^aoum ^OFCAll m ERfo. ^ y mm\v$ AW-UNIVEItf//) ^clOSANCf , v _ .; ^ ^ LONDON : H ENEY G. BOHN, YOEK STEEET, COVENT GARDEN. 1852. privtep by cox ^brothers) and wymav, great qi'ke.v street, li.vcoln's-inn fields. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON THE WRITINGS OF BACON LIFE AND Page ix ESSAYS; or, Counsels Civil and Moral. I.— Of Truth 1 II. — Of Death 4 III. — Of Unity in Religion 6 IV. — Of Revenge . . 12 V. — Of Adversity 13 VI. — Of Simulation and Dissimulation . 15 VII. — Of Parents and Children 18 VIII. — Of Marriage and Single Life 19 IX.— Of Envy 21 X. — Of Love 26 XI. — Of Great Place . 28 NIL— Of Boldness . . . 31 XIII. — Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature 33 XIV. — Of Nobility . . . 36 XV. — Of Seditions and Troubles . 33 XVI. — Of Atheism .. 45 XVII.— Of Sin kstition 49 XVIIL— Of Travel . . . 50 X i X.— Of Empire . . \.\. • (>f Counsel . . 58 xxi. in Delays .. 63 xxii. of Cunning .. 64 XXIII. Of WlSDOM FOR A .Man's Self . . 68 XX IV. of Innovations 69 XXV. in DlBPATCH . . 70 xxvi. of Seeking Wise 72 XX VII.- I >f Friendship 78 XXYiii. of Expense .. XXIX.— of the Tbub Gbbatnsss of Kingdoms an D Estates ._ . , . SI M CONTENTS. \ \ X.—Of XXXI.— Op XXXII.— Of XXXIII.— Of X X X I V.— Of XXXV.— Of XXXVI.- Of X X X V 1 1.— Of X v XVII r.— Of XXXIX.— Of XL.— Of XLI.— Of XLIT.— Of XLIIL— Of XLIV.— Of XL V.— Of XLVL— Of XLVIL— Of XLVIIL— Of XLIX.— Of L.— Of LI.— Of LIL— Of LIIL— Of LIV.— Of LV.— Of LVL— Of LVIL— Of LVIIL— Of A Fragment of On Death Regimen ok Health . . Suspicion I H 0O1 B8B Plantations Riches Pbophecies \ MB1TI0N Masques and Triumphs Nature in Men Custom and Education KoRTINE Usury Youth and Age Beauty Deformity Building Gardens Negotiating Followers and Friends Suitors Studies Faction Ceremonies and Bespects Braise Vain Glory- Honour and Beputation Judicature Anger Vicissitude of Things . . an Essay of Fame Pn,,r 00 92 93 95 98 101 104 106 108 109 111 113 117 119 120 121 125 131 132 134 136 137 139 140 142 144 146 150 152 157 159 ABOBHTHEGMS 164 ORNAMENTA EATIONALIA : or Elegant Sentences . . 191 SHORT NOTES FOR CIVIL CONVERSATION . . . . 198 THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS; a Series op Mythological Fables. Breface I. — Cassandra, or Divination. Explained of too free and unseasonable Advice II. — Typhon, or a Rebel. Explained of Rebellion . . III. — The Cyclops, or the Ministers of Terror. Explained of base Court Officers IV. — Narcissus, or Self-love V. — The River Styx, or Leagues. Explained of 200 203 204 206 207 CONTEXTS. vii Necessity, in the Oaths or Solemn Leagues ot Princes Page 208 VI. — Pan, or Nature. Explained of Natural Philosophy 209 VII. — Perseus, or War. Explained of the Preparation and Conduct necessary to War . . . . . . 216 VIII. — Endymion, or a Favourite. Explained of Court Favourites . . .. . . . . . 219 IX.— The Sister of the Giants, or Fame. Explained of Public Detraction ' 220 X. — Acteon and PkkTHBDS, or a Curious Man. Ex- plained of Curiosity, or Prying into the Secrets of Princes and Divine Mysteries . . . . 221 XI. — Orpheus, or Philosophy. Explained of Natural and Moral Philosophy 222 XII. — COiLUM, or BEGINNINGS. Explained of the Crea- tion, or Origin of all Things . . . . . . 225 XIII. — Proteus, or Matter. Explained of Matter and its Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 XIV. — Memnon, or a Youth too forward. Explained of the fatal Precipitancy of Youth . . 228 XV. — Tythonus, or Satiety. Explained of Predominant Passions 229 XVI. — Juno's Suitor, or Baseness. Explained of Sub- mission and Abjection . . . . . . . . 230 XVII. — Cupid, or an Atom. Explained of the Corpus- cular Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . ib. XVIII. — Diomed, or Zeal. Explained of Persecution, or Zeal for Religion . . 233 XIX. — D.edalus, or Mechanical Skill. Explained of Arts and Artists in Kingdoms and States . . 236 XX. — Ericthonius, or Imposture. Explained of the Im- proper Use of Force in Natural Philosophy . . 238 XXI. — Deucalion, OB RESTITUTION. Explained of a Useful Hint in Natural Philosophy . . . . 239 XXII. — Nemesis, or the Vicissitude of Things. Ex- plained of the Reverses of Fortune ib. XXIII. — Achklous, or Battle. Explained of War by Invasion . . . . . . . . . . 241 XXIV. — Dionysus, m; I'.acchus. Explained of the Passions 242 XXV. — Atalanta and Hippomenes, or Gain. Explained of the Contest betwixt Art and Nature . . . . 245 XXVI. — Prometheus, or the State of Man. Explained of an Over-ruling Providence, and of Human Nature 247 XXV'II. [CASUS and Scyli.a and Charyhdis, <>it Tin: MIDDLE Way. Explained of Mediocrity in Natural and Moral Philosophy . . . . 256 XXVIII. Sihinx, or Science. Explained of the Sciences 268 \.\l.\. Pbobebfuto, ob Spirit. Explained of the Spirit included in Natural I'odies . . . . . . 2G1 VIII CONTENTS. XXX. — Metis, or Counsel. Explained of Princes and their Council . . Page 264 XXXI. — Tur, Sikkns, ob Pleasures Passion for Pleasures NEW ATLANTIS •• HENRY THE SEVENTH . . HENEY THE EIGHTH QUEEN ELIZABETH HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN JULIUS CESAR AUGUSTUS C^SAR Explained of Men's 265 269 307 479 480 493 495 499 504 ADVERTISEMENT. The present volume contains; all the historical work- of Lord Bacon, and the principal of his moral works; only a few antiquated pieces being omitted, which are no longer read. A companion volume is in immediate preparation (for the Scientific Library), comprising a complete translation of the nine books of De Augment™ SdenHanvm, not hitherto given in any edition of his works, and the Novum Orgcunum : both fully illustrated with notes. If these two volumes meet with that success to which their contents entitle them, it is proposed to collect the remaining portions of Lord Bacon's Philosophical and Miscellaneous works into a third volume, that the series may embrace all the writings of that philo- sopher which have outlived modern discovery, and are likely continuously to interest the attention of mankind. H. G. B. London, Nov. 1832. .; I - INTRODUCTION. BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL AlfONO the gfreat spirit s whofl • claim t<> undisputed empire over men's thoughts lias been ratified bj th ! concurrent testimony of ■ and nations, Lord Bacon .-iamls deservedly pre-eminent. If lie does not occupy the foremost plan-. In- pretensions an high and legitimate as any of his competitors'. T m i- not, however, on.' of degree, but of kind, and consequently will be decided according to th" estimation in which men are inclined to hold different objects. Ji' idea] philosophy be regarded, and the application of the ration;.! faculty to objects of moral speculation, the palm must be awarded to Socrates an,! Plato. If the art of mental analysis lie considered, and the power of tinctly Looking into the human mind, and tracing out the various laws which produci ntrol its pi i ia, we must readily admit the pretensions of Aristotle. But should we dh our views to physie; I the creation of materia] arts and the extension of man's power over nature, we shail be compelled grace Bacon's temples with the proudest w r< ath of glory. Despiti the splendid attempts of Plato and Aristotle to explain everyth the result proved thai th< Lr empire was bounded by th.' coni of the material universe. The arts and discoveries of the Athe- nian sa'_ r es, splendid as t] the Bpiritual world, and even potent to liberate tie- s iul from the tyranny of the passions, still stop here. They mighl be exercised in a cloister, a desert, or in a dung i, as the] were exercised under the despotism of tic. most degraded of the Soman emperors, without beaching man any other art than that of patience under calamities, and that of stringing together t 1 ttive truths proposed by scienci revelation. These advfl re, doubtless, important in their day, 1ml they failed to disclose one physical truth, protect tie' civilized world from the incursion of Bai rescue mankind from barbarism. Bacon, though not the first to detect this lacune in philosophy, was tic first to bring to its removal the adventurous genius of the Stagyrite, and to ex. plore the mines of physical phenomena with tic searching keen- ness thai his predecessor manifested in analyzing the law of the reasoning faculty, Thought and language adjusted th b 2 \ii INTRODUCTION. to the pursuit, — new ideas were evolved, and a practical method [tuted of applying the inductive .syllogism to the interpreta- tion of nature. If Bacon discovered no great law himself, he not only propounded the system by which all might be reached, hut gave hints which enabled his successors to light at once on the lurking-place of the discovery, and roused mankind with heart- stirring appeals to pursue the only legitimate track of natural science, [fa .Newton was required to exemplify the utility of Bacon's Organon, by a series of splendid discoveries, a Plato was also needed to exhibit the highest triumphs of the reasoning faculty before its laws could be detected by the keen glance of the Stagyrite ; and notwithstanding that both the ancient and the modern philosopher have had their share of detractors, mankind have been wonderfully concurrent in paying fealty to each as the great arbiters of the destinies of their species. The influence of the Stagyrite extends over a waste of two thousand years, through which, with some knocks from those who ought to have been his greatest friends, and with damaging support from that school whose descendants have proved his mortal enemies, he has gene- rally contrived to mould the minds of those who sway the world. The intellect of Bacon has only impressed itself upon two centu- ries, and yet so unanimous has been the verdict of mankind, and so astounding the discoveries which have resulted from his method, that his fame may be pronounced to stand upon as firm a basis as that of Aristotle. Not an age passes wherein the inquiries which he continues to excite and direct do not lead to some practical result, either in the diminution of human evil, or in the increase of man's power and enjoyment ; and so rapid has been the stride of scientific improvement since his day. that men now justly regard that state of learning which the scholastics surveyed with raptures of admiration, as the mere infancy of knowledge. But Bacon was not only the high priest of nature, he was also the Lord Chancellor of England, and notwithstanding that some of his actions in relation to this office will occasionally awaken the censure of the reader, there are traits and performances which must challenge his applause, and transmit his name with lustre to pos- terity. The eloquence and searching analysis he displayed in phi- . * losophy followed him to the bar. His legal arguments, of which Pjttj/rvnlM ^ Kl £ on Perpetuities may be taken as a type, are among^he most HL- ^"J'-i masterly ever heard in Westminster Hall. His history of the -\ Jj i . Alienation Office may be pronounced worthy of Hale , while his , dissertation on the courts of equity certainly throws the more f popular treatise of Grotius into the shade. The question of law reform, so popular in our day, was first raised by him. and advo- cated in a speech of reasoning eloquence which at once secured INTRODUCTION - . xin him the favour of the Commons ; and though his exhortations were unheeded till the Barcbones Parliament thought I lawyers might be dispensed with altogether, and thought] have been neglected from the Restoration till our own times, it must be borne in mind thai the reforms already effected have been mainly directed by his councils, and that in carrying out thai wide measure of chancery reform, on which all parties are now bent, he is our safest guide. Though the son of a lord-keeper, and the nephew of a prime minister, be bad, like all aspiring legists, to fight his way up to the highest posts of Ins profession by merit alone; nor does it appear that his oflicial kinsmen ever opened their lips, or stretched out their hand, except to push him back, or asperse his fame. Whether, then, we consider moral admonitions, the highest philosophical achievements, practical civil wisdom, or the most splendid legal and forensic talents, the life and works of Lord Bacon stand if not alone in the world, at least without their rival in modern annals.* The characters of ordinary thinkers may be duly estimated when the generation with which their influence ends has passed away, but the merits of those who have given an immutable direction to the resistless tide of human reason, and fashioned the channel through which it is destined to flow, can only be fully appreciated after centuries have tested the result. High as Bacon's name now stands, every succeeding age must increase its elevation, and centuries roll away before it can be said to be graced with its final trophies. Francis Bacon was born at York Housc,t in the Strand, on the 22nd January, (old style) 1560. His father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, one of the greatest ornaments of Elizabeth's adminis- tration, and, lord-keeper of the great seal, contributed by his practical foresight to raise England to a height in European councils which has only been realized by the Btrongesl govern- ments of later times. His mother. Ann Cook, the daughter of Edward the Sixth's tutor, was skilled in the Latin and Greek * To. the univer Bgyrio, Burke, who borrowed from him his sagest political observations, bears testimony: "Who is there that, upon - ame oi Lord Bacon, does not instantly recognise every- thing of genius the most profound, everything of literature the most exten- sive, everj thing of discovery the most penetrating, everything of observation on human life the mo lung and refined? All these musl instantly recognised, for they are -ill inseparably associated with the d of lv<»'il Venuam. 11 Speech on the [mpeachmenl of Warren Bastings. + York Bouse was so named from having been inhabited by the arch- bishop of York in tli. n ' 'In: hanks of the Thames, at tin: bottom "!' Buckingham-street, Strand. • <•(' it now remain ine water-gate, built by [nigo . \ view "f the old hoi , tory Wilkinson's Londina Ulustrata. [NTBODUCTIOir. rues, which ladies were then accustomed to learn, owing to the dearth of modern literature ; and also possessed such facility hi Krench and Italian as to pronounce and translate those lan- aages wit li ease and correctness. There can be little doubt that ■II, like many other greaJ men, inherited a large portion of his abilities from his mother, and that she, as the lord-keeper's time was absorbed by more pressing duties, mostly contributed to fashion the infant stream of his thoughts, and give them a healthy direction."* Of his younger days, nothing more is re- corded than his breaking open the drums and trumpets his nurses bought him, to explore the locality of the soundf his leaving the ordinary field sports, to discover ti t' an echo in ighhouring vault, and his sprightly answers to (^ueen Elizabeth, who used to stroke his headwind call him her little lord-keeper. "It is certain," says Macaulay, "that at at twelve years old he busied himself with very ingenious speculations on the art of legerdemain ; a subject which, as Dugald Stewart has most justly observed, merits much more attention from philoso- phers than it has ever received." In the latter end of his thirteenth year he was entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, but it does not appear that he ever felt at home in what are, or ought to be, the halls of science. His tutor, Whitgift, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, never thought him worthy of a remark in his writingsT* Doubtless, Bacon placed too high a value on being well with his age, to make an open onslaught on the institutions and the men whom it regarded with veneration; but it requires no great sagacity to discern in his remarks on cloistered learning, his opinion of alma-mater, and its Bister university^ He deplored, as we de- plore now, and are making some attempts to remedy, the absence of scientific studies in the British universities; and covertly described the phdosophy expounded within their walls, as so much spider thread spun out of the brain of the scholastics, ad- mirable for its fineness, but without any use or purpose in nature. Prom his wrangling with Aristotle, whose logic he unaccountably deemed diametrically opposed to his own, there is no doubt that he experienced some hard knocks at the university ; and that, like Swift, Goldsmith, Gibbon, and Adam Smith, he was treated as too stubborn and erratic for a systematic course of study, and left pretty much to follow the bent of his own inclination.^ Having kept onlv eight terms. Bacon quitted the university without a degree^and being intended by his father for the poli- tical profession, was intrusted to the care of Sir Amyas Paulet, lie queen's ambassador at Paris, and occasiouallf ^mploved by him in offices of trust for the crown. After visiting the chief provinces of Prance he Bettled in PoictiersTand devoted three - >of that period of life which is most averse to reflection, to n v' ( ,U( tyj hrt "-hzs-^t ^^ FT**** INTRODUCTION-. study, and retirement. To this sojo u rn we_ owc not only his pjSpin It! tNotes on I lie "5Tau.'*6T JiuropeT^vTiicli display the rifling sagacity of the veteran statesman, but ajl tie' graces of and manner which BO distinguish him from his contem- poraries "\\'i . was engaged in his studies he received news 20, L579,) of his father's death. Like Philip of Arragon, Nicholas Bacon perished from the effects of civility. The politeness of a servant, who would not presume to close a window before which h had fallen asleep, killed him. Bacon hastened home, but found his eldest brother in possession of the patrimonial estate, with nothing left for himself but a slender fifth portion, totally inadequate to the maintenance of his station in society. After many futile applications to his uncle, the lord- surer Burleigh, for political employment, he entered Gray's lun in his twentieth year, resolved to scale the heights of power arduous but Burer path of law. For ten or eleven s ucceed in g ye ars, he rarely Buffered either amusement or literal tmv t<> disturb the teno r of his p rofejsjpnalduties, and seemi to nave fully mastered the common law, and lamifiaris^d his mind ,, with every branch of jurisprudence/About this period he publi shed a draft of his philosophical notions, under the title of . partitm maximum, (The Greatest Birth of Time:) which, however, * dropped Btill-born from the press, the world only knowing its existenceurTOugh a paragraph in one of his letters to Father Fulgentio: nor does it appear that thfc copies whi<0i h«> scattered ^,_ amo:i'^_h [s frien ds did him any further service* than to single him fr- ont as a rash speculatist. Bacon, emboldened by his high talents •laims of his family on the crown, continued to ply the Cecil* but without any other result than I .id lectures on his arrogance and presumption. The lord-treasurer, though a man of cool judgment and calculating . had no regard for intellectual merit, and thought even one hundred pounds toohande gratuity for : '• fairy Queen," which he termed a foolish old BOl . il id he been childless, the - • M would have led him to bring forward, which now impelled him to push back, his illustrious man ; but he had a son, and being res >lved to make the premier- ship hereditary in his family, thought no means beneath him j o -j£ blasl Bacon's legal reputation. Eh/.abetli \vas~n7T tliaFTrieson of the lateTorUieeper wi | rficial legist and a rash philo- sophical dreamer; and the unlucky I partutH doubtless adduced in proof of the allegation, thai Bacon was more calculated to perplex than to promote the despatch of civil business. The plulosopher, however, was persevering, and illy impervious to repulse. Burleigh, ai last wearied out, gave him strar of the Star Chamber in reversion; but the XVI e no1 falling due till afl complained that "il was Like another ma ground fatt< noon bis house, wdiii b might r ivive his prospects, but did no 1 1 ' ■ barne In 1593 he sat for Middlesex, and delivered his maiden spej xh in fjaiour nf few refo rm. The praises which followed so intoxicated him, that in the ensuing debate on the sub- sidy" he broke out into a flaming c^tionagainst the _ court" denouncing the claim as extravagant, and dwelling wTthpathetic sympathy on the miseries which such exactions must cause among the country gentry, who would be constrained to sell their plate and brass pans to meet the demands of the crown. /jtf.u/' £ '-'Bacon carried his motion for an inquiry , and struck all the cour- TTP tiers with horror and amazement. The queen, highly incensed, and wrote a treatise upon the elements and use of common *fiL/n,h. law, applying the inductive mode of reasoning to jurispru- -i^u dence in ascending to the platform of rule.- and maxims throkgh the gradual collection of particulars. The publication of his Essays followed, and carried his name at once into the mouth of the public. His philosophical genius, and the force of his language, gave him a greater advantage even than his learning, while his keen perception of the true and beautiful and his analytic powers have made him the marvel, delight, and despair of succeeding essay ists.t These endeavours, successful as they were, do not appear to have gained him much practice, or to have placed him beyond the necessity of compounding with his creditors. Authorship brought in nothing but fame in those days. To rid himself of embarrassments, so irksome to a man of genius, he resolved to make a bold attempt to retrieve his affairs by marriage. Lady Hatton, the eldesl daughter of Sir Thomas Cecil, and early relict of the son of Chancellor Hatton, was the beauty at whose shrine Bacon ventured to offer up his first vows. But the rich — widow had unfortunately possessed herself of a copy of Bacon's Essays, and finding therein love described as an ignoble passion, fit only for bjisjj and petulan t natures, she ascribed his profes- sions of attachment rather to her money than to her person, and rejected his suit. The disappointment was the more severely fell as the young lady capitulated to a rival, his sworn antagonist, Sir * This land was Twickenham Park, whi . hanks of - from Richmond-bridgi I • Isleworth, and led probably to the p called [sleworth-lane, opposite Marble-bill. Lord Bacon's hous w >■ pulled d( years since, and if it is said to remain : we beb' I are still 11 - • . Known in the vicinity I Cavendish's hi ae tract ofland (several hundred acres), which, in Ba< . appears t" have had only his own house upon it, covered with villas, inoluding Lord Kilmorrey's new and n a, "St. Margaret's," built nearly on the site of the old mansion of •■ land alone would now be « t " In Bacon's Essays the superiority of his genius i the : the aovi Ityand depth of his reflections often receiving; a strong relief from the 1 The volume may b from beginning he twentieth perufl J one seldom fails to remark in r overlooked before. This, indeed, is a characteristic >J a vritings, and la on luntedfor by the inexhaustible aliment they tarnish to our own thoughts, and the. sympathetic activity the; put torpid faculties. "-Z) 3 part. fa .../~ ' l '"' j &£~fM< f,,,^i ■/■ / f b 0W4 > /„„• W. ' wiii IMTRODUCTIQW. £^h/ 4& Ed ward Coke, a crabbed old lawyer, -with six children, and stricken w iih Infirmities. The energy with which Bacon now devoted himself to his profession enabled him to place his legal reputation beyond the reach of calumny by his celebrated argument on perpetuities, which he afterwards fashioned into a reading on the Statute of Dsw, and delivered as double reader in Gray's Inn. This tract imparted to the law of real property the undeviating exact- ice preserved, reconciling fife-interests with perpe- L ". /) 3/-1 tuities, and providing facilities for the transfer of land, while it , /„ ,,/. >\-f* the stability of families so necessary in a fixed monarchy. These Legal triumphs conspired, with the death of Lord Bur- . * to Leigh, to raise his credit with Queen Elizabeth, who was a visitor at 1 .1 ^ Twickenham when the earl who conferred that domain on Bacon urned from his unfortunate expedition to Ireland. As he, in addition to the other misfortunes of the campaign, had quitted the army without her Majesty's permission, the queen appeared indignant, and named a commission, in which Bacon was retained as council extraordinary for the crown, to examine the unfortu- nate earl on the various misdemeanors which truth or jealousy imputed to him. In these proceedings Bacon seems at first to have played the part of a prudent friend, in striving to effect a reconciliation between Elizabeth and her favourite ; but his endeavours on both sides were misconstrued, and rewarded with suspicions of double-dealing and treachery. " The earl looked on him as a spy of the queen, the queen as a creature of the earl." " The reconciliation," says Macaulay, " which Bacon had laboured to effect appeared utterly hopeless. A thousand signs, legible to eyes far less keen than his, announced that the fall of his pair. in was at hand. He shaped his course accordingly. ^ hen Essex was brought before the Council to answer for his conduct in Ireland, Bacon after a faint attempt to excuse him- self from taking part against his friend, submitted to the Queen's pleasure, and appeared at the bar in support of the charges. But a darker scene was behind. The unhappy young nobleman, made reckless by despair, ventured on a rash and criminal enter- prise, which brought on him the highest penalty of the law." When the nation loudly resented the fall of the unfortunate earl, Bacon, at the command of the queen, justified his execution in a pamphlet ; but posterity has never entirely forgiven his ingrati- tude, or his apologists succeeded in finding a sufficient excuse for it. The queen did not long survive her favourite, and the atten- tion of both her courtiers and statesmen began to bed:: towards the Scottish king. Bacon was determined not to be lost among the crowd, and we find him busily employed in soliciting James and his courtiers. After despatching letters to K l»u^ HU \>~fteU ^ f^~-«. ~^A~4 fSl.n-}- introduction* xix two of the more important, be resolved to address James him- self, and thus hit <.»li* his na ture to the life. " High and mighty sovereign Lord, it is observed by some upon a place in the Canticles, egp -sum fioa Com pum et lilium convallium, that pari, it is not said : Ego sum Jtos horti et lilium neat because the majesty of that person is not inclosed for a few, appropriated to the great." Excusing his freedom of approach, with this quibbl e, be then proceeds to veil his own claims under of bis kindred, and concludes with "sacrificing himself as a burnt-offering to the king." Bacon was kindly receii ton found that his prospects by no means diminished by the death of the queen. As soon bad domesticated himself a4 Whitehall, he beg ■ ish titles and honours with so wide a profusion that there hardly remained any other mark of distinction than that of having escaped them. The public were amazed and COnfuE with the heap of new titles, and hooks were announced under- taking to help weaker memories to a knowledge of the nobility . 1 r , ■ Bacon requested to be knighted in a batch of three hundred. f/*** < /'> ' who were about to receive that dignity. Jusl at this period' ***'/ ,rt *-^- he was offering his heart to the daughter of a rich alderman, and intimated to Cecil that the concession of his request would . lite the match, and release him from the anomalous posi- j htc-tuU^ tion of being: the only untitled lawyer on hi Gray's- ' Inn. His wish was gratified, and Miss Barnham immediately became Lady Bacon. His first app earance under the new reign was as one of ] the counsel for the' Crown on the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, ' ' arising out of the conspiracy to place Lady Arabella Mew art on l 9 - • the throne. He was not, bowever, permitted by * ■ was ' ^ / extremely jealous of bis p er to examine the trit or address the jury. But being returned for Ipswich in James's first parliam . and made himse lf popular with the country party by advocating a moderal - of grievances, while he obtained the favour of the king porting his pel plan of a union with Scotland. In t ; i • autumn • year, he paid a visit to bis friend. Sir Henry Saville, provost of Eton, and on his return, addressed a letter to him on the subject of education, inclosing a tract entitled. "Helps e Intellectual Powers," which pointed out new metho • fortifying the memory, and assisting the rationalistic faculty. after he p " ] [istory of England," sought to move the king to assist him in the undertaking writing a tract, "On the Greatness of the Kingdom of Great Britain." Contemporan isly with these efforts, he pr his treatise " ( >n the ' tenl of Learning," \\ Inch i bllowing year and immediately placed his name among the JNTR0D1 iir-t writers of the age. Jn this work ho reviewed the state of the sciences, pointed out the obstacles -which had obstructed their progress, and suggested sage and practical hints for their entire renovation. The eloquen! wisdom he displayed in this survey had a marvellous effect in reviving a zeal for science in every part of Europe, and in enlarging the domain of know- ledge ; so that if Cffisar's compliment to Cicero be worth any- thing, in extending the limits of human wit he obtained a glory greater than thai of enlarging the houndaries of the Roman world. The elevation of Coke, in 1607, to the justiceship of the Common Pleas, opened a passage for Bacon to the solicitor's place. In the mean time Bacon went steadily on with his philoso- phical labours. He published his " Cogitata et Visa," which he afterwards expanded into the " Novum (Jr^anum," the most wonderful effort of analogical wit ever exhibited. Had Bacon written nothing else, this work would have been sufficient to clothe him with imperishable renown. He likewise published his " Sapientia Veterum," and a new and greatly enlarged edition of his Essays. But with his foot on the ladder of promotion Bacon was not the man to stand still, and he wrote to James, with a view to extort a promise of the attorney's place when it should fall due. The chief-justiceship of the King's Bench soon after becoming vacant, Bacon influenced the king to thrust the office on Coke and remove Hobart to the Common Pleas ; that he might secure the attorneyship. The manoeuvre was success- ful ; the men moved as the wires were drawn, and Bacon became the head legal adviser of the Crown. The king created hini privy counsellor, which caused him to resign his private practice, and give a free rein to his speculative studies. The " Novum Organum" was prosecuted with renewed zeal, and a proposition appeared from his pen touching the amendment of the civil law. In his scheme he does not venture to codify the common law, but to reform the statute-book, and extract from the jumble of reports a series of sound and consistent decisions. He not only wrote valuable treatises to explain and improve the law of Eng- land, but induced the king to appoint reporters, who should authoritatively print such decisions of the courts as were useful, and guard against the publication of crude and contradictory cases. In 1617. Bacon, who had previously been appointed chan- cellor to the duchy of Cornwall, became lord keeper. The philosopher is rather degraded than elevated by the trappings of civic pomp, yet history condescends to relate, as something accessory to his honour, how he rode between the lord high chancellor and lord of the privy seal, preceded by his mace- bearer and purse-bearer, and followed by a long line of judges, OfTRODUCTION. xxi to the ceremony of his installation. He entered with alacrity on the duties of his new office, cleared out all the arrears of Chancery after a month's Bitting, and wrote to the king and Buckingham, who were in Edinburgh endeavouring to persuade the Scots into epis copa cy, to apprise them what a vigilant servant they bad at Westminster. Coke, who in the mean time had been dismissed, displayed now as much astute- as his rival in reconstructing his fortunes. He had the city to foresee that the daughter he had by his second wife Lady Hatton, the heir of her mother's broad estates, would not be unacceptable to the needy Sir John Villiers. one of the brothers of the duke of Buckingham, and accordingly pushed the match with all the energy of his character. Lady Hatton, who had separated from her husband, opposed his projects, and ran away with her daughter to a place of concealment near Hampton Court. Coke, with a band of dependants, tied to the rescue with the same alacrity as he had posted off t<> Theobald's to seize Somerset, and carried off the young lady in triumph. Bacon grew alarmed at the prospect of the marriage bringing his rival again into favour, and determined no engine sin mid remain unemployed to defeat.it. He even deigned to forget the rejection of his first love, and opened a correspondence with Lady Hatton. Yellverton, the attorney-general, was instructed to file an information against Coke in the Star Chamber, and the king was importuned with letters designed to show how disastrous the union would be to his interests, in which communications Bacon so far forgot himself as to deal out sarcasms against frf 1 Buckingham. The king, and, we need not add/the favourite, were enraged. James wrote his chancellor stinging letters of rebuke, and Bacon's eyes were open to the fact that his posses- sion of the great seal depended on a look of Buckingham. He at once abandoned his opposition to the match, and bemoaned his error for proceeding in the matter without consulting the royal wishes. The breach, however, was nol repaired without making the lord keeper sensible of the bondage into which he had fallen. Buckingham had a host of needy relatives to provide for. The king's finances were aever in a flourishing state, and to Batisfy their clamours and Bupply his own extravagances, he fell upon the old device of patents and monopolies. These were certain charters granted under the great seal, enabling a few individuals to retain the manufacture of particular articles of trade in their own hands, and arming them with exorbitant powers to break open and ransack any house in which they suspected an illicit manufactory to be carried on. In Elizabeth's reign, such powers had been extensively exercise. I. but tl normit to which they led raised such an outcry in the cation as XX11 INTBODDCTION. alarmed (lie queen, and compelled her to revoke the charters. Since that time Bacon had manifested some respect for the feel- ings of the people, and even declaimed against this mode of plundering them in his "advice" to Buckingham ; he now fo it necessary to stultify his own Lessons, and that at the command of his pupil. As fast as the ingenuity of the favourite could devise patents, Bacon hurried them under the great se al of England, and a band of monopolists was armed with warrants to rob the public, in consideration of handing over to Bucking- ham a share of the pillage. The people's sense of justice was outraged by an attempt to pass off plated copper-wire for sil- ver lace at more than the ordinary price, and an outcry was immediately raised against Sir John Yilliers, Sir Giles Monpes- son — supposed to be the original of Massenger's Sir Giles Overreach, — and Sir Francis Alonpesson, — his Justice Greedy, — who were the principals in this nefarious transaction. James referred the case to the decision of his chancellor, who, after a decent delay, pronounced the patent to be decidedly beneficial, on the ground of affording employment to the poor. At this period Bacon was employing his leisure in elaborating a work which was destined to reform the sciences, and intirod anew era in philosophy. In 16*20, appeared the "Isovum Or- ganum," which had formed the subject of his contemplations for forty-five years, and showed the world that Aristotle might find a rival in the chancellor of Great Britain. Xever did voice break so portentously on mankind. The tongues of the Peripatetics were silenced, the babblers of the Academy hushed, and the rising sect of alchemists crouched in the presence of their master. As the supreme legislator of science, he had the universe for his book and the world for his auditory, and enraptured foreign countries with the wisdom of his decisions, while he instructed his own. " Without any disparagement to the admirable treatise ' De Augmentis,'" says Alacaulav, li we may say that, in our judg- ment, Bacon's greatest performance is the first book of the ' Xovum Organum.' All the peculiarities of his extraordinary mind are found there in the highest perfection. Every part of the book blazes with wit, but with wit which is employed only to illustrate and decorate truth. Xo book ever made so great a revolution in the mode of thinking, overthrew so many preju- dices, introduced so many new opinions." Bacon was now at the height of his prosperity. York House was fitted up for his town residence, in a style of grandeur un- known in his father's days, and Ben Jonson has dune exquisite justice to the champagne fetes and the oratory of the owner. In addition to his villa at Kew, he erected a private retreat at Gor- hambury, at the cost of £10,000, where he used to entertain INTRODUCTION. XX1U ITobbes and a few choice spirits of the time. From thence he was called, not unwillingly, to attend th e tang's court at Theo- bald's, where he was raised to the peerage under the title of Viscount St. Alban's, Buckingham and Carew supporting his robe of state, and Lord Wentworth bearing his coronet, Th days afur, the parliament assembled which was to convict him. The attention of the new House of Commons was first directed to the copper lace business, in which the abuses were so enor- mous, as to excite a fearful crusade against monopolies and pro- jectors. Rumours also were set afloaJ about corruption in high places; disappointed suitors in Chana rv .■■use forth to assail integrity of the chancellor. The fathers of Pym and Hampden were not to be deterred, by the splendour of the philosopher. from prying into the character of the judge. One Aubrey said he had been advised to izive £100 to the chancellor, to expedite matters, and yet after many delays. Bacon had delivered a killing decree against him. Egerton, another petitioner, averred that to procure his favour, he had been induced to present him with £400, under colour of a gratuity ("V certain services Bacon had rendered him when attorney-general, notwithstanding which he got an adverse award. One charge brought many more, until the li.-t became so lengthy, as to make an impeachmenl a matter of course. Coke had gone through the i ■Mediation with Bacon, but finding a seal at the privy council hoard without office or emolument rather dull work, set the inquiry afoot, and though he declined, through motives of decency, to be the chair- man of the commiti e, b I its councils, and fashioned the instrument which was to lay his rival at his feet. Bacon does not seem to have been at first aware of die im- pending danger, thinking himself toi i highly ;» rched in the king's favour to be struck down by a hand so vulgar as Coke's, and that the worst that could happen would he a dissolution. The king, however, was led by other councils. Williams, the shrewd dean of Westminster, who had impressed Buckingham with a favourable opinion of his Bagacity, represented the danger in which the court stood of being swept away by the ^discrimi- nating tide of patriotism, unless some jacri- iiced, and justice dealt out to the herd of minor agents. "Swim, with the stream," said Williams, "and you cannot he drowned. Leave Bacon to his fai ■. -.;. I Sir John Villiers on an and throw overboard M and Michael as baits to deeoy the whales from following a Binking Bhip," The chancellor was left to read the adoption of this advice in the uncivil air of the dependants of the court, and when his suspicions were con- firmed by an interview with the king and his minion, h adjourned the House of Lords, and betook himself to his bed. The blow soon fell. He was impeached before the lords for xxiv [NTRODUCTION. bribery and corruption, in the High Court of Chancery, on twenty-three separate counts. By the advice of the king, he dictated a vague confession of his guilt to be laid before lords, by the heir apparent, in which he admitted that his con- science uphraided him with sufficient matter for impeachment, but begged their lordships to remember there were tritia tern- poris as well as cilia hominis, and entreated them to accept his resignation of the great sea] as a sufficient expiation of his errors. The peers, however, demanded a particular answer to each count of the impeachment, and communicated to him the formal articles of charge, with the proofs in support of each to that end. Bacon's confession was complete, lie subscribed to each of the charges, admitting the receipt of the illegal sums from his suitors, though qualifying them in some instances as new year's gifts, or gratuities for past services. The king dared not interpose, and final judgment was not long delayed. He was sentenced to pay a fine of £40,000, to be imprisoned in the Tower during the king's pleasure, declared incapable of holding any public office, place, or employment, and forbid to come within verge of the court.* After one night's confinement in the Tower he was released, and consigned to his gloomy mansion in the country. Here he resolved to dedicate his retirement to literature, and begged of James to direct his mind to any undertaking that might add lustre to his reign. The history of Henry VII. was pointedjmtj jy the m onarch as a work worthy of his pen. Bacon gives us a very graphic and complete view of the principal com- motions which disturbed his reign. If he circumstantially details the pompous embassies and empty speeches of the period, it is because history consisted hardly of anything else, the people in those times allowing themselves to be treated like cattle, and permitting princes to decide their highest destinies with infan- tine simplicity. The character of the age is, notwithstanding, drawn out by Bacon in vivid colours, and the grouping of the incidents shows that, had the times conspired, he lacked not the capacity to rival Hume or Robertson in the highest department of their art. The king, who evidently thought more about this book than the "Novum Organon," which he declared surpassed his comprehension, condescended to correct the MSS., and , - allowed Bacon to come to town, with a view to expedite its course through the press. This work was immediately followed up by his " History of Life and Death.'' with an enlarged editio n . /i v . t^a.i of his Essays , and many of his minor piece s^ The following year id i*^s £e~expaudecl the '"Treatise on the Advancement of Learning" into nine books, preserving the first book of the original as pre- * This venality lias been elaborately palliated and defended by Montagu, part and parcel of the conditii i <\ l*iiu<-!i 1^7 tAf* , INTRODUCTION". XXV liniinary to his design, and amplifying the matter of the second into eight. Bacon, however, from his little retreat at Gorhambury, made small account of impressing his mind upon his living country- . his eye rested upon Europe and posterity. The fate of Chaucer haunted him: he thought that modern languages would play the bankrupt with books, and that if he did not inshzine his thoughts in a dead language, his name would p travel abroad, and would positively die out among his own countrymen in the next generation. With the assistance of Her- bert, Play fair, and some add of Ben Jonson. he gave his new treatise, together with his Essays and many of his minor pieces, a Latin dress : but on contrasting those works with the "Novum Organon," originally written by himself in Latin, it does not appear that he was much indebted to the attainments of his translators. Bacon, though he followed the pursuits, had not learned to adopt the simple tastes of the philosopher. He gave up York House and its splendid luxuries with a pang, but retained the greater part of Ids retinue, and refused to allow one tree of the Gorhambury woods to be felled, even to satisfy the demands of his clamorous creditors. When urged to part with some of the , more_ostensi bIc fi ner ies of his hous ehold. " No," replied the philo- sopher, wit h mdTgu atioii. " I wiTTiiot be stripped of my feathers." He even entertained Copes of resuming his seat in the Lords, if 1 not on the woolsack, and did not scruple, in his letters to James, to pervert history, with a view to establish similar eases of rein- f -. tegration. " Demosthenes," says Bacon, in one of these commu- J/ \- nications, "was banished for bribery of the highest nature, vet was recalled with honour; Marcus Lucius was condemned for exactions, yet afterwards made consul and censor; Seneca was banished for divers corruptions, yet was afterwards restored, | and an instrument in the memorable Quinquenium Neronis." Williams, however, who had succeeded him as Lord Keeper, dreading the gigantic power of the suppliant in opposition, was not idle in multiplying reasons for allowing Bacon to decay among his books, and Buckingham had found agents quite as I to his purpose as the philosopher of Gorhambury. After the lapse of thr c four years the public feeling against Bacon subsided, and his works had made so favourable an impression upon all classes of society, thai the king thought he might \\ ith safety cancel the remaining portion of his sentence, and again open to him the avenues of public life. He requited this favour by writing t\uu i>artv pampld ets for the royal favour- ^ ^~f ite, Buckingham, one entitled " kome Considerations touching a War with Spain," in which l'o lauon ?•> m ake an unjusti fiable attack upon an unoU'enc E EEe &&**> XXVI INTRODUCTION. called "An Advertisement touching an Holy War," was neither more nor less than a dialogue on the lawfulness of propagating religion by the sword. The king certainly had hi.s hands full in trying to extirpate heresies, reconcile schisms, and reform man- ners ; but our author was inclined to think a war might be undertaken at the same time. Had nature not interposed, but left the actors to perform their several parts with the same vigour, there is little doubt that Bacon would have climbed back to the woolsack. But a year sufficed to push James off the scene, and when parliament met to hail the advent of a new monarch, Bacon was too enfeebled by premature decay to attend the royal summons. About six- teen months before, when able to tread with firm step the avenues of the court, a writ requesting his attendance in the upper house, to consult circa ardua regtii, would have revived his declining spirits. Now, no longer capable of playing a part, he flung the document with an air of contempt on his table, exclaiming, "I have done with such vanities." He survived the king only one year ; but true to his beloved restoration of the sciences, he continued to the end to devote every moment rescued from positive sickness to the elaboration of the structure. "With re- markable economy of time, he reserved the easiest portion of his labour for the employment of his latter days, and died in its execution. As the collection of mere empirical facts, which form only the unfashioned materials of natural science, could bring him no honour, the toil of his closing years must be regarded as the offspring of pure benevolence. The dry collocation of a heap of phenomena could not but be distasteful to a scholar, but all who presented themselves to build up the sciences aspired to be architects ; and Bacon said the work could not advance unless some consented to become the stonemasons of the rest. "With the true humility of greatness he descended to the task, and sacrificed his own importance for the welfare of his species. It struck him, when examining the subject of antiseptics, that snow might preserve flesh from corruption, and he resolved to try the experiment. One frosty morning, in the spring of 1626, he alighted at Highgate, and proceeded to stuff a fowl which he had bought at a neighboiiring cottage, with snow that he gathered from the ground. At the end of the operation he felt in his hmbs a sudden chill, and was obliged to retire to the earl of Arundel's house hard by, where he met with nourishing cor- dials, dutiful attendants, and a damp bed. The last few lines he scrawled were directed to the owner of the mansion, whose incautious hospitality hastened his end, in which he compares himself to the elder Pliny, who lost his life in exploring the mouth of Vesuvius, and describes the experiment as succeeding '' excellently well," which caused his death. A fever inline- xx\ii diatcly ensued, attended with a defluxion in the breast. II lingered only a week, expiring on the morning of Easter-day in the sixty-sixth year of his a§ He was buried in St. Michael's church, St. Albans, by the side of his mother. A monument was soon alter erected to his memory by bis secretary, Sir Thomas fifeantys, which represents him in a Bitting posture, with an inscription, which strangely parodies the sublime opening of the installation, " Franci-.cn - Bacon, Baro de Verulam, St. Albani Viccomes. . . . Sicsedebat." A stranger standing oyer the grave of the great regenerator of physical science, might fairly expect to he entertained with something better than a pun upon one of the most striking Lges in his writings. His wife, who brought him no issue, died in 1646; a divorce had separated them since his fall. Though Bacon was constantly attended by a chaplain and a secretary, who appear to have been fully impressed with hie intellectual greatness, no chronicle has come down to us either of his private habits, his ingenious sayings, or his social virtues. liawley has indeed written a vague panegyric, which he called a life, but the colour is BO indiscriminately laid on, and some of the incidents bo perverted, thai doubt may he entertained as to the fidelity of even the leading features. Bacon was invested with mighty intellectual endowments, which struggled to find vent as much by impressing themselves on his own aL. r e as by overturning the philosophical systems of antiquity. His min< was pre-eminently of a strong objective character, could see nothing except through the senses, and was disposed with which had given to spiritual supremacy a second fall, to undervalue everything which didnol contribute to physical en- joyment or tangible glory. The same impulse which led him to build t;p th'' natural scienci - on their true foundations, led him also to mistake the false glitter of the world for soniethm. real, and to think that his elevation could not be complete - tie- baubles of state were a- much at his command the laws of nature. It is true that the condition of the tim • Borne excuse tor him; and bis Legal treatises, the settle- ment of the law of real property, his attempts at law reform, many of his judicial and political acts, show a nature naturally obeying the impulse of reason and conscience: while the ui peachaole bhunelessness of his private life, ami the calm earnee ■ nessofhis mori prove that be only needed a purer atmo- >re, ami more civilized times, to act with all the dignity of the .and speak with the unadulterated eloquence of anAugue -IC. It is one of the most striking proofs of the original go of Bacon's nature, that he never tyrac inferio] , c -1 XXV1U INTRODUCTION. or treated them unkindly ; nor did he allow his severe habits of study, or even his reverses, to sour Ins disposition. His nature was abhorrent of avarice, the most degrading of human passions. He enriched himself only to lavish his bounties on others, and to invest his household with an air of splendid magnificence. Selfish distinctions of meum and tuum, so jealously observed by little minds, were hardly impressed upon his noble nature, and he showed as much readiness to dispense gifts as to accept them. With him splendour did not extend to luxurious gratification, or unfit him for acts of benevolence. At table he was exceedingly temperate, and satisfied himself with the simplest food. The needy never left his mansion unrelieved, and his purse was ever open to promote the charitable objects of the benevolent. It is impossible that such a character should not make us forget his vices, and pay tribute to his virtues, as well as his genius. Of his habits of study we know nothing, except that they were severe. All the long vacations, and such hours as he at other times could steal from his official labours, were passed with his books ; and there is little doubt that he made notes of everything important that he read, and distributed his papers under the several heads of human knowledge. No author, however, was less indebted to books for his general views than Bacon, and he seems rather to have turned them over as models of style, and as affording materials for illustration, than to instruct himself. If we were asked to adduce any didactic author, whose thoughts sprang directly out of his own intellect, we should instance Lord Bacon. Of the ancients, Tacitus appears to have been his favourite, and the frequent perusal of that author has left its marks in the laconic terseness of his style and his lucid glimpses into human nature : he was not a strong Grecian, and considerable doubt may be entertained whether he read any book in that language after quitting the university. All his citations from the Attic writers are from the Latin text, except one solitary line of Homer. Bacon was regarded as one of the foremost writers and speakers of his day, and both friends and enemies have left \inqualified testimony of his varied abilities. Kaleigh, who was no mean judge, characterized Lord Salisbury as a great speaker but a bad writer, Lord Northampton as a great writer but a bad speaker, but Lord Bacon as excelling equally in speaking and writing. Ben Jonson, after sketching the features of a per- fect orator, applies them to Bacon ; but his colours are no doubt heightened by the warmth of personal friendship. His fame had gained him friends in foreign parts, and many distin- guished strangers paid personal homage to him as a philosopher. When the Marquis d'Effiat brought into England the Princess Henrietta Maria, wife to Charles L, he went to visit Bacon, IXTKODUCTIOX. XXIX who, being in bed, received him with the curtains drawn : "You resemble the angels," said the minister to the philoso- pher; "we hear those beings continually talked of, vre believe them superior to mankind, and we never have the consolation to see them." Much of his contemporaneous fame, however, ie to be ascribed to bis public position, which first drew the atten- tion of a frivolous age to his works. Had he not inhabited a princel v mansion in the Strand, and kept a plentiful table at Gorhambury, Ben Jonson. instead of lauding him, might have censured with Hume, and Hobbes have been as niggardly of praise as Bayle. It was the possession of the great seal that made it fashionable to read what few could understand, pushed his works iuto circulation during an unlettered age, and gave him Europe for an auditory. All his thoughts were engrossed by pursuits, the glory and advantage of which were to be reaped when he was in his grave. To carry his plans to as high a state of perfection as was eom- fmtible with the shortness of human life, he denied himself the re- axation afforded by social pleasures, and came only at intervals into the arena of ordinary life. His constitution, originally delicate. was rendered still more so by study, and during sudden changes of the atmosphere, be became affected with extreme dizziness, which often caused him to swoon. This gave rise to his chap- lain's astrological fiction that he was seized with a sudden faint - in£ fit, at every eclipse of the moon. He imagined that he could add many years to his life by systematic closes of nitre, and took about three grains in weak broth every morning for thirty years. He also placed great faith in the efficacy of macerated rhubarb, to carry off the grosser humours of the body with- out the inconveniences of perspiration, and swallowed an occa- sional draught before his meals. In his youth, his appearance is said to have been singularly frank and engaging, but bis features were much furrowed and darkened by the contests of political life, and the misfortunes of his later years. His severe habits of study early impressed upon him the marks of age. bent bis shoulders, and impart to them accelerated velocity. Pascal and Torricelli, guided by his rules, established the properties of air, and Newton, in the spirit of his method, and directed by his hints, threw back the curtain of the heavens, revealed the laws of light, explained the phenomena of the tides, and peopled Bpace with worlds! Nurtured in his BchooL Boyle transformed hydro, statics from a Loose assemblage of tacts into a deductive science : Watt constructed the steam-engine, which has annihilated Bpace and economized the Labour of millions : and Franklin rivalled the glories of the ancient Prometheus, in Bnatching the electric fin XL INTRODUCTION. from Leaven ! Human reason, unshackled and independent, took her bent from his Lands ; and learned societies in every part of Europe, — on the banks of tLe Wolga, the Po, and the Danube, — either rose up at Lis name, or reconstructed their plans after Lis direction. TLe collective wits of the brightest of European nations, — as little inclined as tLe Greeks to look out of themselves for excellencies, — Lave paid homage to Lim as tLe Solon of modern science, and founded upon Lis partition of tLe sciences an encyclopedia,* wLicL was once tLe marvel and tLe glory of literature. TLe tribes of every age and nation regard the father of modern pLilosopLy with tLe reverence and devo- tion of cLildren ; and so loud and universal Las been tLe acclaim, that the testimony of our own epoch falls on the ear like the voice of a child closing the shout of a multitude. He has esta- blished a school in metaphysics, which, whatever may be its defects, keeps alive a clue attention to facts in a science where they are too apt to be neglected : while nearly all the prac- tical improvements introduced into education, statesmanship, and social policy, may be traced in a great degree to the philo- sophic tone he gave to the introduction of the same element. The politicians and legists, as well as philosophers, moulded by his councils, have placed themselves at the head of their respective sciences in Europe ; and the pedantic tyrants and corrupt ministers, before whom he crouched, have been removed by the works which they patronized, and a monarchy ren- dered impossible, otherwise than as the personification of the organized will and reason of the nation. The splendid fanes of science, which he only saw in vision, are rising on every side, and from then- lofty cupolas man may already catch glimpses of the internal splendour of the universe ; and winding round their tur- rets, the scala intellectus extends its steps to the skies, and enables men to carry the rule and compass to the boundaries of Creation ! Perfected by such triumphs, and fitted to embrace the -complete expansion of natural, moral, and intellectual Bcience, the human mind may expect to trace their mutual Mendings and intricate ramifications, and behold the day when "Truth, -though now hewn, like the mangled body of Osiris, into a thou- sand pieces, and scattered to the four winds of heaven, shall be gathered limb to limb, and moulded with every joint and member into an immortal feature of loveliness and perfection." * The { by D'A] smbert, was artrsmged upon his scheme of the sciences. o ESSAYS. I._OF TRUTH. What is truth ? said jesting Pilate ; a and would not stay for an answer. Certainly there be that delight in giddiness j and count it a bondage to fix a belief ; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as in acting. And though the sects of philosophers of that kind be gone, yet there remain certain discoursing wits, which are of the same veins, though there be not so much blood in them as was in those of the ancients. But it is not only the difficulty and labour which men take in finding out of truth ; nor again, that when it is found, it imposeth upon men's thoughts, that doth bring lies in favour ; but a natural though corrupt love of the lie itself. One of the later schools'* of the Grecians examiueth the matter, and is at a stand to think what should be in it, that men should love lies; where neither they make for pleasure, as with poets ; nor for advantage, as with the merchant, but for the lie's sake. But I cannot tell : this same truth is a naked and open daylight, that doth not show the masks; and mummeries, and triumphs of the world, balf so Btately 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 showeth n He refers to the following pa age in the v " School of the Portic \" at Athens. The basis of hifl doctrines was the duty of making virtue the b ESSAYS. death, and by their great preparations made it appear more fearful. Better, saith he, " qui finem vitse extremum inter nmncra ponit naturae." m It is as natural to die as to be born ; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other. He that dies in an earnest pursuit, is like one that is wounded in hot blood ; who, for the time, scarce feels the hurt ; and therefore a mind fixed and bent upon some- what that is good, doth avert the dolours of death ; but, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is "Nunc dimittis, ; ' n when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy : " Extinctus amabitur idem." III.— OF UNITY IN EELIGION. 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 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. m " 'Who reckons the close of his life among the boons of nature." Lord Bacon here quotes from memory ; the passage is in the tenth Satire of Juvenal, and runs thus : — ''Fortem posce animum, mortis terrore carentem, Qui spatium vitse extremum inter munera ponat Naturae" '•' Pray for strong resolve, void of the fear of death, that reckons the closing period of life among the boons of nature." n He alludes to the song of Simeon, to whom the Holy Ghost had revealed " that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." When he beheld the infant Jesus in the Temple, he took the child in his arms and burst forth into a song of thanksgiving, com- mencing, " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, accord- ing to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." — St. Luke ii. 29. "When dead, the same person shall be beloved." UNITY IN RELIGION. / 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 time 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 towards those that are without the church, the other towards those that are within. For the former, it is certain, that heresies and sclnsms are of all others the greatest scandals : yea, more than corrup- tion of manners : for as in the natural body a wound or solution of continuity is worse than a corrupt humour, so in the spiritual : so that nothing doth so much keep men out of the church, and drive men out of the church, as breach of unity : and therefore whensoever it cometh to that pass that one saith, " Ecce in Deserto," a another saith, " Ecce in penetralibus J** 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." d It is but a light tiling to be vouched in so serious a matter, but yet it expresseth well the deformity. '■ Behold, lie is in the Desert." — St. Matthew xxiv. 26. Behold, he is in the secret chambers." — St. Matthew xxiv. 26. c He alludes to 1 Corinthians xiv. 23: — "If, therefore, the whole church he come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are ma 1 a Psalm i. 1. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standetb in the way of rinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." 8 ESSAYS. There is a master <f the EiBeay of E (Essay 50), which was published in 1597. 1 G ESSAYS. man lcaveth himself without observation, or without hold to be taken, what be is : the second, dissimulation in the nega- tive; when a man lets fall signs and arguments, that he is not that be is: and the third, simulation in the affirmative; when a man industriously and expressly feigns and pretends to be that he is not. For the first of these, secrecy, it is indeed the virtue of a confessor ; and assuredly the secret man heareth many con- fessions ; 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 con- fession, the revealing is not for worldly use, but for the e.'ise 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 un- comely, as well in mind as body ; and it addeth no small reverence to men's manners and actions, if they be not altogether open. As for talkers, and futile persons, they are oommonly 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 sell", by the tracts a of his countenance, is a great weakness and betraying, by how much it is many times more marked and believed than a man's words. For the second, which is dissimulation, it followeth many times upon secrecy by a necessity ; so that he that will be secret must be a dissembler in some degree ; for men are too cunning to suffer a man to keep an indifferent carriage be- tween both, and to be secret, without swaying the balance on either side. They will so beset a man with cmestions, 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 hini- a A word row unused, signifying the " traits" or "'features." SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 17 self a little scope of dissimulation, which is, as it were, but the skirts or train of secrecy. But for the third degree, which is simulate >n and false pro- fession, 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 practise simulation in other things, lest his hand should be out of use. The advantages of simulation and dissimulation are three : first, to lay asleep opposition, and to surprise ; for where a man's intentions are published, it is an alarum to call up all that are against them : the second is, to reserve to a man's self a fair retreat ; for if a man engage himself by a manifest declaration, he must go through, or take a fall : the third is, the better to discover the mind of another ; for to him that opens himself men will hardly show themselves adverse; but will (fair) let him go on, and turn their freedom of speech to freedom of thought : and therefore it is a good shrewd proverb of the Spaniard, "Tell a lie and find a troth ;"'' as if there were no way of discovery but by simulation. There be also three disadvantages to set it even; the first, that simulation and dissimulation commonly carry with them a show of fearfulness, which, in any business doth spoil the feathers of round Hying 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 in- struments for action, which is trusl and belief The best composition and temperature is. to have openness in fame and opinion ; secrecy in habit ; dissimulation in seasonable use; and a power to fi-ign if there be no remedy. l> A truth. 18 ESSAYS. VII.— OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN. The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears ; they cannot utter the one, nor they will not utter the other. Children sweeten labours, but they make misfortunes more bitter ; they increase the cares of life, but they miti- gate the remembrance of death. The perpetuity by genera- tion is common to beasts ; but memory, merit, and noble works, are pi*oper to men : and surely a man shall see the noblest works and foundations have proceeded from childless men, which have sought to express the images of their minds where those of their bodies have failed ; so the care of poste- rity 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 woi'k ; 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 A man shall see, where there is a house full of children, one or two of the eldest respected, and the youngest made wantons ; b 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 chil- dren, is a harmful error, makes them base, acquaints them with shifts, makes them sort with mean company, and makes them surfeit more when they come to plenty : and, therefore, the proof is best when men keep their authority towards their children, but not their purse. Men have a foolish manner (both parents, and schoolmasters, and servants), in creating and breeding an emulation between brothers during childhood, which many times sorteth to discord when they a Proverbs x. 1 : "A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." b Petted — spoiled. c This word seems here to mean "a plan" or "method," as proved by its results. -,: j MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 19 are men, and disturbeth families. 11 The Italians make little difference between children 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 some- times resembleth an uncle or a kinsman, more than his own parent as the blood happens. Let parents choose betimes the vocations and courses they mean their children should take, for then they are most flexible, and let them not too much apply themselves to the disposition of their children, as thinking they will take best to that which they have most mind to. It is true, that if the affection, or aptness of the children be extraordinary, then it is good not to cross it ; but generally the precept is good, " Optimum elige, suave et facile illud faciet consuetudo." c — Younger brothers are com- monly fortunate, but seldom or never where the elder arc- disinherited. VIII.— OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIEE. He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune ; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief. Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men, which both in affection and means have married and endowed the public. Yet it were great reason that those that have children should have greatest care of future times, unto which they know they must transmit their dearest pledges. Some there are who, though they lead a single life, yet their thoughts do end with themselves, and account future times impertinences ; nay, there are some other that account wife and children but as " There is considerable justice in this remark. Children should be taught to do what is right for it- 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, ami of bang led to think themselves superior to their companions. When launched upon the world, emulation will be quite sufficiently forced upon them by stern necessity. c " Select that course of life which is the most advant:>. habit will soon render it pleasan! and easily endured." c2 20 ESSAYS. bills of charges ; nay more, there are some foolish rich cove- tous 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 eveiy restraint, as they will go near to think their girdles and garters to be bonds and shackles. Unmarried men are best friends, best masters, best servants ; but not always best subjects, for they are light to run away, and almost all fugitives are of that condition. A single life doth well with churchmen, for charity will hardly water the ground where it must first fill a pool. a 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 despising of marriage amongst the Turks maketh the vulgar soldier more base. Certainly wife and children are a kind of discipline of humanity ; and single men, though they be many times more charitable, because their means are less exhaust, yet, on the other side, they are more cruel and hard-hearted (good to make severe inquisitors), because their tenderness is not so oft called upon. Grave natures, led by custom, and therefore constant, are commonly loving hus- bands, as was said of Ulysses, " Vetulam suam pnetulit im- mortalitati." b 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 mistresses, com- panions for middle age, and old men's nurses, so as a man ■ His meaning is, that if clergymen have the expenses of a family to support, they will hardly find means for the exercise of benevolence toward their parishioners. b " 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 enjoy- ment of immortality. ENVY. 21 may have a quarrel to marry when he will : but yet he was reputed one of the wise men that made answer to the ques- tion when a man should marry : " A young man not yet, an elder man not at all." It is often seen that bad husbands have very good wives ; whether it be that it raise th the mice of their husbands 1 kindness when it conies, or that the wives take a pride in their patience ; but this never fails, if the bad husbands were of their o>vn choosing, against their friends' consent, for then they will be sure to make good their own folly. IX.— OF EXVY. There be none of the affections which have been noted to fascinate or bewitch, but love and envy : they both have vehe- ment wishes ; they frame themselves readily into imaginations and suggestions, and they come easily into the eye, especially upon the presence of the objects which are the points that conduce to fascination, if any such thing there be. We see, likewise, the Scripture calleth envy an evil eye ; a and the astrologers call the evil influences of the stars evil aspects; so that still there seemeth to be acknowledged, in the act of envy, an ejaculation, or irradiation of the eye : nay, some have been so curious as to note, that the times, when the stroke or percussion of an envious eye doth most hurt, are, when the party envied is beheld in glory or triumph; for that sets an edge upon envy: and besides, at such times, the spirits of the person envied do come forth most into the outward parts, and so meet the blow. But leaving these curiosities (though not unworthy to be r "May have a pretext," or "excuse." a So prevalent i:i ancient times was the notion of the injurious effects of the eye of envy, that in common parlance the Romans generalls - used the word •• prsfiscini," — "without risk of enchantment," or "fascination," when I in high terms of themselves. They ■opposed that they thereby averted the effects of enchantment produced by the evil eye iff any envious person who might at that moment possibly lie looking upon tin in. Lord Bacon probably here alludes to ," St. Mark vii. 21, 22: "Out of the heart of men proceedeth — deceit, - ^ lasciviousneas, an evil eye." Solomon aldo speaks of the evil eye, *"? Prow xxiii. (i, and xxviii. 22. I *U<, ffib . 22 ESSAYS. thought on in fit place), we will handle what persons are apt to envy others, what persons are most subject to he 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's minds will either feed upon their own good, or upon others' evil ; and who wanteth the one will prey upon the other ; and whoso is out of hope to attain to another's virtue, will seek to come at even hand, 1 ' by depress- ing another's fortune. A man that is busy and inquisitive is commonly envious ; for to know much of other men's matters cannot be, because all that ado may concern his own estate ; therefore it must needs be that he taketh a kind of play-pleasure in looking upon the fortunes of others : neither can he that mindeth but his own business find much matter for envy; for envy is a gadding passion, and walketh the streets, and doth not keep home : "Non est curiosus, quin idem sit malevolus." c Men of noble birth are noted to be envious towards new men when they rise ; for the distance is altered ; and it is like a deceit of the eye, that when others come on they think themselves go back. Deformed persons and eunuchs, and old men and bastards, ai'e envious : for he that cannot possibly mend his own case, will do what he can to impair another's ; except these de- fects light upon a very brave and heroical nature, which thinketh to make his natural wants part of his honour ; in that it should be said, " That a eunuch, or a lame man, did such great matters," affecting the honour of a miracle : as it was in Narses d the eunuch, and Agesilaus and Tamerlane, e that were lame men. b To be even with him. c " There is no person a busy-body but what he is ill-natured too." This passage is from the Stichus of Plautus. 11 Narses superseded Belisarius in the command of the armies of Italy, by the orders of the Emperor 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. e Tamerlane, or Timour, was a native of Samarcand, of which territory he was elected emperor. He overran Persia, Georgia, Hin- dustan, and captured Bajazet, the valiant Sultan of the Turks, at the ENVY. 23 The same is the case of men that rise after calamities and misfortunes ; for they are as men fallen out with the times, and think other men's harms a redemption of their own suf- ferings. 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 one of those things, should surpass them; which was the character of Adrian the emperor, that mortally envied poets and painters, and artificers in works, wherein he had a vein to excel. Lastly, near kinsfolk and fellows in office, and those that have been bred together, are more apt to envy their equals when they are raised ; for it doth upbraid unto them their own fortunes, and pointeth at them, and cometh oftener into their remembrance, and incurreth likewise more into the note f 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 1 tetter 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 com- paring of a man's self; and where there is no comparison, no. envy; and therefore kings are not envied but by kings. Nevertheless, it is to be noted, that unworthy persons are most envied at their first coming in, and afterwards over- come it better; whereas, contrariwise, persons of worth and merit are most envied when their fortune continueth long ; for by that time, though their virtue be the same, yet it bath not the same lustre; for fresh men grow up that darken it. battle oi Angora, 1402, whom he - said to have inclosed in a cage ot iron. His conquests extended Gram the Irtish and Volga to the Per- sian Gulf, and from tli" Can-"- to the Grecian Archipelago. While preparing for the invasion of China, In- di«-d, in tin- 7"th year of' A.D. 1405. He was tall and corpulent in person, but was maimed in • 06 hand, and him" on the 1 Comes und.r the oh erratum. 24 ESSAYS. Persons of noble blood are less envied in their rising ; for it seemeth but right done to their birth : besides, there secmeth 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 suddenly, and " per saltum."s Those that have joined with their honour great travel.-, cares, or perils, are less subject to envy ; for men think that they earn their honours hardly, and pity them sometimes ; and pity ever healeth envy : wherefore you shall observe, that the more deep and sober sort of politic persons, in their greatness, are ever bemoaning themselves what a life they lead, chanting a "quanta patimur;" h not that they feel it so, but only to abate the edge of envy : but this is to be under- stood of business that is laid upon men, and not such as they call unto themselves ; for nothing increaseth envy more than an unnecessary and ambitious engrossing of business ; and nothing doth extinguish envy mox^e than for a great person to preserve all other inferior officers in their full rights and pre-eminences of their places ; for, by that means, there be so many screens between him and envy. Above all, those are most subject to envy, which carry the greatness of their fortunes in an insolent and proud manner : being never well but while they are showing how great they are, either by outward pomp, or by triumphing over all opposition or competition : whereas wise men will rather do sacrifice to envy, in suffering themselves, some- times of purpose, to be crossed and overborne in things that do not much concern them. Notwithstanding so much is true, that the carriage of greatness in a plain and open man- ner (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 ; s " By a leap," i. e. over the heada of others. h " Huff vast the evils we endure." ENVY 25 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 per- sons bring in ever upon the stage somebody upon whom to derive the envy that would come upon themselves ; some- times upon ministers and .servants, sometimes upon colleagues and associates, and the like ; and, for that turn, there are never wanting some persons of violent and undertaking natures, who, so they may have power and business, will take it at any cost. Now, to speak of public envy: there Le yet some good in public envy, whereas in private there is none; for public envy is as an ostracism, 1 that eclipseth men when they grow too great ; and therefore it is a bridle also to great ones, to keep them within bounds. This envy, being in the Latin word '• invidia," k goeth hi the modern languages by the name of discontentment ; of which we shall speak in handling sedition. It is a disease in a state like to infection ; for as infection spreadeth upon that which is Bound, and tainteth it, so, when envy is gotten once into a state, it traduceth even the best actions thereof, and turneth them into an ill odour ; and therefore there is little won by intermingling of plausible actions; for that doth argue but a weakness and fear of envy, which hurteth so rnuch the more, as it is likewise usual in infections, which. if you fear them, you call them upon you. Tins public envy seemeth to beat chiefly upon principal officers or ministers, rather than upon kings and estates themselves. But this is a sure rule, that if the envy upon the minister be great, when the cause of it in him is small ; or if the envy be general in a manner upon all the ministers of an estate, then the envy (though hidden) is truly upon the state itself. And so much of publie envy or discontentment, and the difference thereof from private envy, which was handled in the first place. We will add this in general, touching the affection of envy, that of all other affections it Ls the most importune ' He probably alludes to the custom of the Athenians, who frequently ostracised <>r banished by vote their puhlic men, lest they should become too powerful. k From " in " ami " video," --"to look upou ; " with reference to the so-called "evil eye" of the envious. 26 ESSAYS. 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 ;" m as it always cometh to pass that envy worketh subtilely, and in the dark, and to the prejudice of good things, such as is the wheat. X.— OF LOVE. The stage is more beholding to love than the life of man ; for as to the stage, love is ever matter of comedies, and now and then of tragedies ; but in life it doth much mischief, sometimes like a Siren, sometimes like a Fury. You may observe, that amongst all the great and worthy persons (whereof the memory remaineth, either ancient or recent), there is not one that hath been transported to the mad degree of love, which shows that great spirits and great business do keep out this weak passion. You must except, nevertheless, Marcus Antonius, the half partner of the empire of Rome, and Appius Claudius, a the Decemvir and lawgiver ; whereof the former was indeed a voluptuous man, and inordinate ; but the latter was an austere and wise man : and therefore it seems (though rarely) that love can find entrance, not only into an open heart, but also into a heart well fortified, if watch be not well kept. It is a poor saying of Epicurus, " Satis magniun alter alteri tkeatruni sumus ; r ' b 1 " Envy keeps no holidays." 111 See St. Matthew xiii. 25. a He iniquitously attempted to obtain possession of the person of Virginia, who was killed by her father Virginias, to prevent her from falling a victim to his lust. This circumstance caused the fall of the Decemviri at Rome, who had been employed in framing the code of laws afterwards knowni as ''The Laws of the Twelve Tables." They narrowly escaped being burnt alive by the infuriated populace. b "We are a sufficient theme for contemplation, the one for the LOVE. 27 as if man, made for the contemplation of heaven and all noble objects, should do nothing but kneel before a little idol, and make himself subject, though not of the mouth (as beasts are), yet of the eye, which was given him for higher purposes. It is a strange tiling to note the excess of this passion, and how it braves the nature and value of things 1 > y 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 reci- procal ; for it is a true rale, that love is ever rewarded, either with the reciprocal, or with an inward and secret con- tempt ; by how much the more men ought to beware of this passion, which loseth not only other things, but itself. As for the other losses, the poet's relation doth well figure them : " That he that preferred Helena, quitted the gifts of Juno and Pallas;" for whosoever esteemeth too much of amorous affection, quitteth both riches and wisdom. This passion hath Ins 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, aud 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 other." Pope seems, notwithstanding this censure of Bacon to have been of the same opinion with Epicurus : — " Know then thyself, presume not God to scan. The proper study for mankind is man." Essay on Man, Ep. ii. 1, 2. Indeed Lord Bacon seems to have misunderstood the Baying of Epicurus, who did not mean to recommend man as the sole object of the bodily vision, Ion as the proper theme for mental contemplation. c He refers here to the judgment of Pari-!, mentioned by Ovid in his Epistles, of the Heroines. 28 ESSAYS. serious affairs and actions of life ; for if it check once with business, it troubleth men's fortunes, and maketh men that they can nowise he true to their own ends. I know not how, but martial men are given to love : I think it is, but as they are given to wine, for perils commonly ask to be paid in pleasures. There is in man's nature a secret inclination and motion towards love of others, which, if it be not spent upon some one or a few, doth naturally spread itself towards many, and maketh men become humane and charitable, as it is seen sometimes in friars. Nuptial love maketh mankind, friendly love perfecteth it, but wanton love corrupteth and embaseth it. XI.— OF GREAT PLACE. Men in great place are thrice servants — servants of the sovereign or state, seiwants of fame, and servants of busi- ness ; so as they have no freedom, neither in their persons, nor in their actions, nor in their times. It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty; or to seek power over others, and to lose power over a man's self. The rising unto place is laborious, and by pains men come to greater pains ; and it is sometimes base, and by indignities men come to dignities. The standing is slippery, and the regress is either a downfall, or at least an eclipse, which is a melan- choly thing : " Cum non sis qui fueris, non esse cur veils vivere." a Nay, retire men cannot wdien they would, neither will they when it were reason ; but are impatient of private- ness even in age and sickness, which require the shadow ; like old townsmen, that wall 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 then- own feeling, they cannot find it : but if they think with them- selves what other men think of them, and that other men ■would fain be as they are, then they are happy as it were * " Since you are not what you were, there is no reason why you should wish to live." GREAT PLACE. 29 by report, when, perhaps, they find the contrary within ; fur 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. " I Hi mors gravis ineubat. qui notus nimis omnibus, ignotus moritur sibi.'"' 1 In place there is license to do good and evil ; whereof the latter is a curse : for in evd the best condition is not to will, the second not to can. But power to do good is the true and lawful end of aspiring; for good thoughts, though God accept them, yet towards men are little better than good dreams, except they be put in act ; and that cannot be "without power and place, as the vantage and commanding ground. Merit and good works is the end of man's motion : and conscience of the same is the accomplishment of man's rest : for if a man can be partaker of God's theatre, he shall likewise he partaker of God's rest. " Et conversus Deus, ut aspiceret opera, qua? fecerunt manus sua?, vidit quod omnia essent bona nimis ;" c and then the Sabbath. In the discharge of thy place set before thee the best examples ; for imitation is a globe of precepts ; and after a time set before thee thine own example ; and examine thyself strictly whether thou didst not best at first. Neglect nut also the examples of those that have carried them- selves 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 v. .1! to create good precedents as to follow them. Reduce tilings to the first institution, and observe wherein and how they have degenerated ; bin yet ask counsel of both times — ■ f tin- ancient time what is bestj and of the latter time what is fittest. Seek to make thy course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect j but be nut too positive and peremptory; and express thyself well when b "Death presses heavily upon him, who, well-known to .'ill dies unknown to himself." r " And God turned to b< hold the works which his hands had and he Baw that everything was very good." -See Gen. i. 31. 30 ESSAYS. 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," d than voice it with claims and challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of inferior places ; and think it more honour to direct in chief than to be busy in all. Embrace and invite helps and advices touching the execution of thy place ; and do not drive away such as bring thee information as meddlers, but accept of them in good part. The vices of authority are chiefly four : delays, corruption, roughness, and facility. For delays give easy access ; keep times appointed ; go through with that which is in hand, and interlace not business but of necessity. For coiTuption, 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 detestation of bribery, doth the other ; and avoid not only the fault, but the suspicion. Whosoever is found variable, and changeth manifestly without manifest cause, giveth suspicion of corruption : therefore, always when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, and declare it, together with the reasons that move thee to change, and do not think to steal it. A servant or a favourite, if he be inward, and no other apparent cause of esteem, is commonly thought but a by-way to close cor- ruption. For roughness, it is a needless cause of discontent : severity breedeth fear, but roughness breedeth hate. Even reproofs from authority ought to be grave, and not taunting. As for facility, e 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."? d "As a matter of course." e Too great easiness of access^ f Predilections that are undeserved. s Proverbs xxviii. 21. The whole passage stands thus 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." BOLDNF.— 31 It is most true that was anciently spoken ; < " A place showeth the man; and it showeth some to the better and some to the worse :" " Omnium consensu capax imperii, \iW\ i 11 1 1 k russet,"' 1 saith Tacitus of Galba ; but of Vespasian he saith, " Solus imperantium, Vespasianus mutatus in melius ;" 1 though the one was meant of sufficiency, the other of manners and affection. It is an assured of a worthy and generous spirit, whom honour amends ; for honour is, or should be, the place of virtue ; and as in nature things move violently to their place, and calmly in their place, so virtue in ambition is violent, in authority settled and calm. All rising to great place is by a winding stair ; and if there be factions, it is good to side a man's self whilst he is in the rising, and to balance himself when he is placed. Use the memoiy 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 then and rather call them when they look not for it, than exclude them when they have reason to look to be called. Be not too sensible or too remembering of thy place in conversation and private answers to suitors ; but let it rather be said, " When he sits in place, he is another man." XII.— OF BOLDNESS. It Ls 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 1 he answered, Action : what next 1 — Action : what next again ] — Action. He said it that knew it best, ami had by nature himself no advantage in that he commended. A strange tiling, that that pari oi an orator wliich is but superficial, and rather the virtue of a player, should be placed so high above those other noble h "By tho consent of all lie was fit to govern, if he had not. governed." ' " Of the emperors, Vespasian alone changed for the better after hit 'recession." 32 ESSAYS. parts of invention, elocution, and the rest ; nay almost alone, as if' it were all in all. But the reason is plain. There is in lniman 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. Wonderfuh-like is the ■case of boldness in civil business ; what first i-i-boldness ; what second and third ? — boldness : and yet boldness is a child of ignorance and baseness, far infeiior to other parts : but, nevertheless, it doth fascinate, and bind hand and foot those that are either shallow in judgment or weak in courage, which are the greatest part ; yea, and prevaileth with wise 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, and perhaps have been lucky in two or three experiments, but want the grounds of science, .and therefore cannot hold out ; nay, you shall see a bold fellow many times do Mahomet's miracle. Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his law. The people assembled : Mahomet called the hill to come to him again and again ; and when the hill stood still, he was never a whit abashed, but said, " If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill." So these men, when they have promised great matters and failed most shamefully, yet (if they have the perfection of boldness) they will but slight it over, and make a turn, and no more ado. Certainly to men of great judgment, bold persons are a sport to behold ; nay, and to the -vulgar also boldness hath some- what of the ridieuloiis ; for if absurdity be the subject of laughter, doubt you .not but great boldness is seldom without some absurdity ; especially it is a sport to see when a bold fellow is o\rfc of countenance, for that puts his face into a most shrunken and wooden posture, as needs it must ; for in bashfulness the spirits do a little go and come ; but with bold men, upon like occasion, they stand at a stay ; like a stale at chess, where it is no mate, but yet the game cannot stir : but this last were fitter for a satire than for a serious G00DXESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE. 33 observation. This is well to be weighed, that boldness is ever blind ; for it seeth not dangers and inconveniences : therefore it is ill in counsel, good in execution ; so that the right use of bold persons is, that they never command in chief, but be seconds and under the direction of others ; for in counsel it is good to see dangers, and in execution not to Bee them except they be very great. XIII.— OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATURE. I take goodness in this sense, the affecting of the weal of men, which is that the Grecians call "philantliropia :" and the word humanity (as it is used) is a little too light to express it. Goodness I call the habit, and goodness of nature the inclination. This, of all virtues and dignities of the mind, is the greatest, being the character of the Deity : and without it man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing, no better than a kind of vermin. Goodness answers to the theological virtue charity, and admits no excess but error. The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall ; !l tike desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall ; but in charity there is no excess, neither can angel or man come in danger by it. The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man ; insomuch, that if it issue not towards men, it will take unto other living creatures ; as it is seen in the Turks, a cruel people, who nevertheless are kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and birds; insomuch as Busbechius b reporteth, " It is not improbable that this passage suggested Pope's beautiful lines in the Essay ua Man, Bp. i. 125-8. " Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes, Men would he angels, angels would be gods. Aspiring to be godn, if angels fell, AH].iring to l>e unguis, ni'-n [■•■I.. !. ' ' A.uger Gialen Busbec, "r Busbequius, a learned traveller, born at Comines, in Flanders, in 1522. Be was employed by the Emperor Ferdinand as ambassador t<> the Sultan Bolyman II. He was after- wards ambassador to France, where lie died in 1592. His •■ Lett* n ' relative to his travels in the Bast, which are written in Latin, contain much interesting information. They wen the pocket companion of Gibbon, and are highly praised by him. D 34 ESSAYS. a Christian boy in Constantinople had like to have been stoned for gagging in a waggishnesa a long-billed fowL c Errors, indeed, in this virtue, of goodness or charity, may be committed. The Italians have an ungracious proverb, "Tanto buon che val niente :" — " So good, that he is good for nothing :" and one of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Machiavel, d had the confidence to put in writing, almost in plain terms, "That the Christian faith had given up good men in prey to th 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 tak.' knowledge of the errors of a habit so excellent. Seek the good of other men, but be not in bondage to then faces or fancies ; for that is but facility or softness, which taketh au . c In this instance the stork or crane was probably protected not on // ,jfl~ the happiest subjects under the Turkish government, and are so A] "i /j sensible of their privileges, that they walk the streets without fear. /I. I v tvK. an( j generally build their nests in the lower parts of the houses. Happ;. '. ; / are those whose houses are so distinguished, as the vulgar Turks are yk>l y perfectly persuaded that they will not be that year attacked either by J ft or P es til ence -" Storks are still protected by municipal law in Hol- & A '' L ' land, and roam unmolested about the market-places. T d Nicolo Machiavelli, a Florentine statesman. He wrote " Dis- courses on the first Decade of Livy," which were conspicuous for their -jLiA liberality of sentiment, and just and profound reflections. This work K-. ,] was succeeded by his famous treatise, " II Principe," — -" The Prince, " tki-c-*- jjis patron, Caesar Borgia, being the model of the perfect prince there U.«j+/ * described by him. The whole scope of this work is directed to one object — the maintenance of power, however acquired. Though its pre- \vuti\. cepts are no doubt based upon the actual practice of the Italian poli- / ( ticians of that day, it has been suggested by some writers that £he * work was a covert exposure of the deformity of the shocking maxims -ia<4 that it professes to inculcate. The question of his motives has been - \ much discussed, and is still considered open. The word " Machiavel- fa^Oirl liani " has, however, been adopted to denote all that is deformed, ^JL^ . insincere, and perfidious in politics. He died in great poverty, in J the vear 1527. 1/ " L. ' /" f— GOODNESS, A>'D G00DXESS OF NATURE. 30 honest mind prisoner. Neither give thou JEsop's cock ■ gem, who would he better pleased and happier if' he bad bad a barley-corn. The example of God teacheth the lesson truly ; "He sendeth his rain, and maketh hia sun to shine upon the just and the unjust ;" e but he doth not rain wealth, nor shine honour and virtues upon men equally : common benefits are to be communicate with all, but peculiar benefits with choice. And beware how in making the portraiture thou breakest the pattern ; for divinity maketh the love of our- selves the pattern : the love of our neighbours but the portraiture : " Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, and follow me:" f but sell not all thou hast except thou come and follow me ; that is, except thou have a vocation wherein thou mayest do as much good with little means as with great ; for otherwise, in feeding the streams, thou driest the fountain. Neither is there only a habit of goodness directed by light reason ; but there is in some men, even in nature, a disposi- tion 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 difncile- 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 : nut bo good as the dogs that licked Lazarus' sores,? but like flies that are still buzzing upon anything that is raw; misanthropi, that make it then- practice to bring men to the bough, and yet have never a tree for the purpose in their gardi Timou 1 ' had : such dispositions are the very errors of human ■ St. Matthew v. 5: "For he inaketh his ann to rise on the evil and on the good, and aendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." 1 This is a portion of our Saviour's reply to the rich 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 laokest : go thy wag rer thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shaft thou have treasure in heavei ike up the cross, and follow me." — Bt. Mark x. -Jl. 3fc I. 'ike xvi. 21. h Timon ot Athena, as he is generally called (being so styled by Bhakspeare in the plaj which hi' has founded an hia ataxy), was aurnamed the "Misanthrope," tram the hatred which he bore to bis fellow-men. He waa attached to A.pemantua, another Athenian of similar ch to himself, and he professed to esteem Alcibiadea, because he foresaw that d2 3C ESSAYS. nature, and yet they are the fittest timber to make great politics of ; like to knee timber, ' that is good for ships that are ordained to be tossed, but not for building houses that shall stand firm. The parts and signs of goodness are many. If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them : if he be compassionate towards the afflictions of others, it shows that his heart is like the noble tree that is wounded itself when it gives the balm : k if he easily pardons and remits offences, it shows that his mind is planted above injuries, so that he cannot be shot : if he be thankful for small benefits, it shows that he weighs men's minds, and not their trash : but, above all, if he have St. Paul's perfection, that he would wish to be an anathema 1 from Christ for the salvation of his brethren, it shows much of a divine nature, and a kind of conformity with Christ himself. XIV.— OF NOBILITY. We will speak of nobility first as a portion of an estate, then as a condition of particular persons. A monarchy, where there is no nobility at all, is ever a pure and absolute tyranny, as that of the Turks ; for nobility attempers sove- reignty, and draAvs the eyes of the people somewhat aside 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 too late. 1 A piece of timber that has grown crooked, and has been so cut that the trunk and branch form an angle. k 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 and gutta-percha trees. 1 "A votive," and in the present instance "a vicarious offering." He alludes to the words of St. Paul in his Second Epistle to Ti- mothy ii. 10: "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sokes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." NOBILITY. 37 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 <■•.. upon the business, and not upon the persons ; or if upon the persona, it is for the business sake, as fittest, and not for flags and pedigree. We see the Switzers last well, notwith- standing their diversity of religion and of cantons ; for utility is their bond, and not respects.* The united provinces of the Low Countries' 3 in their government excel; for where there is an equality the consultations are more indifferent, and the payments and tributes more cheerful. A great and potent nobility addeth majesty to a monarch, but diminisheth power, and putteth life and spirit into the people, but presseth their fortune. It is well when nobles are not too great for sove- reignty nor for justice ; and yet maintained in that height, as the insolency of inferiors maybe broken upon them before it come on too fast upon the majesty of kings. A numerous nobility causeth poverty and inconvenience in a state, for it is a surcharge of expense ; and besides, it being of necessity that many of the nobility fall in time to be weak in fortune, it maketh a kind of disproportion between honour and means. As for nobility in particular persons, it is a reverend thing to see an ancient castle or building not in decay, or to see a fair timber-tree sound and perfect ; how much more to behold an ancient noble family, which hath stood against tin- waves and weathers of time ! for new nobility Ls but the act of power, but ancient nobility is the act of time. Those that are first raised to nobility are commonly more virtuous, but less innocent, than their descendants ; for there is rarely any rising but by a coniruixture of good and evil arts ; but it Ls reaa m* the memory of their virtues remain to their posterity, and their faidts die with themselves. Nobility of birth • "Consideration of," or "predilection for, particular persons." b The Low Countries had then recently emancipated themselves from the galling yoke of Spain. They were called the Seven United Pro- vinces of the Netherlands. c This jnissage may at first sight appear somewhat contradictory , but he means to say that those who are first ennobled will commonly lie found to tie more conspicuous for the prominence of their qualities, both good and bad. d Consistent with reason and justice. 38 ESSAYS. commonly abateth industry ; and he that is not industrious, envieth him that is ; besides, noble persons cannot go much higher ; and he that standeth at a stay when others rise, can hardly avoid motions of envy. On the other side, nobility extinguisheth the passive envy from others towards them, because they are in possession of honour. Certainly, kings that have able men of then nobility shall find ease in employ- ing them, and a better slide into their business ; for people naturally bend to them as born in some sort to command. XV.— OF SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. Shepherds of people had need know the calendars of tempests in state, which are commonly greatest when things grow to equality ; as natural tempests are greatest about the equinoctia, a and as there are certain hollow blasts of wind and secret swellings of seas before a tempest, so are there in states : — " He etiam caecos instare tumultus Ssepe monet, fraudesque et operta tumescere bella." b Libels and licentious discourses against the state, when they are frequent and open ; and in like sort false news, often running up and down, to the disadvantage of the state, and hastily embraced, are amongst the signs of troubles. Virgil, giving the pedigree of Fame, saith she was sister to the giants : — " niam Terra parens, ira irritata Deorum, Extreniam (ut perhibent) Cceo Enceladoque sororem Progenuit." c A3 if fames were the relics of seditions past ; but they are no less indeed the preludes of seditions to come. How- a The periods of the Equinoxes. b " He often warns, too, that secret revolt is impending, that treachery and open warfare are ready to burst forth." - "Mother Earth, exasperated at the wrath of the Deities, produced her, as they tell, a last birth, a sister to the Giants Cceus and Enceladus." SEDITIONS ANT) TROUBLES. 39 soever he noteth it right, thai seditious tumults and seditions 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 must plausible, and which ought to give greatest contentment, are taken in ill sense, and traduced : for that shows the envy great, as Tacitus saith, '•Conflata magna invidia, sen bene, sen male, gesta premunt." 1 ' ^'either doth it follow, that because these fames are a sign of troubles, that the suppressing of them with too much severity should be a remedy of troubles; for the despising of them many times checks them best, and the going about to stop them doth but make a wonder long-lived. Also that kind of obedience, which Tacitus speaketh of, is to be held suspected : " Erant in officio, sed tamen qui mallent imperantium mandate interpretari, quam exaequi :"' e dis- puting, excusing, cavilling upon mandates and directions, is a kind of shaking off the yoke, and assay of disobedience ; especially if in those disputing* they which are for the direction speak fearfully and tenderly, and those that are against it audaciously. Also, as Machiavel noteth well, when princes, that ought to be common parents, make themselves as a party, and lean to a side; it is, as a boat that is overthrown by uneven weight on the one side; as was well seen in the time of Henry the Third of France ; for first himself entered league f 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 accessary to a A "Great public odium once excited, his deed.s, whether good 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 ruler once detested, his actions, whether good or whether bad, cause his downfall." c " They attended to their duties, but still, as preferring rather to discuss the commands of their rulers, than to obey them." f He alludes to the bad policy of Henry the Third of France, who espoused the part of "the League" which was formed by the duke of Guise and other Catholic-; for the extirpation of the Protestant faith. When too I covered his error, and. finding Lis own autho- 'ir.lv superseded, he caused the Duke of Guiss and the Cardinal De Lorraine, his brother, to be assassinated. 40 ESSAYS. cause, and that there be other bands that tic faster than the band of sovereignty, kings begin to be put almost out of possession. Also, when discords, and quarrels, and factious, are car- ried 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," 6 according to the old opinion, which is, that every of them is carried swiftly by the highest motion, and softly in their own motion ; and therefore, when great ones in their own particular motion move "violently, and as Tacitus expresseth it well, ' ; hberius quain at imperantium meminissent," h it is a sign the orbs are out of frame : for reverence is that wherewith princes are girt from God, who threateneth the dissolving thereof ; " Sol vain cingula regum." 1 So when any of the four pillars of government 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 discon- tentment. It is certain, so many overthrown estates, so many votes for troubles. Lucan noteth well the state of Rome before the civil war : — k "The primary motive power." He allude3 to an imaginary centre of gravitation, or central body, which was supposed to set all the other heavenly hodies in motion. h "Too freely to remember their own rulers." ' "I will unloose the girdles of kings." He probably alludes here to the first verse of the 45th chapter of Isaiah : "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right 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.'' SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 41 " Hinc usura vorax, rapidumque in tempore foenus, Hinc concnasa tides, et multis utile helium. " k This same " multis utile helium,'" 1 is an assured and infallible sign of a state disposed to seditions and troubles ; and if tins poverty and broken estate in the better sort be joined with a want and necessity in the mean people, the danger is im- minent and great : for the rebellions of the belly are tin- worst. As for discontentments, they are hi the politic body like to humours in the natural, which are apt to gather a preternatural heat and to inflame ; and let no prince measure the danger of them by this, whether they be just or unjust : for that were to imagine people to be too reasonable, who do often spurn at their own good ; nor yet by this, whether the griefs whereupon they rise be in fact great or small ; for they are the most dangerous discontentments where the fear is greater than the feeling : " Dolendi modus, timendi non item :" m besides, in great oppressions, the same things that provoke the patience, do withal mate" the courage ; but in fears it is not so ; neither let any prince or state be secure concerning discontentments, because they have been often, or have been long, and yet no peril hath ensued : for as it is true that every vapour or fume doth not turn into a storm, so it is nevertheless true that storms, though they blow over divers times, yet may fall at last ; and, as the Spanish pro- verb noteth well, "The cord breaketh at the hist by the weakest pull." The causes and motives of seditions are, innovation in religion, taxes, alteration of laws and customs, breaking of privileges, general oppression, advancement of unworthy persons, strangers, dearths, disbanded -">ldiers, factions grown desperate ; and whatsoever in otl'rnding people joineth ami knitteth them in a common cause. For thf remedies, there may be some general preservatives, whereof we will speak : as for the just cure, it must answer to the J 'articular disease; and so be left to counsel rather than rule. k " Hence devouring usury, and interest accumulating in lapse of time, hence -"liaken credit, and warfare, profitable to tin- many." ' " Warfare profitable to tin' manv." ,n " To grief there is a limit, not bo to tear." ■ '"Cheek," or "daunt." This is similar to the proverb now in common use : " Ti» the last feather that breaks the back of the camel." 42 ESSAYS. The first remedy, or prevention, is to remove, by all means possible, that material cause of sedition whereof we spake, which is, want and poverty in the estate :P 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 ;i the improvement and husbanding of the soil ; the regulating of prices of things vendible ; the moderating of taxes and tributes, and the like. Generally, it is to be foreseen that the population of a kingdom (especially if it be not mown down by wars) do not exceed the stock of the kingdom which should maintain them : neither is the population to be reckoned only by number ; for a smaller number, that spend more and earn less, do wear out an estate sooner than a greater number that live lower and gather more : therefore the miUtiplying of nobility, and other degrees of quality, in an over proportion to the common people, doth speedily bring a state to neces- sity ; and so doth likewise an overgrown clergy, for they bring nothing to the stock ; r and, in like manner, when more are bred scholars than preferments can take off. It is likewise to be remembered, that, forasmuch as the increase of any estate must be upon the foreigner 3 (for what- soever is somewhere gotten is somewhere lost), there be but three things which one nation selleth unto another ; the commodity, as nature yieldeth it ; the manufacture ; and the vecture, or carriage ; so that, if these three wheels go, wealth will flow as in a spring tide. And it cometh many times to pass, that, " materiam superabit opus,"' l that the work and carriage is more worth than the material, and enricheth p The state. i Though sumptuary laws are probably just in theory, they have been found impracticable in any other than infant states. Their principle, however, is certainly recognised in such countries as by statutory enactment discountenance gaming. Those who are opposed to such laws upon principle, would do well to look into Bernard Mandeville's " Fable of the Bees,"— or " Private Vices Public Benefits." The Eo- nians had numerous sumptuary laws, and in the middle ages there were many enactments in this country against excess of expenditure upon wearing apparel and the pleasures of the table. r He means that they do not add to the capital of the country. s At the expense of foreign countries. 4 "The workmanship will surpass the material." — Ovid, Metamorph. B. ii. 1. 5. SEDITIONS AND TROUBLES. 43 a state more : as is notably seen in the Low Countrymen, who have the best mines u above ground in the world. Above all things, good policy is to be used, that the trea- sure and monies in a state be not gathered into few hands ; for, otherwise, a state may have a great stock, and yet starve : and money is like muck, 2 not good except it be spread. This is done chiefly by suppressing, or, at least, keeping a strait hand upon the devouring trades of usuiy, engrossing great pasturages, and the bike. For removing discontentments, or, at least, the clanger of them, there is in every state (as we know) two portions of subjects, the nobles and the commonalty, "When one of these is discontent, the danger is not great ; for common people are of slow motion, if they be not excited by the greater sort ; and the greater sort are of small strength, except the multitude be apt and ready to move of them- selves : then is the danger, when the greater sort do but wait for the troubling of the waters amongst the meaner, that then they may declare themselves. The poets feign that the rest of the gods would have bound Jupiter; which he hearing of, by the counsel of Pallas, sent for Briareus, with his hun- dred hands, to come in to his aid : an emblem, no doubt, to show how safe it is for monarchs to make sure of the good- will of common people. To give moderate liberty for griefs and discontentments to evaporate (so it be without too great insolency or bravery), is a safe way : for he that turneth the humours back, and maketh the wound bleed inwards, endangereth malign ulcers tnd pernicious imposthumations. The part of Epimetheus> might w T ell become Prometheus, a He alludes to the manufactures of the Low Countries. x Like manure. ' The myth of Pandora's box, which is here referred to, is related in the "Works and Days " of Hesiod. Epimetheas was the persanifica- tionof "Afterthought," while his brother Prometheus represented "Fore- thought," or prudence. It was not Epimethens that oi>ened the box, l>ut Pandora — " All-gift*" whom, contrary to the advice of his brother, he had received .it 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 a the lid, all tli'- evils hitherto unknown to man flew out and over the earth, and she oidy shut it down in time to prevent the escape of Hope. 44 ESSAYS. in the case of discontentments, for there is not a better pro- vision against them. Epimetheus, when griefs and evils flew abroad, at last shut the lid, and kept Hope in the bottom of the vessel. Certainly, the politic and artificial nourishing and entertaining of hopes, ;md carrying men from hopes to hopes, is one of the best antidotes against the poison of discontent- ments : and it is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men's hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction ; and when it can handle things in such manner as no evil shall appear so peremptory but that it hath some outlet of hope ; which is the less hard to do, because both particular persons and factions are apt enough to flatter themselves, or at least to brave that which they believe not. Also the foresight and pi'evention, that there be no likely or fit head whereunto discontented persons may resort, and under whom they may join, is a known, but an excellent point of caution. I understand a fit head to be one that hath greatness and reputation, that hath confidence with the discontented party, and upon whom they turn their eyes, and that is thought discontented in his own particular : which kind of persons are either to be won and reconciled to the state, and that in a fast and true manner ; or to be fronted with some other of the same party that may oppose them, and so divide the reputation. Generally, the dividing and breaking of all factions and combinations that are adverse to the state, and setting them at distance, or, at least, distrust amongst themselves, is not one of the worst remedies ; for it is a desperate case, if those that hold with the jiroceeding of the state be full of discord and faction, and those that are against it be entire and united. I have noted, that some witty and sharp speeches, which have fallen from princes, have given fire to seditions. Caesar did himself infinite hurt in that speech — " Sylla nescivit literas, non potuit dictare ;" z for it did utterly cut off that T "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 Dictator," according to the context. As this saying was presumed 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 ATHEISM. 45 hope which men had entertained, that he would at one time or other give over his dictatorship. (Jalba undid himself by that speech, "Legi a so militem, non emi ;"■ fur it put the soldiers out of hope of the donative. Probus, likewise, by that speech, "Si vixero, non opus erit amplins Romano imperio militibus ;"'' a speech of great despair for the soldiers, and many the like. Surely princes had need in tender matters ami ticklish times to beware what they say, especially in these short speeches, which fly abroad like darts, and are thought to be shot out of their secret intentions ; for as for large discourses, they are Hat things, and not so much noted. Lastly, let princes, against all events, not be without some great person, one or rather more, of military valour, near unto them, for the repressing of seditions in their beginnings ; for without that, there useth to be more trepidation in court upon the first breaking out of troubles than were fit ; and the state runneth the danger of that which Tacitus saith ; " Atque is habitus animorum fuit, ut pessimum facinus auderent pauci, plures vellent, omnes paterentur :" c but let such military persons be assured, and well reputed of, rather than factious and popular ; holding also good correspondence with the other great men in the state, or else the remedy is worse than the disease. XVI.— OF ATHEISM. I HAD rather believe all the fables in the legend," and the Talmud, 11 and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is himself subject to no such inability, did not intend speedily to yield the reins of power. * "That soldiers were levied by him, not bought." '■ " It I live, there shall no longer be need of soldiers in the Roman ' in I >' re." ■' \nd Midi was the state of feeling, that a few dared to perpetrate the worst of crimes ; more wished to do so, — all submitted to it." * He probably alludes to the legends nr miraculous stories of tho saints, — such as walking with their heads off, preaching to the t i — I j . ■■■. Bailing over th<- sui on a cloak, &c. &c. This is the book that contains tti>' .lew'eh traditions, and the 46 ESSAYS. 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 Pro- vidence and Deity : nay, even that school which is most accused of atheism doth most demonstrate religion : that is, the school of Leucippus, d and Democritus, c and Epicurus : for it is a thousand times more credible that four mutable elements, and one immutable fifth essence/ duly and eter- nally placed, need no God, than that an army of infinite small portions, or seeds unplaced, should have produced this order and beauty without a divine marshal. The Scripture saith, " The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God;"s it is not said, " The fool hath thought in his heart ;" so as he rather saith it by rote to himself, as that he woidd 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 h that there were no God. It appeareth in nothing more, that atheism is rather in the lip than in the heart of man, than by this, that atheists will ever be talking of that then opinion, as if they fainted hi it within themselves, and would be glad to be strengthened by the consent of others ; Rabbinical explanations of the law. It is replete with wonderful narratives. c 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." d A Philosopher of Abdera ; the first who taught the system of atoms, which was afterwards more fully developed by Democritus and Epicurus. e 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 Philosophy, and was the first to teach, what is now confirmed by science, that the Milky Waj is an accumulation of stars. 1 Spirit. s Psalm xiv. 1, and liii. 1. h To whose (seeming) advantage it is : the wish being father to the thought. ATHEISM. 47 nay more, you shall have atheists strive to get disciples, as it farcth with other suets ; ami, which is most of all, you shall have of them that will Buffer for atheism, and not recant ; whereas, if they oth ; and of the inferior sort rather in private, to preserve freedom ; of the greater, rather in consort, to preserve respect. It is in vain for princes to take counsel concerning matters, if they take no counsel likewise concerning persons ; lor all matters are as dead images : and the life of the exe- cution of affairs resteth in the good choice of persons : neither is it enough to consult concerning persons, " secun- dum genera," 1 as in an idea or mathematical description, what the kind and character of the person should be ; for the greatest errors are committed, and the most judgment is shown, in the choice of individuals. It was truly said, " Optimi consiliarii mortui :" r " books will speak plain when counsellors blanch ;"' 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 " " Tis the especial virtue of a prince to know his own men." ° In his disposition, or inclination. 11 Liable to opposition from . 'i ''According to (.lasses,'' or, as we vulgarly say, "in the lump." Lord Bacon means that princes are not, as a matter of course, to take BOUDBellora merely on the presumption of talent, from their rank and station ; but that, on the contrary, they are to select such as are tried men, and with regard to whom there can be no mistake. ' "The best counsellors are the dead." * " Are afraid '' to open their months. 02 ESSAYS. uocte consilium :" 1 so was it done in the commission of union 11 between England and Scotland, which was a grave and orderly assembly. I commend set days for petitions ; for both it gives the suitors more certainty for their at- tendance, and it frees the meetings for matters of" estate, that they may " hoc agere." x 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 par- ticular councils, and but one council of estate (as it is in Spain), they are, in effect, no more than standing com- missions, 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 tribu- nitiousy manner : for that is to clamour councils, not to inform them. A long table and a square table, or seats about the walls, seem things of form, but are things of substance ; for at a long table a few at the upper end, in effect, sway all the business ; but in the other form there is more use of the counsellors' opinions that sit lower. A King. when he presides in council, let him beware how he opens his own inclination too much in that which he propoundeth ; for else counsellors will but take the wind of him, and instead of giving free counsel, will sing him a song of " pla- cebo." z 1 " Night-time for counsel." u On the accession of James the Sixth of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603. 1 A phrase much in use with the Romans, signifying, " to attend to the business in hand." y A tribunitial or declamatory manner. * " I '11 follow the bent of your humour." 63 XXI.— OF DELAYS Fortune is like the market, where many times, if you can stay a little, the price will fall ; and again, it is some- times like Sibylla's ofler,* which at first olfereth the com- modity at full, then consumeth part and part, and still holdeth up the price ; for occasion (as it is in the common verse) "turneth a Laid noddle after she hath presented her locks in front, and no hold taken;" or, at least, turneth the handle of the Lottie 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 tilings. Dangers are no more fight, if they once seem light ; and more dangers have deceived men than forced them : nay, it were Letter to meet some dangers half-way, though they come nothing near, than to keep too long a watch upon their approaches ; for if a man watch too long, it is odds he will fall asleep. On the other side, to be deceived with too long shadows (as some have been when the moon was low, and shone on their enemies' Lack), and so to shoot off Lefore the time ; or to teach dangers to come on Ly over early buckling towards them, is another extreme. The ripeness or unripeness of the occasion (as we said) must ever be well weighed ; and generally it is good to commit the beginnings of all great actions to Argus with his hundred eyes, and the ends to Briareus with his hundred hands ; first to watch and then to speed ; for the helmet of Pluto, which maketh the politic man go invisihle, is secrecy in the council, and celerity in the execution ; for when things are once come to the execution, there is no secrecy coniparahle to celerity ; like the motion of a ballet in the air, which ffieth so swift as it outruns the eye. • See the history of Rome under the reign of Tarquinius Superhus. b Bald head. He alludes to the common saying " take time by the forelock." 64 ESSAYS. XXII.— OF CUNNING. We take cunning for a sinister, or crooked wisdom ; and certainly there is great difference between a cunning man and a wise man, not only in point of honesty, but in point of ability. There be that can pack the cards, a and yet cannot play well j so there are some that are good in canvasses and factions, that are otherwise weak men. Again, it is one thing to understand persons, and another thing to understand matters ; for many are perfect in men's humours that are not greatly capable of the real part of business, which is the constitution 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 videbis," b doth scarce hold for them ; and, because these running men are like haberdashers of small wares, it is not amiss to set forth their shop. It is a point of cunning to wait upon* him with whom you speak with your eye, as the Jesuits give it in precept ; for there be many wise men that have secret hearts and transparent countenances : yet this would be done with a demure abasing of your eye sometimes, as the Jesuits also do use. Another is, that when you have anything to obtain of present dispatch, you entertain and amuse the party with whom you deal -with some other discourse, that he be not too much awake to make objections. I knew a counsellor and secretary that never came to Queen Elizabeth of England with bills to sign, but he would always first put her into a Packing the cards is an admirable illustration of the author's mean- ing. It is a cheating exploit, by which knaves, who perhaps are inferior players, insure to themselves the certainty of good hands. b " Send them both naked among strangers, and then you will see." '' This word is used here in its primitive sense of "retail dealers." It is said to have been derived from a custom 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 das herr?" — " Will you take this, sir ?" The word is now generally used as synony- mous with linen-draper. d To watch. CONNING. G5 some discourse of estate, c that she might the less mind the bills. The like surprise may he 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 In' doubts sonic 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 aboui to say, as if he took himself up, breeds a greater appetite in him, with whom you confer, to know more. And because it works better when anything seemeth to be gotten from you by question than if you offer it of yourself, you may lay a bait for a question, by showing another visage and countenance than you are wont; to the end, to give occasion for the party to ask what the matter is of the change, as Nehemiahs did, " And I had not before that time been sad before the king." In things that are tender and unpleasing, it is good to break the ice by some whose words are of less weight, and 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 isolating to Claudius the marriage 1 ' of Messalina and Silius. In things that a man would not be seen in himself, it is :i point of cunning to borrow the name of the world ; as lo 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. 1 State. ' Discussing matters. % He refers to the occasion when Nehemiah, on presenting the wine, as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, appeared sorrowful, and on being asked the reason of it, entreated the king to allow Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Neheiniah ii. 1. h This can hardly be called a marriage, as at the time of the intrigue Messalina was the wife of Claudius: but she forced Cains Silius, of whom sin- was deeply enamoured, (•> divorce his own wife, that Bbe her- self might enjoy his society. The intrigue was
  • infamous vices; on which Silius was put to death. F 60 ESSAYS. I knew another, that when he came to have speech,' he would pass over that that he intended most : and go forth and come back again, and speak of it as of a thing that he had almost forgot. Some procure themselves to be surprised at such times as it is like the party that they work upon will suddenly come upon them, and to be found with a letter in their hand, or doing somewhat which they are not accustomed, to the end they may be opposed of k those things which of themselves they are desirous to utter. It is a point of cunning to let fall those words in a man's own name, which he would have another man learn and use, and thereupon take advantage. I knew two that were com- petitors for the secretary's place, in Queen Elizabeth's time, and yet kept good quarter 1 between themselves, and would confer one with another upon the business ; and the one of them said, that to be a secretary in the declination of a monarchy was a ticklish thing, and that he did not affect it : ra the other straight caught up those words, and discoursed with divers of his friends, that he had no reason to desire to be secretary in the declination of a monarchy. The first man took hold of it, and found means it was told the queen; who, hearing of a declination of a monai'chy, took it so ill, as she woidd never after hear of the other's suit. There is a cunning, which we in England call u the turn- ing of the cat in the pan ;" which is, when that which a man says to another, he lays it as if another had said it to him ; and, to say truth, it is not easy, when such a matter passed between two, to make it appear from which of them it first moved and began. It is a way that some men have, to glance and dart at others by justifying themselves by negatives ; as to say, " This I do not ; " as Tigellinus did towards Burrhus, " Se non diversas spes, sed rncolumitatem imperatoris simpliciter spectare." 11 Some have in readiness so many tales and stories, as there 1 To speak in his turn. k Be questioned upon. 1 Kept on good terms. m Desire it. n "That he did not have various hopes in view, but solely the safety of the emperor." Tigellinus was the profligate minister of Nero, and Afriuanus Burrhus was the chief of the Praetorian guards. CUNNING. 67 is nothing they would insinuate, but they can wrap it into a tale j° which serveth both to keep themselves more in guard, and to make others cany it with more pleasure. It is a good point of cunning for a man to shape the answer he would have in his own words and propositions ; for it makes the other party stick the less. It is strange how long some men will lie in wait to speak somewhat they desire to say ; and how far about they will fetch,P and how many other matters they will beat over to come near it : it is a thing of great patience, but yet of much use. A sudden, bold, and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man, and lay him open. Like to him, that, having changed his name, and walking in Paul's,? another suddenly came behind him and called him by his time name, whereat straight ways he looked back. But these small wares aud petty points of cunning are in- finite, and it were a good deed to make a list of them ; for that nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise. But certainly some there are that know the resorts 1, and falls 8 of business that cannot sink into the main of it j* like a house that hath convenient stairs and entries, but never a fair room : therefore you shall see them find out pretty looses" in the conclusion, but are noways able to examine or debate matters : and yet commonly they take advantage of their inability, and would be thought wits of direction. Some build rather upon the abusing of others, and (as we now say) putting tricks upon them, than upon .soundness of their own proceedings : but Solomon saith, " Prndens advertit ad gressus suos : stultus divertit ad doles." 1 ° Aa Nathan did when he reproved David for hi- criminality with Bathshoba. 2 Samuel xii. P Use indirect strata' I i iTo alludes to the old Cathedral of St. Pan] in London, which, in the sixteenth century, was a oommon lounge for idlers. r Movements, <>r springs. I qi , or vicissitudes. 1 Ente7 ctBeplj into. " Faults, or weak points. x " The wise man gives heed to his own footsteps; the Fool turneth } aside t.> the mare." No doubt he here alludes to Ecclesiastes xiv. 2, Cci which passage m thus re nd ered in om vermon i "The v.i ■ man's evee . '. , r are in his head; but the fool walketh in larkness." f2 68 ESSAYS. XXIII.— OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF. An ant is a wise creature for itself, but it is a shrewd 3 thing in an orchard or garden : and certainly men that are great lovers of themselves waste the public. Divide with reason between self-love and society ; and be so true to thy- self as thou be not false to others, specially to thy king and country. It is a poor centre of a man's actions, himself. It is right earth ; for that only stands fast upon his own centre ; b whereas all things that have affinity with the Leavens, move upon the centre of another, which they benefit. The referring of all to a man's self, is more tolerable in a sovereign prince, because themselves are not only themselves, but their good and evil is at the peril of the public fortune ; but it is a desperate evil in a servant to a prince, or a citizen in a republic ; for whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to the ends of his master or state : therefore let princes or states choose such servants as have not this mark ; except they mean their service should be made but the accessary. That which maketh the effect more pernicious is, that all proportion is lost ; it were disproportion enough for the servant's good to be preferred before the master's ; but yet it is a greater extreme, when a little good of the servant shall cany things against a great good of the master's : and yet that is the case of bad officers, treasurers, ambassadors, generals, and other false and corrupt servants ; which set a bias upon then- bowl, of their own petty ends and envies, to the overthrow of their master's great and important affairs : and, for the most part, the good such servants receive is after the model of their own fortune ; but the hurt they sell for that good is after the model of their master's fortune : and certainly it is the nature of extreme self-lover's, as they will set a house on fire, an.it were but to roast their eggs ; and yet these men many times hold credit with their masters be- * Mischievous. b It must be remembered that Bacon was not a favourer of the Copernican system. INNOVATIONS. 69 cause their study is but to please them, aud profit themselves ; and for either respect they will abandon the good of their affairs. Wisdom for a man's self is, in many branches thereof, a depraved thing : it is the wisdom of rats, that will be sure to leave a house somewhat before it fall : it is the wisdom of the fox, that thrusts out the badger who digged and made room for him : it is the wisdom of crocodiles, that shed tears when they would devour. But that which is specially to be noted, is, that those which (as Cicero says of Pompey) are, " sui amantes, sine rivali," c are many times unfortunate; and whereas they have all their times sacrificed to themselves, they become in the end themselves sacrifices to the inconstancy of fortune, whose wings they thought by their self-wisdom to have pinioned. XXIV.— OF INNOVATIONS. As the births of living creatures at first are ill-shapen, so are all innovations, which are the births of time ; yet not- withstanding, as those that first bring honour into their family are commonly more worthy than most that succeed, so the first precedent (if it be good) is seldom attained by imitation ; for ill to man's nature as it stands perverted, hath a natural motion strongest in continuance ; but good, as a forced motion, strongest at first. Surely every medicine 8 is an in- novation, and he that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils ; for time is the greatest innovator ; and if time of course alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the end? It is true, that what is settled by custom, though it- be not good, yet at least it is fit ; and those things which have Long gone together, are, as it were, confederate within themselves ;'' whereas, new things piece not SO well ; but, though they help by their utility, yet they trouble by their inconfbrmity : besides, bhej are like strangers, more admired and less favoured .Ml this is true, if time stood still: c "Lovers of themselves without a rival." • Remedy. u Adapted to each other. 70 ESSAYS. ■which, contrariwise, moveth so round, that a froward re- tention of custom is as turbulent a thing as an innovation ; and they that reverence too much old times are but a scorn to the new. It were good, therefore, that men in their inno- vations would follow the example of time itself, which indeed innovateth greatly, but quietly, and by degrees scarce to be perceived ; for otherwise, whatsoever is new is unlooked for; and ever it mends some and pairs other ; and he that is holpen, takes it for a fortune, and thanks the time ; and he that is hurt, for a wrong, and imputeth it to the author. It is good also not to try experiments in states, except the necessity be urgent, or the utility evident ; and well to be- ware that it be the reformation that draweth on the change, and not the desire of change that pretendeth the reformation ; and lastly, that the novelty, though it be not rejected, yet be held for a suspect, 3 and, as the Scripture saith, " That we make a stand upon the ancient way, and then look about us, and discover what is the straight and right way, and so to walk in it." e XXV.— OF DISPATCH. Affected dispatch is one of the most dangerous things to business that can be : it is bike that which the physicians call predigestion, or hasty digestion, which is sure to fill the body fu41 of crudities, and secret seeds of diseases : therefore measure not dispatch by the times of sitting, but by the advancement of the business : and as in races, it is not the large stride, or high lift, that makes the speed ; so in business, the keeping close to the matter, and not taking of it too much at once, procureth dispatch: It is the care of some, only to come off speedily for the time, or to contrive some false periods of business, because they may seem men of dispatch : but it is one tiling to abbreviate by contracting,* c Injures, or impairs. d A thing suspected. e He probably alludes to Jeremiah vi. 16: "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." a That is, by means of good management. DISPATCH. 71 another by cutting off; and business bo handled at several sittings, or meetings, goeth commonly backward and forward in an unsteady manner. I knew a wise man 1 ' that had it for a by-word, when lie saw men hasten to a conclusion, "Stay a little, that we may make an end the sooner." On the other side, true dispatch is a rich thing ; for time is the measure of business, as money is of wares : and business is bought at a dear hand where there is small dispatch. The Spartans and Spaniards have been noted to be of small dis- patch : " Mi venga la muerte de Spagna ;"' — " Let my death come from Spain;" for then it will be sure to be long in coming. Give good hearing to those that give the first information in business, and rather direct them in the beginning, than interrupt them in the continuance of their speeches ; for he that is put out of his own order will go forward and back- ward, and be more tedious while he waits upon his memory, than he could have been if he had gone on in his own course ; but sometimes it is seen that the moderator is more troublesome than the actor. Iterations are commonly loss of time ; but there is no such gain of time as to iterate often the state of the question ; for it chaseth away many a frivolous speech as it is coming forth. Long and curious speeches are as fit for dispatch as a robe, or mantle, with a long train, is for a race. Prefaces, and passages, and cxcusations, d and other speeches of re- i'tit-nce to the person, are great wastes of time ; and though tin y seem to proceed of modesty, they are bravery. e Yet beware of being too material when there is any impediment, or obstruction in men's wills ; for pre-occupation of mind f ever requireth preface of speech, like a fomentation to make the unguent enter. Above all things, order and distribution, and singling out of parts, is the life of dispatch ; so as the distribution be not too subtile : for he that doth not divide will never enter v. ell into business; and he that divideth too much will never b It is supposed that ho hero alludes to Sir Amyas Paulet, a very able statesman, and the ambassador of Queen Elizabeth to the court of France. Quotations. d Apologies. c Boa ' Prejudice. 72 ESSAYS. conic out of it clearly. To choose time, is to save time ] and an unseasonable motion is but beating the air. There be three parts of business : the preparation ; the debate, or examination ] and the perfection. Whereof, if you look for dispatch, let the middle only be the work of many, and the first and last the work of few. The proceeding, upon some- what conceived in writing, doth for the most part facilitate dispatch ; for though it should be wholly rejected, yet that negative is more pregnant of direction than an indefinite, as ashes are more generative than dust. XXVI.— OF SEEMING WISE. It hath been an opinion, that the French are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards seem wiser than they are ] but howsoever it be between nations, certainly it is so between man and man ; for as the apostle saith of godliness, " Having a show of godliness, but denying the power thereof]"* so certainly there are, in points of wisdom and sufficiency, that do nothing or little veiy solemnly] "magno conatu nugas." b It is a ridiculous thing, and fit for a satire to persons of judgment, to see what shifts these formalists have, and what prospectives to make superficies to seem body, that hath depth and bulk. Some are so close and reserved, as they will not show their waives but by a dark light, and seem always to keep back somewhat ] and when they know within themselves they speak of that they do not Avell know, woidd nevertheless seem to others to know of that which they may not well speak. Some help themselves with countenance and gesture, and are wise by signs ] as Cicero saith of Piso, that when he answered him he fetched one of his brows up to his forehead, and bent the other down to his chin ; " Eespondes, altero ad frontem sublato, altero ad mention depresso super- cilio; cruel elitatem tibi non placere." c Some tliink to bear it by speaking a great word, and being peremptory ; and go on, a 2 Tim. iii_ 5. b "Trifles -with great effort." c "With one brow raised to your forehead, the other bent downward to your chin, you answer that cruelty delights you not." FRIENDSHIP. 73 and take by admittance that which they cannot make good. Some, whatsoever is beyond their reach, will seem to despise, or make; light of it as impertinent or curious: and so would have their ignorance aeem judgment. Some are neverwith- out a difference, and commonly by amusing men with a subtilty, blanch the matter ; of whom A. Gellius saith, "Ho- minem delirum, qui verborum minutiis rerum frangit pon- <>k i. '• lie who ia unable to mingle in Bociety, or who requires nothing, by reason of sufficing Ear himself, is no part nf the state, bo that he is either a wild beast or a Divinity." 74 ESSAYS. not out of a pleasure in soli I ude, but out of a love and desire to sequester a man's self for a higher conversation : such as is found to have been falsely and feignedly in some of the heathen ; as Epimenides, b the Candian ; Nuraa, the Roman ; Empedocles, the Sicilian ; and Apollonius of Tyana ; and truly and really in divers of the ancient hermits and holy fathers of the Church. But little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth; for a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love. The Latin adage meeteth with it a little, " Magna civitas, magna soli- tudo ; " c because in a great town friends are scattered, so that there is not that fellowship, for the most part, which is in less neighbourhoods : but we may go further, and affirm most truly, that it is a mere and miserable solitude to want true friends, without which the world is but a wilderness ; and even in this sense also of solitude, whosoever in the frame of his nature and affections is unfit for friendship, he taketh it of the beast, and not from humanity. A principal fruit of friendship is the ease and discharge of the fulness and swellings of the heart, which passions of all kinds do cause and induce. We know diseases of stopjungs and suffocations are the most dangerous in the body; and it is not much otherwise in the mind ; you may take sarza d to open the Liver, steel to open the spleen, flower of sulphur for the lungs, castoreum e for the brain; but no receipt openeth b Epiraenides, a poet of Crete (of which Candia is the modern name), is said by Pliny to have fallen into a sleep which lasted fifty-seven years. He was also said to have lived 299 years. Nurna pretended that he was instructed in the art of legislation by the divine nymph Egeria, who dwelt in the Arician grove. Empedocles, the Sicilian philosopher, declared himself to be immortal, and to be able to cure all evils : he is said by some to have retired from society that his death might not be known, and to have thrown himself into the crater of Mount -Etna. Apollonius of Tyana, the Pythagorean philosopher, pretended to mira- culous powers, and after his death a temple was erected to him at that place. His life is recorded by Philostratus ; and some persons, among whom are Hierocles, Dr. More, in his Mystery of Godliness, and recently Strauss, have not hesitated to compare his miracles with those of our Saviour. c "A great city, a great desert." d Sarsaparilla. c A liquid matter of a pungent smell, extracted from a portion of the body of the beaver. FRIENDSHIP. 75 the heart but a true friend, to whom you may imparl griefs, joys, fears, hopes, suspicions, counsels, and whatsoever lieth upon the heart to oppress it, in a kind of civil shrift or con- fession. It is a strange thing to observe how high a rate great kings and monarchs do set upon this fruit of friendship whereof we speak: so great, as they purchase it many times at the hazard of their own safety and greatness : for princes, in regard of the distance of their fortune from that of their subjects and servants, cannot gather this fruit, except (to make themselves capable thereof) they raise some persons to be as it were companions, and almost equals to themselves, which many times sorteth to inconvenience. The modern languages give unto such persons the name of favourites, or privadoes, as if it were matter of grace, or conversation ; but the Roman name attaineth the true use and cause thereof, naming them " participes curarum ;"' for it is thai which tieth the knot : and we sec plainly that this hath been dene. not by weak and passionate princes only, but by the wisest and most politic that ever reigned, who have oftentimes joined to themselves some of their servants, whom both themselves have called friends, and allowed others likewise to call them in the same manner, using the word which is received between private men. L. Sylla, when he commanded Home, raised Pompey Bumamed the Great) to that height that Pompey vaunted himself for Sylla's overmatch; for when he had carried the consulship for a friend of his, against the pursuit of .Sylla, and that Sylla did a little resent thereat, and began to speak great, Pompey turned upon him again, and in el feet bade him be quiet j for that more men adored the sun rising than the sun setting. With Julius (,'a'sar, Decimns Brutus had obtained that interest, as he set him down in his testament. for heir in remainder after his nephew; and this was the man thai had power with him to draw him forth to his death: for when Cesar would have discharged the senate, in regard of some ill presages, and specially a dream of Cal- phnrnia. this man lifted him gently by the arm out of his el air, telling him he hoped lie would not dismiss tin' senate ' " I':irt:iki pa of cares." 76 ESSAYS. till his wife had dreamt a better dream ; and it seemeth his favour was so great, as Antonius, in a letter which is recited verbatim in one of Cicero's Philippics, calleth him " venefica," — "witch ;" as if he had enchanted Caesar. Augustus raised Agrippa (though of mean birth) to that height, as, when he consulted with Maecenas about the marriage of his daughter Julia, Maecenas took the liberty to tell him, that he must either marry his daughter to Agrippa, or take away his life : there was no third way, he had made him so great. With Tiberius Caesar, Sejanus had ascended to that height, as they two were termed and reckoned as a pair of friends. Tibe- rius, in a letter to him, saith, u Hsec pro amicitia. nostra non occultavi ;"=' and the whole senate dedicated an altar to Friendship, as to a goddess, in respect of the great dearness of friendship between them two. The like, or more, was between Septimius Severus and Plautianus ; for he forced his eldest son to marry the daughter of Plautianus. and would often maintain Plautianus in doing affronts to his son ; and did write also, in a letter to the senate, by these words : " I love the man so well, as I wish he may over-live me." Now, if these princes had been as a Trajan, or a Marcus Aurelius, a man might have thought that this had proceeded of an abundant goodness of nature ; but being men so wise,' 1 of such strength and severity of mind, and so extreme lovers of themselves, as all these were, it proveth most plainly that they found their own felicity (though as great as ever hap- pened to mortal men) but as an half-piece, except they might have a friend to make it entire ; and yet, which is more, they were princes that had wives, sons, nephews ; and yet all these could not supply the comfort of friendship. It is not to be forgotten what Comineus observeth of his first master, Duke Charles the Hardy, k namely, that he k "These things, by reason of our friendship, I have not concealed from you." h Such infamous men as Tiberius and Sejanus hardly deserve this commendation. ' Philip de Comiues. k Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, the valiant antagonist of Louis XI. of France. De Comines spent his early years at his court, but afterwards passed into the service of Louis XI. This monarch was notorious for his cruelty, treachery, and dissimulation, and had all the bad qualities of his contemporary, Edward IV. of England, without any of his redeeming virtues. FRIENDSHIP. 77 would communicate his secrets with none ; and least of all, those Becreta which troubled him most. Whereupon he goeth on, and saith, that towards his latter time that close- ness did impair and a little perish his understanding. Surely Comineua ought have made the same judgment also, if it had pleased him, of his second master, Louis the Eleventh, whose closeness was indeed his tormentor. The parable of Pythagoras is dark, but true, " Cor ne edito," — " eat not the heart." 1 Certainly, if a man would give it a hard phrase, those that want friends to open themselves unto are cannibals of their own hearts : but one thing is most ad- mirable (wherewith I will conclude this first fruit of friend- ship), which is, that this communicating of a man's self to his friend works two contrary effects; for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in halves : for there is n<> man that imjKit'teth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more; and no man that imparteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieveth the less. So that it is, in truth, of operation upon a man's mind of like virtue as the alchymists used to attri- bute to their stone for man's body, that it worketh all con- trary effects, but still to the good and benefit of nature : but yet, without praying in aid of alchymists, there is a manifest image of this in the ordinary course of nature ; for, in bodies, union strengtheneth and cherisheth any natural action ; and, on the other side, weakeneth and dulleth any violent impression ; and even so is it of minds. The second fruit of friendship is healthful and sovereign for the understanding, as the first is for the affections; for friendship maketh indeed a fair day in the affections from storm and tempests, but it maketh daylight in the under- standing, out of darkness and confusion of thoughts : neither is this to be understood only of faithful counsel, which a man receiveth from his friend ; but before you come to that, Certain it is, that whosoever hath bis mind fraught with man) thoughts, his wits and understanding do clarify and 1 Pythagoras went still further than this, as he forbade his disciples to est flesh of any kind whatever. See the interesting speech which Ovid attributes to him in the Fifteenth book of the bfetamorphoeea Sir Thomas Browne, in Ids Pseudodoxia (Browne's Works, Bonn's An- tiquarian edn., vol. i. p. 27, et seq.), gives some curious explanations of the doctrines of this philosopher. 78 ESSAYS. break up in the communicating and discoursing with ano- ther; he tossetb his thoughts more easily; he marshalleth them move orderly; he teeth how they look when they are turned into words : finally, he waxeth wiser than himself; and that more by an hours discourse than by a day's medi- tation. It was well said by Themistocles to the king of Persia, '■ That speech was like cloth of Arras, 1 " opened and put abroad ; whereby the imagery doth appear in figure ; whereas in thoughts they lie but as in packs." Neither is this second fruit of friendship, in opening the understanding, restrained only to such friends as are able to give a man counsel (they indeed are best), but even without that a man learneth of himself, and bringeth his own thoughts to light, and whetteth his wits as against a stone, which itself cuts not. In a word, a man were better relate himself to a statue or picture, than to suffer his thoughts to pass in smother. Add now, to make this second fruit of friendship com- plete, that other point which lieth more open, and falleth within vulgar observation : which is faithful counsel from a friend. Heraclitus saith well in one of his enigmas, " Dry light is ever the best :" and certain it is, that the light that a man receiveth by counsel from another, is drier and purer than that which cometh from his own understanding and judgment ; which is ever infused and drenched in his affec- tions and customs. So as there is as much difference be- tween the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and of a flatterer ; for there is no such flatterer as is a man's self, and there is no such remedy against flattery of a man's self as the liberty of a friend. Counsel is of two sorts ; the one concerning manners, the other concerning business : for the first, the best preservative to keep the mind in health, is the faithful admonition of a friend. The calling of a man's self to a strict account is a medicine sometimes too piercing and corrosive ; reading good books of morality is a little flat and dead ; observing our faults in others is sometimes improper for our case ; but the best receipt (best I say to m Tapestry. Speaking hypercritically, Lord Bacon commits an ana- chronism here, as Arras did not manufacture tapestry till the middle ages. _ rniEyDsinp. 79 ■work and best to take) is the admonition, of a friend. It is a strange tiling to behold what gross errors and extreme absurdities many (especially of the greater sort) do commit for want of a friend t<> tell tlicm of them, to the great damage both of their fame and fortune: for, as St. James saith, they are as men "that look sometimes into a _ and presently forget their own shape and favour.*' As for business, a man may think, if he will, that two eyes see no more than one; or, that a gamester Beeth always more than a looker-on ; or, that a man in anger is as wise as he that hath said over the four and twenty Letters; or, that a musket may be shot off as well upon the arm as upon a rest ;P and such other fond and high imaginations, to think himself all in all : but when all is done, the help of good counsel is that which setteth business straight : and if any man think that he will take counsel, but it shall be by pieces ; asking counsel in one business of one man. and in another business of another man; it is well (that is to say r , better, perhaps, than if he asked none at all); but he runneth two dangers ; one, that he shall not be faithfully counselled; for it is a rare thing, except it be from a perfect and entire friend, to have counsel given, but such as shall be bowed and crooked to some ends which he hath that giveth it : the other, that he shall have counsel given, hurtful and unsafe (though with good meaning), and mixed partly of mischief, and partly of remedy; even as if you would call a physician, that is thought good for the cure of the disease you com- plain of, but is unacquainted with your body; and. therefore, may put you in a way for a present cure, but overthrow! th your health in some other kind, and so cure the disease, and kill the patient : but a friend, that is wholly acquainted with a man's estate, will beware, by furthering any present busi- ness, how he dasheth upon other inconvenience ; and there- fore, rest not upon scattered COUU alsj they will rather dis- tract and mislead, than settle and direct. " Jamee i. 23. He alludes to the recommendation which moralists have often that a person in toga* should go through the. alphabet to himself before he allows himself to apeak. '■ Jn his day the musket was fixed upon a stand, called the "roet," much aa the gingals or matchlocks are used iu the East at the pre- sent day. 80 ESSAYS. After these two noble fruits of friendship (peace in the affections, and support of the judgment), followeth the last fruit, which is like the pomegranate, full of many kernels ; I mean aid, and bearing a part in all actions and occasions. Here the best way to represent to life the manifold use of friendship, is to cast and see how many things there are Avhich a man cannot do himself ; and then it will appear that it was a sparing speech of the ancients to say, " that a friend is another himself :" for that a friend is far more than him- self. Men have their time, and die many times in desire of some things which they principally take to heart ; the bestowing of a child, the finishing of a work, or the like. If a man have a true friend, he may rest almost secure that the care of those things will continue after him ; so that a man hath, as it were, two lives in his desires. A man hath a body, and that body is confined to a place : but where friendship is, all offices of life are, as it were, granted to him and his deputy ; for he may exercise them by his friend. How many things are there, which a man cannot, with any face or comeliness, say or do himself? A man can scarce allege his own merits with modesty, much less extol them : a man cannot sometimes brook to supplicate, or beg, and a number of the like : but all these things are graceful in a fri end's mouth, which are blushing in a man's own. So again, a man's person hath many proper relations which he cannot put off. A man cannot speak to his son but as a father ; to his wife but as a husband ; to his enemy but upon terms : whereas a friend may speak as the case requires, and not as it sorteth with the person : but to enumerate these things were endless ; I have given the rule, where a man cannot fitly play his own part, if he have not a friend, he may quit the stage. XXVIII.— OF EXPENSE. Riches are for spending, and spending for honour and good actions ; therefore extraordinary expense must be limited by the worth of the occasion ; for voluntary undoing may be as well for a man's country as for the kingdom of heaven ; but ordinary expense ought to be limited by a TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES. 81 man's estate, and governed with sucli regard, as it be within his compass ; and not subject to deceit and abuse oi'st rvants ; and ordered fco the best show, that the bills may be less than the estimation abroad. Certainly, if a man will keep but of even hand, bis ordinary expenses ought to be but to the half of his receipts ; and if he think to wax rich, but to the third part. It is no baseness for the greatest to descend and Look into their own estate. Some forbear it, not upon negligence alone, but doubting to bring themsi Ives into melancholy, ill respect they shall find it broken : but wounds cannot be cured without searching. He that cannot look into his own estate at all, had need both choose well those whom be employed), and change them often ; for new are more timorous and less subtle. He that can look into his estate but seldom, it behoveth him to turn all to certainties. A man had need, if he be plentiful in some kind of expense, to be as saving again in some other : as if he be plentiful in diet, to be saving in apparel : if he be plentiful in the hall, to be saving in the stable : and the like. For he that is plen- tiful in expenses of all kinds will hardly be preserved from decay. In dealing* of a man's estate, he may as well hurt himself in being too sudden, as in letting it run on too long ; for hasty selling is commonly as disadvantageable as interest. Besides, he that clears at once will relapse ; for finding him- self out of straits, he will revert to his customs : but he that cleareth by degrees induceth a habit of frugality, and gaineth as well upon his mind as upon his estate. Certainly, who hath a state to repair, may not despise small things j and, commonly, it is less dishonourable to abridge petty charges than to stoop to petty gettings. A man ought warily fco begin charges, which once begun will continue : but in mat- ters that return not, he may be more magnificent i.\'\IX. OF THE TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES. The speech of Themistocles, the Athenian, which was haughty and arrogant, in taking so much to himself, had a From debts Bad incumbrances, o 82 ESSAYS. been a grave and wise observation and censure, applied at large to others. Desired at a feast to touch a lute, he said, " He could not fiddle, but yet he could make a small town a great city." These words (holpen a little with a metaphor) may express two different abilities in those that deal in business of estate ; for if a true survey be taken of coun- sellors and statesmen, there may be found (though rarely) those which can make a small state great, and yet cannot fiddle : as, on the other side, there will be found a great many that can fiddle very cunningly, but yet are so far from being able to make a small state great, as their gift lieth the other way ; to bring a great and flourishing estate to ruin and decay. And certainly, those degenerate arts and shifts whereby many counselloi's and governors gain both favour with their masters and estimation with the vulgar, deserve no better name than fiddling ; being things rather pleasing for the time, and 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," a able to manage affairs, and to keep them from precipices and manifest incon- veniences ; which, nevertheless, are far from the ability to raise and amplify an estate in power, means, and fortune : but be the workmen what they may be, let us speak of the work ; that is, the true greatness of kingdoms and estates, and the means thereof. An argument fit for great and mighty princes to have in their hand ; to the end, that neither by over-measuring their forces, they lose themselves in vain enterprises : nor, on the other side, by undervaluing them, they descend to fearful and pusillanimous counsels. The greatness of an estate, in bulk and territory, doth fall under measure ; and the greatness of finances and revenue doth fall under computation. The population may appear by musters ; and the number and greatness of cities and towns by cards and maps ; but yet there is not anything amongst civil affairs more subject to error than the right valuation and true judgment concerning the power and forces of an estate. The kingdom of heaven is compared, not to any great kernel, or nut, but to a grain of mustard-seed ; b " "Equal to business." h He alludes to the following passage, St*. Matthew xiii. 31 : "An- TRUE GREATXESS OP KINGDOMS AXD ESTATIS. S3 which is one of the least grains, but hath in it a property and spirit hastily to get up and spread. So are there great in territory, and yet not apt to enlarge or command; and some that have but a small dimension of stem, and yet apt to be the foundations of great monarchies. Walled towHs, 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 VBf of people, as it did somewhat astonish the commanders in Alexanders army, who came to him, therefore, and wished him to set upon them by night ; but he answered, " He would not pilfer the victory :" and the defeat was easy. When Tigranes, c 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 ail. " 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 prin- cipal point of greatness in any state is to have a race of military men. Neither is money the sinews of war (as it is trivially said), where the sinews of men's arms in base and effeminate people are failing : for Solon said well to Croesus (when in ostentation he showed him his gold), " Sir, if any other come that hath better iron than you, he will be Duster of all tliis gold." Therefore, let any prince, or state, think soberly of his forces, except his militia of natives be of good and valiant Boldiers ; and let princes, on the other parable put ho forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven i3 like to a gTain of mostard-ti 1, which :i man took and sowed in his field: which indeed is ttie least of all seeds ; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and beoometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." c He was vanquished by Lucullns, and finally submitted to Pompey. g2 84 ESSAYS. other side, that have subjects of martial disposition, know their own strength, unless they be otherwise wanting unto themselves. As for mercenary forces (which is the help in this case), all examples show that, whatsoever estate, or prince, doth rest upon them, he may spread his feathers for a time, but he will mew them soon after. The blessing of Judah and Issachar' 1 will never meet ; that the same people, or nation, should be both the lion's whelp and the ass between burdens ; neither will it be, that a people overlaid with taxes should ever become valiant and martial. It is true that taxes, levied by consent of the estate, do abate men's courage less ; as it hath been seen notably in the excises of the Low Countries ; and, in some degree, in the subsidies 6 of England ; for, you must note, that we speak now of the heart, and not of the purse ; so that, although the same tribute and tax, laid by consent or by imposing, be all one to the purse, yet it works diversely upon the courage. So that you may conclude, that no people overcharged with tribute is fit for empire. 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 labourer. Even as you may see in coppice woods ; if you leave your staddles f too thick, you shall never have clean underwood, but shrubs and bushes. So in countries, if the gentlemen be too many, the commons will be base ; and you will bring it to that, that not the hundred poll will be fit for a helmet : especially as to the infantry, which is the nerve of an army ; and so there will be great population and little strength. This which I speak of hath been nowhere better seen than by comparing of England and France ; whereof England, though far less in territory and population, hath been (nevertheless) an overmatch ; in regard the mid- d 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 crouch- ing down between 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." • Sums of money voluntarily contributed by the people for the use of the sovereign. l Young trees. TRUE GBEATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES. 85 die people of England make good soldiers, which the peasants of France do not : and herein the device of King Henry the Seventh (whereof I hare spoken largely in the history of his life) was profound and admirable j in making farms and houses of husbandry of a standard ; that is, maintained with such a proportion of land onto them as may breed a subject to live in convenient plenty, and no servile condition ; and to keep the plough in the hands of the owners, and not mere hireling- ; and thus indeed you shall attain to Virgil's character, which he gives to ancient Italy : "Terra potens armis atque ubere glebae."s 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 ; 1 mean the state of free servants and attendants upon noble- men and gentlemen, which are no ways inferior unto the yeomanry for arms ; and, therefore, out of all question, the splendour and magnificence, and great retinues, and hospi- tality of noblemen and gentlemen received into custom, do much conduce unto martial greatness; whereas, contrariwise, the close and reserved living of noblemen and gentlemen h a penury of military forces. By all meaus it is to be procured that the trunk of Nebuchadnezzar's tree of monarchy' 1 be great enough to bear the branches and the boughs ; that is, that the natural subjects of the crown, or state, bear a sufficient proportion to the stranger subjects that they govern ; therefore all states that are liberal of naturalization towards strangers are fit for empire ; for to think that a handful of people can, with the greatest courage and policy in the world, embrace too large extent of dominion, it may hold for a time, but it will fail suddenly. The Spartans were a nice people in c " A land strong in arms and in i be richness of the -oil.'' '■ Ho alludes to the iliv.-im of Nebuchadnezzar, which is mentioned Daniel iv. 10: "I saw, and, behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great, He tree grew, and was strong, and the I, thereof reached onto heaven, and the Bight thereof to the end oi all tli earth ; the have- thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all ; the beasts of the field hail shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, end ; I of it." 86 ESSAYS. 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 this point, so open to receive strangers into their body as were the Romans ; therefore it sorted with them accordingly, for they grew to the greatest monarchy. Their manner was to grant naturalization (which they called " jus civitatis"), h and to grant it in the highest degree, that is, not only "jus comruercii, 1 jus connubii, k jus hsereditatis ;"* but also, " jus suffragii," 111 and " jus honorum ;" n and this not to singular persons alone, but likewise to whole families ; yea, to cities, and sometimes to nations. Add to this their custom of plantation of colonies, whereby the Roman plant was removed into the soil of other nations, and, putting both constitutions together, you will say, that it was not the Romans that spread upon the world, but it was the world that spread upon the Romans ; and that was the sure way of greatness. I have marvelled sometimes at Spain, how they clasp and contain so large dominions with so few natural Spaniards; but sure the whole compass of Spain is a very great body of a tree, far above Rome and Sparta at the first ; and, besides, though they have not had that usage to naturalize liberally, yet they have that which is next to it ; that is, to employ, almost indifferently, all nations in their militia of ordinary soldiers ; yea, and sometimes in their highest commands ; nay, it seemeth at this instant they are sensible of this want of natives ; as by the prag- matical sanction^' now published, appeareth. It is certain, that sedentary and within-door arts, and delicate manufactures (that require rather the finger than the arm), have in their nature a contrariety to a military disposition ; and generally all warlike people are a little idle, and love danger better than travail ; neither must they h "Right of citizenship." ' "Eight of trading." k "Right of intermarriage." ' " Right of inheritance." m " Right of suffrage." n "Right of honours." ° Long since the time of Lord Bacon, as soon as these colonies had arrived at a certain state of maturity, they at different periods revolted from the mother country. i" The laws and ordinances promulgated by the sovereigns of Spain were so called. The term was derived from the Byzantine empire. TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES. 87 be too much broken of it, if they shall be preserved in vigour : therefore it was great advantage in the ancient states of Sparta, Athens, Rome, and others, that they had the use of slaves, which commonly did rid those manufactures; hut that is abolished, in greatest part, by the Christian law. That which cometh nearest to it is, to leave those arts chiefly to strangers (wliich, for that pur- pose, are the more easily to be received), and to contain the principal hulk of the vulgar natives within those three kinds, tillers of the ground, free servants, and handicraftsmen of strong and manly arts ; as smiths, masons, carpenters, y some to Dr. Johnson, aivl | ilily with some reason, '• To start the s-.iliject. ' Requires to be bridled. 94 ESSAYS. " Parce, puer, stimulis, et fortius utcre loris." d And, generally, men ought to find the difference between saltness and bitterness. Certainly, lie that hath a satirical vein, as he niaketh others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of others' memory. He that questioneth much, shall learn much, and content much ; but especially if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom he asketk ; for he shall give them occasion to please themselves iu speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge ; but let his questions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a poser ; e and let him be sure to leave other men their turns to speak : nay, if there be any that would reign and take up all the time, let him find means to take them off, and to bring others on, as musicians used to do with those that dance too long galliards. f If you dissemble sometimes your knowledge of that you are thought to know, you shall be thought, another time, to know that you know not. Speech of a man's self ought to be seldom, and well chosen. I knew one was wont to say in scorn, " He must needs be a wise man, he speaks so much of himself : " and there is but one case wherein a man may commend himself with good grace, and that is in commending virtue in another, especially if it be such a virtue whereunto himself pretendeth. Speech of touch s towards others should be sparingly used ; for dis- course ought to be as a field, without coming home to any man. I knew two noblemen, of the west part of England, whereof the one was given to scoff, but kept ever royal cheer in his house ; the other would ask of those that had been at the other's table, " Tell truly, was there never a flout h or dry blow 1 given ?" To which the guest woidd answer, " Such and such a thing passed." The lord would say, '•' I thought he would mar a good dinner." Discretion of speech is more than eloquence ; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal, is more than to speak in good words, or in good order. A good continued speech, without a good speech of d He quotes here from Ovid : " Boy, spare the whip, and tightly grasp the reins." e One who tests or examines. 1 The Galliard was a light active dance much in fashion in the time of Queen Elizabeth. £ Hits at, or remarks intended to be applied to particular individuals. h A slight or insidt. ' A sarcastic remark. PLANTATIONS. 95 interlocution, shows slowness ; and a good reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth shallowness and weakness. As we see in beasts, that those that are weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in the turn ; as it is betwixt the 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, it begets fewer : for I may j ustly account new plantations to be the childi'en of former kingdoms. I like a plantation in a pure soil ; that is, where people are not disjointed, 1 ' to the end to plant in others ; for else it is rather an extirpation than a plantation. Planting of coun- tries is like planting of woods ; for you must make account to lose almost twenty years' profit, and expect your recom- pense in the end : for the principal tiling that hath been the destruction of most plantations, hath been the base and hasty drawing of profit in the first years. It is true, speedy profit is not to be neglected, as far as may stand with the good of the plantation, but no farther. It is a shameful and un- blessed thing c to take the scum of people and wicked con- demned men, to be the people with whom you plant ; and not ouly so, but it spoileth the plantation ; for they will over live like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy, and do mischief, and spend victuals, and be quickly weary, and then certify over to their country to the discredit of the plantation. The people wherewith you plant ought to be gardeners, plough- men, labourers, smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, fowlers, with some few apothecaries, surgeons, cooks, and bakers, In 1 Tli<> old term fur Colonies. b He perhaps alludes covertly to the conduct of the Spaniards in extirpating the aboriginal inhabitants oi the West India Islands, against which the venerable Las Casas so eloqui ntly but vainly protested. c Of course this oeoaore would DOt apply to what is primarily and essentially a convict oolony ; the object of which is to drain the mother country of its impure superfluities. 90 ESSAYS. 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 \ise of them. Then consider what victual, or esculent things there are, which grow speedily, and within the year ; as- parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions, radish, arti- chokes of Jerusalem, maize, and the like : for wheat, barley, and oats, they ask too much labour ; but with pease and beans you may begin, both because they ask less labour, and because they 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, thei^e ought to be brought store of biscuit, oatmeal, Hour, meal, and the like, in the beginning, till bread may be had. For beasts, or birds, take chiefly such as are least sub- ject to diseases, and multiply fastest ; as swine, goats, cocks, hens, turkeys, geese, house-doves, and the like. The victual in plantations ought to be expended almost as in a besieged town ; that is, with certain allowance : and let the main part of the ground employed to gardens or corn, be to a common stock ; and to be laid in, and stored up, and then 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 to defray the charge of the plantation ; so it be not, as was said, to the untimely prejudice of the main busi- ness.;) as it hath fared with tobacco in Virginia.' 1 Wood commonly aboundeth but too much ; and therefore timber is fit to be one. If there be iron ore, and streams whereupon to set the mills, iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth. Making of bay-salt, if the climate be proper for it, would be put in experience : growing silk, likewise, if any be, is a likely commodity : pitch and tar, where store of firs and pines are, will not fail ; so drugs and sweet woods, where they are, cannot but yield great profit : soap-ashes, likewise, and other things that may be thought of; but moil e not too much under ground, for the hope of mines is very uncertain, and useth to make the planters lazy in other u Times have much changed since this was penned : tobacco is now the staple commodity, and the source of " the main business " of Virginia. e To labour hard. PLANTATIONS. 97 things. For government, let it be in the hands of one, assisted with some counsel ; and let them have commission to exercise martial laws, with some limitation ; and above all, let men make that profit of being in the wilderness, as they have God always, and his service, before their eyes : let not the government of the plantation depend upon too many counsellors and undertakers in the country that plauteth, but anon a temperate number ; and let those be rather noblemen and gentlemen, than merchants ; for they look ever to the present gain. Let there be freedoms from custom, till the plantation be of strength ; and not oidy freedom from cus- tom, but freedom to carry their commodities where they may make their best of them, except there be Borne special cause of caution. Cram not in people, by sending too fast company after company ; but rather hearken how they waste, and send supplies proportionably ; but so as the number may live well in the plantation, and not by surcharge be in penury. It hath been a great endangering to the health of some plantations, that they have built along the sea and rivers, in marish f and unwholesome grounds : therefore, though you begin there, to avoid carriage and other like discommodities, yet build still rather upwards from the streams, than along. It 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 trifies and ginglcs,s but use them justly and graciously, with sufficient guard nevertheless ; and do not win their favour by helping them to invade their enemies, but for their defence it is not amiss ; and send oft of them over to the country that plants, that they may see a better condition than their own, and commend it when they return. When the plantation grows to strength, then it is time to plant with women as well as with men ; that the plantation may spread into generations, and not be ever pieced from without, it is the sinfullest thing in the world to forsake or destitute a plantation once in forwardness ; for, he-sides the dishonour, it is the guiltiness of blood of many commiscrable persons. ' .Marshy ; from tbc French marais, a marsh, tt Gewgaws, or spangles. H 98 ESBAYa XXIV. -OF RICHES. I cannot call riches better than the baggage of virtue ; the Roman word is better, " impedimenta;" for as the baggage is to an army, so is riches to virtue ; it cannot be spared nor left behind, but it hindereth the march ; yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or disturbeth the victory : of great riches there is no real use, except it be in the dis- tribution ; the rest is but conceit ; so saith Solomon, " Where much is, there are many to consume it ; and what hath the owner but the sight of it with his eyes?" a 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 1 and what works of ostentation are undertaken, because there might seem to be some use of great riches ? But then you will say, they may be of use to buy men out of dangers or troubles ; as Solomon saith, " Riches are as a strong hold in the imagination of the rich man ;" b but this is excellently expi-essed, 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 distinguish, as Cicero saith well of Rabirius Posthumus, " In studio rei amplificandte apparebat, non avaritise praedam, sed instrumentum bonitati quseri." c Hearken also to Solomon, and beware of hasty gathering of riches : " Qui festinat ad divitias, non erit insons." d The poets feign, that when Plutus (which is a He alludes to Ecclesiastes v. 11, the words of which are somewhat varied in our version : "When goods increase, they are increased that eat them ; and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes ? " b "The rich man's wealth is his strong city." — Prov. x. 15 ; xviii. 11. c " In his anxiety to increase his fortune, it was evident that not the gratification of avarice was sought, but the means of doing good." d "He who hastens to riches will not be without guilt." In our version the words are : "He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." — Proverbs xxviii. 22, KICHES. 99 riches) is sent from Jupiter, he limps, and goes slowly ; but when he is sent from Pluto, he runs, and is swift of foot; iin ;i ii ii i lt- that riches gotten by good means and just labour pace slowly; but when they come by the death of others (as by the course of iaheritance, testamente, 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 I s), 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 husbandly, it inulti- plieth riches exceedingly. I knew a nobleman in England that had the greatest audits' of any man in my time, a great grazier, a great sheep-master, a great timber-man, a great collier, a great corn-master, a great lead-man. and so of iron, and a number of the like points of husbandry ; so as the earth seemed a sea to him hi respect of the perpetual importation. It was tndy observed by one, " That himself came very hardly to a little riches, and very easily to great riches;" for when a man's stock is come to that, that he can expect the prime of markets,? and overcome those bar- gains, which for their greatness ai - e few men's money, and be partner in the industries of younger men, he cannot but increase mainly. The gains of ordinary trades and vocations are honest, and furthered by two things, chiefly: by dili- gence, and by a good name for good and fair dealing ; but the gains of bargains are of a more doubtful nature, when men shall wait upon others' necessity : broke by servants and instruments to draw them on : put off others cunningly that woidd be better chapmen, and the like practices, which are crafty and naught; as for the chopping of bargaxna, when a man buys nod to hold, but 1<> sell over again, that commonly grindcth double, both upon the seller and upon e Pluto being the king of 1 1 | regions, or place of departed spirits. 1 I d troll, or account taken of income. £ Wait till prices have I n 2 100 ESSAYS. the buyer. Sharings do greatly enrich, if the hands be well chosen that are trusted. Usury is the certainest means of gain, though one of the worst ; as that whereby a man doth eat his bread, " in sudore vultus alieni;" h and besides, doth plough upon Sundays : but yet certain though it be, it hath flaws ; for that the scriveners and brokers do value unsound men to serve their own turn. The fortune, in being the first in an invention, or in a privilege, doth cause sometimes a wonderful overgrowth in riches, as it was with the first sugarman 1 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 ad- ventures with certainties that may uphold losses. Mono- polies, and coemption of wares for resale, where they are not restrained, are great means to enrich ; especially if the party have intelligence what things are like to come into request, and so store himself beforehand. Riches gotten by service, though it be of the best rise, yet when they are gotten by flattery, feeding humours, and other servile con- ditions, they may be placed amongst the worst. As for fishing for testaments and executorships (as Tacitus saith of Seneca, " Testamenta et orbos tanquam indagine capi"), k it is yet worse, by how much men submit themselves to meaner persons than in service. Believe not much them that seem to despise riches, for they despise them that despair of them ; and none worse when they come to them. Be not penny- wise ; riches have wings, and sometimes they fly away of themselves, sometimes they must be set flying to bring in more. Men leave their riches either to their kindred, or to the public ; and moderate portions prosper best in both. A great state left to an heir, is as a lure to all the birds of prey round about to seize on him, if he be not the better stablished in years and judgment : likewise, glorious gifts h " In the sweat of another's brow." He alludes to the words of Genesis iii. 19 : " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." ' Planter of sugar-canes. k " Wills and childless persons were caught by him as though with a hunting-net." PROPHECIES. 101 and foundations are like sacrifices without salt ; and but the painted sepulchres of alms, which soon will putrefy and cor- rupt inwardly : therefore measure not thine advancements by quantity, but frame them by measure : and defer not charities till death ; for, certainly, if a man weigh it rightly, he that doth so is rather liberal of another man's than of his 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 8 to Saul, " To-morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me." Virgil hath these verses from Homer : — " Hie donius .-Eneae cunctis dominabitur oris, Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ah illis." 1 ' A prophecy as it seems of the Roman empire. Seneca the tragedian hath these verses : " Venient annis Saecula seris, quibus Oceanus Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens Pateat Tellus, Tiphysque novos Detegat orbes ; nee sit terris Ultima Thule :" c a prophecy of the discovery of America. The daughter of Polycrates d dreamed that Jupiter bathed her father, and » "Pythoness," used in the sense of witch. He alludes to the witch of Endor, and the words in Samuel xxviii. 19. He is, however, mis- taken 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." b "But the house of iEneas shall reign over every shore, both his children's children, and those who shall spring from them." c "After the lapse of years, ages will come in which Ocean shall relax his chains around the world, and ;i vast continent shall appear, and Tiphys shall exploi _ r ions, and Thule shall be no longer the utmost verge of earth." d He was king of Samoa, and was treacherously put to death by Oroctes, the governor of Magnesia, in Asia Minor. His daughter, in consequence of her dream, attempted to dissuade him from visiting Orates, but in vain. 102 KS.SAYS. Apollo anointed him ; and it came to pass that he was ci - 1 1 * i fit (I in m open place, where the sun made Ids body run with sweat, and the rain washed it. Philip of Macedon dreamed he sealed up Ids wife's belly ; whereby he did ex- pound it, that his wife should be barren ; but Aristander the soothsayer told him his wife was with child, because men do not use to seal vessels that are empty. A phantasm that appeared to M. Brutus in his tent, said to him, " Phi- lippis iterum me videbis." e Tiberius said to Galba, " Tu quoque, Galba, degustabis imperium." f In Vespasian's time there went a prophecy in the East, that those that should come forth of Judea, should reign over the world ; which though it may be was meant of our Saviour, yet Tacitus exjjounds it of "Vespasian. Domitian dreamed, the night before he was slain, that a golden head was growing out of the nape of his neck ; and indeed the succession that fol- lowed him, for many years, made golden times. Henry the Sixth of England said of Henry the Seventh, when he was a lad, and gave 1dm 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 husband's nativity to be calculated under a false name ; and the astrologer gave a judgment, that he should be killed in a duel ; at which the queen laughed, thinking her husband to be above challenges and duels ; but he was slain upon a course at tilt, the splinters of the staff of Montgomery going in at his beaver. The trivial prophecy which I heard when I was a child, and Queen Elizabeth was in the flower of her years, was, " When hempe is spunne England's done :" whereby it was generally conceived, that after the princes had reigned which had the principal letters of that word hempe (which were Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth), England should come to utter confusion ; winch thanks be to God, is verified only in the change of the name ; for that e "Thou shalt see me again at Philippi." 1 "Thou also, Galba, shalt taste of empire." e Catherine de Medicis, the -wife of Henry II. of France, who died from a wound accidentally received in a tournament. PROPHECILs. 103 the king's style is now no more of England, but of Britain.' 1 There was also another prophecy before the year of eighty- eight, which I do not well understand. " There shall lie seen upon a day, Between the Baugh ami the May, The black fleet of Norway. When that that i- came and gone, England build houses of lime and stone, For after wars shall you have none." it was generally conceived to be meant of the Spanish fleet that came in eighty-eight : for that the king of Spain's surname, as they say, is Norway. The prediction of J. montanus, " Octogesimus octavua mirabilis annua,"' was thought likewise accomplished in the sending of that great fleet, being the greatest in strength, though not in number, of all that ever swam upon the sea. As for Cleon's dream, k I think it was a jest ; it was, that he was devoured of a long dragon : and it was expounded of a maker of sausages, that troubled him exceedingly. There are numbers of the bike kind ; especially if you include dreams, and pre- dictions of astrology : but I have set down these few only of certain credit, for example. My judgment is, that they ought all to be despised, and ought to serve but for winter talk by the fireside : though when I say despised, I mean it as for belief; for otherwise, the spreading or publishing of them is in no sort to be despised, for they have done much mischief; and I see many severe laws made to suppress h James I. being the first monarch of Great Britain. 1 "The eighty-eighth will be a wondrous year." k Aristophanes, in his Comedy of The Knights, satirizes Cleon, the Athenian demagogue. He introduces a declaration ,,(' the oracle that the Eagle of hides (by whom CI i was meant, his father having been a tanner) should be conquered by a serpent, which Demosthenes, one of the oharaoten in the play, expaaadfl as meaning a maker oi m How Lord Baoon oould £oc a ■tontenl doubl that this was a mere jest, it is difficult to oonjeoture, The following is a litem] translation of a portion of the passage from The Knights (L 197): — "But when ■ leather eagl>? with cm,.k>-d talons thai] have seized with its jaws a ser- pent, a stupid creature, a drinker of U 1. then she tan-pickle of the I'aphlagonians is destroyed : bul upon the Bsllers of sausages the Dettj bestows great glory, unless they choose rather to sell sausages." 104 ESSAYS. them. That that hath given them grace, and some credit, nmsisteth in three things. First, that men mark when they li it, and never mark when they miss ; l as they do, generally, also of dreams. The second is, that probable conjectures, or ob- scure traditions, many times turn themselves into prophecies ; while the nature ot Aian, which covetetli 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 : and adding thereto the tradition in Plato's Timaeus, and his Atlanticus,™ it might encourage one to turn it to a prediction. The third and last (which is the great one) is, that almost all of them, being infinite in number, have been impostures, and by idle and crafty brains, merely contrived and feigned, after the event past. XXXVI.— OF AMBITION. Ambition* is like choler, which is a humour 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, a and thereby malign and venomous : so ambi- tious men, if they find the way open for their rising, and still get forward, they are rather busy than dangerous ; but if they be checked in their desires, they become secretly discontent, and look upon men and matters with an evil eye, and are best pleased when things go backward ; which is the worst property in a servant of a prince or state : therefore 1 This is a very just remark. So-called strange coincidences, 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 fulfil- ment is blazoned by unthinking people as a marvel. It would be a much more wonderful thing if dreams were not occasionally verified. m Under this name he alludes to the Critias of Plato, in which an imaginary "terra incognita" is discoursed of under the name of the "New Atlantis." It has been conjectured from this by some, that Plato really did believe in the existence of a continent on the other side of the globe. a Hot and fiery. AMBITION*. 1 05 it is good for princes, if thpy use ambitious men, to handle it so, as they be still progressive, and not retrograde; which, because it cannot be without inconvenience, it is good not to use such natures at all ; for if they rise not with their service, they will take order to make their sendee fall with them. But since we have said, it were good not to use men of ambitious natures, except it be upon necessity, it is fit we speak in what cases they are of necessity. Good commanders in the wars must be taken, be they never so ambitious ; for the use of their service dispenseth with the rest : and to 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 wdl take that part except he be like a seeled b dove, that mounts and mounts, because he cannot see about him. There is use also of ambitious men in pulling down the greatness of any subject that overtops • as Tiberius used Macro c in the pull- ing down of Sejanus. Since, therefore, they must be used in such cases, there resteth to speak how they are to be bridled, that they may be less dangerous. There is less danger of them if they be of mean birth, than if they be noble ; and if they be rather harsh of nature, than gracious and popular ; and if they be rather new raised, than grown cunning and fortified in their greatness. It is counted by some a weakness in princes to have favourites ; but it is, of all othei's, the best remedy against ambitious great ones ; for when the way of pleasuring and displeasuring lieth by the favourite, it is impossible any other should be over great. Another means to curb them, is to balance them by others as proud as they : but then there must be some middle coun- sellors, to keep things steady ; for -without that ballast the ship will roll too much. At the least, a prince may animate and inure some meaner persons to be. as it were, scourges to ambitious men. As for the having of them obnoxious to d ruin, if they be of fearful natures, it may do well ; but if b With the eyes closed, or blindfolded. c He was a favourite of Tiberius, to whose murder by Nero he was said t'i have bet ii an accessary. He afterwardi prostituted his own wife to Caligula, by whom he was eventually put to death. d Liable to. 10G ESSAYS. they be stout and daring, it may precipitate their designs, and prove dangerous. As for the pulling of them down, if the affairs require it, and that it may not be done with safety suddenly, the only way is, the interchange continually of favours and disgraces, whereby they may not know what to expect, and be, as it were, in a wood. Of ambitions, it is less harmful the ambition to prevail in great things, than that other to appear in everything; for that breeds confusion, and mars business : but yet, it is less danger to have an ambitious man stirring in business, than great in dependencies. He that seeketh to be eminent amongst able men, hath a great task ; but that is ever good for the public : but he that plots to be the only figure amongst ciphers, is the decay of a whole age. Honour hath three things in it : the vantage ground to do good ; the approach to kings and principal persons ; and the raising of a man's own fortunes. He that hath the best of these intentions, when he aspireth, is an honest man ; and that prince that can discern of these intentions in another that aspireth, is a wise prince. Gene- rally, let princes and states choose such ministers as are more sensible of duty than of rising, and such as love business rather upon conscience than upon bravery ; and let them discern a busy nature, from a willing mind. XXXVII.— OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS. These things are but toys to come amongst such serious observations ; but yet, since princes will have such things, it is better they should be graced with elegancy, than daubed with cost. Dancing to song, is a thing of great state and pleasure. I understand it that the song be in quire, placed aloft, and accompanied with some broken music ; and the ditty fitted to the device. Acting in song, especially in dialogues, hath an extreme good grace ; I say acting, not dancing (for that is a mean and vulgar thing) ; and the voices of the dialogue would be strong and manly (a base and a tenor; no treble), and the ditty high and tragical, not nice or dainty. Several quires placed one over against another, and taking the voice by catches anthem-wise, give great MASQUES AND EBIUMPH& 107 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 -lines, so it be quietly and without noise, are things of great beauty and pleasure ; for they feed and relieve the eye before it be full of the same object. Let the scenes abound with light, specially coloured and varied j and let the masquers, or any other that are to come down from the scene, have some motions upon the scene itself before their coming down; for it draws the eye strangely, and makes it with great pleasure to desire to see that, it cannot perfectly discern. Let the songs be loud and cheerful, and not chirpings or pulings : a let the music likewise be sharp and loud, and well placed. The colours that show best by candlelight, are white, carnation, and a kind of sea- water green ; and ouches, b or spangs, c as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost, and not discerned. Let the suits of the masquers be graceful, and such as become the person w r hen the vizors are off; not after examples of known attires ; Turks, soldiers, mariners, and the like. Let anti-masques' 1 not be long ; they have been commonly of fi n 'Is. satyrs, baboons, wild men, antics, beasts, sprites, witches, Ethiopes, pigmies, turquets, e nymphs, rustics, Cupids, statues moving, and the like. As for angels, it is not comical enough to put them in anti-masques : and anything that is hideous, as devils, giants, is, on the other side, as unfit ; but chiefly, let the music of them be recreative, and with some strange changes. Some sweet odours suddenly coming forth, without any drops falling, are, in such a company as th«r<- is steam and heat, things of great pleasure and refreshment. Double masques, one of men, another of ladies, addeth state and ■' Chirpings like the noise of young bird-. Ji wela or ni-eklacea. Bpaoglea or O's of gold or silver. ]'•■ wen invented in the beginning of the - '• nturv. See Beckmann's Hist, of Inventions (Bonn's Stand. Lib.), vol. i. p. 421. d TTr iffltiirlr irninrrtii. were ridiculous interludes dividing the acts of thi more serious masque. These were p rformed by hired actors, while the masque was played by Ladies and gentlemen. The rule was, the characters were to I"- 1 1 < • i t h . ■ r serious nor hideous. ] I mUB "of Milton is an admirable speoimi n of a masque. c Turk-;. 108 ESSAYS. variety ; but all is nothing, except the room be kept clear and neat. For justs, and tourneys, and barriers, the glories of them are chiefly in the chariots, wherein the challengers make their entry ; especially if they be drawn with strange beasts : as lions, bears, camels, and the like ; or in the devices of their entrance, or in the bravery of their liveries, or in the goodly furniture of their horses and armour. But enough of these tovs. XXXVIII.— OF NATURE IN MEN. Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom ex- tinguished. Force maketh nature more violent in the return ; doctrine and discourse maketh nature less importune ; but custom only doth alter and subdue nature. He that seeketh victory over his nature, let him not set himself too great nor too small tasks ; for the first will make him dejected by often failings, and the second will make him a small proceeder, though by often prevailings : and at the first, let him practise with helps, as swimmers do with bladders, or rushes ; but, after a time, let him practise with disadvantages, as dancers do with thick shoes ; for it breeds great perfection, if the practice be harder than the use. Where nature is mighty, and therefore the victory hard, the degrees had need be, first to stay and arrest nature in time ; like to him that would say over the four and twenty letters when he was angry ; then to go less in quantity : as if one should, in forbearing wine, come from drinking healths to a draught at a meal ; and lastly, to discontinue altogether : but if a man have the fortitude and resolution to enfranchise himself at once, that is the best : " Optimus ille animi vindex lsedentia pectus Vincula qui rupit, dedoluitque sernel." 1 Neither is the ancient rule amiss, to bend nature as a wand to a contrary extreme, whereby to set it right ; understand- ing it where the contrary extreme is no vice. Let not a ■ " He is the best asserter of the liberty of his mind who bursts the chains that gall his breast, and at the same moment ceases to grieve." This quotation is from Ovid's Remedy of Love. CUSTOM AND EDUCATION. 109 man force a habit upon himself with a perpetual continuance, but with some intermission : for both the pause reinforceth the new onset ; and if a man that is not perfect be ever in practice, he shall as well practise his errors as his abilities, and induce one bftbit of both ; and there is no means to help this but by seasonable intermissions ; but let not a man trust his victory over his nature too far ; for nature will he buried a great time, and yet revive upon the occasion, or temptation ; bike as it was with ^Ssop'a damsel, turned from a cat to a woman, who sat very demurely at the board's end till a mouse ran before her : therefore, let a man either avoid the 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 ex- periment, for there custom leaveth him. They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations ; otherwise they may say, " Multum incola fuit anima mea," b when they con- verse in those things they do not affect. In studies, whatso- ever 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 w ill 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 EDUCATION. Men's thoughts are much according to their inclination : a their discourse and speeches according to their learning and infused opinions; but their deeds are after as they have been accustomed : and, therefore, as Mat hiavel well noteth (though in an evil-favoured instance), there is no trusting to the force of nature, nor to the bravery of words, exec] it \i be corroborate by custom. His instance is, that for the achieving of a desperate conspiracy, a man should not rest b " My soul has long been a sojourner." * " The wish is father to the thought," is a proverbial saying of similar meaning. 110 ESSAY-. 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, b nor a Jaureguy, c nor a Baltazar Gerard ; d yet his rule holdeth still, that nature, nor the engagement of words, are not so forcible as custom. Only superstition is now so well advanced, that men of the first blood are as firm as butchers by occupation; and votary resolution is made equipollent to custom even in matter of blood. In other things, the predominancy of custom is every- where 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 themselves by fire : nay, the wives strive to be burned with the corpses of their husbands. The lads of Sparta, of ancient time, were wont to be scourged upon the altar of Diana, without so much as quecking.s I remember, in the beginning of Queen Eliza- beth's time of England, an Irish rebel condemned, put up a petition to the deputy that he might be hanged in a withe, and not in a halter, because it had been so used with former rebels. There be monks in Russia for penance, that will sit a whole night in a vessel of water, till they be engaged with hard ice. Many examples may be put of the force of cus- tom, both upon mind and body : therefore, since custom is the principal magistrate of man's life, let men by all means endeavour to obtain good customs. Certainly, custom is most perfect when it beginneth in young years : this we call education, which is, in effect, but an early custom. So we b He murdered Henry IV. of France, in 1610. c Philip II. of Spain having, in 1582, set a price upon the head of William of Nassau, prince of Orange, the leader of the Protestants, Jaureguy attempted to assassinate him, and severely wounded him. d He assassinated William of Nassau, in 1584. It is supposed that this fanatic meditated the crime for six years. e A resolution prompted by a vow of devotion to a particular prin- ciple or creed. f He alludes to the Hindoos, and the ceremony of Suttee, encouraged by the Brahmins. s Flinching, FORTUNE. Ill 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 tin -nisei ves open and prepared to receive continual amendment. \\ lii< -h is exceeding rare : but if the force of custom, sample and separate, be great, the force of custom, copulate and conjoined and collegiate. is far greater; for there example teacheth, company comforteth, emulation quiokenetn, glory raiseth ; so as in such places the force of custom is in his exaltation. Certainly, the great multipli- cation of virtues upon human nature resteth upon societies well ordained and disciplined ; for commonwealths and good governments do nourish virtue grown, bat do not much mend the seeds; but the misery is, that the most effectual means are now applied to the ends least to be desired. XL.— OF FORTUNE. It cannot be denied, but outward accidents conduce much to fortune ; favour, 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," a saith tin- poet ; and the most frequent of external causes is, that the folly of one man is the fortune of another ; for no man pros- 30 suddenly as by others' errors. " Serpens nisi ser- pentem comederit non fit draco." b Overt and apparezrl vii -tucs bring forth praise; but there be secret and hidden virtues that bring forth fortune; certain deliveries of a • "Ev. iv man is the architect of his own fortune." Ballast, in his letters " De Republics' Ordinandi," attributes these words toAppius Claudius Ciecus, a Soman | t whose works are now lost. Lord Baa Q, in the Latin translation of his Essays, which was made under his super- vision, rendered the word "poet" "oomicas;" by whom he probably meant Plautus, who has this line in his " Trinummus" (Act ii. '- Nam sapiens quidem pal ipsna tin-it (brtunam sihi," which has the same meaning, though in Bomewhat different terms. . b "A serpent, unless it has devoured a serpent, does not become ■ dragon." 112 ESSAYS. man's self, which have no name. The Spanish name, " di- seinboltura," c partly expresseth them, when there be not stonils 1 ' 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 fait, ut quocunque loco natus esset, fortunam sibi facturus videre- tur)," 1 ' 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 discerned virtues, or rather faculties and customs, that make men fortunate. The Italians note some of them, such as a man would little think. When they speak of one that cannot do amiss, they will throw in into his other conditions, that he hath " Poco di matto;"s and certainly, there be not two more fortunate properties, than to have a little of the fool, and not too much of the honest ; therefore extreme lovers of their country, or masters, were never fortunate ; neither can they be ; for when a man placeth Ins thoughts without himself, he goeth not his own way. A hasty fortune maketh an enterpriser and remover ; (the French hath it better, " entreprenant," or " remuant ") ; but the exercised fortune maketh the able man. Fortune is to be honoured and respected, and it be but for her daughters, Confidence and Reputation ; for those two Feli- city breedeth ; the first within a man's self, the latter in othei's towards him. All wise men, to decline the envy of their own virtues, use to ascribe them to Providence and Fortune ; for so they may the better assume them : and, besides, it is greatness in a man to be the care of the higher powers. So Caesar said to the pilot in the tempest, "Cassarem c Or " desenvoltura," implying readiness to adapt oneself to cir- cumstances. d Impediments, causes for hesitation. e "In that man there was such great strength of body and mind, that in whatever station he had been born, he seemed as though he should make his fortune." f "A versatile genius." e "A little of the fool." USURY. 113 portas, et fortunani ejus." h So Sylla chose the name of " Felix," 1 and not of " Magnus :"' k 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, 1 the Athenian, after he had, in the accoimt 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 for- tunes are like Homer's verses, that have a slide" 1 and easiness more than the verses of other poets ; as Plutarch saith of Timoleon's fortune in respect of that of Agesilaus or Epanii- nondas : and that this should be, no doubt it is much in a man's self. XLL— OF USURY.* Many have made witty invectives against usury. They say that it is pity the devil should have God's part, winch is the tithe ; that the usurer is the greatest Sabbath-breaker, because his plough goeth every Sunday ; that the usurer is the drone that Virgil speaketh of: " Ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibug arcent ;" b that the usurer breaketh the first law that was made for mankind after the fall, which was, " in sudore vultus tui comedes panem tuum;" c not, "in sudore vultus alieni;" d that usurers should have orange-tawny c bonnets, because they do Judaize; that it is against nature for money to beget h " Thou earnest Cnesar and his fortunes." 1 " The Fortunate." He attributed his success to the intervention of Hercules, to whom he paid especial veneration. k " The Great." 1 A successful Athenian general, the son of Conon, and the friend of Plato. ■" Fluency or smoothness. * Lord I'acon seems to use the 'word in the general sense of " lending money upon interest." b " Drive from their hives the drones, a lazy race." — Georgics, b. iv. 168. * " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread." — Gen. iii. 19. d "In the sweat of the bee of another." 8 In the middle ages tin- .)> ws wnv compelled, by legal enactment, to wear peculiar dresses and colours ; one of these was orange. I 114 ESSAYS. money, and the like. I say this only, that usury is a " con- GMKum propter duritiem cordis :" f 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 ; but few have spoken of usury usefully. It is good to set before us the incommodities and commodities of usury, that the good may be either -weighed out, or culled out ; and -warily to provide, that, while we make forth to that which is better, we meet not with that which is worse. The discommodities of usury are, first, that it makes fewer merchants ; for were it not for this lazy trade of usuiy, money would not lie still, but would in great part be em- ployed upon merchandising, which is the "vena porta"s of wealth in a state : the second, that it makes poor merchants; for as a farmer cannot husband his ground so well if he sit at a great rent, so the merchant cannot drive his trade so well, if he sit h at great usury : the third is incident to the other two ; and that is, the decay of customs of kings, or states, which ebb or flow with merchandising : the fourth, that it bringeth the treasure of a realm or state into a few hands ; for the usurer being at certainties, and 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 mer- chandising, or purchasing, and usury waylays both : the sixth, that it doth dull and damp all industries, improve- ments, and new inventions, wherein money would be stir- ring, if it were not for this slug : the last, that it is the canker and ruin of many men's estates, which in process of time breeds a public poverty. On the other side, the commodities of usury are, first, that howsoever usury in some respect hindereth merchandising, yet in some other it advanceth it ; for it is certain that the greatest part of trade is driven by young merchants upon borrowing at interest ; so as if the usurer either call in, or f " A concession by reason of hardness of heart." He alludes to the words in St. Matthew xix. S. b See Note to Essay xix. h Hold. usury. 115 keep back his money, there will ensue presently a great stand of trade : the second is, that were it not for this easy borrowing upon interest, men's necessities would draw upon them a most sudden undoing, in that they would be forced to sell their means (be it lands or goods), far under lout, and so. whereas usury doth but gnaw upon them, bad markets would swallow them quite op. As for mortgaging or pawn- ing, it will little mend the matter : for either men will not take pawns without use, or if they do, they will look pre- cisely for the forfeiture. I remember a cruel moneyed man in the country, that would say, •■ 'flu' devil take this usury, it keeps us from forfeitures of mortgages and bonds.'' The third and last is, that it is a vanity to conceive that there would be ordinary box-rowing without profit ; and it i- im- possible to conceive the number of inconvenieiiees that will ensue, if borrowing be cramped : therefore to speak of the abolishing of usury is idle ; all states have ever had it in one kind or rate, or other; so as that opinion must be sent to Utopia. 1 To speak now of the reformation and reglement k of usury, how the discommodities of it may be best avoided, and the commodities retained. It appears, by the balance of com- modities and discommodities of usury, two things are to be reconciled ; the one that the tooth of usury be grinded, that it bite not too much ; the other, that there be left open a means to invite moneyed men to lend to the merchants, for the continuing and quickening of trade. This cannot be done, except you introduce two several sorts of usury, a less and a greater ; for if you reduce usury to one low rate, it will ease the common borrower, but the merchant will be to seek for money: and it is to be noted, that the trade of mer- chandise being the most lucrative, may bear usury at a good rate : other contracts not so. To serve both intention-, 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 thai rate be proclaimed to be free and current ; and let the 1 The imaginary country described in Sir Thomas More'a political romance of that name. k Regulation. i2 1 1 G ESSAYS. 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 laud, because land purchased at sixteen years' purchase will yield six in the hundred, and somewhat more, whereas this rate of interest yields but five : this by like reason will encourage and edge industrious and profitable improvements, because many will rather venture in that kind, than take five in the hundred, especially having been used to greater profit. Secondly, let there be certain persons licensed to lend to known merchants upon usury, at a higher rate, and let it be with the cautions following : let the rate be, even with the merchant himself, somewhat more easy than that he used formerly to pay ; for by that means all borrowers shall have some ease by this reformation, be he merchant, or whosoever ; let it be no bank or common stock, but every man be master of his own money ; not that I alto- gether mishke banks, but they will hardly be brooked, in regard of certain suspicions. Let the state be answered, 1 some small matter for the license, and the rest left to the lender ; for if the abatement be but small, it will no whit discourage the lender ; for he, for example, that took before ten or nine in the hundred, will sooner descend to eight in the hundred, than give over his trade of usuiy, and go from certain gains to gains of hazard. Let these licensed lenders be in number indefinite, but restrained to certain principal cities and towns of merchandising ; for then they will be hardly able to colour other men's moneys in the countiy : so as the license of nine will not suck away the current rate of five ; for no man will send his moneys far off, nor put them, into unknown hands. If it be objected that this doth in a sort authorize usury, which before was in some places but permissive ; the answer is, that it is better to mitigate usury by declaration, than to 6iiffer it to rage by connivance. 1 Be paid. YOUTH ANT) AGE. 117 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 cogitations, not so wise as the second : for there is a youth in thoughts, as well as in ages ; and yet the invention of young men is more lively than that of old, and imaginations stream into their minds better, and, as it were, more divinely. Natures that have much heat, and great and violent desires and perturbations, are not ripe for action till they have passed the meridian of their years : as it was with Julius Caesar and Septimius Severus ; of the latter of whom it is said, '■ Juventutem egit erroribus, imo furori- bus plenam;" a and yet he was the ablest emperor, almost, of all the list ; but reposed natures may do well in youth, as it is seen in Augustus Caesar, Cosmus duke of Florence, Gaston de Foix, b and others. On the other side, heat and vivacity in age is an excellent composition for business. Young men are titter to invent than to judge, fitter for execution than for counsel, and fitter for new projects than for settled busi- ness ; for the experience 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, em- brace more than they can hold, stir more than they can quiet ; fly to the end, without consideration of the means and degrees; pursue some few principles which they have chanced upon absurdly; care not to innovate, which draws unknown inconveniences ; use extreme remedies at first ; and that, which doubleth all errors, will not acknowledge or re- tract them, like an unready horse, that will not neither stop nor turn. Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive busi- ness home to the full period, but content themselves with a * •• He passed his youth full of errors, of madness even." b He wu nephew of Louis XII. of France, and commanded the French armies in Italy against the Spaniards. After a brilliant career, he was killed at the battle of Ka\ • una, in 1512. 118 ESSAYS. mediocrity of success. Certainly it is good to compound employments of both ; for that will be good for the present, because the virtues of either age may correct the defects of both ; and good for succession, that young men may be learners, while men in age are actors ; and, lastly, good for externe accidents, because authority followeth old men, and favour and popularity youth : but, for the moral part, per- haps, 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 diinketh of the world, the more it intoxicateth : and age doth profit rather in the powers of understanding, than in the virtues of the will and affections. There be some have an over-early ripeness in then' years, which fadeth betimes : these are, first, such as have brittle wits, the edge whereof is soon turned : such as was Hermo- genes d the rhetorician, whose books are exceeding subtle, who afterwards waxed stupid : a second sort is of those that have some natural dispositions, wliich have better grace in youth than in age ; such as is a fluent and luxuriant speech, which becomes youth well, but not age : so Tully saith of Hortensius, " Idem manebat, neque idem decebat : " e the third is of such as take too high a strain at the first, and are magnanimous more than tract of years can uphold : as was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith, in effect, " Ultima primis cedebant." f c Joel ii. 28, quoted Acts ii. 17. d He lived in the second century after Christ, and is said to have lost his memory at the age of twenty-five. e "He remained the same, but with the advance of years was not so becoming." 1 "The close was unequal to the beginning." This quotation is not correct; the words are — " Memorabilior prima pars vitae quam postrema fait," — "The first part of his life was more distinguished than the latter." — Livy, xxxviii. ch. 53. BEAUTY. 119 XLIIL— OF BEAUTY. Virtue is like a rick 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 beauti- ful persons are otherwise of great virtue ; as if nature were rather busy not to err, than in labour to produce excellency ; and therefore they prove accomplished, but not of great spirit ; and study rather behaviour, than virtue. But this holds not always : for Augustus Caesar, Titus Vespasianus, Philip le Bel of France, Edward the Fourth of England, 3 Alcibiades of Athens, Ismael the Sophy of Persia, were all high and great spirits, and yet the most beautiful men of their times. In beauty, that of favour, is more than that of colour ; and that of decent and gracious motion, more than that of favour. b That is the best part of beauty, which a picture cannot express ; no, nor the first sight of the life. There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. A man cannot tell whether Apelles or Albert Durer were the more trifler ; whereof the one would make a personage by geometrical proportions : the other, by taking 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 pulcher ;" c for no youth can be comely but by pardon, d and considering the youth as • By the context, be would seem to consider "great spirit" and "virtue" as convertible terms. Edward IV., however, has no claim to be considered as a virtuous or magnanimous man, though he possessed great physical courage. •> Features. c "The autumn of the beautiful is beautiful." d By making allowances. 120 ESSAYS. to make up the comeliness. Beauty Is as summer fruits, which are easy to corrupt, and cannot last ; and, for the most part, it makes a dissolute youth, and an age a little out of countenance ; but yet certainly again, if it light well, it maketh virtues shine, and vices blush. XLIV.— OF DEFORMITY. Deformed persons are commonly even with nature ; for as nature hath done ill by them, so do they by nature, being for the most pai*t (as the Scripture saith), u void of natural affection ;" a and so they have their revenge of nature. Certainly there is a consent between the body and the mind, and where nature erreth in the one, she ventureth in the other : " TJbi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero : " b 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 discipbne and virtue ; therefore it is good to consider of deformity, not as a sign winch is more deceivable, but as a cause which seldom faileth of the effect. "Whosoever hath anything fixed in his person that doth induce contempt, hath also a perpetual spur in himself to rescue and deliver himself from scorn ; 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, in their superiors, it quencheth jealousy towards them, as pei'sons 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 pi-esent in some countries) were wont to put great trust in eunuchs, because they that are envious towards all are more ■ Rom. i. 31 ; 2 Tim. iii. 3. b " Where she errs in the one, she ventures in the other." BUILDING. 121 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, there- fore, let it not be marvelled, if sometimes they prove excellent persons ; as was Agesilaus, Zanger the son of Solynian,' 1 JEiSOip, Gasca president of Peru ; and Socrates may go like- wise amongst them, with others. XLV.— OF BUILDING. Houses are built to live in, and not to look on ; therefore let use be preferred before uniformity, except where both may be had. Leave the goodly fabrics of houses, fur beauty only, to the enchanted palaces of the poets, who build them with small cost. He that builds a fair house upon an ill seat, 1 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 b of ground, environed with higher hills round about it, whereby the heat of the sun is pent in, and the wind gathereth as in troughs ; so as you shall have, and that suddenly, as great diversity of heat and cold as if you dwelt in several places. Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat ; but ill ways, ill markets, and, it you will consult with Momus, c ill neighbours. 1 speak not of many more ; want of water, want of wood, shade, and shelter, want of fruitfulness, and mixture of grounds of several natures ; want of prospect, want of level grounds, want of places at some near distance for sports of hunting, hawking, and races; too near the sea, too remote \ having the commodity of navigable rivers, or the discommodity of their overflowing ; too far off from great cities, which may hinder business ; or c Spies. d Solyman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Turks. • Site. b Knoll. c Have a liking for cheerful society. Momus being the God of mirth. 1 22 ESSAYS. too near them, which lurcheth d all provisions, and maketh everything dear ; where a man hath a great living laid together ; and where he is scanted ; all which, as it is impossible perhaps to find together, so it is good to know them, and think of them, that a man may take as many as he can ; and if he have several dwellings, that he sort them so, that what he wanteth in the one he may find in the other. Lucullus answered Pompey well, who, when he saw his stately galleries and rooms so large and lightsome, in one of his houses, said, " Surely an excellent place for summer, but how do you in winter V Lucullus answered, " Why, do you not think me as wise as some fowls are, that ever change their abode towards the winter V To pass from the seat to the house itself, we will do as Cicero doth in the orator's art, who writes books De Oratore, and a book he entitles Orator ; whereof the former delivers the precepts of the art, and the latter the perfection. "We will therefore describe a princely palace, making a brief model thereof ; for it is strange to see, now in Europe, such huge buildings as the Vatican and Escurial, e and some others be, and yet scarce a very fair room in them. First, therefore, I say, you cannot have a perfect palace, except you have two several sides ; a side for the banquet, as is spoken of in the book of Esther/ and a side for the house- hold ; the one for feasts and triumphs, and the other for dwelling. I understand both these sides to be not only returns, but parts of the front ; and to be uniform without, 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 would have, on the side of the banquet in front, one only goodly room above stairs, of some forty foot high ; and under it a room for a dressing or preparing place, at times of triumphs. On the other side, which is the household side, I wish it divided at the first into a hall and a chapel (with a partition d Eats up. e A vast edifice, about twenty miles from Madrid, founded by Philip II. 1 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 the king's palace." BUILDING. 123 between), both of good state and bigness ; and those not to go all the length, but to have at the further end a winter and a summer parlour, both fair ; and under these rooms a fair and large cellar stink under ground ; and kkewise some privy kitchens, with butteries and pantries, and the like. As for the tower, I would have it two stories, of eighteen foot high apiece above the two wings ; and a goodly leads upon the top, railed with statues interposed ; and the same tower to be divided into rooms, as shall be thought fit. The stairs likewise to the upper rooms, let them be upon a fair open newel,B and finely railed in with images of wood cast into a brass colour ; and a very fair landing-place at the top. But this to be, if you do not point any of the lower rooms for a dining-place of servants ; for, otherwise, you shall have the servants' dinner after your own : for the steam of it will come up as in a tunnel. h And so much for the front : only I understand the height of the first stairs to be sixteen foot, which is the height of the lower room. Beyond this front is there to be a fair court, but three sides of it of a far lower building than the front ; and in all the four corners of that court fair staircases, cast into turrets on the outside, and not within the row of buildings them- selves : 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 cupolas in the length of it. placed at equal distance, and fine coloured windows of several works : on the household aide, chambers of presence and ordinary enter- tainments, with some bed-chambers : and let all three sides be i double house, without thorough lights on the sides, that you may have rooms from the sun, both for forenoon and afternoon. Cast it also, that you may have rooms both for summer and winter ; shady for summer, and warm for winter. You shall have sometimes fair houses so full of * The cylinder formed l>y the small end of the steps of winding stairs. h The funnel of a chimney. 124 ESSAYS. glass, that one carnnot tell where to become 1 to be out of the sun or cold. For inbowed k windows, I hold them of good use (in cities, indeed, upright 1 do better, in respect of the uniformity towards the street) ; for they be pretty retiring places for conference ; and besides, they keep both the wind and sun off; for that which would strike almost through the room doth scarce pass the window : but let them be but few, four in the court, on the sides only. Beyond this court, let there be an inward court, of the 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 stoiy 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 dampish- ness : 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," m and "recamera," n joining to it; this upon the second stoiy. Upon the ground story, a fair gallery, open, upon pillars ; and upon the third story, like- wise 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 deficate or rich cabinets, daintily paved, richly hanged, glazed with crystalline glass, and a rich cupola in the midst ; and all other elegancy that can be thought upon. In the upper gallery, too, I wish that there may be, if the place will yield it, some fountains run- ning in divers places from the wall, with some fine avoidances. And thus much for the model of the palace ; save that you must have, before you come to the front, three courts ; a green court plain, with a wall about 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 1 Where to go. k Bow, or bay, windows. 1 Flush with the wall. m Antichamber. n Withdrawing-rooni. ° Watercourses. GABDSNR 125 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 oil the three sides ; and cloistered on the inside with pillars, and not with arches below. As for offices, let them stand at distance, with some low galleries to pass from them to the palace itself. XLVI.— OF GARDENS. God Almighty first planted a garden ; and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures ; it is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man ; without which buildings and palaces are but gross handy-works : and a man shall ever see, that, when ages grow to civility and elegancy, men come to build stately, sooner than to garden finely ; as if gardening were the greater perfection. I do hold it in the royal ordering of gardens, there ought to be gardens for all the months in the year, in which, severally, things of beauty may be then in season. For December, and January, and the latter part of November, you must take such things as are green all winter: holly, ivy, bays, juniper, cypress-trees, yew, pineapple-trees ; a fir-trees, rosemary, lavender ; periwinkle, the white, the purple, and the blue; germander, flags, orange-trees, lemon- trees, and myrtles, if they be stoved ; b and sweet marjoram, warm set. There fulloweth, for the latter part of January and February, the mezereon-tree, which then blossoms : crocus vernus, both the yellow and the grey ; primroses, anemones, the early tulip, the hyacinthus orientalis, chamalris fritellaria. For March, there come violets, especially the single blue, which are the earliest ; the yellow daffodil, the daisy, tin: 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-gillLllower, the cowslip, llower-de-luces, and lilies of all natures ; rose- mary-flowers, the tulip, the double peony, the pale, daffodil, the French honeysuckle, the cherry-tree in blossom, the damascene' and plum-trees in blossom, the white thorn in ■ Pine-trees. b Kept warm in a greenhouse. 1 The damson, or jilum of Damascus. 12G E.S.SAY.S. 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, bu- gloss, columbine, the French marygold, flos Africanus, cherry- tree in fruit, ribes, d figs in fruit, rasps, vine-flowers, lavender in flowers, the sweet satyrian, with the white flower ; herba muscaria, 1 ilium convalbum, 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, c codlins. In August come plums of all sorts in fruit, pears, apricots, barberries, filberts, musk-melons, monks-hoods, of all colours. In September come grapes, apples, poppies of all colours, peaches, melocotones/ nectarines, cornelians,? war- dens, 11 quinces. In October, and the beginning of November come services, medlars, bullaces, roses cut or removed to come late, hollyoaks, and such like. These particulars are for the climate of London ; but my meaning is perceived, that you may have " ver perpetuum," 1 as the place affords. And because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the air (whei'e it comes and goes, like the warbling of music), than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that delight, than to know what be the flowers and plants that do best perfume the air. Roses, damask and red, are fast flowersJ of their smells ; so that you may walk by a whole row of them, and find nothing of their sweetness ; yea, though it be in a morning's dew. Bays, likewise, yield no smell as they grow, rosemary little, nor sweet marjoram ; that which, above all others, yields the 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, with a most excellent cordial smell ; then the flower of the vines, it is a little dust like the dust of a bent, k which grows upon the cluster in the first coming A Currants. e An apple that is gathered very early. 1 A kind of quince, so called from "cotoneum," or "cydonium," the Latin name of the quince. s The fruit of the cornel-tree. h The warden was a large pear, so called from its keeping well. Warden-pie was formerly much esteemed in this country. 1 Perpetual spring. J Flowers that do not send forth their smell at any distance. k A species of grass of the genus argostis. GARLiK.n- 127 forth ; then sweet-briar, then wallflowers, which are ven delightful to be set under a parlour or lower chamber window; then pinks and gilliflowers, specially the matted pink and clove gillitiower ; then the flowers of the lime- tree ; then the honeysuckles, so they be somewhat afar off. Of bean-flcwers- 1 I speak not, because they are field-flowers ; but those which perfume the air most delightfully, not passed l>v as the rest, but being trodden upon and crushed, are three; that is, bumet, wild thyme, and water-mints; there- fore you are to set whole alleys of them, to have the pleasure when you walk or tread. For gardens (speaking of those wliich are indeed prince- Like, as we have done of buildings), the contents ought not well to be under thirty acres of ground, and to be divided into three parts ; a green in the entrance, a heath, or desert, in the going forth, and the main garden in the midst, 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, and in great heat of the year, or day, you ought not to buy the shade in the gai'den by going in the sun through the green ; therefore you are, of either side the green, to plant a i alley, upon carpenter's work, about twelve foot in height, by winch you may go in shade into the garden. As for the making of knots, or figures, with divers coloured earth.-, tli.u they may he under the window s 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 t he four aides with a stately arched hedge ; the arches to be upon pillars of carpenter's work, of some 'en foot high, and six foot broad, and the spaces between of the same dimeiisii m with the breadth of the arch. Over the arches let there lie an entire hedge of some four foot high, framed adso open carpenter's work ; and upon the uppei 1 The blossoms of tbe bean. 128 ESSAYS. hedge, over every arch, a little turret, with a belly enough to receive a cage of birds : and over every space between the arches some other little figure, with broad plates of round coloured glass gilt, for the sun to play upon : but this hedge I intend to be raised upon a bank, not steep, but gently slope, of some six foot, set all with flowers. Also I under- stand, 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 ; m but there must be no alleys with hedges at either end of this great enclosure ; not at the hither end, for letting" your prospect upon this fair hedge from the green ; nor at the further end, for letting your prospect from the hedge through the arches upon the heath. For the ordering of the ground within the great hedge, I leave it to variety of device ; advising, nevertheless, that whatsoever form you cast it into first, it be not too bushy, or full of work ; wherein I, for my part, do not like images cut out in juniper or other garden stuff; they be for children. Little low hedges, round like welts, with some pretty pyra- mids, I like well ; and in. some places fair columns, upon frames of 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 abi*east ; which I would have to be perfect circles, without any bulwarks or embossments ; and the whole mount to be thirty foot high, and some fine ban- queting-house with some chimneys neatly cast, and without too much glass. For fountains, they are a great beauty and refreshment ; but pools mar all, and make the garden unwholesome, and full of flies and frogs. Fountains I intend to be of two natures ; the one that sprinkleth or spouteth water : the other a fair receipt of water, of some tlrirty 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 m Bring or lead you. n Impeding. GARDENS. 129 never stay, either in the bowls or in the cistern : that the water be never by rest discoloured, green, or red, or the like, or gather any mossiness or putrefaction ; besides that, it is to be cleansed every day by the hand : also some steps up t<> it, and some fine pavement about it doth well As for the other kind of fountain, which we may call a bathing-pool, it may admit much curiosity and beauty, wherewith we will not trouble ourselves : as, that the bottom be finely paved, and with images ; the sides likewise : and withal embellished with coloured glass, and such things of lustre ; encom; also with fine rails of low statues : but the main point is the same which we mentioned in the former kind of fountain ; which is, that the water be in perpetual motion, fed by a water higher than the pool, and delivered into it by fair spouts, and then discharged away under ground, by some equality of bores, that it stay little ; and for fine devio . of arching water" without spilling, and making it rise in several forms (of feathers, drinking-glassea, 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 Vi i l'lness. Trees I would have none in it, but some thickets made only of sweet-briar and honeysuckle, and some wild vine amongst ; and the ground set with violets, strawberries, and primroses ; for these are sweet, and prosper in the shade ; and these to be in the heath here and there, not in any order. I like also little heaps, in the nature of mole-hills (such a.s 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, Borne with lilium convalliun^F some with sweet-williams red, some with bear's-foot* and Tin- like low flowers, being withal sweet and sightly ; pari 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 ° Causing the water to fall in a perfect arch, without any spray escap- ing from the jet. v Li! ralley. K 130 w.s. smell of their blossom), red currants, gooseberries, rosemary, bays, sweet-briar, and such like : but these standards to be kept with cutting, that they grow not out of course. For the side grounds, you are to fill them with variety of alleys, private, to give a full shade ; some of them, where- soever the sim 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 ;i and this should be generally observed, that the borders wherein you plant your fruit-trees be fair, and large, and low, and not steep ; and set with fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they deceive 1 * 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 arbours with seats, set in some decent order ; but these to be by no means set too thick, but to leave the main garden so as it be not close, but the air open and free. For as for shade, I would have you rest upon the alleys of the side grounds, there to walk, if you be disposed, in the heat of the year or day ; but to make account s that the main garden is for the more temperate parts of the year, and, in the heat of summer for the morn- ing and the evening or overcast day-. For aviaries, I like them not, except they be of that largeness as they may be turfed, and have living plants and bushes set in them ; that the birds may have more scope and natural nestling, and that no foulness appear in the floor of the aviary. So I have made a platform of a princely garden, partly by precept, partly by drawing ; not a model, but some general lines of it ; and in this I have spared for no cost : but it is nothing for great princes, that for the most part, i In rows. ' Insidiously subtract nourishment from. s To consider or expect. NEGOTIATING. 131 taking advice with workmen, with no less cost set their things together, and sometimes add statues and such things, for state and magnificence, but nothing to the true pleasure of a garden. XLVIT.— OF NEGOTIATING. It is generally hetter to deal by speech than by letter ; and by the mediation of a third than by a man's self. Letters are good, when a man would draw an answer by letter back again; or when it may .serve for a man's justifi- cation afterwards to produce bis own letter ; orwhere it may be danger to be interrupted, or beard by pieces. To deal in person is good, when a man's face breedeth regard, as com- monly with inferiors ; or in tender cases where a man's eye upon the countenance of him with whom he speaketh, may give him a direction how far to go : and generally where a man will reserve to himself liberty, either to disavow or to expound. In choice of instruments, it is better to choose men 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 persons as affect a the business ■wherein they are employed, far that quickened) 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, froward and absurd men for business that doth not well bear out itself. Use also such as have been lucky and prevailed before in things wherein you have employed them ; for that breeds confidence, and they will strive to maintain their prescription. It is better to sound a person with whom one deals afar ofij 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. 1 ' than with those thn are where they would be. ■ Love, are pleased with. '' It is more advantageous l" deal with men whose desires are not yet satisfied than with those \\h<> have gained all they Is::. I r, and are likely to be proof against inducements. K 2 132 ESSAYS. 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 practice is to discover, or to work. Men discover themselves in trust, in passion, at unawares ; and of necessity, when they would have some- what 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 weakness and disadvantages, and so awe him ; or those that have interest in him, and so govern him. In dealing with cunning persons, we must ever consider their ends, to in- terpret their speeches ; and it is good to say little to them, and that which they least look for. In all negotiations of difficulty, a man may not look to sow and reap at once ; but must prepare business, and so ripen it by degrees. 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 conditions than coun- tenance, recommendation, and protection from wrongs. Fac- tious followers are worse to be liked, which follow not upon affection to him with whom they range themselves, but upon discontentment conceived against some other ; whereupon commonly ensueth that ill intelligence, that we many times see between great personages. Likewise glorious a followers, who make themselves as trumpets of the commendation of those they follow, are full of inconvenience, for they taint business through want of secrecy ; and they export honour from a man, and make him a return in envy. There is a kind of followers, likewise, which are dangerous, being indeed •"• In the sense of the Latin "gloriosus," "boastful," "bragging." FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS. 133 espials ; which inquire the secrets of the house, and bear tales of them to others ; yet such men, many times, are in great favour ; for they are officious, and commonly exchange tales. The following by certain estates 11 of men, answerable to that which a great person himself professeth (as of soldiers to him that hath been employed in the wars, and the like), hath ever been a thing civil and well taken even in monarchies, so it be without too much pomp or popularity : but the most honourable kind of following, is to be followed as one that apprehendeth to advance virtue and desert in all sorts of persons j and yet, when' there is no eminent odds in sufficiency, it is better to take with the more passable, than with the more able ; and besides, to speak truth in base times, active men are of more use than virtuous. It is true, that in government, it is good to use men of one rank equally : for to countenance some extraordinarily, is to make them insolent, and the rest discontent ; because they may claim a due : but contrariwise in favour, to use men with mnch difference and election is good ; for it maketh the persons preferred more thankful, and the rest more officious : because all is of favour. It is good discretion not to make too much of any man at the first ; because one cannot hold out that proportion. To be governed (as we call it) by one, is not safe ; for it shows softness, and gives a freedom to scan- dal and disreputation ; for those that would not censure, or speak ill of a man immediately, will talk more boldly of those that are so great with them, and thereby wound their honour ; yet to be distracted with many, is worse ; for it makes men to be of the last impression, and full of change. To take advice of some few friends La ever honourable ; for lookers-on many times see more than gamesters ; and the vale besl discovereth the hill. There is little friendship in the world, and least of all between equals, which was wont d b Professions or classes. r Weakneafl "r indecision of character. ■' I!- |.i-'il>aMy alludes to the ancient stories of the friendship of Orestes and Pyhvles, Theseus and Pirithoiis, Damon and Pythias, aud others, and the maxims of the ancient Philosophers, Aristotle consi- der - that equality in circumstances and station is one requisite of friendship. Seneca and Qointns Cnrtius express the same opinion, it- seems hardly prolia! ill- that Lord Baoon r< f 1 • oted deeply when he penned this passage, for between equals, jealousy, the most insidious of all the 134 ESSAYS. to be magnified. That that is, is between superior and inferior, whose fortunes may comprehend the one the other. XLIX.— OF SUITORS. Many ill matters and projects are undertaken; and private suits do putrefy the public good. Many good matters are undertaken with bad minds ; I mean not only corrupt minds, but crafty minds ; that intend not performance. Some embrace suits, which never mean to deal effectually in them ; but if they see there may be life in the matter, by some other mean they will be content to win a thank, or take a second reward, or at least, to make use in the mean time of the suitors hopes. Some take hold of suits only for an occasion to cross some other, or to make an information, whereof they could not otherwise have apt pretext, without care what be- come 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 favour 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 favour the less worthy in desert, let him do it without depraving 3 or disabling the better deserver. In suits which a man doth not well understand, it is good to refer them to some friend of trust and judgment, enemies of friendship, Las the least chance of originating. Dr. John- son says : — "Friendship is seldom lasting but between equals, or where the superiority on one side is reduced by some equivalent advantage on the other. Benefits which cannot be repaid, and obligations which cannot be discharged, are not commonly 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 admiration, there cannot be friendship." — TJie Rambler, No. 64. c In such a case, gratitude and admiration exist on the one hand, esteem and confidence on the other. a Lowering, or humiliating. Sl'ITORS. 1 35 that may report whether he may deaJ in them with honour : but let him choose well his referendaries,* for else he may be led l>v the aose. Suitors arc bo distasted c with delays and abuses, that plain dealing in denying ko deal in suits at first, and reporting the success barely," ami in challenging no more thanks than one hath deserved, is grown not only honourable hut also gracious. In suits of favour, the first coming ought to take little place ;' w far forth' consideration may be had of his trust, that if intelligence of the matter could aol otherwise have been had bu1 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 light thereof, is want of conscience. Secrecy in suits is a great mean of obtaining; for voicing them to be in for- wardness may discourage some kind of suitors ; but doth quicken and awake others : but timing of the suit is the principal ; timing I say not only in 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 ecmal to the first -rant, it 'a man show himself neither dejected nor discontented. ■ [niquum petas, ut ajquum feras,"' 1 is a good rule, where a man hath strength of favour : but otherwise a man were Letter 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 Conner favour. Nothing is thought SO easy a request to a great person, as his letter; and yet, it' if be not in a good cause, i\ is bo much out of his reputation. There are no worse instruments than these general contrivers of suits ; for thej are but a kind of poison ami infection to public proceedin . I.'' i c Disgusted. ■' Giving ii" (also colour to the degree of success which has attended the prosecution of tin- suit. ■ To have little e£B ot. I To this extent. s Of the information. II "Ask what is exorbitant, that you ni.iv obtain what is moderate." 130 ESSAYS. L.— OF STUDIES.* Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring ; for ornament, is in discourse ; and for ability, is in the judg- ment and disposition of business ; for expert men can exe- cute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one : but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies, is sloth ; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation ; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar : they perfect nature, and are perfected by experience : for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study ; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them ; for they teach not their own use ; but that is a wisdom without them and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested ; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read but not curiously ; h and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and atten- tion. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others ; but that would be only in the less important arguments and the meaner sort of books ; else distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy ' things. Reading maketh a full man ; conference a ready man ; and writing an exact man ; and, therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory ; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit ; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise ; poets, witty ; the mathematics, subtile ; natural philosophy, deep ; moral, grave ; logic and rhetoric, able to contend : " Abeunt studia in a This formed the first Essay in the earliest edition of the work. b Attentively. c Vapid ; without taste or spirit. FACTION'. 137 mores ;" d nay, there is no stand or impediment in the wit, but maybe wrought out by lit studies : like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises ; bowling is good for the stone and reins, b! ting forthe lungs and breast, gentle walking for the stomach, riding for the head and the like ; so if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics ; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again ; if his wit be not apt to distinguish or find difference, let him study the schoolmen; fur they arc " Cymini sectores." c 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. LI.— OF FACTION. Many have an opinion not wise, that for a prince to govern his estate, or for a great person to govern his pro- ei Tilings, according to the respect of factions, is a principal part of policy ; whereas, contrariwise, the chiefest wisdom is. either in ordering those things which are general, and wherein men of several factions do nevertheless agree, or in dealing with correspondence to particular persons, one by one : but I say not, that the consideration of factions is to be neglected. Mean men in their rising must adhere ; but great men, that have strength in themselves, were better to maintain themselves indifferent and neutral : yet even in beginners, to adhere so moderately, as he be a man of the one faction, which is most passable with the other, commonly giveth best way. The Lower and weaker faction is the firmer in conjunction ; 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 subdi- videth ; as the faction between Lucullus and the rest of the nobles of the senate (which they called " optimates") held •' " Studies become habits." • "Splitters of cummin-seeds;" or, as we now say, "splitters of straws," or "hairs." Butler says of Hudibras — " Mr cmilil distinguish and divide A hair 'twixt south and south-west side." 138 ESSAYS. out a while against the faction of Pompey and Caesar; hut when the senate's authority was pulled down, Caesar and Pompey soon after brake. The faction or party of Antunius and Octavianus Caesar, against Brutus and Cassius, held out likewise for a time; but when Brutus and Cassius were overthrown, then soon after Antonius and Octavianus brake and subdivided. These examples are of wars, but the same holdeth in private factions : and therefore, those that are seconds in factions, do many times, when the faction sub- divideth, prove principals ; but many times also they prove ciphers and cashiered ; for many a man's strength is in opposition ; and when that faileth, he groweth out of use. It is commonly seen, that men once placed, take in with the contrary faction to that by which they enter ; thinking, belike, that they have the first sure, and now are ready for a new purchase. The traitor in faction lightly goeth away with it; for when matters have stuck long in balancing, the winning of some one man casteth them, a and he getteth all the thanks. The even carriage between two factions proceedeth not always of moderation, but of a trueness to a man's self, with end to make use of both. Certainly, in Italy, they hold it a little suspect in popes, when they have often in their mouth " Padre comune :" b and take it to be a sign of one that meaneth to refer all to the greatness of his own house. Kings had need beware how they side themselves, and make themselves as of a faction or party ; for leagues within the state are ever pernicious to monar- chies ; for they raise an obligation paramount to obligation of sovereignty, and make the king " tanquam unus ex no- bis;" as was to be seen in the League of France. "When factions are carried too high and too violently, it is a sign of weakness in princes, and much to the prejudice both of their authority and business. The motions of factions under kings, ought to 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 u pri- muni mobile." d a Causes one side to pi-eponderate. b "The common father." c "As one of us." Henry III. of France, favouring the League formed by the Duke of Guise and Cardinal De Lorraine against the Protestants, soon found that through the adoption of that policy he had forfeited the respect of his subjects. d See a Note to Essay 15. CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS. 139 LIL— OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS. He that is only real, had Deed have exceeding gi'eat 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 gettingfl and gains: for the proverb i^ true, ''That Eghl gains make heavy ptoses;" for light gains come thick, whereas great come but now and then : so it is true, that small matter- win great commenda- tion, 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' 1 said) like perpetual letters com- mendatory, 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 labour too much to express them, he shall lose their grace; which is to be natural and unaffected. Some men's behaviour is like a verse, wherein every syllable is measured ; how can a man comprehend great matters, that breaketh his mind too much to small observations ? Not to use cere- monies 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 effec- tual and imprinting passages amongst compliments, which is of singular use, if a man can hit upon it. Among-t a man's pens, a man shall be sure of familiarity ; and therefore it is good a little to keep state; amongst a man's interim's, one shall be sure of reverence ; and therefore it is good a little to lie familial-, lie that is too much in anything, BO that he giveth another occasion of satiety, maketh himself cheap. To apply one's self to others, is good ; so it be with demo** stration, that a man doth it upon regard, and riot upon facility. It is a good precept, generally in seconding another, * Of Castile. She WU the wife of Ferdinand of ArragOB, and was the patroness of Columbus. 140 ESSAYS. yet to add somewhat of one's own : as if you will grant his opinion, let it be with some distinction ; if you will follow his motion, let it be with condition ; if you allow his counsel, let it be with alleging further reason. Men had need beware how they be too perfect in compliments ; for be they never so sufficient otherwise, their enviers will be sure to give them that attribute, to the disadvantage of their greater vir- tues. It is loss also in business to be too full of respects, or to be too curious in observing times and opportunities. Solomon saith, " He that considereth the wind shall not sow, and he that looketh to the clouds shall not reap." b A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Men's behaviour should be like their apparel, not too strait or point device, but free for exercise or motion. LIIL— OF PEAISE. Pbaise 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 nought, and rather followeth vain . persons than virtuous :. for the common people under- stand not many excellent virtues : the lowest virtues draw praise from them, the middle virtues work in them asto- nishment or admiration ; but of the highest virtues they have no sense or perceiving at all ; but shows and " species virtutibus similes," a serve best with them. Certainly, fame is like a river, that beareth up tilings light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid ; but if persons of quality and judgment concur, then it is (as the Scripture saith), 1 Nomen bonum instar unguenti fragrantis ;" b it filleth all round about, and will not easily away ; for the odours of ointments are more durable than those of flowers. There be b The words in our version are, " He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." — Eccle- siastes xi. 4. c Exact in the extreme. Point-de-vice was originally the name of a kind of lace of very fine pattern. B "Appearances resembling virtues." b " A good name is like sweet-smelling ointment." The words in our version are, "A good name is better than precious ointment." — Eccle- siastes vii. 1. PRAISE. l4l so many false points of praise, that a man may justly hold it a suspect. Some praises proceed merely of flattery ; and if he be an ordinary flatterer, lie will have certain common attributes, which may serve every man ; if he be a cunning flatterer, he will follow the arch-flatterer, which is a man's self, and wherein a man thinketh best of himself, therein the flatterer will uphold him most : but if he be an impudent flatterer, look wherein a man is conscious to himself that he is most defective, and is most out of countenance in himself, that will the flatterer entitle him to, perforce, " spreta conscientia." c Some praises come of good wishes and re- spects, which is a form due in civility to kings and great persons, " laudando prsecipere ;" d when by telling men what they are, they represent to them what they should be ; some men are praised maliciously to their hurt, thereby to stir envy and jealousy towards them ; " Pessimum genus ini- micorum 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, mode- rate praise, used with opportunity, and not vulgar, is that which doth the good. Solomon saith, " He that praiseth his friend aloud, rising early, it shall be to him no better than a curse. "8 Too much magnifying of man or matter doth irritate contradiction, and procure envy and scorn. To praise a, man's self cannot be decent, except it be in rare cases ; but to praise a man's office 11 or profession, he may do it with good grace, and with a kind of magnanimity. The cardinals of Rome, which are thcologues, 1 and friars, and schoolmen, have a phrase of notable Contempt and BCOm towards civil business ; for they call all temporal business of wars, embas- sages, judicature, ami other employments, Bbirrerie, which is c " Disregarding his own conscience." d "To instruct under the liinn of praise." c "The worst kind of enemies are those who flatter." f A pimple filled with " pus." <>r " purulent matter." The word is still used iii the east of England. k The words in our version are, " He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him." — Proverbs xxvii. 1^. h In other words, to show what we call au esprit (h corps. ' Theologians. 142 ESSAYS. 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;" k but speaking of his calling, he saith, " Magnificabo apostolatum meum." 1 LIV.— OF VAIN GLOEY. It was prettily devised of iEsop, the fly sat upon the axle- tree of the chariot- wheel, and said, '•What a dust do I raise !" So are there some vain persons, that, whatsoever goeth alone, or moveth upon greater means, if they have never so little hand in it, they think it is they that carry it. They that are glorious must needs be factious ; for all bravery a stands upon comparisons. They must needs be violent to make good their own vaunts ; neither can they be secret, and therefore not effectual ; but according to the French proverb, " Beaucoup de bruit, peu de fruit;" — "much bruit, b little fruit." Yet, certainly, there is use of this quality in civil affairs : where there is an opinion and fame to be created, either of virtue or greatness, these men are good trumpeters. Again, as Titus Livius noteth, in the case of Antiochus and the iEtolians, there are sometimes great effects of cross lies ; as if a man that negotiates between two princes, to draw them to join in a war against the third, doth extol the forces of either of them above measure, the one to the other : and 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 essen- tial point ; for as iron sharpens iron, so by glory, one courage sharpeneth another. In cases of great enterprise upon k 2 Cor. xi. 23. 1 " I will magnify my apostleship." He alludes to the words in Romans xi. 13 — " Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I mag- nify mine office." a Vaunting, or boasting. b Noise. We have a corresponding proverb — " great cry and little wool." c A high or good opinion. VAIN GLORY. 143 charge' 1 ami adventure, a composition of glorious natures doth put life into business ; and those that are of solid and Bober natures, have more of the ballast than of the sail In fame of learning, the night will be slow without some fe thers of ostentation: "Qui de contemnendi gloria lihros scribuut, nomen suum inscribunt." Socrates, Aristotle, Galen, were men full of ostentation: certainly, vain glory helpeth to perpetuate a man's memory; and virtue was never so beholden to human nature, as it received its due at the second hand. Neither had the fame of Cicero, Seneca, Pli- nius Secundus/ borne her age so well if it had not been joined with some vanity in themselves; like unto varnish, that makes ceilings not only shine, but last. But all this while, when I speak of vain glory, I mean not of that pro- pi-rty that Tacitus doth attribute to Miicianus, "Omnium, qu» dixerat feceratque, arte quadam ostentator :"B for thai proceeds not of vanity, but of natural magnanimity and dis- cretion; and, in some persons, is not only comely, but gra- cious: for exeusations, 1 cessions, 1 ' modesty itself, well governed, arc but arts of ostentation; and amongst those arts there is none better than that which Plinius Secundus speaketh of, which is to be liberal of praise and commendation to others, in that wherein a man's self hath any perfection: for, saitb Pliny very wittily, "In commending another, you do yourself right;" for he that you commend is either superior to you in that you commend, or inferior : if he be inferior, if he be to be commended, you much more; if he be superior, if be be ii"t to be commended, you much less." Glorinu.- 1 men an the scorn of wise men, the admiral inn of fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of their own vaunts. I'>y express command. ,: "Those who write book-; or ,dory set their name-; in the title-page." He quotes from Cicero's "TasculaiUBDisputatianee," b. i. c. 1 .'>, whose words are, " Quid nostri philosophi 1 Nonne in his lib] i|>sH. quos Boribnnt do coatemnemti gloriA, sua aomina inscribunt." — "What do our philosophers do ? Do they not, in those very books b they write on despising glory, Bet their names in the title-page?" ' Plinj the Jonnger, the nephew of the elder Pliny, the naturalist k "One who set off everything he said and did with a certain skill." MuciamH was an intriguing genera] in the times of Otho and Vitelline. h Namely, the property of which he was sneaking, and not that men- tioned by Ta ' Apologies. k Concessions. ' Boastful. 144 ESSAYS. LV.— OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. The winning of honour is but the revealing of a man's virtue and worth without disadvantage; for some in their actions do woo and affect honour and reputation ; which sort of men are commonly much talked of, but inwardly little admired : and some, contrariwise, darken their virtue in the show of it ; so as they be undervalued in opinion. If a man perform that which hath not been attempted before, or attempted and given over, or hath been achieved, but not with so good circumstance, he shall purchase more honour than by affecting a matter of greater difficulty or virtue, wherein he is but a follower. If a man so temper his actions, as in some one of them he doth content every faction or combination of people, the music 'will be the fuller. A man is an ill husband of his honour that entereth into any action, the failing wherein may disgrace him more than the carrying of it through can honour him. Honour that is gained and broken upon another hath the quickest reflection, like dia- monds cut with facets; and therefore let a man contend to excel any competitors of his in honour, in outshooting them, if he can, in their own bow. Discreet followers and servants help much to reputation : " Omnis fama a domesticis ema- nat." a Envy, which is the canker of honour, is best extin- guished by declaring a man's self in his ends, rather to seek merit than fame : and by attributing a man's successes rather to Divine providence and felicity, than to his own virtue or policy. The true marshalling of the degrees of sovereign honour are these : in the first place are " conditores impe- riorum," b founders of states and commonwealths; such as were Romulus, Cyrus, Caesar, Ottoman, Ismael: in the second place are " legislatores," lawgivers ; which are also called second founders, or "perpetui principes," d because they govern by then* ordinances after they are gone ; such were Lycurgus, a "All fame emanates from servants." b " Founders of empires." c 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 "Othoman," or ''Ottoman" Porte. d " Perpetual rulers." HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 145 Solon, Justinian, Edgar, 6 Alphonsus of Castile the Wise, that made the " Siete Pallidas:"* in the third place are " libera- tores," or " salvatores," s such as compound the long miseries of civil wars, or deliver their countries from servitude of strangers or tyrants ; as Augustus Caesar, Vespasianus, Aure- lianus, Theodoricus, King Henry the Seventh of England, King Henry the Fourth of France: in the fourth place are '• propagatores," or " propugnatores imperii," h such as in honourable wars enlarge their territories, or make noble de- fence against invaders; and, in the la.st 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 honour in subjects are, first, " participes curaruin," k those upon whom princes do discharge the greatest weight of their affairs ; their right hands, as we call them ; the next are " duces belli," 3 great leaders; such as are princes 1 lieutenants, and do them nota- ble services in the wars : the third are " gratiosi,'' favourites; such as exceed not tins scantling," 1 to be solace to the sove- reign, and harmless to the people : and the fourth, " negotiis pares ;"" such as have great places under princes, and exe- cute their places with sufficiency. There is an honour, like- wise, 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 ; a.s was M. Regulus, and the two Decii. e Surnamed the Peaceful, who ascended the throne of England A.D. 959. He was eminent as a legislator and a rigid assertor of justice. Hume considers his reign "one of the most fortunate that we meet with in the ancient English history." ' These were a general collection of the Spanish laws, made by A.lphonBO X. of Castile, arranged under their proper titles. The work was commenced by l)on I'Vrdinaiid, his father, to put an end to the COntradiotory decisions in the Castilian courts of justice. It was •divided into seven parts, whence its name " Siete Partidas." It did not, however, Income the law ot* Castile till nearly eighty years after. k " Deliverers," or " preset . 11 '• Extenders," or " defenders of the empire." 1 " Fathers of their country.'' k " Participators in i i ' " Leaders in war." m Proportion, dimensions. " " Equal to their duties." 14G ESSAYS. LVL— OF JUDICATURE. Judges ought to remember that their office is " jus di- cere," a and not "jus dare;" b to interpret law, and not to make law, or give law ; else will it be like the authority claimed by the Church of Rome, which, under pretext of exposition of Scripture, doth not stick to add and alter, and to pronounce that which they do not find, and by show of antiquity to 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 (saith the law c ) 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 landmarks, when he defineth amiss of lands and property. One foid sentence doth more hurt than many foul examples ; for these do but corrupt the stream, the other corrupteth the fountain : so saith Solomon, " Fons turbatus et vena corrupta est Justus cadens in causa sua coram adversario." d The office of judges may have reference unto the parties that sue, unto the advocates that plead, unto the clerks and ministers of justice underneath them, and to the sovereign or state above them. First, for the causes or parties that sue. " There be (saith the Scripture) that turn judgment into wormwood ;" e and surely there be, also, that turn it into vinegar ; for in- justice maketh it bitter, and delays make it sour. The principal duty of a judge is to suppress force and fraud ; whereof force is the more pernicious when it is open, and fraud when it is close and disguised. Add thereto contentious suits, which ovight to be spewed out, as the' surfeit of courts. A judge ought to prepare his way to a just sentence, as God useth to prepare his way, by raising valleys and taking down a " To expound the law." b "To make the law." c The Mosaic law. He alludes to Deuteronomy xxvii. 17 — " Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark." d " A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring." — Proverbs xxv. 26. e Amos v. 7— "Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth." JUDICATURE. 117 hills : so when there appeareth on either aide B high hand, violent prosecution, cunning advantages taken, combination, power, great counsel, then is the virtue of a judge sct.:n t>> make inequality equal; that he may plant his judgment as upon an even ground. " Qui fortiter emungit, elicit sangiri- nem ;" f and where the wine-press is haul wrought, it yiekfe a harsh wine, that tastes of the grape-stone. Judges must beware of hard constructions, and steamed inferences ; far there is no worse torture than the torture of laws : espe- cially in case of laws penal, they ought to have care that that which was meant for terror be not turned into rigour ; and that they bring not upon the people that shower whereof the Scripture speaketh, " Pluet super eos laqueos;"e for penal laws pressed, 11 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," (fee. 1 In causes of life and death, judges ought (as far as the law pcrmitteth) in justice to remember mercy, and to cast a severe eye upon the example, but a lnrivit'iil eye upon the person. Secondly, fur the advocates and counsel that plead. Pa- tience J and gravity of hearing is an essential part of justice : and an overspeaking judge is no well-tuned cymbal. It is no grace to a judge first to find that which he might haw befird in due time from the bar; or to show quickness of conceit in cutting off evidence or counsel too short, or to prevent information by questions, though pertinent. The parts of a judge in hearing are four: to direct the evidence : to moderate length, repetition, or impertinency of speech ; ' "He who wrings the nose Btrongry l>rin<_;-> blood." Proverbs xxx. 33 — "Surely tbe churning of milk bringetb forth butter, and the wringing of tin- nose bringetb forth blood ; so the forcing of wrath bringetb forth strife." " II.' will ruin snares ii|»>n them." I'-alm \i. II "' ( T ]ion tli u irk, ,| In- shall rain anaxe . tin , and brimstone, and an horrible ben 11 Strained. 1 "It is the duty of a judge b> OOnsider not only the facts but the circumstances of the OHM." I Pliny the younger, Bp. I!. 6, I''.-, has the alawrvaflmn— " l'.-ni- in tiam . . . qua pan magna jnatitia eat ;" --" Patience, which is part of justice." l2 148 ESSAYS. to recapitulate, select, and collate the material points of that which hath been said ; and to give the ride, 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 bold- ness of advocates should prevail with judges ; whereas they should imitate God, in whose seat they sit, who represseth the presumptuous, and giveth grace to the modest : but it is more strange, that judges should have noted favourites, which cannot but cause multiplication of fees, and suspicion of by-ways. There is due from the judge to the advocate some commendation and gracing, where causes are well handled and fair pleaded, esjiecially towards the side which obtaineth not ; k for that upholds in the client the reputa- tion of his counsel, and beats down in him the conceit 1 of his cause. There is likewise due to the public a civil repre- hension of advocates, where there appeareth cunning counsel, gross neglect, slight information, indiscreet pressing, or an over-bold defence ; and let not the counsel at the bar chop m 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, for 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 ;" n neither can justice yield her fruit with sweetness amongst the briars and bram- bles of catching and polling clerks and ministers. The attendance of courts is subject to four bad instruments : first, certain persons that are sowers of suits, which make the court swell, and the country pine : the second sort is of k Is not successful. 1 Makes him to feel less confident of the goodness of his cause. m Altercate, or bandy words with the judge. n St. Matthew vii. 16 — " Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles ?' ° Plundering. JUDICATURE. 14£ those that engage courts in quarrels of jurisdiction, and are not truly "amici curiae," 1 ' but " parasiti curia?," i in puffing a court u}) beyond her bounds for their own scraps and advan- tage : the third sort is of those that may be accounted the left hands of courts : persons that are full of nimble and sinister tricks and shifts, whereby they pervert the plain and direct courses of courts, and bring just ire into oblique lines and labyrinths : and the fourth is the poller and exacter of fees : which justifies the common resemblance of the courts of justice to the bush, whereunto while the sheep flies for defence in weather, he is sure to lose part of his fleece. 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 sovereign and estate. Judges ought, above all, to remember the conclusion of the Roman Twelve Tables/ "Salus populi siiprema lex ;"■ and to know that laws, except they be in order to that end, are but things captious, and oracles not well inspired : there- fore 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 judg- ment may be "meum" 1 and "tuum," 11 when the reason and consequence thereof may trench to point of estate : I call matter of estate, not only the parts of sovereignty, but whatsoever introduceth any great alteration, or dangerous precedent; or concerneth manifestly any great portion of people : and let no man weakly conceive that just laws and true policy have any antipathy ; for they are like the spirits and sinews, that one moves with the other. Let judges also remember, that Solomon's throne was supported by lions 1 on f " Friends Y3. 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 upon 1 in their journey, than wisely observed in their effects ; especially in their respective effects ; that is, what kind of comet for magnitude, colour, version of the beams, placing in the region of heaven, or lasting, produceth what kind of effects. There is a toy, m which I have heard, and I would not have it given over, but waited upon a httle. 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 vicis- situde 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, there- fore, of the causes of new sects, and to give some counsel concerning them, as far as the weakness of human judgment can give stay to so great revolutions. When the religion formerly received is rent by discords, and when the holiness of the professors of religion is decayed and full of scandal, and withal the times be stupid, ignorant, and barbarous, you may doubt the springing tip of a new sect ; if then also there should arise any 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 opposing of authority estab- lished ; 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), n though they work mightily 1 Observed. m A curious fancy or odd conceit. " The followers of Arminius, or James Harmensen, a celebrated divine of the 16th and 17th centuries. Though called a heresy by VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 155 upon men's wits, yet they do not produce any great altera tions 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 persuasion ; and by the sword. For martyr- doms, 1 reckon them amongst miracles, because they seem to exceed the strength of human nature : and I may do the like of superlative and admirable holiness of life. Surely there is no better way to stop the rising of new sects and schisms, than to reform abuses ; to compound the smaller differences ; to proceed mildly, and not with sanguinary persecutions ; and rather to take off the principal authors, by winning and advancing thorn, 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 of the war. in the weapons, and in the manner of the conduct. "Wars, in ancient time, seemed more to move from east to west ; for the Persians, Assyrians. Arabians, Tartars (which were the invaders), were all eastern people. It is true, the Gauls were western ; but we read but of two incursions of theirs : the one to Gallo-Grsecia, the other to Rome : but east and west have no certain points of heaven; and no more have the wars, either from the east or west, any certainty of observation: but north and south are fixed; and it h.-uh seldom or never been seen that the far southern people have invaded the northern, but contrariwise ; whereby it is mani- fest 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 dis- cipline, doth make the bodies hardest, and the courage .tannest. Upon the breaking and shivering of B great state and empire, you may be Km to have wars; for great empires. Bacon, bis opinions have been for two oenturies, and still are, hi Id by a i artioB of fche < inarch of England, A belied in i trology, or at least the influences of the stars, was in the time of Baoon. 15G ESSAYS. 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,P after Charles the Great,l every bird taking a feather ; and were not unlike to befall to Spain, if it should break. The great accessions and unions of kingdoms do likewise stir up wars : for when a state grows to an over-power, it is like a great flood, that will be sure to overflow; as it hath been seen in the states of Rome, Turkey, Spain, and others. Look when the world hath fewest barbarous people, but such as commonly will not marry, or generate, except they know means to live (as it is almost everywhere at this day, except Tartary), there is no danger of inundations of people ; but when there be great shoals of people, which go on to popu- late, without foreseeing means of life and sustentation, it is of necessity that once in an age or two they discharge a por- tion of their peojile upon other nations, which the ancient northern people were wont to do by lot ; casting lots what part should stay at home, and what should seek their for- tunes. When a warlike state grows soft and effeminate,, they may be sure of a war : for commonly such states are grown rich in the time of their degenerating : and so the prey inviteth, and their decay in valour encourageth a war. As for the weapons, it hardly falleth tinder rule and observation : yet we see even they have returns and vicissi- tudes ; for certain it is, that ordnance was known in the city of the Oxidraces, in India ; and was that which the Macedonians 1 called thunder and lightning, and magic ; and it is well known that the use of ordnance hath been in China above two thousand years. The conditions of weapons, and their improvements are, first, the fetching s 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 aiietations, 1 and ancient inventions ; the third is, the commodious use of them, as that they may p Germany. i Charlemagne. • When led thither by Alexander the Great. s Striking. • Application of the "aries," or battering-ram. FAME. 157 serve in all weathers, that the carriage may he light and manageable, and the like. For the conduct of the war: at the first, men rested extremely upon number ; they did put the wars likewise upon main force and valour, pointing days for pitched fields, and so trying it out upon an even match ; and they were more ignorant in ranging and arraying their battles. After they grew to rest upon number, rather competent than vast, they grew to advantages of place, cunning diversions, and the like, and they grew more skilful in the ordering of their battles. In the youth of a state, arms do flourish ; in the middle age of a state, learning ; and then both of them together for a time ; in the declining age of a state, mechanical arts and merchandise. Learning hath its infancy when it is but beginning, and almost childish ; then its youth, when it is luxuriant 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 philology of them, that is but a circle of tales, and therefore not fit for this writing. A FRAGMENT OF AN ESSAY OF FAME.* The poets make Fame a monster : they describe her in part, finely and elegantly, and in part gravely and senten- tiously ; they say, Look how many feathers she hath, so many eyes she hath underneath, so many tongues, so many voices, she pricks up so many ears. This is a flourish ; there follow excellent parables ; as that she gathereth strength in going ; that she goeth upon the ground, and yet hideth hex head in the clouds; that in the day-time she sitteth in a watch-tower, and flieth most by night ; that she mingleth things dune with things not done; and that she is a terror to gn at cities ; but that whieh passeth all the rest is, they do recount that the Earth, mother ■ This fragment was found among L<>nl Bacon's papers, and pub- lished by Dr. Kawley. 158 ESSAYS. of the giants that made war against Jupiter, and were by him destroyed, thereupon in anger brought forth Fame ; for certain it is, that rebels, figured by the giants, and seditious fames and libels ai'e but brothers and sisters, masculine and feminine ; but now if a man can tame' this monster, and bring her to feed at the hand and govern her, and with her fly other ravening fowl, and kill them, it is somewhat worth : but we are infected with the style of the poets. To speak now in a sad and serious manner, there is not in all the politics a place less handled, and more worthy to be handled, than this of fame. We will therefore speak of these points : what are false fames, and what are true fames, and how they may be best discerned ; how fames may be sown and raised ; how they may be spread and multiplied ; and how they may be checked and laid dead ; and other things 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 undid Vitellius by a fame that he scattered, that Vitellius had in purpose to remove the legions of Syria into Germany, and the legions of Germany into Syria ; whereupon the legions of Syria were infinitely in- flamed. Julius Caesar took Pompey unprovided, and laid asleep his industry and preparations by a fame that he cun- ningly 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 janizaries and men of war, to save the sacking of Constanti- nople, and other towns, as their manner is. Themistocles made Xerxes, king of Persia, post apace out of Graecia, by giving out that the Grecians had a purpose to break Iris bridge of ships which he had made athwart Hellespont. There be a thousand such like examples, and the more they are, the less they need to be repeated, because a man meeteth with them everywhere : therefore let all wise governors have as great a watch and care over fames, as they have of the actions and designs themselves. r DEATH. 159 (JON DEATH.J ■_; -■ ., n„ 1. I have often thought upon death, and I find it the least of all evils. ' All that which is past is a.s a dream : and he that hopes or depends upon time coming, dreams waking. Bo much of our life as we have discovered is already dead ; and all those hours which we share, even from the breasts "1 our mothers, until we return to our grandmother the earth, are part of our dying days, whereof even this is one, and those that succeed are of the same nature, for we die daily ; and as others have given place to us, so we must in the end give way to others. 2. Physicians in the name of death include all sorrow. anguish, disease, calamity, or whatsoever can fall in the life of man, either grievous or unwelcome. But the.se things are familiar unto us, and we suffer them every hour; then ton we die daily, and I am older since I affirmed it. 3. I know many wise men that fear to die ; for the change is hitter, and flesh would refuse to prove it : besides, the e qjectation brings terror, and that exceeds the evil. But I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death ; and such are my hopes, that if heaven be pleased, and nature renew but my lease for twenty-one years more, without asking longer days, I shall be strong enough to acknowledge without mourning, that I was begotten mortal. Virtue walks not in the highway, though she go per alta ; this is strength and the blood to virtue, to contemn things that be desired, and to QOglect that which is feared. 4. Why should man be in love with his fetters, though of gold 1 Ait thou drowned in security ? Then I say thou art perfectly dead. For though thou movest, yet thy soul is buried within thee, and thy- 1 angel either forsakes his guard or sleeps. There is nothing under heaven, saving a true friend (who cannot 1"' counted within the numb ,,i movables), unto which my heart doth lean. And this dear freedom hath begotten me this peace, that 1 mourn not for that end which nni-t be, nor spend one wish to have one minute added to the uncertain date of my years. [t was QO mean apprehension of Lucian, who aaye ofMenippuSj that in 1 GO ESSAYS. his travels th rough hell, he knew not the kings of the earth from other men but only by their louder cryings and tears, which were fostered in them through the remorseful memory of the good days they had seen, and the fruitful havings which they so unwillingly left behind them : he that was well seated, looked back at his portion, and was loth to forsake his farm; and others, either minding marriages, pleasures, profit, or preferment, desired to be excused from death's banquet : they had made an aj^pointment with earth, looking at the blessings, not the hand that enlarged them, forgetting how unclothedly they came hither, or with what naked ornaments they were arrayed. &. But were we servants of the precept given, and ob- server's of the heathens' rule, memento niori, and not become benighted with this seeming felicity, we should enjoy it as men prepared to lose, and not wind up our thoughts upon so perishing a fortune : he that is not slackly strong (as the servants of pleasure), how can he be found unready to quit the veil and false visage of his perfection ? The soul having shaken off her flesh, doth then set up for herself, and con- temning things that are under, shows what finger hath enforced her ; for the souls of idiots are of the same piece with those of statesmen, but now and then nature is at a fault, and this good guest of ours takes soil in an imperfect body, and so is slackened from showing her wonders, like an excellent musician, which cannot utter himself upon a defective instrument. G. But see how I am swerved, and lose my course, touch- ing at the soul that doth least hold action with death, who hath the surest property in this frail act ; his style is the end of all flesh, and the beginning of incorruption. This rider of monuments leads men for the most part out of this world with their heels forward, in token that he is contrary to life, which being obtained, sends men headlong into this wretched theatre, where being arrived, their first language is that of mourning. Nor in my own thoughts, can I compare men more fitly to anything than to the Indian fig-tree, which, being ripened to his full height, is said to decline his branches down to the earth, whereof she conceives again, and they become roots in their own stock. So man, having derived his being from the earth, first lives DEATH. 1GI the life of a tree, drawing his nourishment as a plant, and made ripe for death, he tends downwards, and is rowed again jn his mother the earth, where he perisheth not, but expects a quickening. 7. So we see death exempts not a man from being, but only presents an alteration; yet there arc some men (I think) that stand otherwise persuaded. Death finds not a worse friend than an alderman, to whose door I never knew him welcome ; but he is an importunate guest, and will not be said nay. And though they themselves shall affirm that they an- not within, yet the answer will not be taken: and that which heightens their fear is, that they know they are in danger to forfeit their flesh, but are not wise of the payment-day, which sickly uncertainty is the occasion that (for the most part) they step out of this world unfurnished for their gent ral account, and being all unprovided, desire yet to hold their gravity, preparing their souls to answer in scarlet. Thus I gather, that death is unagreeable to most citizens, because they commonly die intestate ; this being a rule, that when their will is made, they think themselves nearer a grave than before : now they, out of the wisdom of thou- sands, think to scare destiny, from which there is no appeal. by not making a will, or to live longer by protestation of their unwillingness to die. They are for the most part well made in this world (accounting their treasure by legions, as men do devils) : their fortune looks toward them, and they are willing to anchor at it, and desire (if it be possible) to I >iit the evil day far off from them, and to adjourn their ungrateful and killing period. No, these are not the men which have bespoken death, or whose looks are assured to entertain a thought of him. 8. Death arrives gracious only to such as sit in darkness, or lie heavy burthened with grief and irons ; to the poor Christian, that sits hound in the galley ; to despairful widows, pensive prisoners, and deposed kings ; to them whose fori on< runs back, and whose spirits mutiny : unto such death is a redeemer, and the grave a place for retiredness and rest. These wail upon the shore of death, and waft unto him to draw near, wishing above all others to see his star, that they might be led to his place j wooing the remorseless M 1G2 ESSAYS. sisters to wind down the watch of then- life, and to break them off before the hour. • 9. But death is a doleful messenger to a usurer, and fate untimely cuts their thread ; for it is never mentioned by him, but when rumours of war, and civil tumults put him in mind thereof. And when many hands are armed, and the peace of a city in disorder, and the foot of the common soldiers sounds an alarm on his stairs, then perhaps such a one (broken in thoughts of his moneys abroad, and cursing the monuments of coin which are in his house) can be content to think of death, and (being hasty of perdition) will perhaps hang himself, lest his throat should be cut ; provided that he may do it in his study, surrounded with wealth, to which his eye sends a faint and languishing salute, even upon the turning off ; remembering always, that he have time and liberty, by writing, to depute himself as his own heir. For that is a great peace to his end, and reconciles him wonderfully upon the point. 10. Herein we all dally with ourselves, and are without proof of necessity. I am not of those, that dare promise to pine away myself in vain glory, and I hold such to be but feat boldness, and them that dare commit it, to be vain. Yet for my part, I think nature should do me great wrong, if I should be so long in dying, as I was in being born. To speak truth, no man knows the lists of his own pa- tience ; nor can divine how able he shall be in his sufferings, till the storm come (the perfectest virtue being tried in action) : but I woxdd (out of a care to do the best business well) ever keep a guard, and stand upon keeping faith and a good conscience. 11. And if wishes might find place, I would die together, and not my mind often, and my body once : that is, I would prepare for the messengers of death, sickness and affliction, and not wait long, or be attempted by the violence of pain. Herein I do not profess myself a Stoic, to hold grief no evil, but opinion, and a thing indifferent. But I consent with Caesar, that the suddenest passage is easiest, and there is nothing more awakens our resolve and readiness to die than the quieted conscience, strengthened with opinion, that we shall be well spoken of upon earth by DEATH. 1G3 those that axe just, and of the family of virtue ; the oppo- site whereof is a fury to man, and makes even life unsweet. Therefore, what is more heavy than <'\il fame deserved 1 Or likewise, who can see worse days, than he that yet living doth follow at the funerals of his own reputation I I have laid up many hopes, that I am privileged from that kind of mourning, and could wish the like peace to all those with whom I wage love. 12. I might say much of the commodities that death can sell a man ; hut briefly, death is a friend of ours; and he thai is nut ready to entertain him, is uot at home. Whilst I am, my ambition is not to fore-flow the tide ; I have but so to make my interest of it as I may account for it ; I would wish nothing but what might better my da\ desire any greater place than the front of good opinion. I make not love to the continuance of days, but to the good- ness of them ; nor wish to die, but l-efer myself to my hour, Which the great dispenser of all things hath appointed me ; yet as I am frail, and suffered for the first fault, were it given me to choose, I should not be earnest to see the evening of my age ; that extremity of itself being a disease, and a mere return into infancy : so that if perpetuity of life might be given me, I should think what the Greek poet said, "Such an age is a mortal evil." And since I must needs be dead, 1 require it may not be done before mine enemies, that I be not stript before I be cold ; but before my friends. The night was even now : but that name is lost ; it is not now late, but early. Mine eyes begin to discharge their watch. and compound with this fleshly weakness for a time of perpe- tual rest ; and I shall presently be as happy lor a few hours. as I had died the first hour I was born. m2 '»ft' APOTH THERMS. FojIITTIXC THOSE K XOW.V TO BE SPPKIOUS. j ] > -•/ Queen Elizabeth, the morrow of her coronation (it being the custom to release prisoners at the inauguration of a prince), went to the chapel ; and in the great chamber, one of her courtiers, who was well known to her, either out of his motion, or by the instigation of a wiser man, presented her with a petition ; and before a great number of courtiers, besought her with a loud voice, that now this good time, there might be four or five principal prisoners more released : those were the four evangelists and the apostle St. Paul, who had been long shut up in an unknown tongue, as it were in prison ; so as they could not converse with the common people. The queen answered very gravely, that it was best first to inquire of them, whether they would be released or no. Queen Ann Bullen, at the time when she was led to be beheaded in the Tower, called one of the king's privy cham- ber to her, and said unto him, " Commend me to the king, and tell him, that he hath ever been constant in his course of advancing me ; from a private gentlewoman he made me a marchioness j and from a marchioness a queen; and now, that he hath left no higher degree of earthly honour, he intends to crown my innocency with the glory of mar- tyrdom." A great officer in France was in danger to have lost his place ; but his wife by her suit and means-making, made his <-v - - in\ APOPHTHEGMS. 165 peace ; -whereupon a pleasant fellow said, that he had been crush'd, but that he saved himself upon his horns. When the archduke did raise his siege from the Grave, the then secretary came to Queen Elizabeth. The queen (having first intelligence thereof) said to the secretary, " Wote you that the archduke is risen from the Grave?" He answered: "What, without the trumpet of the arch- angel ? " The queen replied, " Yes ; without sound of trumpet." The council did make remonstrance unto Queen Elizabeth, of the continual conspiracies against her life ; and namely, that a man was lately taken, who stood ready in a very dangerous and suspicious manner to do the deed : and they showed her the weapon wherewith he thought to have acted it. And therefore they advised her, that she should go less abroad to take the air, weakly attended, as she used. But the queen answered, that she had rather be dead, than put in custody. Henry the Fourth of France his queen was young with child; Count Soissons. that had his expectation upon the crown, when it was twice or thrice thought that the queen was with child before, said to some of his friends, that it was but with a pillow. This had some ways come to the king's ear ; who kept it till such time as the queen waxed great : then he called the count of Soissons to him, and said, laving his hand upon the queen's belly, "Come, cousin, is this a pillow!" The count of Soissons answered, " Yes, sir, it is a pillow for all France to sleep upon." Queen Elizabeth was wont to say, upon the commission of sales, that the commissioners used her like strawberry-wives, that layed two or three great strawberries at the mouth of their pot, and all the rest were little ones : so they made her two or three good prizes of the first particulars, but fell straight ways. Queen Elizabeth used to Bay of her instructions to great officers, that they were like to garments, strait at the first ]. lifting <>n, but did l>y-and-by wear easy enough. A great officer at court, when my lord of Essex was first in trouble ; and that he, and those that dealt for him, would 1G6 APor;rrm:<;.M<. talk much of my lords friends, and of his enemies, answered to one of them : " I will tell you, I know hut one friend and one enemy my lord hath ; and that one friend is the queen, and that one enemy is himself." The book of deposing King Richard the Second, and the coming in of Henry the Fourth, supposed to be written by Doctor Hayward, who was committed to the Tower for it, had much incensed Queen Elizabeth ; and she asked Mr. Bacon, being then of her counsel learned, whether there were any treason contained in it 1 Who intending to do him a pleasure, and to take off the queen's bitterness with a merry conceit, answered, " No, madam, for treason I cannot deliver opinion that there is any, but very much felony :" the queen appre- hending it gladly, asked, how ; and wherein 1 Mr. Bacon answered, " Because he had stolen many of his sentences and conceits out of Cornelius Tacitus." Queen Elizabeth was dilatory enough in suits, of her own nature ; and the lord treasurer Burleigh being a wise man, and willing therein to feed her humour, would say to her, " Madam, you do well to let suiters stay ; for I shall tell you, bis dat, qui cito dat ; if you grant them speedily, they will come again the sooner." Sir Nicholas Bacon, who was keeper of the great seal of England, when Queen Elizabeth, in her progress, came to his house at Gorhambury, and said to him, " My lord, what a little house have you gotten !" answered her, "Madam, my house is well; but it is you that have made me too great for my house." The lord-keeper Sir Nicholas Bacon was asked his opinion by Queen Elizabeth, of one of these monopoly licenses ? And he answered, "Madam, will you have me speak the truth? Licentia omnes deteriores sumus :" — we are all the worse for licenses. My lord of Essex, at the succour of Rouen, made twenty- four knights, which at that time was a great number. Divers of those gentlemen were of weak and small means ; wliich, when Queen Elizabeth heard, she said, "My lord might have done well to have built his almshouse, before he made his kniarhts." APOPHTHEGMS. 1G7 The deputies of tin reformed religion, after the massacre which was at Paris upon Saint Bartholomew's day, treated with the king and queen-mother, and some other of the council, for a peace. Both sides were agreed upon the articles. The question was, upon th<- security for the performance. After some particulars propounded and rejected, the queen- mother said, "Why, is not the word of a king sufficient secu- rity'?" One of the deputies answered, "No, by St. Bartho- lomew, madam." When peace was renewed with the French in England. divers of the great counsellors were presented from the French with jewels : the Lord Henry Howard, being then earl of Northampton, and a counsellor, was omitted. Where- upon the king said to him, ; ' My lord, how happens it that you have not a jewel as well as the rest .'" My lord answered, according to the fable in iEsop, "Nonsuni gallus, itaque non reperi gemmam." There was a minister deprived for nonconformity, who said to some of his friends, that if they deprived him. it should cost an hundred men's lives. The party understood ii. as if being a turbulent fellow, he would have moved sedi- tion, and complained of him ; whereupon being COnvented and opposed upon that speech, he said his meaning was, that If be Lost his benefice, he would practise physic, and then he thought he should kill an hundred men in time. Secretary Bourn's son kept a gentleman's wile in Shrop- shire, who lived from her husband with him ; when he was weary of her, he caused her husband to be dealt with to take her home, and offered him five hundred pounds for reparation j i in- gentleman went to Sir EL Sidney, to take bis advice upon this offer, telling him. that bis wife promised now a new liie : and to tell him truth, five hundred pounds would come well with him. ' l'.y my truth.'" said Sir Henry Sidney, "take herb and take the money: then whereas other cuckolds wear their horns plain, you may wear yours gilt." When Rabelais, the great jester of France, lay on his death-bed, and they gave him the extreme unction, a familiar friend of his came to him afterward-, and asked him how he 108 APOPHTHEGMS. did ? Rabelais answered, " Even going my journey, they have greased my boots already." Titles, as be looked upon the stars, fell into the -water ; whereupon it was after said, that if he had looked into the water, he might have seen the stars; but looking up to the stars, he could not see the water. Master Mason, of Trinity College, sent his pupil to another of the fellows, to borrow a book of him, who told him, "I am loth to lend my books out of my chamber; but if it please thy tutor to come and read it here, he shall as long as he will." It was winter, and some days after the same fellow sent to Mr. Mason to borrow his bellows ; but Mr. Mason said, " I am loth to lend my bellows out of my cham- ber ; but if thy tutor would come and use it here, he shall as long as he will." In Flanders, by accident, a Flemish tiler fell from the top of a house upon a Spaniard, and killed him, though he escaped himself : the next of the blood prosecuted his death with geat violence, and when he was offered pecuniary re- compense, nothing would serve him but lex talionis ; where- upon the judge said to him, that if he did urge that sentence, it must be, that he should go up to the top of the house, and then fall down upon the tiler. There was a young man in Home, that was very like Augustus Csesar ; Augustus took knowledge of him, and sent for the man, and asked him, "Was your mother never at Rome V He answered, " No, sir, but my father was." Agesilaus, when one told him there was one did excel- lently counterfeit a nightingale, and would have had him heard him, said, " Why, I have heard the nightingale herself." There was a captain sent to an exploit by his general with forces that were not likely to achieve the enterprise ; the captain said to him, " Sir, appoint but half so many." "Why 1 " saith the general. The captain answered, "Because it is better few die than more." There was a harbinger who had lodged a gentleman in a very ill room, who expostulated with him somewhat rudely ; APOPHTHEGMS 169 but the harbinger carelessly said, u You will reap pleasure from it when you are out of it." There is a Spanish adage, " Love without end hath no end ; ' meaning, that if it wen- begun not upon particular ends it would last. A company of scholars going together to catch conies, carried one scholar with them, which had not much more wit than he was horn with : and to him they gave in charge, that if he saw any, he should be silent, for fear of scaring them. But he no soomr espied a company of rabbits before the rest, but he cried aloud, " Ecce multi cuniculi," which in English signifies, behold many conies ; which he had no sooner said, but the conies ran to their burrows : and he being checked by them for it, answered, " Who the devil would have thought that the rabbits understood Latin ?" Solon compared the people unto the sea, and orators and counsellors to the winds; for that the sea would he calm and quiet, if the winds did not trouble it. A man being very jealous of his wife, insomuch that which way soever she went, he would be prying at her heels : ami she being so grieved thereat, in plain terms told him, that if he did not for the future leave off his proceed- ings in that nature, she would graft such a pair of horns upon his head, that should hinder him from coming out of any door in the house. A tinker passing ( 'heapside with his usual tone, "Have you any work for a tinker '?" An apprentice standing at a door opposite to a pillory there set up, called the tinker, with an intent to put a jest upon him, and told him, that ho should do very well if he would stop those two hull's in the pillory; to which the tinker answered, that if he would put in his head and ears a while in that pillory, he would bestow both brass and nails upon him to hold him in, and give him his labour into the bargain. Whitehead, a grave divine, was much esteemed by Queen Elizabeth, hut not preferred, because he was against the government of bishops: he was of a blunt stoical nature; he came one day to the queen, and t he queen happened to say to him, -I like thee the better, Whitehead, because thou livesl 170 APOPHTHEGMS. unmarried !" He answered, "In troth, madam, I like you the worse for the same cause." Doctor Laud said, that some hypocrites, and seeming mortified men, that held down their heads like bulrushes, were like the little images that they place in the very bowing of the vaults of churches, that look as if they held up the church, but are but puppets. There was a lady of the west country, that gave great enter- tainment at her house to most of the gallant gentlemen there- abouts, and amongst others, Sir "Walter Rawleigh was one. This lady, though otherwise a stately dame, was a notable good housewife ; and in the morning betimes, she called to one of her maids that looked to the swine, and asked, "Are the pigs served ?" Sir Walter Rawleigh's chamber was fast by the lady's, so as he heard her ; a little before dinner, the lady came down in great state into the great chamber, which was full of gentlemen ; and as soon as Sir Walter Rawleigh set eye upon her, "Madam," saith he, "are the pigs served V The lady answered, " You know best whether you have had your breakfast." There were fishermen drawing the river at Chelsea : Mr. Bacon came thither by chance in the afternoon, and offered to buy their draught ; they were willing. He asked them what they would take ? They asked thirty shillings. Mr. Bacon offered them ten. They refused it. "Why, then," saith Mr. Bacon, " I will be only a looker on." They drew, and catched nothing. Saith Mr. Bacon, " Are not you mad fellows now, that might have had an angel in your purse, to have made merry withal, and to have wai'med you thoroughly, and now you must go home with nothing?" " Ay, but," saith the fishermen, "we had hope then to make a better gain of it." Saith Mr. Bacon, " Well, my master, then I'll tell you, hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper." Mr. Bacon, after he had been vehement in parliament against depopulation and inclosures ; and that soon after the queen told him, that she had referred the hearing of Mr. Mill's cause to certain counsellors and judges ; and asked him how he liked of it 1 answered, " Oh, madam ! my mind is known ; I am against all inclosures, and especially against inclosed justice." APOPHTHEGMS. 171 When Sir Nicholas Bacon, the lord keeper, lived, every room in Gorhainbuiy was served with a pipe of water from the ponds, distanl about a mile off. In the lifetime of Mr. Anthony Bacon, the water ceased. After whose death, his lordship coming to the inheritance, could not recover the irater without infinite charge ; when he was lord chancellor, he built Verulam House, close by the pond-yard, for a place ivacy, when he was called upon to despatch any urgent business. And being asked, why he built that house there ; his lordship answered, that since he could no1 < any the water to hie house, he would carry his house to the water. Zeliin was the first of the Ottomans that did shave his beard, whereas his predecessors wore it long. One of his bashaws asked him, why he altered the custom of his prede- cessors? He answered. •• Because you bashaws may not lead me by the beard, as you did them." Charles, king of Sweden, a great enemy of the Jesuits, ..In u he took any of their colleges, he would hang the old Jesuits, and put the young to his mine-. Baying, that since they wrought so hard above ground, he would try how they could work under ground. In chancery, at one time when the counsel of the parties - t forth tlie boundaries of the land in question, by the plotj and the counsel of one part said, " We lie on this aide, my lord :" and the counsel of the other part said. " And we lie on this side :" the lord chancellor Hatton stood up and said, •• It you he on both sides, whom will you have me to believe?" Sir Thomas More had only daughters a! the Brat, and his wife did ever pray for a hoy. At last she had a hoy, which being come to man's estate, proved bul simple. Sir Thomas aid to his wife, "Thou prayedsi bo long for a boy, that he will be a boy as long as be lives. ' Sir Thomas Moie. on the day that he was beheaded, had a barber sent to him, because his hair was long ; which was thought, would make him more commiserated with the people. The barber came to him. and asked him, whether lie would be pleased to be trimmed? "In good faith, honest fellow," aaitb Sir Thomas, " the king and 1 have a suit for my head ; and till the tuie he cleared, I will do no cost upon it." 172 APOPHTHEGMS. Mr. Bettcnham said, that virtuous men were like some herbs and spices, that give not out their sweet smell till they be broken or crushed. There was a painter became a physician, whereupon one said to him, "You have done well ; for before, the faults of your work were seen, but now they are unseen." There was a gentleman that came to the tilt all in orange- tawny, and ran very ill. The next day he came again all in green, and ran worse. There was one of the lookers-on asked another, "What is the reason that this gentleman changeth his colours 1" The other answered, "Sure, because it may be reported, that the gentleman in the green ran worse than the gentleman in the orange-tawny." Sir Thomas More had sent him by a suitor in chancery, t wo silver flagons. When they were presented by the gentleman's servant, he said to one of his men, " Have him to the cellar, and let him have of my best wine :" and turning to the seiwant, said, " Tell thy master, if he like it, let him not spare it." Michael Angelo, the famous painter, painting in the pope's chapel the portraiture of hell and damned souls, made one of the damned souls so like a cardinal that was his enemy, as everybody at first sight knew it. Whereupon the cardinal complained to Pope Clement, humbly praying it might be defaced. The pope said to him, "Why, you know very well, I have power to deliver a soul out of purgatory, but not out of hell." a Sir Nicholas Bacon, when a certain nimble-witted coun- sellor at the bar, who was forward to speak, did interrupt him often, said unto him, " There's a great difference betwixt you and me : a pain to me to speak, and a pain to you to hold your peace." The same Sir Nicholas Bacon, upon bills exhibited to dis- cover where lands lay, upon proof, that they had a certain quantity of land, but could not set it forth, was wont to say, "And if you cannot find yoiu- land in the country, how will you have me find it in chancery 1 " * This was not the portrait of a cardinal, but of the pope's master of ceremonies. APOPHTHEGMS. 173 There was a king of Hungary took a bishop in battle, and kept him prisoner : whereupon the pope writ a monitory to him, for that he bad broken the privilege of holy church, and taken his sun. The king sent an embassage to him, and sent withal the armour wherein the bishop was taken, and this only in writing, " Vide aum hsec ail testis hlii tui :" — Know now whether this be thy son's coat. 1 " Sir Amyas Pawlet, when he saw too much haste made in any matter, was wont to say, "Stay a while, that we may make an end the sooner." A master of the request to Queen Elizabeth had divers times moved for an audience, and been put off At last he came to the queen in a progress, and had on a new pair of boots. The queen, who loved not the smell of new leather, said to him, "Fie, sloven, thy new hoots stink." ••Madam,"' said he, "it is not my aew boots that stink, but it is the stale bills that 1 have kepi bo long." Queen Isabella of Spain used to say, whosoever hath a good presence, and a good fashion, carries continual letters of recommendation. It was said of Augustus, and afterward the like was said of Septimius Severus, both which did infinite mischief in their beginnings, and infinite good towards their vi^U. that they should either have never been born or never died. Constantine the Great, in a kind of envy, himself being a great builder, as Trajan likewise was, would call Trajan parietaria, — wall-flower, because his name was upon bo many walls. Ethel wold, bishop of Winchester, in a famine, sold all the rich vessels and ornaments of the church, to relieve the | >"<>!■ with bread ; and Bald, "There was no reason that the dead temples of God should he sumptuously furnished, and the living temples sutler penury." Altera great fight there came to the camp of Gonsalvo, the great captain, a gentleman proudly horsed and armed; h This reply was not made by a king of Hungary, but Bent by Richard Cotiur de Lion to the pope, with the breastplate of the bishop of Beauvais. 1 74 APOPHTHEGMS. Diego de Mendoza, asked the great captain, "Who's this?" Who answered, " It is Saint Erinin, who never appears hut after a storm." There was one that died greatly in debt : when it was re- port rd in some company, where divers of his creditors casually were, that he was dead : one began to say, "Well, if he be gone, then he hath earned five hundred ducats of mine with him into the other world :" and another said, "And two hundred of mine ;" and the third spake of great sums of his. Whereupon, one that was amongst them, said, "I perceive now, that though a man cannot carry any of his own with him into the next world, yet he may carry away that which, is another man's." Bresquet, jester to Francis the First of France, did keep a calendar of fools, wherewith he did use to make the king sport ; telling him ever the reason why he put any one into his calendar. When Charles the Fifth, emperor, upon con- fidence of the noble nature of Francis, passed through France, for the appeasing of the rebellion of Gaunt, Bresquet put him into his calendar. The king asked him the cause. He answered, " Because you have suffered at the hands of Charles the greatest bitterness that ever prince did from another, nevertheless, he would trust his person into your hands." " Why, Bresquet," said the king, " what wilt thou say, if thou seest him pass back in as great safety, as if he marched through the midst of Spain V Saith Bresquet. " Why then I will put him out, and put in you." When my lord president of the council came first to be lord treasurer, he complained to my lord chancellor of the troublesomeness of the place, for that the exchequer was so empty. The lord chancellor answered, " My lord, be of good cheer ; for now you shall see the bottom of your business at the first." Rabelais tells a tale of one that was very fortunate in compounding differences. His son undertook the .said course, but could never compound any. Whereupon he came to his father, and asked him, what art he had to reconcile dif- ferences l He answered, he had no other but this ; to watch when the two parties were much wearied, and their hearts were too great to seek reconcilement at one another's APOPHTHKi.M- 175 hand : then to be a means betwixt them, and upon no other terms. After which the son went home and prospered in the same undertakings. Alonso Cartilio was informed by his steward of the great- ness of his expense, being such as he could not hold out therewith. The bishop asked trim, wherein it chiefly arose ? His steward told him, in the multitude of his servants. The bishop bade him to make him a note of those that were necessary, and those that might be spared Which he did. And the bishop taking occasion to read it before most of his servants, said to Ins steward, ■■ Well, let these remain, be- cause I have need of them ; and these other also, because they have need of me." Mr. Bettenham. reader of Gray'a-Inn, used to say, that riches were like muck ; when it lay upon a heap, if _ a stench and ill odour : but when it was spread over the ground, then it was cause of much fruit. Galba succeeded Nero, and his age being despised, then was much license and confusion in Rome during his empire ; wlnivnpon a senator said in full senate, it were better to live where nothing is lawful, than where all things are lawful C'hilon said, that kings' friends and favourites were like casting counters j that sometimes stood for one, sometime for ten, sometimes for an hundred. Diogenes begging, as divers philosophers then used, dial beg more of a prodigal man than of the rest which we* present. Whereupon one said to him, " See your baseness, that when you find a liberal mind, you will take most of him." "No," said Diogenes, "but I mean to beg of the reef again." This is not the saying of Chilon, but of Oro n t ee, the Bon-in Artaxerxea, who having monxred the displeasure of that monarch, is reported to have exclaimed, in the language of Solon : KaOa-r-i^ ■ apii)fii)Tit;io>' i oucrvXoi VW fUV /iupiaonc, vvv Ol fiovaCa Ti6(i , ai rur ro (icro xcu r,.>r fiaoiKttitv AiXovc, vw ftcv ro rrav SwaoOat, I i .' ct rov Xa%torov. — il'lut. Apophthegms.) It is difficult to know whether to assign to tliis exclamation of Orontee, or to the famous allusion in the Winter Tale, the origin of the modeel expreeaion of Lord Brougham, that the Whiga were all ciphi re, and he was the only unit in the cabinet which gave the ciphers their value. 176 APOPHTHEGMS. Themistocles, when an ambassador from a mean estate did speak great matters, said to him, " Friend, thy words would require a city." Cresar Borgia, after long division between him and the lords of Romagna, fell to accord with them. In this accord there was an article, that he should not call them at any time all together in person. The meaning was, that knowing his dangerous nature, if he meant them treason, he might have opportunity to oppress them altogether at once. Never- theless, he used such fine art, and fair carriage, that he won their confidence to meet altogether in council at Cini- gaglia, where he murdered them all. This act, when it was related unto Pope Alexander, his father, by a cardinal, as a thing happy, but very perfidious ; the pope said, " It was they that broke then- covenant first, in coming all together/' Clodius was acquitted b} r a corrupt jury, that had palpably taken shares of money before they gave their verdict ; they prayed of the senate a guard, that they might do their con- sciences, for that Clodius was a very seditious young noble- man. "Whereupon all the world gave him for condemned. But acquitted he was. Catulus, the next day seeing some of them that had acquitted him together, said to them, " What made you ask of us a guard 1 Were you afraid your money should have been taken from you 1 " At the same judgment, Cicero gave in evidence upon oath : and when the jury, which consisted of fifty-seven, had passed against his evidence, one day in the senate Cicero and Clodius being in altercation, Clodius upbraided him, and said, " The jury gave you no credit. ' Cicero answered, " Five and twenty gave me credit ; but there were two and thirty that gave you no credit, for they had their money beforehand.'" Diogenes having seen that the kingdom of Macedon, which before was contemptible and low, began to come aloft, when he died, was asked how he would be buried I He answered, "With my face downward ; for within a while the world will be turned upside down, and then I shall lie right." Cato the elder was wont to say, that the Romans were like sheep ; a man could better drive a flock of them, than one of them. APOPHTHEGMS. 177 When Lycurgus was to reform and alter the state of Sparta ; u> consultation, one advised, that it should be re- duced to an absolute popular equality : but Lycurgus said to him, " Sir, begin it in your own house." Dion, that was an atheist, waa showed in a port city, in a temple of Neptune, many tallies, of pictures of such as had in tempests made their vows to Neptune, and were saved from shipwreck : and was asked, "How say you now 1 Do you not acknowledge the power of the Gods \" hint saith lie, "Ay; but where are they painted that have been drowned alter their vowa I" Cicero was at dinner, where there was an ancient lady that. spake of her own years, and said, she was but forty years old. One that sate by Cicero sounded him in the ear, and said, '• She talks of forty years old ; but she is far more, out of question." Cicero answered him again, " I must believe her; for I have heard her say so many times these ten years." There was a soldier that vaunted before Julius Cesar of the hurts lie had received in his face. Julius Casar. know- ing him to be but a coward, told him, '"You were best take heed next time you run away, how you look back." Vespasian asked of Apolloniua, what was the cause of Nero's ruin? Who answered, " Nero could tune the harp well, but in government he did always wind up the strings too high, or let them down too low." Antisthenes being asked of one, what learning was most necessary for man's life? Answered, "To unlearn that which is nought." Diogenes, when mice came about him, as he was eating, .siid, •■ 1 see, that even Diogenes nourishetb parasites." 1 [eraclitus the obscure said, "The drylight is the best soul :" meaning, when the faculties intellectual are in vigour, not drenched, or as it. were blooded by the affections < me of the philosophers w;is asked, what a wise man dif- fered from a fool I 1 le answered, "Send them both naked to those that know them not. and you shall perceive." There was a law made by the Romans against the bribery and extortion of the governors of provinces. Cicero saith, N 178 APOPHTHEGMS. in a speech of his to the people, that he thought the pro- vinces would petition to the state of Rome to have that law repealed. " For," saith he, " before, the governors did bribe and extort, as much as was sufficient for themselves ; but now, they bxibe and extort as much, as may be enough, not only for themselves, but for the judges, and jurors, and magistrates." Aristippus sailing in a tempest, showed signs of fear. One of the seamen said to him, in an insulting manner, "We that are plebeians are not troubled ; you that are a philosopher are afraid." Aristippus answered, that " There is not the like wager upon it, for you to perish and for me." It fell out so, that as Livia went abroad in Rome, there met her naked young men that were sporting in the streets, which Augustus went about severely to punish in them : but Livia spake for them, and said, " It was no more to chaste women, than so many statues." Philip of Macedon was wished to banish one for speaking- ill of him. But Philip answered, " Better he speak where we are both known, than where we are both unknown." Lucullus entertained Pompey in one of his magnificent houses ; Pompey said, " This is a marvellous fair and stately house for the summer ; but metliinks it should be very cold for winter." Lucullus answered, " Do you not think me as wise as divers fowls are, to change my habitation in the winter season ?" Plato entertained some of his friends at a dinner, and had in the chamber a bed, or couch, neatly and costly furnished. Diogenes came in, and got up upon the bed, and trampled it, saying, " I trample upon the pride of Plato." Plato mildly answered, " But with greater pride, Diogenes." Pompey being commissioner for sending grain to Rome in time of dearth, when he came to the sea, found it very tempestuous and dangerous, insomuch as those about him advised him by no means to embark : but Pompey said, " It is of necessity that I go, not that I five." Demosthenes was upbraided by ^Eschines that his speeches did smell of the lamp. But Demosthenes said, " Indeed APOPHTHEGMS. 179 there is a great deal of difference between that which you and I do by lamp-light." Demades the orator, in his age, was talkative, and would eat hard : Antipater would say of him, that he was like a sacrifice, that nothing was left of it but the tongue an- 1 tin paunch. Philo Judseus saith, that the sense is like the sun ; for the sun seals up the globe of heaven, and opens the globe of earth : so the sense doth obscure heavenly things, and reveals earthly things. Alexander, after the battle of Granicum, had veiy great offers made him by Darius : consulting with his captains concerning them, Parmenio said, " Sun- 1 would accept of these offers, if I were as Alexander." Alexander answered, " So would I, if I were as Parmenio. a Augustus Caesar would say, that he wondered that Alexander feared he should want work, having no more w orlds to conquer, as if it were not as hard a matter to keep as to conquer. Antigonus, when it was told him that the enemy had such volleys of arrows that they did hide the sun, said, " That falls out well, for it is hot weather, and so we shall right in the shade." e Cato the elder, being aged, buried his wife, and married a young woman. His son came to him, and said, "Sir, what have I offended, that you have brought a stepmother into your house?" The old man answered, "Nay, quite con- trary, son ; thou pleaseth me so well, as I should be glad to have much more such." Crassus tin- orator had a fish which the Romans call Mursena, that he made very tame and fond of him ; the fish died, and Crassus wept for it. On.' day. falling in conten- tion with Domitius in the senate, Domitius said, " Foolish Crassus, you wept for your Mura-ua." < Yassus replied, "That's more than you did for your two wives." d It was after the battle of Essos, and daring the riege <>f Tyre, and not immediately alter the passage <>t the Graniooa, that this is said to have occurred.— A'/. c This was not said by Antigonus, but by a Spartan, previously to the battle of ThermopyhB. — Ed. X 2 180 APOPHTHEGMS. Philip, Alexander's father, gave sentence against a pri- soner what time he was drowsy, and seemed to give small attention. The prisoner, after sentence was pronounced, said, " I appeal." The king, somewhat stirred, said, " To whom do you appeal 1 " The prisoner answered, " From Philip when he gave no ear to Philip when he shall give ear." There was a philosopher that disputed with Adrian the emperor, and did it but weakly. One of his friends that stood by, afterwards said to him, " Methinks you were not like yourself last day, in argument with the emperor ; I could have answered better myself." " Why," said the phi- losopher, " woidd you have me contend with him that com- mands thirty legions 1 " f When Alexander passed into Asia, he gave large donatives to his captains and other principal men of virtue ; insomuch as Parmenio asked him, " Sir, what do you keep for yourself ?" He answered, " Hope." There was one that found a great mass of money digged under-ground in his grandfather's house, and being some- what doubtful of the case, signified it to the emperor, that he had found such treasure. The emperor made a rescript thus : " Use it." He writ back again, that the sum was greater than his state or condition could use. The emperor writ a new rescript, thus : " Abuse it." s Julius Caesar, as he passed by, was, by acclamation of some that stood in the way, termed king, to try how the people would take it. The people showed great murmur and dis- taste at it. Caesar finding where the wind stood, slighted it, and said, " I am not king, but Caesar f as if they had mis- taken his name : for rex was a surname amongst the Romans, as king is with us. When Croesus, for his glory, showed Solon his great treasures of gold, Solon said to him, " If another king come that hath better iron than you, he will be master of all this gold." 1 This happened under Augustus Csesar, and not during the reigu of Hadrian. — Ed. k This happened to the father of Herodes Atticus, and the answer was made by the Emperor Nerva. — Ed. APOPHTHEGMS. 181 Aristippus being reprehended of luxury, by one that was not rich, for that lie gave six crowns for a small fish, an- swered, "Why, what would you have given '" The other said, "Some twelve pence." Aristippua said again, "And six. crowns is no more with me." Plato reprehended severely a young man for entering into a dissolute house. The young man said to him, " Why do you reprehend so sharply for 80 small a matter?" Plato replied, "But custom is no small matter." Archidamus, king of LacecUemon, having received from Philip, king of Macedon (after Philip had won the victory of Chseronea, upon the Athenians), proud letters, writ back to him, that if he measured his own shadow, he would find it no longer than it was before his victory. Pyrrhus, when his friends congratulated to him his victory over the Romans, under the conduct of Fablicius, but with great slaughter of his own side, said to them again, " STea, but if we have such another victory, we are undone." Plato was wont to say of bis master Socrates, that he was like the apothecaries' gallipots, that had on the out- sides apes, owls, and satyrs, but within, precious drugs. Alexander sent to Phocion a great present of money. Phocion said to the messenger, "Why doth the king send to me, and to none else ?" The messenger answered, " Because he takes you to be the only good man in Athens." Phocion replied, " If he thinks so, pray let him Buffer me to be so still." At a banquet, where those thai were called the seven vise men of Greece wen' invited by the ambassador of a barbarous king, the ambassador related, that there was a neighbour mightier than his master, picked quarrels with him, by making impossible demands ; otherwise threatening war ; and now at that present had demanded of him bo drink up the Bea. Whereunto one of the wise men said, " 1 would have him undertake it." " \\ by," said the ambassador, " how- shall be come off?" "Thus," saitb the wise man ;"le1 the king first slop the rivers which run into the sea, which are no part of the bargain, and then your master will perform it.' Hanno the Carthaginian was sent commissioner by the 182 APOPHTHEGMS. state, after the second Carthaginian war, to supplicate for peace, and in the end obtained it ; yet one of the sharper senators said, "You have often broken with us the peace, whereunto you have sworn ; I pray, by what god will you swear 1 n Hanno answered, " By the same gods that punished the former perjury so severely." One of the seven was wont to say, that laws were like cobwebs, where the small flies were caught, and the great brake through. h Lewis the Eleventh of France, having much abated the greatness and power of the peers, nobility, and court of parlia- ment, would say, that he had brought the crown out of ward. There was a cowardly Spanish soldier, that in a defeat that the Moors gave, ran away with the foremost. Afterwards, when the army generally fled, this soldier was missing. Whereupon it was said by some, that he was slain. " No, sure," saith one, " he is alive ; for the Moors eat no hare's flesh." One was saying, that his great-grand fathei", and grand- father, and father, died at sea. Said another, that heard him, "And I were as you, I would never come at sea." " Why," saith he, " where did your great-grandfather, and grand- father, and father die ?" He answered, " Where, but in their beds?" He answered, "And I were as you, I would never come in bed." There was a dispute, whether great heads or little heads had the better wit ? And one said, " It must needs be the little ; for that it is a maxim, Omne majus continet in se minus. " Sir Thomas More, when the counsel of the party pressed him for a longer day to perform the decree, said. " Take Saint Barnaby's-day, which is the longest day in the year." Now, Saint Barnaby's-day was within a few days following. There was an Epicurean vaunted, that divers of other sects of philosophers did after turn Epicureans ; but there was never any Epicureans that turned to any other sect. Whereupon a philosopher, that was of another sect, said, h This was said by Anacharsis the Scythian, and not by a Greek. — Ed. APOPHTHEGMS. 1S3 the reason was plain, for that cocks may be made capons ; but capons could never be made cocks. Chilon would say, that gold was tried with the touchstone, and men with gold. Mr. Popham (afterwards Lord Chief Justice Popham), when he was speaker, and the House of Commons had sate long, and done in effect nothing, coming one day to Queen Elizabeth, she said to him, "Now. .Mr. Speaker, what hath passed in the Commons House?'' He answered, " If it please your Majesty, seven weeks. " Themistocles, in his lower fortune, was in love with a young gentleman who scorned him ; but when he grew to his greatness, which was soon after, he sought hiru : Themis- tocles said, "We are both grown wise, but too late." Aristippus was earnest suitor to Dionysius for some grant, who would give no ear to his suit. Aristippus fell at his feet, and then Dionysius granted it. One that stood by said afterwards to Aristippus, "You, a philosopher, and be so base as to throw yourself at the tyrant's feet to get a suit 1" Aristippus answered, "The fault is not mine; but the fault is in Dionysius, that carries his ears in his feet. " Solon being asked, whether he had given the Athenians the best laws 1 answered, " The best of those that they would have received." One said to Aristippus, " 'Tis a strange thing, why men should rather give to the poor, than to philosophers." He answered, •• Because they think themselves may sooner come to be poor, than to be philosophers." Trajan would say of the vain jealousy of princes, that seek to make away those that aspire to t heir succession, that there was never king that did put to death his BttCCesBOr. Alexander used to say of his two friends, Craterus and Ile|ihastion. that liepluestion loved Alexander, and Craterus Loved i hf king. One of the fathers aaith, that then is Inn kins difference between tin death of <>ld men and young mm; that old men g<> to death, and death comes to young men. Jason the Thessalian was wont to say, that some tilings must be done unjustly, that many things may be done justly. 184 APOPHTHEGMS. Demetrius, king of Macedon, would at times retire himself from business, and give himself wholly to pleasures. On one of those his retirings, giving out that he was sick, his father, Antigonus, came on the sudden to visit liim, and met a fair dainty youth coming out of his chamber. When Antigonus came in, Demetrius said, " Sir, the fever left me right now." Antigonus replied, " I think it was he that I met at the door. " Cato major would say, that wise men learned more by fools, than fools by wise men. When it was said to Anaxagoras, " The Athenians have condemned you to die," he replied, " And nature them." Alexander, when his father wished him to run for the prize of the race of the Olympian games (for he was very swift), answered, he would, if he might run with kings. Antigonus used often to go disguised, and to listen at the tents of his soldiers ; and at a time heard some that spoke very ill of him. Whereupon he opened the tent a little, and said to them, " If you would speak ill of me, you should go a little farther off." Aristippus said, that those that studied particular sciences, and neglected philosophy, were like Penelope's wooers, that made love to the waiting-woman. The ambassadors of Asia Minor came to Antonius, after he had imposed upon them a double tax, and said plainly to Mm, that if he would have two tributes in one year, he must give them two seedtimes, and two harvests. An orator of Athens said to Demosthenes, " The Athe- nians will kill you if they wax mad :" Demosthenes replied, '•And they will kill you, if they be in good sense." 1 Epictetus used to say, that one of the vulgar, in any ill that happens to him, blames others ; a novice in philosophy blames himself ; and a philosopher blames neither the one nor the other. Cato the elder, what time many of the Romans had statues erected in their honour, was asked by one, in a kind of wonder, why he had none 1 He answered, he had much ' This was not said by Demosthenes, but to Demosthenes by Phocion. Ed. APOPHTHEGMS I v "' rather men should ask and wonder why he bad no Btatuc, than why he had a statue. A certain friend of Sir Thomas More, taking great pains about a book, which he intended to publish (being well con- ceited of his own wit, which do man else thought worthy of commendation), broughl it to Sir Thomas More to peruse it, and pass his judgment upon it, which he did j and finding nothing therein worthy the press, he said to him, with a grave countenance, that if it were in verse, it would be more worthy. Upon which words, he went immediately and turned it into verse, and then brought it to Sir Thomas again ; who, looking thereon, said soberly, " Yes, marry, now it is somewhat ; for now it is rhyme ; whereas before, it was neither rhyme nor reason." Sir Henry Wbtton used to say, that critics were likebrushers of noblemen's clothes. Phocion the Athenian (a man of great severity, and no ways flexible to the will of the people), one day, when he spake to the people, in one part of his speech, was applauded ; whereupon, he turned to one of his friends, and asked. •• What have I said amiss |" Diogenes was one day in the market-place, with a candle in his hand, and being asked what he sought .' he said, he sought a man. Queen Elizabeth was entertained by my Lord Burleigh at Theobalds; and at her going away, my lord obtained of the queen, to make seven knights. They were gentlemen of the country, of my lord's friends and neighbours. They were placed in a rank, as the queen should pass by the hall ; and to win antiquity of knighthood, in order as my lord favoured, though, indeed, the more principal gentlemen were placed lowest. The queen wis told of it. and said nothing; but when she went along, .-he passed them all by, as far as the skreen, as if she had forgot it ; and when she came to the skreen, she seemed to take herself with the manner, and said, '•J had almost forgot what I promised." With that she turned back, and knighted the lowest first, and bo upward. Whereupon Mr. Stanhope, of the pi ivy-chamber, a while after told her, " Y"ur Majesty was too fine for my Lord Burleigh." 1 86 APOPHTHEGMS. She answered, " I have but fulfilled the Scripture : the first shall be last, and the last first." Bion was sailing, and there fell out a great tempest, and the mariners that were wicked and dissolute fellows called upon the gods ; but Bion said to them, " Peace, let them not know you are here." The Turks made an expedition into Persia ; and because of the strait jaws of the mountains of Armenia, the bashaw consulted which way they should get in. One that heard the debate said, "Here's much ado how you shall get in ; but I hear nobody take care how you should get out. " Philip, king of Macedon, maintained arguments with a musician, in points of his art, somewhat peremptorily ; but the musician said to him, " God forbid, Sir, your fortune were so hard, that you should know these things better than myself." Pace the fool was not suffered to come at Queen Elizabeth, because of his bitter humour. Yet at one time, some per- suaded the queen that he should come to her ; undertaking for him, that he should keep within compass ; so he was brought to her, and the cpieen said, " Come on, Pace, now we shall hear of our faults. " Saith Pace, " I do not use to talk of that that all the town talks of." After the defeat of Cyrus the younger, Falinus was sent by the king to the Grecians (who had for their part rather victory than otherwise), to command them to yield their arms ; which, when it was denied, Falinus said to Clearchus, " Well, then, the king lets you know, that if you remove from the place where you are now encamped, it is war; if you stay, it is truce. What shall I say you will do?" Clearchus answered, " It pleaseth us, as it pleaseth the king." - How is that ?" saith Falinus. Saith Clearchus, " If we remove, war ; if we stay, truce :" and so would not disclose his purpose. Nero was wont to say of his master Seneca, that his style was like mortar without lime. A seaman coming before the judges of the Admiralty for admittance into an office of a ship bound for the Indies, was by one of the judges much slighted, as an insufficient person APOPHTHEGMS. 187 for that office he sought to obtain ; the judge telling him, thai he believed he could not say the points of his compass. The Beaman answered, that he could say them, under favour, better than he could say his Paternoster. The judge replied, that he would wager twenty shillings with him upon that. The Beaman taking him up, it came to trial ; and the seaman began, and said all the points of his compass very exactly ; the jndge likewise said hie Paternoster j and when he had finished it, he required the wager according to agreement, I iccause the seaman was to say his compass better than he his Paternoster, Avhich he had not performed. " Nay. I pray sir, hold," quoth the seaman, "the wager is not finished, for I have but half done :" and so he immediately said his compass backward very exactly ; which the judge failing of in his Paternoster, the seaman carried away the prize. Sir Fulke Crevil had much and private access to Queen Elizabeth, which he used honourably, and did many men good : yet he would say merrily of himself, that he was like Robin Goodfellow ; for when the maids spilt the milk-pans, or kept any racket, they would lay it upon Robin : so what tales the ladies about the queen told her, or other bad offices that they did, they would put it upon him. Cato said, the best way to keep good acts in memory, was to refresh them with new. A i istippus said, he took money of his friends, not so much to use it himself, as to teach them how to bestow heir money. A strumpet said to Aristippus, that she was with child by him ; he answered, "You know that no more, than if you .■Hi through a hedge of thorns, you could say, this thorn pricked me." DemocrituB said, thai truth did lie in the profound pits, and when it was got, it needed much refining. Diogenes said of a young man thai danced daintily, and was much commended, "The hctter, the worse." Diogenes Beeing one that was a bastard casting stones among the people, hade him tak ■■ heed he hit not his lather. Plutarch said well, "It is otherwise in a commonwealth of 188 APOPHTHEGMS. men than of bees ; the hive of a city or kingdom is in best condition, when there is least of noise or buzz in it." The same Plutarch said of men of weak abilities set in great place, that they were like little statues set on great bases, made to appear the less by their advancement. He said again, " Good fame is like fire : when you have kindled it, you may easily preserve it ; but if you once extinguish it, you will not easily kindle it again." Queen Elizabeth seeing Sir Edward in her garden, looked out at her window, and asked him in Italian, " What does a man think of when he thinks of nothing?" Sir Edward (who had not had the effect of some of the queen's grants so soon as he had hoped and desired) paused a little, and then made answer, " Madam, he thinks of a woman's promise." The queen shrunk in her head, but was heard to say, "Well, Sir Edward, I must not confute you. Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor." When any great officer, ecclesiastical or civil, was to be made, the queen would inquire after the piety, integrity, and learning of the man. And when she was satisfied in these qualifications, she would consider of his personage. And upon such an occasion she pleased once to say to me, '•' Bacon, how can the magistrate maintain his authority when the man is despised '?" In eighty-eight, when the queen went from Temple-bar along Fleet-street, the lawyers were ranked on one side, and the companies of the city on the other ; said Master Bacon to a lawyer that stood next to him, " Do but observe the courtiers ; if they bow first to the citizens, they are in debt ; if first to us, they are in law." A Grecian captain advising the confederates that wore united against the Lacedaemonians, touching their enterprise, gave opinion, that they should go directly upon Sparta, say- ing, that the state of Sparta was like rivers ; strong when they had run a great way, and weak toward their head. One was examined upon certain scandalous words spoken against the king. He confessed them, and said, i: It is true, I spake them, and if the wine had not failed, I had said much more." APOPHTHEGMS. 189 Charles the Bald allowed one, whose name was Scottus, to sit at the table with him for his pleasure. Scottus sate on the other side of the table. One time the king being mercy with him, said to him, " What is there between Scut and Sot?" Scottus answered, "Tin; table only." There was a marriage made between a widow of greal wealth, and a gentleman of great house, that had no estate or means. -Jack Roberts -aid, thai marriage was like a black pudding; the one brought blood, and the other brought suet and oatmeal. Diogenes was asked in a kind of scorn, What was the matter, that philosophers haunted rich men, and not rich men philosophers 1 He answered, "Because the one knew what they wanted, the other did not." Demetrius, king of Macedon, had a petition offered him divers times by an old woman, and answered, he had no leisure. Whereupon, the woman said aloud, " Why, then, give over to be king." k When King Edward the Second was amongst his torturers, who hurried him to and fro, that no man should know where he was, they set him down upon a bank ; and one time, the more to disguise his face, shaved him, and washed him with cold water of a ditch by. The king said, " Well, yet I will have warm water for my beard ;" and so shed abundance of tears. King James was wont to be very earnest with the country gentlemen to go from Loudon to their country bousea And sometimes he would say thus to them: "Gentlemen, at London, you are like ships at sea, which show like nothing ; but in your country villages, you are like slops in a river. which look like great things." Count Gondomar sent a compliment to my Lord St. Alban, wishing him a good Easter. My lord thanked the messenger, and said, he could not at present requite the count better than in returning him the like : that ho wished his Lordship a good Passover. k This did not happen to Demetrius, but t.i Philip, king i if .Macedoru Bacon repeats the anecdote in the first book of the Novum Orgunuin, but without itating any iiaiiic.--/:Vf. 190 APOPHTHEGMS. My Lord Chancellor Elsmere, when he had read a petition which he disliked, would say, " What, you would have my hand to this now V And the party answering, " Yes ;" he would say farther, " Well, so you shall ; nay, you shall have both my hands to it." And so would, with both his hands, tear it in pieces. Sir Francis Bacon was wont to say of an angry man who suppressed his passion, that he thought worse than he spoke ; and of an angry man that would chide, that he spoke worse than he thought. When Mi*. Attorney Coke, in the Exchequer, gave high words to Sir Francis Bacon, and stood much upon the higher place, Sir Francis said to him, " Mr. Attorney, the less you speak of your own greatness, the more I shall think of it ; and the more, the less." Sir Francis Bacon (who was always for moderate counsels), when one was speaking of such a reformation of the Church of England as would in effect make it no church, said thus to him : " Sir, the subject we talk of is the eye of England, and if there be a speck or two in the eye, we endeavour to take them off ; but he were a strange oculist who would pull out the eye." The same Sir Francis Bacon was wont to say, that those who left useful studies for useless scholastic speculations, were like the Olympic gamesters, who abstained from neces- sary labours, that they might be fit for such as were not so. The Lord St. Albans, who was not over-hasty to raise theories, but proceeded slowly by experiments, was wont to say to some philosophers, who woidd not go his pace, ".Gen- tlemen, nature is a labyrinth, in which the very haste you move with, will make you lose your way." The same lord, when a gentleman seemed not much to approve of his liberality to his retinue, said to him, " Sir, I am all of a piece ; if the head be lifted up, the inferior parts of the body must too." The Lord Bacon was wont to commend the advice of the plain old man at Buxton, that sold besoms ; a proud, lazy young fellow came to him for a besom upon trust ; to whom the old man said, " Friend, hast thou no money ? Borrow of ELEGANT SENTENCES. 191 thy back, and borrow of thy belly, they'll ne'er ask thee I shall be dunning thee every day.'' Jack Weeks said of a great ruau (just then dead), who pretended to some religion, but was none of the bed livers, •• WY11, I hope he is in heaven. Every man thinks as he wishes; but it' he be in heaven, 'twere pity it were known." His lordship, -when he had finished this collection of apophthegms, concluded thus : u Come, now all is well ; they say, he is not a wise man that will lose his friend for his wit ; but he is less a wise man that will lose his friend for another man's wit." ORNAMENTA RATIONALIA: OR ELEGANT SENTENCES. Aleator, quanto in arte est melior, tanto est nequior — A gamester, the greater master he is in his art, the worse man he is. Arcum, intensio frangit; animum,reinissio — Much bending breaks the bow ; much unbending, the mind. Bis vincit, qui se vincit in victoria — He conquers twice, who restrains himself in victory. Cum vitia prosint, peccai qui recto tacit — If vices were profitable, the virtuous man would be the sinner. Dine dormit, qui non sentit quod male donniat — He Bleeps well, who is noi conscious that he sleeps ill. Deliberare utilia. mom esi tutisaiina — To dehberato about nsefu] thii ■ safest delay. Dolor decrescit, ubi quo crescat non habet — The flood d grief decreaseth, when it can swell no higher. Etiam innocentes cogil mentiri dolox — Pain makes even the innocent man a liar. 192 ELEGANT SENTENCES. Etiam celeritas in desiderio, mora est — In desire, swiftness itself is delay. Etiam capillus ubus habct umbram suam — Even a single hair casts a shadow. Fidem qui perdit, quo se Bervat in reliquum ? — He that has lost his faith, what staff has he left ? Formosa facies muta commendatio est — A beautiful face is a silent commendation. Fortuna murium quern fovet, stultum facit — Fortune makes him fool, whom she makes her darling. Fortuna obesse nulli contenta est semel — Fortune is not content to do a man one ill turn. Facit gratum fortuna, quern nemo videt — The fortune which nobody sees makes a man happy and uneuvied. Heu ! quam miserum est ab illo kedi, de quo non possis queri — O ! what a miserable thing it is to be injured by those of whom Ave cannot complain. Homo toties moritur quoties anrittit suos — A man dies as often as he loses his fiiends. Hseredis fietus sub persona risus est — The tears of an heir are laughter under a mask. Jucundum nihil est, nisi quod reficit varietas — Nothing is pleasant which is not spiced with variety. Invidiam ferre, aut fortis, aux felix potest — He may be envied, who is either courageous or happy. In malis sperare bonum, nisi innocens, nemo potest — In adversity, only the virtuous can entertain hope. In vindicando, criminosa est celeritas — In revenge, haste is criminal. In calamitoso risus etiam injuria est — In misfortune, even to smile is to offend. Improbe Neptunum accusat, qui iterum naufragium facit — He accuseth Neptune unjustly, who incurs ship wreck a second time. Multis minatur, qui imi facit injuriam — He that injures one, threatens many. ELEGANT SENTENCES. 193 Mora omnis ingrata est, Bed tUc-it sapientiam — All delay is mi pleasant, but we arc the wiser for it. Mori est felicis antequam mortem invocet — Happj be who dies ere be calls on death. Mains ubi bonuin Be simulat, tunc est pessimus — A bad man is worst wlien he pretends to be a saint. Magno cum periculo custoditur, ger, modicum qui hseredem tacit — That sick man does ill for himself, who makes bis physician his heir. Multos timere debet, quern multi timeut — He of whom many are afraid, ought himself to fear many. Nulla lam bona est fortuna, de qua nil possis (jueri — There's no fortune so good, but it has its alley. Pars beneficii est quod petitur, si bene neges — That is half granted which is denied graciously. Timidus vocat se cautum, parcum sordidus — The coward calls himself a cautious man ; and the miser says, he is frugal. <> vita ! misero longa, felici brevis — O life ! an age to the miserable, a moment to the happy. The following are sentences extracted from the Width Lord Bacon : — It is a strange desire which men have, to seek power and lo.-e liberty. Children increase the cares of lite : but they mitigate the mbrance of death. Round dealing i the honour of man's nature ; and a mix- ture of falsehood is like alloy in gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it debaseth it. Death openeth the gate bo ( I fame, and extinguish eth envy. o 194 ELEGANT SENTENCES. Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more a man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. He that studieth revenge, keepeth Ins own wounds green. It was a high speech of Seneca (after the manner of the Stoics), that the good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished ; but the good things which belong to adversity- are to be admired. He that cannot see well, let him go softly. If a man be thought secret, it inviteth discovery ; as the more close air sucketh in the more open. Keep your authority wholly from your, children, not so your purse. Men of noble birth are noted to be envious towards new men when they rise. For the distance is altered ; and it is like a deceit of the eye, that when others come on, they think themselves go back. As in nature tilings move more violently to their place, and calmly in their place : so virtue in ambition is violent ; in authority, settled and calm. Boldness in civil business, is like pronunciation in the orator of Demosthenes ; the first, secondhand Third thing. Boldness is blind : whereof 'tis ill in counsel, but good in execution. For in counsel it is good to see dangers, in exe- cution not to see them, except they be very great. Without goodnature, man is but a better kind of vermin. God never wrought miracles to convince atheism, because his ordinary works convince it. The great atheists indeed are hypocrites, who are always handling holy things, but without feeling, so as they must needs be cauterized in the end. The master of superstition is the people. And in all superstition, wise men follow fools. In removing superstitions, care should be had, that (as it i'aieth in ill purgings) the good be not taken away with the bad ; which commonly is done, when the people is the physician. He that goeth into a country before he hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school, and not to travel. ELEGANT SENTENCES. 195 It is a miserable state of mind (and yet it is commonly the case of kings) to Lave few things to desire, and many to fear. I >epression of the nobility may make a king more absolute, but less safe. All precepts concerning kings are, in effect, comprehended in these; remembrances : Remember thou art a man; remem- ber thou art God's vicegerent. The one bridleth their power, and the other their will. Things will have their first or second agitation. If they be not tossed upon the arguments of counsel, they will be tossed upon the waves of fortune. The true composition of a counsellor, is rather to be skilled in his master's business than his nature ; for then he is like to advise him, and not to feed his humour. Fortune sometimes turneth the handle of the bottle, which is easy to be taken hold of; and after the belly, which is hard to grasp. Generally it is good to commit the beginning of all great actions to Argus with an hundred eyes; and the ends of them to Briareus with an hundred hands ; first to watch and then to speed. There is a great difference betwixt a cunning man and a wise man. There be that can pack the cards, who yet c.m't play well ; they are good in canvasses and factions, and yet otherwise mean men. Extreme self-lovers will set a man's house on fire, though it were but to roast their i New things, like strangers, are more admired and less favoured It were good that men, in their innovations, would follow the example of time itself, which indeed i n novateth greatly, but quietly, and by degrees scarce to be perceivedt Tiny that reverence too much old time, are hut a scorn to (he new. The Spaniards and Spartans have been noted to be of small despatch. Mi venga la niuertc de Spsgna — Let my o a 10G ELEGANT SENTENCES. death come from Spain ; for then it will be sure to be long a-coming. You had better take for business a man somewhat absurd, than over-formal. Those who want friends to whom to open their griefs, are cannibals of their own hearts. Number itself importeth not much in armies, where the people are of weak courage ; for (as Virgil says) it never troubles a wolf how many the sheep be. Let states, that aim at greatness, take heed how their nobility and gentry multiply too fast. In coppice woods, if you leave your staddles too thick, you shall never have clean underwood, but shrubs and bushes. A civil war is like the heat of a fever ; but a foreign war is hke the heat of exercise, and serveth to keep the body in health. Suspicions among thoughts ai - e like bats amoug birds, they ever fly by twilight. Base natures, if they find themselves once suspected, will never be true. Men ought to find the difference between saltness and bitterness. Certainly he that hath a satirical vein, as he maketh others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of others' memory. Discretion in speech is more than eloquence. Men seem neither well to understand their riches, nor their strength ; of the former they believe greater things than they shoidd, and of the latter much less. And from hence fatal pillars have bounded the progress of learning. Riches are the baggage of virtue ; they cannot be spared nor left behind, but they hinder the march. Great riches have sold more men than ever they have bought out. He that defers his charity till he is dead, is (if a mail weighs it rightly) rather liberal of another man's, than of his own. Ambition is like choler; if he can move, it makes men ELEGANT SENTENCES. 197 active ; if it be stopped, it becomes adust, and makes men melancholy. T<> take a soldier without ambition, is to pidl off his spui's. Some ambitious men Beem as sere* 08 to princes in matters of danger and envy. For ao man will take such parts, except he be like the seel'd dove, that mounts and mounts, because he cannot see about him. Princes and states should choose such ministers as are more sensible of duty than rising ; and should discern a busy nature from a willing mind. A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds ; therefore let him seasonably water the one, and destroy the other. If a man look sharp and attentively, he shall see fortune ; for though she be blind, she is not invisible. Usury bringeth the treasure of the realm or state into a few hands : for the usurer beiug at certainties, and the others at uncertainties ; at the end of the game most of the money will be in the box. Beauty is best in a body that hath rather dignity of presence, than beauty of aspect. The beautiful prove accomplished, but not of great spirit ; and study, for the most part, rather behaviour than virtue. The best part of beauty, is that which a picture cannot express. He who builds a fair house upon au ill seat, commits himself to prison. If you would work on any man, you must either know his nature and fashions, and so lead him J or his ends, ami so persuade him ; or his weaknesses and disadvantages, and so awe him ; or those that have interest in him, and so govern him. Costly followers (among whom we may reckon those who are importunate in BUits) are not to be liked ; lest while ;i man maketh his train longer, he inaketh his wings shorter. Fame is like a river, that bearetb up things light aud swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid. 198 SHORT NOTES. Seneca saith well, that anger is like rain, that breaks itself upon that it falls. Excusations, cessions, modesty itself well governed, are but arts of ostentation. High treason is not written in ice ; that when the body relenteth, the impression should go away. The best governments are always subject to be like the fairest crystals, when every icicle or grain is seen, which in a fouler stone is never perceived. In great place ask counsel of both times : of the ancient time what is best, and of the latter time what is fittest. The virtue of prosperity is temperance, of adversity forti- tude, which in morals is the more heroical virtue. Prospe- rity is the blessing of the Old Testament, adversity the blessing of the New, which carrieth the greater benediction and the clearer revelation of God's favour. SHOET NOTES FOE CIVIL CONVEESATION. To deceive men's expectations generally (with cautel), argueth a staid mind, and unexpected constancy; viz. in matters of fear, anger, sudden joy or grief, and all things which may affect or alter the mind in public or sudden accidents, or such like. It is necessary to use a steadfast countenance, not waving with action, as in moving the head or hand too much, which showeth a fantastical light and fickle operation of the spirit, and consequently like mind as gesture : only it is sufficient, with leisure, to use a modest action in either. In all kinds of speech, either pleasant, grave, severe, or ordinary, it is convenient to speak leisurely, and rather drawingly, than hastily ; because hasty speech confounds the memory, and oftentimes (besides unseemliness) drives a man either to a nonplus or unseemly stammering, harping upon that which should follow ; whereas a slow speech confirmeth the memory, addeth a conceit of wisdom to the hearers, besides a seemliness of speech and countenance. SHORT NOTES. 199 To desire in discourse to hold all arguments, is ridiculous, wanting true judgment ; for in all things no man can be exquisite. To have common-places to discourse, and to want variety, is both tedious to the hearers, and shows a shallowness of conceit ; therefore it is good to vary, and suit speeches with the present occasions ; and to have a moderation in all our speeches, especially in jesting, of religion, state, great persons, weighty and important business, poverty, or any- thing deserving pity. To use many circumstances, ere you come to matter, is wearisome : and to use none at all, is but blunt. Bashfulness is a great hinderance to a man, both of uttering his conceit, and understanding what is propounded unto him ; wherefore, it is good to press himself forwards with discretion, both in speech, and oootpttny of the better sort. Usus promptos facit. fltf, U*~ 4^- a t huf/U &c ^ ^ t^r h*~ J **+ /X ^■'L ^^ > U^M?^ THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. _ -^ '~«* ■-&*■%■ i*JU> ) * ****** ' PREFACE. The earliest antiquity lies buried 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 writings 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 par- tition-wall of fables, interposing between the things that are lost and those that remain. 6 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 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 con- tained. But this procedure has already been carried to excess ; and great numbers, 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 unfrequent practice, but 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 transformations 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 injudi- f»M K *J~ PREFACE. 201 cious to .suffer the fondness and licentiousness of a few to detract from the honour of alienor; and parable in general. This would be rash, and almost profane ; for, since religion delights in such shadows and dis- guises, to abolish them were, in a manner, to prohibit all intercourse betwixt things divine and human. Upon deliberate consideration, my judgment is, that a concealed instruction and allegory was originally intended in many of the ancient fables. This opinion may, in some respect, he 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 table as in the propriety of the names whereby the persons or actors are characterized ; insomuch, 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 posthu- mous sister, and not apply it to the clamour of parties and the seditious rumours which commonly Hy about for a time upon the quelling of insurrections ? Orwho can read how the giant Typhon eut oul and car- ried away Jupiter's sinews — which Mercury afterwards stole and again restored to Jupiter — and not presently observe that this allegory denotes strong and powerful rebellions, which cut away from kings their .sinew.-, both of money and authority ; and that the way to have them restored is by lenity, affability, and prudent edicts, which soon reconcile, and as it were steal upon the affections of the subject ? Or who, upon hearing that memorable expedition of the gods .against the giants, when the braying of Silenus's ass greatly contributed in putting the giants to flight, does not clearly conceive that this directly points at the mon- strous enterprises of rebellious subjects, which are frequently frustrated and disappointed by \ain fears and empty rumours? Again, the conformity and purport of the names is frequently manifest and self-evident. Tims Metis, the wife of Jupiter, plainly signifies counsel ; Typhon, swelling ; Pan, universality ; Nemesis, revenge, &c. 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 con- founded ; 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 news ; 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 farther indication of a concealed and secret mean- ing, that -01111 of these fables are bo absurd and idle in their narration as to show and proclaim an alb gory, even afar off. A fable that carries probability with il maj be -upp..-. d invented for pleasure, or in imitation of history; but those that could never lie conceived or related in ;his way must surely have a different use, For example, what a monstrous fiction is this, that Jupiter should take Bfetis to wife, and as - as he found her pregnant eat her up, wherebj he also o eived, and out of in head brought forth Pallas arm d, Certainly no mortal could, but for the sake of the moral it OOUcheS, invent such BO absurd dream as this, so much out of the road of thought ' Uut the argument of most weight with me is this, that many of these 202 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. fables by no means appear to have been invented by the persons who relate and divulge them, whether Homer, Hesiod, 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 singularly 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 embraced 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 princi- pally raises my esteem of these fables, which I receive, not as the pro- duct 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 trumpets of the Greeks. But if any one shall, notwithstanding this, contend that alle- gories are always adventitious, or imposed upon the ancient fables, and no way native or genuinely contained in them, we might here leave him iindisturbed 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 another 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 con- cealed use, and suppose the ancient fables to be vague, undeterminate things, formed 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 useful, 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 allusions, which were not intended to conceal, but to inform and teach, whilst the minds of men continued rude and unpractised in matters of subtilty and specula- tion, or even impatient, and in a manner uncapable 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 understanding, and conquer prejudice, without raising contests, animosities, opposition, or disturbance, he must still go in the same path, and have recourse to the like method of allegory, meta- phor, and allusion. To conclude, the knowledge of the early ages was either "great or happy ; great, if they by design made this use of trope and figure ; happy, if, whilst they had other views, they afforded matter and occa- sion to such noble contemplations. Let either be the case, our pains, perhaps, will not be misemployed, whether we illustrate antiquity or things themselves. The like indeed has been attempted by others ; but to speak ingenu- CASSANDRA, OR DIVINATION. 203 ously, theiT great and voluminous labours liave almost destroyed the energy, the efficacy, and grace of the- thing, whilst, being unskilled in nature, and their learning no more than that of common place, they have applied the sense of the parables to certain general and vulgar matters, without reaching to their real purport, genuim- 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. I.— CASSANDRA, OR DIVINATION. Jta*) HI . J J EXPLAINED OF TOO FREE AND UNSEASONABLE ADVICE. The Poets relate, that Apollo, falling in love with Cas- sandra, was still deluded and put off by her, \> t fed with hopes, till she had got from him the gift of prophecy j and having now obtained her end, she flatly rejected his suit. Apollo, unable to recall his rash gift, yet enraged to be out- witted by a girl, annexed this penalty to it, that though she should always prophesy true, she should never be believed; whence her divinations were always slighted, even when she again and again predicted the ruin of her countiy. Explanation. — This fable seems invented to express the insignificance of unseasonable advice. For they who are conceited, stubborn, or intractable, and listen not to the instructions of Apollo, the god of harmony, so as to Irani 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 endeavours, either of persuasion or force, are of little sig- nificance, .and rather hasten the ruin of those they advise. But, at ,last, when the oalamitous event has made the sufferers feel the effect of their neglect, they too late reve- rence their advisers, as deep, fan seeing, and faithful pro- phets. Of this wo have a remarkable instance in Cato of Utica, who discovered afar off, and long foretold, the approaching ruin of his country, both in the first conspiracy, and as it was prosecuted in the civil war between Cesar and Pompsy, 204 WISDOM OF THE ANCIEXTS. yet did no good the while, but rather hurt the common- Avealth, 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 common- wealth of Plato, and not as in the dregs of Romulus." i A, II.— TYPHON, OR A REBEL. ' EXPLAINED OF REBELLION. The fable runs, that Juno, enraged at Jupiter's bringing forth Pallas without her assistance, incessantly 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 immediately 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 Ins 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, 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 dis- mayed, and taking to flight, Jupiter next darted Mount j^Etna 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 some- times 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 slighting the counsel of their senators and nobles, conceive by themselves ; that is, govern according to their own arbitrary will and pleasure. This inflames the people, and makes them endeavour to create and set up some head of their own. Such designs are generally set on TYPIION, OR A REBEL. 205 foot by the secret motion and instigation of the peers and nobles, under whose connivance the common sort are pre- pared 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 vulgar, which to kings is an en- venomed serpent. And now the disaffected, uniting their force, at length break out into open rebellion, which, producing infinite mischiefs, both to prince and people, is represented by the horrid and multiplied deformity of Typhon, with his hundred heads, denoting the divided powers ; his flaming mouths, denoting fire and devastation ; Ids girdles of snakes, denoting sieges and destruction ; his iron hands, slaughter and cruelty ; his eagle's talons, rapine and plunder; his plumed body, perpetual rumours, contradictory accounts. Arc And sometimes these rebellions grow so high, thai kings are obliged, as if carried on the hacks 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 hear this reverse of fortune, they may, in a short time, by the assistance of Mercury, recover their sinews again ; that is. by becoming moderate and allid.de ; reconciling the minds and affections of the people to them, by gracious speeches, and prudent procla- mations, which will win over the subject cheerfully to afford new aids and supplies, and add fresh vigour to authority. But prudent and wary princes here seldom incline to try fortune by a war, yet do their utmost, by some grand exploit, to crush the reputation of the rebels : and it 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 Bight. And now, when they thus begin bo shrink, it is safe and seasonable for kings to pursue them with their forces, and the whole strength of the kingdom j thus effectually quashing and suppressing them, as it were by the weight of a mountain. lo\ 206 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. III.— THE CYCLOPS, OR THE MINISTERS OF TERROR. EXPLAINED OF BASE CO0BT OFFICERS. It is related that the Cyclops, for their savageness and cruelty, were by Jupiter first thrown into Tartarus, and there condemned to perpetual imprisonment : but that after- wards, Tellus persuaded Jupiter it would be for his service to release them, and employ them in forging thunderbolts. 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 displeased with .ZEsculapius, the son of Apollo, for having, by the art of medicine, restored a dead man to life : but concealing his indignation, because the action in itself was pious and illus- trious, he secretly incensed the Cyclops against him, who, without remorse, presently slew him with their thunder- bolts : in revenge whereof, Apollo, with Jupiter's conni- vance, shot them all dead with his arrows. Explanation. — This fable seems to point at the behaviour of princes, who, having cruel, bloody, and oppressive minis- ters, first punish and displace them ; but afterwards, by the advice of Tellus, that is, some earthly-minded and ignoble person, employ them again, to serve a turn, when there is occasion for cruelty in execution, or severity in exaction : but these ministers being base in their nature, whet by their former disgrace, and well aware of what is expected from them, use double diligence in their office ; till, proceeding unwarily, and over-eager to gain favour, they sometimes, from the private nods, and ambiguous orders of their prince, perform some odious or execrable action : When princes, to decline the envy themselves, and knowing they shall never want such tools at their back, drop them, and give them up to the friends and followers of the injured person j thus exposing them, as sacrifices to revenge and popular odiuni : whence with great applause, acclamations, and good wishes to the prince, these miscreants at last meet with their desert. NARCISSUS, OR SELF-LOVE. 207 IV.— NARCISSUS, OR SELF-LOVE. f&Jltt. Narcissus is said to have been extremely beautiful and comely, but intolerably proud and disdainful ; so that, pleased with himself, and seaming tbe world, he led a solitary life in the woods; hunting only with a few fol- lowers, who were Ins professed admirers, amongst whom the nymph Echo was his constant attendant. In this method of life it was once his fate tu approach a dear fountain, where lie laid himself down to rest, in the noonday heat ; when, beholding Ins 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 continually 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. Explanation. — This fable seems to paint the behaviour and fortune of those, who, for their beauty, or other endow- ments, wherewith nature (without any industry of their own ) has graced and adorned them, arc extravagantly fond <>\ themselves : for men of such a disposition generally afS retirement, and absence from public atlairs ; as a life of business must neeesBtuly subject them to many neglects and contempts, which might disturb and raffle their minds : whence such persons commonly lead a solitary, private, and shadowy life ; see little company, and those only such as highly admire and revennee them : or. like an echo, assent to all they say. And t luy who are depraved, and rendered Mill fonder of themselves by this custom, grow strangely indolent, anactive) and perfectly stupid The Narcissus^ a spring flower, is an elegant emblem of this temper; which at tiist Bburishea, and is talked of, bul when ripe. i he expectation con* eei\ed of it. And that this flower should be O a crc d to the internal powers, eanies out the allusion still farther; heeause men of this humour ai • perfectly useless in all i tor what- 208 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. ever yields no fruit, but passes, and is no more, like the way of a ship in the sea, was by the aneients consecrated to the internal shades and powers. °j [ V.— THE KIVER STYX, OR LEAGUES. EXPLAINED OF NECESSITY, IN THE OATHS OR SOLEMN LEAGUES OP 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 meanders, sur- rounds the infernal court of Dis. For this form alone, and none but this, was held inviolable and obligatory : and the punishment of falsifying it, was that dreaded one of being excluded, for a certain number of years, the table of the gods. Explanation. — This fable seems invented to show the nature of the compacts and confederacies 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 ceremony, 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 oflices, 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, disguise, and conceal their ambitious desires, and 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, Necessity ; or, the danger of the state ; and the securing of advantage. This necessity is elegantly repi'esented by Styx, the fatal rivei', 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 PAN, OR NATURE. 209 studiously conceal, it may be proper to give his own words. Observing that the Lacedemonians wen- inventing and pro- posing 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 between us ; and that is, for you to demonstrate you have delivered into our hand.-, such things as that it* you had the greatest desire to hurt us you coidd not be able." Therefore, if the power of offending be taken away, or if by a breach of compact there be danger "t destruction or diminution to the state or tribute, then it is that covenants will be ratified, and confirmed, as it were by the Stygian oath, whilst there remains an impending danger of being prohibited and excluded the banquet of the gods; by which expression the ancients denoted the rights and prerogatives, the affluence and the felicities, of empire and dominion. VL-PAN, OR NATURE.. M~*«. ft EXPLAINED OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. / , The ancients have, with great exactness, delineated ,^,-i '& universal nature under the person of Tan. They leave Ids . JqJl origin doubtful; some asserting him the son of Mercury, and » J\ £" others the common offspring of all Penelope's suitors/ The Ul rjr^^ 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 modem characters and persons, though sometimes with great absurdity and ignorance, as in the present ca e ; for Pan was one of the ancientest gods, and Long before the time of Ulysses \ besides, Penelope was venerated by antiquity for ber matronal chastity. A third sort will have him the issue of Jupiter and ilvhris, that is. Reproach. But whatever his origin was, the Destinies are allowed his sist< He is described by antiquity, with pyramidal horns reaching up to heaven, a rough and shaggy body, a very Long beard, of a bifonn figure, human above, half brute below, ending in goat's feet. His arms, or ensigns of power, are, * Homer's Hymn to Pan. / P 210 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. a pipe iii his left hand, composed of seven reeds ; in his right a crook ; and he wore for his mantle a leopard's skin. His attributes and titles were the god of hunters, shep- herds, and all the rural inhabitants ; president of the mountains ; and, after Mercury, the next messenger of the gods. He was also held the leader and ruler of the Nymphs, who continually 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 wei'e vain and superstitious; whence they came to be called panic terrors. b Few actions are recorded of him, only a principal one is, that he challenged Cupid at wrestling, and was worsted. He also catched the giant Typhon in a net, and held him fast. They relate farther of him, that when Ceres, growing disconsolate 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 preferred ; but the judge had, though with great privacy and secrecy, a pair of ass's ears fastened on him for his sentence. 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 prolific ; only he was the reputed father of a servant-girl called Iambe, who used to divert strangers with her ridiculous prattling stories. This fable is perhaps the noblest of all antiquity, 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 Scriptures b Cicero, Epistle to Atticu3, 5. £, c Ovid, Metamorphoses, b. ii. £ . PAN, OR NATURE. 211 and philosophical divines, or from the confused seeds of things. For they who allow oidy 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 : bo that the whole dispute comes to these poin; viz., either that nattire proceeds from Mercury, or from Penelope and all her suitors. d ~The third origin of Tan seems borrowed by the Greeks from the Hebrew mysteries, either by means of the Egyptians, or otherwise ; for it relates to the state of the world, not in its first creation, but as made subject to death and corruption after the fall ; and in this state it was and remains, the off- spring of God and Sin, or Jupiter and Reproach. And therefore these three several accounts of Tan's birth may seem true, if duly distinguished in respect of things and times. For this Pan, or the universal nature of things, which we view and contemplate, had its origin from the divine Word and confused matter, first created by God him- self, with the subsequent introduction of sin, and con- sequently 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 workings ; 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 seems pyra- midal; for individuals are inlinite, but being collected into a variety of species, they rise up into kind-, 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 heaven-, since the sublimities of nature, ox abstract 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 d This refers t<> the OOPfnood mixture of things, as suug by Virgil :— 1 £ '• Nsmque canebat ati magmun per inane ooacta na terraiiunqoe tnmnBqae marisqn Et 1 i 1 1 1 1 i tJ i .-iinul iglria ; lit his exonii.i priinis Omnia, et ipse tener mundi eonc r e vari t orbis." — Eel. vi. 31. p2 212 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 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 distance ; for whatever operates thus may be properly said to emit rays. e But particularly the beard of Pan is exceeding long, because the rays of the celestial bodies penetrate, and act to a pro- digious distance, and have 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, be- cause 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 dis- order, irregularity, and subjection to the celestial bodies, are by the brutal. This biform figure also represents the parti- cipation 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 terres- trial bodies have towards 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 upwards, 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, composed of seven reeds, plainly denotes the consent and harmony, or the concords and discords of things, produced by the motion of the seven planets. His crook also contains a fine representation of the ways of nature, which are partly straight and partly crooked ; thus the staff, having an extraordinary bend towards the top, e This is always supposed to be the case in vision, the mathematical demonstrations in optics proceeding invariably upon the assumption of this phenomenon. S. -UuiA «/?«) J PAX, OH NATURE. 213 denotes that the work- of Divine Providence are generally brought about by remote m< ans. or in a circuit, as If some- what else were into tided rather than the effect produced, as in the sending of Joseph into Egypt, ifec Bo likewise in human government, they who ail at the helm manage and wind the people more successfully by pretext and oblique courses, than they could by such as are direct and straight; so that, in effect, all sceptres arc crooked at the top. Pan's mantle, <>r clothing, is with gnat ingenuity made of a leopard's skin, because of the spots it lias ; for in like manner the heavens arc 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 livelily expressed than by making him the god of hunters; for every natural action, every motion and process, is no other than a chase : thus arts and sciences hunt out their works, and human Bchemes 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. 1 M also 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, thai the saying of the poet may lie verified — pars minima est ipsa puella Bui.* He is likewise particularly styled President of the Moun- tains, because in mountains and lofty places the nature of things lies more open and exposed to the eye and the under- standing. in his being called the messenger of the gods, next after Mercury, lies a divine allegory, as next alter 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, ai firmament showeth his handiwork." 1 ' ' " Torva Loans Lupum saquitar, laptu ipse capellam. Florentem oytisum tequitar laserra cap Virgil, Eel. ii. t33. c Ovid. Bern. Anuria, v. 348. Mart. Bpisl h Psalm xix. 1. 214 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 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 continually 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 whoever, in a true light, considers the motions and endeavours of both these ages, like another Democritus, will perhaps find them as odd and strange 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 senseless; so that all things, if we could see their insides, would appear full of panic terrors. Thus mankind, particularly the vulgar, labour under a high degree of superstition, 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 con- flict, denotes that matter has an appetite and tendency to a dissolution of the world, and fauing back to its first chaos again, unless this depravity and inclination were restrained and subdued by a more powerful concord and agreement 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 signifies, 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 outrages and insurrections in her inextricable net, wove as it were of adamant. That part of the fable which attributes the discovery of lost Ceres to Pan whilst he was hunting — a happiness denied PAN, OR NATURE. 215 the other gods, though they diligently and expressly sought her — contains an exceeding 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 Cere3, from abstract philosophies, as if these were the gods of the first order, — no, not though we used our utmost endeavours this way, — but only from Pan, that i>. a sagacious experience and general knowledge of nature, which is often found, even by accident, to stumble upon such discoveries whilst 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 dis- sonant 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 thing seen or observed by the vulgar. We must not find it strange if no amours are related of Pan besides his marriage with Echo; for nature enjoys itself. and in itself all other things. He that loves desires enjoy- ment, but in profusion there is no room for desire ; and therefore Pan, remaining content with hiins.lt'. has no pas- sion unless it be for discourse, which is well shadowed out by Echo or talk, or when it is more accurate, by Syrinx or writing.' But Echo makes a most excelleni wife for Pan, as being no other than genuine philosophy, which faithfully repeats his words, or only transcribes exactly ;us nature dic- tates; thus representing the true image and reflection of the world without adding a tittle. It tends also to the Buppori 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 ox Bpurioue prattling daughter of x Syrinx signifying a reetl, or the ancient pen. .5* 216 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. Pan, it is an excellent addition to the fable, and aptly repre- sents the talkative philosophies that have at all times been stirring, and filled the world with idle tales, being ever barren, empty, and servile, though sometimes indeed divert- ing and entertaining, and sometimes again troublesome and importunate. ~ 4 VI ■ & VH.— PERSEUS," OR WAR. EXPLAINED OF THE PREPARATION AND CONDUCT NECESSARY TO WAR. " The fable relates, that Perseus was despatched 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 monster as to turn into stone all those who but looked upon her. She was a Gorgon, and the only mortal one of the three, the other two being invulnerable. Perseus, therefore, preparing himself for this grand enter- prise, had presents made him from three of the gods : Mer- cury gave him wings for his heels ; Pluto, a helmet ; and Pallas, a shield and a mirror. But though he was now so well equipped, he posted not directly to Medusa, but first turned aside to the Grea?, who were half-sisters to the Gor- gons. These Grese were gray-headed, and like old women from their birth, having among them all three but one eye, and one tooth, which, as they had occasion to go out, they each wore by turns, and laid them down again upon coming back. This eye and this tooth they lent to Perseus, who now judging himself sufficiently furnished, he, without far- ther stop, flies swiftly away to Medusa, and finds her asleep. But not venturing his eyes, for fear she should wake, he turned his head aside, and viewed her in Pallas's mirror ; and thus directing his stroke, cut off her head ; when im- mediately, from the gushing blood, there darted Pegasus, winged. Perseus now inserted Medusa's head into Pallas's 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 conducting a war ; and. accord- 8 Ovid, Metam. b. iv. fj. PERSEUS, OK WAR. 217 ingly, lays down three asefdl precepts about it, as it' they were the precepts of Pallas. (1.) The first is. tint no prince should be over-solicitous to subdue a neighbouring nation ; tor tin- method of enlarging an empire is very different from that of increasing an estate. Regard is justly had to contiguity, or adjacency, in private lands and possessions : hut in the extending of empire, the occasion, the facility, and advantage of a war, are to be regarded instead of vicinity. I; i- certain thai the Etonians, at the time they stretched hut little beyond Ldguria to the west, had by their arms subdued the provinces as far as Mount Taurus to the east. Ami thus Perseus readily under- took a very long expedition, even from the east to the ex- tremities of the west. The second precept is, that the cause of the war he just and honourable; for this adds alacrity both to the soldiers, and the people who find the supplies ; procures aids, alli- ances, 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, benumbed, or left without life and vigour, 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 kind of wars should be chose as may be broughl to a conclusion, without pursuing vast ami infinite hope-. Again, Perseus's Betting-out is extremely well adapted to his undertaking, and in a manner commands BUCOesSj he received despatch from Mercury, Becrecj from Pluto, and foresight from l'allas. It also contains an excellent alleg »ry, that the wings given him by Mercury were for his I lot for his shoulders ; because expedition is not so much required in the first preparation- for war, as in the subse- quent matter-, thai administer to the first ; for there is no ermr more frequent in war, than, atter brisk preparations, bo halt for subsidiary forces and effective supplies. The allegory of Pluto's helmet, rendering men invisible and secret, t- sufficiently evident of it-elf: but the n, of the shield and the mirror lies deeper, and denotes, that. not only a prudent caution mm* he had to defend, like the .shield, but also sucb an add:--- and penetration as may 218 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 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 pre- pared, there still remains the most important thing of all ; before he enters upon the war, he must of necessity consult the Grese. These Grese are treasons ; half, but degenerate sisters of the Gorgons ; who are representatives of wars : for wars are generous and noble ; but treasons base and vile. The Grese are elegantly described as hoary-headed, and bike 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 disaffected ; 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 clamour with one throat ; so that each of them singly expresses the multitude. These Greae, therefore, must be prevailed upon by Per- seus to lend him their eye and their tooth ; the eye to give him indications, and make discoveries ; the tooth for sowing rumours, raising envy, and stirring up the minds of the people. And when all these tilings are thus disposed and prepared, then follows the action of the war. He finds Medusa asleep ; for whoever undertakes a war with prudence, generally falls upon the enemy unprepared, and nearly in a state of security ; and here is the occasion forPallas's mirror : for it is common enough, before the danger presents itself, to see exactly into the state and posture of the enemy ; but the principal 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 Per- seus's turning his head aside, and viewing the enemy in the glass. b Two effects here follow the conquest : 1. The darting forth of Pegasus ; which evidently denotes fame, that flies abroad, b 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 to be unprovided for a retreat. ^ ENDYMION, OR A FAVOURITE. 219 proclaiming the victory far and near. 2. The bearing of Medusa's head in the sliield, which is the greatest possible defence and safeguard ; for one grand and memorable enter- prise, happily accomplished, bridles all the motions and attempts of the enemy, stupihes disaffection, and quells com- motions. VIII.— ENDYMION, OR A FAVOURITE. EXPLAINED OF COURT FAVOURITES. The goddess Luna is said to have fallen in love with the shepherd Endymion, and to have carried on her amours with him in a new and singular manner ; it being her custom, whilst he lay reposing in his native cave, under Mount Latmus, to descend frequently from her sphere, enjoy his company whilst he slept, and then go up to heaven again. And all this while, Endymion's fortune was no way pre- judiced by his unactive and sleepy life, the goddess causing Iris 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, being thoughtful and sus- picious, do not easily admit 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 nature, and indulge them in their pleasures, without seeking any thing farther; but seeming ignorant, insensililc, or, as it were, lulled asleep before them. a Princes usually treat such per- sona familiarly; and, quitting their throne like Luira, think ■ It may be remembered tli.it the Athenian peasant voted for the banishment of Aiiatides, became hewi called tin-. lust. Shakespeare forcibly expresses the same thought : — Let me have men about thai arc f;it ; SL • k beaded men, and snob a> sleep <>' nights: hi and hungry look ; He think-; too much : such men are dangerous." If Bacon had completed bis intended work upon "Sympathy and Anti- pathy,." the constant hatred evinced by ignorance of intellectual 220 WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. tin y may with safety unbosom to them. This temper was very remarkable in Tiberius, a prince exceeding difficult to please, and who had no favourites but those that perfectly understood his way, and, at the same time, obstinately dissembled their knowledge, almost to a degree of stu- pidity. The cave is not improperly mentioned in the fable ; it being a common thing for the favourites of a prince to have their pleasant retreats, whither to invite him, by way of relaxation, though without prejudice to their own fortunes; these favourites usually making a good provision for them- selves. For though their prince should not, perhaps, promote them to dignities, yet, out of real affection, and not only for convenience, they generally feel the enriching influence of his bounty. U^i^\ • 1^ IX.— THE SISTER OF THE GIANTS, OR FAME. EXPLAINED OF PUBLIC DETRACTION. The poets relate, that the giants, produced from the earth, made war upon Jupiter, and the other gods, but were repulsed and conquered by thunder ; whereat the earth, provoked, brought forth Fame, the youngest sister of the giants, in revenge for the death of her sons. Explanation. — The meaning of the fable seems to be this : the earth denotes the nature of the vulgar, who are always swelling, and rising against their rulers, and endea- vouring at changes. This disposition, getting a fit oppor- tunity, breeds rebels and traitors, who, with impetuous rage, threaten and contrive the overthrow and destruction of princes. And when brought under and subdued, the same vile and restless nature of the people, impatient of peace, produces rumours, detractions, slanders, libels,