[Revenge is destructive of iaw, beside being ignoble, 1-8.

It cannot undo

the past, and it is unreasonably blind to the frailties of human nature, 9-18. It is most tolerable when it supplies the place of law, and most noble when it is open, 19-29. Friends, as well as enemies, should be forgiven for the sake of one's own peace, 30-39. Public revenges are mostly fortunate, private revenges are not, 39-45.]

P. 12. [1] Wild: Lat. agrestis, uncultivated, referring to vegetable, not animal wildness. The wild justice of revenge is distinguished from the cultivated justice of the law. [7] Salomon: Proverbs xix. 11. [9] Past, &c.: This applies to nothing but revenge in the strict sense of the word, vindictive pleasure in retaliation. It does not apply to punishment, which a man may inflict for future protection to himself or others. [15] Why should, &c. Compare Essay xxxi. 19. 'What would men have? Do they think those they employ and deal with are saints? Do they not think they will have their own ends, and be truer to their own ends than to them?' See Introduction, cxlvii. [16] Merely: Altogether. See Essay iii. 1. 70, p. 9. The meaning is, 'out of mere malignity, without excuse of any kind.' Ill nature is, in the Latin, malignitas, 'badness of disposition.' See Essay xiii. 56. 'There is a natural malignity; for there be that in their nature do not affect the good of others.' [18] No other : See Shakespearian Grammar, Par. 12, for similar instances of 'other' being thus used as a pronoun. [20] No law: The reference is probably to duelling. Compare, 'As for the second defect pretended in our law, that it hath provided no remedy for lies and fillips, any lawgiver, if he had been asked the question, would have made Solon's answer: That he had not ordained any punishment for it, because he never imagined the world would have been so fantastical as to take it so highly.' Life, Vol. iv. p. 406.

P. 13. [22] Else, &c. : 'Otherwise a man gets two punishments for one received by his enemy. He is first injured by his enemy, and then punished by the law for revenging himself.' [26] The delight: 'For (in the case of these men) the delight seems to be;' Latin, 'for they seem to be delighted.' [30] Cosmus: A descendant of the younger branch of the Medici, made duke of Florence on the murder of Alessandro, the illegitimate descendant of the elder branch, in 1537. By his inquisitorial government he is said to have changed the manners of the Florentines, who were before noted for garrulity and lightness of conversation, to taciturnity and caution. Cf. Essay xlii. 1. 15. [35] Shall we, &c.: Job ii. 10. [40] For.

tunate: Thɛ meaning is that Augustus Cæsar, Septimius Severus, and Henry IV. prospered after revenging the deaths of Cæsar, Pertinax, and Henry III. [41] Pertinax: The mutineers who had murdered Pertinax were put to death by Septimius Severus, A.D. 193. [42] Henry III.: Assassinated in 1589 A.D. by Friar Clement, mentioned in Essay xxxix. 1. 12. [44] Witches: Bacon gave a practical proof of his belief in witchcraft by recommending the torture of a schoolmaster named Peacock for 'practising to have infatuated the King's judgment by sorcery,' Introduction, p. cxxx. A law had been passed early in the reign of James I., in accordance with the King's desire, subjecting witches to death on the first conviction, even though they should have done no harm to their neighbours. Vindicative is the Latin form of vindictive. [45] Infortunate: For this use of the prefix in, see Shakespearian Grammar, Par. 442.

V

Of Adversity

[Adversity has been (even to excess) extolled by Stoics and poets, as in the myth of Hercules and Prometheus, 1-21. But, to quit poetry, Adversity is superior to Prosperity, as being the blessing of the New Testament (though not unmentioned in the Old); as having its comforts, which show the brighter for the dark background; and as being most apt to elicit virtue, 21-41.]

P. 14. [2] Stoics: The Stoic School (founded by Zeno at the beginning of the 3rd century before Christ) is generally misunderstood by Bacon. .He censures them, unjustly, for an excessive preparation for death (see Essay ii. 1. 46, note); and he also censures 'the philosophy of Epictetus, who presupposes that felicity must be placed in these things which are in our power, lest we be subject to fortune and disturbance; as if it were not a thing much more happy to fail in good and virtuous ends for the public, than to obtain all that we can wish to ourselves in our private fortune,' Works, v. 9. What the Stoics said was, that the Wise Man could be happy and self-complete in spite of any circumstances and any failures: indeed, he could not fail as long as he remained himself. Here,

therefore, Bacon, though inconsistent, is more just, in censuring their high speeches.' So Milton (P. R. iv. 350) speaks of the 'philosophic pride' of the Stoic

By him called virtue; and his virtuous man
Wise, perfect in himself, and all possessing,
Equal to God.

[2-3] Which-that: Note Bacon's apparently indifferent use of which and that. Freely quoted from Seneca, Ep. vii. 4. 29. [5] Miracles: Bacon treats 'mirabilia' almost as though it were 'miracula.' The meaning is, 'Certainly, if miracles mean command over nature, then Seneca is right; for the self-control exercised over human nature appears most in adversity.' [8] Too high : It has been suggested that it is implied that Seneca had access to Christian teaching; but the meaning seems merely to be, as in the Latin, 'somewhat too lofty to befit a heathen,' i.e., disproportionate to the heathen basis of morality. [9] Security: As in Latin, 'freedom from care.' In Macbeth iii. 5. 32, Hecate tells us, 'And you all know security is mortals' chiefest enemy.' [10] Vere,' &c.: Epist. vi. 1. 12, 'Ecce res magna, habere imbecillitatem hominis, securitatem dei.' [14] Fiction: Apollodorus, De Deorum Origine, ii. 5 (W.) Compare St. Paul's 'we have this treasure in earthen vessels.' [20] Lively: To the life. The adverbial termination is sometimes not added to adjectives ending in ly. Cf. 'this tune goes manly,' Macbeth, iv. 3. 235. [20] Christian: This would almost seem to mean the resolution of Christ.' See Works, vi. 753, 'The voyage of Hercules especially, sailing in a pitcher to set Prometheus free, seems to present an image of God the Word hastening in the frail vessel of the flesh to redeem the human race.' But perhaps, with a slight confusion, the Christian Spirit is regarded as sailing in the bark of the flesh of an ordinary Christian man to unbind the lower nature, or Prometheus, in that

same man.

P. 15. [22] In a mean: 'Ina moderate way.' [24] Prosperity, &c.: The Old Testament is full of passages mentioning prosperity as a blessing; the passage in the New Testament specially referred to is probably the Beatitude (see Latin translation below) in St. Matthew v. 4, 'Blessed are they that mourn.' But in this and in similar passages, e.g. 1 Pet. iv. 13, adversity is only regarded as a blessing because it prepares the way for prosperity in the highest

The Latin is,

sense. Probably 'which' refers to 'blessing.' 'Prosperity has to do with the benedictions of the Old Testament, adversity with the beatitudes of the New, which are not only in reality greater, but also carry clearer revelations of the Divine favour.' 'Blessing' seems to be distinguished from 'benediction,' in that the former is nearer to the meaning of 'advantage': the latter more technically describes a divine blessing. [27] Yet even in: This sentence is quoted by Lord Macaulay as an instance of Bacon's later florid style. [35] Lively: Lyly, Euphues, p. 37, speaks of 'cunning painters, who for the whitest worke cast the blackest ground, to make ye picture more amiable.' [37] Therefore : There is no argument at all here, nothing but an analogy; the 'therefore' is wholly unjustifiable. But see Bacon's notions of Prima Philosophia, Introduction, lxxxiii.-lxxxiv. [39] Incensed : Burnt, but probably with a notion of burning incense as a sacrificial offering. Cf. Adv. of Learning, Works, iii. 491, 'The first, if any be, is due tanquam adeps sacrificii (as the fat of the sacrifice) to be incensed to the honour, first of the Divine Majesty, and next of your Majesty.' This saying is attributed in Bacon's Apophthegms to Mr. Bettenham (Autumn Reader of Gray's Inn in 1590), who was also author of the saying, 'Money is like muck, not good except it be spread.' [40] Prosperity, &c.: But in the Antitheta of Essay xi. Bacon says that 'office gives publicity to virtues and vices, spurring the former, while it bridles the latter;' and in Essay x. 1. 48, he speaks of great prosperity and great adversity as being 'the very times of weakness,' or, as the Latin translation has it, 'the times when the mind is most infirm and soft.' It would appear, then, that this Essay speaks of adversity somewhat conventionally. Elsewhere Bacon recognises that adversity is neither a blessing in itself nor a curse in itself, but either, in accordance with the way in which it is borne. [41] Discover: Here, as often, means uncover, reveal; not 'find out;' cf. Two Gentlemen of Verona, iii. 1. 4. &c.

VI

Of Simulation and Dissimulation

1. Dissimulation is a compen- 1. Though we cannot think ac

3. Even in the mind, nakedness 3. The dissembler deprives him

5. Dissimulation is the fence of 5. To be a dissembler is to be

The Antitheta on 'Keeping Secrets' are: