Chapter 17

541Concessions.

542Plin. Epist. vi. 17.

543Boastful.

544“All fame emanates from servants.”—Q. Cic. de Petit. Consul.v. 17.

545“Founders of empires.”

546He 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.

547“Perpetual rulers.”

548Surnamed 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.”

549These were a general collection of the Spanish laws, made by Alphonso X. of Castile, arranged under their proper titles. The work was commenced by Don Ferdinand his father, to put an end to the contradictory decisions in the Castilian courts of justice. It was divided into seven parts, whence its name “Siete Partidas.” It did not, however, become the law of Castile till nearly eighty years after.

550“Deliverers,” or “preservers.”

551“Extenders,” or “defenders of the empire.”

552“Fathers of their country.”

553“Participators in cares.”

554“Leaders in war.”

555Proportion, dimensions.

556“Equal to their duties.”

557“To expound the law.”

558“To make the law.”

559The Mosaic law. He alludes to Deuteronomy xxvii. 17. “Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s landmark.”

560“A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring.”—Proverbsxxv. 26.

561“Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth.”—Amosv. 7.

562“He who wrings the nose strongly brings blood.”Proverbsxxx. 33: “Surely, the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood; so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.”

563“He will rain snares upon them.” Psalm xi. 6: “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest.”

564Strained.

565“It is the duty of a judge to consider not only the facts, but the circumstances of the case.”—Ovid. Trist.I. i. 37.

566Pliny the Younger, Ep. B. 6, E. 2, has the observation: “Patientiam ... quæ pars magna justitiæ est;” “Patience, which is a great part of justice.”

567Is not successful.

568Makes him to feel less confident of the goodness of his cause.

569Altercate, or bandy words with the judge.

570“Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles!”—St. Matthewvii. 16.

571Plundering.

572“Friends of the court.”

573“Parasites,” or “flatterers of the court.”

574Which were compiled by the decemvirs.

575“The safety of the people is the supreme law.”

576“Mine.”

577“Yours.”

578He alludes to 1 Kings x. 19, 30: “The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps.” The same verses are repeated in 1 Chronicles ix. 18, 19.

579“We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.”—1Timothyi. 8.

580A boast.

581In our version it is thus rendered: “Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”—Ephesiansiv. 26.

582Sen. De Ira i. 1.

583“In your patience possess ye your souls.”—Lukexvi. 19.

584“And leave their lives in the wound.” The quotation is from Virgil’s Georgics, iv. 238.

585Susceptibility upon.

586“A thicker covering for his honor.”

587Pointed and peculiarly appropriate to the party attacked.

588“Ordinary abuse.”

589“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us.”—Ecclesiastesi. 9, 10.

590In his Phædo.

591“There is no remembrance of former things: neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come, with those that shall come hereafter.”—Ecclesiastesi. 11.

592“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”—1Kingsxvii. 1. “And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.”—1Kingsxviii. 1.

593Confined to a limited space.

594The whole of the continent of America then discovered is included under this name.

595Limited.

596VidePlat. Tim. iii. 24, seq.

597Mach. Disc. Sop. Liv. ii. 2.

598Sabinianus of Volaterra was elected Bishop of Rome on the death of Gregory the Great, A. D. 604. He was of an avaricious disposition, and thereby incurred the popular hatred. He died in eighteen months after his election.

599This Cicero speaks of as “the great year of the mathematicians.” “On the Nature of the Gods,” B. 4, ch. 20. By some it was supposed to occur after a period of 12,954 years, while, according to others, it was of 25,920 years’ duration.—Plat. Tim.iii. 38, seq.

600Conceit.

601Observed.

602A curious fancy or odd conceit.

603The followers of Arminius, or James Harmensen, a celebrated divine of the 16th and 17th centuries. Though called a heresy by Bacon, his opinions have been for two centuries, and still are, held by a large portion of the Church of England.

604A belief in astrology, or at least the influence of the stars was almost universal in the time of Bacon.

605Germany.

606Charlemagne.

607When led thither by Alexander the Great.

608Striking.

609Application of the “aries,” or battering-ram.

610This fragment was found among Lord Bacon’s papers, and published by Dr. Rawley in his Resuscitatio.

611Tac. Hist. ii. 80.

612Cæs. de Bell. Civ. i. 6.

613Tac. Ann. i. 5.

614VideHerod. viii. 108, 109.

615Varro distributes the ages of the world into three periods; viz: the unknown, the fabulous, and the historical. Of the former, we have no accounts but in Scripture; for the second, we must consult the ancient poets, such as Hesiod, Homer, or those who wrote still earlier, and then again come back to Ovid, who, in his Metamorphoses, seems, in imitation perhaps of some ancient Greek poet, to have intended a complete collection, or a kind of continued and connected history of the fabulous age, especially with regard to changes, revolutions, or transformations.

616Most of these fables are contained in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Fasti, and are fully explained in Bohn’s Classical Library translation.

617Homer’s Hymn to Pan.

618Cicero, Epistle to Atticus, 5.

619Ovid, Metamorphoses, b. ii.

620This refers to the confused mixture of things, as sung by Virgil:—“Namque canebat uti magnum per inane coactaSemina terrarumque animæque marisque fuissent;Et liquidi simul ignis; ut his exordia primisOmnia, et ipse tener mundi concreverit orbis.”—Ecl.vi. 81.

620This refers to the confused mixture of things, as sung by Virgil:—

“Namque canebat uti magnum per inane coactaSemina terrarumque animæque marisque fuissent;Et liquidi simul ignis; ut his exordia primisOmnia, et ipse tener mundi concreverit orbis.”—Ecl.vi. 81.

“Namque canebat uti magnum per inane coacta

Semina terrarumque animæque marisque fuissent;

Et liquidi simul ignis; ut his exordia primis

Omnia, et ipse tener mundi concreverit orbis.”—

Ecl.vi. 81.

621This is always supposed to be the case in vision, the mathematical demonstrations in optics proceeding invariably upon the assumption of this phenomenon.

622“Torva leæna lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam:Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella.”Virgil,Ecl.ii. 63.

622

“Torva leæna lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam:Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella.”Virgil,Ecl.ii. 63.

“Torva leæna lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam:

Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella.”

Virgil,Ecl.ii. 63.

623Ovid, Rem. Amoris, v. 343. Mart. Epist.

624Psalm xix. 1.

625Syrinx, signifying a reed, or the ancient pen.

626Ovid, Metam. b. iv.

627Thus 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.

628It may be remembered that the Athenian peasant voted for the banishment of Aristides, because he was called the Just. Shakspeare forcibly expresses the same thought:—“Let me have men about me that are fat;Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights:Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.”If Bacon had completed his intended work upon “Sympathy and Antipathy,” the constant hatred evinced by ignorance of intellectual superiority, originating sometimes in the painful feeling of inferiority, sometimes in the fear of worldly injury would not have escaped his notice.

628It may be remembered that the Athenian peasant voted for the banishment of Aristides, because he was called the Just. Shakspeare forcibly expresses the same thought:—

“Let me have men about me that are fat;Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights:Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.”

“Let me have men about me that are fat;

Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights:

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;

He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.”

If Bacon had completed his intended work upon “Sympathy and Antipathy,” the constant hatred evinced by ignorance of intellectual superiority, originating sometimes in the painful feeling of inferiority, sometimes in the fear of worldly injury would not have escaped his notice.

629Thus we see that Orpheus denotes learning; Eurydice, things, or the subject of learning; Bacchus, and the Thracian women, men’s ungoverned passions and appetites, &c. And in the same manner all the ancient fables might be familiarly illustrated, and brought down to the capacities of children.

630“Quod procul a nobis flectat Fortuna gubernans;Et ratio potius quam res persuadeat ipsa.”

630

“Quod procul a nobis flectat Fortuna gubernans;Et ratio potius quam res persuadeat ipsa.”

“Quod procul a nobis flectat Fortuna gubernans;

Et ratio potius quam res persuadeat ipsa.”

631Proteus properly signifies primary, oldest, or first.

632Bacon nowhere speaks with such freedom and perspicuity as under the pretext of explaining these ancient fables; for which reason they deserve to be the more read by such as desire to understand the rest of his works.

633As she also brought the author himself.

634“—————cadit Ripheus, justissimus unus,Qui fuit ex Teucris, et servantissimus æqui:Diis aliter visum.”—Æneid, lib. ii.

634

“—————cadit Ripheus, justissimus unus,Qui fuit ex Teucris, et servantissimus æqui:Diis aliter visum.”—Æneid, lib. ii.

“—————cadit Ripheus, justissimus unus,

Qui fuit ex Teucris, et servantissimus æqui:

Diis aliter visum.”—Æneid, lib. ii.

635Te autem mi Brute sicut debeo, amo, quod istud quicquid est nugarum me scire voluisti.

636“Regina in mediis patrio vocat agmina sistro;Necdum etiam geminos a tergo respicit angues.”Æneid, viii. 696.

636

“Regina in mediis patrio vocat agmina sistro;Necdum etiam geminos a tergo respicit angues.”Æneid, viii. 696.

“Regina in mediis patrio vocat agmina sistro;

Necdum etiam geminos a tergo respicit angues.”

Æneid, viii. 696.

637Ovid’s Metamorphoses, b. iii., iv., and vi.; and Fasti, iii. 767.

638“Declinat cursus, aurumque volubile tollit.”

639The author, in all his physical works, proceeds upon this foundation, that it is possible, and practicable, for art to obtain the victory over nature; that is, for human industry and power to procure, by the means of proper knowledge, such things as are necessary to render life as happy and commodious as its mortal state will allow. For instance, that it is possible to lengthen the present period of human life; bring the winds under command: and every way extend and enlarge the dominion or empire of man over the works of nature.

640“All-gift.”

641Viz: that by Pandora.

642“Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,Quique metus omnes et inexorabile fatumSubjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.”Georg.ii. 490.

642

“Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,Quique metus omnes et inexorabile fatumSubjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.”Georg.ii. 490.

“Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,

Quique metus omnes et inexorabile fatum

Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.”

Georg.ii. 490.

643De Augmentis Scientiarum, sec. xxviii. and supplem. xv.

644An allusion which, in Plato’s writings, is applied to the rapid succession of generations, through which the continuity of human life is maintained from age to age; and which are perpetually transferring from hand to hand the concerns and duties of this fleeting scene. Γεννῶντες τε καὶ ἐκτρέφοντες παῖδας, κάθαπερ λαμπάδα τὸν βίον παραδιδόντες ἄλλοις ἐξ ἄλλων—Plato, Leg. b. vi. Lucretius also has the same metaphor:—“Et quasi cursores vitai lampada tradunt.”

“Et quasi cursores vitai lampada tradunt.”

645Eccles. xii. 11.

646This is what the author so frequently inculcates in theNovum Organum, viz: that knowledge and power are reciprocal; so that to improve in knowledge is to improve in the power of commanding nature, by introducing new arts, and producing works and effects.

647“Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento:Hæ tibi erunt artes.”Æneid, vi. 851.

647

“Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento:Hæ tibi erunt artes.”Æneid, vi. 851.

“Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento:

Hæ tibi erunt artes.”

Æneid, vi. 851.

648“Sive recens tellus, seductaque nuper ab altaÆthere, cognati retinebat semina cœli.”—Metam.i. 80.

648

“Sive recens tellus, seductaque nuper ab altaÆthere, cognati retinebat semina cœli.”—Metam.i. 80.

“Sive recens tellus, seductaque nuper ab alta

Æthere, cognati retinebat semina cœli.”—Metam.i. 80.

649Many philosophers have certain speculations to this purpose. Sir Isaac Newton, in particular, suspects that the earth receives its vivifying spirit from the comets. And the philosophical chemists and astrologers have spun the thought into many fantastical distinctions and varieties.—See Newton,Princip.lib. iii. p. 473, &c.

650This policy strikingly characterized the conduct of Louis XIV., who placed his generals under a particular injunction, to advertise him of the success of any siege likely to be crowned with an immediate triumph, that he might attend in person and appear to take the town by acoup de main.

651The one denoted by the river Achelous, and the other by Terpsichore, the muse that invented the cithara and delighted in dancing.

652“Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus;Rumoresque senum severiorumOmnes unius estimemus assis.”—Catull. Eleg.v.And again—“Jura senes norint, et quod sit fasque nefasqueInquirant tristes; legumque examina servent.”Metam.ix. 550.

652

“Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus;Rumoresque senum severiorumOmnes unius estimemus assis.”—Catull. Eleg.v.

“Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus;

Rumoresque senum severiorum

Omnes unius estimemus assis.”—Catull. Eleg.v.

And again—

“Jura senes norint, et quod sit fasque nefasqueInquirant tristes; legumque examina servent.”Metam.ix. 550.

“Jura senes norint, et quod sit fasque nefasque

Inquirant tristes; legumque examina servent.”

Metam.ix. 550.

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