or unreasonable manner. Which verb does it modify ? Care not to innovate. In what sense, according to the context : Do not care to make innovations, or, Do not exercise care about making innovations ? Cf. the essay Of Innovations (xxiv) with this. Rabbin. See Joel ii. 28. The reference is to Isaac Abrabanel, an illustrious Spanish Jew of the fifteenth century, who wrote learned com- mentaries on various parts of the Scriptures. See Lippincott's Bio- graphical Dictionary. Hermogenes. A celebrated Greek rhetorician of the second century A.D. At fifteen he was professor of rhetoric at Rome, and at the age of seventeen wrote a treatise on rhetoric that was long used as a text- book in the schools. At the age of twenty-five he lost his memory and all capacity for usefulness, though he lived for many years thereafter. Hortensius. A contemporary and rival of Cicero (Tully). Ultima, etc. The end did not equal the beginning. Livy, xxxviii, 53, really says, " The first part of his life* was more memorable than the latter part." XLIII. OF BEAUTY Bacon here makes no attempt to explain or analyze beauty in the abstract. To what phase of beauty does he confine his discussion? His observations are somewhat scattering, and strike a modern reader as rather commonplace. The subject of this essay naturally suggests that of the next. XLIV. OF DEFORMITY Chamberlain, in a letter to Sir Dudley Carleton, Dec. 17, 1612, wrote : " Sir Francis Bacon hath set out new Essays, where, in a chap- ter on Deformity, the world takes notice that he points out his little cousin to the life." Bacon's cousin, Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, had xlvii] OF NEGOTIATING 221 died in the preceding May. If it is true that Bacon intended to charac- terize Cecil in this essay, it was an ungrateful act, as Cecil had conferred upon him more than one substantial favor. XLV. OF BUILDING The influence of Italy had stimulated a new interest in architecture and gardening. (See next essay.) Bacon seems to have had a greater interest in the beauty of art than in that of nature. When did the appreciation of natural beauty begin to show itself in English literature ? Momus. The Greek god of censure, who found fault with the house of Athena because it was not provided with wheels so that it could be removed from the vicinity of ill neighbors. Vatican. The papal palace at Rome, said to contain about 4500 rooms. Escurial. A vast building near Madrid, begun by Philip II of Spain. XLVI. OF GARDENS Bacon regards the art of gardening as a higher art than that of build- ing. This essay is interesting as a description of a " prince-like " seventeenth-century English garden, and as a means of estimating a side of Bacon's personality not elsewhere so clearly revealed. Did he love nature, or rather the effects of art applied to nature ? Did he have what we call artistic taste ? Are there indications in the essay that he had better taste in gardening than the prevalent taste of his time ? He describes a sort of combined flower garden, orchard, and park. XLVII. OF NEGOTIATING Upon what reasons do you think Bacon bases the opinion expressed in the first sentence ? Tender cases. What synonym of tender would be chosen by a mod- ern writer ? May give him a direction. Him is ambiguous. To whom does it refer ? Disavow or to expound. Does he mean, during the conversation, to disclaim a meaning wrongly imputed to his words, or to explain expres- sions that are misunderstood; or, does he mean, after the conversation, to deny what one has really said, or so to qualify and explain it as to make it serve some later purpose ? 222 NOTES [xlviii In choice of instruments. An instrument is an agent. Success. Does the word always mean a happy consequence or out- come ? Cf. Milton : — " Perplexed and troubled at his bad success." For satisfaction sake. Is the form of satisfaction in accordance with modern usage ? Try substituting for it truth, policy \ man, conscience, mercy. Absurd men. Absurd in the Latin sense of dull-witted. Why should a froward man or a stupid man be a desirable agent in the kind of negotiation referred to ? (The Latin version reads, " for a business that has any unfairness in it.") Prescription. What is the literal meaning {pre + scription) ? Show from the context how that could mean reputation for success. Men in appetite. Latin, ad-\-petere, to seek for. Men who want something. If a man deal with another upon conditions. The meaning of the sentence is somewhat doubtful. Note the ambiguity of the pronouns. The sense appears to be this : If a man, A, deal with another, B, upon mutual conditions, — one party to render some service to the other pro- vided he receive an equivalent service in return, — the question who shall render the first service is all-important. A cannot more reason- ably demand it of B than can B of A, unless A can convince B (i) that B's performance must in the nature of things precede A's in order to make the latter possible ; or, (2) that after B's part has been carried out A will still be dependent upon B in some other matter, and therefore B will be in a position to exact the fulfillment of A's part ; or, that A is counted more honest than B, and hence will be more likely to carry out the second condition after B has complied with the first. Think of an illustration of such a transaction. What is the topic of each paragraph of the essay ? XLVIII. OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS Bacon wrote this essay when he was a seeker rather than a bestower of patronage. Although when Lord Chancellor, attended on his way to court by three hundred gallants, he wrote, " This matter of pomp, which is heaven to some men, is hell to me, or purgatory at least," he cared enough about it to keep a hundred household servants, and to main- tain numerous dependents. See note, Essay xxviii. l] OF STUDIES 223 "There is little friendship in the world, and least of all between equals," says Bacon, at the close of this essay. What is the point of this remark taken in connection with the title of the essay ? Is this the view held throughout Essay xxvii ? XLIX. OF SUITORS Two kinds of suits are mentioned in this essay, " suits of controversy " involving a question of equity between two parties, and "suits of petition " involving a question of the relative deserts of two or more suitors for the same favor. The latter kind of suit is later called " suits of favor." As a seeker of " great place," as a jurist, and as an influen- tial state official able to lend his aid to ambitious place hunters, Bacon had a wide experience upon which to draw in treating this subject. Note the passages that seem most clearly to be based upon that experi- ence. Compare Essay lvi. Advantage be not taken of the note. The Latin translation shows that this passage means that advantage should not be taken of any confidential disclosure made by a suitor whose petition is denied, but that he be recompensed for his confidence (in the person to whom he addresses himself) by being left free to pursue any other means of obtaining his suit. A man were better rise, etc. The Latin translation has: a man would do better " to rise gradually to that which he wants, and at least get something." For, though a patron might at first refuse a suitor, after he has favored the man to a certain extent he will not abandon him, at the sacrifice of both the suitor's support and his own former acts of favor. L. OF STUDIES The Latin version begins : " Studies and the perusal of books serve for delight in meditation, for ornament in conversation, and for help in business." Humor of a scholar. See Of Ambition (xxxvi) , first note. Here the word humor seems to mean whimsical or eccentric disposition. Directions too much at large. Latin version : instruction that is vague and general. Poets witty. In what sense does Bacon use the word wit? See Of Truth (i) ; Of Simulation and Dissimulation (vi) . Schmidt (Shake- 224 NOTES [Li speare Lexicon) explains that Shakespeare uses the word witty in three senses : (i) wise, (2) cunning, (3) witty in the modern sense. Cymini sectores. Splitters of cummin seeds. What is the modern metaphor for dealers in fine, insignificant distinctions ? What was Bacon's opinion of the Schoolmen and scholastic philosophy ? See Introduction. Not apt to beat over matters. The Latin says, " slow in the motion of his mind to and fro." Does the context indicate that the phrase " beat over matters " means, as we now say, " thresh matters over " or " thresh the subject out " ; or, does it suggest the idea of " beating over " a field to rouse the game concealed in it ? (Definition of beat, v.t., 3, International Dictionary.) LI. OF FACTION Compare Machiavelli, Discourses, iii. 27. See Essay xi, last paragraph, first sentence. Find the same idea more fully elaborated here. In what connection is faction regarded in Essay xv ? Was the best policy of dealing with factions a matter of political interest in Bacon's time ? Primum mobile. See note, Essay xv. LII. OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS Only real. In view of the subject of the essay, and of the simile of the stone, what is the evident meaning of this phrase ? That [who] breaketh his mind too much. What is the meaning of the verb ? Cf. " To break a colt to harness." Observations = observances ; an obsolete use. Note that Bacon has said " that small matters win great commendation." Here he wishes to guard against over-scrupulous regard for trivial matters of form. Formal natures. Persons who attach great importance to the nice observation of conventionalities. Latin translation: ingenio fastidioso; " of fastidious disposition." Effectual and imprinting passages. The Latin rendering runs, " a kind of artificial mode of insinuation in the very utterance of the words in the paying of compliments, that captivates people." To apply one's self to others. To bestow attention upon others. Upon regard and not upon facility. From a motive of real interest, liv] OF VAINGLORY 225 and not from mere dexterity in passing compliments, or affability. Bacon advised Essex not to be over-formal in his complimentary speeches to the Queen, but to speak in a manner expressive of sincerity. It is a good precept, etc. What did Bacon probably think to be the advantage of such a policy ? Note connection with preceding sentence. That attribute. The slur of being too precise in paying compliments. Solomon. See Eccl. xi. 4. A wise man will make, etc. Study out the connection of this thought with that of the context. Point device. Nice ; precise. See As You Like It, iii. 2. 401. " You are rather point device in your accoutrements " ; that is, dressed with finical nicety. LIII. OF PRAISE Explain the meaning of the first sentence. It is as the glass. Its character is determined by, etc. Naught. Naught (noun), nothing; (adjective), worthless; wicked; base. This latter meaning is obsolete. Which is the meaning here ? Bacon held a low opinion of ordinary human nature. See Of Boldness : " There is in human nature generally more of the fool than of the wise." Arch-flatterer. What passage in the seventh paragraph of the essay Of Friendship (xxvii) expresses the same idea ? Out of countenance. Abashed ; conscious of failure or deficiency. How do you think this phrase must have originated ? Cf. note, Of Boldness (xii). Spreta conscientia. From the context does Bacon mean defying the flattered person's consciousness of his own defects, or the flatterer's conscience in the misrepresentation ? Grecians. The allusion is to a passage in Theocritus. Solomon. See Pro v. xxvii. Notice the construction of the latter part of the first sentence of the last paragraph. See Shakespearian Grammar, paragraph 353. LIV. OF VAINGLORY What is the logical connection between the subject of this and of the preceding essay? Find thought connections between paragraph 1 of this essay and paragraph 2 of Essay xlvii. Between paragraph 2 and Essay xxxii. Note the politician's conception of men as instruments to be " used." 226 NOTES [LV Compare parts of paragraph 3 with passage in Essay Iiii. Find a passage near the close of Essay xxxii that appears to have been sug- gested by the passage here quoted from Pliny. Is there " wisdom for a man's self" in this essay? LV. OF HONOR AND REPUTATION Affect honor. Affect here means aspire to, strive after, as in, " He affects the dignity of a philosopher." In what other sense does Bacon use the word ? Find an instance. Music will be the fuller. Explain the metaphor. Honor that is . . . broken upon another. The meaning of broken is somewhat obscure. Perhaps it is the passive participle of the old verb to broke, meaning to transact business ; the phrase would thus appear to mean honor gained by competition with another (" Diamond cut dia- mond") . The Latin version reads, " Honor that is comparative and depresses others." The quickest reflection. See Of Praise (liii) , beginning. Quickest — the most vivid, the brightest. Envy ... is best extinguished. What counsel on this point is given in the essay Of Envy (ix) ? Felicity. See Of Fortune (xl), paragraph 3. What is the evident meaning of the word in both cases ? Degrees of . . . honor. Cf. Machiavelli's " Degrees of honor." (1) Founders of religions. (2) Founders of kingdoms. (3) Gen- erals whose armies have enlarged the dominion of their country. (4) Learned men. (5) Artificers and mechanics. Ottoman. Or Othman, or Osman, 1259-1326, founder of the Ottoman Empire. Edgar. See Green, Short History of the English People, p. 54. Siete partidas. A general collection of Spanish laws, made by Alphonso X ; it was arranged in seven parts. Vespasian delivered the Empire from the civil wars that followed the death of Nero. Aurelian. Emperor, A.D. 270. Theodoricus liberated Italy from the Gothic conqueror, Odoacer, A.D. 493. The allusion is to the following story : — Regulus, having been taken prisoner by the Carthaginians, was sent by them to Rome to negotiate an exchange of prisoners with the lvii] OF ANGER 227 Romans. But in spite of the fact that such exchange would have re- sulted in his own liberation, he advised his countrymen against it as unwise, and voluntarily returned to Carthage, where he was tortured to death as a result of the failure of his mission. See Horace, Odes, iii. 5. Decius, the plebian consul of Rome, devoted himself to death in battle, B.C. 339. The other Decius met death in a similar manner, B.C. 295. See Virgil, sEneid, vi. 825. LVI. OF JUDICATURE The duties of judges was a subject upon which Bacon could write from an abundance of reflection and experience. He treats the subject in a clear, sensible, and noble manner. Such teaching as is contained in this essay never becomes obsolete. It is a pity that Bacon did not carry out the principles he had written down in 1607 in the essay Of Great Place (xi), paragraph 4. Catching and polling. Greedy and plundering. "To poll" meant to cut the hair from the head, hence to strip, to rob. Sowers of suits. Cf. " general contrivers of suits," Essay xlix. LVII. OF ANGER Bacon here considers anger as a passion excited by personal injury or wrong. Of righteous anger aroused by the spectacle of wrong triumphing over right he says nothing. He regards anger as an incura- ble fault or baseness of human nature, only tolerable because insepara- ble from man's imperfect state of existence. How does this view reflect a characteristic of Bacon's own nature ? Do you find any views in this essay suggestive of Machiavellian policy, e.g., the treatment of men as mere instruments, or counters in a game ? Better oracles. See Eph. iv. 26. Both in race and in time. The Latin version reads, "both as to how far and how long." What does race, then, evidently mean ? That = what; that which. See Glossary; and note on the essay Of Discourse (xxxii). Give law to himself. What power does a man exercise when he "gives law to himself" ? Construction of the injury. Think of a synonym for construction in, " He puts the worst possible construction upon my words." Opinion of the touch, etc. Belief that one's reputation has been touched or injured. See Of Discourse (xxxii), " speech of touch." 228 NOTES [lvii Consalvo. Gonzales of Cordova, the " Great Captain," expelled the French from Naples, 1497. Telam honoris crassiorem. Bacon appears to have in mind the prevalent custom of dueling. In a discussion of this practice in 1613 he writes : " It were good that men did hearken unto the saying of Con- salvo, ' A gentleman's honor should be de tela crassiore, of a good strong warp or web, that every little thing should not catch in it.' " Aculeate and proper. Sharp and personal. Latin version, "pecul- iar to the person whom we are assailing." LVIII. OF THE VICISSITUDES OF THINGS A loosely constructed and somewhat fanciful discussion. To a modern reader some of the ideas seem puerile ; but scientific curiosity was less general in Bacon's time than now, and the means of satisfying it were much less ample. Bacon's speculations about the West Indies were no doubt of great interest to the early readers of the Essays. Professor Arber thinks that this essay was altogether suggested by Chapter v, Book II, of Machiavelli's Discourses, entitled, " That the Changes of Religion and Languages, together with the Changes of Floods and Pestilences, Abolish the Memory of Things." OF FAME This fragment was first published in 1657, thirty-one years after Bacon's death, by his chaplain and earliest biographer, Rev. William Rawley, D.D., in Resuscitatio, p. 281. (See Arber, A Harmony of the Essays, Prologue xi, et sea.) The nature of rumors, and the part they play in shaping events, Bacon considers a matter of great political interest. GLOSSARY The Roman numerals refer to the Essays. Abstract. Ascetic; hermit -like. Lat. abstractus, withdrawn from [the world]. Absurdly. In a perverse or unreasonable manner, xlii. Admiration. Wonder; astonishment. Lat. admirari, to won- der, liii. Adust. Fiery; scorched. A technical term of medicine, now obsolete, xxxvi. Advised. Well-informed ; thoughtful, xviii. Affect. To desire ; to aim at. xiii. To like; to have "affection" for. xxii, xxxviii, xlvii. Lat. affecto, I aim at. Affecting. Seeking; aiming at. i, xiii, lv. Affections. Feelings ; passions, i, ii, ix, xxvii, xlii. Agreeably. Suitably, xxxii. Allow. Admit; approve, xviii. Cf. "To allow a claim." An, And. If. Common in Elizabethan and Middle English writers, xxiii, xl. Apparent. Conspicuous, xl. Apposed. Questioned ; posed, xxii. Apt. Fitted (the literal meaning of apt) . xxix. Argument. Theme; subject-matter, xxix. As. That (after so"), xi, xxi, xxiii, xxvii, xxviii, xxx, xxxvi, xxxviii, xxxix. A frequent construction in Shakespeare and contem- porary English writers. See Shakespearian Grammar, 1" 109. That ... as = such that. v. Shakespearian Grammar, H 280. Audits. Monetary accounts, xxxiv. Aversation. Aversion. [Obsolete.] xxvii. Bear. To bear it = "to carry it off," or "to carry the matter through." Cf. the idiom, " to brave it out," wherein the 229 230 GLOSSARY pronoun has an indefinite meaning as in the expression, " He farms it for a living." xxvi. Because. In order that, xxv, xxxiv. See Shakespearian Gram- mar, 1 117. Becomen. Old form of perfect participle of the verb become, xxix. Bias. A weight on the side of the ball used in the game of bowls, or a tendency imparted to the ball which swerves it from a straight course, xxiii. Blacks. Black mourning garments, ii. Blanch. To report too favorably ; to flatter, xx. Literally, to whiten; hence, to gloss over; to skim over. xxvi. Bravery. Boastfulness ; ostentation ; parade. [Obsolete.] xi, xxv, xxxvi, xxxix, lvii. Broke. To transact business, as a broker, xxxiv. Can. To be able. xi. Card. Chart, xviii, xxix. Cast Reckon; compute; as in "cast a sum." xxvii. Arrange. xlv« Catch-polls. Bailiffs. [Poll = head or person.] liii. Certainties. Regular fixed income, and expense, xxviii. Certify. Send information, xxxiii. Chapmen. Merchants; traffickers. A. S. ceapan, to traffic, xxxiv. Chargeable. Costly, xxix. Check. To interfere. A metaphor drawn from the game of chess. x, xxxi. Choler. One of the four humors of the body, xxxvi. See note. Chop. Exchange words, lvi. Chopping. Exchanging; buying and selling. Cf. Chapmen, above, xxxiv. Circumstances. Introductory particulars, xxxii. Civil. Unofficial, xxvii. Tranquil, xvii. Seemly, xlviii. Civil business = social and business intercourse, i, xii. Clearing. Freeing from incumbrance or debt, xxviii. Close. Hidden; secret, xi. Collect. Infer, xxxv. Collegiate. Collective; combined. Lat. col -f- legere, to bind to- gether. Cf. collect, xxxix. Compound. Settle, xlix, lv, lviii. GLOSSARY 231 Conceit. Conception; idea; imagination, vi, xxxiv. Conscience. Consciousness, xi. Contain. To hold together, xxix. To hold back. lvii. Content. Please, xxxii. Conversation. Communion; manner of life, xxvii. Creature. Created thing, i. Cunning. Skillful, xlvii. Skill. 1. Cunningly. Skillfully, xxix. Curiosities. Niceties; elaborate, minute, and perhaps useless, dis- tinctions or particulars, ix. Curious. Careful about particulars and small details, ix, xxv, Hi. Fine-spun and impractical, xxvi. Lat. cura, care. Curiously. With minute care about details. 1. Currently. Smoothly. [Obsolete.] xxxi. Declaring. Making clear. [A Latinism.] lv. Decline. To decrease; to diminish. (No longer used transitively in this sense.) xl. Deliveries. Deliverances; ways of expressing one's nature, of showing one's qualities, xl. Dependencies. Body of dependents; followers, xx, xxxvi. Derive. To drain off. Lat. de, from + rivus, a stream, ix. Difficileness. A Latinism meaning surliness ; obstinacy ; the temper of being hard to please, xiii. Cf. Facility, below. Discover. To uncover; to reveal, or disclose, v, xlviii. Discovery. Revelation, vi. Dispense. Dispense with = to give dispensation for; to pardon. xxxvi. Doctor. Teacher; learned man. iii, xiii. Dole. The act of dealing out. xxxiv, lv. Dry. Severe; hard. A dry blow = a smart hit. xxxii. Eccentric. Literally, out of center; not coincident, xxiii. Ejaculation. A throwing out. ix. Engrossing. Buying in the gross or bulk. ix. Monopolizing, xv. Estate. State; government. [Obsolete.] ix, xxix. Exaltation. That position of a planet in the zodiac in which it was supposed by astrologers to exert its strongest influence, xxxix. 232 GLOSSARY Exercised. Practiced in endurance, xl. Expect. To wait for; to await. [Obsolete.] xxxiv. Facility. Easiness to be persuaded; compliance; pliancy; com- plaisance; affability, xi, lii. Cf. Difficileness, above. Fair. Merely; simply; quietly [?]. vi. Favor. Face; features, xxvii. Flash. Instant. Used metaphorically. Cf. the simile, " quick as z. flash." xxix. Flashy. Insipid; transitory [?]. 1. Flower. (Usually in the plural.) In old chemistry, a substance in the form of a powder, especially when condensed from sub- limation. Another form of flour, xxvii. Formalists. Pretenders to wisdom, xxvi. Forms. Manners; behavior in society, li. Futile. Literally, leaky. Lat. futilis, that easily pours out. vi, xx. Galliards. A lively French dance, xxxii. Gaudery. Finery, xxix. Giddiness. A whirl or constant change of thought, i. Habilitation. Equipment; qualification. [Obsolete.] xxix. His. Possessive form of it. x, xxiii, xxxvi, xxxix. See note, Of Wisdom for a Alan's Self (xxiii). Humor. Eccentric disposition. 1. Hundred poll. Hundredth head, i.e., person, xxix. Husband. An economical guardian; a frugal manager, lv. Impertinent. Not to the point ; irrelevant, xxvi. Importune. Importunate; unduly urgent or insistent, xxxviii. Imposeth. Places a responsibility, i. Impostumations. Abscesses, xv. Impropriate. Appropriate, xxix. Incensed. Burned as incense, v. Incurreth. Lat. in + currere, to run into. This meaning of incur is obsolete. Cf. excursion, current, course, ix. Indifferent. Even-handed; impartial; not committed to either side, vi, xx. GLOSSARY 233 Industriously. Purposely. Lat. de industria, of purpose. (Not in the now usual sense of diligently.) vi. Influence. A flowing in. See influent, International Dictionary, ix. Intend. To take care of; to attend to. [Obsolete.] xxix. Interlocution. Speaking turn and turn about; conversation, xxxii. Inward. Intimate; confidential, xi, xx. Leads. A roof of lead, xx, xlv. Letting. Hindering, xlvi. Lively. To the life; exactly. An adjective form used adver- bially, v. Mainly. To a great degree; mightily. Cf. " might and main." xxxiv. Managed. Trained, vi. Mates. Enfeebles; confounds; overcomes. Fr. mater, to en- feeble, ii. May as well. Is as likely to. xxviii. Mean. In a mean = in a moderate way or degree, v. Meeteth with. Expresses. Colloquially, "hits it." xxvii. Mere. Unmixed; complete; absolute, xiii, xxvii. Cf. Macbeth, iv. 3. 132: — "The mere despair of surgery." Merely. Entirely; altogether, iv, xxix, lviii. Moderate. To control and determine, xxxii. Cf. moderator in Essay xxv. Mortification. Books of mortification = books of monastic disci- pline or penance, ii. Mought. Obsolete form of the verb might, xxii, xxvii, xxxiv. Nature. Disposition, or inclination, xx. Naught. Base; wicked, xxxiv. See note, Of Praise, liii. Nice. Scrupulous; fastidious; precise, xxix. Niceness. Fastidiousness, ii. Obnoxious. A Latinism meaning subject; liable; dependent. xx, xxxvi, xliv. Obtain to. Attain, vi„ Odds. Chances. It is odds = the chances are. xxi. 234 GLOSSARY Oes. Circlets, xxxvii. Officious. Able to serve; helpful; useful, xliv, xlviii. Overcome. To master; to take advantage of. xxxiv, lv. Pairs. Impairs, xxiv. Passing. Surpassing, vi. Period. End; conclusion. Gr. irepi, round + 656s, a way; i.e., a revolution; hence, completion, conclusion, xxv, xlii. Perish. To kill; to deaden; to impair. The verb is no longer used transitively, xxvii. Philanthropia. Philanthropy; love of mankind. Qi.misanthropi, haters of mankind, toward the end of the essay, xiii. Place. Rank; social precedence, xviii. Plausible. Deserving of applause. [Obsolete.] ix. Politics. Politicians, iii, xiii. Politic ministers = ministers of the body politic, or the state; officers of government, xxix. Popular states. Popular governments; democracies, xii. Poser. One who asks questions for the purpose of puzzling the person questioned, xxxii. Practice. Strategy ; scheming ; artful management or plotting. [Obsolete.] xlvii. Praying in. A legal phrase meaning calling in. xxvii. Preoccupate. To anticipate; to take before. [Obsolete.] ii. Prest. Lat. prcestus, prompt ; ready. [Obsolete.] xxix. Prick in. To plant, xviii. Proper. Peculiar, xxvii. Provinces. Departments; subjects, xx. Proyning. O.E. proine, to prune. Pruning. [Obsolete.] 1. Purchase. To acquire by seeking. Lat. pro + charier, to pursue; to chase, lv. Purprise. Inclosure. lvi. Push. Pustule; pimple, liii. Quarrel. A cause or occasion of dispute or hostility, xxix. Queening, or quecking. A.S. cweccan, to shake. Stirring; flinching, xxxix. Reciproque. Reciprocal; mutual. The reciproque = the return [of love], x. GLOSSARY 235 Redemption. An offset ; an equivalent, ix. Relate. To express one's thoughts, xxvii. Respects. Expressions of regard, as in the phrase, "to pay one's respects." xiv, Hi. Idle respects = irrelevant considerations (such as those based upon personal favor, for example), xi. Respect (verb) = aim at. Restetli. Remains, xxxvi. Rid. To dispose of. xxix. Round. Complete and consistent; fair; just. Cf. "square deal- ing." i, vi. Round (adverb). Roundly; vigorously; in earnest. [Obsolete.] xxiv. Cf. HaT?ilet, ii. 2. 139: "Went round to work." Sarza, or sarsa. Sarsaparilla. xxvii. Sbirrerie. Fr. sbire; bailiff; police officer. Offices or employ- ments of subordinate sheriffs or police officers, liii. Scantling. A small part; a limitation, lv. Scope. That which is purposed to be reached or accomplished; object. Lat. scopos, a mark or aim. xxix. Sensible. Conscious; aware, xi. Shadow. Privacy; retirement, xi. Shrewd. Mischievous. xxiii. Singular. Single, xxix. Smother. Stifling smoke or dust; hence, suppression. The Latin version has silentio stiffocare, smother in silence, xxvii, xxxi. Softly. Slowly, vi. Solecism. Absurd mistake, xix. Somewhat. Something. Commonly so used in Elizabethan English, xxv, xxvi, xxxii. Sort. Lat. sors, lot, chance, destiny. To harmonize; to agree; to suit, xxxviii. Sorted. Harmonized; agreed, vi. Resulted, xxix. Sorteth. Results, vii. Results; turns out (first instance) ; agree; suits (second instance), xxvii. Spangs. Spangles, xxxvii. Speculative. Inquisitive, xx. Staddles. Forest trees from about two to about six inches in diameter of trunk, xxix. 236 GLOSSARY Stand. To stand upon = to insist upon. Cf. stay : "I stay here on my bond." — Shy lock. xxix. State. Obsolete form of estate, xxviii. In Essay xxix estate = state. Still. Always. This is the usual Elizabethan sense of the word. i, ix, xi, xiii, xxix, xxx, xxxvi, xxxix. Stirps. Families, xiv. Stonds. Stops; hindrances, xl, 1. Success. Consequence; outcome; event, xlvii. Suspect. A thing worthy of suspicion. The word is now applied only to suspected persons, xxiv, liii. Tax. Blame; censure, xxix. Tendering. Having a care for; being tender toward, xxx. That. That which; what, xxxii, xxxvi, 1. See note, Of Discourse (xxxii) . Thorough. Through, v, xlv. Tracts. Traits; features, vi. Travail. Labor, xxix. Travels. Obsolete form of travails, i.e., painful labors. Bacon spells travel, travaile. ix. Trivial. Commonplace. [Obsolete.] xii. Trivially. Commonly; tritely. [Obsolete.] xxix. See note, Of Boldness (xii). Undertaking. Enterprising, ix. Unproper. Improper; unsuitable, xxvii. See Shakespearian Grammar, If 442. Unready. Badly trained, xlii. Ure. Use; practice, vi. Cf. inure, to put into use. ix. Use. The practical test of experience, xxxviii. (Verb) Are wont. xxvii, xxxii, xl. Vein. Natural disposition or bent of mind, i, ix. Virtue. Good qualities (not limited to moral virtue), xii, xl, xlii, lii. Power, xxvii. Vulgar. Common; such as might be applied to many alike, liii. Wit. Intellect; understanding, i, vi, xxxii, 1. Discoursing wits =c discursive or rambling intellects, i. INDEX (References are to pages.) Abridgments of books, 158. Absurdity, 36. Acting, 121 sq. Action, the chief part of oratory, 35- Actium, battle of, 100. Active men, more useful than virtuous, 154. Administration, of what it con- sists, 159. Adrian (Hadrian), 24. Advancement, art of, xii, 196. Adventures, to be guarded with certainties, 114. Adversity, essay on, 13; the blessing of the New Testa- ment, 14. Advocates, 171. Advoutresses, 61. ^Esop, 139; his fable of the cock, 38; of the damsel and the mouse, 124; of the fly and the wheel, 165. yEtolians, 165. Affected, behavior, 161; fashions, 196. Affections, not improved by age, 135- Agamemnon, 10. Age, essay on, 134; morally inferior to youth, 135. Agents, choice of, 151. Agesilaus, 24, 139. Agrippa, 83. Alchemist's stone, 85. Alcibiades, 136. Alcoran, 49. Alexander the Great, 58; his army, 98. Alloy, 3. Almaigne, empire of, 181. Alphonso of Castile, 168. Ambition, essay on, 118. Ambitious men, how to be used, 119; how to curb, 122. Anabaptists, 10. Andes, 178. Anger, essay on, 174; causes and motives of, 175; control of, 175-176; Bacon's treatment of, 227. Anselm, 17. Antecamera, 143. Antimasque, 122. Antiochus, 165. Antoninus, M. Aurelius, 84. Antonius, Marcus (Mark Antony), 28, 159. Apelles, 137. Apollonius, 59, 81. Appius Claudius, 28. . Applying one's self to others, 162. Arbela, battle of, 92. Arch-flatterer, a man's self, 28, 86, 163. Argus, 69. Arians, 179. Aristotle, quoted, 80; ostentatious, 166. Armada, destruction of, viii. Armies, 92, 182. Arminians, 179. Arms, to be professed by great nation, 92. 237 238 INDEX Arrangement, the life of dispatch, 78. Arts of advancement, evil, 196. Ashes, more generative than dust, 78. Aspiring, its true end, 31. Astrologers, 22. Atheism, essay on, 49; causes of, 51. Athenians, 90. Atlantis, island of, 178. Atomic theory, 50. Augustus Caesar, 5, 15, 83, 134, 136, 184. Aulus Gellius, 80. Aurelian, 168. Aurelius, M., 84. Authority, toward children, 19; vices of, 33; unpopular, 179. Aviaries, in gardens, 151. Bacon, chronology of his time, xxxiv ; his literary contemporaries, xxxvii ; his period, vii; life of, xiii; political principles of, xii; boyhood of, xiii; Sir Nicholas, xiii; beginnings of his philosophy, xiv; at Cambridge, xiv; beginning of his political career, xiv; in Paris, xv; offends the Queen, xv; member of Parliament, xv; his Greatest Birth of Time, xv, xix; his knighthood and marriage, xvii; member of King's Counsel, xvii ; Solicitor-General, xviii; Bacon, Attorney-General, xviii; member of Privy Council, xviii ; Lord Keeper, xviii; Baron Verulam, xviii; Viscount St. Albans, xviii; his political downfall, xviii; death of, xix; his studies in science and philosophy, xviii; character of, xx; moral endowment of, xx; his coldness of nature, xxi, 191; his power of will, xxii; his influence upon science and philosophy, xxii; his "New Instrument," xxiii; his aim in life, xxiv; as a writer, xxiv. Bad counsel, marks of, 64. Bajazet, 61. Balance of power, 60. Baltazar Gerard, 125. Banks, 130. Bargains on large scale, 114. Barriers, 122. Bartholomew, St., massacre of, 10. Battles by sea, effects of, 100. Beauty, essay on, 136; has some strangeness, 137; like summer fruits, 137; decent motion, the principal part of, 137. Behavior, 161 sq. ; should be like apparel, 162. Bequests, 112, 114. Bernard, St., 52. Bias upon the bowl, 74. Bion, 51, Blacks (mourning garments), 4. Blood, men of the first, 125. Boasters, qualities of, 165. Body, agreement of, with mind, 138. Bold persons a sport, 36. INDEX 239 Boldness, essay on, 34; in civil business, 35; an ill keeper of promise, 35; Bacon deficient in, 195. Books, uses of, 157 sq. Briareus, 69. Bribery, ^^. Broken music, 121. Brutus, Decimus, his influence over Caesar, 83. Brutus, Marcus, a phantom appears to, 115; mentioned, 159. Building, essay on, 139. Burrhus, and Tigellinus, 72. Burses, 56. Busbechius, 78. Business, different from cunning, 69; three parts of, 78; ripened by degrees, 153. Cabinet councils, 64. Caesar, Julius, 13, 48, 83, 99, 134, 159, 168, 184. Cain, his envy, 24. Calpurnia, 83. Cambridge, Bacon at, xiv. Canaries, 113. Caracalla, 58. Cardinals, 164. Cassius, 159. Cat in the pan, 72. Catchpolls, 164. Cato Major, 127. Causes, second, 50. Cecil, xiv. Celestial bodies, influence of, 178. Celsas, his rule of health, 103. Ceremonies, essay on, 161; proper use of, 161; over-carefulness about, a dis- advantage, 162. Change, desire of, 76; of party, 160. Charity, no excess in, 37 ; defer not till death, 114. Charles V, 58, 60; the Hardy (the Bold), 84; the Great, 181. Chastity, 21. Cheerfulness, a means of health, 102. Childless men, 19, 20. Children, impediments, 20. Choler, a humor, 118. Christian resolution, 14. Christianity, magnifies goodness, 38. Church, authority claimed by the, 169. Churchmen, 21, 62. Cicero, vainglory of, 166; quoted, 21, 31, 52, 79, 83, in, 136, 140, 166, 168. Claudius, 71. Clearing an estate, 90. Clement, Friar, 125. Cleon, his dream, 117. Clergy, not too numerous, 46. Clerks, of law courts, 172. Climate, northern more martial than southern, 180. Closeness, 79. Cloth of Arras, 85. Coke, xvii. Colonies (see Plantations), 107; Roman policy in founding, 96. Color, beauty of, the lowest beauty, 136. Comets, their influence, 178. Comineus, 84. Commerce, basis of, 46. Committees, for ripening busi- ness, 67. Commodus, 58. Commonalty, danger from, 47, 62; their praise, 163. Commonplaces, in conversation, 105. 240 INDEX Comparison, always involved in envy, 25. Compliments, 162. Conference, maketh a ready man, 158. Confidence, daughter of Fortune, 128. Conflagrations, agencies of ob- livion, 177. Consalvo, quoted, 176. Constancy, 21. Constantine the Great, 61. Constantinople, 37, 184. Contempt, a continual spur, 138; puts an edge upon anger, 175. Controversies, in the church, 9. Corruption, in office, ^^. Cosmus, Duke of Florence, 12, 134. Council of Trent, 54. Council table, 67. Councils, cabinet, 64. Counsel, essay on, 63; inconveniences of, 64. Counselor, true composition of, 66. Counselors, two kinds of, 91. Courts of law, 169 sq. Covetous men, 20. Cowards, 12. Crispus, 61. Croesus, 93. Cross clauses of Christian league, 8. Cunning, essay on, 69; points of, 69-73. Cunning man, and wise man, 69. Custom, essay on, 125; alone subdues nature, 123; tyranny of, 125; deeds governed by, 125; force of, 126; most perfect when begun in youth, 126. Cymini sectores, 158. Cyrus, 168. Danger, from discontentments, 47 ; not to be too long awaited, 68. David's harp, 14. Death, essay on, 4; fear of, 4; pains of, 4. Decii, 169. Decimus Brutus, 83. Deformed persons envious, 23. Deformity, essay on, 137; treated as a cause, 138; effects of, 138. Degrees of honor, 168-169. Delays, prevention of, 33; essay on, 68; in suits, 156, 170. Demetrius, 61. Democracies, 40. Democritus, 50. Demosthenes, 34. Devil, envious, 28. Diagoras, 51. Diaries, to be kept by travelers, 55. Diet, its effect on health, 102. Difficileness, 38. Diocletian, 58. Discontentment, in body politic, 44. Discourse, essay on, 104; more helpful than meditation, makes nature less importune, 123; first version of the essay on, 212. Discretion, more than eloquence, 107. Diseases, of mind, cured by studies, 158. Dispatch, essay on, 77; true measure of, 77. Dissembling one's knowledge, 106. Dissimulation, essay on, 15; its morality as viewed by Bacon, 190. Divination, desired by man, 118. INDEX 241 Doctor of the Gentiles, 7. Dog, example of courage and generosity, 52. Domitian, 58; his dream, 116. Donatives, 63, 10 1. Dreams, 115. Droughts, 177. Dry light, 86. Dueling, how regarded by Bacon, 188. Durer, Albert, 137. Dwellings, 140. Earthquakes, agencies of oblivion, 177. Eccentrics, 54. Economy, 89 sq. Edgar, 168. Education, essay on, 125. Edward II, 61. Edward IV, 136. Elias, 117. Elizabeth, Queen, 71; reign of, vii; her political sagacity, viii; her attitude toward Bacon, xv. Empedocles, 81. Empire, essay on, 58; true temper of, 58. Emulation, between brothers, 19. England, industrial development of, viii; intellectual progress of, ix; individualism in, ix; extravagant fashions in, x; Italian influence in, xi; subsidies in, 93; compared with France, 94. English travelers, affected, 57. Envy, essay on, 22; persons apt to envy others, 23; persons subject to, 24; implies comparison, 25; Envy, public, a disease, 27; how best extinguished, 168. Epicurus, 29, 50, 51. Epicycles, 54. Epimenides, 81. Epimetheus, 47. Equinoctia, 41. Equivocation, 17. Escurial, the, 140. Essay, the word, xxv. Essays, Bacon's, xxv; early editions of, xxv; wisdom of, xxvi; method of, xxvii; subject-matter of, xxviii; obscurity of, xxix; study of, xxx ; changes in, xxxi; Montaigne's, xxv. Essex, Earl of, his career, xv: his generosity toward Bacon, xvi; Bacon's prosecution of, xvii. Evil eye, the, 22, 118; Bacon's belief in, 191. Exchanges, 56. Execution, the work of a few, 78; celerity in, 69. Exercise, necessary to health, 99. Expense, essay on, 89; ordinary, limited to half of income, 89. Experience, in new things, 134; perfects studies, 157. Experiments, in states, 76. Eye, the evil, 22, 118, 191. Faces, beautiful, 137. Facility, ^3- Factions, examples of, 159; politic use of, 159; the working of, 160. Factious followers, to be dis- couraged, 153. 242 INDEX Faith, 3; essay on, 183. Fame, its pedigree, 42; to be held in suspicion, 163; like a river, 163; essay on, 183; poets' representations of, 183; false and true, 184. Fascination, 22. Fashions, affected, 196. Favor, beauty of, 136; to be kept within bounds, 155. Favorites, or privadoes, 82. Ferdinand, 60. "Fiddling," 91. Firearms, 182. Fishing, for testaments, 114; Bacon's experience in, 214. Flatterer, the greatest, a man's self, 29, 86, 163. Flux, the perpetual, of matter, 177. Followers, essay on, 153; classes of, 153; discreet use of, 154. Formal natures, 161. Fortune, essay on, 127; accidents conduce to, 127; in one's own power, 127; faculties that make for, 128; to be honored and respected, 128; ascribed to Providence, 128; blind, but not invisible, 128. Founders, of families, 19, 75; of nobility, 41 ; of states, 168. Fountains, 143, 148. Fox, Bishop of Winchester, 65. France, compared with England, 94. Francis I, 60. French, wiser than they seem, 79- Friendship, essay on, 80; principal fruit of, 81; Friendship, rare, and least be- tween equals, 154-155; as treated by Bacon in 1612, 205. Futile persons, 16, 64. Gains, of trade, 113. Galba, 5, 34, 48, 116. Galen, his ostentation, 166. Garden, plan of a princely, 146- Gardening, the purest pleasure, 144. Gardens, essay on, 144; for each month, 144. Gasca, 139. Gaston de Foix, 134. Gauls, military greatness of, 97. Generals, honor of, 169. Gentlemen, when too many, com- mons will be base, 94. Germans, military greatness of, 97. Giddiness, some delight in, 1. God, 50 sq.; a jealous God, 6. Gold, mastered by iron, 93. Good forms, attainment of, 161. Good thoughts, little better than good dreams, 31. Goodness, essay on, 37. Goths, 97. Government, the four pillars of, 43- Governors, duty of, 184. Great Britain, her naval power, 100. Great persons, not happy, 31. Great place, essay on, 30. Greatest Birth 0} Time, xv, xix. Gregory the Great, 178. Grind with a hand-mill, 65. Guicciardini, 60. Gunpowder, known in Alex- ander's time, 182. Gunpowder plot, 10. INDEX 243 Habit, intermission in forming, 124. Hadrian (Adrian), 24. Hand-mill, to grind with, 65. Health, requires exercise, 99; essay oh, 10 1 ; best preservative of, 10 1; effect of mind upon, 102. Heathen, free from religious con- troversies, 6. Heavenly bodies, compared to princes, 63. Helena, 29. Hellespont, 184. Helmet of Pluto, 69. Henry II, of England, 61; III, of France, 13, 43; IV, of France, 168; VI, of England, 116; VII, of England, 65, 94, 103, 116, 168; VIII, of England, 60. Heraclitus, 86. Hercules, and Prometheus, 14. Heresies, 7. Hermits, 81. Hermogenes, 135. Hiding a man's self, degrees of, 16. Histories, make men wise, 158. History of King Henry VII, 62. Holy Ghost, n. Homer, quoted, 115; his verses, 129. Honest counsel rare, 87. Honest, not too much of the, 128. Honor and reputation, essay on, 167. Honor, three advantages of, 120: means of gaining, 167-168; degrees of, 168-169. Hortensius, 136. House, on ill seat, a prison, 139; ill seat for, 139-140. Human nature, 35 ; sovereign good of, 2. Human relationships, treated by Bacon, 190. Husbands, bad, 22. Hyperbole, comely only in love, 29. Ill nature, 12. Illiberality of parents, 19. Imitation, a globe of precepts, 32. Indians, 51; Hindoo custom of self-sacrifice, 126. Infantry, the nerve of an army, 94. Inferiors, their rights to be re- garded, 26, 32 ; familiarity with, 162. Injuries, 175. Injustice, 170 sq. Innovations, 75. Inquisitive men, envious, 23. Integrity, of judges, 170. Intermission in forming habits, 124. Invention, more lively in youth, 134- Isabella, Queen, 161. Issachar, blessing of, 93. Italian influence in England, xi. Italians, 19, 37. Janizaries, 63, 184. Jaureguy, 125. Jests, certain things privileged from, 105. Jesuits, 70. Job, 13; his afflictions, 14. Jousts, 122. Judah, blessing of, 93. Judges, their duties, influence, qualifications, etc., 169- 174. Judicature, essay on, 169. Julia, 83. Juno, 29. Jupiter, 47, 112. 244 INDEX Justice, wild, 12. Justinian, 168. Juvenal, quoted, 5. Kingdoms, true greatness of, essay on, 90; origin of essay on, 208. Kings, envied only by kings, 25; should employ nobles, 41; value friendship, 82; and factions, 160; should consult judges, 173. Knee-timber, 39. Knowledge, only remembrance, 177. Lacedaemonians, 99. Land, price of, 132. Laodiceans, 8. Law, 169 sq. Law courts, 169 sq. Lawgivers, 168. League, of Christians, 8; in France, 43, 60, 160. Learned men, best for counsel, *57- Learning, 157 sq. ; winged with ostentation, 166; infancy of, 182. Legacy hunting {see Fishing for Testaments), 114. Legend, the Golden, 49. Lepanto, battle of, 100. Lethe, above ground, 177. Letters, of great men requested, 157; when preferable to speech, 151. Leucippus, 50. Libels, 41, 183. Liberty, excessive, 21. Lies, love of, 1 ; effects of, 165. Light, dry, 86. Livia, 15, 60, 184. Livy, 127, 136. Logic, makes men able to con- tend, 158. Logician, play the true, 113. Louis XI, 84. Love, essay on, 28; excess of, 29; of self, the pattern, 38. Low Countries, 40; excises in, 93. Low Countrymen, 46. Lucan, quoted, 44. Lucian, 51, 186. Lucretius, 10, 186. Lucullus, 140, 159. Lycurgus, 168. Macedonia, military greatness of, 97- Machiavelli, his influence upon Bacon, xii, xiii; quoted, 178; his opinions cited, 37, 43, 125. Macro, 119. Maecenas, 83. Magnanimity, atheism destroys, 52. Mahomet, origin of his religion, 179; his "miracle," 35; his sword, 10. Malignity, natural, 38. Manufacturing, value of, 46; destroys martial spirit, 96. Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony), 28, 159. Marcus Aurelius Antonius, 84. Marcus Brutus, 115, 159. Marriage, essay on, 20; of Messalina and Silius, 71. Martyrdoms, 180. Masques, essay on, 121; sketch of, 216. Massacre of St. Bartholomew, 10. Mathematics, make men subtle, 158. INDEX 245 Matter, continual flux of, 177. Medici, Lorenzo de, 60. Medicine, an innovation, 75. Melcombe Regis, represented by Bacon, xv. Men, essay on nature in, 123. Men of war, 63. Mercenary forces, 93. Merchants, not to be taxed, 62 ; see Essay xli, Of Usury, 129. Mercy, to be mingled with justice, 171. Military greatness of various nations, 97. Military persons, need of, 49 ; should be vainglorious, 166. Military race, the basis of na- tional greatness, 93. Mines, above ground, 46. Miracles, 13. Misanthropi, 39. Momus, 139. Monarchs, gain majesty from nobility, 40; should make sure of commons, 47- Money, like muck, 46; not the sinews of war, 93. Monopolies, means of riches, 114. Montaigne, his essays, xxv; quoted, 3. Montgomery, 116. Moral philosophy, makes men grave, 158. Morality, comparative, of youth and age, 135. "Morris-dance of Heretics," 7. Mortgages and usury, 131. Mortification, books of, 4, 8. Morton, Archbishop, 65. Motion, of mind, 3; of things, 34; natural and forced, 75; beauty of, highest beauty, 136- 137- Mountebanks, 35. Mucianus, 15, 166, 184. Multum incola, etc., 124. Music, 121-122. Mustapha, Sultan of Turkey, 60. Myths, Bacon's interpretation of, Narcissus, 71. Narses, 24. Natural philosophy makes men deep, 158. Naturalization of foreigners, 95. Nature, human, more foolish than wise, 35; perfected by studies, 157. Nature in men, essay on, 123; victory over, how gained, 123. Naval power of Great Britain, 100. Nebuchadnezzar's tree, 95; his image, 10. Negative, the easier side of a discussion, 80. Negotiating, essay on, 151; principles and methods of, 152-153; letters and agents in, 1 51-152. Nehemiah, 70. Nero, 58. Neutrality, sometimes indicates selfishness, 160. Nobility, essay on, 39 ; too numerous, causes poverty, 40, 46. Nobles, 62 ; dangers from, 46; second nobles, 62. Normans, military greatness of, 97- Northern countries more mar- tial than southern, 180. Novelties, to be suspected, 76. Numa, 81. Nunc dimittis. 6. 246 INDEX Oblivion, agencies of, 177. Occasion, to be seized, 68. Octavius, 159. Office, effect of, upon politicians, 160; see Essay xi, Of Great Place, 30. Old age, essay on, 134. Old men, envious, 23. Opportunity, choice of, 78. Opposition, develops power, 160. Optimates, 159. Orator, action is the chief part of, 35- Orbs, engines of, 54. Order, the life of dispatch, 78. Ordnance, early use of, 182. Ostentation, 165 sq. Otho, 4. Ottoman I, 168. Over- population, causes war, 181. Ovid quoted, 105. Oxidrakes, 182. Palace, plan of a princely, 140- 143- Pallas, 29, 47. Parents, essay on, 18. Parsimony, a means of riches, 112. Partnerships, 113. Patience, 175; an essential part of justice, 171. Paul, St., quoted, 9, 39, 79, 164, 174. Paulet, Sir Amias, xv. Paul's (Church), 73. Penal laws, 171. People, the, master of supersti- tion, 54; a bad reformer, 55. Peremptoriness, 79. Periods, false, 77. Persecutions, religious, 10. Persians, at Arbela, 92; military greatness of, 97. Pertinax, 13. Phaeton's car, 177. Philanthropia, 37. Philip II, of Macedon, 61. Philip le Bel, 136. Philosophy, Bacon's influence upon, xxiii; depth of, favors religion, 50 ; training in, 158. Physic, use of, in health and sick- ness, 102. Pictures, cannot express highest element of beauty, 136. Pilate, Pontius, 1. Pillars, of government, 43. Piso, 79. Place, shows the man, 33; effect of, on politicians, 160. Plantations, essay on, 107. Plants, garden, 144 sq. Plato, 177; his "great year," 178; his Protagoras, 80; his Timceus, and Atlanticus, 118. Plautianus, 83. Play-pleasure, 23. Pliny, quoted, 167; his fame helped by vanity, 166. Plutarch, 53, 129. Pluto, 112; his helmet, 69. Plutus, interpreted, 112. Poets, make men witty, 158. Point, keeping to the, 77. Poland, 95. Policy, involves dissimulation, 17; modern, 59; its chief part, 159; consists not in faction, 159; not opposed to just laws, 174. Politicians, 39. Politics, art of, studied, x; Italian, in England, xii. Polycrates, his daughter's dream, "5- INDEX 247 Pomp, Bacon's expression of dis- taste for, 222. Pompey, 82, 99, 140, 159, 184. Popes, 160. Poverty, causes sedition, 44. Power, 31 ; solecism of, 59; balance of, 60; of a kingdom, 92. Practice, should be harder than use, 123. Pragmatical sanction, 96. Praise, essay on, 163; its significance measured by giver, 163; moderate praise, good, 164;. an art of ostentation, 166. Precedent, rarely equaled by imi- tation, 75; good precedents, 32. Precocity, 135. Predecessor in office, treatment of his memory, 34. Prelates, proud and great, 61. Pretorian bands, 63. Primum mobile, 43, 54. Princes, toys of, 58; ' difficulties in business of, 59 ; like heavenly bodies, 63 ; their favorites, 119. Probus, 49. Prometheus, 14, 47. Prophecies, essay on, 115; belief in, due to what, 118. Prophecy, in Vespasian's time, 116. Prosperity, the blessing of the Old Testament, 14. Protestants, 43. Public revenges fortunate, 13. Pythagoras, 84. Pythonissa and Saul, 115. Quarrels, causes of, 57. Questioning, 106. Quintessence (fifth essence), 50. Quintilian (not Gellius), quoted, 80. Rabelais, master of scoffing, 7. Ravaillac, 125. Reading, makes a full man, 158. Reform, how to accomplish, 32. Reformation, and change, 76. Regiment of health, essay on, 102. Regiomontanus, prediction of, 117. Relationships, human, treated by Bacon, 190. Religion, essay on unity in, 6; of the Epicureans, 50; privileged from jest, 105 ; vicissitudes of, 179; how regarded by Bacon, 187. Representations, 58. Reputation, daughter of Fortune, 128; essay on, 167. Reserve, 79. Revenge, essay on, 12. Rhetoric, makes men able in argu- ment, 158. Riches, essay on, no. Rising unto place, laborious, 30; by good and evil arts, 41 ; must take sides in, 159. Rivalry between brothers con- demned, 19. Rivers of America, 178. Roman Empire, 181; colonies, 96; naturalization policy, 95. Romans, 92. Rome, its magnanimity, 52; Church of, 169. Romulus, 98, 168; his legacy to the Romans, 98. Roughness, is not severity, 33. Round dealing, 3. Roxolana, 60. Russian monks, custom of, 126. 248 INDEX Sabinian, 178. St. Bartholomew, mas«.cre of, 10. St. Bernard, 52. St. James, 87. St. Paul, 39, 164-165. Sanction, pragmatical, 96. Sarcasm, 105. Satiety, 162. Satire, 162. Saturn, 53. Saul, 115. Savages, against atheists, 51; colonists should conciliate, no. Saxons, military greatness of, 97. Schism, 7; cause of atheism, 52; remedies for, 180. Scholars, 46, 157. Schoolmen, 54. Scipio Africanus, 136. Sea, mastery of, 99; battles by, 100. Second nobles, 62. Secrecy, 16; in counsel, 69; useful in suits, 156; excess of, harmful, 8<. Secret men, 16. Sects, in religion, 179-180. Sedentary, arts, left to foreigners, 97 5 manufactures destroy martial spirit, 96. Seditions, essay on, 41 materials of, 44; causes and remedies of, 45. Seeming wise, essay on, 79. Sejanus, 83, 119. Self, speech of, 106. Self-love, and society, 73. Self-praise, indecent, 164. Self- wisdom, 75. Selymus I, II, 61. Seneca, 5, 13, 114, 115, 166. Sentence, harm of unjust, 170 • Septimius Severus, 5, 83, 134. Serpent, goings of, 3. Servants, corrupt, 74; abuse of, 89; of nobles, 95; help reputation, 168; Bacon's, uncontrolled, 208. Sforza, Ludovicus, 60. Shows, more praised than virtues, 163. Sibylla, offer of, 68. Sickness, 103. Siding oneself, 34. Simulation, essay on, 15. Single life, essay on, 20. Site, for house, 139. Skeptics, 185. Slavery, advantages of, 96-97. Small matters, win great com- mendation, 161. Society, and self-love, 73 ; and solitude, 80 sq. Socrates, 139; ostentatious, 166. Soldiers, 21, 119. Solitude, and society, 80 sq. Solomon, 12, 14, 19, 33, 63, 73; quoted, in, 112, 162, 164, 170, i77; his son, 64. Solon, 93, 168, 178. Solyman, 60. Sophy of Persia, 136. Sorcery, 13. Spain, its colonial expansion, 96. Spaniards, of small dispatch, 77; military greatness of, 97. Spanish proverb, 18, 45. Spartans, of small dispatch, 77; their naturalization policy, 95; their military organization, 97; Spartan lads, 126. Speech {see Discourse), discretion in, 107; preferable to writing, 151; INDEX 249 Speech, "of touch," 106. Spirits, 23, 36. Spying followers,. 153. Standing commissions, 67. Stars, influence of, 22. State, size of, not measure of power, 92; principal point of greatness in, 93- Stoics, 5, 13, 174. Strangers, to be received, 97. Studies, must be regular, 124; essay on uses of, 157. Suitors, essay on, 155. Suits, motives in undertaking, I5S; secrecy, delays, abuses, choice of means, in, 156; timing, principles in conduct, of, 156; parties to, 170-173. Summaries of books, 158. Superstition, essay on, 53; causes of, 54; equipollent to custom, 125. Suspicion, essay on, 103; remedies for effects of, 103-104. Switzers, 40. Sword, temporal and spiritual, 10; of Mahomet, 10. Sylla, L., 82. Table, to dash first against second, 10. Tables, the twelve, 173. Tacitus cited, 15, 34, 42, 43, 49, 59, 114, 166. Tact, in conversation, 106. Talmud, 49. Tamerlane, 24. Tartary, over-populated, 181. Taxes, and imposts, 62; diminish martial temper, 93; colonies not to be burdened with, 109. Testament, Old and New, 14. Testaments, fishing for, 114, 214. Testimonials, 157. Thales, story of, 191. Theater, God's, 32. Themistocles, 90, 101, 184. Theodoricus, liberator of Italy, 168. Thomas a Becket, 6r. Thoughts, useless without deeds, 3 1 - Tiberius, 5, 15, 83, 116, 119, 184. Tigellinus, and Burrhus, 72. Tigranes, 92. Time, the greatest innovator, 75; the measure of business, 77. Timing, the beginnings of under- takings, 68; of suits, 156. Timoleon, his fortune compared, 129. Tobacco, 109. Tourneys, 122. Trades, gains of, 113. Traitor, in faction, 160. Trajan, 84. Travel, essay on, 55; what to see in, 56; acquaintances in, 57; in Elizabethan times, 198. Trent, Council of, 54. Trinity College, Bacon's residence at, xiv. Triumph, Roman, a wise institu- tion, 101. Triumphs, essay on, 121. Troubles, essay on, 41. True greatness of kingdoms, essay on, 90; origin of essay, 208. Truth, essay on, 1 ; the word, as used by Bacon, 185. Tully (see Cicero). Turks, 21, 37, 40, 61, 97-98. "Turning of cat in pan," 72. 250 INDEX Ulysses, 21. Unaffected behavior, 161. Understanding, persons and mat- ters, 69; friendship illuminates, 85. Uniformity, distinct from unity, 9. Union of England and Scotland, 67. Unity, in religion, essay on, 6 ; band of, 6; fruits of, 7; means of, 10. Unmarried men, 21. Use, before uniformity, in build- ings, 139. Usury, condemned, 113; certain means of gain, 113; essay on, 129; sketch of, 218. Utopia, 132. Vainglory, 165. Vatican, 140. Vespasian, 5, 15, 34, 59, 136, 168. Vicissitudes, of things, essay on, i77; of religion, 179. Vinum deemonum, 2. Virgil, quoted, 41, 42, 92, 94. Virginia plantation, 109. Virtue, riches the baggage of, in ; best plain set, 136. Virtues, like precious odors, 14; little, make men fortunate, 128; small, win great commendation, 161; those most praised, 163. Vitellius, 15, 184. Vivacity, in age excellent for busi- ness, 134. Vocations, choice of, 20. War, occasions of, 98; civil and foreign, 100; vicissitudes of, 180; causes of, 181 ; conduct of, 182; weapons of, 182. Warlike people, a little idle, 96. Wealth (see Riches), in; source of, in a state, 46. Weather, periodicity in, 179. West Indies, 177. Wife and children, impediments, 20. Will, not benefited by age, 135. William Rufus, 62. Wisdom for a man's self, essay on, 735 a depraved thing, 75. Wise men, 26, 35, 54, 69, 128, 157, 162. Wit, 1, 15, 105, 138. Witchcraft, cure of, 26; how regarded by Bacon, 188. Witches, 13. Wits, discoursing, 1. Wives, impediments, 20; good, 22; of kings, 60. Writing, facilitates dispatch, 78; makes men exact, 158. Xerxes, 184. Year, Plato's great, 178. Young men's invention better than old men's, 134. Youth and age, essay on, 134; in business, 134-135; in morals, 135; in History of Life and Death, 219. Zanger, son of Solyman, 139. Zealots, 8. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Feb. 2009 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111