, M mHnmmniimiimmi.imim.mm.tiimimmiiiiimmrammimni U nimi. No. LIBRARY OF SNAPE. Price ................ liiuiimimiiiHimmimimiiraimimiiiimtmiimiimmiimimim ..... i ...... mil ESSAYS FRANCIS BACON. NEW YORK HURST & COMPANY PUBLISHERS MBS. HENRY W. LONGFELLOW, T MBKOKT Or TBC HAPPY HOURS AX OCK (USVrW IN SPAIK CONTENTS, ESSAYS. The Last Edition, 1625. PAQK, I. Of Truth. 17 II. Of Death 21 III. Of Unity in Religion 25 IV. Of Revenge 32 V. Of Adversity 34 VI. Of Simulation and Dissimulation 36 VI" Of Parents and Children 40 VII Of Marriage and Single Life 43 IX. Of Envy - 45 X. Of Love , . 52 XI. Of Great Place ,... 55 XII. Of Boldness 60 XIII. Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature. 62 XIV. Of Nobility 67 XV. Of Seditions and Troubles 69 XVI. Of Atheism 80 XVII. Of Superstition 85 XVIII. Of Travel , 87 XIX. Of Empire 90 XX. Of Counsel 97 XXI. OfDelays. -. 104 XXII. OfCunning 106 4 CONTENTS!. XXIII. Of Wisdom for a Man's Slf tit XXIV. Of Innoyations 113 XXV. OfDispatch 115 XXVI. Of Seeming Wise liS XXVII. Of Friendship 120 XXVIII. Of Expense 130 XXIX. Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates 132 XXX. Of Regimen of Health 145 XXXI. Of Suspicion 147 XXXII. OfDiscourse 148 XXXIII. Of Plantations 151 XXXIV. OfRiches 155 XXXV. Of Prophecies 160 XXXVI. Of Ambition 165 XXXVII. Of Masques and Triumphs :(68 XXXVIII. Of Nature in Men 170 XXXIX. Of Custom and Education 172 XL. Of Fortune 175 XLI. Of Usury 177 XLII. Of Youth and Age 182 XLIII. Of Beauty 185 XLIV. Of Deformity 187 XLV. Of Building 188 XLVI. Of Gardens 194 XLVII. Of Negotiating 203 XLVIII. Of Followers and Friends 205 XLIX. Of Suitors 207 L. Of Studies axo LI. Of Faction 212 LII. Of Ceremonies and Respects 214 LIII. Of Praise 216 LIV. Of Vain Glory 218 LV. Of Honor and Reputation. 221 CONTENTS. FAO* LVI. Of Judicature .................... .. 224 LVII. Of Anger ............................ 230 LVIII. Of Vicissitude of Things .............. 133 A Fragment of an Essay of Fame .................. 241 An Essay of a King ............................... 343 a Death ........................................ 245 ESSAYS. The First Edition, 1597. I. Of Studies ........................... 255 II. Of Discourse ......................... 256 III. Of Ceremonies and Respects .......... 257 IV. Of Followers and Friends ............. 258 V. Of Suitors ............................ 260 VI. Of Expense .......................... 261 VII. Of Regimen of Health ................ 262 VIII. Of Honor and Reputation ............. 263 IX. Of Faction. .......................... 265 X. Of Negotiating ....................... 266 THK WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. A Series of Afytho- logical Fables. Preface ........................................... 271 I. Cassandra, or Divination .............. 278 II. Typhon, or a Rebel ................... 279 III. The Cyclops, or the Ministers of Terror 282 IV. Narcissus, or Self-love ................ 283 V. The River Styx, or Leagues ............ 285 VI. Pan, or Nature ....................... 187 VII. Perseus, or War ...................... 296 VIII. Endymion, or a Favorite ............ 301 IX. The Sister of the Giants, or Fame ..... 302 X. Acteon and Pantheus, or a Curious MW 303 XI. Orpheus, or Philosophy. ., ......... 305 5 CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGS XII. Ccclum, or Beginnings 309 XIII. Proteus, or Matter 312 XIV. Memnon, or a Youth Too Forward .... 3:4 XV. Tythonus, or Satiety 315 XVI. Juno's Suitor, or Baseness 316 XVII. Cupid, or an Atom 317 XVIII. Diomed, or Zeal 321 XIX. Dasdalus, or Mechanical Skill 324 XX. Ericthonius, or Imposture 328 XXI. Deucalion, or Restitution 329 XXII. Nemesis, or the Vicissitude of Things. . 330 XXIII. Achelous, or Battle 2 XXIV. Dionysus, or Bacchus 334 XXV. Atalanta and Hippomenes, or Gain 339 XXVI. Prometheus, or the State of Man 341 XXVII. Icarus and Scylla and Charybdis, or the Middle Way 355 XXVIII. Sphinx, or Science 357 XXIX. Proserpine, or Spirit 361 XXX. Metis, or Counsel -,66 XXXI. The Sirens, or Pleasures 367 APOPHTHEGMS 373 ORNAMENTA RATIONALIA; or, ELEGANT SEN- TENCES 41 INTRODUCTION. FRANCIS BACON was born three years "before Shakespeare, on the 220! of January, 1561, and died ten years after Shakespeare, on the gth of April, 1626. Shakespeare's age when he died was 52, and Bacon's 65. The two men were the greatest births of their own time. One glanced " from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven " as a poet. The other taught men to look abroad into God's world, and by patient experiment to find their way from outward signs to knowledge of the inner working of those laws of Nature which are fixed energies appointed by the wis- dom of the Creator as sources of all that we see and use. As the working of each law is dis- covered, Bacon would have the searcher next look for its applications to the well-being of man. Sir William Cecil, afterward Lord Burleigh, and Sir Nicholas Bacon, Queen Elizabeth's Lord Keeper, married two daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke. Anne Cooke was the second wife of Sir Nicholas, who had six children by a former mar- riage. His second wife had two sons, Anthony and Francis. Francis was thus the youngest in f JJ INTRODUCTION: a family of eight, livfng sometimes in London, at York House, and sometimes at Gorhambury, near St. Albans. In April, 1573, Francis Bacon, twelve years old, entered, with his elder brother Anthony, as fellow-commoner, at Trinity College, Cambridge. He left Cambridge after about four years' study there. At Cambridge he felt the fruitlessness of those teachings in philosophy which bade him get clear understanding by beating the bounds of his own brain. This was a philosophy, he used to say, only strong for disputations and contentions, but barren of the production of works for the benefit of the life of man. The desire to turn philo- sophic thought into a more useful course became strong in him even then. He was to be trained for the service of the State, and after leaving Cambridge, at sixteen, went in the suite of an ambassador to Paris. But while he was in France his father died, be- fore he had made the provision he designed for his sons by the second marriage. Bacon then, at the age of eighteen, came to London to prepare for earning by the practise of the law. He be- came a barrister in June, 1582. He entered the House of Commons in November, 1584, as mem- ber for Melcombe Regis, in Dorsetshire. He sat for Taunton in the Parliament that met in October, 1586, and was among those who peti- tioned for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. He sat next for Liverpool, and in October, 1589, obtained by his Court interest the reversion to the office of Clerk of the Council in the Star Chamber, which was of great money value ; but INTRODUCTION. g it did not become vacant for him until 1608. He was member for Middlesex in the Parliament that met in 1593, and piqued the Queen by raising constitutional objections to her manner of asking a subsidy to meet the cost of providing against dangers from the Catholic Powers. Anthony and Francis Bacon were then both looking for patron- age to the young Earl of Essex, who was six years younger than Francis, impetuous, generous, and in favor with the Queen. Bacon, thirty-three years old, sought advance in his profession to the office of Attorney-General. The Queen gave it to Sir Edward Coke, who was already Solicitor- General, was nine years older than Bacon, and could not fairly have been set aside for one who was so much his junior at the bar. Suit was then made on Bacon's behalf for the office of Solicitor- General, but after months of delay it was given, in November, 1595, to another man. Bacon felt that the Queen was still offended by his action in. the matter of the subsidy. Essex said that the refusal of his client was meant by the Queen as an insult to himself, and that Bacon must accept from him a piece of land as amends for the dis . appointment. So Bacon took the piece of land, since known as Twickenham Park ; he sold it afterward for eighteen hundred pounds. It was worth, therefore, about twelve thousand iti modern value. In taking it, he said afterward that he explicitly guarded himself against owing on account of it any service to his patron that might traverse his duty to his Queen. Essex entered into correspondence with James VI. of Scotland by cipher, through thp agency of AJ>- 10 INTRODUCTION". thony Bacon, in the matter of the succession to the throne ; and Francis Bacon could not have been ignorant of this. In 1597, Bacon, wanting money, sought to marry the rich young widow of Sir William Hat- ton. She was married in November, 1598, to Sir Edward Coke. It was at this time, in 1597 in the thirty-seventh year of his life that Bacon published the first edition of his " Essays." It was a little book, containing only the ten Essays which will be found in the first section of the present volume. They deal only with man's relation to this world, but the volume did not exclude the religious side of life, for that was added in twelve more essays, " Religious Medita- tions," written in Latin, on such subjects as " The Works of God and Man ; " " The Miracles of Our Saviour ; " " Earthly H'ope ; " "The Ex- altation of Charity ; " " Atheism ; " " Heresies ; " " The Church of the Scriptures." The ten Eng- lish Essays, it will be observed, have a significant order. They begin with man alone, using his mind " Of Study ; " then comes relation to the minds and lives of others " Of Discourse ; " " Of Ceremonies and Respects ; " " Of Followers and Friends ; " " Of Suitors ; " then personal relation to the means of living " Of Expense ; " " Of Regimen of Health ; " and then relation to the world at large and to affairs of State " Of Honor and Reputation ; " " Of Faction ; " " Of Negotiating." That is all. Upon each theme Bacon's conception of an essay was in accordance with the original meaning of the word, which makes it equivalent with "assay." The same INTRODUCTION. \\ analytical method that, in dealing with outward Nature, would seek to resolve knowledge of all things into knowledge of their elements, for study of the principles upon which they can be recom- bined for the advancement of the general well- being, was in the Essays applied to observed conditions of the inner life of man. Bacon's philosophical writings and his Essays are two parts of the same whole ; one dealing with tho world outside us, and the other with the world within. Bacon was at this time warning the Earl of Essex of a danger before him, and applying counsels, civil and moral, to the particular case of his patron as remedy for " a cold and malig- nant humor growing upon Her Majesty toward your lordship." There was a very shrewd ana- lytical letter written to Essex in October, 1596. One recommendation was " that your lordship should never be without some particulars afoot, which you should seem to pursue with earnestness and affection, and then let them fall, upon taking knowledge of Her Majesty's opposition and dis- like." Among minor devices of this kind he suggested "the pretence of some journeys, which, at Her Majesty's request, your lordship might relinquish ; as if you would pretend a journey to see your living and estate toward Wales, or the like ; for as for great foreign journeys of employ- ment and service, it standeth not with your gravity to play or stratagem with them. And the lightest sort of particulars, which yet are not to be neglected, are in your habits, apparel, wearings, gestures, and .the like." In March, 'ttTRODUCTIOfir. 1599, Essex left London as Lord Deputy of Ire- land, meaning great things; and again he had received lessons of life in a letter from Bacon. In September he accepted an armistice and en- tertained conditions of peace from Tyrone, that might have been dictated by a conqueror. The Queen was displeased. Essex hurried back to Jier, Tyrone rebelled again, and Essex was re- placed by a more vigorous Lord Deputy. In February, 1601, the rash counsels of Essex led him to an overt act of rebellion. He was then lodged in the Tower, and on trial for his life. Bacon, then Queen's Counsel, though engaged in the prosecution, was not officially called upon to speak, when twice, during the trial, he rose to show his zeal for the Crown by violence against the traitor. Once in that way he coupled Essex vflth Cain ; another time he rose and said, " I have never yet seen in any case such favor shown to any prisoner ; so many digressions, such deliv- ering of evidence by fractions, and so silly a de- fence of such great and notorious treasons." On the 25th of February, 1601, Essex was beheaded -within the Tower ; and it was the keen intellect of Bacon that was employed afterward by the Gov- ernment in drawing up "A Declaration of the Practices and Treasons attempted and committed by Robert, late Earl of Essex, and his Complices." Bacon had thus experimented, prudently and lonestly, as he believed, toward the full recovery of the Queen's favor. The Queen died on the 34th of March, 1603, but if she had lived Bacon's experiment would hardly have iucceeded. Bacon's Essays disclose to u* counwU of lifo INTRODUCTION. 13 by a man of the rarest intellect, with weight of thought in every sentence. But in his own life Bacon proved himself wanting, just where he is found wanting in his Essays. Life is directed best by those who allow due influence to each of its elements in man the will, the intellect, and the emotions ; and Bacon's failures both as actor in life and as interpreter of action may depend chiefly, as Dr. Kuno Fischer has suggested, upon undue predominance of the intellectual over the emotional part of a man's nature. Its imperfec- tion in himself made it also less easy for him to understand its operation in the minds of others. Bacon was not, what no being upon earth can be, as Pope called him, " the wisest, brightest, mean- est of mankind;" he never consciously said t> himself, "evil, be thou my good-." Emotion L.- ing out of place in philosophical researches i: 1 .' > Nature,Bacon's inductive philosophy went slniir . to its aim when he endeavored to guide nit.. ., minds into the one way of profitable rescaic!:. But the modifications of man's speech and actici: ; that are due to the just influence of feeling are s,- far essential to the right conduct of life that who ever wants or avoids the prompting to them can- not live long without blundering very gravely more than once, as Bacon did. He was well read in Machiavelli, whose keen intellect he appreci- ated ; indeed, from the fifth chapter of the second book of Machiavelli's " Discourses upon Livy " Bacon took suggestion of his essay of "Vicissitudes of Things." There is a touch of Machiavelli often in Bacon's counsels of life ; they are all wise, but they are not the whole abstract of worldly 14 wisdom, and sometimes, not often, they sink where they should rise. Bacon kept his first little book of Essays by him, adding, altering, and writing more as inclina- tion or occasion prompted. Under James I. he prospered rapidly. The books in which he devel- oped his method of research into Nature his phil- osophy appeared from time to time. He rose to the head of his profession. In the year of Shake- speare's death, Bacon was made a Privy Coun- cillor. In March, 1617, he became Lord-Keeper. In January, 1618, he became Lord Chancellor; in July he became Baron Verulam ; in October, 1620, he produced what we have of the chief work in his philosophical series, the " Novum Organ- urn ; " on the zyth of January, 1621, he was made Viscount St. Albans, and touched the highest point of all his greatness. On the 3d of May in the same year he was sentenced, upon twenty- three specified charges of corruption, admitted by himself, to a fine of forty thousand pounds, which the King remitted ; to be committed to the Tower during the King's pleasure, and he was released next day ; thenceforth to be incapable of holding any office in the State, or sitting in Parliament. It was decided by majority of two that he should not be stripped of his titles. There remained to him five years of life, and in these he withdrew from all strife of the world, closing his life in peace. During all these years he had been embodying his counsels of life in his " Essays." They had increased in number from ten to thirty-eight when he produced an edition of them in 1612 ; and in his last edition of them, that was issued as " newly INTRODUCTION. 15 written " in the year before his death, the number had risen to fifty-eight. That is their final form, as given in the second section of the present volume. Real literature has for one of its qualities that it deals with the essentials of life. It is there- fore not addressed to a select company of critics, but to all who live. Every true book that has really a place in literature speaks to every mind that has bec-n awakened to a consciousness of interests beyond those of the flesh. If it be said that Bacon's E3says are mere literature and cavi- are to the general, Lt it be replied that, being absolutely literature, they are absolutely life life, that is the dearest interest of each of us, as one of the acutest of men sought to interpret i*: ; and have we not our own experience of life to meas- ure with it as we read ? HENRY MORLEY November, 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 bond- age to fix a belief ; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as in acting. And though the sects of philosophers of that kind be gone, yet there re- main certain discoursing wits, which are of the same veins, though there be not so much blood in them as was in those of the ancients. But it is not only the difficulty and 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 lives in favor ; but a natural though corrupt love of the lie itself. One of the later schools f of the Grecians examineth the * He refers to the following passage in the Gospel of St. John, xviii. 38: "Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto tha Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all." t He probably refers to the " New Academy," a sect of Greek philosophers, one of whose moot questions was, " What is truth ? " Upon which they came to the unsatis- factory conclusion that mankind has uo criterion by whicl to form a judgment, 17 18 BACON'S ESSAYS. 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 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 sho-veth best in varied light. 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 unpleas- Sng to themselves ? One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy "vinum drcmonum," * be- cause 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 howsoever, these things are thus in men's depraved judg- ments 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 * "The wiae of evil spirits." BA COJV'S ESSA VS. 19 first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense : * the last was the light of reason : f 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 window of a castle, and to see a battle, and the adventures thereof below : but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage * Genesis i. 3 : " And God said, Let there be light, and there was light." t At the moment when " The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nos- trils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul." Genesis ii. 7. J Lucretius, the Roman poet and Epicurean philosopher, js alluded to. He refers to the sect which followed the doctrines of Epicurus. The life of Epicurus himself was pure and ab- stemious in the extreme. One of his leading tenets was that the aim of all speculation should be to enable men to judge with certainty what course is to be chosen in order to secure health of body and tranquillity of mind. The adoption, however, of the term "pleasure," as denoting this object, has at all periods subjected the Epicurean system to great reproach ; which, in fact, is due rather to the conduct of many who, for their own purposes, have taken shelter under the system in name only, than to the tenets themselves, which did not inculcate libertinism. Epicurus admitted the existence of the Gods, but he de- prived them of the characteristics of Divinity either 09 creators or preservers of the world, SO BACON' 3 ESSAYS. 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 acknowl- edged even by those that practice it not, that clear and round dealing is the honor of man's nature, and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent ; which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to * Lord Bacon has either translated this passage of Lucre- tius from memory, or has purposely paraphrased it. The following is the literal translation of the original : 'Tis a pleasant thing, from the shore to behold the dangers of another upen the mighty ocean, when the winds are lashing the main : not because it is a grateful pleasure for any one to be in misery, but because it is a pleasant thing to see those misfortunes from which you yourself are free : 'tis also a pleasant thing to behold the mighty con- tests of warfare, arrayed upon the plains, without a share in the danger ; but nothing is there more delightful than to occupy the elevated temples of the wise, well fortified by tranquil learning, whance you may be able to look down upon others, and see them straying in every direction, and wmndriHg in search of tho path o BA CON 'S ESS A K?. i be found false and perfidious ; and therefore Montaigne * saith prettily, when he inquired the reason why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace, and such an odious charge, saith he, " If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as 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 ot falsehood and breach of faith cannot possibly be so highly expressed, as in that it shall be the last peal to call the judgments of God upon the generations of men : it being foretold, that, when " Christ cometh," he shall not " find faith upon the earth." f II. OF DEATH, t MEN fear death as children fear to go in the dark ; and as that natural fear in children is in- *Michael de Montaigne, the celebrated French essayist. His Essays embrace a variety of topics, which are treated in a sprightly and entertaining manner, and are replete with remarks indicative of strong native good sense. He died in 1592. The following quotation is from the second book of the Essays, c. 18 : " Lying is a disgraceful vice, and one that Plutarch, an ancient writer, paints in most disgraceful colors, when he says that it is 'affording testimony that one first despises God, and then fears men : ' it is not pos- sible more happily to describe its horrible, disgusting, and abandoned nature : for can we imagine anything more vile than to be cowards with regard to men, and brave with re- gard to God ? " t St. Luke xviii. 8 : " Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth ? " } " A portion of this Essay is borrowed from &e writings of Senscsu See hi* Letters to Luciiius, B. iv. ED. 24 and to 22 BA CON'S ESS A YS. creased with tales, so is the other. Certainly: the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin, and passage to another world, is holy and relig- ious ; 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 su- perstition. 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 ringer'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 terret quam mors ipsa." * Groans and convulsions, and a dis- colored face, and friends weeping, and blacks f and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible. Jt is worthy the observing, that there is no pas- sion 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 pre-occupateth it ; nay, we read, after * " The array of the death-bed has more terrors than death itself." This quotation is from Seneca. t He probably alludes to the custom of hanging the room in black where the body of the deceased lay, a practice much more usual in Bacon's time than at the present day. BACON'S ESSAYS. 23 Otho the emperor had slain himself, pity (which is the tenderest of affections) provoked many to die out of mere compassion to their sovereign, and as the truest sort of followers. Nay, Seneca adds, niceness and satiety : " Cogita quamdiu eadem feceris ; mori velle, non tantum fortis, aut miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest." * A man would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable, only upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over. It is no less worthy to observe, how little alteration in good spirits the approaches of death make : for they appear to be the same men till the last instant. Augus- tus Caesar died in a compliment ; " Livia, conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale." t Tiberius in dis- simulation, as Tacitus saith of him, "JamTiber- ium vires et corpus, non-dissimulatio, desere- bant : " $ Vespasian in a jest, sitting upon the stool, " Ut puto Deus fio : " || Galba with a sen- tence, " Feri, si ex re sit populi Romani," T[ hold- ing forth his neck : Septimus Severus in dispatch, " Adeste, si quid mihi restat agendum," ** and * " Reflect how often you do the same things ; a man may wish to die, not only because either he is brave or wretdied, but even because he is surfeited with life." t " Livia, mindful of our union, live on. and fare thee well." \ " His bodily strength and vitality were now forsaking Tiberius, but not his duplicity." This was said as a reproof to his flatterers, and in spirit is not unlike the rebuke administered by Canute to his retinue. || " I am become a Divinity, I suppose." 1" " If it be for the advantage of the Roman people, strike." ** " If aught remains to be done by me, dispatch." 4 BA CON'S ESS A KS. the like. Certainly the Stoics* bestowed tot* much cost upon death, and by their great prep- parations made it appear more fearful. Better, saith he, " qui finem vitae extremum inter munera ponit naturae." f It is as natural to die as to be born ; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other. He that dies in an ear- nest 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 some- what that is good, doth avert the dolors of death ; but, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is " Nunc dimittis," \ when a man hath obtained * These were the followers of Zeno, a philosopher of Citinm, in Cyprus, who founded the Stoic school or 44 School of the Portico," at Athens. The basis of his doctrines was the duty of making virtue the object of all our researches. According to him, the pleasures of the mind were preferable to those of the body, and his disciples were taught to view with indifference health or sickness, riches or poverty, pain or pleasure. t " Who reckons the close of his life among the boons ot nature." Lord Bacon here quotes from memory ; the pas- sage is in the tenth Satire of Juvenal, and runs thus : " Fortem posce animum, mortis terrore carentem, Qui spatium vitx extremum inter munera ponat Nature " * Pray for strong resolve, void of the fear of death, that reckons the closing period of life among the boons of nature." J He alludes to the song of Simeon, to whom the Holy Ghost had revealed " that he should not see death before lie had seen the Lord's Christ." When he beheld the in- faat Jesus in the Temple, he took the child in his arms and burst forth into a song of thanksgiving, commencing, ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, ac- BA CO^S ESS A YS. *g worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this Uso, that it openeth the gate to good fame, ind extinguished envy ; " Extinctus amabitur id*m."* 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 mixture 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. The fruits of unity (next unto the well-pleasing of God, which is all in all) are two ; the one to- wards those that are without the church, the other towards 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 cording to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." St. Luke ii. 29. * " When dead, the same person shall be beloved," 6 BA COWS ESS A YS. 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," * another saith, " Ecce in penetralibus ; f 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 a 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 contrary opinions in religion, it doth avert them from the church, and maketh them " to sit down in the chair of the scorners." It is but a light thing to be vouched in so serious matter, but yet it ex- presseth 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, * "Behold, he is in the Desert." St. Matthew xxiv. 26. t " Behold, he is in the secret chambers." St. Matthew xxiv. 26. J He alludes to I. Corinthians xiv. 23 : " If, therefore, the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are un- learned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad ?" Psalm i. I, " Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, ftor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." BA CO1TS ESS A rS. 2 J u The Morris-Dance* of Heretics : " for, indeed, every sect of them hath a diverse posture, or cringe, by themselves, which cannot but move derision in worldlings and depraved politicians, 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 out- ward 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 plac- ing of them importeth exceedingly. There appear to be two extremes : for to certain zealots all speech of pacification is odious. " Is it peace, Jehu ? " " What hast thou to do with peace ? turn thee behind me." | Peace is not the matter, but following and party. Contrariwise, certain Laodiceans $ and lukewarm persons think they * This dance, which was originally called the Morisco dance, is supposed to have been derived from the Moors of Spain ; the dancers in earlier times blackening theirfaces to resemble Moors. It was probably a corruption of the ancient Pyrrhic dance, which was performed by men in armor, and which is still existing in Greece, in Byron's " Song of the Greek Captive : " "You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet." Attitude and gesture formed one of the characteristics of the dance. It is still practised in some parts of England. t II. Kings, ix. 18. t He alludes to the words in Revelations, c. iii, v. 14, " And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write : These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God ; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot ; I will spue thee iS r i COtf'S ESS A Y5. may accommodate points of religion by middle ways, and taking part of both, and witty recon- cilements, as if they would make an arbitrament between God and manl^ Both these extremes are to be avoided ; which will be done if the league of Christians, penned by our Saviour him- self, 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 partially, 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 church by two kinds of contro- versies ; 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 contra- diction ; 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 ; " where- upon he saith, " In veste varietas sit, scissura non sit," they be two things, unity and uniformity ; out of ray mouth." Laodicea was a city of Aisa Minor. St. Paul ettablished the church there which is here referred to. * St. Matthew, xii. 30. t " In th garment there may be many colors, but let there be no rending of it." 8 A CON'S ESSAYS. 29 the other is, when the matter of the point con- troverted 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 judgment and understanding shall sometimes hear ignorant men differ, and know well within himself, that those which so differ mean one thing, and yet they themselves would never agree ; and if it come so to pass in that distance of judgment, which is between man and man, shall we not think that God above, that knows the heart, doth not discern that frail men, in some of their contradictions, intend the same thing ; and accepteth of both ? The nature of such 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 scien- tise." * 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 : for all colors will agree in the dark : the other, when it is pieced up upon a direct admission of contraries in fundamental points : for truth and falsehood, in such things, are like the iron and clay in the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image; f they may cleave, but they will not incorporate. " Aroid profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called." Tim. vi. 20. t He alludes t the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, signifi- 30 BACON'S ESSAYS. Concerning the means of procuring unity, men must beware that, in the procuring or muniting of religious unity, they do not dissolve and de- face the laws of charity and of human society. There be two swords amongst Christians, the spiritual and temporal ; and both have their due office and place in the maintenance of religion : but we may not take up the third sword, which is Mahomet's sword,* or like unto it : that is, to propagate religion by wars, or by sanguinary persecutions to force consciences ; except it be in cases of overt scandal, blasphemy, or inter- mixture 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 sua dere malorum." f What would he have said, if he had known of cant of the limited duration of his kingdom. See Daniel ii- 33. 4i- * Mahomet proselytized by giving to the nations which he conquered the option of the Koran or the sword. t " To deeds so dreadful could religion prompt." The poet refers to the sacrifice by Agamemnon, the Grecian leader, of his daughter Iphigenia, with the view of appeas- ing the wrath of Diana. BA CON'S ESS A YS. 3 1 the massacre in France,* or the powder treason of England ? f He would have been seven times more epicure and atheist than he was ; for as the tem- poral sword is to be drawn with great circumspec- tion in cases of religion, so it is a thing monstrous to put it into the hands of the common people ; let thit be left unto the Anabaptists, and other furies. It was great blasphemy, when the devil said, " I will ascend and be like the Highest ; " but it is greater blasphemy to personate 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 Christian church a flag of a bark of pirates and assassins ; therefore it is most nec- essary that the church by doctrine and decree, princes by their sword, and all learnings, both Christian and moral, as by their Mercury rod, J do damn, and send to hell forever those facts and opinions tending to the support of the same ; as * He alludes to the massacre of the Huguenots, or Prot- estants, in France, which took place on St. Bartholomew's day, August 24, 1572, by the order of Charles IX. and his mother, Catherine de Medici. On this occasion about 60,000 persons perished, including the Admiral de Colrjny, one of the most virtuous men that France possessed, and the mainstay of the Protestant cause. t More generally known as " the Gunpowder Plot." J Allusion is made to the " c^duceus," with which Mar- cury, the messenger of the pods, summoned the souls of the departed to the infernal regions. 32 B A CON'S ESSAYS. hath been already in good part done. Surely in councils concerning religion, that counsel of the apostle would be prefixed, " Ira hominis non im- plet justitiam Dei : " * and it was a notable ob- servation of a wise father, and no less ingenuously confessed, that those which held and persuaded pressure of consciences were commonly interested therein themselves for their own ends. IV. OF REVENGE. REVENGE is a kind of wild justice, which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out : for as for the first wrong, it doth but offend the law, but the revenge of that wrong putteth the law out of office. 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 offence." f That which is past is gone and Irrevocable, and wise men have enough to do jrith 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 ; there- fore 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 * " The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." James i. 20. t These words as here quoted, are not to be found in the Writings of Solomon, though doubtless the sentiment is- but like the thorn or briar, which prick and scratch, because they can do no other. The most tolerable sort of revenge is for those wrongs which there is no law to remedy ; but then, let a man take heed the revenge be such as there is no law to punish, else a man's enemy is still beforehand, and it is two for one. Some, when they take revenge, are desirous the party should know whence it cometh : this is the more generous ; for the delight seemeth to be not so much jn doing the hurt as in making the party repent . but base and crafty cowards are like the arrow that flieth in the dark. Cosmus, Duke of Florence,* had a desperate saying against per- fidious 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 ir> a better tune : " Shall we," saith he, " take good at God's hands, and not be content to take evil also ? " f and so of friends in a proportion. This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well. Public revenges % are for the most part fortunate ; as that for the death of Caesar ; r'or the death of Pertinax : for the * He alludes to Cosmo de Medici, or Cosmo I., chief of the Republic of Flo. snce, the encourager of literature and the fine arts. t Job ii. 10 " Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil ? " J By "public revenges," he means punishment awarded by the state with the sanction of the laws. He alludes to the retribution dealt by Augustus and Antony to the murderers of Julius Caesar. It is related by 3 34 6 A COWS ESS A YS. death of Henry the Third 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 unfortunate. V. OF ADVERSITY. IT was a high speech of Seneca (after the man- ner of the Stoics), that, " the good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired." ( " Bona rerum secundarum optabilia, adversarum mirabilia." ) Certainly, if miracles be the command over nature, they appear most in adversity. It is yet a higher speech of his than the other (much too high for a heathen), " It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man, and the security of a god." ( " Vere magnum habere fragilitatem hominis, securitatem Dei." ) This would have done better in poesy, where transcendencies are more allowed ; and the poets, indeed, have been busy with it ; for it is in effect the thing which is figured in that strange fiction of the ancient poets,f which ancient hist r rians as a singular fact, that not one of them died a natural death. * Henry III. of France was assassinated in 1599, by Jac- ques Clement, a Jacobin monk, in the frenzy of fanaticism. Although Clement justly suffered punishment, the end of this bloodthirsty and bigoted tyrant may be justly deemed a retribution dealt by the hand of an offended providence ; to truly does the poet say : " neque enim lex aequior ulla Quam necis artifices arte perire sua." * Stesichorub, Apollodorus, and others, Lord Bacon ESSAYS. 35 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 Pro- metheus (by whom human nature is represented), sailed the length of the great ocean in an earthen pot or pitcher," lively describing Christian reso- lution, that saileth in the frail bark of the flesh through 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 makes a similar reference to this myth in nis t. eatise " On the Wisdom of the Ancients." " It is added with great ele- gance, to console and strengthen the minds of men, that this mighty hero (Hercules) sailed in a cup, or ' urceus,' in order that they may not too much fear and allege the nar- rowness of their nature and its frailty ; as if it were not capable of such fortitude and constancy ; of which very thing Seneca argued well, when he said, " It is a great thing to have at the same time the frailty or a man, and the se- curity of a God." * Funereal airs. It must be remembered that many of the Psalms of David were written by him when persecuted by Saul, as also in the tribulation caused by the wicked conduct of his son Absalom. Some of them, too, though, called " The Psalms of David," were really composed by the Jews in their captivity at Babylon ; as, for instance, the 1371)1 Psalm, which so beautifully commences, "By the waters of Babylon there we sat down." One of them is supposed to be the composition of Moses. 5 6 BACONS ESS A KS. afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without many fears and dis- tastes ; and adversity 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 fragrant when they are incensed, or crushed : for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.* VI. OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULA- TION. 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 dissim- ulation to Tiberius : " and again, when Mucianus encourageth Vespasian to take arms against * This fine passage, beginning at " Prosperity is the bless- ing," which was not published till 1625, twenty-eight years after the first Essays, has been quoted by Macauley, with considerable justice, as a poof that the writer's fancy did not decay with the advance of old age, and that his style in his latter years became richer and softer. The learned Critic contrasts this passage with the terse style of the Essay of Studies (Essay 50), which was published in 1597. BA CON'S ESS A yS. 37 Vitellius, he saith, "We rise not against the piercing judgment of Augustus, nor the extreme caution or closeness of Tiberius." These prop- erties 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 hin- drance and a poorness. But if a man cannot attain to that judgment, then it is left to him generally to be close, and a dissembler : foi where a man cannot choose or vary in particu- lars, 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 dissimulation, if then they used it, it came to pass that the former opinion spread abroad, of their good faith and clearness of dealing, made them almost invisible. There be three degrees of this hiding and veiling of a man's self : the first, closeness, reser- vation, and secrecy ; when a man leaveth himself without observation, or without hold to be taken, what he is : the second, dissimulation in the 38 BACON'S ESSAYS. negative ; when a man lets fall signs and argu- ments, that he is not that he is : and the third, simulation in the affirmative ; when a man indus- triously 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 discovery, 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 per- sons, 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 betray- ing, by how much it is many times more marked and believed than a man's word. For the second, which is dissimulation, it fol- * A word now unused, signifying the " traits " or " feat- ures." BACON'S ESSAYS. 39 loweth many times upon secrecy by a necessity ; so that he that will be secret must be a dis- sembler in some degree ; for men are too cunning to suffer a man to keep an indifferent carriage between both, and to be secret, without swaying the balance on either side. They will so beset a man with questions, and draw him on, and pick it out of him, that without an absurd silence, he must 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 use. The advantages of simulation and dissimula- tion are three : first, to lay asleep opposition, and to surprise ; for where a man's intentions are published, it is an alarm to call up all that are against them : the second is, to reserve to a man's self a fair retreat ; for if a man engage himself by a manifest declaration, he must go through, or take a fall : the third is, the better to discover the mind of another ; for to him that 40 BACON'S ESSAYS. opens himself 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 Spaniards, " Tell a lie and find a troth ; " * as if there were no way of discovery by simulation. There be also three disadvantages to set it even ; the first, that simulation and dissimulation com- monly 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 co-operate with him, and makes a man walk almost alone to his own ends ; the third, and greatest, is, that it depriveth a man of one of the 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 t 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 misfortunes more bitter ; they increase the cares of life, but they mitigate the remembrance of death. The perpetuity by generation is common to beasts ; but memory, merit, and noble works, are proper to men : and * A troth. BA CON 'S ESS A YS. 41 surely a man shall see the noblest works and foundations have proceeded from childless men, which have sought to express the images of their minds where those of their bodies have failed ; so the care of posterity is most in them that have no posterity. They that are the first raisers of their houses are most indulgent towards their children, beholding them as the continuance, not only of their kind, but of their work ; and so both children and creatures. The difference in affection of parents towards their several children is many times unequal, and sometimes unworthy, especially in the mother; as 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 ; f 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, acquaints them with shifts, makes them sort with mean company, and makes them sur- feit more when they come to plenty : and, there- fore, the proof $ is best when men keep their authority towards their children, but not their purse. Men have a foolish manner (both parents, and schoolmasters, and servants), in creating and * Proverbs x. i : "A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." t Petted spoiled. J This word seems here to mean " a plan " or " method " as proved by its results. 42 BA COJV'S ESS A VS. breeding an emulation between brothers during childhood, which many times sorteth to discord when they are men, and disturbeth families.* The Italians make little difference between chil- dren and nephews, or near kinsfolk ; but so they be of the lump, they care not, though they pass not through their own body ; and, to say truth, in nature it is much a like matter ; insomuch that we see a nephew sometimes resembleth an uncle or a kinsman, more than his o\vn parent, as the blood happens. Let parents choose betimes the vocations and courses they mean their chil- dren should take, for then they are most flexible, and let them not too much apply themselves to the disposition of their children, as thinking they will take best to that which they have most mind to. It is true, that if the affection, or aptness of the children be extraordinary, then it is good not to cross it ; but generally the precept is good, " Optimum, elige, suave et facile illud faciet con- suetudo." t Younger brothers are commonly fortunate, but seldom or never where the elder are disinherited. * There is considerable justice in this remark. Children should be taught to do what is right for its own sake, and because it is their duty to do so, and not that they may have the selfish gratification of obtaining the reward which their companions have failed to secure, and of being led to think themselves superior to their companions. When launched upon the world, emulation will be quite suffi- ciently forced upon them by stern necessity. t " Select that course of life which is the most advantage- ous : habit will soon render it pleasant and easily endured." BACON'S ESSAYS. 43 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 unmar- ried 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 imper- tinences ; nay, there are some other that account wife and children but as bills of charges ; nay more, there are some foolish rich covetous men, that take a pride in having no children, because they may be thought so much the richer ; for, perhaps they have heard some talk, " Such an one is a great rich man," and another except to it, " Yea, but he hath a great charge of children," as if it were an abatement to his riches : but the most ordinary cause of a single life is liberty, 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 gar- ters to be bonds and shackles. Unmarried men are best friends, best masters, best servants ; but not always best subjects, for they are light to run away, and almost all fugitives are cf that con- dition. A single life doth well with churchmen, J4 * CON 'S ESS A YS. 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 children ; and I think the de- spising of marriage amongst the Turks maketh the vulgar soldier more base. Certainly wife and children are a kimd 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 con- stant, are commonly loving husbands, as was said of Ulysses, "Vetulam suam prsetulit im- mortalitati." f Chaste women are often proud and froward, as presuming upon the merit of their chastity. It is one of the best bonds, both of chastity and obedience, in the wife, if she think her husband wise, which she will never do if she find him jealous. Wives are young men's mis- tresses, companions for middle age, and old men's nurses, so as a man may have a quarrel { * His meaning is, that if clergymen have the expenses of A family to support, they will hardly find means for the ex- ercise of benevolence towards their parishioners. t " He preferred his aged wife Penelope to immortality." This was when Ulysses was entreated by the goddess Calypso to give up all thoughts of returning to Ithaca, and to remain with her in the enjoyment of immor- tality. | " May have a pretext/' or "excuse," S$A YS. 4$ to marry \vhcn 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 wires ; 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 Ihe 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 Scrip- ture calleth envy an evil eye ; * and the astrolo- * So prevalent in ancient times was the notion of the in- jurious effects of the eye of envy, that in common parlance the Romans generally used the word " praefiscini," without risk of enchantment," or "fascination," when they spoke in high terms of themselves. They supposed that they thereby averted the effects of enchantment produced by the evil eye of any envious person who might at that mo- ment possibly be looking upon them. Lord Bacon prob- ably here alludes to St. Mark vii. 21, 22: "Out of the heart of men proceedeth deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye." Solomon also speaks of the evil eye, Prov. xxiii. 6, and zvvii, 22. 46 BA COX 'S SSsl J19. gers call the evil influences of the stars evil aspects ; so that still there seemeth to be acknowl- edged, in the act of envy, an ejaculation, or ir- radiation of the eye ; nay, some have been so curious as to note, that the times, when the stroke or percussion of an envious eye doth most hurt, are, when the party envied is beheld in glory cr triumph ; for that sets an edge upon envy : and besides, at such times, the spirits of the person envied do come forth most into the outward parts, and so meet the blow. But leaving these curiosities (though not un- worthy 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 between public and private envy. A man that hath no virtue in himself ever envieth virtue in others ; for men'" 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 com- monly envious ; for to know much of other men's matters cannot be, because all that ado may con- cern 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, * To be even with him. BACON'S and walketh the street, and does not keep Lome : " Non est curiosus, quin idem sit mal- evolus." * Men of noble birth are noted to be envious to- Kvards 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. Defcrmcd persons and eunuchs, and the old men and 1 ictards, are envious ; for he that can- not possibly mend his own case, will do what he can to impair another's; except these defects light upon a very brave and heroic nature, which, thinketh to make his natural wants part of his honor ; in that it should be said, " That a eunuch, or a lame man, did such great matters," affecting the honor of a miracle : As it was in Narses f the eunuch, and Agesilaus and Tamerlane, $ that were lame men. * "There is no person a busy-body but what he is ill- natured too." This passage is from the Stichus of Plautus. t Narses superseded Belisarius in the command of the armies of Italy, by the orders of the Emporer Justinian. He defeated Totila, the king of the Goths (who had taken Rome), in a decisive engagement, in which the latter was slain. He governed Italy with consummate ability for thirteen years, when he was ungratefully recalled by Justin, the Second, the successor of Justinian. J Tamerlane, or Timour, was a native of Samarcand, of which territory he was elected emperor. He overran Persia, Georgia, Hindostan, and captured Bajazet, the valiant Sultan of the Turks, at the battle of Angora, 1402, whom he is said to have inclosed in a cage of iron. His conquests extended from the Irtish and Volga to the Per- sian Gulf and from the Ganges to the Grecian Archipelago. While preparing for the invasion of China, he died, in the foth year of his age, .A. t). 1405, He was tall and corpulent 4& 3 A CON'S ESS A YS. The same is the case of r en that rise after calamities and misfortunes ; for they are as men fallen out with the tunes, and think other men's harms a redemption of their own sufferings. They that desire to excel in too many matters, out of levity and vain-glory, are ever envious, for they cannot want work : it being impossible, but many, in some of those things, should sur- pass them ; which was the character of Adrian the emperor, that mortally envied poets and painters, and artificers in works, wherein he had a vein to 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, ancj pointeth at them, and cometh often into their remembrance, and incurreth likewise more into the note * of others ; and envy ever redoubleth from speech and fame. Cain's envy was the more vile and malignant towards his brother Abel, because when his sacrifice was better ac- cepted, 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 rewards and liberality rather. Again, envy is ever joined with the comparing of a man's self ; and where there ia person, but was maimed in one hand, and lame on the right side. * Comas under the observation. BACON'S ESSAYS. ,9. is no comparison, no envy ; ana cherefor* kings are not envied but by kings. Nevertheless, it :s to be noted, that unworthy persons are most envied at their first coming in, and afterwards overcome it better ; whereas, contrariwise, per- sons of worth and merit are most envied when their fortune continueth long ; for by that time, though their virtue be the same, yet it hath not the same lustre ; for fresh men grow up that darken it. Persons of noble blood are less envied in their rising; for it seemeth but right done to their birth ; besides, there seemeth not so 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 sud- denly, 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 sometimes ; and pity ever healeth envy : wherefore you shall observe, that the more deep and sober sort of politic persons, in their greatness, are ever bemoaning themselves what a life they lead, chanting, a " quanta patimur ; " f 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 en- * " By a leap," /'. e., over the heads of others, t " How vast the evils we endure," 4 50 BA COAT'S ESS A YX. grossing of business ; and nothing- doth extin- guish envy more than for a great person to pre- serve all other inferior officers in their full rights and pre-eminences of their places ; for, by that means, there be so many screens between him and envy. Above all, those are most subject to envy, which carry the greatness of their fortunes in an insolent and proud manner : being never well but while they are, 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 them- selves, sometimes of purpose, to be crossed and overborne in things that do not much concern them. Notwithstanding so much is true, that the carriage of greatness in a plain and open manner (so it be without arrogancy and vain- glory) doth draw less envy than if it be in a more crafty and cunning fashion ; for in that course a man doth but disavow fortune, and seemeth to be conscious of his own want in worth, and doth but teach others to envy him. Lastly, to conclude this part, as we said in the beginning that the act of envy had somewhat in it of witchcraft, so there is no other cure of envy but the cure of witchcraft ; and that is, to remove the lot (as they call it), and to lay it upon another ; for which purpose the wiser sort of great persons bring in ever upon the stage somebody upon whom to derive the envy that would come upon themselves ; sometimes upon ministers and serv- ants, sometimes upon colleagues and associates, and the like ; and, for that turn, there are never BA CON'S ESS A YS. 5 1 wanting some persons of violent and undertaking natures, who, so they may have power and busi- ness, will take it at any cost. Now, to speak of public envy : there is yet some good in public envy, whereas in private there is none ; for public envy is as an ostracism,* that eclipseth men when they get too great ; and therefore it is a bridle also to great ones, to keep them within bounds. Tills envy, being in the Latin word " invidia," t goeth in the modern languages by the name of discontentment ; of which we shall speak in han- dling sedition. It is a disease in a state like to in- fection ; 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 therefore there is little won by intermingling of plausible actions ; for that doth argue but a weakness and a fear of envy, which hurteth so much the more, as it is likewise usual in infec- tions, which, if you fear them, you call them upon you. This public envy seemeth to beat chiefly upon principal officers or ministers, rather than upon kings and estates themselves. But this is a sure rule, that if the envy upon the minister be great, when the cause of it in him is small ; or if the envy be general in a manner upon all the min- * He probably alludes to the custom of the Athenians, who frequently ostracized or banished by vote their oublic men, lest they should become too powerful. t From "in" and "video," "to look upon; " \ . I '., \ v iXr- pnce to the so-called, " evil eye " of the envious- ' 5 j M A CON 'S ESS A YS. istersr uL wi estate, then the envy (though hid- den) is truly upon the state itself. And so much of public envy or discontentment, and the differ- ence thereof from private envy, which was han- dled in the first place. We will add this in general, touching the affection of envy, that of all other affections it is th ; most importune and continual ; for of other affections there is occasion given but now and then ; and therefore it was well said, " Invidia festos dies non agit : " * for it is ever working upon some or other. And it is also noted, that love and envy do make a man pine, which other affections do not, because they are not so continual. It is also the vilest affection, and the most depraved ; for which cause it is the proper attribute of the devil, who is called " The envious man, that soweth tares amongst the wheat by night ; " f a s it always Cometh to pass that envy worketb subtilely, 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 trage- dies ; but in life it doth much mischief, some- times like a Siren, sometimes like a Fury. You may observe, that amongst all the great and vorthy persons (whereof the memory remaineth, ither ancient or recent), there is not one that * " Envy keeps no holidays." t See St. Matthew xiii. 25. BA CON'S ESS A KS, 53 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 partnei 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 there- fore it seems (though rarely) that love can find entrance, not only into an open heart, but also into a heart well fortified, if watch be not well kept. It is a poor saying of Epicurus, " Satis magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus : " f 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, .vhich was given him for higher pur- * He iniquitously attempted to obtain possession of the person of Virginia, who was killed by her father Virginius, to prevent her from falling a victim to his lust. This cir- cumstance caused the fall of the Decemvir at Rome, who had been employed in framing the code of laws afterwards known as " The Laws of the Twelve Tables." They nar- rowly escaped being burnt alive by the infuriated populace. t " We are a sufficient theme for contemplation, the one for the other." Pope seems, notwithstanding this censure of Bacon, to have been of the same opinion with Epi- curus : " Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, The proper study for mankind is man." Essay on Man, Ep. ii. I, 2. Indeed Lord Bacon seems to have misunderstood the say- ing of Epicurus, who did not mean to recommend man as the sole object of the bodily vision, but as the proper theme for mental contemplation. 5 4 '* CO N 'S ESS A YS. poses. 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 reciprocal ; for it is a true rule, that love is ever rewarded, either with reciprocal, or with an inward and secret con- tempt ; by how much the more men ought to be- ware 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 adversity, though this latter hath been less observed ; both which 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 serious affairs and * He refers here to the judgment of Paris, mentioned bf Ovid in his Epistles, of the Heroines. BACON'S ESSAYS. 55 actions of life; for if it check once with business, it troubleth men's fortunes, and maketh men that they can nowise 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 be- come humane and charitable, as it is seen some- times in friars. Nuptial love maketh mankind, friendly love perfecteth it, but wanton love cor- rupteth and embaseth it. XI. OF GREAT PLACE. MEN in great place are thrice servants serv- ants 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 ac- tions, 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 mel- ancholy thing : " Cum non sis qui fueris, non esse cur velis vivere." * Nay, retire men cannot when they would, neither will they when it were reason ; * " Since you are not what you were, there is no reason why you should wish to live," 56 BACON'S ESSAYS. but are impatient of privateness even in age and sickness, which require the shadow ; like old townsmen, that will be still sitting at their street door, though thereby they offer age to scorn. Certainly great persons had need to borrow other men's opinions to think themselves happy ; for if they judge by their own feeling, they cannot find 't : 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 con- trary within ; for they are the first that find their own griefs, though they be the last that find their own faults. Certainly men in great fortunes are strangers to themselves, and while they are in the puzzle of business they have no time to tend their health either of body or mind. " Illi mors gra- vis incubat,qui notus nimis omnibus, ignotus mori- tur sibi." * 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 law- ful 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 con- science of the same is the accomplishment of man's rest : for if a man can be partaker of God's theatre, he shall likewise be partaker of God's rest. " Et conversus Deus, ut aspiceret opera, * " Death presses heavily upon him, who, well-known t ill others, dies unknown to himself." BACOWS ESSA YS. 57 qua fecerunt manus suae, vidit quod omnia essent bona nimis ; " * and then the Sabbath. In the discharge of thy place set before thee the best examples ; for imitation is a globe of pre- cepts ; 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 pre- cedents as to follow them. Reduce things to the first institution, and observe wherein and how they have degenerated ; but yet ask counsel of both times of the ancient time what is best, and of the latter time what is fittest. Seek to make thy course regular, that men may know before- hand what they may expect ; but be not too posi- tive and peremptory; and express thyself well when thou digressest from thy rule. Preserve the right of thy place, but stir not questions of jurisdiction ; and rather assume thy right in silence, and " de facto," f than voice it with claims and challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of inferior places ; and think it more honor to direct in chief than to be busy in all. Em- brace and invite helps and advices touching the execution of thy piace ; and do not drive away * " And God turned to behold the works which his hands had made, and ht saw that everything was good." See Gn. i. 31. I " As a matter of course." 58 &ACON'S ESSAYS. such as bring thee information as meddlers, but accept of them in good part. The vices of au- thority are chiefly four : delays, corruption, rough- ness 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 servant's 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 detesta- tion 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 opin- ion 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 discontent : severity breedeth fear, but roughness breedeth hate. Even re- proofs 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 f 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." $ * Too great easiness of access. t Predilections that are undeserved. | Proverbs xxviii. 21. The whole passage stands thus BA CON'S ESS A VS. 5 9 It is most true; that was anciently spoken : " A place showetb the man ; and it showeth some to the better and some to the worse : " " Omnium concensu capax imperii, nisi imperasset,"* saith Tacitus of Galba ; but of Vespasian he saith, " Solus imperantium, Vespasianus mutatus in melms ; " t though the one was meant of suffi- ciency, the other of manners and affection. It h 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 ; and if there be fac- tions, 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, respect them ; and rather call them when they look not for it, than exclude them when they have reason to look to be called. Be not too sensible or too remembering of thy place in conversation and private answers to suitors; but let it rather be said, " When he sits in placfr he is another man." in our version : " He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. To have respect of persons is not good ; for, for a piece of bread that man will transgress." * " By the consent of all he was fit to govern, if he had not governed." t " Of the emperors, Vespasian alone changed for tne better after his accession.'' 60 BA CON'S ESS A YS. XII. OF BOLDNESS. IT is a trivial grammar-school text, but yet worthy a wise man's consideration. Question was asked of Demosthenes, what was the chief part of an orator ? he answered, Action : what next ? Action : what next again ? Action. He said it that knew it best, and had by nature him- self 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 arts of invention, 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 fasci- nate, and bind hand and foot those that are either shallow in judgment or weak in courage, which are the greatest part ; yea, and prevaileth with wise men at weak times; therefore we see it hath done wonders in popular states, but with senates and princes less ; and more, ever upon the first entrance of bold persons into action than soon after ; for boldness is an ill keeper of promise. Surely as there are mountebanks for the natural body, so are there mountebanks for the politic body ; men that undertake great cures, BA CON'S ESS A YS. 6l and perhaps have been lucky in two or three ex- periments, 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 ; 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 sjDort to be- hold ; 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 ; es- pecially 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 occa- sion, 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 dan- gers and inconveniences : therefore it is ill in counsel, good in execution ; so that the right use of bold persons is, that they never command 6 3 BA COWS ESS A YS. in chief, but be seconds and under the direction of others; for in counsel it is good to see dan- gers, and in execution not to see them except they be very great. XIIL OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE, / TAKE goodness in this sense, the affecting of the weal of men, which is that the Grecians call " philanthropia ; " and the word humanity (as it is used) is a little too light to express it. Good- ness I call the habit, and goodness of nature the inclination. This, of all virtues and dignities of the mind, is the greatest, being the character of the Deity : and without it man is a busy, mis- chievous, wretched thing, no better than a kind of vermin. Goodness answers to the theolog- ical 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 * It is not improbable that this passage suggested Pope's beautiful lines in the Essay on Man, Ep. i. 125-8. " Price still is aiming at the blest abodes, Men would be angels, angels would be gods. Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell, Aspiring to be angels, men rebel."* BA CON'S ESS A YS. 63 give alms to dogs and birds : insomuch as Bus- bechius* reporteth, a Christian boy in Constan- tinople had like to have been stoned for gagging in a waggishness a long-billed fowl, f Errors, indeed, in this virtue, of goodness or charity, may be committed. The Italians have an un- gracious proverb, " Tanto buon che val niente : " " so good, that he is good for nothing : " and one of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Machiavel,f * Auger Gislen Busbec, or Busbequius, a learned traveler^ "born at Comines, in Flanders, in 1522. He was employed by the Emperor Ferdinand as ambassador to the Sultan Solyman II. He was afterwards ambassador to France-, where he died in 1592. His letters relative to his travels in the East, which are written in Latin, contain much in- teresting information. They were the pocket companion of Gibbon, and are highly praised by him. t In this instance the stork or crane was probably pro- tected not on the abstract grounds mentioned in the texf, but for reasons of state policy and gratitude combined. In Eastern climes the cranes and dogs are far more effica- cious than human agency in removing filth and offal, and thereby diminishing the chances of pestilence. Supersti- tion, also, may have formed another motive, as we learn from a letter written from Adrianople by Lady Montagu, in 1718, that storks were "held there in a sort of religious reverence, because they are supposed to make every winter the pilgrimage to Mecca. To say truth, they are the happiest subjects under the Turkish government, and are so sensible of their privileges, that they walk the streets without fear, and generally build their nests in the lower parts of the houses. Happy are those whose houses are so distinguished, as the vulgar Turks are perfectly per- suaded that they will not be that year attacked either by fire or pestilence." Storks are still protected by municipal law in Holland, and roam unmolested about the market- places. | Nicolo Machiavelli, a Florentine statesman. He wrote Discourses on the first Decade of Livy," which were con 64 BACOWS ESSAYS. had the confidence to put in writing, almost in plain terms, " That the Christian faith had given up good men in prey to those that are tyrannical and unjust ; " which he spake, because, indeed, there was never law, or sect, or opinion did so much magnify goodness as the Christian religion doth : 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 ; for that is but facility or softness, which taketh an honest mind prisoner. Neither give thou ^Esop's cock a gem, who would be better pleased and happier if he had 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; "* but he doth not rain wealth, nor shine honor and virtue upon men equally : common benefits are spicuous for their liberality of sentiment, and just and pro- found reflections. This work was succeeded by his famous treatise. " II Principe," " The Prince," his patron, Caesar Borgia, being the model of the perfect prince there described fry him. The whole scope of this work is directed to one object the maintenance of power, however ac- quired. Though its precepts are no doubt based upon the actual practice of the Italian politicians of that day, it has been suggested by some writers that the work was a covert exposure of the deformity of the shocking maxims that it professes to inculcate. The question of his motives has been much discussed, and is still considered open. The word " Machiavellism " has, however, been adopted to de- note all that is deformed, insincere, and perfidious in poli- tics. He died in great povertv, in the year 1527. * St. Matthew v. 5: " For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." SA CON 'S ESS A YS. 65 to be communicate with all, but peculiar benefits with choice. And beware how in making the portraiture 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 ; the otherwise, in feeding the streams, thou driest for 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 forwardness, or aptness to oppose, or difficileness, or the like ; but the: deeper sort to envy, and mere mischief. Such, men in other men's calamities, are, as it were, in season, and are ever on the loading part : not so good as the dogs that licked Lazarus' sores, f 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 * This is a portion of our Saviour's reply to the rioh man who asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life : " Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest ; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven ; and come, take up the cross, and follow me." St Mark x. 21. 1 See St. Luke xvi, 21. 66 BA CON'S ESS A YS. 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 thit shall stand firm. The parts and signs of goodness are many. If a man be gracious >\nd 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 joi,s to them : if he be compassionate to- wards t/ie afflictions of others, it shows that his heart \1 like the noble tree that is wounded itself when it gives the balm : t if he easily pardons and remits offences, it shows that his mind is planted above injuries, so that he cannot be shot : if he be thankful for small benefits, it * Timon of Athens, as he is generally called (being so Styled by Shakespeare in the play which he has founded on his story), was surnamed the " Misanthrope," from the hatred which he bore to his fellow-men. He was attached to Apemantus, another Athenian of similar character to himself, and he professed to esteem Alcibiades, because he foresaw that he would one day bring ruin on his country- Going to the public assembly on one occasion, he mounted the rostrum, and stated that he had a fig-tree on which many worthy citizens had ended their days by the halter ; that he was going to cut it down for the purpose of build- ing on the spot, and therefore recommended all such as were inclined to avail themselves of it before it was toa late. t A piece of timber that has grown crooked, and has been so cut that the trunk and branch form an angle. t He probably here refers to the myrrh-tree. Incision is the method usually adopted for extracting the resinous juices of trees ; as in the india-rubber auci gutta-percha trees, ESSA YS. *y Shows that he weighs men's minds, an.\ mM: their trash : but, above all, if he have St. PauJ'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 ox an estate, then as a condition of particular per- sons. A monarchy, where there is no nobility at all, is ever a pure and absolute tyranny, as that of the Turks ; for nobility attempers sovereignty, and draws the eyes of the people somewhat aside from the line royal : but for democracies they need it not ; and they are commonly more quiet and less subject to sedition than where there are stirps of nobles ; for men's eyes are upon the business, and not upon the persons; or if upon the persons, it is for the business sake, as fittest, and not for flags and pedigree. We see the Switzers last well, notwithstanding their diversity of religion and of cantons ; for utility is their bond, and not respects. t The united provinces of the Low Countries $ in their government * " A votive," and in the present instance " a vicarious offering." He alludes to the words of St. Paul in hi" Second Epistle to Timothy ii. 10 : " Therefore I endure aU things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain th salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." t " Consideration of," or "predilection for, particuk*. persons." J The Low Countries had then recently emancipate-" themselves from the galling yoke of Spain. They wer called the Seven United Provinces of the Netherland' 68 AGON'S ESSAYS. excel ; for where there is an equality the consul- tations are more indifferent, and the payments and tributes more cheerful. A great and potent nobility addeth majesty to a monarch ; but diminisheth power, and putteth life and spirit into the people, but presseth their fortune. It is well when nobles are not too great for sover- eignty nor for justice ; and yet maintained in that height, as the insolency 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 dis- proportion between honor and means. As for nobility in particular persons, it is a reverend thing to see an ancient castle or build- ing not in decay, or to see a fair timber-tree soui/d 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 Lie act of power, but ancient nobility is the act of time. Those that are first raised to nobility are commonly more virtuous,* but less innocent, thru their descendants ; for there is rarely any rising but by a commixture of good and evil arts ; b'.it it is reason f the memory of their virtues remain to their posterity, and their faults die with theiu- * This passage may at first sight appear somewhat co - tradictory; but he means to say that those who are fii it nnoblea will commonly be found to be more conspicuo is tor the prominence of their qualities, both good and bad t Consistent with reason and justice. BA CON'S ESS A YS. 69 selves. Nobility of birth commonly abateth in- dustry ; and he that is not industrious, envieth he that is ; besides, noble persons cannot go much higher ; and he that standeth at a stay when others rise, can hardly avoid motions of envy. On the other side, nobility extinguisheth the pas- sive envy from others towards them, because they aie in possession 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 cal- endars 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 tempest, so are there in states : " Ille etiam caecos instare tumultus Saspe monet, fraudesque et operta tumescere bella." t Libels and licentious discourses against the state, when they are frequent and open ; and in like sort false news, often running up and down, to the disadvantage of the state, and hastily em- braced, are amongst the signs of troubles. Vir- gil, giving the pedigree of Fame, saith she was sister to the giants : * The periods of the Equinoxes. t " He often warns, too, that secret revolt is impending, that treachery and open warfare are ready to burst forth." JO BACON'S ESSAYS. * Ulam Terra parens, ira irritata Deorum, Extremam (at perhibent) Cceo Enceladoque so.", Progenuit."* As if fames were the relics of seditions past ; but they are no less indeed the preludes of sedi- tions to come. Howsoever he noteth it right, that seditious tumults and seditious fames differ no more but as brother and sister, masculine and feminine ; especially if it come to that, that the best actions of a state, and the most plausible, and which ought to give greatest contentment, are taken in ill sense, and traduced : for that shows the envy great, as Tacitus saith : " Con- flata magna invidia, seu bene, seu male, gesta premunt." f Neither doth it follow, that because these fames are a sign of troubles, that the sup- pressing 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 sus- pected : " Erant in officio, ced tamen qui mallent imperantium mandata interpretari, quam exse- qui ; " t disputing, excusing, cavilling upon man- * " Mother Earth, exasperated at the wrath of the Deities, produced her, as they tell, a last birth, a sister to tke giants Cceus and Enceladus." t " Great public odium once excited, his deeds, whether eood or whether bad, cause his downfall." Bacon has Here quoted incorrectly, probably from memory. The words of Tacitus are (Hist. B. i. C. 7) " Inviso semel principe seu bene, seu male, facta premunt," "The rulr once detested, his actions, whether good or whether bad, cause his downfall." * * They attended to their duties, but still, as preferring BA CON J S ESS A YS. 7 r dates and directions, is a kind of shaking off the yoke, and assay of disobedience ; especially if in those disputings they which are for the direction speak fearfully and tenderly, and those that are against it audaciously. Also, as Machiavel noteth well, when princes, that ought to be common parents, make them- selves as a party, and lean to a side ; it is, as a boat that is overthrown by uneven weight on the one side ; as was well seen in the time of Henry the Third of France ; for first himself entered league * for the 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 cf sovereignty, kings begin to be put almost out of possession. Also, when discords, and quarrels, and fac- tions, 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 *primum mobile," f according to the old opinion, rather to discuss the commands of their rulers, than to obey them." * He alludes to the bad policy of Henry the Third of Trance, who espoused the part of " the League " which was formed by the Duke of Guise and other Catholics for the extirpation of the Protestant faith. When too late, he discovered his error, and, finding his own authority entirely superseded, he caused the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal De Lorraine, his brother, to be assassinated. * '' The primary motive power." He alludes to an im- aginary centre of gravitation, or central body, which was supposed to set all the other heavenly bodies in motion. 1 2 BA CON'S SSA yS. wnich 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 threat- eneth the dissolving thereof ; " Solvam cingula regum." f So when any of the tour pillars of govern- ment are mainly shaken or weakened (which are religion, justice, counsel, and treasure), men had need to pray for fair weather. But let us pass from this part of predictions (concerning which, nevertheless, more light may be taken from that which followeth) and let us speak first of the materials of seditions ; then of the motives of them ; and thirdly of the remedies. Concerning the materials of seditions, it is a thing well to be considered ; for the surest way to prevent seditions (if the times do bear it) is to take 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 over- thrown estates so many votes for troubles. * " Too freely to remember their own rulers." t " I will unloose the girdles of kings." He probably al- ludes here to the first verse of the 45th chapter of Isaiah : " Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose light hand I have upholden to subdue nations before him : and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates." BA CON'S ESS A YS. 73 Lucan noteth well the state of Rome before the civil war : " Hincusura vorax, rapidumque in tempore fosnus, Hinc concussa fides, et multis utile be llum." * This same "multis utile bellum," f is an assured and infallible sign of a state disposed to seditions and troubles ; and if this poverty and broken estate in the better sort be joined with a want and necessity in the mean people the danger is imminent and great ; for the rebellions of the belly are the worst. As for discontentments, they are in the politic body like to 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 jus'; or unjust: for that were to imagine people to be too reasonable, who do often spurn at their own, good ; nor yet by this, whether the griefs where- upon 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 oppres* sions, the same things that provoke the patience, du withal mate the courage ; but in fears it is not so 1 neither let any prince or state be secure concern- ing discontentments, because they have been ofteil), or have been long, and yet no peril hath ensued for as it is true that every vapor or fume doth. racr. * " Hence devouring usury, and interest accumulating frl lapse of time, hence shaken credit, and warfare, profitaH I to the many." t " Warfare profitable to the many." J " To grief there is a limit, not so f Check," or daunt," 74 ' BACON'S ESSAYS. 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, in- novation in religion, taxes, alteration of la\vs and customs, breaking of privileges, general oppres- sion, advancement of unworthy persons, stran- gers, 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 preservatives, 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 sedi- tion whereof we spake, which is, want and poverty in the estate : f to which purpose serveth the opening and well-balancing of trade ; the cherish- ing of manufactures ; the banishing of idleness ; the repressing of waste and excess, by sumptuary laws ; $ the improvement and husbanding of the * This is similar to the proverb now in common use : * 'Tis the last feather that breaks the back of the camel." t The state. } Though sumptuary laws are probably just in theory, they have been found impracticable in any other than in- fant states. Their principle, however, is certainly recog- nized in such countries as by statutory enactment discoun- tenance gaming. Those who are opposed to such laws upon principle, would do well to look into Bernard Mande- vjlle's "Fable of the Bees," or "Private Vir, : , I ,.hlic Benefits." The Romans Lad numerous sumptuary laws Z A CON'S ESSAYS. 75 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 pop* ulation 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 num- ber that live lower and gather more : therefore the multiplying of nobility, and other degrees of qual- ity, 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, foras- much as the increase of any estate must be upon, the foreigner f (for whatsoever is somewhere got- ten is somewhere lost), there be but three things which one nation selletl unto another ; the com- modity, as nature yieldeth it ; the manufacture ; 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, " mater- iam superabit opus," % that the work and carriage and in the middle ages there were many enactments in this country against excess of expenditure upon wearing ap- parel and the pleasures of the table. * He means that they do not add to the capital of the country. t At the expense of foreign countries. { " The workmanship will surpass the material." Ovid, Metamorpht B, ii, j, 5, 76 BACON'S ESSAYS. is more worth than the material, and enricheth a state more : as is notably seen in the Low Country- men, who have the best mines* above ground in the world. Above all things, good policy is to be used, that the treasure and monies in a state be not gathered into few hands ; for, otherwise, a state may have \ great stock, and yet starve ; and money is like muck, f not good except to be spread. This is done chiefly by suppressing, or, at least, keeping a straight 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 nobles and common- alty. When one of these is discontent, the dan- ger 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 them- selves ; then is the danger, when the greater sort do but wait for the troubling of the waters among the meaner, that then they may declare them- selves. The poets feign that the rest of the gods would have bound Jupiter; which he hearing of, by the counsel of Pallas, sent for Briareus, with his hundred hands, to come in to his aid : an em- blem, 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 discon- tentments to evaporate (so it be without too great He alludes to the manufactures of the Low Cowrtrie*. f Like manure, BA CON 'S ESS A VS. 7 7 insolency or bravery), is a safe way : for he that turneth the humors back, and maketh the wound bleed inwards, endangereth mabln ulce/s and per- nicious imposthumations. 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 flow 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 carry- ing men from hopes to hopes, is one of best anti- dotes against the poison of discontentments : and it is a certain sign of a wise government and pro- ceeding, 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 out- let 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 * The myth of Pandora's box, which is here referred to, is related in the " Works and Days " of Hesiod. Epime- theus was the personification of " Afterthought," while his brother Prometheus represented " Forethought," or pru- dence. It was not Epimetheus that opened the box, but Pandora, " All-gift," whom, contrary to the advice of his brother, he had received at the hands of Mercury, and had made his wife. In their house stood a closed jar, which they were forbidden to open. Till her arrival this had been kept untouched : but her curiosity prompting her ^to open th lid, all the evils hitherto unknown to man flew out and spread over the earth, and she only shut it down in time to prevent the escape of Hope. 78 SA CON'S ESS A YS. no likely or fit head whereunto discontented per* sons may resort, and under whom they may join, is a known, but an excellent point of ciution. I understand a fit head to be one that hath great- ness and reputation, that hath confidence with the discontented party, and upon whom they turn their eyes, and that is thought discontented in his own particular: which kind of persons are either to be won and reconciled to the state, and that in a fast and true manner; or to be fronted with some other of the same party that may oppose them, and so divide the reputation. Generally, the dividing and breaking of all factions and com- binations that are adverse to the state, and setting them at distance, or, at least, distrust amongst themselves, is not one of the worst remedies ; fo * 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 " Syllanescivitliteras, non po- tuit dictare ; " * for it did utterly cut off th^t hope * " Sylla did not know his letters, and so he could not dictate." This saying is attributed by Suetonius to Julius Caesar. It is a play on the Latin verb "dictare," which means either " to dictate," or " to act the part of Dicta- tor," according to the context. As this saying was pre- sumed to be a reflection on Sylla's ignorance, and to imply that by reason thereof he was unable to maintain his power, it was concluded by the Roman people that Caesar, who was an elegant scholar, feeling himself subject to no such inability, did not intend speedily to yield the reins of power. BA CON'S ESS A VS. 79 which men had entertained, that he would at one time or other give over his dictatorship. Galb un- did himself by that speech,'* Legi a se militem, non crni ; " * for it put the soldiers out of hope of the of the donative. Probus, likewise, by that speech " Si vixero, non opus erit amplius Romano imperio militibus ; " f a speech of great despair for the soldiers, and many the like. Surely princes had need in tender matters and ticklish times to be- ware what they say, especially in these short speeches, which fly abroad like darts, and are thought to be shot out of their secret intentions ; for as for large discourses, they are flat things, and not so much noted. Lastly, let princes, against all events, not be without some great person, one or rather more, of military valor, near unto them, for the repress- ing 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 animo- rum fuit, ut pessimum facinus auderent pauci, plures vellent omnes, paterentur : " t 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. * " That soldiers were levied by him, not bought." t " If I live, there shall no longer be need of soldiers in the Roman empire." J " And such was the state of feeling, that a few dared to perpetrate the worst of crimes j more wished to do so, all submitted to it," 8o BACON'S ESSAYS. XVI. OF ATHEISM. I HAD rather believe all the fables in the leg end,* and the Talmud,! and the Alcoran, than that this universal 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 \ inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion ; for while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no further ; but when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate, and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity : nay, even that school which is most accused of atheism doth most demonstrate religion : that is, the school of Leucippus, and Democritus, \ and Epi- * He probably alludes to the legends or miraculous stories of the saints, such as walking with their heads off, preaching to the fishes, sailing over the sea on a cloak, etc., etc. t This is the book that contains the Jewish traditions, and the Rabbinical explanations of the law. It is replete with wonderful narratitves. \ This passage not improbably contains the germ of Pope's famous lines, " A little learning is a dangerous thing ; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring." A Philosopher of Abdera ; the first who taught the system of atoms, which was afterwards more fully de- veloped by Democritus and Epicurus. H He was a disciple of the last named philosopher, and held the same principles : he also denied the existence of the soul after death. He is considered to have been the parent of experimental Philospphy, and was the first t BACON'S ESS A YS. 8 1 curus, for it is a thousand times more credible that four mutable elements, and one immutable fifth essence,* duly and eternally placed, need no God, than that an army of infinite small por- tions, 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 ; " f 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 thoroughly believe it, or be persuaded of it ; for none deny there is a God, but those for whom it maketh J that there were no God. It appeareth in nothing more, that a":heism is rather in the lip than in the heart of re\an, than by this, that atheists will ever be talk- ing 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 recant ; whereas, if they did truly think that there were no such thing as God, why should they trouble themselves ? Epicurus is charged, that he did but dissemble for his credit's sake, when he affirmed there were blessed natures, but such as enjoyed themselves without having respect to the government of the world ; wherein teach, what is now confirmed by science, that the Milky Way is an accumulation of stars. * Spirit. t Psalm xiv. i, and liii. I. \ To whose (seeming) advantage it is ; the wish being father to the thought, 82 BA CON'S ESS A YS. 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 Decs vulgi negare prof an um ; sed vulgi opiniones Diis applicare profanum." * 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 In- dLns f of the west have names for their particular gods, 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 ex- tent 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 * " It is not profane to deny the existence of the Deities of the vulgar: but to apply to the Divinities the received notions of the vulgar is profane." t He alludes to the native tribes of the continent of America and the West Indies. | He was an Athenian-philosopher, who from the greatest superstition became an avowed atheist, He was proscribed by the Areopagus for speaking against the gods with rid- icule and contempt, and is supposed to have died at Corinth. A Greek philosopher, a disciple of Theodorus the atheist, to whose opinions he adhered. His life was said to have been profligate, and his death superstitious. || Lucian ridiculed the follies and pretensions of some of the ancient philosophers; but though the freedom of his style was such as to cause him to be censured for impiety, he hardly deserves the stigma of atheism here cast upon him by the learned author. BA COJV'S ESS A VS. 83 that all that impugn a received religion, or super- stition, are, by the adverse part, branded with the name of atheists ; but the great atheist 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 they be many ; for any one main division addeth zeal to both sides, but many divisions introduce atheism : another is, scandal of priests, when it is come to that which St. Bernard saith, " Non est jam dicere, ut populus, sic sacerdos ; quia nee sic populus, ut sacerdos : " * a third is, custom of profane scoff- ing in holy matters, which doth by little and little deface the reverence of religion ; and lastly, learned times, specially with peace and prosperity ; for troubles and adversities do more bow men's minds to religion. They that deny a God destroy a man's nobility ; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body ; and if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature. It destroys likewise magnanimity, and the raising of human nature ; for take an example of a dog, and mark what a generosity and cour- age he will put on when he finds himself main- tained by a man, who to him is instead of a God, " or melior natura ; " * which courage is mani- " It is not for us now to say, ' Like priest like people,' for the people are not even so bad as, the priest." St. Ber- nard, abbot of Clairvaux, preached the second Crusade against the Saracens, and was unsparing in his censures of the sins then prevalent among the Christian priesthood. His writings are voluminous, and by some he has been considered as the latest of the fathers of the Church. * " A superior nature," 84 BACON'S ESSAYS. festly such as that creature, without that confi- dence 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 de- priveth human nature of the means to exalt itself above human fraility. As it is in partic- ular 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, tamen nee numero Hispanos, nee robore Gallos, nee calliditate Pcenos, nee artibus Graecos, nee denique hoc ipso hujus gentis et terrae domestico nativoque sensu Italos ipsos et Latinos ; sed pietate, ac religione, atque hac una sapientia, quod Deorum immortalium numine omnia regi, gubernarique perspeximus, omnes gentes, nation- csque superavimus." * * " We may admire ourselves, conscript fathers, as much as we please ; still, neither by numbers did we vanquish the Spaniards, nor by bodily strength the Gauls, nor by cun- ning the Carthaginians, nor through the arts the Greeks, nor, in fine, by the inborn and native good sense of this our nation, and this our race and soil, the Italians and Latins themselves; but through our devotion and our re- ligious feeling, and this, the sole true wisdom, the having perceived that all things are regulated and governed by the providence of the immortal Gods, have we subdued all races and nations." SA COWS ESS A YS. 8$ XVII. OF SUPERSTITION. )T were better to have no opinion of God at all than such an opinion as is unworthy of him ; for ths one is unbelief, the other is contumely :* and ceitainly superstition is the reproach of the Deity. P.'utarch saith well to that purpose, " Surely," saith he, " I had rather a great deal men snould si.y there was no such man at all as Plutarch, tli.tui that they should say that there was one Plu- tarch that would eat his children f as soon as they were born ; " as the poet speak of Saturn : and, as the contumely is greater towards God, so the danger is greater towards men. Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation : all which may be grades to an outward moral virtue, though religion were not; but superstition dismounts all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy in the minds of men : therefore, atheism did never perturb states ; for it makes men wary of themselves, as looking no further, and we see the times inclined to atheism (as the time of Augustus Caesar) were civil times ; but superstition hath been the con- fusion of many states, and bringeth in a new " primum mobile," \ that ravisheth all the spheres of government. The master of superstition is * The justice of this position is perhaps somewhat doubtful. The superstitious man must have some scruples, while he who believes not in a God (if there is such a person) needs have nonet t Time was personified in Saturn, and by this story was meant its tendency to destroy whatever it has brought inta existence. \ The primary motive power. 86 BA CON 'S SSA YS. the people, and in all superstition wise men follow foois : and arguments are fitted to practice in a reversed order. It was gravely said by some of the prelates in the Council of Trent,* '-here the doc- trine of the schoolmen bare great sway, that the schoolmen were like astronomers, which did feign eccentrics f and epicycles, $ and such engines of orbs to save the phenomena, though they knew there was 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 super- stition are, pleasing and sensual rites and cere- monies ; excess of outward and pharisaical holi- ness; overgreat 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 novelties ; the taking an aim at divine matters by human, which cannot but breed mixture of imaginations ; and, lastly, barbarous times, especially joined with calamities and disasters. Superstition, w''hout a veil, is a deformed thing ; for as it ajdetli deformity to an ape to be so like a man, so the similitude of superstition to religion makes it the more deformed : and as wholesome meat cor- This Council commenced in 1545, and lasted eighteen, years. It was convened for the purpose of opposing the rising spirit of Protestantism, and of discussing and settling the disputed points of the Catholic faith. t Irregular or anomalous movements. | An epicycle is a smaller circle, whose centre is in th circumference of a greater one. To account for, B 4 C OWS ESS A VS. 8,9 ruptetn to little worms, so good terms ana oraers 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 ; there- fore care would be had that (as it fareth in ill purgings) the good be not taken away with the bad, which commonly is done when the people is the reformer. XVIII. OF TRAVEL. TRAVEL, in the younger sort, is a part of edu- cation ; in the elder, a part of experience. He that travelleth into a country, before he hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school, and not to travel. That young men travel under some tutor or grave servant, I allow well ; so that he be such a one that hath the language, and hath been in the country before ; whereby he may be able to tell them what things are worthy to be seen in the country where they go, what acquaintances they are to seek, what exer- cises or discipline the place yielded ; 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, there- fore, be brought in use. The things to be seen and observed are, the courts of princes, espe- cially when they give audience to ambassadors 88 BA CON 'S ESS A YS. the courts of justice, while they sit and hear causes ; and so of consistories * ecclesiastic ; the churches and monasteries, with the monu- ments which are therein extant ; the walls and fortifications of cities and towns ; and so the havens and harbors, antiquities and ruins, libra- ries, colleges, disputations, and lectures, where any are ; shipping and navies ; houses and gar- dens of state and pleasure, near great cities ; armories, arsenals, magazines, exchanges, burses, warehouses, exercises of horsemanship, fencing, training of soldiers, and the like : comedies, such whereunto the better sort of persons do resort treasuries of jewels and robes ; cabinets and rarities ; and, to conclude, whatsoever is memorable in the places where they go ; after all which the tutors or servants ought to make dil- igent inquiry. As fo/ triumphs, masks, feasfs, weddings, funerals, capital executions, and such shows, men need not 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, de- scribing the country where he travelleth, which will be a good key to his inquiry; let him keep also a diary ; let him not stay long in one city or town, more or less as the place deserveth, but * Synods, or council. A COATS ESS A YS. 89 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 from the company of his countrymen, and diet in such places where there is good com- pany of the nation where he travelleth : 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 acquaint- ance 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 travelling in one country he shall suck the experience of many : let him also see and visit eminent persons in all kinds, which are of great name abroad, that he may be able to tell how the life agreeth with the fame ; for quarrels, they are with care and discretion to be avoided ; they are commonly for mistresses, healths,* place, and words ; and let a man beware how he keepeth company with choleric and quarrelsome persons ; for they will engage him into their own quarrels. When a traveller returneth home, let him not leave the countries where he hath trav- elled altogether behind him, but maintain a corres- pondence by letters with those of his acquaint- ance which are of most worth ; and let his travel * At the present day called "attaches." t He probably means the refusing to join on the occasion of drinking healths when taking wine. 90 BA COWS ESS A YS. appear rather ii? 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. 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 in the case of kings, who being at the highest, want matter of desire,* which makes their minds more languishing ; and have many representations of perils and shadows, which makes their minds the less clear ; and this is one reason also of that effect which the Scripture speaketh of, " That the king's heart is inscrutable : " f for multitude of jealousies, and lack of some predominant desire, that should marshal and put in order all the rest, maketh any man's heart hard to find or sound. Hrnce 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 obtain- .ng 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 * Something to create excitement. f "The heart of kings is unsearchable. Prov. v. 3. SACOWS &SSAYS. 91 for playing at fence ; * Caracalla for driving chariots, and the like. This seemeth incredible unto those that know not the principle, that the mind of man is more cheered and refreshed by profiting in small things than by standing at a stayt i' 1 great. We see also that kings that have been fortunate conquerors their first years, it being not possible for them to go forward in- finitely, 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, Dtoclesian,$ and in our memory, Charles the Fifth, and others ; for he that is used to go forward, and findeth a stop, falleth out of his own 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 tem- per and distemper consist of contraries ; but it is one thing to mingle contraries, another to in- terchange them. The answer of Apollonius to "Vespasian is full of excellent instruction. Ves- pasian asked him, " What was Nero's over- throw ? " he answered, " Nero could touch and tune the harp well ; but in government some- times he used to wind the pins too high, some- * Commoclus fought naked in public as a gladiator, and prided himself of his skill as a swordsman. t Making a stop at, or dwelling too long upon. J After a prosperous reign of twenty-one years, Diocle- sian abdicated the throne, and retired to a private station. After having reigned thirty-five years, he abdicated the thrones of Spain and Germany, and passed the two last years or his life in retiring at St. Just, a convent in Estre- iBadura. 5 ^ BA co/s's SSA ys. times to let them down too low." And certain 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 lat- ter times in princes' affairs is rather fine deliveries, and shif tings of dangers and mischiefs, when they are near, than solid and grounded courses to keep them aloof : but this is but to try mas- teries with fortune ; and let men beware how they neglect and suffer matter of trouble to be pre- pared. For no man can forbid the spark, nor tell whence it may come. The difficulties in princes' business are many and great ; but the greatest difficulty is often in their own mind. For it is common with princes (saith Tacitus) to will contradictories : " Sunt plerumque regum voluntates vehementes, et inter se contrariae ; " * for it is the solecism of power to think to com- mand the end, and yet not to endure the mean. Kings have to deal with their neighbors, their wives, their children, their prelates or clergy, their nobles, their second nobles or gentlemen, their merchants, their commons, and their men of war ; and from all these arise dangers, if care and circumspection be not used. First, for their 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 em- bracing of trade, by approaches, or the like), as * " The desires of monarchs are generally impetuous and conflicting among themselves." BACON'S ESSAYS. 93 they become more able to annoy them than they were ; and this is generally the work of standing counsels to foresee and to hinder it. During that triumvirate of kings, King Henry the Eighth of England, Francis the First, King of France,* and Charles the Fifth, Emperor, there was such a watch kept that none of the three could win a palm of ground, but the other two would straight- ways balance it, either by confederation, or, if need were, by a war ; and would not in anywise take up peace at interest ; and the like was done by that league (which Guicciardini f saith was the security of Italy), made between Ferdinando, King of Naples, Lorenzius Medicis, and Lu- dovicus Sforza, potentates, the one of Florence, the other of Milan. Neither is the opinion of some of the schoolmen to be received, that a war cannot justly be made, but upon a precedent in- jury 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 J for the poisoning of her husband ; Roxolana, Solyman's wife was * He was especially the rival of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and was one of the most distinguished sovereigns that ever ruled over France. t An eminent historian of Florence. His great work, which is here alluded to, is " The History of Italy during his own Time," which is considered one of the most valu- able productions of that age. | Spoken badly of. Livia was said to have hastened the death of Augustus, to prepare the accession of her son Tiberius to the throne. Solyman the Magnificent was one of the most celebrat- ed of the Ottoman Monarchs. He took the Isle of 94 BACON'S ESSAYS. the destruction of that renowned prince, Sultan Mustapha, and otherwise troubled his house and succession ; Edward the Second of England's Queen * had the principal hand in the disposing and murder of her husband. This kind of danger is then to be feared chiefly when the wives have plots for the rising of their own children, or else that they be advoutresses.f For their children, the tragedies likewise of dangers from them have been many ; and gener- ally the entering of fathers into suspicion of their children hath been ever unfortunate. The de- struction of Mustapha's (that we named before) was so fatal to Solyman's line, as the succession of the Turks from Solyman's until this day is sus- pected to be untrue, and of strange blood ; for that Selymus the Second was thought to be sup- posititious.! The destruction of Crispus, a young prince of rare towardness, by Constantinus the Great, his father, was in like manner fatal to his house; for both Constantinus and Constance, his sons, died violent deaths ; and Constan- tinus, his other son, did little better, who died indeed of sickness, but after that Julianus Rhodes from the Knights of St. John. He also subdued Moldavia, Wallachia, and the greatest part of Hungary, and took from the Persians, Georgia and Bagdad. He died A.D. 11566. His wife Roxolana (who was originally a slave called Rosa or Hazathya), with the Pasha Rustan, conspired against the life of his son Mustapha, and by their instigation this distinguished prince was strangkd in hia father's presence. * The infamous Isabella of Anjou. ; Adultresses. | He, however, distinguished himself by taking Cypru* from Venetians in the year 1571. BACOWS xtSAYS. 95 had taken arms against him. The destruction of Demetrius, * son to Philip the Second of Macedon, turned upon the father who died of repentance, and many like examples there are ; but few or none where the fathers had good by such distrust, except it were where the sons were up in open arms against them ; as was Selymus the First against Bajazet, and the three sons of Henry the Second, King of England. For their prelates, when they are proud and great, there is also danger from them ; as it was in the times of Anselmus | and Thomas Becket, Archbishops of Canterbury, who with their cro- siers did almost try it with the King's sword ; and yet they had to deal with stout and haughty kings : William Rufus, Henry the First, and Henry the Second. The danger is not from that state, but where it hath a dependence of foreign authority ; or where the churchmen come in and are elected, not by the collation of the king or particular patrons, but by the people. For their nobles, to keep them at a distance is not amiss ; but to depress them may make a king more absolute, but less safe, and less able to per- form anything he desires. I have noted it in my History of King Henry the Seventh of England, * He was falsely accused by his brother Perseus of at- tempting to dethrone his father, on which he was put to death by the order of Philip, B. c. 180. t Anselm was archbishop of Canterbury in the time of William Rufus and Henry the First. Though his pri..*ie life was pious and exemplary, through his rigid assen. is of the rights of the clergy, he was continually embroutd with his sovereign. Thomas a Becket pursued a similar course, but With, still greater violence. 9 C BACOWS ESSAY. who depressed his nobility, whereupon it cametu pass that his times were full of difficulties and troubles ; for the nobility, though they continue loyal unto him, yet did they not co-operate 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 author- ity 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 nour- ish little. Taxes and imposts upon them do seldom good to the king's revenue, for that which he wins t in the hundred, \ he ioseth in the shire ; the particular rates being increased, but the total bulk of trading rather decreased. For their commons, there is little danger from them, except it be where they have great and potent heads, or where you meddle with the point of religion, or their customs or means of life. For the men of war, it is a dangerous state * The great vessel that conveys the blood to the liver, after it has been enriched by the adoption of nutriment from the intestines. t This is an Depression similar to our proverb, " Peny- wise and pound-foolish." \ A subdivision of the sh j Soldiers, BACOWS ESSAYS. 97 where they live and remain in a body, and are used to donatives whereof we see examples in the Janizaries * and Prastorian bands of Rome ; but training of men, and arming them in several places, and under several commanders, and with- out donatives, are things of defence, and no danger. Princes are like to heavenly bodies, which cause good or evil times ; and which have much veneration, but no st. All precepts concerning kings are in effect comprehended in those two remembrances, "Memento quod es homo;t" and " Memento quod es Deus," J or " vice Dei." XX. OF COUNSEL. THE greatest trust between man and man Is the trust of giving counsel ; for in other confi- dences men commit the parts of life, their lands, their goods, their children, their credit, some particular affair; but to such as they make their counsellors they commit the whole: by how much the more they are obliged to all faith and integ- rity. The wisest princes need not think it any diminution to their greatness or derogation to their sufficiency to rely upon counsel. God him- self is not without, but hath made it one of the * The Janizaries were the body-guards of the Turkish sultans, and enacted the same disgraceful part in making ind unmaking monarchs as the mercenary Praetorian guards >f the Roman empire. t " Remember that thou art a man." \ " Remember that thou art a God." | " The representative of God." 7 98 BACON'S ESS A YS. great names of his blessed Son, " The Coun- sellor." * Solomon hath pronounced that, " In counsel is stability." t Things will have their first or second agitation : if they be not tossed upon the arguments of counsel, they will be tossed upon waves of fortune; and be full of incon- stancy, 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. The ancient times do set forth in figure both the incorporation and inseparable conjunction of counsel with kings, and the wise and politic use of counsel by kings : the one in that they say Jupiter did marry Metis, which signifieth counsel ; whereby they intend that sovereignty is married to counsel ; the other, in that which followeth, which was thus : th y say, after Jupiter was mar- ried to Metis, she conceived by him and was with child ; but Jupiter suffered her not to stay till she brought forth, but eat her up : whereby he became himself, with child ; and was delivered of Pallas * Isaiah ix. 6: "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." t Prov. xx. 18 : "Every purpose is established by coun- sel : and with good advice make war." | The wicked Rehoboam, from whom the ten tribes of Israel revolted and elected Jeroboam their king. See L Kings xii. BACON'S ESSAYS. 99 armed, out of his head. Which monstrous fable containeth a secret of empire, how kings are to make use of their counsel of state : that first they ought to refer matters unto them, which is the first begetting or impregnation ; but when they are elaborate, molded and shaped in the womb of their council, and grow ripe and ready to be brought forth, that then they suffer not their council to go through with the resolution and direction, as if it depended on them ; but take the matter back into their own hands, and make it appear to the world that the decrees and final directions (which, because they come forth with prudence and power, are resembled to Pallas armed), proceeded from themselves ; and not only from their authority, but (the more to add reputation to themselves) from their head and device. Let us now speak of the inconveniencies of counsel, and of the remedies. The inconveniencies that have been noted in calling and using coun- sel, 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 unfaith- fully counselled, and more for the good of them that counsel than of him that is counselled ; for which inconveniencies, the doctrine of Italy, and practice of France, in some kings' times, hath introduced cabinet councils ; a remedy worse than the disease. * * The political world has not been convinced of the truth of this doctrine of Lord Bacon, as cabinet councils are now l^eld probably by every sovereign in Europj, ,-eo SA COWS SSA YS. As to secrecy, princes are not bound to com- municate all matters with all counsellors, but may xtract 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 nol from themselves : and, as for cabinet councils, il may be their motto, " Plenus rimarum sum : " * one futile person, that maketh it his glory to tel^ will do more hurt than many, that know it thei* 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 con- stantly in one spirit of direction without distrac- tion : but then it must be a prudent king, such ag is able to grind with a hand-mill ; f and those inward counsellors had need also be wise men, and especially true and trusty to the king's ends, as it was with King Henry the Seventh of Eng- land, who, in his greatest business imparted him- self to none, except it were to Morton $ and Fox. * " I am full of outlets." t That is, without a complicated machinery of go-em- ment. J Master of the Rolls and Privy Councillor under enrj VI., to whose cause he faithfully adhered. Edward I V. promoted him to the see of Ely, and made him Lord Chancellor. He was elevated to the see of Canterbury bj Henry VII., and in 1493 received the Cardinal's hat. Privy Councillor and keeper of the Privy Seal to Henry VII.; and after enjoying several bishoprics in suc- cession, translated to the see of Winchester. He was an able statesman, and highly valued by Henry VII. On th accession f Henry VIII., hu p'll::<-u influence was BA CON'S ESSA YS. ioi 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 council ; neither was there ever prince bereaved of his dependencies by his council, except where there hath been either an over- greatness in one counsellor, or an overstrict com- bination in divers, which are things soon found and holpen.f For the last inconvenience, that men will counsel with an eye to themselves ; certainly, " non inveniet fidem super terram," t is meant of the nature of times, and not of all particular per- sons. There be that are in nature faithful and sincere, and plain and direct, not crafty and involved : let princes, above all, draw to them- selves such natures. Besides, counsellors are not commonly so united, but that one counsellor keepeth sentinel over another ; so that if any do counsel out of faction or private ends, it com- monly comes to the King's ear: but the best remedy is, if princes know their counsellors, as well as their counsellors know them : counteracted by Wolsey; on which he retired to his diocese, and devoted the rest of his life to acts of piety and munificence. * Before mentioned, relative to Jupiter and Metis. t Remedied. } " He shall not find faith upon the earth." Lord Bacon brobably alludes to the words of our Saviour, St. Luke xviii. 8 : " When the Son of man cometh, shall he fine faith upon the earth ? " He means to say that this remark was only applicable to a particular time, namely, the coming of Christ. The period of the destruction of Jerusalem was probably re- ferred to. 102 BA CON 'S ESS A VS. "Principis est virtus maxima nosse suos."* And on the other side, counsellors should nr,t be too speculative into their sovereign's perso:-. The true composition of a counsellor is, rather to be skilful in their master's business than in hi , nature ; | for then he is like to advise him, and aot 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 reserved. In private, men are more bold in their own humors ; and in consort, men are more obnoxious t 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 concern- ing 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 r.n idea or mathematical descrip- tion, what the kind and character of the person * " 'Tis the especial virtue of a prince to know his own men." t In his disposition, or inclination. } Liable to opposition from. " According to classes, or, as we vulgarly say, " in the lump." Lord Bacon means that princes are not, as a mat- ter of course, to take counsellors merely on the presump- tion of talent, from their rank and station ; but that, on the contrary, they are to select such as are tried men, and with regard; 19 wW there can be no mistake. SA C OJV'S ESS A KS 1 . 1 03 should be ; for the greatest errors are committed, and the most judgment is shown, in the choice of individuals. It was truly said, " Optimi con- siliarii mortui : " * " books will speak plain when counsellors blanch ; " t therefore it is good to be conversant in them, specially the books of such as themselves have been actors upon the stage. The councils at this day in most places are but familiar meetings, where matters are rather talked on than debated ; and they run too swift to the order or act of council. It were better that in causes of weight the matter were pro- pounded one day and not spoken to till the next day ; " In nocte consilium : "t so was it done in the commission of union between England and Scotland, which was a grave and orderly assem- bly. I commend set days for petitions ; for both it gives the suitors more certainty for their attendance, and it frees the meetings for matters of estate, that they may " hoc agere." || In choice of committees for ripening business for the council, it is better to choose indifferent persons, than to make an indifferency by putting in those that are strong on both sides. I commend, also, standing commissions ; as for trade, for treasure, for war, for suits, for some provinces ; for where there be divers particular councils, and but one council of estate (as it is in Spain), they are, in * "The best counsellors are the dead." t "Are afraid to open their mouths." ,$ " Night-time for counsel." On the accession of James the Sixth of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603. (I A phrase much in use with the Romans, signifying, " to attend to the business in hand," 1 04 BA COAT'S ESS A Yl. 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 tribum- tious * 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 counsellors' opinions that sit lower. A king, when he presides in council, let him beware how he opens his own inclination too much in that which he propoundeth ; for lse counsellors will but take the wind of him, and instead of giving free counsel, will sing him a. song of " placebo." f XXL OF DELAYS. FORTUNE is like the market, where many times, if you can stay a little, the price will fall ; and again, it is sometimes like Sibylla's offer,! which at first offereth the commodity at full, then con- sumeth part and part, and still holdeth up the price ; for occasion (as it is in the common verse) * A tribunitial or declamatory manner, t " I'll follow the bent of your humor." } See the history of Rome under the reign of Tarquinius Superbus. BA COWS ESS A VS. log " turneth a bald nobble * 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 is better to meet some dangers half-way, though they come nothing near, than to keep too long a watch upon approaches ; for if a man watch too long, it is odds that 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 shown on their enemies' back), and so to shoot off before the time ; or to teach dangers to come on by over early buckling to-wards them, is another extreme. The ripeness ov unripeness of the occasion (as we said) must be very well weighed ; and generally it is good to commit the beginnings of all great actions to .Avgus 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. * Bald head. He alludes to the common saying " take time by th* forelock," 1 06 BA CON'S ESS A VS. XXIL 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 and another thing to understand matters ; for many are perfect in men's humors that are not capable of the real part of business, which is the consti- tution of one that hath studied men more than books. Such men are fitter for practice than for counsel, and they are good but in their own alley: turn them to new men, and they have lost their aim ; so as the old rule, to know a fool from a wise man " Mitte ambos nudos ad ignotos, et vldebis," t doth scarce hold for them ; and, because these cunning men are like haber- dashers t of small wares, it is not amiss to set forth their shop. * Packing the cards is an admirable illustration of the author's meaning. It is a cheating exploit, by which knaves, who perhaps are inferior players, insure to them- selves the certainty of good hands. f " Send them both naked among strangers, and then you wi.l see." | This word is used here in its primitive sense of " retail dealers," It is said to have been derived from a castom of the Flemings, who first settled in this country in the fourteenth century, stopping the passengers as they passed their shops, and saying to them, " Haber da, herr?" " Will you take this, sir." The word js now generally used as synonymous with Hnep-draper, SA CON'S ESS A YS. 1 07 It is a point of cunning to wait upon * him with whom you speak with your eye, as the Jesuits gave it in precept ; for there be many wise men that have secret hearts and transparent coun- tenances : yet this would be done with a demure debasing of your eye sometimes, as the Jesuits also do use. Another is, when you have anything to obtain of present dispatch, you entertain and amuse the party with whom you deal with some other dis- course, that he be not too much awake to make objections. I knew a counsellor and secretary that never came to Queen Elizabeth of England with bills to sign, but would always first put her into some discourse of estate f that she might 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 advisedly 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 coun- * To watch. t State. J Discussing matters. xoS SA COWS SSA W. tenance than you are wont ; to the end, to give occasion for the party to ask what the matter is of the change, as Nehemiah* did, "And I had not before that time been sad before the king." In things that are tender and unpleasing, it is good to break the ice by some whose words are cf 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 mar- riage f 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,t he would pass over that that he intended most : and go forth and come back again, and speak of it as of a thing that he had almost forgot. * He refers to the occasion when Nehemiah, on pre- senting the wine, as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, ap- peared sorrowful, and on being asked the reason of it, entreated the king to allow Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Nehemiah ii. i. t This can hardly be called a marriage, as at the time of the intrigue Messalina was the wife of Claudius : but she forced Caius Silius, of whom she was deeply enamored, to divorce his own wife, that she herself might enjoy his society. The intrigue was disclosed to Claudius by Nar- cissus, who was his freedman, and the pander te his m- farnous vices, on which Silius was put to death. $ To sp*k in his turn. BA CON'S ESS A YS. i .n- not fiddle : as, on the other side, there will be found a great many that can fiddle very cun- ningly, but yet are so far from being able to make a small state great, as their gift lieth the other way ; to bring a great and flourishing estate to ruin and decay. And certainly, those degenerate arts and shifts whereby many counsellors and governors gain both favor with their masters imd estimation with the vulgar, deserve no better name than fiddling ; being things rather pleasing for the time, and graceful to themselves only, than tending to the weal and advancement of the state which they serve. There are also (no doubt) counsellors and governors 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 * " Equal to busm0m." BA CON'S ESS A YS. 133 estate in power, means, and fortune : but be the workmen what they may be, let us speak of the work ; that is, the true greatness, of kingdoms and estates, and the means thereof. An argu- ment fit for great and mighty princes to have in their hand ; to the end that neither by over-meas- uring Uieir forces, they lose themselves in vain enterprises : nor, on the other side, by under- valuing them, they descend to fearful and pusil- lanimous counsels. The greatness of an estate, in bulk and ter- ritory, doth fall under measure ; and the great- ness of finances and revenues doth fall under computation. The population may appear by musters ; and the number and greatness of cities and towns by cards and maps ; but yet there is not anything amongst civil affairs more subject to error than the right valuation and true judg- ment 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 mus- tard-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 mon- archies. * He alludes to the following passage, St. Matthew xiii. 31 : " Another parable put he forth unto them, aying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field : which indeed is th lea*t of all seeds ; but when it is grown, it is the greatest anvong herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of tk$ air come and lodge in the branchss thereof." 134 ^ CO^'S ESS A VS. Walled towns, stored arsenals and armories, goodly races of horse, chariots of war, elephants, ordnance, artillery, and the like ; all this is but a sheep in a lion's skin, except the breed and disposition of the people be stout and warlike. Nay, number itself in armies importeth not much, where the people is 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 will 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 towards him, he made himself merry with it, and said, " Yonder men are too many for an ambassage, and too few for a fight ; " but before the sun set, he found them enow to give him the chase with infinite slaughter. Many are the examples of the great odds between number and courage : so that a man may truly make a 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 * He was vanquished by Lucullus, and finally submitted to Pompey. BA COWS SSA ys. 13 J that hath better iron than you, he will be master of all this gold." Therefore, let any prince, o/ state, think soberly of his forces, except hi: militia of natives be of good and valiant soldiers; and let princes, on the other side, that have sub jects of martial disposition, know their own strength, unless they be otherwise wanting unt? 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 bur- dens ; neither will it be, that a people overlaid with taxes should ever become valiant and mar- tial. 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 f 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 * He alludes to the prophetic words of Jacob on his death-bed, Gen. xlix. 9, 14, 15: "Judah is a lion's whelp he stooped down, he crouched as a lion, and as an old lion Issachar is a strong ass crouching down be- tween two burdens : And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant : and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute." t Sums of money voluntarily contributed by the people for the use of the sovereign. 1 36 A COA'*S may conclude, that no people overcharged with tribute is fit for empire. 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 gentleman'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 gniat population and little strength. This which I speak of hath been nowhere better seen than by comparing of England and France ; whereof Eng- land, though far less in territory and population, hath been (nevertheless) an overmatch ; in regard the middle people of England make good soldiers, which the peasants of France do not ; and here- in the device of King Henry the Seventh (where- of 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 cci- renient plenty, and no servile condition ; and to keep the plough in the hands of the owners, and not mere hirelings; and thus indeed you shill attain to Virgil's character, which he gives to ancient Italy : Young trow. BA CON'S ESS A YS. 137 "Terra potens armis atque ubere glebae."* Neither is that state (which, for anything I know, is almost peculiar to England, and hardly to be found anywhere 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, do much con- duce unto martial greatness ; whereas, contrari. wise, 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 f 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 stronger subjects that they govern ; therefore all states that are liberal of naturalization towards strangers are fit for empire ; for to think that a handful of people can, with the greatest courage * " A land strong in arms and in the richness of the soil." t He alludes to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which it mentioned Daniel iv. 10: "I saw, and, behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of allths earth: the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all ; the beasts of the fid'tl had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt iu Jh boughs thereof, aad all flesh was fed of it." 138 BA COWS ESS A YS. and policy in the world, embrace too large ex- tent 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 becoming too great for their stem, they became a windfall upon the sudden. Never any state was, in thb 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 natural- ization (which they called "jus civitatis "),* and to grant it in the highest degree, that is, not only "jus commercii,t jus connubii,t jus hasredit- atis;" but also, "jus suffragii,"|| and "jua honorum ; "IT 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 to- gether, 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 marvelled some- times at Spain, how they clasp and contain so large dominions with so few natural Spaniards j ** * " Right of citizenship." t " Right of trading." } " Right of intermarriage." " Right of inheritance." It " Right of suffrage." If " Right of honors." ** Long since the time of T.ofd Bacon, as soon as these CA COAL'S ESS A KS". 139 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 at this in- stant 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 manufacturers (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 inust they be too much broken of it, if they shall be preserved in vigor ; therefore it was great advantage in the ancient states of Sparta, Athens, Rome, and others, that they had the use cf slaves, which commonly did rid those manu- facturers; but that is abolished, in greatest part by the Christian law. That which cometh near- est to it is, to leave those arts chiefly to strangers (which, for that purpose, are the more easily to be received), and to contain the principal bulk of the vulgar natives within those three kinds, tillers of the ground, free servants, and handicraftsmen colonies had arrived at a certain state of maturity, they at different periods revolted from the mother country. * The laws and ordinances promulgated by the sover- eigns of Spain were so called. The term was 4-erived from the Byzantine empire. X 40 DA COJV'S SSA KST. of Btrong and manly arts; as smiths, masons, carpenters, etc., not reckoning professed sol- diers, But, above all, for empire and greatness, it im- porteth 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 nabilitation 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 t 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 cad; the Persians and Macedonians had it for a flash ; t 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 intendeth, that it needeth not to be stood upon : it is enough to point at it ; that no nation which doth not directly profess arms, may look to have greatness fall into their mouths ; and, on the other side, it is a most certain oracle of time, that those states that continue long in that profession (as the Romans and Turks prin- cipally have done) do wonders ; and those that have professed arms but for an age have, Qualification*. t Attend to. I For A hort or traotltorjr pwfeC MA CON'S JSSSA YS. 141 , commonly attained that greatness in that age which maintained them long after, when their profession and exercise of arms had grown to decay. Incident to this point is, for a state to have those laws or customs which may reach forth unto them just occasions (as may be pretended) of war ; for there is that justice imprinted in thy 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 pro. pagation of his law or sect, a quarrel that he may always command. The Romans, though they es- teemed the extending 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, mer- chants, or politic ministers ; and that they sit not too long upon a provocation : secondly, let them be pressed * 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 invasion 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 of tacit conformity of estate, I do not * B in a hurry. 1 42 BA COAT'S ESS A VS. see how they may be well justified : as when the Romans made a war for the liberty of Graecia : or, when the Lacedaemonians and Athenians made wars to set up or pull down democracies and oligarchies : or when wars were made by foreigners, under the pretence of justice or protection, to deliver the subjects of others from tyranny and oppression ; and the like. Let it suffice, that no estate expect to be great, that is not awake upon any just occasion of arming. No body can be healthful without exercise, neither natural body nor politic ; and, certainly, to a kingdom or estate, a just and honorable 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, o~ at least, the reputation amongst all neighboi states, as may well be seen in Spain,* which hath had, in one part or other, a veteran army almost continually, now by the space of six-score years. To be master of the sea is an abridgment of a monarchy. Cicero, writing to Atticus, of Pom- pey's preparation against Caesar, saith, " Con- silium Pompeii plane Themistocleum est ; putat * It was its immense armaments that in a great measure consumed the vitals of Spain. BA CON 'S ESS A YS. 1 43 enim, qui mari potitur, eum rerum potirt ; " * and without doubt, Pornpey had tired out Caesar, if upon vain confidence he had net left that way. We see the great effects of battles by sea : the battle of Actium decided the empire of the world ; the battle of Lepanto arrested the greatness cf 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 doweries 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 re- flected upon men from the wars in ancient time. There be now, for martial encouragement, some degrees and orders of chivalry, which, neverthe- less, are conferred promiscuously upon soldiers and no soldiers ; and some remembrance per- haps upon the escutcheon, and some hospitals for maimed soldiers, and such like things ; * " Pompey's plan is clearly that of Themistocles ; for he believes that who*?* 7 ^ i* master of the sea will obtain the supreme power." j 44 IS AC ON* S ESS A YS. but in ancient times, the trophies erected upot the place of the victory ; the funeral lauda- tives * and monuments for those that died in the wars ; the crowns and garlands personal ; the style of emperor with the great kings of the world after borrowed ; the triumphs of the generals upon their return ; the great donatives and lar- gesses upon the disbanding of the armies, were things able to inflame all men's courages ; but above all, that of the triumph amongst the Romans was not pageants, or gaudery, but one of the wisest and noblest institutions that ever was : for it contained three things ; honor to the general, riches to the treasury out of the spoils, and donatives to the army : but that honor, per- haps, were not fit for monarchies, except it be in the person of the monarch himself, or his sons ; as it came to pass in the times of the Roman emperors, who did impropriate the actual tri- umphs to themselves and their sons, for suck 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 stat- ure," f in this little model of a man's body ; but in the great frame of kingdoms and common- wealths, it is in the power of princes, or estates, to add amplitude and greatness to their king- doms for by introducing such ordinances, con- stitutions, and customs, as we have now touched, they may sow greatness to their posterity and * Encomiums. t St. M&tttair vi. 27 ; St. Luk Jtii. *f. SA CON'S ESS A YS. 1 4$ accession : but these things are commonly not observed, but left to take their chance. XXX. OF REGIMEN 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 con- clusion to say, " This agreeth not well with me, therefore I will not continue it ; " than this, " I find no offence of this, therefore I may use it : " for strength of nature in youth passeth over many excesses which are owing* a man till his age. Discern of the coming on of years, and think not to do the same things still ; for age will not be defied. Beware of sudden change in any great point of diet, and, if necessity force 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 discontinue it by little and little ; but so, as if thou dost find any inconven- ience by the change, thou come back to it again : for it is hard to distinguish that which is gener- ally held good and wholesome from that which is good particularly,t 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 studies of the mind, avoid envy, anxious * The effects of which musfr be felt iu pld age, ; Of bnt iu /our individual ca, If 1 46 BA COWS ESS A YS. 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 worl: no extraordinary effect when sickness cometh. I command rather some diet, for certain seasons, than frequent use of physic, except it be grown into a custom ; for those diets alter the body more, and trouble it less. Despise no new acci- dent * in your body, but ask opinion f of it. In sickness, respect health principally ; and in health, ar*,ion : for those that put their bodies to endure in health, may, in most sicknesses which are not very sharp, be cured only with diet and tendering. Celsus could never have spoken it as a physician, had he not been a wise man withal, when he giveth it for one of the great precepts of health and lasting, that a man do vary and inter- change contraries, but with an inclination to the more benign extreme : use fasting and full eat- ing, 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 ny Take medical advice. Incline rather to fully satisfying your hunger. BA CON'S ESS A YS. 147 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 regu- lar in proceeding according to art not for the dis- ease, 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 business, whereby business cannot go on currently and constantly : they dis- pose kings to tyranny, husbands to jealousy, wise men to irresolution and melancholy : they are de- fects, not in the heart, but in the brain ; for they take place in the stoutest natures, as in the exam- ple of Henry VII. of England ; there was not a more suspicious man nor a more stout : and in such a composition they do small hurt; for com- monly they are not admitted, but with examina- tion, 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 sus- picion by procuring to know more, and not to keep their suspicions in smother. What would men have ? Do they think those they employ 148 BACON'S ESSAYS. and deal with are saints ? Do they not think they will have their own ends, and be truer to them- selves than to them ? Therefore there is no better way to moderate suspicions, than to ac- count 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 suspicions, is frankly to communicate them with the party that he sus- pects ; 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 licentiafede ; " f as if suspicion did give a pass- port to faith ; but it ought rather to kindle it to discharge itself. XXXII. OF DISCOURSE. SOME in their discourse desire rather com- mendation of wit, in being able to hold all argu- ments, t than of judgment, in discerning what is * To hope the best, but be fully prepared for the worst, t Suspicion is the passport to faith. \ A censure of this nature has been applied by some t* Dr- Johnson, and possibly with some rea*oa. B A CON^S SSA YS. 1 49 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, where- in they are good, and want variety ; which kind of poverty is for the most part tedious, and, when it is once perceived, ridiculous. The honorablest p?rt 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 inter' mingle speech of the present occasion with arguments, tales with reasons, asking of ques* tions with telling of opinions, and jest with ear- nest ; 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 impor- tance, and any case that deserveth pity ; yet there be some that think their wits have been asleep, except they dart out somewhat that is piquant, and to the Quick ; that is a vein which would be bridled ; t " Parce, puer, stimulis et fortuis utere loris." 1 And generally, men ought to find the difference between saltness and bitterness. Certainly hs that hath a satirical vein, as he maketh others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of oi.hers' memory. He that questioneth much, * To start the subject, t Requires to be bridled. t He quotes here from Ovid : " Boy, spare the whip, and tightly grasp the reins." 150 BA CON'S ESS A YS. shall learn much, and content much ; but especi- ally 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 turn to speak : nay if there be any that would reign and take up all the time, let him find means to take them off, and to bring others on, as musicians used 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 at 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 him- self," and there is but one case wherein a man may commend himself with good grace and that is in commending virtue in another, especially if it be such a virtue whereunto himself pretendeth. Speech of touch J towards others should be spar- ingly used ; for discourse ought to be as a field, without coming home to any man. I knew two noblemen of the west part of England, whereof the one was given to scoff, but kept ever royal cheer in his house : the one would ask of those who had been at the other's table, " Tell truly, * One who tests or examines. t The Galliard was a light active dance much in fashion in the time of Queen Elizabeth. , { Hits at, or remarks intended to be applied tojjarticulai individual* BA COWS ESS A YS. 151 was there never a flout * or dry blow f given ? To which the guest would answer, " Such and such a thing passed." The lord would say, " I thought he would mar a good dinner." Discre- tion 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 weak- ness. As we see in beasts that those that are weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in the turn ; as it is betwixt 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 heroical works. When the world was young, it begat more children ; but now it is old, 't begets fewer, for I may justly account new planta- tions to be the children of former kingdoms. I like a plantation in a pure soil ; that is, where people are not displanted, to the end to plant in others ; for else it is rather an extirpation than * A slight or insult. t A sarcastic remark. \ The old terms for colonies. He perhaps alludes covertly to the conduct of the Spaniards extirpating aboriginal inhabitants of the West India Islands, against which the venerable Las Casas so eloquently but vainly protested. 152 BACON'S ESSAYS. a plantation. Planting of countries is like plant* ing of woods ; for you must make account to loe almost twenty years' profit, and expect your rec- ompense in the end : for the principal thing that hath been the destruction of most plantations, has been the base and hasty drawing of profit in the first years. It is true, speedy profit is not to be neglected, as far as may stand with the good of the plantation, but no farther. It is a shameful and unblessed thing* to take the scum of people and wicked condemned men, to be the people with whom you plant ; and not only so, but it spoileth the plantation ; for they will ever live like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy, and do mischief, and spend victuals, and be quickly weary, and then certify over to their coun- try to the discredit of the plantation. The people wherewith you plant ought to be gardenns, ploiaghmen, laborers, smiths, carpenters, joineis, fishermen, fowlers, with some few apoth- ecaries, surgeons, cooks and bakers. In a country of plantation first look about what kind of victual the country yields of itself to hand : as chestnuts, walnuts, pine-apples, olives, dates, plums, cherries, wild honey, and the like ; and make use of them. Then consider what victual, or esculent things there are, whioh grow speedily, and within the year ; as parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions, radish, artichokes of Jerusalem, maize and the like : for wheat, barley, * Of course this censure would not apply to what is primarily and essentially a convict colony : the object of which i* to drain the mother country of its impure super- fluities. A COWS SSA VS. i $$ 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 begin- ning, 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, hensv turkeys, geese, house-doves, and the like. The- victual in plantation ought to be expended al- most as in a besieged town ; that is with certain- allowance : and let the main part of the ground employed to gardens or corn, be to a commo stock ; and to be laid in, and stored up, and their delivered out in proportion ; besides some spots- of ground that any particular person will manure- for his own private use. Consider, likewise, what commodities the soil where the plantation is doth* naturally yield, that they may some way help ta defray the charge of the plantation ; so it be nof; as was said, to the untimely prejudice of the main business, as it hath fared with tobacco fn Virginia.* Wood commonly aboundeth but toa much ; and therefore timber is fit to be one. If there be iron ore, and streams whereupon to set the mills, iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth. Making of bay-salt, if the climate be proper for it, would be put in experience growing silk, likewise, if any be, is a likely corre- * Times have much changed since this was pennecf tobacco is now the staple commodity, and the source oi " The main business " of Virginia. 154 BACON'S ESS A VS. tnodity : pitch and tai, 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 coui: jilors and under- takers in the country that planteth, but upon a temperate number : and let those be rather noble- men and gentlemen, than merchants ; for they look ever to the present gain. Let there be freedoms from custom, till the plantation be of strength : and not only freedom from custom, but freedom to carry their commodities where they 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 sup- plies proportionably ; but so as the number may jve 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 marish f and unwholesome grounds : therefore though you be- * To lalx>r hard. t Marshy ; from the French marais, a marsh* BACON'S ESS A YS. 155 gin there, to avoid carriage and other like dis- commodities, yet built 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 never- theless ; and do not win their favor by helping them to invade their enemies, but for their de- fence it is not amiss ; and send oft of them over to the country that plants, that they may see a better condition than their own, and commend it when they return. When the plantation grows to strength, then it is time to plant with women as well as with men ; that the plantation may spread into generations, and not be ever pieced from without. It is the sinfullest thing in the world to forsake or destitute a plantation once in forwardness ; for, besides the dishonor, it is the guiltiness of blood of many commiserable persons. XXXIV. RICHES. I CANNOT call riches better than the baggage of virtue : the Roman word is better, " impedi- menta ; " for as the baggage is to an army, so is riches to virtue ; it cannot be spared nor left be- hind, 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, ex- * Gewjraws, or spaneles. 156 BA COWS ESSA YS. cept it be in the distribution ; the rest is but con- ceit ; 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 osten- tation are undertaken, because there might seem to be some use of great riches ? But then you will say, they may be of use to buy men out of dangers or troubles ; as Solomon saith, " Riches are as a stronghold in the imagination of the rich man ; " f 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 contentedly ; yet have no abstract nor friarly contempt of them ; but distinguished, as Cicero saith well of Rabirius Posthumus, " In studio rei amplificandae appare- bat, non avaritiae praedam, sed instrumentum bonitati quaeri."t Hearken also to Solomon, and * He alludes to Ecclesiastes v. n, the words of which are somewhat varied in our version : " When goods in- crease, they are increased that eat them ; and what good n there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes ? " t " The rich man's wealth is his strong city." Prov. x. 15; xviti. ii. t " In hia anxiety to increase his fortune, it WM ridat BACON'S ESS A YS. 157 bware of hasty gathering of riches : " Qui fes- tinat 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 f (as by the course of inheritance, testaments, and the like), they come tumbling upon a man : but it might be applied likewise to Pluto, taking him for the devil : for when riches come from the devil (as by fraud and oppression, and unjust means), they come upon speed. 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 grazer, 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 that not the gratification of avarice was sought, but the means of doing good." * " He who hastens to riches will not be without gmilt." In our version the words are : " He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." Proverbs xxviii. 22. t Pluto being the king of the Infernal regions, or placa f departed spirits. | Rent-roll, or account taken of income. I5 BACON'S ESSAYS. husbandry ; so as the earth seemed a sea in respect of the perpetual importation. It was truly observed by one, " That himself came very hardly to a little riches, and very easil) to great riches ; for when a man's stock is come to that, that he can expect the prime of mar- kets, * and overcome those bargains, which for their greatness are few men's money, and be partner in the industries of younger men, he can- not 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 shall wait upon others' necessity : broke by servants and instruments to draw them on put off others cunnin )y that would be better chapmen, and the ike 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 vuhus alieni ; " t and besides, doth plough upon Sun- days : but yet certain though it be, it hath flaws ; for that the scriveners and brokers do value un- sound men to serve their own turn. The fortune, Wait till prices have risen. t " In the sweat of another's brow." lie alludes to the words of Genesis i^. 19 ; " la the c-.veat ui thy face shall thou eat bread," BA COW'S ESS A YS. 1 59 in being the first in an invention, or in a privi- lege, 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 resteth upon gains certain, shall hardly grow to great riches ; and he that puts all upon adventures, doth oftentimes break and come to poverty : it is good, therefore, to guard adventures with certainties that may uphold losses. Monopolies, and co-emption 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 amongst the worst. As for fishing for testaments and executorships (as Tacitus saith cf Seneca, " Testamenta et orbos tanquam in- dagine capi "),| it is yet worse, by how much men submit themselves to meaner persons than \\\ 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 pennyvvise; riches have wings, and sometimes they fly away of themselves, sonic- times they must be set flying to bring in more. Men leave their riches either to their k'ndrcd or * Planters ot su;;ar-canes. t " Will-, and childless p r.ons were caught by him as though v^Ui ~ ua^t.ii^ act." 160 BACON'S ESSA YS. to the public ; and moderate portions prosper best in both. A great state left to an heir, is as a lure to all the birds of prey round about to seize on him, if he be not the better established in years and judgment : likewise, glorious gifts and foundations are like sacrifices without salt ; and but the painted sepulchres of alms, which soon will putrefy and corrupt inwardly : therefore measure not thine advancements by quantity, but frame them by measure : and defer not char- ities till death ; for, certainly, if a man weigh it rightly, he that doth so is rather Li>eral of another man's than of his own. XXXV. OF PROPHECIES. I MEAN not to speak of divine prophecies, nor of heathen oracles, nor of natural predictions; but only of prophecies that have been of certain memory, and from hidden causes. Saith the Pythonissa * to Saul, " To-morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me." Virgil hath these verses from Homer: " Hie domus ^Eneae cunctis dominabitur ori, Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis." t A prophecy, as it seems, of the Roman empire. Seneca the tragedian hath these verses : * " Pythoness," used in the sense of witch. He alludes to the witch of Endor, and the words in Samuel xxviii. 19 He is, however, mistaken in attributing these words to the witch ; it was the spirit of Samuel that said, " To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me." t " But the house of .^Lneas shall reign over every shore, both his children's children, and those who shall sprint. from ttab" SA CON $ 4SSA YS. 161 -Venient annis Ssecula seris, quibus Oceanus Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens Pateat Tellus, Tiphysque novos Detegat orbes ; nee sit terris Ultima Thule : " * * prophecy of the discovery of America. The daughter of Polycrates f dreamed that Jupiter bathed her father, and Apollo anointed him ; and it came to pass that he was crucified in an open place, where the sun made his body run with sweat ; and the rain washed it. Philip of Mace- don dreamed he sealed up his wife's belly ; where- by he did expound it, that his wife should be barren ; but Aristander the sooth-sayer told him his wife was with child, because men do not use to seal vessels that are empty. A phantasm that appeared to M. Brutus in his tent, said to him, " Philippis iterum me videbis." I Tiberius said to Galba, " Tu quoque, Galba, degustabis impe- rium." In Vespasian's time there went 2 prophecy in the East that those that should come forth of Judea, should reign over the world ; which though it may be was meant of our Saviour, yet Tacitus expounds it of Vespasian. Domitian * " After the lapse of years, ages will come in which Ocean shall relax his chains around the world, and a vast continent shall appear, and Tiphys shall explore new regions, and Thule shall be no longer the utmost verge of earth." t He was king of Samos, and was treacherously put to death by Orcetes, the governor of Magnesia, in Asia Minor. His daughter in consequence of her dream, attempted to dissuade him from visiting Oroetes, but in vain. } " Thou shall see me again at Philippi." ' Thou also, Galba, shall taste of empire." H 1 62 BACON'S ESSAYS. dreamed, the night before he was slain, that a golden head was growing out of the nape of his neck ; and indeed the succession that followed him, for many years made golden times. Henry the Sixth of England said of Henry the Seventh, when he was a lad, and gave him water, " This is the lad that shall enjoy the crown for which, we strive." When I was in France, I heard from one Dr. Pena, that the queen mother,* who was given to curious arts, caused the king her hus- band'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 Monti gomery 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 spunne England's done . " whereby it was generally conceived, that after the princes had reigned which had the principal letters of the 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 the name ; for that the king's style is now no more of England, but of Britain. t There was also another prophecy * Catherine de Medicis, the wife of Henry II. of France, who died from a wound accidentally received in a tourna- ment. t James I. being the first monarch of Great Britain. BACON'S ESSAYS. jC$ before the year of eighty-eight, which I do not well understand. " There shall be seen upon a day, Between the Baugh and the May, The black fleet of Norway. When that that is come and gone, England built 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 Nor- way. The prediction of Regiomontanus, " Octogeslmus octavus mirabilis annus. "* was thought likewise accomplished in the send- ing 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, f 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. * " The eighty-eight will be a wondrous year." t Aristophanes, in his Comedy of The Knights, satirizes Cleon, the Athenian demagogue. He introduces a dec- laration of the oracle that the Eagle of hides (by whom Cleon was meant, his father having been a tanner) should be conquered by a serpent, which Demosthenes, one of the characters in the play, expounds as meaning a maker of sausages. How Lord Bacon could for a moment doubt that this was a mere jest, it is difficult to conjecture. The fol- lowing is a literal translation of a portion of the passage from The Knights (i. 197): "But when a leather eagle with crooked talons shall have seized with its jaws a ser- pent, a stupid creature, a drinker of blood, then the tan pickle of the Paphlagonians is destroyed ; but upon the sellers of sausages the Deity bestows great glory, unless they choose rather to sell sausages," 164 BACON'S ESSAYS. 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 other- wise, the spreading or publishing of them is in no sort to be despised, for they have done much mischief; and I see many severe laws made to suppress them. That that hath given them grace, and some credit consisteth in three things. First, that men mark when they hit, and never mark when they miss : * as they do, generally, also of dreams. The second is, that probable conject- ures, or obscure traditions, many times turn themselves into prophecies ; while the nature of man, which coveteth divination, thinks it no peril to foretell that which indeed they do but collect ; as that of Seneca's verse ; for so much was then subject to demonstration, that the globe of the earth had great parts beyond the Atlantic, which might be probably conceived not to be all sea r and added thereto the tradition in Plato's Tim- aemus, and his Atlanticus,f it might encourage * This is a very just remark. So-called strange coinci- dences, and wonderful dreams that are verified, when the point is considered, are really not at all marvellous. We never hear of the 999 dreams that are not verified, but the thousandth that happens to precede its fulfilment is blazoned by unthinking people as a marvel. It would be a much more wonderful thing if dreams were not occasion- ally verified. T Under this name he alludes to the Critias of Plato, in which an imaginary " terra incognita " is discoursed of ander the aarae of the " *N sw Atlantis." it ha BACON'S ESSA YS. 165 one to turn it to a prediction. The third and last (which is the great one) is that almost all of them, being infinite in number, have been impostures, and by idle and crafty brains, merely contrived and feigned, after the event past. 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 its way, it becometh adust,* and thereby malign and venomous : so ambitious men, if they find the way open for their rising, and still get forward, they are rather busy than dan- gerous ; but if they be checked in their desires; they become secretly discontent, and look upon men and matters with an evil eye, and are best pleased when things go backward ; which is the worst property in a servant of a prince or state : therefore it is good for princes, if they use ambi- tious 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 lectured from this by some, that Plato really did believe in the existence of a continent on the other side of the globe. * Hot and fierjr, i66 BA COWS ESSA YS. commanders 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 lie cannot see about him. There is use also of ambitious men in pulling down the greatness of any subject that overtops ; as Tiberius used Macro f 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 dan- ger 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 dis- pleasuring lieth by the favorite, it is impossible any other should be over great. Another means to curb them, is to balance them by others as proud as they : but then there must be some middle counsellors, to keep things steady; for without that ballast the ship will roll too much. * With the eyes closed, or blindfolded. t He was a favorite of Tiberius, to whose murder by Nero he was said to have been an accessory. He after- wards prostituted his o\vn wife to Caligula, by whom he was eventually put to death* BACON'S ESSAYS. 167 At tne least, a prince may animate and inure some meaner persons to be, as it were, scourges to ambitious men. As for the having of them obnoxious to * ruin, if they be of fearful natures, it may do well ; but if they be stout and daring, it may precipitate their designs, and prove dan- gerous. 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 inter- change continually of favors and disgraces, where- by they may not know what to expect, and be as it were, in a wood. Of ambitions, it is less harm- ful 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 among stable men, hath a great task ; but that is ever good for the public ; but he that plots to be the only figure among 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 thaf hath the best of these intentions, v/hen he as- pireth, 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 sen- sible 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. * Liable to. 1 6 BA COWS RSSA YS. XXXVII. OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS. THESE things are but toys to come amongst such serious observations ; but yet, since princes will have such things, it is better they should be graced with elegancy, than daubed with cost. Dancing to song, is a thing of great state and pleasure. I understand it that the song be in quire, placed aloof, and accompanied with some broken music ; and the ditty fitted to the devicev Acting in song, especially in dialogues, hath an extreme good grace ; I say acting, not dancing; (for that is a mean and vulgar thing) ; and the voices of the dialogue would be strong and manly (a base and a tenor ; no treble), and the ditty high and tragical, not nice or dainty. Several quires placed one over against another, and tak- ing 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, espe- cially colored and varied ; and let the masques, or any other that are to come down from the scene, have some motions upon the scenes itself before their coming down ; for it draws the eye strangely, and makes it with great pleasure to desire to see that, i* cannot perfectly discern. Let the songs be loud and cheerful, and not chirpings or pull- BA CON'S ESSA YS. 16$ ings : * let the music likewise be sharp and loud, and well placed. The colors that show best by candlelight, are white, carnation, and a kind of sea- water green, and ouches, f or spangs,| as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost, and not dis- cerned. Let the suits of the masquers be grace- ful, and such as become the person when the vizors are off ; not after examples of known attires ; Turks, soldiers, mariners, and the like. Let anti- masques not be long ; they have been com- monly of fools, satyrs, baboons, wild men, antics, beasts, sprites, witches, Ethiopes, pigmies, tur- quets,|| nymphs, rustics, Cupids, statues, moving, and the like. As for angels, it is not comical enough to put them in anti-masques : and any- thing that is hideous, as devils, giants, is, on the other side, as unfit : but chiefly, let the music of them be recreative, and with some strange changes. Some sweet odors suddenly coming forth, without any drops falling, are, in such n. company as there is steam and heat, things of great pleasure and refreshment. Double masques, * Chirpings like the .'oise of young birds. t Jewels or necklaces. } Spangles, or O's of gold or silver. Beckmann says that these were invented in the beginning of the seventeenth century. See Beckmann's Hist, of Inventions (Bohn's Stand. Lib.), vol. i. p. 424. jj Or anti-masques; were ridiculous interludes divid- ing the acts of the more serious masque. These were per- formed by hired actors, while the masque was played by ladies and gentlemen. The rule was, the characters were to be neither serious nor Hideous. The "Comu" of Mil* ton is an admirable specimen of a masque, Turks. 170 BA COWS ESS A YS. one of men, another of ladies, addeth state and variety ; but all is nothing, except the room be kept clear and neat. For justs, and tourneys, and barriers, the glo- ries 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 devices 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. XXXVIIL 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 ; 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 pre- vailings ; and at the first, let him practice with helps, as swimmers do with bladders, or rushes ; but, after a time, let him practice with disadvan- tage, 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 v -, angry; then to go less in quantity: as if should, in forbearing wjne, cpme from drinking BA CON'S ESS A YS. 171 Healths to a draught at a meal ; and lastly, to dis- continue altogether : but if a man have the forti- tude and resolution to enfranchise himself at once, that is the best : " Optimus ille animi vindex lasdentia pectus Vincula qui rupit, dedoluitque semel."* Neither is the ancient rule amiss, to bend nature as a wand to a contrary extreme, whereby to set it right ; understanding it where the contrary extreme is no vice. Let not a man force a habit upon himself with a perpetual continuance, but with some intermission : for both the p:v. ..;e rein- forced! the new onset; and if a man that is not perfect, be ever in practice, he shall as well prac- tice his errors as his abilities, and induce one habit of both ; and there is no means to help this but by seasonable intermission ; but let not a man trust his victory over his nature too far; for nature will lie buried a great time, and yet revive upon the occasion, or temptation ; like as it was with ^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 cither avoid the occasion altogether, or put himself often to it, that he may be little moved with it. A man's nature is best perceived in privateness, for there is no affectation ; in passion, for that putteth a man out of his precepts ; and in a new case or experiment, for there custom leaveth him. They are happy * " He is the best asserter of the liberty of his mind who bursts the chains that pall his breast, and at the same mo ment ceases to grieve." This quotation i from Ovid's Remedy of Love, men whose natures sort with their vocations- otherwise they may say, " Multum incola fuit an- ima mea," * when they converse in those things they do not affect In studies, whatsoever a man commandeth upon himself, let him set hours for it; but whatsoever is agreeable to his nature, let him take no care for any set times; for his thoughts will fly to it of themselves, so as the spaces of other business or studies will suffice. A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds ; therefore let him seasonably water the one, and destroy the other. XXXIX. OF CUSTOM AND EDUCA- TION. MEN'S thoughts are much according to their inclination : | their discourse and speeches accord- ing to their learning and infused opinions ; but their deeds are after as they have been accus- tomed : and, therefore, as Machiavel well noteth (though in an evil-favored instance), there is no trusting to the force of nature, nor to the bravery of words, except it be corroborate by custom. His instance is, that for the achieving of a desper- ate conspiracy, a man should not rest upon the fierceness of any man's nature, or his resolute undertakings ; but take such a one as hath had his hands formerly in blood ; but Machiavel knew not of a Friar Clement, nor a Ravillac, $ nor a "My soul has lone been a sojourner." t" The wish is father to the thought," is a prorerbfej yin* of similar meaning. J He murdered Hear/ IV, of Franc*, in 1610. &A CON*S ESS A YS. 173 Jaureguy,* nor a Baltazar Gerard ; f yet bis rule holdeth still, that nature, nor the engagement of words, are not so forcible as custom. Only super- stition 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 predominancy of custom is everywhere visible, insomuch as a man would wonder to hear men profess, protest, engage, give great words, and then do just as they have done before, as if they were dead images and engines, moved only by the wheels of custom. We see also the reign or tyranny of custom, what it is. The Indians (I mean the sect of their wise men) lay themselves quietly upon a stack of wood, and so sacrifice them- selves 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 queck- ing.fi I remember, in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's time of England, an Irish rebel con- demned, 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. * Philip II. of Spain having, in 1582, set a price upon the head of William of Nassau, Pnnce of Orange, the leader of the Protestants, Jaureguy, attempted to assassin- ate him, and severely wounded him. t He assassinated William of Nassau, in 1^84. It is sup- posed that this fanatic meditated the crime for six years. | A resolution prompted by a vow of devotion to a par- ticular principle or creed. He alludes to the Hindoos, and the ceremomy of Shit- tee, encouraged by the Brahmin*. flinching. 1 74 BA CON 'S ESS A YS. There be monks in Russia for penance, that wiQ sit a whole night in a vessel of w.itt", till they be engaged with hard ice. Many examples may be put of the force of custom, both wpcn mind and body: therefore, since custom is the principal magistrate of man's life, let men by all means en- deavor 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 them- selves 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 their example teach- eth company comforteth, emulation quickeneth, glory raiseth ; so as in such places the force of custom is in his exultation. Certainly, the great multiplication of virtues upon human nature rest- eth 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 fa- desired. FACOA^S ESS A KSl 175 XL. OF FORTUNE. IT cannot be denied, but outward accidents con- duce much to fortune ; favor, opportunity, death of others, occasion fitting virtue : but chiefly, the mould of a man's fortune is in his own hands: " Faber quisque fortunae suae,"* saith the poet, and the most frequent of external causes is, that the folly of one man is the fortune of another ; for no man prospers so suddenly as by others' errors. " Serpens nisi serpentem comederit non fit draco." f 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 loco natus esset, fortunam sibi fac- * " Every man is the architect of his own fortune.'* Sallust, in his letters " De Republica Ordinanda," attri- butes these words to Appius Claudius Caecus, a Roman poet whose works are now lost. Lord Bacon, in the Latin translation of his Essays, which was made under his super- vision, rendered the word " poet " " comicus ; " by whonx he probably meant Plautus, who has this line in his " Trinu- mis" (Act ii. sc. 2) : "Nam sapiens quidem pol ipsus fin- git fortunam sibi," which has the same meaning, though in somewhat different terms, t " A serpent, unless it has devoured a serpent, does no> become a dragon." t Or " desenvoltura," implying readiness t adapt one- self to circumstances. Impediments, causes for hesitation, I 76 BA CO W ESS A VS. turus viderotur)," * falleth upon that that he had " versatile ingenium : " f 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 milky 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 dis- cerned 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;"t and certainly, there be not two more fortunate properties, than to have a little of the fool, and not too much of the honest ; thero fore extreme lovers of their country, or masters; were never fortunate; neither can they be; for when a man placeth his thoughts without himself, he goeth not his own way. A hasty fortun' maketh an enterpriser and remover (the French hath it better, " entreprenant," or "remuanc"}? but the exercised fortune maketh the able man* Fortune is to be honored and respected, and it5e 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. AH wise men, to decline the envy of their own virtue^ use to ascribe them to Providence and Fortune f " In that man there was such great strength of body and mind, that in whatever station he had been born, h Mmd as though he should make his fortune." t " A versatile genius." J A Unit of the fool" BA CON 'S ESS A YS. iff for so they may the better assume them : and, besides, it is greatness in a man to be the care of the highei powers. So Caesar said to the pilot in the tempest, " Caesarem portas et fortunam ejus." * So Sylla chose the name of " Felix," f and not of " Magnus : " and it hath been noted, that those who ascribe openly too much to their own wisdom and policy, end unfortunate. 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 (j 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. XL!. OF USURY.TT MANY have made witty invectives against usury. They say that it is a pity the devil should have God's part, which is the tithe ; that the usurer is the greatest Sabbath-breaker, because his plough * " Thou earnest Caesar and his fortunes." t " The fortunate." He attributed his success to th intervention of Hercules, to whom he paid especial vener- ation. "The Great." J A successful Athenian general, the son of Conon, and the friend of Plato. || Fluency or smoothness. If Lord Bacon seems to use the word in the general sense of "lerding money upon interest." 13 1 75 SA COWS ESSA 73. goeth every Sunday, that the usurer is the drone that Virgil speaketh of : " Ignavum f ucos pecus a praesepibus arcent ; " * that the usurer breaketh the first law that was made for mankind after the fall, which was li in sudore vultus tui comedes panem tuum ; " t not, "in sudore vultus alieni ; " | 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, discovery of men's estates, and other inventions ; b;it few have spoken of usury use- fully. It is good to sot before us the incommodi- ties and commodities of usury, that the good may be either weighed out, or culled out; and warily to provide, thnt, 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 * " Drive from their hives the drones, a lazy race." Georgics, b. iv. i6S. t "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread." Gen. iii. 19. } " In the sweat of the face of another." In the middle ages the Jews were compelled, by legal enactment, to wear peculiar dresses and colors; one of these was oranpe. y " A concession by reason of hardness of heart." He alludes to ike words in St. iuuuhcw xii, 8, BA CON'S ESS A YS. 17^ lazy trade of usury, money would not lie still, but would in great part be employed upon merchan- dising, which is the " vena porta " * of wealth in a state : the second, that it makes poor merchants; for as 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 t at great usury : the third ts incident to the other two ; and that is, the decay of customs of kings, or states, which ebb 01 flow with merchandising : the fourth, that it bring;- eth the treasure of a realm or state into a few .hands ; for the usurer being at certainties, and others at uncertainties, at the end of the game most of the money will be in the box ; and ever a state flourisheth when wealth is 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 in- ventions, 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, whicn in process of time breeds a public poverty. On the other side, the commodities of usury are, first, that howsoever usury in some respect hin- dereth merchandising, yet in some other it advanc- eth it ; for it is certain that the greatest part of trade is driven by young merchants upon borrow- ing 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 * S';o Xctc to E^say six, t Hold. iSo BACONS ESSAYS. not for this easy borrowing upon interest, men' necessities would draw upon them a most sudden undoing, in that they would be forced to sell their means (be it lands or good), far under foot, and o, whereas usury doth but gnaw upon them, bad markets would swallow them quite up. As for ^mortgaging or pawning, it will little mend the mat- *er : 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 nanity to conceive that there would be ordinary borrowing without profit ; and it is impossible to conceive the number of inconveniences that will nsue, if borrowing be cramped: therefore to speak of the abolishing of usury is idle ; all states have ever had it in one kind or rate, or other ; so as that opinion must be sent to Utopia.* To speak now of the reformation and regie- rnent t of usury, how the discommodities of it may be best avoided, and the commodities retained. It appears, by the balance of commodities and iliscommodities of usury, two things are to be rec- onciled ; the one that the tooth of usury be grinded, I hat it bite not too much ; the other, that there le left open a means to invite moneyed men to lend lo the merchants, for the continuing and quickening i>f trade. This cannot be done, except you intro- duce two several sorts of usury, a less and a greater ; * The imaginary country described in Sir Thomas Mora 1 * political romance of that name. Regulation. BACON'S ESSA YS, 181 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 n.^t so. To serve both intentions, the way would be briefly thus : that there be two rates of usury ; the one free and general for all ; the other under 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 industries and profitable improvements, 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 cautious following : let the rate be, even with the merchant himself, somewhat more easy than that he used formerly to pay ; for by that means all borrowers shall have some ease by this reformation, je he merchant, or whosoever ; let it be no bank or common stock, but every man be master of his 182 BA COWS ESS A K own money ; not that I altogether mislike banks, but they will hardly be brooked, in regard of certain suspicions. Let the state be answered * ome small matter for the license, and the rest left to the lender; for if the abatement be but small, it will no whit discourage the lender ; for he, for example, 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 cf 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 un- known hands. If it be objected that this doth in a sort authorize usury, which before was in some places but permissive ; the answer is, that it is better to mitigate usury by declaration, than to suffer it to rage by connivance. 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. Generally, youth is like the first cogita- tions, 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 * Be paid. BACON'S ESSAYS. 183 rinds better, and, as it were, more divinely. Matures 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 plenam ; " * 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, CosmusDuke of Florence, Gastonde Foix, f and others. On the other side, heat and vivacity in age is an excellent composition for business. Ycung men are fitter to invent than to judge, fitter for execution than for counsel, and fitter for pew projects than for settled business ; for the ex- perience of age, in things that fall within the compass of it, directeth them ; but in new things abuseth them. The errors of young men are the ruin of business; but the errors of aged men amount but to this, that more might have been done, or sooner. Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than they can hold, stir more than they can quiet ; fly to the end, without consideration of the means and degrees ; pursue some few principles which they have chanced upon absurdly ; care not to innovate, which dr i\v -, unknown inconveniences ; use extreme remedies * " He passed his youth full of errors, of madness es x- ....'' t He was nephew of Louis XII. of France, and manded the French armies in Italy against the Spanhn'.s After a brilliant career, he wxj killed at the bat:!- u : Kaveuiia, in 1512, 184 BA COWS ESS A YS. at first ; and that, which doubleth all errors, will not acknowledge or retract them, like an unready horse, that will neither stop nor turn. Men of age object too much, consult too long, advent- ure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success. Cer- tainly 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 extreme acci- dents, because authority followeth old men, and favor and popularity youth : but for the moral part, perhaps, youth will have the pre-eminence, as age hath for the politic. A certain rabbin, upon the text, " Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams," * inferreth that young men are admitted nearer to God than old, because vision is a clearer revelation than a dream ; and certainly, the more a man drinketh of the world, the more it intoxicateth : and age doth profit rather in the powers of understanding, Yhan in the virtues of the will and affections. There be some have an over-early ripeness in their years, which f adeth betimes : these are, first, such as have brittle wits, the edge whereof is soon turned : such as was Hermogenes f the rhetorician, whose books are exceeding subtle, who afterwards waxed stupid : a second sort is * Joel ii. 28, quoted Acts ii. 17. t He lived in the second century after Christ, and U Mid to have lost his memory At the age of twenty-fir*. A COATS ESSAYS. 185 of those that have some natural disposition, 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 dece- bat : " * 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 pjrimis cedebant." f XLIIL OF BEAUTY. VIRTUE is like a rich stone, best plain set ; and surely virtue is best in a body that is comely, though not of delicate features; and that hath rather dignity of presence, than beauty of aspect; neither is it almost seen that very 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 accomplished, 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 the Fourth of England, $ Alcibiades of Athens, Ismael the * " He remained the same, but with the advance of years was not so becoming." f " The close was unequal to the beginning." This quotation is not correct ; the words are " Memorabilior prima pars vitae quam postrema fuit," " The first part of his life was more distinguished than the latter.'' Livy, xxxviii. ch. 53. | By the context, he would seem to consider "great spirit and " virtue " as convertible terms. Edward IV, however, has no claim to be considered as a virtuous or ISO SACOATS ESSA YS. Sophy of Persi.i, were all high and great spirits, and yat the most beautiful men of th^.ir 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 sight of the life. There is no ex- cellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. A man cannot tell whether ; Apelles or Albert Durer were the more trifler; whereof the one would make a personage by geometrical proportions : the other, by taking the best parts out of divers faces to make one excellent. Such personages, I think, would please nobody but the painter that made them : not but I think a painter may make a better face than ever was ; but he must do it by a 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 altogether do well. If it be true that the principal part of beauty is in decent motion, certainly it is no marvel, though persons in years seem many times more amiable ; " Pulchrorum autumnus pul- cher ; " f for no youth can be comely but by pardon, t and considering the youth as to make up the comeliness. Beauty is as summer fruits, which are easy to corrupt, and cannot last ; and, magnanimous man, though he possessed great physical courage. * Features. t "The autumn of the beautiful is beautifuL" I By making allowances. DA CON'S ESSA VS. 187 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. I XLIV. OF DEFORMITY. DEFORMED persons are commonly even with nature ; for as nature has done ill by them so do they by nature, being for the most part (as the Scripture saith), " void of natural affection ; " * and so they have their revenge of nature. Cer- tainly there is a consent between the body and the mind, and where nature erreth in the one, she ventureth in the other : " Ubi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero : " t but because there is in man an election, touching the frame of his mind, and a necessity in the frame of his body, the stars of natural 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 not induce contempt, hath also a perpetual spur in himself to secure and deliver himself from scorn ; therefore, all deformed persons are extreme bold ; first, as in their own defence, as being exposed to scorn, but in process of time by a general habit. Also it stirreth in them industry, and especially of this kind, to watch and observe the weakness of others, that they may have somewhat to repay. Again, * Rom. i. 31 ; II. Tim. iii. 3. t " Where she errs in the one, she ventures in the other." 1*8 A COWS SSA VS. in their superiors, it quencheth jealousy towards them, as persona that they think they may at pleasure despise : and it layeth their competitors and emulators asleep, as never believing they should be in possibility of advancement till they see them in possession ; so that upon the matter, in a great wit, deformity is an advantage to rising. Kings in ancient times (and at this present in some countries) were wont to put great trust in eunuchs, because they that are envious towards all are more obnoxious and officious towards one ; but yet their trust towards them hath rather been as to good spials,* and good whisperers, than good magistrates and officers : and much like is the reason of deformed persons. Still the ground is, they will, if they be of spirit, seek to free themselves from scorn : which must be either by virtue or malice ; and, therefore, let it not be marvelled, if sometimes they prove excel- lent persons ; as was Agesilaiis, Zanger the son of Solyman,t JEsop, 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 ; 'herefore let use be preferred before uniformity, xcept where both may be had. Leave the goodly iabrics of houses, for beauty only, to the en- chanted palaces of the poets, who build them with small cost. He that builds a fair house * Spies. t Solyman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Turks. SA CON'S ESS A YS. igy upon an ill seat,* committeth himself to prison : neither do I reckon it an ill seat only where the air is unwholesome, but likewise where the air is unequal ; as you shall see many fine seats set upon a knap f 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 sev- eral 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 neighbors. I speak not of many more ; want of water, want of wood, shade, and shelter, want of iruitfulness, and mixture of grounds of several naiures ; want of prospect, want of level grounds, want of places at some near distance for sports of hunting, hawk- ing, and races ; too near the sea, too remote ; having the commodity of navigable rivers, or the discommodity of their overflowing ; too far off from the great cities, which may hinder business ; or too near them, which lurcheth all provision 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 answered Pom- * Site. t Knoll. | Having a liking for cheerful society, Momus being th gou of mirth. I 9 BACON'S ESSAYS. pey well, who, when he saw his stately galleries and rooms so large and lightsome, in one of his houses, said : " Surely an excellent place for summer, but how do you in winter ?" Lucullus answered, " Why, do you not think me as wise as some fowls are, that ever cnange their abode to- wards 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 Vati- can and Escurial, * and some others be, and yet scarce a very fair room in them. First, therefore, I say, you cannot have a per- fect palace, except you have two several sides ; a side for the Banquet, as is spoken of in the book of Esther, f and a side for the household ; the one for feasts and triumphs, and the other for d -.veiling. 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 front, that as it were joineth them together on either hand. I * A vast edifice, about twenty miles from Madrid, founded by Philip 1 1. t Esth. i. 5 : " The king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of th* King's palace. BA COWS ESS A YS. 191 Would have, on the side of the banquet m front, one only goodly room above stairs, of some forty foot high ; and under it a room for a dressing 'or preparing place, at times of triumphs. On the other side, which is the household side, I wish it divided at the first into a hall and a chapel, with a partition between, both of good state and bigness ; and those not to go all the length, but to have at the further end a winter and a summer parlor, both fair ; and under these rooms a fair and large cellar sunk under ground : and likewise some privy kitchens, \v!th 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 otherwise, you shall have the servants' dinner after your own : for the steam of it will come up as in a tunnel. f 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 curt, but three sides of it of a far lower building than * The cylinder formed by the small end of the step* of winding stairs. t The funnel of a chimney. I 9 2 BACON'S ESSAYS. 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 of the front, but rather proportionable to the lower building. Let the court not be paved, for that striketh up a great heat in summer, and much cold in winter : but only some side alleys with a cross, and the quarters to graze, being kept 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 cu- polas 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 win- ter. 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 inbowed t windows, I hold them of good use (in cities, in- deed, upright t do better, in respect of the uni- formity 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 through the room doth scarce pass the window : but let them be but few, foul in the court, on the sides only. > Where to go. t Bow, or bay windows. I Flush with the walL BACON'S ESS A YS. 193 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 grotto, or place of shade, or estivation : and only have opening and windows towards the garden, and be level upon the floor, no whit sunk under ground, to avoid all dampishness : and let there be a fountain, or some fair work of 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, " anticamera," * and " recamera," f joining to it ; thus upon the second story. Upon the ground story, a fair gallery, open, upon pillars ; and upon the third story, likewise an open gallery upon pillars, to take the prospect and freshness of the garden. At both corners of the further side, by way of return, let there be two delicate or rich cabinets, daintily paved, richly hanged r glazed with crystalline glass, and a rich cupola in the midst ; and all other elegancy that can 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. J And thus much foe * Ante-chamber. t Withdrawing-room. | Watercourses. 194 BA COWS ESSA K the model of the palace ; save that you must have, before you conv to the front, three courts ; a green court plain, with a wall about it ; a second court of the same, but more garnished with little turrets, or rather embellishments, upon the wall ; and a third court, to make a square with the front, but not to be built, nor yet enclosed with a naked wall, but enclosed with terraces leaded aloft, and fairly garnished on the three sides ; and cloistered on the inside with pillars, and not with arches below. As for oGces, let them stand at distance, with some low galleries to pass from them to the palace itself. XLVL OF GARDENS. GOD ALMIGHTY first planted a garden ; and, fndeed it is the purest of human pleasures ; it is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man ; without which buildings and palaces are but gross 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, juniper, cypress-tree, yew, pineapple-trees ; * fir-trees, rosemary, laven- der; periwinkle, the white, the purple, and the bHie ; germander, flags, orange-trees, lemon-trees, Pine-treea. BACON'S ESSAYS. 195 and myrtles, if they be stoved ; * and sweet ma- joram, warm set There followeth, for the latter part of January and February, the mezereon-tree which then blossoms : crocus vernus, both the yellow and the gray ; primroses, anemones, the early tulip, the hyacinthus orientalis, chamairis fritellaria. For March, there comes violets, espe- cially the single blue, which are the earliest ; the yellow daffodil, the daisy, the almond-tree in blossom, the peach-tree in blossom, the cornelian- tree in blossom, sweet-briar. In April follow the double white violet, the wall-flower, the stock- gilliflower, the cowslip, flower-de-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 f and plum-trees in blossoms, the white thorn in leaf, the lilac-tree. In May and June come pinks of all sorts, specially the blush- pink ; roses of all kinds, except the musk, which comes later ; honeysuckles, strawberries, bugloss, columbine, the French marigold, flos Africanus, cherry-tree in fruit, ribes,t figs in fruit, rasp, vine- flowers, lavender in flowers, the sweet satyrian, with the white flower ; herba muscaria, lilium con- vallium, the apple-tree in blossom. In July come gilliflowers of all varieties, musk-roses, the lime- tree in blossom, early pears, and plums in fruit, genitings, codlins. In August come plums of all sorts in fruit, pears, apricots, barberries, filbert* * Kept warm in a greenhouse. t The damson, or plum of Damascus. j Currants. An apple that is gathered very early. 196 BA COWS ESS A VS. musk-melons, monks-hoods of all colors. IH September come grapes, apples, poppies of all colors, peaches, melocotones, * nectarines, corne- lians, f wardens, $ quinces. In October, and the beginning of November come services, medlars, bullaces, roses cut or removed to come late, holly- oaks, and such like. These particulars are for the climate of London ; but my meaning is per- ceived, 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 war- bling of music), than in the hand, therefore noth- ing 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 sweet- ness : yea, though it be in a morning's dew. Bays, likewise, yield no smell as they grow, rosemary little, nor sweet majoram ; that which, above all others, yields the sweetest smell in the air, is the violet, especially the white double violet, which comes twice a year, about the middle of April, and about Bartholomew tide. Next to that is the musk-rose ; then the strawberry leaves dying, *A kind of quince, so called from "cotoneuw," or "sydonium," the Latin name of the quince. T The .fruit of the comel-tree. I The warden was a large pear, so called from its keeping well. Warden-pie was formerly much etemed in ing- land, Perpetual spring. I Flowers that do not send forth their mel at any distance. BA CON'S ESS A YS. 197 with a most excellent cordial smell ; then the flower of the vines, it is a little dust like the dust of a bent,* which grows upon the cluster in the first coming forth ; then sweet-briar, then wall-flowers, which are very delightful to be set upon a parlor 01 lower chamber window ; then pinks and gilli- flowers, especially the matted pink and clove gilli- flower ; then the flowers of the lime-tree ; then the honeysuckles, so they be somewhat afar off. Cif bean-flowers f 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 there; that is,, burnet, wild thyme, and water-mints ; therefore y:m are to set whole alleys of them, to have the pleasure when you walk or tread. For gardens (speaking of those which are in- deed prince-like, as we have done of buildings), the contents ought not well to be under thirty acres of ground, and to be divided into three parts ; a green in the entrance, a heath, or desert, in the going forth, and the main garden in the midst, 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 enclose the garden ; but because the alley will be long, * A species of grass of the genus argostis. 1 The blossoms of the bean. 198 BA COfiTS ESSA YS. and in great heat of the year, or day, you ougl. not to buy the shade in the garden by going in the sun through the green, therefore you are, of either side the green, to plant a covert alley, upon car- penter's work, about twelve foot in height, by which you may go in shade into the garden. As for the making of knots, or figures, with divers colored earths, that they may lie under the win- dows 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 sid^s with a stately arched hedge, the arches to be up- on pillars of carpenter's 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 carpen- ter's 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 intend 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 enclosure * Bring or lead you. BA CON'S ESS A YS. \ 99 not at the hither end, for letting * your prospect upon this fair hedge from the green ; nor at the further end, for letting your prospect from the '.edge through the arches upon heath. For the ordering of the ground within the great hedge, I leave it to variety of device ; advising, nevertheless, that whatsoever form you cast it in- to first, it be not too bushy, or full of work : where- in 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 wells, with some pretty pyramids, I like well ; and in some places fair columns, upon frames of carpenter's work. I would also have the alleys spacious and fair. You may have closer alleys upon the side grounds, but none in the main garden. I wish also, in the very middle, a fair mount, with three ascents and alleys, enough for four to walk abreast ; which I would have to be perfect circles, without any bul- warks or embossments ; and the whole mount to be thirty foot high, and some fine banqueting- house with some chimneys neatly cast, and with- out too much glass. For fountains, they are a great beauty and re- freshment ; 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 * Impeding. 200 JSA COWS ESS A T^. bowls or in the cistern : chat the water be nevei by rest discolored, green, or red, or the like, or gather any mossiness or putrefaction ; besides that, it is to be cleaned 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 foun- tain, which we may call a bathing-pool, it may admit much curiosity and beauty, wherewith we \ 1 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 lustre ; encompassed also with fine rails of low statures : but the main point is ths 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 waters * 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 sweet-briar and honeysuckle, and some wild vine amongst ; and the ground set with violets, strawberries, and primroses ; for these are sweet, and prosper in the shad? ; and these to be in the heath here and there, not in any order. I like also little heaps, * Causing the water to fall in a perfect arch, without any tpray escaping from the jet. BACON'S ESSA YS. 20! in the nature of mole-hills (such as are in wild heaths), to be set, some with wild thyme, some with pinks, some with germander, that gives a good flower to the eye ; some with periwinkle, some with violets, some with strawberries, some with cowslips, some with daisies, some with red roses some with lilium convallium,* some with sweet- Williams red, some with bear's foot, and the like low flowers, being withal sweet and sightly ; part of which heaps to be with standards of little bushes pricked upon their top, and part without : the standards to be roses, juniper, holly, barberries (but here and there, because of the smell of their blossoms), red currants, goose- berries, rosemary, bays, sweet-briar, and such like : but these standards to be kept with cutting that they grow not out of course. For the side grounds, you are to fill them with variety of alleys, private, to give a full shade ; some of them, wheresoever the sun be. You are to frame some of them likewise for shelter, that when the wind blows sharp, you may walk as in a gallery: and those alleys must be likewise hedged at both ends, to keep out the wind ; and these closer alleys must be ever finely gravelled, and no grass, because of going wet. In many of these alleys, likewise, you are to set fruit-trees of all sorts, as well upon the walls as in ranges,* and this should be generally observed, that this 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 * Lilies of the valley, t In *owt f 02 BACON'S ESSA YS. deceive * the trees. At the end of both the side grounds I would have a mount of some pretty height, leaving the wall of the enclosure breast- high, to look abroad into the fields. For the main garden I do not deny but there should be some fair alleys ranged on both sides, with fruit-trees, and some pretty tufts of fruit- trees and arbors wilh seats, set in some decent order ; but these to be by no means set too thick, but to leave the main garden so as it be not close, but the air open and free. For as for shade, I would have you rest upon the alleys of the side grounds, there to walk, if you be dis- posed, in the heat of the year or day ; but to make account f that the main garden is for the more temperate parts of the year, and, in the heat of summer for the morning and the evening or overcast days. For aviaries, I like them not, except they be of that largeness as they may be turf ted, and have liv- ing 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 some times add statues and such things, for state and magnificence, but nothing to the true pleasure of a garden. * Insidiously subtract nourishment from. \ To consider or expect, ffA CO WS ASSAYS. 203 XLVIL OF NEGOTIATING. IT is generally better to deal by speech than by letter, and by the meditation 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 \t may serve for a man's justification after- wards to produce his own letter ; or where it may be danger to be interrupted, or heard by pieces. To deal in person is good, when a man's face breedeth regard, as commonly with inferiors ; or in tender cases where a man's eye upon the countenance of him with whom he speaketh, may give him a direction how far to go : and gener- ally where a man will reserve to himself liberty, either to disavow or to expound. In choice of instruments, it is better to choose men of a plainer sort, that are like to do that, that is com- mitted 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, frowardand 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 * Love, are pleased with. 2 04 BA CON'S ESS A YS. 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 of 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 practise is to discover, or to work. Men dis- cover themselves in trust, in passion, at una- wares ; 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 his weak- ness and disadvantages, and so awe him, or those that have interest in him, and so govern him. In dealing with cunning persons, we must ever consider their ends, to interpret their speeches ; and it is good to say little to them, and that which they least look for. In all nego- tiations of difficulty, a man may not look to sow and reap at once ; but must prepare business, and so ripen it by degrees. * It is more advantageous to deal with men whose de- sires are not yet satisfied than with thos who have gained all they have wished for, and are likely to be proof against inducements. 1A COWS ESS A YS. 205 XLVIIL 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 person- ages. Likewise glorious * followers, who make themselves as trumpets of the commendation of those they follow, are full of inconveniences, 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 exchange tales. The following by certain estates f of m n answerable to that which a great person himself professeth (as of soldiers to him that hath been employed in the wars, and the like) hath ever been a thing In the sense of the Latin " gloriosus," "boastful," " bragging." t Professions or classes. 206 PA CON'S ESS A YS. 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 fol- lowed as one that apprehendeth to advance virtue and desert in all sorts of persons ; and yet where there is no eminent cdds in sufficiency it is better to take with the more passable, than with the more able; and besides, to speak truth in base times, active men are cf mere use than virtuous. It is true, that in overr.ment, it is good to use men of one rank equally: for to countenance some extraordinary, 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 rr.ore officious : because all is of favor. It is good discretion not to make too much of any man at the first ; because cne can- not hold out that proportion. To be governed (as we call it) by one, is not safe ; for it shows softness,* and gives a freedom to scandal and disreputation ; 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 impression, and full of change. To take advice of some few friends is over honorable ; for lookers-on many times see more than game- sters; and the vale best discovereth the hill. There is little friendship in the world, and least Weakness or indecision of character. BACON'S SS* .K?. 207 of all between equals, which was wont * to be magnified. That that is, is between superior, and 'nferior, whose fortunes may comprehend the one he other. XLIX. OF SUITORS. MANY ill matters and projects are undertaken ; and private suits do putrefy the public good. Many good matters are undertaken with bad minds ; I mean not only corrupt minds, but crafty minds ; that intend not performance. Some em- brace suits, which never mean to deal effectually in them ; but if they see there may be life in the matter, by some other means they will be content to win a thank, or take a second reward, or at least, to make use in the mean time of the suitor's hopes. Some take hold of suits only for an occasion to * He probably alludes to the ancient stories of the friendship of Orestes and Pylades Theseus and Pirithous, Damon and Pythias, and others, and the maxims of the ancient Philosophers. Aristotle considers that equality in circumstances and station is one requisite of friendship. Seneca and Quintus Curtius express the same opinion. It seems hardly probable that Lord Bacon reflected deeply when he penned this passage, for between equals, jealousy, the most insidious of all the enemies of friendship, has the least chance of originating. Dr. Johnson says : " Friend- ship is seldom lasting but between equals, or where the superiority on one side is reduced by some equivalent ad- vantage on the other. Benefits which cannot be repaid, and obligations which cannot be discharged, are not com- monly found to increase affection ; they excite gratitude indeed, and heighten veneration, but commonly take away that easy freedom and familiarity of intercourse without Which, though there may be fidelity, and zeal, and admir- ation, there cannot be friendship. The Rambler. No. 64. t In such a case, gratitude and admiration exist on the one hand, esteem and confidence on the other. 2o8 cross some other, or to make an information, whereof they could not otherwise have apt pre- text, 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 purpose to let them fall ; to the end to gratify the adverse party, or competitor. Surely there is in some sort a right in every suit ; either a right of equity, if it be a suit of controversy, or a right of desert, if it be a suit of petition. If affection lead a man to 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 de- server. In suits which a man doth not well understand, it is good to refer them to some friend of trust and judgment, that may report whether he may deal in them with honor : but let him choose well his referendaries, f for else he may be led by the nose. Suitors are so dis- tasted | with delays and abuses, that plain dealing in denying to deal in suits at first, and reporting the success barely, and in challeng- ing no more thanks than one hath deserved, is grown not only honorable but also gracious. In suits of favor, the first coming out to take little place ; || so far forth IT consideration may be had * Lowering, or humiliating. t Referees. f Disgoste. Giring no false color to the degree of success whka has attended the prosecution of the suit. | To have little effect. 1 To this extent BACON'S ESSAYS. 209 of his trust, that if intelligence of the matter could not otherwise have been had but by him, advantage be not taken of the note. * but the party left to his other means ; and in some sort recompensed for his discovery. To be ignorant of the value of a suit, is simplicity ; as well as to be ignorant of the right thereof, is want of conscience. Secrecy in suits is a great mean of obtaining; for voicing them to be in forwardness may dis- courage some kind of suitors ; but doth quicken and awake others : but timing of the suit is the principal ; timing I say not only in respect of the person that should grant it, but in respect of those which are like to cross it. Let a man, in the choice of his mean, rather choose the fittest mean, than the greatest mean ; and rather them that deal in certain things, than those that are general. The reparation of a denial is sometimes equal to the first grant, if a man show himself neither dejected nor discontented. " Iniquum petas, ut aequum feras,"f is a good rule, where a man hath strength of favor ; but otherwise a man were better rise in his suit ; for he that would have ventured at first to have lost the suitor, will not, in the conclusion, lose both the suitor and his own former favor. Nothing is thought so easy a re- quest to a great person, as his letter ; and yet, if it be not in a good cause, it is so much out of his reputation. There are no worse instruments than these general contrivers of suits : for they are but a kind of poison and infection to public proceedings. * Of the information. t " A.sk what is exorbitant, that you may obtain \vha,t is 7io BA CON"S ESS A YS. 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 dis- course; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business ; for expert men an ex- ecute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one : but the general counsels, and the plots and marshaling of affairs come best from thos thai are learned. T. spend too much time in stories 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 nat- ural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study ; ai d 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 tea h not eir own use ; but that is a wisdom 'ithout them and above them, won by observation. Read n 1 1 contradict and confute, nor to b ieve and take for granted, n >r to find talk and di course, but to weigh and con- sider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested ; that is, s me books are to be read only in parts ; others to be read but not curiously ; f and some few to be read wholly, and with dili- gence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by * This formed the first Essay in the earliest edition of tke work. t Attentively. BA CON'S ESS A VS. 211 others ; but that would be only in the less im- portant 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 need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise ; poets, witty ; the mathematics, subtile ; natural philosophy, deep ; moral, grave ; logic and rhetoric, able to contend : " Abeunt studia in mores ; " t na y> there is no stand 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, his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again ; if his wit be not apt to distinguish or find difference, let him study the schoolmen ; for they are " Cymini sectores." t If he be not apt to beat over matters and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases : so every defect of the mind may have a special receipt. * Vapid ; without taste or spirit. t " Studies become habits." | " Splitters of cummin-seeds ; " or, as we now say, " splitters of straws," or " hairs." Butler says of Hudi- bras " He could distinguish and divide A hair 'twixt south and south-west side," 312 BACON'S ESS A VS. LI. OF FACTION. MANY have an opinion not wise, that for a prince to govern his estate, or for a great person to govern his proceedings, according to the re- spect of factions, is a principal 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 corre- spondence to particular persons, one by one : but I say not, that the consideration of factions is to be neglected. Mean men in their rising must adhere ; but great men that have strength in themselves, were better to maintain them- selves indifferent and neutral : yet even in begin- ners, to adhere so moderately, as he be a man of the one faction, which is most passable with the other, commonly giveth best way. The lower and weaker faction is the firmer in con- junction ; and it is often seen, that a few that are stiff, do tire out a great number that are more moderate. When one of the factions is extinguished, the remaining subdivideth ; as the faction between Lucullus and the rest of the nobles of the senate (which they called " opti- mates ") held out a while against the faction of Pompey and Caesar ; but when the senate's au- thority was pulled down, Caesar and Pompey soon after brake. The faction or party of An- tonius and Octavianus Caesar, against Brutus and Cassius, held out likewise for a time ; but when Brutus and Cassius were overthrown, then soon after Antonius and Octarianus brake and Jf?A CON'S ESS A YS. 213 subdivided. These examples are of wars, but the same holdeth in private factions : and there- fore, those that are seconds in factions, do many times, when the faction subdivideth, prove prin- cipals ; but many times also they prove ciphers and cashiered ; for many a man's strength is in opposition ; and when that faileth, he groweth out of use. It is commonly seen, that men once placed, take in with the contrary faction to that bjr 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 a way 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 pro- ceedeth 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 comune : " | and take it to be a sign of one that meaneth to refer all to the great- ness 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 df sovereignty, and make the king " tan qua m imus ex nobis ; " $ as was to be seen in the * Cause one side to preponderate, t "The common of father." | "As one of us." Henry III. of France, favoring the league formed by the Duke of Guise and Cardinal De against t"S Protestants, soon found that through 214 BA CON'S ESSA YS. League of France. When factions are carried too high and too violently, it is a sign of weak- ness in princes, and much to the prejudice both of their authority and business. The motions of factions under kings ought to be like the motions (as the astronomers speak) of the inferior orbs, which may have their proper motions, but yet still are quietly carried by the higher motion of "primum mobile."* LII. OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS. HE that is only real, had need have exceeding great parts of virtue ; as the stone had need to be rich that is set without foil ; but if a man mark it well, it is in praise and commendation of men, as it is in gettings and gains : for the prov- erb 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 t 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, the adoption of that policy he had forfeited the respect of his subjects. * See a Note to Essay 15. t Of Castile. She was the wife of Ferdinand of Arragon, and was the patroness of Columbus. BACON'S ESSAYS. 2I S he shall lose their grace ; which is to be natural and unaffected. Some men's behavior is like a verse, wherein every syllable is measured ; how can a man comprehend great matters, that breaketh his mind too much to small observa- tions ? Not to use ceremonies at all is to teach others not to use them again ; and so diminisheth respect to 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 tedious, but doth diminish the faith and credit of him that speaks ; and, certainly, there is a kind of conveying of effect- ual and imprinting passages amongst compli- ments, which is of singular use, if a man can hit upon it. Amongst a man's peers, a man shall be sure of familiarity ; and therefore it is good a little to keep state ; amongst a man's inferiors, one shall be sure of reverence ; and therefore it is good a little to be familiar. He that is too much in anything, so that he giveth another oc- casion of satiety, maketh himself cheap. To ap- ply 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 compliments ; for they be never so sufficient otherwise, their enviers will be sure to give them that attribute, to the disadvantage 2 1 6 BA CON 'S ESS A YS. of their greater virtues. It is loss also in busi- ness to be too full of respects, or to be too curi- ous in observing times and opportunities. Solo- mon 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 oppor- tunities than he finds. Men's behavior should be like their apparel, not too straight or point device,t but free for exercise or motion. LIIL OF PRAISE. PRAISE is the reflection of virtue ; but it is 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 common 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," t 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 bonum instar unguenti fragrantis : " it filleth all round about, * The words in our version are, " He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." Ecclesiastes xi. 4. t Exact in the extreme. Point-de-vice was originally the name of a kind of lace of very fine pattern. } " Appearances resembling virtues." " A good name is like sweet-smelling ointment." The &A COft'S ESS A YS. 217 and will not easily away ; for the odors of oint- ments 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 ordi- nary flatterer, he will have certain common attri- butes, 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 mat* is conscious to himself that he is most defective, and is most out of counte- nance in himself, that will the flatterer entitle 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 praecipere ; " f 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 jealously towards them ; " Pessimum genus inimicorum laudantium ; " \ insomuch as it was a proverb amongst the Grecians that, " he that was praised to his hurt, should have a push rise upon his nose ; " as we say, that a blister will rise upon one's tongue that tells a lie ; certainly, moderate praise, used with opportunity, and not vulgar, is words in our version are, " A good name is better than precious ointment." Ecclesiastes vii. i. * " Disregarding his own conscience." t "To instruct under the form of praise." J " The worst kind of enemies are those who flatter." A pimple filled with " pus," or " purulent matter." The word is still used in the east of England. 2 1 8 BA CON'S ESS A VS. 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 dr matter doth irritate con- tradiction, and procure envy and scorn. To praise a man's self cannot be decent, except it be ;n rare cases ; but to praise a man's office f or profession, he may do it with good grace, and with a kind of magnanimity. The cardinals of Rome, which are theologues,t and friars, and schoolmen, have a phrase of notable contempt and scorn towards civil business ; for they call all temporal busines. of wars, embassages, judi- cature, and other employments, sbirrerie, which is under-sheriffries, as if they were but matters for under-sheriffs and catchpoles ; though many times those under-sheriffries do more good than their high speculations. St, Paul, when he boasts of himself, he doth oft interlace, " I speak like a fool;" but speaking of his calling, he saith, " Magnificabo apostolatum meum." || LIV. OF VAIN-GLORY. IT was prettily devised of vEsop, the fly sat upon the axle-tree of the chariot-wheel, and said, * The words in our version are, " He that blesseth his i with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it '1 be counted a curse to him." Proverbs xxvii. 14. t la other words, to show what we call esprit de corps. \ Theologians. II. Cor. xi. 23. || " I will magnify my apostleship." He alludes to the words in Romans xi. 13 " Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office." BA CON'S ESS A YS. 219 -"What a dust do I raise?" So are there some vain persons, that whatsoever goeth alone, or moveth upon greater means, if they have never so little hand in it, they think it is they that carry it. They that are glorious must needs be fac- tious ; for all bravery* stands upon comparisons. They must needs be violent to make good their own vaunts ; neither can they be secret, and there- fore not effectual ; but according to the French proverb " Beaucoup cle 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 trum- peters. Again, as Titus Livius noteth, in the case of Antiochus and the ^tolians, 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 ex- tol the forces of either of them above measure, the one to the other : and sometimes he that deals between man and man, raiseth his own credit with both, by pretending greater interest than he hath in either ; and in these, and the like kinds, it often falls out, that somewhat is produced of nothing ; for lies are sufficient to breed opinion, and opinion brings on substance. In military commanders and soldiers, vain-glory is an essential point ; for as iron sharpens iron, so by glory, one courage sharpened! another. In * Vaunting, or boasting. t Noise. We have a corresponding pro verb-*" Great try and little wool." J A high or good opinion. 220 BA COtf'S SSA VS. cases of great enterprise upon charge * and ad- venture, a composition of glorious natures doth put life into business ; and those that are of solid and sober natures, have more of the ballast than of the sail. In fame of learning, the flight will be slow without some feathers of ostenta- tion : " Qui de contemnenda gloria libros scri- bunt, nomen suum inscribunt." f Socrates, Aristotle, Galen, were men full of ostentation t certainly, vain-glory helpeth to perpetuate a. man's memory; and virtue was never so beholden to human nature, as it received its due at the second hand. Neither had the fame of Cicero, Seneca, Plinius Secundus, f 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 vain-glory, I mean not of that property that Tacitus doth attribute to Mucianus, "Omnium, quae dixenat feceratque, arte quadam ostentator : " || for that proceeds * By express command. nostri philosophi ? Nonne in his libris ipsis, quos scribunt de contemnenda gloria, sua nomina inscribunt." " What do our philosophers do? Do they not, in those rery books which they write on despising glory, set their names in the title-page ? " } Pliny the younger, the nephew of the elder Pliny, the naturalist. " One who set off everything h said and did with a certain skill." Mucianus was an intriguing general in tk times of Otho and Vitellius. | Namely, the property of which he was speaking, aa4 not that mentioned by Tacitus. ffA COWS ESS A YS. 221 not of vanity, but of natural magnanimity and discretion ; and, in some persons, is not only comely, but gracious ; for excusations, * cessions, f 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 cornifcendation to others, in that wherein a man's self hath any perfection : for, saith Pliny very wittily, " In commending another, you do your- self right; for he that you commend is either superior to you in that you commend, or inferior : if he be inferior, if he be to be commended, you much more ; if he be superior, if he be not to be commended, you much less." Glorious men are the scorn of wise men, the admiration of fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of their own vaunts. LV. OF 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 inwardly little admired : and some, contrariwise, darken their virtue in the show of it ; so as they be undervalued in opinion. If a man perform that which hath not been at- tempted before, or attempted and given over, or hath been achieved, but not with so good circum- stance, he shall purchase more honor than by affecting a matter of greater difficulty or virtue, Apologies. t Concessions. } Boastful. 222 BACON'S ESS A YS. wherein he is but a follower. If a man so tem- per his actions, as in some one o( 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 entereth into any ac- tion, 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 ; and therefore let a man contend to excel any competitors of his in honor, in out- shooting them, if he can, in their own bow. Discreet followers and servants help much to rep- utation : " Omnis fama a domesticis emanat." * Envy, which is the canker of honor, is best ex- tinguished by declaring a man's self in his ends, rather to seek merit than fame : and by attribut- ing a man's successes rather to Divine providence and felicity, than to his own virtue or policy. The true marshalling of the degrees of sovereign honor are these : in the first place ar "conditores imperiorum," f founders of states and common- wealths ; such as were Romulus, Cyrus, Caesar, Ottoman, \ Ismael : in the second place are " legislators, " lawgivers, which are also called second founders, or " perpetui principes," be- cause they govern by their ordinances after they are gone ; such were Lycurgus, Solon. Justinian, * " All fame emanates from servants." t " Founders of empires." J He alludes to Ottoman, or Othman I., the founder of the dynasty now reigning at Constantinople. From him the Turkish empire received the appellation of " Otko* wan," or " Ottoman," Porte, " "Perpetual rulers." BA COATS ESS A YS. 223 Edgar * Alphonsus of Castile the Wise, that made the " Siete Partidas : " f in the third place are " liberatores," or " salvatores," t such as compound the long miseries of civil wars, or deliver their countries from servitude of strangers or tyrants ; as Augustus Caesar, Vu-spasianus, Aurelianus, Theodoricus, King Henry the Seventh of England, Kii.g Henry the Fourth of France : in the fourth place are " propagatores," or " pro- pugnatores imperii," such as in honorable wars enlarged their territories, or make noble defence against invaders ; and, in the last place, are "patres patriae," || which reign justly and make the times good wherein they live ; both which last kinds need no examples, they are in such number. Degrees of honor in subjects are, first, " participes curarum," TT 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 * Surnamed the Peaceful, who ascended the throne of England A. D. 959. He was eminent as a legislator and a rigid asser tor of justice. Hume considers his reign " one of the most fortunate that we meet with in the ancient English history." t These were a general collection of the Spanish 1-r.vs, made by Alphonso X. of Castile, arranged under their proper titles. The work was commenced by Don Ferdi- nand, his father, to put an end to the contradictory decis- ions in the Castilian courts of justice. It was divided Into seven parts, whence its name " Siete Partidas." It did not, however, become the law of Castile till nearly eighty years after t " Deliverers," or " preservers. " Extenders," or "defenders of the empire." C " Fathers of their country." IT " Participators in cares," ** " Leaders in war." 224 BACON'S ESSAYS. 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 harmless to the people : and the fourth, " negotiis pares ; " t such as have great places under princes, and ex- ecute 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 is "jus dicere," t and not "jus dare," to inter- pret law, and not to make law, or give law ; else will it be like the authority claimed by the Church of Rome, which, under pretext of exposition of Scripture, doth not stick to add and alter, and to pronounce that which they do not find, and by show of antiquity to introduce novelty. Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverend than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue. " Cursed (with the law H) is he that removeth the landmark." The mislayer of a mere stone is to blame ; but it is the unjust judge that is the capital remover of Proportion, dimensions. t " Equal to their duties." } " To expound the law." " To make the law." 1 The Mosaic law. He alludes to Deuteronomy xxviL "" Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark.* BA CON'S ESS A YS. 225 landmarks, when he defineth amiss of lands and property. One foul sentence doth more hurt than many foul examples ; for these do but cor- rupt the stream, the other corrupteth the fount- ain : so saith Solomon, " Fons turbatus et vena corrupta est 'u-^us cadens in, caus su4 coram adversario." * iThe office of judges may have reference unto the parties that sue, unto the ad- vocates 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 judg- ment into wormwood ; " f 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 dis- guised. 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 sen- tence, as God useth to prepare his way, by rais- ing valleys and taking down hills : so when there appeareth on either side a high hand, violent prosecution, cunning advantages taken, combi- nation, power, great counsel, then is the virtue of a judge seen to make inequality equal ; that he may paint his judgment as upon an even ground. * " A righteous man falling down before the wicked is us a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring." Proverbs TXV. 26. t Amos v. 7 " Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth." _ '5 26 BA CON'S ESS A YS, " Qui fortiter emungit, elicit sanguinem ; " * and where the wine-press is hard wrought, it yields a harsh wine, that tastes of the grape rtone. Judges must beware of hard constructions, and strained inferences ; for there is no worse torture than the torture of laws : especially 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 laqueos ; " f tor 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 tempora rerum," 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 exam- ple, but a merciful eye upon the person. Secondly, for the advocates and counsel that plead. PatienceR and gravity of hearing is an essential part of justice ; and an overspeaking * * He who wrings the nose strongly brings blood." Proverbs xxx. 33 " Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, ana the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so that the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife." + " He will rain snares upon them." Psalm xi. 6 * Upon the wicked he shall ram snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest." J Strained. " It is the duty of a judge to consider not only the fact* but the circumstances of the case." D Pliny the Younger, Ep. B. 6, E. 2, has the ob^ervatioB -" Patientiam . . . qux pars magna justitise est;" " Patience, which is a great part of justice." BA CON'S ESS A YS. 227 judge is no well-tuned cymbal. It is no grace to judge first to find that which he might have heard in due time from the bar ; or to show quick- ness of conceit in cutting off evidence or coun- sel too short, or to prevent information by ques- tions, though pertinent. The parts of a judge in hearing are four : to direct the evidence ; to moderate length, repetition, or impertinency of speech ; to recapitulate, select, and collate the material points of 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 presump- tuous, 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 advocates some commend- ation and gracing, where causes are well handled and fair pleaded, especially towards the side which obtaineth not ;* for that upholds in the client the reputation of his counsel, and beats down in him the conceit f of his cause. There is likewise due to the public a civil reprehension of advocates, where there appeareth cunning counsel, gross neglect, slight information, indis- * Is not successful. t Makes him to feel less confident of the goodness of his cause. 228 BACOWS ESSA YS. creet pressing, or an over-bold defence ; and let not the counsel at the bar chop * with the judge, nor wind himself into the handling of the cause anew after the judge hath declared his sentence ; but, on the other side, let not the judge meet the cause half-way, nor give occasion to the party to say his counsel or proofs were not heard. Thirdly, c or that that concerns clerks and ministers. The place of justice is a hallowed place ; and therefore not only the bench but the foot-pace and precincts, and purprise thereof ought to be preserved without scandal and corrup- tion ; for, certainly, " Grapes (as the Scripture saith) will not be gathered of thorns or thistles ; " f neither can justice yield her fruit with sweetness amongst the briars and brambles of catching and polling clerks % and ministers. The attendance of courts is subject to four bad instruments : first, certain persons that are sower of suits, which, make the court swell, and the country pine : the second sort is of both those that engage courts in quarrels or jurisdiction, and are not truly " amici curiae," but " pan.sui curiae, " || in puff- ing a court up beyond her bounds for their own scraps and advantage : the third sort is of those that may be accounte ' the 1 ft 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 * Altercate, or bandy words with the judge, f St. Matthew vii. 16 " Do men gather grapes of thurng r figs of thistles." f Plundering. " Friends of the court." I " Parasites," or "flatterers of the court," SA COWS ESS A YS. 229 oblique lines and labyrinths : and the fourth is the poller and exacter of fees : which justifies the common resemblance of the courts of justice to the bush, whereunto while the sheep flies for de- fence in weather, he is sure to lose part of his fleece. On the other side, an ancient clerk, skilful in precedents, wary in proceeding, and understanding in the business of the court, is an excellent finger of a court, and doth many times point the way to the judge himself. Fourthly, for that which may concern the sov- ereign and estate. Judges ought, above all, to remember the conclusion of the Roman Twelve Tables,* " Salus populi suprema lex ; " f 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 : the one, when there is matter of law intervenient in business of state ; the other, when there is some consideration of state intervenient in matter of law ; for many times the things deduced to judgment may be "tneum " \ and " tuum " when the reason and consequence thereof may trench to point of estate : I call matter of estate, not only the parts of sov- ereignty, but whatsoever introduceth any great alteration, or dangerous precedent ; or concerneth manifestly any great portion of people : and let no man weakly conceive that just laws and true * Which were compiled by the Decemvirs. t " The safety of the people is the supreme law." J " Mine." " Yours." 230 BA COAT'S SSA YS. policy have any antipathy ; for they are like the spirits and sinews, that one moves with the other. Let judges also remember, that Solomon '3 throne was supported by lions * on both sides : let them be lions, but yet lions under the throne : being cir- cumspect 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 re- member what the apostle saith of a greater law than theirs : " Nos scimus quia lex bona est, modo quis ea utatur legitime." t LVIL OF ANGER. To seek to extinguish anger utterly is I ut a bravery J 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. \Ve will speak first how the natural inclination and habit, " to be angry," may be tempered and calmed ; secondly, how the particular motions of anger * He alludes to I. Kings x. 19, 30 " The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind : and there were stays on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps." The same verses are repeated in I. Chronicles ix. 18, 19. t I. Tim. i. 8 " We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully." t A boast. Ephes. iv. 26. Tn our version it is thus rendered! " Be ye angry and sin not : let not the sun go down upon your wrath." S A CON'S ESSAYS. 231 may be repressed, or, at least, refrained from doing mischief; thirdly, how to raise anger or appease anger in another. For the first, there is no other way but to med- itate 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 a 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." t Anger is certainly a kind of baseness ; as it appears well in the weakness of those subjects in whom it reigns : children, women, old folks, sick folks. Only men must beware that they carry their anger rather with scorn than with fear ; so that they may seem rather to be above the injury than below it ; which is a thing easily done, if a man will give law to himself in it. For the second point, the causes and motives of anger are chiefly three : first, to be too sen- sible of hurt ; for no man is angry that feels not himself hurt ; and therefore tender and delicate persons must needs be oft angry, they have so many things to trouble them, which more robust natures have little sense of : the next is, the ap- prehension and construction of the injury offered, * " In your patience possess ye your souls." Luke xvi. 19. t " And leave their lives in the wound." The quotation is from Virgil's Georgics, iv. 238. 23* BACON'S ESSAYS. to be, in the circumstances thereof, full of con- tempt : for contempt is that which putteth an edge upon anger, as much, or more, than the hurt itself ; and, therefore, when men are ingenious in picking out circumstances of contempt, they do kindle their anger much : lastly, opinion of the touch * of a man's reputation doth multiply and sharpen anger; wherein the remedy is, that a man should have, as Gonsalvo was wont to say, "Telam honoris crassiorem." t But in all retrainings of anger, it is the best remedy to win time, and to make a man's self believe that the- opportunity of his revenge is not yet come ; bul that he foresees a time for it, and so to still him- self 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, especially if they be aculeate and proper ; $ for " communia maledicta " are nothing so much ; and again, that in anger a man reveals no secrets ; for that makes him not fit for society : the other that you do not peremptorify break off in any business in a fit of anger ; but howsoever you show bitterness, do not acf anything that is not revocable. For raising and appeasing anger in another, it is done chiefly by choosing of times, when men are f rowardest and worst disposed to incense them ; again, by gathering (as we touched before) all * Susceptibility upon, t " A thicker covering for his honor." \ Pointed and peculiarly appropriate to the party at* tacked. " Ordinary abuao." SA COATS ESS A YS. 233 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 construction of the injury from the point of contempt ; imputing it to misunder- standing, fear, passion, or what you will. LVIIL OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. SOLOMON saith, "There is no new thing upon th>e earth ; "* so that as Plato f had imagination that all knowledge was but remembrance ; so Solomon gireth his sentence, " That all novelty is but ob- livion ; " t 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 wore not for two things that are constant (the one is, that the fixed stars ever stand at like distance one from another, and never come nearer together, nor go further asunder ; the other, that the diur- nal motion perpetually keepeth time), no individ- ual would last one moment : certain it is, that the matter is in a perpetual flux, and never at a stay. * Ecclesiastes i. 9, 10 " The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be : and that which is done is that which shall be done : and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new ? It hath been already, of old time, which was before us." t In his Phaedo. t Ecclesiastes i. II "There is no remembrance of formr things, neither stall there be any remembrance of things that are to twne with those that shall come here- after." 234 BACOtTS ESSAYS. 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, but 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 light- nings, which are often in the West Indies, $ they are but narrow ; but in the other two destruc- tions, by deluge and earthquake, it is further to be noted, that the remnant of people which hap- pen to be reserved, are commonly ignorant and mountainous people, that can give no account of the time past ; so that the oblivion is all one as if none had been left. If you consider well of the people of the West Indies, it is very prob- able that they are a newer, or a younger people than the people of the old world ; and it is much more likely that the destruction that hath here- tofore been there, was not by earthquakes (as the Egyptian priest told Solon, concerning the island of Atlantis, that it was swallowed by an earth- quake), but rather that it was desolated by a par- ticular deluge; for earthquakes are seldom in I. Kings xvii. i " And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to my word." I. Kings xviii. i. " And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab : and I will end rain upon the earth." t Confined to a limited space. t the whole of the continent of America then discovered is included under this name. Limited. ESSA rs. 235 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. Theii Andes, likewise, or mountains, are far higher than those with us ; whereby it seems, that the remnants of generation 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 ; tra- ducing 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 appeared in the succession of Sabinian,* who did revive the former an- tiquities. The vicissitude, or mutations, in the superior globe, are no fit matter for this present argument. It may be, Plato's great year, f 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, and waited * Sabinianus of Volaterra was elected bishop of Rome on the death of Gregory the Great, A. D. 604. He was of an avaricious disposition, and thereby incurred the popular hatred. He died in eighteen months after his election. t This Cicero speaks of as " the great year of the mathe- maticians." " On the Nature of the Gods," B. 4, ch. 20. By some it was supposed to occur after a period of 12,954 years, while according to others, it was of 25,920 duration. J Conceit. 236 BA CON'S ESS A YS. 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,t which I have heard, and I would not have it given over, but waited upon a little. They say it is observed in the Low Countries (I know not in what part), that every five and thirty years the same kind and suit of years and weather 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 pro- fessors 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 * Observed. * A carious fancy or odd conceit. SA COWS SSA YS. 237 extravagant 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 ; 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 per- suasion ; 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 differ- ences ; to proceed mildly and not with san- guinary 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 vicissitude in wars are many; but chiefly in three things : in the seats or stages * The followers of Arminius, or James Harmensen, a selebrated divine of the i6th and I7th centuries. Though called a heresy by Bacon, his opinions have been for two centuries, and still are, held by a large portion of the Charcfe of England. 238 BA CON'S SSA YS. of the w ir, 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, Assy- rians, Arabians, Tartars (which were the invad- ers), were all eastern people. It is true, the Gauls were western ; but we read but of two incursions of theirs: the one to Gallo-Grnecia, 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 haveinvaded the northern, but contrariwise; where- by it is manifest that the northern tract of the world is in nature the more martial region : be it in respect of the stars of that hemisphere,* or of the great continents that are upon the north ; whereas the south part, for aught that is known, is almost all sea ; or (which is most apparent) of the cold of the northern parts, which is that which, without aid of discipline, doth make the bodies hardest, and the courage 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, t * A belief in astrology, or at least the influences of t' stars, was almost universal in the time of Bacon. f Germany. } Charlemagne. BA C ON'S ESS A YS. 239 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 tiie world hath fewest barbarous people, but such as commonly will not marry, or generate, except they know means to live (as it is almost every- where at this day, except Tartary), there is no danger of inundations of people ; but when there be great shoals of people, which go on to populate, without foreseeing means of life and sustentation, it is of necessity that once in an age or two they discharge a portion of their people upon other nations, which the ancient northern people were wont to do by lot ; casting lots what part should stay at home, and what should seek their 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 degener- ating : and so the prey inviteth, and their decay in valor encourageth a war. 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 Oxidraces, in India ; and was that which the Macedonians* called thunder and lightning, and magic ; and it is well known that the use of ordnance hath been in China above two thousand years. The con- When led thither by Alexander the Great 240 AACOtTS ESSAYS. ditions of weapor- and their improvements 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, t and ancient inventions; the third is, the commodious use of them as that 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 skil- ful in the ordering of their battles. In the youth of a state, arms do flourish ; in the middle age of a state, learning ; and then both of them together for a time ; in the declining age of a state, mechanical arts and merchandise. Learn- ing hath its infancy when it is but beginning, and almost childish ; then its youth, when it is luxu- riant and juvenile ; then its strength of years, when it is solid and reduced ; and, lastly, its old age, when it waxeth dry and exhaust ; but it is not good to look too long upon these turning wheels of vicissitude, lest we become giddy : as for the phi- lology of them, that is but a circle of tales, acd therefore not fit for this writing. * Striking. f Application of the " aries," or battering-ram. BACON'S ESSAYS. 241 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 sententiously ; they say, Look how many feathers she hath, so many eyes she hath underneath, so many tongues, so many voices, she pricks up so many ears. This is a flourish ; there follow excellent para- bles ; as that she gathereth strength in going ; that she goeth upon the ground, and yet hideth her head in the clouds ; that in the day-time she sitteth in a watch-tower, and flieth most by night ; that she mingleth things done with things not done ; 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, there- upon in 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 raven- ing 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 serious manner, there is not in all the politics a place less handled, nd more worthy to be handled, than this of fame. iVe will therefore speak of these points : what are false fames, and what are true fames, and bow they may be best discerned ; how fames may * This fragment was found among Lord Bacon's papers, and published by Dr. Rawley, 16 2 4* BA CON'S ESS A YS. be sown and raised ; how they may be spread and multiplied ; and how they may be checked and laid dead ; and other things concerning 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 un- did Vitellius by a fame that he scattered, that Vitellius had in purpose to remove the legions of Syria into Germany, and the legions of Germany into Syria ; whereupon the legions of Syria were infinitely inflamed. Julius Csesar took Pompey unprovided, and laid asleep his industry and pre- parations 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 continually 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 Grand Turk from the janisaries 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 Grjecia, 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 gov- ernors have as great a watch and care over fames, as they have of the actions and designs them- selves. A CON'S ESS A YS. 243 OF A KING. t . A KING is a mortal God on earth, unto whom the living God hath lent his own name as a great honor ; but withal told him, he should die like a man, lest he should be proud and flatter himself, that God hath, with his name, imparted unto him his nature also. 2. Of all kind of men, God is the least be- holden unto them ; for he doth most for them, and they do, ordinarily, least for him. 3. A king that would not feel his crown too heavy for him, must wear it every day ; but if he think it too light, he knoweth not of what metal it is made. 4. He must make religion the rule of govern- ment, and not to balance the scale ; for he that casteth in religion only to make the scales even, his own weight is contained in those characters : * l Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin : He is found too light, his kingdom shall be taken from him." 5. And that king that holds not religion the best reason of state, is void of all piety and jus- tice, the supporters of a king. 6. He must be able to give counsel himself, but not rely thereupon ; for though happy events justify their counsels, yet it is better that the evil event of good advice be rather imputed to a sub- ject than a sovereign. 7. He is the fountain of honor, which should not run with a waste-pipe, lest the courtiers sell the water, and then, as Papists say of their holy wells, it loses the virtue. 8. He is the life oi the law, not only as he is 244 * A COWS ESS A YS. X*extoqutns himself, but because he animateth the dead letter, making it active towards all his sub- jects prcemio ct posna. 9. A wise king must do less in altering his laws than he may ; for new government is ever danger- ous. It being true in the body politic, as in the vorporal, ihatomnis subita immutatio est periculosa ; s,nd though it be for the better, yet it is not with- nut a fearful apprehension ; for he that changeth Ihe fundamental laws of a kingdom, thinketh I here is no good title to a crown, but by con- S[uest. 10. A king that setteth to sale seats of justice, Dppresseth the people ; for he teachethhis judges lo sell justice, and prttio porata pretio venditur justitia. 11. Bounty and magnificence are virtues very legal, but a prodigal king is nearer a tyrant than 9 parsimonious ; for store at home draweth not Iiis contemplations abroad, but want supplieth itself of what is next, and many times the next nay. A king therein must be wise, and know i-rhat he may justly do. 12. That king which is not feared, is not loved; nnd he that is well seen in his craft, must as well jitudy to be feared as loved ; yet not loved for iear, but feared for love. 13. Therefore, as he must always resemble Him whose great name he beareth, and that as in manifesting the sweet influence of his mercy on the severe stroke of his justice sometimes, so m this not to suffer a man of death to lire, for l*esides that the land doth mourn, the restraint ^ justice towards sin doth more retard the affeo SA CON'S ESS A YS. 2 45 tioa of love, than the extent of mercy doth ia- flame it ; and sure, where love is [ill] bestowed, fear is quite lost. 14. His greatest enemies are his flatterers ; for though they ever speak on his side, yet their words still make against him. 15. The love which a king oweth to a weal public should not be overstrained to anyone par- ticular ; yet that his more especial favor do re- flect upon some worthy ones, is somewhat neces- sary, because there are few of that capacity. 16. He must have a special care of five things, if he would not have his crown to be but to him infelix /elicit as. First, that simulata sanctitas be not in the church ; for that is dupex imquitas. Secondly, that inutilis ~ ; ". rhetoric able to contend. II. OF DISCOURSE. SOME, in their discourse, desire rather com- mendation of wit in being able to hold all argu- ments than of judgment in discerning what is true, as if it were a praise to know what might be said, and not what should be thought ; some have certain commonplaces and themes wherein they are good and want variety, which kind of poverty is for the most part tedious, and now and then ridiculous ; the honorablest part of talk is to give the occasion, and again to moderate and pass to somewhat else ; it is good to vary, and mix speed of the present occasion with arguments, tales wit$ reasons, asking of questions with telling o opinions, and jest with earnest ; but some things are privileged from jest namely, religion, matters of State, great persons, all men's present business of importance, and any case that deserves pity. He that questioneth much shall learn much and content much, especially if he apply his questions to the skill of the party of whom he asketh, for he shall give them occasion to please themselves in speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge ; if sometimes you dissemble your BA CON'S ESS A YS. 257 knowledge of that you are thought to know, you shall be thought another time to know that which you know not. Speech of a man's self is not good often, and there is but one thing wherein a man may commend himself with good grace, and that is commending virtue in another ; especially if it be such a virtue as whereunto himself pretendeth. 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 second speech without a good set speech shows shallowness. To use too many circumstances ere one comes to the matter is wearisome, and to use none at all is blunt. III. OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS. HE that is only real needed exceeding great parts of virtue, as the stone had need to be ex- ceeding rich that it set without foil ; but com- monly it is in praise as it is in gain, for as the proverb is true that light gains make heavy purses, because they come thick, whereas the great come but now and then ; so it is as true that small matters win great commendation because they are contiunally in use and in note, whereas the oc- casion of any great virtue cometh but on holidays. To attain good forms it sufficeth not to despise them, for so shall a man observe them in others, and let him trust himself with the rest j for if, IIQ 17 *5 BACON'S ESSAYS. care to express them he shall lose their grace, which is to be natural and unaffected. Some men's behavior is like a verse, wherein every syllable is measured. How can a man observe great matter that breaketh his mind too much in Vna\\ observations ? Not to use ceremonies at all Is to teach others not to use them again, and so diminish his respect ; especially they are not to be omitted to strangers and strange natures. Among a man's equals a man shall be sure of familiarity, and therefore it is good a little to keep state ; among a man's inferiors a man 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 does it upon regard, and not upon facility. It is a good precept generally in second- ing another, yet to add somewhat of his own ; if you grant his opinion, let it be with some distinc- tion ; if you will follow his motion, let it be with condition ; if you allow his counsel, let it be with alleging farther reason. IV. OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS. COSTLY followers are not to be liked, lest while a man maketh his train longer he maketh his wings shorter. I reckon to be costly not them alone which charge the purse, but which are wearisome and importunate in suits. Ordinary BACON'S ESSAYS. 259 followers ought to challenge no higher conditions than countenance, recommendation, and protec- tion from wrong. Factious followers are worse to be liked which follow not upon affection to him with whom they range themselves, but upon some discontentment received against some others, whereupon commonly ensueth that ill intelligence tliat many times we see between great personages ; the following of certain states answerable to that which a great personage himself professeth, as of soldiers to him that hath been employed in the wars ; and the like hath ever been a thing civif, and well taken even in monarchies, so it be with- out too much pomp or popularity. But the most honorable kind of following is to be followed, as one that intendeth to advance virtue and desert in all sorts of persons ; and yet where there is no im- minent odds in sufficiency, it is better to take with, the more passable than with the more able. In government of charge it is good to use men of one rank equally ; for to countenance some extraor- dinarily is to make them insolent and the rest dis- content, because they may claim a due. But in favors to use men with much difference and elec- tion is good, for it maketh the persons preferred more thankful and the rest affectious, because all is of favor. It is good not to make too much of any man at first, because one cannot hold out that proportion. To be governed by one is not good, and to be distracted by many is worse ; but to take advice of friends is ever honorable : for lookers on many times see more than game- steis, and the vale best discovereth the hilL There is little friendship in the, world, and leat 6o BA COX'S SSA KT. of all between equals ; that which is, is between superior and inferior, whose fortunes may com- prehend the one the other. V. OF SUITOBS. MANY ill matters are undertaken, and many good matters with ill minds ; 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 content to win a thank, or take a second reward. Some take hold of suits only for an occasion to cross some others, or to make an information, whereof they could not otherwise have apt pretext, without care of what become of the suit when that turn is served ; 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 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 rather le\ him 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 without deprav- ing or disabling the better deserver; in suits which a man doth not understand, it is good to refer them to some friend of his, of trust and judgment, that may report whether he may deal in them with honor. Suitors are so distasted with delays and abuses that plain dealing in BA CON'S ESS A YS. 26 1 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 but little place, so far forth consideration may be had of his trust, that if intelligence of the matter could not otherwise have been had but by him, advantage be not taken of the note ; to be ignorant of the value of a suit is simplicity, as well as to be igno- rant of the right thereof is want of conscience ; secrecy in suits is a great mean of obtaining ; for voicing them to be in forwardness may dis- courage some kind of suitors, but doth quicken and awake others ; but timing of suits is the principal ; timing, I say, not only in respect of the person that should grant it, but in respect of those which are like to cross it ; nothing is thought so easy a request to a great man as his letter, and yet not in an ill cause, it is so much -out of his reputation. VI. OF EXPENSE. RICHES are for spending, and spending for honor and good action ; therefore, extraordinary expense must be limited by the worth of the oc- casion ; for voluntary undoing may be as well for a man's country as for the kingdom of heav- en ; but ordinary expense ought to be limited by a man's estate, and governed with such re- gard as it be \vithin his compass, and not subject 02 BACON'S ESSAYS. to deceit, ~nd abuse of servants, and ordered by the best show, that the bills may be less than the estimation abroad. It is no baseness for the greatest to descend and look into their own es- tate ; some forbear it not of 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 can- not look into his own estate had need both to choose well those whom he employeth and change them often ; for new men are more timorous and less subtile ; in clearing of a man's estate he may as well hurt himself in being too sudden as in letting it run out too long ; for hasty selling is commonly as disadvantageable as interest ; he that hath a state to repair may not despise small things ; and commonly it is less dishonor to abridge petty charges than to stoop to petty get- tings ; a man ought warily to begin charges which begun must continue, but in matters that return not he may be more liberal. VII. OF REGIMEN 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 well with me, there- fore I will continue it ; I find no offence of this, therefore I may use it ; for strength of nat- VC in youth passeth over many excesses, which SA C ON'S ESS A YS. 2 63 are owing a man till his age ; discern of the com- ing on of years, and think not to do the same things still. Bewire of any sudden change in any great point of diet, and if necessity enforce it, fit the rest to it ; to be free-minded and cheer- fully disposed at hours of meat, and of sleep and of exercise, is the best precept of long lasting. If you fly physic in health altogether, it \viil be too strong for your body when you shall need it ; if you make it too familiar it will work no extraordinary effect when sickness cometh ; despise no new accident in the body, but ask opinion of it ; in sickness principally respect health, and in health action : for those that put their bodies to endure in health, may in most sicknesses which are very sharp be cured only with diet and good tending. Physicians are some of them so pleasing to the humors of the patient they press not the true cure of the disease ; and some others so regular in proceeding according to art for the disease as they respect not sufficiently the condition of the patient. Take one of a mild temper, and forget not to call as well the best acquainted with your body as the best reputed of for his faculty. VIII. 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 affect honor and reputa- tion, which sort of men are much talked of, but inwardly little admired ; and some darken theil 264 BACON'S ESSAYS. virtue in the show of it, so th? they be under- valued in opinion. If a man perform that which hath not been attempted before, or attempted arid given over, or hath been achieved, but not with so good circumstance, he shall purchase more honor than by effecting a matter of greater diffi- culty wherein he is but a follower. If a man so temper his actions as in some cf them he do con- tent every faction, the music will be the fuller. A man is an ill husband of his honor that entereth into any action the failing wherein may disgrace him more than the carrying it through can honor him. Discreet followers help much to reputation. Envy, which is the canker of honor, is best dis- tinguished by declaring a man's self in his ends, rather to seek merit than fame, and by attribut- ing a man's success rather to Providence and felicity than to his own virtue and policy. The true marshalling of the degrees of sovereign honor are these : In the first place, Conditorcs; founders of states ; in the second place are Lfgis- latorcs, lawgivers, which are also called second founders ; or Perpetuiprincipcs, because they govern by their ordinances after they are gone ; in the third place are Liberatores, such as compound the long miseries of civil wars or deliver their country from the servitude of strangers or tyrants ; in the fourth place are Propagatores, or Propugnatorcx imperil, such as in honorable wars enlarge their territories, or make noble defence against the invaders ; and in the last place are Patria patrcs, which reign justly, and make the times good wherein th'.-y live. Degrees of honor in subjects are, first farticipes curarum, those upon whom BA COWS ESS A YS. a6$ 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 service in the wars ; the third are Gratiosi favorites, such as exceed not this scantling to be solace to their sovereign and harmless to the people ; and the fourth are called Negotiis pares, such as have great places under princes, and execute their places with sufficiency. IX. OF FACTION. MANY have a new wisdom, otherwise called a fond opinion, that for a prince to govern his es- tate, or for a great person to govern his proceed- ings according to the respect of faction, is the prin- cipal part of policy. Whereas, contrariwise, the chiefest wisdom is either in ordering those things which are general, and wherein men of several factions do nevertheless agree, or in dealing with correspondent persons one by one. But I say not that the consideration of factions is to be neglected. Mean men 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 moderately as he be a man of the one faction which is pass- ablest with the other, commonly giveth best way. The lower and weaker faction is the firmer in condition. When one of the factions is extin- guished, the remaining subdivideth, which is good for a second. It is commonly seen that a66 BACON'S ESSAYS. men once placed take in with the contrary fac- tion to that by which they enter. The traitor in factions lightly goeth away with it, for when matters have stuck long in balancing, the win- ning of some one man casteth them, and he getteth all the thanks. X. OF NEGOTIATING. IT is better generally to deal by speech than by letters, and by the mediation of a third than by one'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 afterward to produce his own letter. To deal in person is good, where a man's face breeds regard, as com- monly with inferiors. In choice of instruments, it is better to choose men of a plainer sort, that are likely to do that which is committed unto them, and to report back again faithfully the success, than they that are cunning to contrive out of other men's business somewhat to grace themselves, and will help the matter in report for satisfaction's sake. It is better to sound a person with whom one dealeth 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 of appetite than with those who are where they would be. If a man deal with an- other upon conditions, the start, or first perform- ance, is all which a man can reasonably de- mand, 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 need him BA CON'S ESS A YS. 267 in some other thing, or else that he be counted the honester man. All practice is to discover, or to make men discover themselves in trust, in passion, at unawares, and of necessity, where 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 win him ; or his weaknesses or disadvantages, and so awe him ; or those that have interest in him, and so govern him. In dealing with cunning persons, we must ever consider their ends to interpret their speeches, and it is good to say little unto them, and that which they least look for. VO THK RIGHT HONORABLE MY VERY GOOD LORD THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, HIS GRACF, LORD HIGH ADMIRAL OF ENGLAND. 1LXCELLENT LORD t Solomon says, " A good name is as a precious jiintment;" and I assure myself such will your (Jrace's name be with posterity, for your fortune a.nd merit both have been eminent, and you have planted things that are like to last I do now publish my Essays, which of all my other works have been most current, for that, as it seems, they come home to men's business and bosoms. I have enlarged them, both in number and weight, so that they are, indeed, a new work. 1 thought it, therefore, agreeable to my affection and obli- gation to your Grace to prefix your name before them, both in English and in Latin. For I do conceive that the Latin volume of them (being in the universal language) may last as long as books last. My Instauration I dedicated to the King; my History of Henry the Seventh (which I have now also translated into Latin) and my Portions of Natural History to the Prince, and these I ded- icate to your Grace, being of the best fruits that by the good increase which God gives to my pen and labors I could yield. God lead your Grace by the hand. Your Grace's most obliged and faithful servant, FR. ST. ALBAN. THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. A SERIES OF MYTHOLOGICAL FABLES.* PREFACE. THE earliest antiquity lies buriea in silence and oblivion, excepting the remains we have of it in sacred writ. This silence was succeeded by poetical fables, and these, at length, by the writ- ings we now enjoy : so that the concealed and secret learning of the ancients seems separated from the history and knowledge of the following ages by a veil, or partition-wall of fables, inter- posing between the things that are lost and those that remain. f Many may imagine that I am here entering upon a work of fancy, or amusement, and design to use a poetical liberty, in explaining poetical fables. It is true, fables in general are composed * Most of these fables are contained in Ovid's Metamor- phoses and Fasti, and are fully explained in Bohn's Classi- cal Library translation. t Varro distributes the ages of the world into three periods; viz., the unknown, the fabulous, and the histori- cal. Of the former we have no accounts but in Scripture ; for the second we must consult the ancient poets, such as Hesiod, Homer, or those who wrote still earlier, and then again come back to Ovid, who, in his Metamorphoses, 272 WISDOM Of THE ANCIENTS. of ductile matter, that may be drawn into great variety by a witty talent or an inventive genius, and be delivered of plausible meanings which they never contained. But this procedure has already been carried to excess ; and great num- bers, to procure the sanction of antiquity to their own notions and inventions, have miserably wrested and abused the fables of the ancients. Nor is this only a late or infrequent practice, tmt of ancient date, and common even to this day. Thus Chrysippus, like an interpreter of dreams, attributed the opinions of the Stoics to the poets of old ; and the chemists, at present, more childishly apply the poetical transforma- tions to their experiments of the furnace. And though I have well weighed and considered all this, and thoroughly seen into the levity which the mind indulges for allegories and allusions; yet I cannot but retain a high value for the ancient mythology. And, certainly, it were very injudicious to suffer the fondness and licentious- ness of a few to detract from the honor of alle- gory and parable in general. This would be rash and almost profane ; for since religion de- lights in such shadows and disguises, to abolish them were, in a manner, to prohibit all inter- course betwixt things divine and human. Upon deliberate consideration, my judgment is that a concealed instruction and allegory was seems, in imitation perhaps of some ancient Greek poet, to have intended a complete collection, or a kind of con- tinued and connected history of the fabulous aga, epe- ciaily with rwgurd to changes, revolutions, or transform* WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 273 Originally intended in many of the ancient fables. This opinion may, in some respect, be owing to the veneration I have for antiquity, but more to observing that some fables discover a great and evident similitude, relation, and connection with the thing they signify, as well in the structure of the fable as in the propriety of the names where- by the persons or actors are characterized ; inso- much, that no one could positively deny a sense and meaning to be from the first intended, and purposely shadowed out in them. For who can hear that Fame, after the giants were destroyed, sprung up as their posthumous sister, and not apply it to the clamor of parties and the seditious rumors which commonly fly about for a time upon the quelling of insurrections ? Or who can read how the giant Typhon cut out and carried away Jupiter's sinews which Mercury afterward stole and again restored to Jupiter and not presently observe that this allegory denotes strong and powerful, rebellions, 'which cut away from kings their sinews, both of money and authority ; and that the way to have them restored is by lenity, affability, and prudent edicts, which soon recon- cile, and, as it were, steal upon the affections of the subject ? Or who, upon hearing that memo- rable expedition of the gods against the giants, when the braying of Silenus' ass greatly contrib- uted in putting the giants to flight, does not clearly conceive that this directly points at the monstrous enterprises of rebellious subjects, which are frequently frustrated and disappointed by vain fears and empty rumors ? Again, the conforniity and purport of tlv.: WISDOM dF Tff AMCfEJVTS. Is frequently manifest and self-evident. Thus Metis, the wife of Jupiter, plainly signifies coun- sel ; Typhon, swelling ; Pan, universality ; Neme- sis, revenge, etc. Nor is it a wonder, if sometimes a piece of history or other things are introduced, by way of ornament ; or if the times of the action are confounded ; or if part of one fable be tacked to another ; or if the allegory be new turned ; for all this must necessarily happen, as the fables were the inventions of men who lived in different ages and had different views ; some of them being ancient, others more modern ; some having an eye to natural philosophy, and others to morality or civil policy. It may pass for a further indication of a con- cealed and secret meaning, that some of thes& fables are so absurd and idle in their narration as to show and proclaim an allegory, even afav off. A fable that carries probability with it may be supposed invented for pleasure, or in imitation of history; but those that could never be con- ceived or related in this way must surely have a different use. For example, what a monstrous fiction is this, that Jupiter should take Metis to wife, and as soon as he found her pregnant eat her up, whereby he also conceived, and out of his head brought forth Pallas armed. Certainly no mortal could, but for the sake of the moral it couches, invent such an absurd dream as this, so much out of the road of thought ! But the argument of most weight with me is this, that many of these fables by no means ap- pear to have been invented by the persons who relate and divulge them, whether Homer, Hesiod, WISDOM OF TH ANCIENTS. 275 or others ; for if I were assured they first flowed from those later times and authors that transmit them to us, I should never expect anything singu- larly great or noble from such an origin. But whoever attentively considers the thing, will find that these fables are delivered down and related by those writers, not as matters then first invented and proposed, but as things received and em- braced in earlier ages. Besides, as they are differently related by writers nearly of the same ages, it is easily perceived that the relators drew from the common stock of ancient tradition, and varied but in point of embellishment, which is their own. And this principally raises my esteem of these fables, which I receive not as the product of the age, or invention of the poets, but as sacred relics, gentle whispers, and the breath of better times, that from the traditions of more ancient nations came, at length, into the flutes and trum pets of the Greeks. But if anyone shall, notwith- standing this, contend that allegories are always adventitious, or imposed upon the ancient fables, and no way native or genuinely contained in them, we might here leave him undisturbed in that gravity of judgment he affects (though we cannot help accounting it somewhat dull and phlegmatic), and if it were worth the trouble, proceed to an- other kind of argument. Men have proposed to answer two different and contrary ends by the use of parable : for parables serve as well to instruct or illustrate as to wrap up and envelop, so that though, for the present, we drop the concealed use, and suppose the ancient Cables to be vague, indeterminate things, formed *;6 WISDOM OF THE ANCTENTS. for amusement, still the other use must remain, and can never be given up. And every man, of any learning, must readily allow that this method of instructing is grave, sober, or exceedingly use- ful, and sometimes necessary in the sciences, as it opens an easy and familiar passage to the human understanding, in all new discoveries that are abstruse and out of the road of vulgar opinions. Hence, in the first ages, when such inventions and conclusions of the human reason as are now trite and common were new and little known, all things abounded with fables, parables, similes, comparisons and illusions, which were not in- tended to conceal, but to inform and teach, while the minds of men continued rude and unpracticed in matters of subtility and speculation, or even impatient, and in a manner incapable of receiving such things as did not directly fall under and strike the senses. For as hieroglyphics were in use before writing, so were parables in use before arguments. And even to this day, if any man would let new light in upon the human under- standing, and conquer prejudice, without raising contests, animosities, opposition, or disturbance, lie must still go in the same path, and have ra- course to the like method of allegory, metaphor, and allusion. To conclude, the knowledge of the early ages was either great or happy ; great, if they by de- sign made this use of trope and figure ; happy if, while they had other views, they afforded matter and occasion to such noble contemplations. Let either be the case, our pains, perhaps, will not be misemployed, whether W S illustrate antiquity pr things themselves. WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 277 The like indeed has been attempted by others ; but to speak ingenuously, their great and volu- minous labors have almost destroyed the energy, the efficacy, and grace of the thing, while being unskilled in nature, and their learning r;o more than that of commonplace, they have applied the sense of the parables to certain general and vulgar matters, without reaching to their real purport, genuine interpretation, and full depth. For myself, therefore, I expect to appear new in these common things, because, leaving untouched such as are sufficiently plain and open, I shall drive only at those that are either deep or rich. WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. I. CASSANDRA, OR DIVINATION. EXPLAINED OF TOO FREE AND UNSEASONABLE ADVICE. THE poets relate that Apollo, falling in lova with Cassandra, was still deluded and put off by her, yet fed with hopes, till she had got from him the gift of prophecy; and having now ob- tained her end, she flatly rejected his suit. Apollo, unable to recall his rash gift, yet enraged to be outwitted by a girl, annexed this penalty to it, that though she should always prophesy true, she should never be believed; whence her divina- tions were always slighted, even when she again and again predicted the ruin of her country. EXPLANATION. This fable seems invented to express the insignificance of unseasonable advice. For they who are conceited, stubborn, or intnict- able, and listen not to the instructions of Apollo, the god of harmony, so as to learn and observe the modulations and measures of affairs, the sharps and flats of discourse, the difference between judicious and vulgar ears, and the proper times of speech and silence, let them be ever so intelligent, and ever so frank of their advice or their counsels ever so good and just, yet all their endeavors, either of persuasion or force, are of little significance, and rather hasten the ruin of those they advise. But, at last, when the calamitous event has made the sufferers feel the effect of their neglect they too late reverence WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 279 their advisers, as deep, foreseeing, and faithful prophets. Of this we have a remarkable instance in Cato of Utica, who discovered afar off, and long fore- told the approaching ruin of his country, both in the first conspiracy, and as it was prosecuted in the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, yet did no good the while, but rather hurt the common- wealth, and hurried on its destruction, which Cicero wisely observed in these words : " Cato, indeed, judges excellently, but prejudices the state ; for he speaks as in the commonwealth of Plato, and not as in the dregs of Romulus. II. TYPHON, OR A REBEL. EXPLAINED OF REBELLION. THE fable runs, that Juno, enraged at Jupiter's bringing forth Pallas without her assistance, in- cessantly solicited all the gods and goddesses, that she might produce without Jupiter ; and having by violence and importunity obtained the grant, she struck the earth, and thence imme- diately sprung up Typhon, a huge and dreadful monster, whom she committed to the nursing of a serpent. As soon as he was grown up, this monster waged war on Jupiter, and taking him prisoner in the battle, carried him away on his shoulders, into a remote and obscure quarter: and there cutting out the sinews of his hands and feet, he bore them off, leaving Jupiter behind miserably maimed and mangled. But Mercury afterwards stole these sinews from Typhon. and restored them to Jupiter. Hence, 8o WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. recovering his strength, Jupiter again pursues the monster ; first wounds him with a stroke of his thunder, when serpents arose from the blood of the wound ; and now the monster being dismayed, and taking to flight, Jupiter next darted Mount JEtna. upon him, and crushed him with the weight. EXPLANATION. This fable seems designed to express the various fates of kings, and the turns that rebellions sometimes take in kingdoms. For princes may be justly esteemed married to their states, as Jupiter to Juno ; but it some- times happens, that being depraved by long wielding of the sceptre, and growing tyrannical, they would engross all to themselves, and slight- ing the counsel of their senators and nobles, con- ceive by themselves ; that is, govern according to their own arbitrary will and pleasure. This inflames the people, and makes them endeavor to create and set up some head of their own. Such designs are generally set on foot by the secret motion and instigation of the peers and nobles, under whose connivance the common sort are prepared for rising ; whence proceeds a swell in the state, which is appositely denoted by the nursing of Typhon. This growing posture of affairs is fed by the natural depravity, and malig- nant dispositions of the vulgT, which to kings is an envenomed serpent. And now the disaffected, uniting their force, at length break out into open rebellion, which, produ' ' ig infinite mischiefs, both to prince and people, is represented by the horrid and multiplied deformity of Typhon, with WISDOM Of THE AtfCfENTS 2 $t his hundred heads, denoting the divided powers ; his flaming mouths, denoting fire and devastation ; his girdle of snakes, denoting sieges and de- struction ; his iron hands, slaughter and cruelty ; his eagle's talons, rapine and plunder ; his plumed body, perpetual rumors, contradictory accounts, etc. And sometimes these rebellions grow so high, that kings are obliged, as if carried on the backs of the rebels, to quit the throne, and retire to some remote and obscure part of their dominions, with the loss of their sinews, both of money and majesty. But if now they prudently bear this reverse of fortune, they may, in a short time, by the as- sistance of Mercury, recover their sinews again ; that is, by becoming moderate and affable ; rec- onciling the minds and affections of the people to them, by gracious speeches and prudent proo lamations, which will win over the subjects cheerfully to afford new aids and supplies, and add fresh vigor to authority. But prudent and wary princes here seldom incline to try fortune by a war, yet do their utmost, by some grand ex- ploit, to crush the reputation of the rebels : and if the attempt succeeds, the rebels, conscious of the wound received, and distrustful of their cause, first betake themselves to broken and empty threats, like the hissings of serpents ; and next, when matters are grown desperate, to flight. And now, when they thus begin to shrink, it is safe and seasonable for kings to pursue them with their forces, and the whole strength of the kingdom thus effectually quashing and suppressing them, as it were by the weight of, ^mountain. t*2 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. III. THE CYCLOPS, OR THE MINISTERS OF TERROR. EXPLAINED OF BASE COURT OFFICERS. IT is related that the Cyclops, for their savage- ness and cruelty, were by Jupiter first thrown into Tartarus, and there condemned to perpetual imprisonment : but that afterward, Tellus per- suaded Jupiter it would be for his service to re- lease them, and employ them in forging thunder- bolts. This he accordingly did ; and they, with unwearied pains and diligence, hammered out his bolts, and other instruments of terror, with a frightful and continual din of the anvil. It happened long after, that Jupiter was dis- pleased with ^Esculapius, the son of Apollo, for having, by the art of medicine, restored a dead man to life : but concealing his indignation, be- cause the action in itself was pious and illustrious, he secretly incensed the Cyclops against him, who, without remorse, presently slew him with their thunderbolts : in revenge whereof, Apollo, with Jupiter's connivance, shot all them dead with his arrows. EXPLANATION. This fable seems to point at the behavior of princes, who, having cruel, bloody, and oppressive ministers, first punish and displace them ; but afterward, by the advice of TelVas. that is, some earthly-minded and ig- noble person, employ them again, to serve a turn, when there, is occasion for cruelty in execution, or ^eventv in exaction : but these ministers be- uig base .a their nature, whet by their former WISDOM OF Tff ANCIENTS. 283 disgrace, and well aware of what is expected from them, use double diligence in their office ; till, proceeding unwarily, and over eager to gain favor they sometimes, from the private nods, and am- biguous orders of their prince, performed some odious or execrable action : when princes, to de- cline the envy themselves,, and knowing they shall never want such tools at their back, drop them, and give them up to the friends and follow- ers of the injured person ; thus exposing them, as sacrifices to revenge and popular odium : whence with great applause, acclamations, and good wishes to the prince, these miscreants at last meet with their desert. IV. NARCISSUS, OR SELF-LOVE. NARCISSUS is said to have been extremely beautiful and comely, but intolerably proud and disdainful ; so that, pleased with himself, and scorning the world, he led a solitary life in the woods ; hunting only with a few followers, who were his professed admirers, among whom the nymph Echo was his constant attendant. In this method of life it was once his fate to ap- proach a clear fountain, where he laid himself down to rest, in the noonday heat ; when, behold- ing his image in the water, he fell into such a rapture and admiration of himself, that he could by no means be got away, but remained continu- ally fixed and gazing, till at length he was turned into a flower, of his own name, which appears early in the spring, and is consecrated to the infernal deities, Pluto, Proserpine, and the Furies. 284 WISDOM OF TffE ANCIENTS. EXPLANATION. This fable seems to paint the behavior and fortune of those, who, for their beauty, or other endowments, wherewith nature (without any industry of their own) has graced and adorned them, are extravagantly fond of themselves : for men of such a disposition gener- ally affect retirement, and absence from public affairs ; as a life of business must necessarily sub- ject them to many neglects and contempts, which, might disturb and ruffle their minds : whence such persons commonly lead a solitary, private-, and shadowy life ; see little company, and those only such as highly admire and reverence them ; or, like an echo, assent to all they say. And they who are depraved, and rendered still fonder of themselves by this custom, grow strange- ly indolent, inactive, and perfectly stupid. The Narcissus, a spring flower, is an elegant emblem of this temper, which at first flourishes, and is talked of, but when ripe, frustrates the expecta- tion conceived of it. And that this flower should be sacred to the infernal powers, carries out the allusion still further ; because men of this humor are perfectly useless in all respects: for whatever yields no fruit, but passes, and is no more, like the way of a ship in the sea, was by the ancients consecrated to the infernal shades and j>ow*i*, WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. V. THE RIVER STYX, OR LEAGUES. EXPLAINED OF NECESSITY, IN THE OATHS OR SOLEMN LEAGUES OF PRINCES. THE only solemn oath, by which the gods irrevocably obliged themselves, is a well-known thing, and makes a part of many ancient fables. To this oath they did not invoke any celestial divinity, or divine attribute, but only called to witness the river Styx ; which, with many mean- ders, surrounds the infernal court of Dis. For this form alone, and none but this, was held in- violable and obligatory : and the punishment of falsifying it, was that dreaded one of being ex- cluded, for a certain number of years, the table of the gods. EXPLANATION. This fable seems invented to show the nature of the compacts and confeder- acies of princes ; which, though ever so solemnly and religiously sworn to, prove but little the more binding for it : so that oaths in this case seem used, rather for decorum, reputation, and cere- mony, than for fidelity, security, and effectuating. And though these oaths were strengthened with the bonds of affinity, which are the links and ties of nature, and again, by mutual services and good offices, yet we see all this will generally give way to ambition, convenience, and the thirst of power : the rather, because it is easy for princes, under various specious pretences to defend, dis- guise, and conceal their ambitious desires, and *86 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. insincerity; having no judge to call them to account. There is, however, one true and proper confirmation of their faith, though no celestial divinity; but that great divinity of princes, Neces- sity ; or, the danger of the state ; and the secur- ing of advantage. This necessity is elegantly represented by Styx, the fatal river, that can never be crossed back. And this deity it was, which Iphicrates the Athenian invoked in making a league : and because he roundly and openly avows what most others studiously conceal, it may be proper to give his own words. Observing that the Lacedae- monians were inventing and proposing a variety of securities, sanctions, and bonds of alliance, he interrupted them thus : " There may indeed, my friends, be one bond and means of security be- tween us ; and that is, for you to demonstrate you have delivered into our hands, such things as that if you had the greatest desire to hurt us you could not be able." Therefore, if the power of offending be taken away, or if by a breach of compact there be danger of destruction or dim- inution to the state or tribute, then it is that covenants will be ratified, and confirmed, as it were by the Stygian oath, while there remains an impending danger of being prohibited and ex- cluded the banquet of the gods ; by which expression the ancients denoted the rights and prerogatives, the affluence and the felicities, of empire and dominion. WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 287 VI. PAN, OR NATURE.* EXPLAINED OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. THE ancients have, with great exactness, de- lineated universal nature under the person of Pan. They leave his origin doubtful ; some asserting him the son of Mercury, and others the common offspring of all Penelope's suitors. The latter supposition doubtless occasioned some later rivals to entitle this ancient fable Penelope- a thing frequently practised when the earlier relations are applied to more modern characters and persons, though sometimes with great absurd- ly and ignorance, as in the present case; for Pan was one of the most ancient gods, and long before the time of Ulysses; besides, Penelope was venerated by antiquity for her matronal chastity. A third sort will have him the issue of Jupiter and Hybris, that is, Reproach. But whatever his origin was, the Destinies are allowed his sisters. He is described by antiquity, with pyramidal horns reaching up to heaven, a rough and shaggy body, a very long beard, of a biform figure, human above, half brute below, ending in goat's feet. His arms, or ensigns of power, are a pipe in his left hand, composed of seven reeds ; in his right a crook ; and he wore for his mantle a L-opard's skin. His attributes and titles were the god of nunters, shepherds, and all the rural inhabitants ; president of the mountains; and, after Mercury, the next messenger of the gods. He was also held * Homer's Hymn to Par. 288 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS, the leader and ruler of the Nymphs, who contin- ually danced and frisked about him, attended with the Satyrs and their elders, the Sileni. He had also the power of striking terrors, especially such as were vain and superstitious; whence they came to be called panic terrors.* Few actions are recorded of him, only a princi- pal one is, that he challenged Cupid at wrestling, and was worsted. He also caught the giant Typhon in a net, and held him fast. They relate further of him, that when Ceres, growing discon- solate for the rape of Proserpine, hid herself, and all the gods took the utmost pains to find her, by going out different ways for that purpose, Pan only had the good fortune to meet her, as he was hunting, and discovered her to the rest. He likewise had the assurance to rival Apollo in music, and in the judgment of Midas was pre- ferred; but the judge had, though with great privacy and secrecy, a pair of asses' ears fastened on him for his sentence.f There is very little said of his amours ; which may seem strange among such a multitude of gods, so profusely amorous. He is only reported to have been very fond of Echo, who was also esteemed his wife ; and one nymph more, called Syrinx, with the love of whom Cupid inflamed him for his insolent challenge ; so he is reported once to have solicited the moon to accompany him apart into the deep woods. Lastly, Pan had no descendant, which also is a wonder, when the male gods were so extremely Cicero, Epistle to Atticus, 5. f Ovid, Metamorphoses, b. ii. WISDOM OF THE ANCIEXTS. 489 prolific ; only he was the reputed father of a, servant-girl called lambe, who used to divert strangers with her ridiculous prattling stories. This fable is perhaps the noblest of all anti- quity, and pregnant with the mysteries and secrets of nature. Pan, as the name imports, represents the universe, about whose origin there are two opinions, viz., that it either sprung from Mercury, that is, the divine word, according to the Script- ures and philosophical divines, or from the con- fused seeds of things. For they who allow only one beginning of all things, either ascribe it to God ; or, if they suppose a material beginning, acknowledge it to be various in its powers ; so that the whole dispute comes to these points ; viz., either that nature proceeds from Mercury, or from Penelope and all her suitors.* The third origin of Pan seems borrowed by the Greeks from the Hebrew mysteries, either by means of the Egyptians or otherwise ; for it re- lates to the state of the world, not in its first creation, but as made subject to death and cor- ruption after the fall ; and in this state it was and remains, the offspring of God and Sin, or Jupiter and Reproach. And, therefore, these three several accounts of Pan's birth may seem true, if duly distinguished in respect of things and times. *This refers to the confused mixture of things, as sung by Virgil : " Namque canebat uti magnum par inane coacta Senina terrarumque animaeque marisque f uisseot ; Et liquidi simul ignis ; ut his exordia primis Omnia, et ipse tener mundi concreverit Ed. vi. 31. tgo WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. For this Pan, or the universal nature of thing?, which we view and contemplate, had its origin from the divine Word and confused matter, first created by God himself, with the subsequent in- troduction of sin and consequently corruption. The Destinies, or the natures and fates of things, are justly made Pan's sisters, as the chain of natural causes links together the rise, duration, and corruption ; the exaltation, degeneration, and working ; the processes, the effects, and changes, of all that can any way happen to things. Horns are given him, broad at the roots, but narrow and sharp at the top, because the nature of all things seem pyramidal ; for individuals are infinite, but being collected into a variety of species, they rise up into kinds, and these again ascend, and are contracted into generals, till at length nature may seem collected to a point. And no wonder if Pan's horns reach to the heavens, since the sublimities of nature, or ab- stract ideas, reach in a manner to things divine ; for there is a short and ready passage from metaphysics to natural theology. Pan's body, or the body of nature, is, with great propriety and elegance, painted shaggy and hairy, as representing the rays of things ; for rays are as the hair, or fleece of nature, and more or less worn by all bodies. This evidently appears in vision, and in all effects or operations at a dis- tance ; for whatever operates thus may be properly said to emit rays.* But particularly the beard * This is always supposed to be the case in vision, the mathematical demonstrations in optics proceeding invaria- bly upon the assumption of this phenomenon. WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 291 v of Pan is exceeding long, because the rays of the celestial bodies penetrate, and act to a prodigious distance, and hava descended into the interior of the earth so far as to change its surface ; and the sun himself, when clouded on its upper part, appears to the eye bearded. Again, the body of nature is justly described biform, because of the difference between its superior and inferior parts, as the former, for their beauty, regularity of motion, and influence over the earth, may be properly represented by the human figure, and the latter, because of their disorder, irregularity, and subjection to the celes- tial bodies, are by the brutal. This biform figure also represents the participation of one species with another ; for there appear to be no simple natures ; but all participate or consist of two : thus man has somewhat of the brute, the brute somewhat of the plant, the plant somewhat of the mineral ; so that all natural bodies have really two faces, or consist of a superior and an inferior species. There lies a curious allegory in the making of Pan goat-footed, on account of the motion of ascent which the terrestrial bodies have toward the air and heavens; for the goat is a clambering creature, that delights in climbing up rocks and precipices ; and in the same manner the matters destined to this lower globe strongly affect to rise upward, as appears from the clouds and meteors. Pan's arms, or the ensigns he bears in his hands, are of two kinds the one an emblem of harmony, the other of empire. His pipe, com- posed of seven reeds, plainly denotes the consent 292 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. ** and harmony, or the concords and discords of things, produced by the motion of the seven planets. His crook also contains a fine represent- ation of the ways of nature, which are partly straight and partly crooked ; thus the staff, hav- ing an extraordinary bend toward the top, denotes that the works of Divine Providence are generally brought about by remote means, or in a circuit, as if somewhat else were intended rather than the effect produced, as in the sending of Joseph into Egypt, etc. So likewise in human government, they who sit at the helm manage and wind the people more successfully by pretext and ob- lique courses, than they could by such as are direct and straight ; so that, in effect, all sceptres are crooked at the top. Pan's mantle, or clothing, is with great in- genuity made of a leopard's skin, because of the spots it has ; for in like manner the heavens are sprinkled with stars, the sea with islands, the earth with flowers, and almost each particular thing is variegated or wears a mottled coat. The office of Pan could not be more lively expressed than by making him the god of hunters ; for every natural action, every motion and pro- cess, is no other than a chase ; thus arts and sciences hunt out their works, and human schemes and counsels their several ends ; and all living creatures either hunt out their aliment, pursue their prey, or seek their pleasures, and this in a skilful and sagacious manner.* He is also * "Torraleacna lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam : Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella." Virgil, EcL ii. 63, WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 293 styled the god of the rural inhabitants because men in this situation live more according to nature than they do in cities and courts, where nature is so corrupted with effeminate arts, that the saying of the poet may be verified pars minima est ipsa puella sui.* He is likewise particularly styled President of the Mountains, because in mountains and lofty places the nature of things lies more open and exposed to the eye and the understanding. In his being called the messenger of the gods, next after Mercury, lies a divine allegory, as next after the Word of God, the image of the world is the herald of the Divine power and wisdom, according to the expression of the Psalmist, " The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firma- ment showeth his handiwork." f Pan is delighted with the company of the Nymphs ; that is, the souls of all living creatures are the delight of the world ; and he is properly called their governor, because each of them follows its own nature as a leader, and all dance about their own respective rings, with infinite variety and never-ceasing motion. And with these con- tinually join the Satyrs and Sileni ; that is youth and age ; for all things have a kind of young, cheerful, and dancing time ; and again their time of slowness, tottering, and creeping. And who- ever, in a true light, considers the motions and endeavors of both these ages, like another Demo- critus, will perhaps find them as odd and strange * Ovid, Rem. Amoris, T. 343. Mart. Epist t Psalm xix. t 294 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. as the gesticulations and antic motions of the Satyrs and Sileni. The power he had of striking terrors contains a very sensible doctrine ; for nature has implanted fear in all living creatures ; as well to keep them from risking their lives as to guard against injuries and violence ; and yet this nature or passion keeps not its bounds, but with just and profitable fears always mixes such as are vain and sense- less ; so that all things, if we could see their insides, would appear full of panic terrors. Thus mankind, particularly the vulgar, labor under a high degree of superstitions, which is nothing more than a panic dread that principally reigns in unsettled and troublesome times. The presumption of Pan in challenging Cupid to the conflict, denotes that matter has an appe- tite and tendency to a dissolution of the world, and falling back to its first chaos again, unless this depravity and inclination were restrained and subdued by a more powerful concord and agree- ment of things, properly expressed by Love or Cupid ; it is, therefore, well for mankind, and the state of all things, that Pan was thrown and conquered in the struggle. His catching and detaining Typhon in the net receives a similar explanation ; for whatever vast and unusual swells, which the word Typhon sig- nifies, may sometimes be raised in nature, as in the sea, the clouds, the earth, or the like, yet nature catches, entangles, and holds all such out- rages and insurrections in her inextricable net, wove as it were of adamant. That part of the fable which attributes the dis- WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 295 covery of lost Ceres to Pan while he was hunting a happiness denied the other gods, though they diligently and expressly sought her contains an exceedingly just and prudent admonition ; viz., that we are not to expect the discovery of things useful in common life, as that of corn, denoted by Ceres, from abstract philosophies, as if these were the gods of the first order no, not though we used our utmost endeavors this way but only from Pan, that is, a sagacious experience and general knowledge of nature, which is often found, even by accident, to stumble upon such discov- eries while the pursuit was directed another way. The event of his contending with Apollo in music affords us a useful instruction, that may help to humble the human reason and judgment, which is too apt to boast and glory in itself. There seem to be two kinds of harmony the one of Divine Providence, the other of human reason; but the government of the world, the administration of its affairs, and the more secret Divine judgments, sound harsh and dissonant to human ears or human judgment ; and though this ignorance be justly rewarded with asses' ears, yet they are put on and worn, not openly, but with great secrecy ; nor is the deformity of the things seen or observed by the vulgar. We must not find it strange if no amours are re- lated of Pan besides his marriage with Echo ; for nature enjoys itself, and in itself all other things. He that loves desires enjoyment, but in profusion there is no room for desire ; and therefore Pan, remaining content with himself, has no passion unless it be for discourse, which is well shadowed 296 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. out by Echo or talk, or when it is more accurate, by Syrinx or writing.* But Echo makes a most excellent wife for Pan, as being no other than genuine philosophy, which faithfully repeats his words, or only transcribes exactly as nature dic- tates ; thus representing the true image and reflection of the world without adding a tittle. It tends also to the support and perfection of Pan or nature to be without offspring ; for the world generates in its parts, and not in the way of a whole, as wanting a body external to itself wherewith to generate. Lastly, for the supposed or spurious prattling daughter of Pan, it is an excellent addition to the fable, and aptly represents the talkative philoso- phies that have at all times been stirring, and filled the world with idle tales, being ever barren, empty, and servile, though sometimes indeed diverting and entertaining, and sometimes again troublesome and importunate. VII. PERSEUS,* OR WAR. EXPLAINED OF THE PREPARATION AND CONDUCT NECESSARY TO WAR. '* THE fable relates, that Perseus was dispatched from the east by Pallas, to cut off Medusa's head, who had committed great ravage upon the people of the west ; for this Medusa was so dire a mon- ster as to turn into stone all those who but looked upon her. . She was a Gorgon, and the only mor- * Syrinx signifying a reed, or the ancient oem, t Ovid, Metam., b. iv. WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 297 tal one of the three, the other two being invul- nerable. Perseus, therefore, preparing himself for this grand enterprise, had presents made him from three of the gods : Mercury gave him wings for his heels ; Pluto, a helmet ; and Pallas, a shield and a mirn . But though he was now so well equipped, he posted not directly to Medusa, but first turned aside to the Crese, who were half- sisters to the Gorgons. These Greas were gray- headed, and 'ike old women from their birth, having among them ^11 three but one eye, and one tooth, whLh. as they had occasion to go out, they each ^ 'ore by turns, and laid them down again upon c mlng back. This eye and this tooth they le..t to Perseus, who now judging himself sufficiently furnished, he, without further stop, flies swiftly away to Medusa, and finds her asleep. But not venturing his eyes, for fear she should awake, he turned his head aside, and viewed her in Pallas' mirror ; and thus directing his stroke, cut off her head ; when immediately, from the gushing blood, there darted Pegasus, winged. Perseus now inserted Medusa's head into Pallas' shield, which thence retained the faculty of astonishing and benumbing all who looked on it." This fable seems invented to show the prudent method of choosing, undertaking, and conduct ing a war ; and, accordingly, lays down three useful precepts about it, as if they were the pre- cepts of Pallas. (i) The first is, that no prince should be over- solicitous to subdue a neighboring nation ; for the method of enlarging an empire is very differ- 2QS WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. ent from that of increasing an estate. Regard is justly had to contiguity, or adjacency, in pri- vate lands and possessions ; but in the extend- ing of empire, the occasion, the facility and ad- vantage of a war are to be regarded instead of vicinity. It is certain that the Romans, at the time they stretched but little beyond Liguria to the west, had by their arms subdued the provinces as far as Mount Taurus to the east. And thus Perseus readily undertook a very long expedition even from the east to the extremities of the west. The second precept is, that the cause of the war be just and honorable ; for this adds alacrity both to the soldiers and people who find the sup- plies ; procures aids, alliances, and numerous other conveniences. Now there is no cause of war more just and laudable than the suppressing of tyranny, by which a people are dispirited, be- numbed, or left without life and vigor, as at the sight of Medusa. Lastly, it is prudently added, that as there were three of the Gorgons, who represent war, Perseus singled her out for his expedition that was mortal; which affords this precept, that such kinds of war should be chosen as may be brought to a con- clusion, with pursuing vast and infinite hopes. Again, Perseus' setting-out is extremely well adapted to his undertaking, and in a manner com- mands success ; he received dispatch from Mer- cury, secrecy from Pluto, and foresight from Pallas. It also contains an excellent allegory, that the wings ^iven him by Mercury were for his heels, not for his shoulders ; because expedi- tion is not so much required in the first prepanv WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 299 tions for war, as in the subsequent matters, that administer to the first ; for there is no error more frequent in war, than, after brisk preparations, to halt for subsidiary forces and effective supplies. The allegory of Pluto's helmet, rendering men invisible and secret, is sufficiently evident of it- self ; but the mystery of the shield and the mirror lies deeper, and denotes that not only a prudent caution must be had to defend, like the shield, but also such an address and penetration as may discover the strength, the motions, the counsels and designs of the enemy; like the mirror of Pallas. But though Perseus may now seem extremely well prepared, there still remains the most impor- tant thing of all ; before he enters upon the war, he must of necessity consult the Greae. These Greae are treasons ; half, but degenerate sisters of the Gorgons, who are representatives of war : for wars are generous and noble ; but treasons base and vile. The Greoe are elegantly described as hoary-headed, and like old women from their birth ; on account of the perpetual cares, fears, and trepidations attending traitors. Their force, also, before it breaks out into open revolt, consists either in an eye or a tooth ; for all faction, alienated from a state, is both watchful and biting ; and this eye and tooth are, as it were, common to all the dis- affected ; because whatever they learn and know is transmitted from one to another, as by the hands of faction. And for the tooth, they all bite with the same ; and clamor with one throat ; so that each of them singly expresses the multitude. These Greae, therefore, must be prevailed 300 WISDOM OF r::~ AXCIENTS. upon by Perseus to lend him their eye and their tooth ; the eye to give him indications, and make discoveries ; the tooth for sowing rumors, raising envy, and stirring up the minds of the people. And when all these things are thus disposed and prepared, then follows the action of the war. He finds Medusa asleep ; for whoever under- takes a war with prudence, generally falls upon the enemy unprepared, and nearly in a state of security ; and here is the occasion for Pallas' mirror: for it is common enough, before the danger presents itself, to see exactly into the state and posture of the enemy ; but the princi- pal use of the glass is, in the very instant of danger, to discover the manner thereof, and pre- vent consternation ; which is the thing intended by Perseus' turning his head aside, and viewing the enemy in the glass.* Two effects here follow the conquest: i. The darting forth of Pegasus ; which evidently de- notes fame, that flies abroad, proclaiming the victory far and near. 2 The bearing of Me- dusa's head in the shield, which is the greatest possible defence and safeguard ; for one grand and memorable enterprise, happily accomplished, bridles all the motions and attempts of the enemy, stupefies disaffection, and quells commotions. * Thus it is the excellence of a general early to discover what turn the battle is likely to take, and looking prudently behind, as well as before, to pursue a victory so as not t be unprovided for a retreat. WISDOM Of TH& ANCIEtfTS. 301 VIII. ENDYMION, OR A FAVORITE. EXPLAINED OF COURT FAVORITES. THE goddess Luna is said to have fallen in Jove with the shepherd Endymion, and to have carried on her amours with him in a new and singular manner ; it being her custom, while he lay reposing in his native cave, under Mount Latmus, to descend frequently from her sphere, enjoy his company while he slept, and then go up to heaven again. And all this while, Encly- mion's fortune was no way prejudiced by his inactive and sleepy life, the goddess causing his flocks to thrive, and grow so exceeding numerous, that none of the other shepherds could compare with him. EXPLANATION. This fable seems to describe the tempers and dispositions of princes, who, be- ing thoughtful and suspicious, do not easily ad- mit to their privacies such men as are prying, curious and vigilant, or, as it were, sleepless ; but, rather, such as are of an easy, obliging nat- ure, and indulge them in their pleasures, with- out seeking anything further ; but seeming igno- rnnl:, insensible, or, as it were, lulled asleep be- fore them. * Princes usually treat such persons * It may be remembered that the Athenian peasant voted for the banishment of Aristides, because he was called the Just. Shakespeare forcibly expresses th same thought : "Let me have men about me that are fit; Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights : 3