Class -J:*'n^_2JiAG 
 Book 'isi^L^ 
 
' 
 
I 
 ESSAYS, 
 
 SfORAL, ECONOMICAL 5 AND 
 POI.ITICAI.. 
 
 FRA-NCIS BACON, 
 
 ,)AR0k OF VEHULAM, VISCOUNT ST. ALBAN, AKU 
 LORD HIGH CHANGELLOK OF ENGLAUD. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUPUSHED BY T, BEDLINGTONj 
 N<x 31 J Washinifton Sireat. 
 
 

 Weat. Eos. mat, Soc. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 Preiutory Epktie ^^ 
 
 Of Truth... y/.v.'.'.y.'.'.y'r 
 
 Death !...'.!!!!.]!.' 10 
 
 Unity in Religion .*.*.*.'.'.'.'.' * .' * ,,,, '12 
 
 Revenge V/.'.'.'.'.'.""m 
 
 Adversity. .*.'.'! ,° .*.*.'.* .' 9fi 
 
 Simulation and Dissimulation ......./.. ^ 
 
 Parents and Children ['/' ' 9^ 
 
 Marriage and Single Life ....'.'.*.* ' 'gg 
 
 f'^'^y !;.*.';;:;;3o 
 
 i-iove ^ 
 
 Great Place '.'.'.'.'.'.'/.'.'.,'.'...[ '4Q 
 
 Boldness !.*!!!!.*!!!!! 44 
 
 Goodness, and Goodness of Nature .* '. '. '. .* .* .* .' .* .* AS 
 
 A King, ' * " Vj) 
 
 Nobility '.'.V. ^"9 
 
 Seditions and Troubles **.*!.*.'!.'.*!.*.*.'!' 55 
 
 Atheism '.'.','.', oa 
 
 Superstition no 
 
 Travel .'.*.' .*.*.'.*.** ' rf) 
 
 Empire '.'.'.','.','.'.'. 'to 
 
 Counsel ^o 
 
 »^'-y.^ .■.•.v;.::;;;:;:;:;:;:;;;^s 
 
 Cunmng ^^ g=. 
 
 Wisdom for a Man's Self! .7. ...... ....l cj-. 
 
 Innovations ^ 
 
 Despatch '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.','.'. eg 
 
 Seeming "W^se 03 
 
 Friendship .'.'.*.'.*.' {nr. 
 
 Expense iiq 
 
 The true Greatness of Kiagdoals'i^d'Estetes.* .'ill 
 Begmien of H«*lth. . , . .! [{^ 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Of Suspicion 126 
 
 Discourse 128 
 
 Plantations 131 
 
 Riches 135 
 
 Pr tphecies 139 
 
 Ambition 143 
 
 Masques and Triumphs 146 
 
 Nature in Men • • . 148 
 
 Custom and Education 150 
 
 Fortune 153 
 
 Usury 155 
 
 Youth and Age 160 
 
 Baanty 1G2 
 
 Deforniity 164 
 
 Building 166 
 
 Gardens 171 
 
 Negotiating • 180, 
 
 FclloAvers and Friends 182 
 
 Suitors 186 
 
 Studies 18T 
 
 Faction 1^ 
 
 Ceremonies and Respects 191 
 
 Praise 19^ 
 
 Vainglory "ISQ 
 
 Honour and Reputation 198 
 
 Judicature 201 
 
 AnvQT 206 
 
 Vicissitude of Things »209 
 
 A Fragment of an Essay of Fame 216 
 
PREFATORY EPISTLE. 
 
 TO MR. ANTHONY BACOTC, . 
 
 HIS DSAR BROTHEB. 
 
 LoTiKG and beloved brother, I do now 
 like some that have an orchard ill neigh» 
 boured, that gather their fruit before it is 
 ripe, to prevent stealing. These fragments 
 of my conceits were going to print : to 
 labour the stay of them had been troubls- 
 some, and subject to interpretation ; to let 
 them pass had been to adventure the v^rong 
 they might receive by untrue copies, or 
 by some garnishment which it might please 
 any that should set them f®rth to bestow 
 upon them : therefore I held it best dis- 
 cretioi'_ to publish them myself, as they 
 passed long ago from my pen, without any- 
 farther disgrace than the weakness of the, 
 author; and as I did ever hold, there might 
 be as great a vanity in retiring and with- 
 drawing men's conceits (except they be 
 of some nature) from the world as in ob- 
 truding them; so in these particulars I 
 have played myself the inquieitor, aiid fiad 
 
t> PREFATORY E?ISTL« 
 
 notbing to my understanding in them 
 contrary or infectious to the state of reli- 
 gion or manners, but rather, as I suppose, 
 msdicinable : only , l dislike now to put 
 them out, because they will be like the 
 late new halfpence, which though the sil- 
 ver vv^ere good, yet the pieces were small ; 
 but since they would not stay with their 
 master, but would needs travel abroad, I 
 have preferred them to you, that are next 
 myself; dedicating them, such as they are, 
 to our love ; in the depth whereof, f assure 
 you, I sometimes wish your infirmities 
 translated upon to j self, that her majesty 
 might have the service of so active and 
 able a mind ; and I might be with excuse 
 confined to these contemplations and stU' 
 dies, for which I am fittest ; so commend 
 I you to the preservation of the Divine 
 Majesty. 
 
 Your entire loving brother, 
 
 FRAN. BACON- 
 
 Prom my Chamber at Oray*s /»», 
 </«i 36dA of January f 15^, 
 
ESSAYS, 
 
 CIVIL AND MORAL. 
 
 OF TRUTH. 
 
 What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and 
 would not stay for an answer. Certainly there 
 be that delight in giddiness, and count it a 
 bondage to fix a belief; aiFecting 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 
 ^uch 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 examineth the matter, and is at a 
 stand to think what should be in it, that men 
 should love lies, where neither they make for 
 pleasure, as with poets ; nor for advantage, as 
 with the merchant; but for the lie's sake. 
 But I cannot tell : this same truth is a naked 
 and open daylight, that doth not show the 
 jnasques, and mummeries, and triumphs of the 
 
 =gjgsssmamamm^ 
 
©F TRUTM. 
 
 world, half so stately and daintily as candle* 
 lights. Truth may perhaps come to the price 
 of a pearl, that showeth best by day ; but it 
 will not rise to the price of a diamond or car- 
 buncle, that showeth best in varied lights. 
 A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure. 
 Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken 
 out of men's minds vain opinions, flattering 
 hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one 
 would, and the like, but it would leave the 
 minds of a number of men poor shrunken 
 things, full of melancholy and indisposition, 
 and unpleasing to themselves ? One of the 
 fathers, in great severity, called poesy "vinum 
 dsemonum," because it filleth the imagination, 
 and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie. 
 But it is not the lie that passeth through the 
 mind, but the lie that sinketh in and settleth 
 in it, that doth the hurt, such as we spake of 
 before. But howsoever these things are thus 
 in men's depraved judgments and affections, 
 yet truth, which only doth judge itself, teach- 
 eth that the inquiry of truth, v/hich is the 
 love-making or wooing of it; the knowledge 
 of truth, which is the presence of it ; and the 
 belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it ; 
 is the sovereign good of human nature. The 
 first creature of God, in the works of the 
 days, was the light of the sense ; the last waa 
 the light of reason ; and his sabbath work, 
 ever since, is the illumination of his Spirit. 
 First he breathed light upon the face of the 
 jnatter, or chaos ; then he breatheth Kght into 
 
or TRt'TH. 
 
 the face of man ; and still lie breathetli and 
 inspireth light into the face of his chosen. 
 The poet that beautified the sect, that wa& 
 otherwise inferior to the rest, saith yet excel- 
 lently well, " It is a pleasure to stand upon 
 the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea : 
 a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, 
 and to see a battle, and the adventures thereof 
 below : but no pleasure is comparable to the 
 standing upon the vantage ground of truth, (a 
 hill not to be commanded, and where the air 
 is always clear and serene,) and to see the 
 errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tem- 
 pests in the vale below :" so always that this 
 prospect be with pity, and not with swelling 
 or pride. Certainly it is heaven upon earth to 
 hav« a man's mind move in charity, rest in 
 providence, and turn upon the poles of truth. 
 
 To pass from theological and philosophical 
 ttuth to the truth of civil business, it will be 
 acknowledged, even by those that practise it 
 not, that clear and round dealing is the honour 
 of man's nature, and that mixture of false- 
 hood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, 
 which may make the metal work the better, 
 but it embaseth it : for these winding and 
 crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, 
 which goeth basely upon the belly, and not 
 npon the feet. There is no vice that doth so 
 cover a man with shame as to be found false 
 and perfidious : and therefore Montaigne saith 
 prettily, when he inquired the reason why the 
 iBf^rd of the He should be such » disgrace, an<i 
 
10 OF DEATH. 
 
 such an odious charge, "If it be well weigh- 
 ed, to say tliat a man lieth, is as much as to 
 say that he is brave towards God, and a cow- 
 ard towards men : for a lie faces God, and 
 shrinks from man." Surely the wickedness 
 of falsehood and breach of faith cannot possi- 
 bly be so highly expressed as in that it shall 
 be the last peal to call the judgments of God 
 upon the generations of men : it being fore- 
 told that w^hen " Christ cometh," he shall not 
 *' find faith upon earth." 
 
 OF DEATH. 
 
 Men fear death as children fear to go into 
 the dark ; and as that natural fear in children 
 IS increased with tales, so is the other. Cer- 
 tainly, the contemplation of death, as the 
 wages of sin and passage to another world, is 
 holy and religious; but the fear of it, as a tri- 
 bute due unto nature, is weak. Yet in reli- 
 gious meditations there is sometim.es mixture 
 of vanity and of superstition. You shall read"ia 
 some of the friars' books of mortification, that 
 a man should think with himself what the 
 pain is, if be have but his finger's end pressed, 
 or tortured, and thereby imagine what the 
 pains of death are wben the whole body is 
 corrupted and dissolved; when many times 
 death passeth with less pain than the torture 
 of a limb ; for the most vital parts are not the 
 quickest of sense : and by him that spake only 
 
OF DEATH. 11 
 
 RS a philosopher and natural man, it was well 
 said, " Pompa mortis magis terret qnam mors 
 ipsa." Groans, and convulsions, and a dis-, 
 coloured face, and friends weeping, and blacks 
 and obsequies, and the like, show death teni- 
 ble. It is worthy the observing, that there is 
 no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it 
 mates and masters the fear of death ; and, there- 
 fore, death is no such terrible enemy when a 
 man hath so many attendants about him that 
 can win the combat of him. Revenge triumph? 
 over death ; love slights it ; honour aspiretfe 
 to it; grief flieth to it; fear preoccupieth it, 
 nay, we read, after Otho the emperor had slain 
 himself, pity (which is the tenderest of affec- 
 tions) provoked many to die out of mere 
 compassion to their sovereign, and as the tru- 
 est" sort of followers. Nay, Seneca add? 
 niceness and satiety : " Cogita quamdiu eadem 
 feceris ; mori velle, non tantum fortis, aut 
 miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest." A man 
 would die, though he v/ere neither valiant noi 
 miserable, only upon a vv'eariness to do the 
 s^ame thing so oft over and over. It is no less 
 worthy to obsen^e, how little alteration in good 
 spirits the approaches of death make ; for they 
 appear to be the same men till the last instant. 
 Au^stus CiEsar died in a compliment : " Livia, 
 conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale :" Tibe- 
 rius in -dissimulation, as Tacitus saith of him, 
 "Jam Tiberium vires et corpus, non dissimu- 
 latio, deserebant :" Vespasian in a jest, sitting 
 ^ipcn the stool, *- Ut puto Deus fio :" Galba 
 
12 OF VNITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 with a sentence, "Feri, si ex re sit populi 
 Romani," holding forth his neck: Septimus 
 Sevenis in despatch, "Adeste, si quid mihi 
 restat agendum," and the like. Certainly the 
 Stoics bestowed too much cost upon death, and 
 by their great preparations made it appear 
 more fearful. Better, saith he, "qui finem 
 vitae extremum inter munera, ponat naturae." 
 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 there- 
 fore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat 
 that is good, doth avert the dolours of death : 
 but, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle 
 is, " Nunc dimittis," when a man hath ob- 
 tained worthy ends and expectations. Death 
 hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good 
 fame, and extingaisheth envy : " Extinctusj 
 amabitur idem." 
 
 OF UNiry IN RELIGION. 
 
 Melision being the chief bond cf hnman 
 society, it is a happy thing when itself is well 
 contained within the true bond of unity. The 
 quarrels and divisions about religion were 
 evils unknown to the heathen. Th« reason 
 was, because the religion of the heatisen am- 
 m^d rather in rites tmi es7€moaies thaa-^ii 
 
OF UNITi' IN llELIGIOX. 13 
 
 kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doc- 
 tors and fathers of their church were the 
 poets. But the tme God hath this attribute, 
 that he is a jealous God ; and therefore his 
 worship and religion will endure no mixture 
 aior partner. We shall therefore speak a few 
 words concerning the unity of the church; 
 what are the fruits thereof; what the bonds ; 
 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 otlier towards those that are 
 within. For the former, it is certain, that 
 heresies and schisms are of all others the 
 greatest scandals ; yea, more than corruption 
 of manners ; for a,s 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 de- 
 serto," another saith, " ecce in penetralibus ;" 
 that is, when some men seek Christ in the con- 
 venticles of heretics, and others in an outward 
 face of a church, that voice had need continu- 
 ally to sound in men's ears, " nolite exire," — 
 ^^ go not out." The doctor of the Gentiles 
 .^the propriety of whose Yocation drew him to 
 have a special care of those without) sailh, 
 *' If an heathen come in, and hear you speak 
 with several tongues, will he not sav that you 
 2 
 
14 or UNITY IN r»r.LiGiox. 
 
 arc mad?" and, certainly, it is little better: 
 when atheists and profane persons do hear of 
 so many discordant and contrary opinions in 
 religion, it doth avert them from the church, 
 and maketh them " to sit down in the chair of 
 the scorners." It is but a light thing to be 
 vouched in so serious a matter, but yet it ex- 
 presseth v/ell the deformity. There is a mas- 
 ter of scoffing, that, in his catalogue of books 
 of a feigned library, sets down this title of a 
 book, "The Morris-Dance of Heretics :" for, 
 indeed, every sect of them hath a diverse pos- 
 ture, or cringe, by themselves, which cannot 
 but mpve derision in worldlings and depraved 
 politics, who are apt to contemn holy things. 
 
 As for the fruit towards those that are 
 within, it is peace v/hich containeth infinite 
 blessings ; it establlsbcth faith ; it kindleth 
 charity ; the outward peace of the church dis- 
 lilieth into peace of conscience, and it turneth 
 the labours of writing and reading contro- 
 versies into treatises of mortification and 
 devotion. 
 
 Concerning the bonds of unity, the true 
 placing of them importeth exceedingly. There 
 appear to be two extremes : for to certain zea- 
 lots all speech of pacification is odious^ "Is 
 it peace, Jehu ?" — " Yv^hat hast thou to do 
 %viih peace? turn thee behind me." Peace is 
 not the matter, but following and party. Con- 
 trariwise, certain Laodiceans and lukewarm 
 persons think they may accommodate points of 
 jeligion by middle \\ays, and taking part of 
 
OF UXtTY IN RELIGIOX. 15 
 
 botlij and witty recorxcilemcnis, as if they 
 Would make Hn arbitrcment between God and 
 man. Both these extremes are to be aToided; 
 which will be done if the league of Christians, 
 penned by our Savio^ir himself, were in 
 the two cross clauses thereof soundly and 
 plainly expounded : " He that is not with us 
 is against us ;" and again, " He that is not 
 against us is with us ;" that is, if the points 
 fundamental, and of substance in religion, 
 were truly discerned and distinguished from 
 points not merely of faith, but of opinion, or- 
 der, or good intention. This is a thing may 
 seem to many a matter trivial, and done al- 
 ready; but if it were done less partially, it 
 would be embraced more generally. 
 
 Of this I may give only this advice, accord- 
 ing to my small model. Men ought to take 
 heed of rending God's church by two kinds of 
 controversies ; the one is, when the matter of 
 the point controverted is too small and light, 
 not worth the heat and strife about it, kindled 
 only by contradiction ; for, as it is noted by one 
 of the fathers, Christ's coat indeed had no 
 seam, but the church's vesture was of divers 
 colours ; whereupon he saith, " in veste vari- 
 ctas sit, scissura non sit," they be two things, 
 unity and uniformity : the other is, when the 
 matter of the point controverted is great, but it 
 is driven to an overgreat subtilty and obscurity, 
 ^RO that it becometh a thing rather ingenious 
 than substantial. A man that is of judgment 
 and understanding shall som.etimes hear ig;no- 
 
16 OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 rant men differ, and know well within him- 
 self, that those which so differ mean one 
 thing, and yet they themselves would never 
 agree : and if it come so to pass in that distance 
 of judgment, which is between man and man, 
 shall we not think that God above, that knows 
 the heart, doth not discern that frail men, in 
 some of their contradictions, intend the same 
 thing, and accepteth of both ? The nature of 
 such controversies is excellently expressed by 
 St. Paul, in the warning and precept that he 
 giveth concerning the same, " devita profanas 
 vocum novitates, et oppositiones falsi nominis 
 scienti^." Men create oppositions which are 
 not, and put them into new terms so fixed, as 
 whereas the meaning ought to govern the 
 term, the term in effect governeth the mean- 
 ing. There be also two false peaces or unities : 
 the one, when the peace is grounded but upon 
 an implicit ignorance ; for all colours will 
 agree in the dark : the other, when it is 
 pieced up upon a direct admission of contraries 
 in fundamental points ; for truth and falsehood, 
 in such things, are like the iron and clay in 
 the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image ; they 
 may cleave^ but they will not incorporate. 
 
 Concerning the means of procuring unity^ 
 men must beware, that, in the procuring or 
 muniting of religious unity, they do not dis- 
 solve and deface the lav/s of charity and of 
 human society. There be two swords amongst 
 Christians, the spiritual and temporal ; and 
 both have their due office and place in the 
 
or UXirV IN RELIGION. 17 
 
 maintenance of religion : but we may no: take 
 up the third sword, which is Mahomet's 
 sword, or like unto it : that is, to propagate 
 rehgion by wars, or by sanguinary persecu- 
 tions to force consciences; except it be in 
 cases of overt scandal, blasphemy, or intermix- 
 ture of practice against the state ; much less 
 to nourish seditions ; to authorize conspiracies 
 and rebellions ; to put the sword into the 
 people's hands, and the like, tending to 
 the subversion of all government, which is the 
 ordinance of God : for this is but to dash the 
 first table against the second; and so to consi- 
 der men as Christians, as we forget that they 
 are men. Lucretius the poet, when he beheld 
 the act of Agamemnon, that could endure the 
 sacrificing of his own daughter, exclaimed : ' 
 
 " Tantum re!igio potuit suadere malorum." 
 
 What would he have said, if he had known of 
 the massacre in France, or the powder treason 
 of England ? He would have been seven 
 times more epicure and atheist than he w^as : 
 for as. the temporal sword is to be drawn with 
 great circumspection in cases of religion, so it 
 is a thing monstrous to put into the hands of 
 the common people • let that be h:^ ^ito the 
 anabaptists, and oLher furies. It w|§ great 
 blasphemy, when the devii s?jd, " I will as- 
 cend, and be like the Highest ;" but it is greater 
 blasphemy to personate God, and bring him in 
 saying, " I will descend, and be like the prince • 
 of darkness :" and what is it better, to make 
 
18 OF llEVENGli. 
 
 the cause of religion to descend to the cruel 
 and execrable actions of murdering princes, 
 butchery of people, and subversion of states 
 and governments ? Surely this is to bring 
 down the Holy Ghost, instead of the likeness 
 of a dove, in the shape of a vulture or raven ; 
 and to set out of the bark of a Christian church 
 a flag of a bark of pirates and assassins : 
 therefore it is most necessary, that the church 
 by doctrine and decree, princes by their sv/ord, 
 and all learnings, both Christain and moral, as- 
 hy their mercury rod to damn, and send to hell 
 for ever, those facts and opinions tending to 
 the support of the same, as hath been already 
 in good part done. Surely in councils con- 
 cerning religion, that counsel of the apostle 
 would be prefixed, " Ira hominis non implet 
 justitiam Dei :" and it was a notable observa- 
 tion of a wise father, and no less ingenuously 
 confessed, that those which held and persuaded 
 pressure of consciences were commonly inter- 
 ested therein themselves for their own ends. 
 
 OF REVENGE. 
 
 Revejnge is a kind of wild justice, which 
 the mQEC . man's nature runs to, the more 
 ought law to weed it out : for as for the first 
 wrong, it doth but ofiend the law, but the re- 
 venge of that wrong putteth the law out of of- 
 fice. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is 
 but even with his enemy; but in passmg it 
 
Oi' hevenge. 19 
 
 over lie is superior ; for it is a prince's part 
 to pardon : and Solomon, I am sure, saith, 
 " It is the glory of a man to pass by an of- 
 fence." That which is passed is gone and 
 irrecoverable, and vdse men have enough to do 
 with things present and to come ; therefore 
 they do but triiie with themselves that labour 
 in past matters. There is no man doth a 
 wrong for the wrong's salie, but thereby to 
 purchase himself profit, or pleasure,* or honour, 
 or the like ; therefore why should I be angry 
 with a man for loving himself better than me ? 
 And if any man should do wrong, merely out 
 of ill nature, why, yet it is but like the thorn 
 or brier, which prick and scratch, because they 
 can do no other. The most tolerable sort of 
 revenge is for those wrongs which there is no 
 law to remedy : but then, let a man take heed 
 the revenge be such as there is no law to pun- 
 ish, else a man's enemy is still beforehand, and 
 it is two for one. Some, when they take re- 
 venge, are desirous the party should know^ 
 when it cometh : this is the more generous ; 
 for the delight seemeth to be not so much in do- 
 ing the hurt as in m.aking the party repent ; but 
 base and crafty cov^-^ards are like the arro^v 
 that flieth in the dark. Cosmus, Duke of 
 Florence, had a desperate saying against per- 
 fidious or neglecting friends, as if those wrongs 
 were unpardonable. ^' You shall read," saith 
 he, " that we are commanded to forgive our 
 enemies, but you never read that Vv^e are com- 
 manded to forgive our friends." But yet the 
 
20 «r ADVERSITY. 
 
 spirit of Job was in a better tune : " Shall 
 we," saith he, " take good at God's hands, 
 and not be content to take evil also ?" and so 
 of friends in a proportion. This is certain, that 
 a man that studieth revenge keeps his own 
 Avounds green, which otherwise would heal, 
 and do well. Public revenges are for the most 
 part fortunate ; as that for the death of Csesar ; 
 . for the de^th of Fertinax ; for the death of 
 Henry the Third of France ; and many more. 
 But in private revenges it is not so ; nay, rath- 
 er vindicative persons live the life of witches ; 
 vvho, as they are mischievous, so end they 
 imfortunate. 
 
 OF ADVERSITY. 
 
 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 that belong to adversity 
 are to be admired : " Bona rerum secundarum 
 optabilia, adversarum mirabilia." Certainly, 
 if miracles be the command over nature, they 
 appear most in adversity. It is yet a higher 
 speech of his than the other, (much too high 
 for a heathen,) " It is true greatness to have 
 in one the frailty of a man, and the security of 
 a God :" — " Vere magnum habere fragilitatem 
 hominis, securitatem Dei." This would have 
 done better in poesy where transcendencies 
 
OP ADVERSITY. 21 
 
 are more allowed ; and the poets, indeed, have 
 been busy with it ; for it is in effect the thing 
 which is figured in that strange fiction of the 
 ancient poets, Vvhicli seemeth not to be with- 
 out mystery ; nay, and to have some approach 
 to the state of a Cliristian, " that Hercules, 
 when he went to unbind Prometheus, (by whom 
 human nature is represented,) sailed the length 
 of the great ocean in an earthen pot or pitcher, 
 lively describing Christian resolution, that 
 saileth in the frail bark of the flesh through 
 the waves of the world." But, to speak in a 
 mean, the virtue of prosperity is temperance, 
 the virtue of adversity is fortitude, which in 
 morals is the more heroical virtue. Prosperity 
 is the blessing of the Old Testament, adver- 
 sity is the blessing of the New, which carrieth 
 the greater benediction, and the clearer reve- 
 lation of God's favour. Yet even in the Old 
 Testament, if you listen to David's harp, you 
 shall hear as many hearselike airs as carols ; 
 and the pencil of the Holy Ghost hath la- 
 boured more in describing the affiictions of Job 
 than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is 
 not without many fears and distastes ; and ad- 
 versity is not without comforts and hopes. 
 We see in needlev/orks and embroideries, it is 
 more pleasing to have a lively work upon a 
 sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark 
 and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground : 
 judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart 
 by the pleasure of the eye. Certainly virtue 
 
22 or SIMULATION AND 
 
 is like precious odours, most fragrant where 
 they are incensed or crushed: for prosperity 
 doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best 
 discover virtue. 
 
 OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 
 
 Dissimulation is but a faint kind of policy 
 or wisdom ; for it asketh a strong wit and a 
 strong heart to know when to tell truth, and 
 to do it : therefore it is the weaker sort of 
 politicians that are the greatest dissemblers. 
 
 Tacitus saith, " Livia sorted well with the 
 arts of her husband and dissimulation of her 
 son ; attributing arts or policy to Augustus, 
 and dissimulation to Tiberius :" and again, 
 when Mucianus encourageth Vespasian to take 
 arms against Vitellius, he saith, "We rise 
 not against the piercing judgment of Augustus, 
 nor the extreme caution or closeness of Tibe- 
 rius :" these properties of arts, or policy, and 
 dissimulation and closeness, are indeed habits 
 and faculties several, and to be distinguished ; 
 for if a man have that penetration of judgment 
 as he can discern what things are to be laid 
 open, and what to be secreted, and what to be 
 showed at half lights, and to whom and when, 
 (which indeed are arts of state, and arts of 
 life, as Tacitus well calleth them,) to him a 
 habit of dissimulation is a hinderance and a 
 poorness. But if a man cannot attain to that 
 judgment, then it is left to ])im generally to be 
 
DISSIMULATION. 23 
 
 dose, and a dissembler ; for where a man can- 
 not choose or vary in particulars, there it is 
 good to take the safest and wariest way in 
 general, like the going softly by one that can- 
 not well see. Certainly the ablest men that 
 ever were have had all an openness and frank- 
 ness of dealing, and a name of certainty and 
 veracity : but then they were like horses well 
 managed, for they could tell passing well when 
 to stop or turn ; and at such times, when they 
 thought the case indeed required dissimulation, 
 if then they used it, it came to pass that the 
 former opinion spread abroad, of tlieir good 
 faith and clearness of dealing, made them al- 
 most invisible. 
 
 There be three degrees of this hiding and 
 veiling of a man's self; the first, closeness, 
 reservation, and secreey, when a man leaveth 
 himself without observation, or without hold 
 to be taken, what he is ; the second, dissimu- 
 lation in the negative, when a man lets fall 
 signs and arguments, that he is not that he is ; 
 xud the third, simulation in the afiirmative, 
 . when a man industriously and expressly feigns 
 and pretends to be that he is not. 
 
 For the first of these, secrecy, it is indeed 
 the virtue of a confessor ; and assuredly the 
 secret man heareth many confessions ; for who 
 will open himself to a blab or a babbler? 
 But if a man be thought secret, it inviteth dis- 
 covery, as the more close air sucketh in the 
 more open ; and, as in confessing, the reveal- 
 ing is not for worldly use, but for the case of 
 
24 OF SIMULATION AND 
 
 a man's heart, so secret men come to the 
 knowledge of many things in that kind ; while 
 men rather discharge their minds than impart 
 their minds. In few words, mysteries are due 
 to secrecy. Besides (to say truth) nakedness 
 is uncomely, as well in mind as in 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 com- 
 monly 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 discov- 
 ery of a man's self, by the tracts of his coun- 
 tenance, 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 ne- 
 cessity ; 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 between both, and to be secret, with- 
 out swaying the balance on either side. They 
 will so beset a man with questions, and draw 
 him on, and pick it out of him, that, without 
 an absurd silence, he must show an inclina- 
 tion one way; or, if he do not, they will gath- 
 er as much by his silence as by his speech. 
 As for equivocations, or oracuious speeches, 
 tliey cannot hold out, long. So that no man 
 
DISSIMULATION. 25 
 
 can be secret, except he give himself a little 
 scope of dissimulation, which is, as it were, 
 - but the skirts or train of secrecy. 
 
 But for the third degree, which is simula- 
 tion and false profession, that I hold more cul- 
 pable, and less politic, except it be in great 
 and rare matters : and, therefore, a general 
 custom of simulation (which is this last de- 
 gree) is a vice rising either of a natural false- 
 ness, or tearfulness, 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 dissimu- 
 lation are three : first, to lay asleep opposition, 
 and to surprise ; for where a man's intentions 
 are published, it is an alarm to call up all that 
 are against them ; the second is, to reserve to 
 a man's self a fair retreat ; for if a man en- 
 gage 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 averse; 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 witii them a show of tearfulness, which 
 3 
 
26 OF PARE.NTr^ AND CHILDREN. 
 
 in any business doth spoil the feathers of round 
 flying up to the mark ; the second, that it puz- 
 zleth and perplexeth the conceits of many, 
 that perhaps would otherwise cooperate with 
 him, and makes a man walk almost alone to his 
 o^vn ends ; the third and greatest is, that it 
 depriveth a man of one of the most prihcipal 
 instruments for action, v/hich is trust and be- 
 lief. The best composition and temperature 
 is, to have openness in fame and opinion ; se- 
 crecy in habit; dissimulation in seasonable 
 use, and a power to feign, if there be no 
 remedy. 
 
 OF PARENTS AND CIliLDREN. 
 
 TiiE joys of parents are secret, and so are 
 their griefs and fears ; il^i^j cannot utter the 
 one, nor they will not utter the other. Chil- 
 dren sweeten labours, but they make misfor- 
 tunes more bitter ; they increase the cares of 
 life, but they mitigate the remembrance of 
 death. The perpetuity by generation is com- 
 mon to beasts ; but memory, merit, and noble 
 works are proper to men : and surely a maij 
 shall see the noblest works and found;;lions 
 ha^'e proceeded from childless men, which 
 have ioiiglit to express the iiii:^p;es of their 
 Eiiuds, where these of their bodies hiive faiied ; 
 fa> the care of posterity b mast in ihtm that 
 have no posterity. They ih.^ are the Sr:^t 
 raisers of their houye^^ j:rc most induig^nt 
 
OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN'. 27 
 
 towards their cliildren, bi^liolding them as the 
 continuance, not only of their kind, but of 
 their work ; and so both children and creatures. 
 The difference in affection of parents to- 
 wards their several children is many times un- 
 equal and sometimes unworthy, especially in 
 the mother ; as Solomon saith, '• a wise soil 
 rcjoiccth the father, but an ungracious son 
 shame's the mother." A man shall see, 
 ^vhere there is a house full of cliild^'en, one or two 
 of the eldest respected, and the youngest made 
 w aiitons ; but in the midst some that are as it 
 %vere forgotten, who, many times, nevertheiess, 
 prove the best. Th6 illiberality of parents, in 
 allowance tov/ards their children, is a harmful 
 error ; and makes them base ; acquaints them 
 with shifts ; makes them sort with mean com- 
 pany ; and makes them surfeit more when they 
 come to plent}' : and therefore the proof is best 
 when men keep their authority towards their 
 children, but not their purse. Men have a 
 foolish manner (both parents and school- 
 masters and servants) in creating and breeding 
 an emulation between brothers during child- 
 hood, v/hich many times sorteth to discord 
 when they are men, and disturbeth families* 
 The Italians make little difference betw^een 
 children and nephev/s, or near kinsfolks ; but 
 so they be of the lump, they care not, though 
 they pass not through their own body ; and, to 
 bQj truth, in nature, it is much a like matter; 
 insomuch that we see a nephew sometimes re- 
 Kf-mblo'lii an uncle or a kinsman more than his 
 
28 OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 
 
 own parents, as the blood happens. Let pa- 
 rents 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." Younger brothers are com- 
 monly fortunate, but seldom or never where 
 the elder are disinherited. 
 
 OP MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 
 
 He that hath wife and children hath given 
 liostages to fortune ; for they are impediments 
 to great enterprises, either of virtue or mis- 
 chief. Certainly the best works, and of great- 
 est merit for the public, have proceeded from 
 the unmarried or childless men ; which, both in 
 affection and means, have married, and endow- 
 ed 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 then- thoughts do end with 
 themselves, and account future times imper- 
 iinences ; nay, there are $ome other that 
 
OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 29 
 
 account wife and children but as bills of 
 charges : nay, more, there are some foolish, rich, 
 covetous men, that take a pride in having no 
 children, because they may be thought so much 
 the richer ; for perhaps they have heard some 
 talk, " Such an one is a great rich man," and 
 another except to it, '' Yea, but he hath a 
 great charge of children;'^ as if it were an 
 abatement to his riches : but the most ordi- 
 nary cause of a single life is liberty, especially 
 in certain self-pleasing and humorous minds, 
 which are so sensible of every restraint, as 
 tliey vdll go near to think their girdles and 
 garters to be bonds and shackles. Unmarried 
 men are best friends, best masters, best ser- 
 vants, 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 
 v/ith churchmen, for charity will hardly water 
 the ground where it must first fill a pool. It is 
 indifferent for judges and magistrates ; for, if they 
 be facile and corrupt, you shall have a servant 
 five times worse than a mfe. 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 among 
 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 e?:haust, yet, on 
 the other side, they are more cruel and hard- 
 h:-arted, (a:ood to make severe inquisitors,) 
 3 * 
 
so OP ENVY. 
 
 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 
 praitulit immorialitati." Chaste women are of- 
 ten 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, 
 %vhich she will never do if she j5nd him jealous. 
 Wives are young men's mistresses, compan- 
 ions for middle age, and old men's nurses; so 
 as a man may have a quarrel to marry w^hen 
 he will : but yet he was reputed one of the 
 wise men that made answer to the question 
 when a man should marry : — " A young man 
 not yet, an elder man not at all." It is often 
 seen, that bad husbands have very good wives ; 
 whether it be that it raiseth the price of their 
 husbands' kindness when it comes, or that the 
 wives take a pride in their patience ; but this 
 never fails if the bad husbands were of their 
 ©w?i choosing, against their friends' consent, 
 for then they will be sure to make good their 
 own folly. 
 
 OF ENVY. 
 
 There be none of the affections which 
 have been noted to fascinate, or bewitch, but 
 love and envy : they both have vehement 
 
 wishes ; they frame themselves readily into 
 
^ or ENVY. 31 
 
 invaginations and suggestions ; and they come 
 easily into the eye^ especially upon the pres- 
 ence of tlic objects which are the points that 
 conduce to fasciiiation, if any such thing there 
 be. We see, likewise, the scripture calleth 
 envy an evil eye ; and the astrologers call the 
 evil influences of the stars evil aspects ; so that 
 still there seemeth to be acknowledged, in the 
 act of envy, an ejaculation, or irra.diation of the 
 eye : nay, some ha^/e 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 thought on in fit place^) we 
 will handle what persons are apt to envy 
 others; what persons are most subject to be 
 envied themselves ; and what is the differ- 
 ence 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 oth- 
 ers' evil ; and who v/anteth the one will prey 
 upon the other : and whoso is out of hope to 
 attain another's virtue will seek to come at 
 even hand by depressing another's fortune. 
 
 A man that is busy and inquisitive is com- 
 monly envious ; for to know much of other 
 men's matters: cannot be,, beeau^^e- oil thftt ado 
 
32 OF KNvy. • 
 
 may concern his own estate ; tlierefore 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 ; far envy is a gadding 
 passion, and vvalketh the streets, and doth not 
 Keep at home: " Non est curiosus, quin idem 
 sit malevolus.'' 
 
 Men of noble birth are noted to be envious 
 tovv'ards iit-w men Vvhcn they rise ; for the dis- 
 tance k altered ; and it is like a deceit of the 
 eye, that when others come on they think 
 ihemselves go back. 
 
 Deformed persons and eunuchs, and old men 
 and bastards, arc envlons : for he that cannot 
 possibly mend his own case will do what he 
 can to impair another's ; except these defects 
 light upon a very brave and heroical nature, 
 which thinketh to make his natural wants part 
 of his honour ; in that it should be said, " that 
 an eunuch, or a lame man, did such great 
 matters ;" affecting the honour of a miracle : 
 as it was in Narses, the eunuch, and Agesilaua 
 and Tamerlane, that were lame men. 
 
 The same is the case of men who rise after 
 calamities and misfortunes; for they are as 
 men fidleu out v. ilii the limes, and think other 
 men's harms a redemption of their own suf- 
 ferings. 
 
 They that desire to excel in too many mat- 
 ters, out of levity and vain glory, are ever en- 
 vious, for they cannot ^vant v-'ork ; it being 
 
OF ENVY. 23 
 
 impossible but maiiy^, in some one of those 
 things, should surpass them ; which was the 
 character of Adrian the emperor, that mortally 
 c-nvied poetSj and painters, and artilicers in 
 \^ orks, wherein he had a wein to excel. 
 
 Lastly, near kinsfolks, and fellows in office^ 
 and those that are bred together, are more apt 
 to envy their equals when they are raised ; 
 for it doth upbraid unto them their own for- 
 tunes, and pointeth at them, and cometh of- 
 Jener into their remembrance, and incurreth 
 likewise more into the note of others ; and 
 envy ever redoubietii from speech and fame. 
 Cain's envy was the more vile and malignant 
 towards his brother Abel, because, when his 
 jyaerifice was better accepted, there was nobody 
 to look on. Thus much for those that are apt 
 to envy. 
 
 Concerning those that arc more or less sub= 
 ject to envy : First, persons of eminent virtue, 
 when tliey are advanced, are less envied; for 
 their fortune seemeth but due unto them ; and 
 aio man envieth tlie payment of a debt, but 
 rewards and liberality rather. Again, envy is 
 ever joined with the comparing of a man's 
 self -J and where there is no comparison, no 
 envy ; and therefore kings are not envied hut 
 by kings. Nevertheless it is to be noted, that 
 unworthy persons are most envied at their first 
 coniing in, and afterv/ards overcome it better; 
 whereas, contrarivv-ise, persons of worth and 
 merit are most en^aed ^vhen their fortune ccn- 
 
34 or ExvY. 
 
 tinueth long ; for by that time, though their 
 vh-tue be the same, yet it hath not the same 
 lustre, for fresh men grow up to darken it. 
 
 P(irsons of noble Blood are less envied in 
 their rising ; for it seemeth but right done t6 
 their birth : besides, there seemeth not much 
 added to their fortune ; and envy is as the sun- 
 beams, that beat hottsr upon a^bank or steep 
 rising ground than upon a flat ; and for the same' 
 reason, those that are advanced by degrees are 
 less envied than those that are advanced sud- 
 denly, and "per saltum." 
 
 Those that have joined v;ith their honour 
 great travels, cares, and perils, are less subject 
 to envy ; for men think that they earn their 
 honours hardly, and pity them sometimes ; and 
 pity ever healeth envy : v/herefore you shall 
 observe, that the more deep and sober sort of 
 politic persons, in their greatness, are ever be- 
 moaning themselves what a life they lead, 
 chanting a ''-quanta patimur;" not that they 
 feel it so, but only to abate the edge of envy : 
 but this is to be understood of business that is 
 laid upon men, and not such as they call unto, 
 themselves; for nothing increaseth envy more 
 than an unnecessary and ambitious engrossing 
 of business ; and nothing doth extinguish envy 
 more 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 v/hile they are showing liovv^ great 
 they are, either by outward pomp, or by tri- 
 umphing over all oppointlon or competition : 
 whereas Vvise men will realier do sacrifice to 
 envy, in snifering themselves sometimes cf 
 purpose to be crossed and overborne in 
 things that do not m^ach concern tliem. Not- 
 withstanding so much is true, tli&t tlie carriage 
 cf greatness in a plain and opc?i voramQr (so 
 it be witbont arrogziivj nrid \:\h\ glory) dotii 
 draw less enxj than iC it h^ iu a more crafty 
 and cunninp; fashion ; for in that course a man 
 doth but disavow f^ntune, and seemetli to be 
 conscious of his own wsn'^ in worih, and doth 
 but teach others to envy him. 
 
 Lastly, to conclude ih^V; part ; as wc said 
 in the beginning that tl.e act of envy had 
 somewhat in it of witclicrali, so there is no 
 other cure of envy but the cure of witchcivt': ; 
 and that is, to remove ths lot; (osthey call it,') 
 mxd to lay it upon another, for vhich purpose 
 the wiser sort of grsat psrsons bring In ever 
 irpon the stage somebody upon wh^m to de- 
 rive the envy that would come upon them- 
 - selves; sometimes upon ministers and ser- 
 vants, sometimes upon cotloagucs and associ- 
 ates, and the lihe ; and ios rhat toYU there are 
 never wanting ssme w:r::ons of vio:.;i3: zn.d 
 undercaJilng nature:, -^ ho, go they may hare 
 power and hu^iner-, -^-iii lake it at any cost. 
 
36 OF £Nvr, 
 
 Now, to speak of public envy : there is yet 
 some good in public envy, vv hereas in private 
 there is none ; for public envy is as an ostra- 
 cism, that eclipseth men when they grow too 
 great : and therefore it is a bridle also to great 
 ones to keep within bounds. 
 
 This envy being in the Latin word "invi- 
 dia," goeth in the modern languages by the 
 name of discontentment ; of which we shall 
 speak in handling sedition : it is a disease in 
 a state like to infection : for as infection 
 spreadeth upon that which is sound, and taint- 
 eth it ; so, when envy is gotten once into a 
 stale, it traduceth even the best actions thereof, 
 and turneth them into an ill odour; and there- 
 fore there is little won by intermingling of 
 plausible actions : for that doth argue but a 
 weakness and fear of envy, which hurteth so 
 much the more, as it is likewise usual in in- 
 fections, whichjif you fear them, you call them 
 upon you. 
 
 This public envy seemeth to bear chiefly 
 upon principal oflicers or ministers, rather than 
 upon kings and states 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 ; 
 cr if the envy be general in a manner upon all 
 the ministers of an estate, then the envy 
 (though hidden) is truly upon the state itself 
 And so much of public envy or discontent, and 
 the difference f^iP-ieQi from priv:.tc envy, which 
 was handled in the fir?t plivcc. 
 
or Love. - 87 
 
 We will add this in generalj touching the af- 
 fection of envy, that of aii other affections it 
 is the most importune and continual; for of 
 other affections there is occasion given but now 
 and then ; and therefore it was well said, 
 *' Invidia festos dies non agit :" for it is ever 
 working upon some or other. And it is also 
 noted, that love and envy do make a man pine, 
 which other affections do not, because they are 
 not so continual. It is also the vilest affection, 
 and the most depraved ; for which cause it is 
 the proper attribute of the devil, who is called, 
 ** The envious man, that soweth tares amongst 
 the wheat by night;" as it always cometh to 
 pass, that envy woiketh subtly, and in the 
 dark, and to the prejudice of good things, such 
 35 is the wheat. 
 
 The stage is more beholding to love than 
 the life of raan ; for as to the stage, love is 
 ever matter of comedies, and now and then 
 cf tragedies ; but m life it doth much mis- 
 chief ; sometimes like a siren, sometimes like 
 a fury. Yon may observe, that, amongst all 
 the great and worthy persons, (whereof the 
 -:.£raory ra^iiije:];^ e:-:hcr ^zi^-iut or recent,), 
 
 !i;£ rr:id degree c: love; xvljicb shows ih^t 
 f'lti^. spints eni cTe*"" "business do keeD out 
 
4IS OF lote:- 
 
 tMs weak pas.si'in. You must except, never- 
 tlieless, Mareus AatoBkis^ tbe half pattiier o-f 
 thG. emrme of Rome, and Appius Claudius, tlie 
 deeeixiTir and lawg^iver; whereof the former 
 M^r>s indeed a volu-pltrous man and iBordiiiate; 
 hut the latter was an ari&tere and wise man : 
 and therefore ii seems (tltoiiglt rarely) ibist 
 love can find eDtrancey not only into an opem 
 heart., but ako into a Iieai't well fortifiedj if 
 'wm^k he not well kept. It is a poor sayinp^ 
 oi E|)i£iiriiSy " Satis uiagnnm alter alteri tLea.- 
 tfiii^ii snmiis-;''' as- if man. made for tlse eoK- 
 tem pi atioH of IieaFen, and all noble ofeject^j 
 ?liQuid da notliittg; biit kneei before a litt;Ie 
 idol, end ma^e liimself a: subject^ t?mTtg:Ii5 Bo-t 
 of tbe month,-, (as- b-eaBfe are,) yet of the eye, 
 wliicli was given Iiim for higlter purposesr l.t 
 Is 3 stxange ibmg lo note the excess- of t}n» 
 passion^ and how it braves tlie nidme ai/d valne 
 of things by this, that thi speaiiiag- in a pes- 
 peUidl hyperbole is comely in notbijig but it& 
 iore ; neitlver i«5 k mejeij m fne plniise; fbf 
 whereas it h&xh bee-o well «;4d. " ?mt ^^ 
 srch tiatterer,. witli irbom &,!! ibe pretty f at-- 
 teret's hare fntelligeiGce, h a nian% self j'^ cer^ 
 tain ly the lover is More;, &>t there "^va^ nevc'?' 
 a proud man thoitght &'^ aba^sdly ^^ell of him- 
 self ag the lover doth of the fefmu We'd;; 
 aM therefore it wa,«> v^ell sai-d^-^tte it ig^ 
 inrooss^ble to love arr-d to be wise.-''' Keltte" 
 'i^-m tlus^ wer^ktiess appecS-r to othets ofifyj ^iTsd^ 
 rioc ix> the p-trvy IoVo>l^ l^ot to^ t^he I'm-ed mf^sm' 
 ^•:fUK- C"3.ir.v. fbolovf be rriPiprAral; p-f i^ h^ 
 
C3F LOVE. 39 
 
 » true rule, that love is ever rewarded either 
 with the reciprocal or with an inward or secret 
 contempt j by how much more the men ought 
 tt> beware of tiiis passion, which loseth tot 
 only other things, hut itself. As for ilie other 
 Sx)sses5 ^^1^ poet's relation doth well iigiire 
 them ; " that he that preferred Helena quitted 
 l^e gifts of Juno and Pallas;'' for whoso- 
 ever esteemeth too much of amorous affection 
 tpittetli both riches and wdsdorn. This pf\s- 
 sion hath its floods in the very times of we^- 
 i^ess, wliich are, great prosperity and great ad- 
 Tersity, though this latter liath been less 
 ehserrM ; both which times kindle loye. and 
 fiiake it more fer^'ent., anxl tiierefore show it to 
 Ise tlie child of folly. Tiiey do Isest, wdiOj if 
 iliey cannot hut admit love, yet make it keep 
 «|iiaiter, and sever it v/holly from tlielr serloii? 
 affairs and actions of life; for, if it clieci: OTiCe 
 with business, it trouMeth men's fortuneSj snd 
 laaketla men diat they can no ways lie tnie t^ 
 their own ends, i know not liovv, but mar- 
 tini men are given to love ; I tliink it is hut as 
 they are given to wine; for perils commonly 
 ask to he paid in pleasures- There is in man's 
 laatnre a secret inclinatjon and motion tow^ards 
 love of other:^, which, if it be not spent upon 
 some one, ^r a few, dotli natnraily spread it- 
 self towards many, and maketk men l>eeo.n3e 
 liumane -and claad tabic, as it is seen ipometiines 
 m friars. Nuptiai love makeih mankind | 
 Mendly love peifecteth it; l)Xit wanton love 
 (ie£>inipteth and eicl^asstk it 
 
OF ORE AT PLACE. 
 
 OF GREAT PLACE. 
 
 Mei\ ^.. great place are tlirice servants; 
 Servants of tlie sovereign or state, servants of 
 fame, and servants of business; so as they 
 have no freedom, neither in their persons, nor 
 in their actions, nor in their times. It is a 
 strange desire to seek power and to lose 
 liberty ; or to seek power over others, and to 
 lose power over a man's self. The rising unto 
 place is laborious, and by pains men come to 
 greater pains ; and it is sometimes base, and 
 by indignities men come to dignities. The 
 standing is slippery, and the regress is either 
 a downfall, or at least an eclipse, which is a 
 melancholy thing : " Cum non sis qui fueris, 
 non esse cur velis vivere ?'' Nay, retire men 
 cannot when they would, neither will they 
 when it were reason ; but are impatient of 
 privateness even in age and sickness, which 
 require the shadow ; like old townsmen, that 
 will be still sitting at their street door, though 
 thereby they oiFer age to scorn. Certain- 
 ly great persons had need to borrow other 
 men's opinions to think themselves happy ; 
 for if they judge by their own feeling, they 
 cannot find 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 by report, when perhaps 
 they find the contrary within : for they are 
 the first that find their own griefs, though thej 
 
hit ^ti h.§l thftt Ead t^^T '&tv^ £miiis. Cea^ 
 
 '^•a^iiselves, -a^id wliile tacy ure iri t^ jmizik 
 t4!>f 'feit^liess tfeey Isave a^o time to teM ih'ek 
 '^le.^^h. t&he^ ai ^^ody /OT Sakd.: "Uli iniws 
 ^^s iM^u^?ii*>, qi-ii ^iK^tfts aioais ornftil)!^ if M)- 
 5?^ 5ii(?>iit:mi- sibi.'" 1^ p^ace ^^lie^e is license i^ 
 <({<b lg^0^ ^rJi €vii^ wbtereof ihe^ lafeter is ^ 
 <eM^:: ^ ilk 'eriil *fee 'best condition is not t© 
 ^w*fl> #ie s€<roncI {lot to call., Brnt^owd^-mf^ 
 ^6(}k'i^ the ts=ti6x.n^liuvM end of .aspiring- fer 
 ^0^4 thwigkts (#ioi^# God accept t|eK^ .yetV 
 >to«v<&fds^>eii are iittl€ 'tfetteo- tnan g&e><l ^(ire^nas^ 
 ic^imt -tke^ fee ]Kit in act'; qM -tfet ^afeot -be 
 Wrtkout :p6vv«r^d ^aee^ as t$ie vantage jsM 
 <coraffiai^ftg grofe^a. ^lerS andgood woife-i^ 
 ^be ^M ^ ■iB:a?a's ^otioi?> £«^ •consc^en^e oi 
 ^ke^iae 'is Che accorn]>liJ^«^*^^t &i^Mv-s Test-: 
 ftor ^ a a«sn ^m i^ ipai^afcef ^ #od^s I^M^atr*^ 
 %^:^al Mkew^ise be ^a^afejl- of =©8^^'* ^i^t> 
 '« Et timi^e^^iis Petis, vt T^spic^ret ^a|>em, ^cpa^e 
 ifeceniiit ttianiis sii?^, Vidit_ qii^od^oinnia e^ss^^^c 
 %eMa fKrfds >'' ^a¥>d -then l^lie *a;jo>^iB-- is ^^mc 
 fe<^-a?[^e ^^f 'tliv iplace set before thee ir^e -oes^ 
 iemm^s;; %r i^ifetion ^^ ^a s^loPe :ot p^ec^ts^ 
 %^d ^Aer % €me ^s^M before me tii^ne :o ,j^=h ^x-^ 
 rc«ft»>k-; -and e^^a^itie tirvse'i ^mctk wi«^.^er 
 ttkM'M#t4iMt)est at ^|r^.. -J^i^gleet noPa^BO 
 %e ^e?^mi>ia ^of tkase,^at ¥ave cjteeei th^nr- 
 %^ves^4lfee sa^iepfece^; ^oPto f^oa th^- 
 %^ ^v •>tfe>^? tfceir meifioiT, %iFt ^o ^feect my- 
 
42 ©F OREAT PLACEv 
 
 but yet set it down to thyself, as well to create 
 good precedents as to follow them. Reduce 
 things to the first institution, and observe 
 wherein and how they have degenerated ; but 
 yet ask counsel of both times ; of the ancient 
 time what is best ; and of the latter time what 
 is fittest. Seek to make thy course regular, 
 that men may know beforehand what they 
 may expect; but be not too positive and peremp- 
 tory ; and express thyself well when thou di- 
 gressest from thy rule. Preserve the right of 
 thy place, but stir not questions of jurisdiction ; 
 and rather assume thy right in silence, and 
 "de facto," than voice it with claims and 
 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 exe- 
 cution 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 corruption, 
 do not only bind thine own hands or thy ser- 
 vant's hands from taking, but bind the hands 
 of suitors also from oifering ; 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 
 
or WHEAT PLACE. 43 
 
 chahgeth manifestly without manifest cause, 
 givetli suspicion of corruption ; therefore, al- 
 ways, when thou changest thine opinion or 
 course, profess it plainly, and declare it, to- 
 gether with the reasons that move thee to 
 change, and do not think to steal it. A ser- 
 vant or a favourite, if he be inward, and no 
 other apparent cause of esteem, is commonly 
 thought but a by-way to close corruption. For 
 roughness, it is a needless cause of discontent : 
 severity breedeth fear, but roughness breedeth 
 hate. Even reproofs from authority ought to 
 be grave, and not taunting. As for facility, it 
 is worse than bribery ; for bribes come but 
 now and then ; but if importunity or idle re- 
 spects lead a man, he shall never be without ; 
 as Solomon saith, " To respect persons it is not 
 good, for such a man wdli transgress for a piece 
 of bread." It is most true that was anciently 
 spoken, " A place shov/eth the man ; and it 
 showeth some to the better, and some to the 
 ■worse :" " omnium consensu, capax imperii, 
 nisi imperasset," saith Tacitus of Galba ; but 
 of Vespasian he saith, " solu;? imperantium, 
 Vespasianus mutatus in melius;" though the 
 one was meant of sufficiency, the other of 
 manners and affection. It is an assured sign 
 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 vio- 
 lently to their place, and calmly in their place, 
 go virtue in ambition is violent, in authority 
 settled and calm. All rising to great place h 
 
u 
 
 'Oi' 3S&i,i)NilS^\ 
 
 bj k wiii'diag siaif > m(% if th^.tc ht innkflfej it. 
 k ^OoA Id Side a ffiari's self wluist he is iii the 
 ^isilig., mrd to baiafti3e litmst^l'f wheii he is 
 |>]keecU IJse tire iitemory oi' thy predeeessof 
 |aifly aiid tei^{5^riy^ fer/ii" t^ioli <lost hot, ii 
 is ^ <lebt mil siife be paid ^v^ieai tlioXi ar^ 
 gone^ ^ Ii" tl\oii Kafe eollea^ues^ respect tlifeBa,^ ., 
 'm\A ratlier eall tli^M wken tKey look i\Qi fei^ i 
 thark ex'cl'iide tkein w^^^ii iiie.y liave reasenW 
 Jo9k to be calieri". Be "not w^ seiisiijle of toe 
 Temeiiibermg oi tky place in eonvers'ati^ii aiul 
 liriyate aHifwfers to B\^itors ^ but let It mher be 
 M4, J'M'Vheii l\e sits ili ^itccte lie is aftotliel- 
 
 \\oitbv a \vi -^m^R^is Oi^-itleratJ^ii Quesuoj^ 
 N\f*'^ ^sKeit 0? f^em^^t^ir .eb " lat \^ ^^ il^e chief 
 l3ait of rn oii 3T 'ii A ^'^N^fie 1, ^c imi uha^ 
 * \? ^ ait^oi -i ^t iif^t i^e?!^ nt'Ji^ He 
 ^iic" it t^at J J -^^ U '^ ' nil Lao bv ■''>hU r'^ 
 ^^ri^st-tf i ^»^ ilrj i *-'iat he eo iiniC iHiec' 
 "^ <^ii\r>„<^ ^ ii „ lit i' ^^ ?o ^"^ -'i -oiaio 
 V h^x ri IS b r 'v , r > 1 )K ;\-ii i ^ i .♦*» iKe \ntii-^ 
 O'^aHptci, ^i iii(' b jbtf-^a «.f ..* ^rb above 
 tbose olber vouiC *'-'*s / i nnuiou, f ^c^ mePi 
 irM tbe le^ii ' ii-^i u^Vio-^t i ci c, •!>> ^f i^ \^-er- 
 all HI al] n- ,i ^r-1^ iec"'^'^n i^ ^^l-^m Ibere !•* 
 ^n Ihiimai ndhii ^efte""k\ iuoie ol t'l^ fool 
 H=i\rt of tb \ ] ^ I'd 1 iel(Hi Ib'^^f fafu^ 
 
©P BOLDNESS. 45 
 
 ties by which the foolish part of men's minds 
 is taken are most potent. Wonderful like 
 is the case of boldness in civil business; 
 what first ? boldness : what second and third ? 
 boldness. And yet boldness is a child of ig- 
 norance and baseness, far inferior to other 
 parts : but, nevertheless, it doth fascinate, and 
 bind hand and foot those that are either shal- 
 low in judgment or weak in courage, which 
 are the greatest part : yea, and prevaiieth 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 liave been lucky in two or 
 three experiments, but want the ground of 
 science, and therefore cannot hold out : nay, 
 you shall see a bold fellow many times do Ma- 
 homet's miracle. Mahomet made the people 
 believe that he w^ould call a hill to him, and 
 from the top of it oiler 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 prom- 
 ised great matters, and failed most shamefully, 
 yet (if they have the perfection of boldness) 
 
46 or (iOODlNiES.S, AND 
 
 tliey will but slight it over, and make a tarn, and 
 11)0. more ado. Certainly, to men of great judg- 
 ment, bold men are sport to behold; nay, and 
 to the vulgar, also, boldness hath somewhat of 
 the ridiculous : for, if absurdity be the snbject 
 of laughter, doubt you not but great boldness 
 is seldom without some absurdity ; especially 
 it is a sport to see when a bold fellow is out 
 of countenance, for that puts his face into a 
 most shrunken and w^ooden posture, as need,^ 
 it must : for in bashfulness the spirits do a lit- 
 tle go and come ; but with bold men, upon like 
 occasion, they stand at a stay ; like a stale at 
 chesSj where it is no mate, but yet the game 
 cannot stir : but this last vrere titter for a sat- 
 ire than for a serious observation. This is 
 well to be weighed, that boldness is ever 
 blind ; for it St^.eth not dangers and inconve- 
 niences : therefore it is ill in counsel, good in 
 execution ; so that the right use oi bold per- 
 sons is, tiiat they never command hi chi^f, but 
 be seconds, and under the direction of others : 
 for in counsel it is good to see dangers, and in 
 execution not to see them, eiccept they be very 
 great 
 
 OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATl'Ri:. 
 
 I TAKs goodness in lids sense, the aifectlng 
 of the weal of men, Vvhich is that the Gre- 
 cians call PhiltsSithropia ; and the word hu- 
 icanity (as it is iised) is a little too light to 
 express it Ooc-daes? I call the habit, and 
 
gooduess of nature the inclination. This, of 
 all virtues and dignities of the mind, is the 
 gi'eatest, being the character of the Deity; 
 and without it man is a btisy, mi&chievouj?, 
 wretched thing-, no better than a. kind of ver- 
 min. Goodness answers to the theok)gic3l 
 virtue charity, and admits no excess but error. 
 The desire of power in excess caused the an- 
 gels to fail ; the desire of knowledge in excess 
 caused man to fall : but in charity there is no ex- 
 cess, neither can angel or man come in danger 
 by it. The inclination io goodness is imprinted 
 deeply in the nature of man ; insomiich that, 
 if it issue not towards men, it will take unto 
 other living creatures ; ss it is seen in the 
 Turks, a cruel people, who nevertheless are 
 kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and 
 birds ; insomuch, as Bttsbechius rq)OFtet]i, s 
 Chiistian boy in Constantinople had like to 
 have been stoned for gagging in a waggis'hiie.«,4 
 a Iong-bilk:d fo\^i. Erroi's, indeed, in thisvif^ 
 tue, ID goodness or chaiity, may be committed- 
 The Italians liave an ringracious proveru, 
 *' Tanto buon che val niente ;'^ " So good, that 
 he is good for nothhlg r^ and one of the doe- 
 tors of Italy, Nicholas Maehiavel, had the 
 coniidence to put In wnting, almost in plain 
 !:en\is, " Tliat the Christisn faith had given «p 
 f-ood ];ie:n iii prey to those that are tyfannicat 
 
 illUSt 
 
 Vc liich he spake, because, indeed, 
 
 iiu^-e was never law, ot sect, or opinion, did ?f'l 
 iriiicli mai^iiif}- goodiies^; as the Christian reli- 
 i'iOiidath • iU« I'^mre, tn pa oifl ifir- ^riindah ^ild 
 
48 OF GOODNESS, AND 
 
 the danger both it is good to take knowledge 
 of the errors of a habit so excellent. Seek 
 the good of other men, but be not in bondage 
 to their faces or fancies ; for that is but facility 
 or softness, which taketh an honest mind pris- 
 oner. Neither give thou ^sop's cock a gera, 
 who would be better pleased and happier if'he 
 had a barley-corn. The example of God 
 teacheth this lesson truly ; " He sendeth his 
 rain, and maketh his sun to shine upon the 
 just and the unjust ;" but he doth not rain 
 wealth, nor shine honour and virtues upon 
 men equally : common benefits are to be com- 
 municated with all, but peculiar benefits with 
 choice. And beware how, in making the por- 
 traiture, thou breakest the pattern : for divinity 
 maketh the love of ourselves the pattern ; the 
 love of our neighbours but the portraiture, 
 "^ Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, and 
 follow me :" but sell not ail thou Iiast, except 
 thou come and follow me ; that is, ex'jept thou 
 have a vocation v/lierein thou mayest do as 
 much good with little means as with great; 
 for, otherwise, in feeding the streams, thou dri- 
 est the fountain. Neither is there only a habit 
 of goodness directed by right reason ; but 
 there is in some men, even in nature, a dispo- 
 sition towards it; as, on i'ae other side, there 
 iz s naturd loal^gi^ity : for there be thr^t in 
 
 The lighter tort of miligiii^y turiieth but to l 
 t:"QS:n'::^% or frowardness, c? ^-^tntss'to oppose, 
 or difiicilfincss, <:'r ^he like ; but the dt^per 
 
 I 
 
r.OODNE.SS OF NATL'RE, 4f> 
 
 «ort to envy or mere mischief. Such men, in 
 other men's calamities, are, as it were, in sea- 
 son, and are ever on the loading parts : not so 
 good as the dogs that licked Lazarus' sores, 
 hut like iiies that are siiil buzzing upon any 
 thing that is raw ; misanthropi, that make it 
 their practice to bring men to the bough, and yet 
 have never a tree for the purpose in their gar- 
 dens, as Timon had : such dispositions are the 
 very errors of human nature, and yet they are 
 the fittest timber to make great politics of; 
 like to knee timber, that is good for ships that 
 are ordained to be tossed, but not for building 
 houses that shall stand firm. The parts and 
 signs of goodness are many. If a man be 
 gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows 
 he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart 
 is no island cut off from other lands, but a 
 continent that joins to them : if he be com- 
 passionate towards the afiliciions of others, it 
 shows that his heart u like the noble tree that 
 is wounded itself wlien it gives the balm : 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 from Christ, for the salvation of 
 his brethren, it shows much of a divine na- 
 ture, and a kind of conformity viiili Christ 
 himself. 
 
50 OF A KING, 
 
 1. A KING is a mortal god on earth, unto • 
 whom the living God hath lent his own name 
 as a great honour ; but withal told him, he 
 should die like a man, lest he should be proud, 
 and rl-dtter hiniself that God hath with his , 
 name imparted unto him his nature also. 
 
 2. Of all kind of men, God is the least be- 
 holding unto them ; for he doeth most for 
 them, and they do ordinarily least for him. 
 
 3. A king, that would not feel his crown too 
 heavy for him, must wear it every day ; but if 
 he think it too light, he knoweth not of what 
 metal it is made. 
 
 4. He must make religion the rule of gov- 
 ernment, and not to balance the scale ; for he 
 that castetli in religion only to make the scales 
 even, his ov/n v/eight is contained in those char- 
 acters, " Mene, mene, tekel upbarsin," " He 
 is found too light, his kingdom shall be taken 
 from him." 
 
 5. And that king that holds not religion the 
 best reason of state, is void of all^ piety and 
 justice, the supporters of a king. 
 
 6. He must be able to give counsel himself, 
 but not rely thereupon ; for though happy 
 events justify their counsels, yet it is better 
 that the evil event of good advice be rather 
 imputed to a subject than a sovereign. 
 
 7. He is the fountain of honour, which 
 should n-;>t nin v.-ilh '>> '"aslo pipe, lest the 
 
or A KING. 51 
 
 eourtierri sell tlie water, and then (as papists 
 say of their holy v/ells) it loses the virtue. 
 
 8. He is the life of the law, not only as he 
 is " lex loquens" himself, but because he aa- 
 imateth the dead letter, making it active to- 
 wards all his subjects, "praemio et poena." 
 
 9. A wise king must do less in altering his 
 laws than he may ; for new government is ever 
 dangerous ; it being true in the body politic, as 
 in the corporal, that " omnis subita immutatio 
 est periculosa:" and though it be for the bet- 
 ter, yet it is not without a fearful apprehen- 
 sion ; for he that changeth the fundamental 
 laws of a kingdom thinketh there is no good 
 title to a crown but by conquest. 
 
 10. A king that setteth to sale seats of jus- 
 tice oppresseth the people ; for he teacheth his 
 judges to sell justice ; and " precio parata pre- 
 cio venditur justitia." 
 
 11. Bounty and magnificence are virtues 
 very regal, but a prodigal king is nearer a ty- 
 rant than a parsimonious ; for store at home 
 draweth not his contemplations abroad; but 
 want supplieth itself of what is next, and 
 many times the next way : a king herein must 
 be wise, and know what he may justly do. 
 
 12. That king Vv^hicli is not feared is not 
 loved ; and he that is well seen in his craft 
 must as well study to be feared as loved ; yet 
 not loved for fear, but feared for love. 
 
 13. Therefore, as he must always resemble 
 him whose great name he beareth, and that as 
 irj manifesting the swf'et iiifluenf^e of his mercy 
 
OF A KING. 
 
 on the severe stroke of his justice sometimes, 
 80 in this not to suffer a man of death to livej 
 for, besides that the land doth mourn, the re- 
 straint of justice towards sin doth more retard 
 the affection of love than the extent of mercy 
 doth inflame it; and sure where love is [ill] 
 bestowed, fear is quite lost. 
 
 14. His greatest enemies are his flatterers ; 
 for though they ever speak on his side, yet 
 their words still make against him. 
 
 15. The love which a king oweth to a weal 
 public should not be restrained to any one par- 
 ticular ; yet that his more special favour do re- 
 flect upon some w^orthy ones is somewhat 
 necessary, because there are few of that 
 capacity. 
 
 16. He must have a special care of five 
 things, if he would not have his crowp to be 
 put to him " infelix felicitas :" 
 
 First, that " simulata sanctitas" be not in 
 the church ; for that is " duplex iniquitas :" 
 
 Secondly, that ^^iiiutilis sequitas'' sit not 
 in the chancery : for that is " inepta miseri-- 
 cordia :" 
 
 Thirdly, that "utilis iniquitas" keep not 
 the exchequer : for that is " crudele latrocin- 
 ium :" 
 
 Fourthly, that *• frdelis temeritas" be not 
 bis general : for that will bring but " seram 
 pcenitentiam :" 
 
 Fifthly, that "infidelis prudentia" be not 
 his secretary : for that is " anguis sub viridi 
 herba." 
 
 i 
 
CF NOElLITr. 38 
 
 ^o conclude ; as he is of tlie greatest pow- 
 er, so he is subject to the greatest careSj made 
 the servant of his people, or else he were 
 without a calling at all. 
 
 ^ He, then, that hononreth him not is next 
 an atheist, wanting the fear of God in his 
 heart. 
 
 OF NOBILITY. 
 
 We will speak of nobility first as a portion 
 of an estate, then as a condition of particular 
 persons. A monarchy, v/here there is no nobil- 
 ity at all, is ever a pure and absolute tyranny, 
 as that of the Turks ; for nobility attempers 
 sovereignty, and draw^s the eyes of the people 
 somewhat aside from the line royal : but for 
 democracies they need it not ; and they are 
 commonly more quiet, and less subject to sedi- 
 tion, than where there are stirps of nobles; 
 for men's eyes are upon the business, and not 
 upon the persons ; or if upon the persons, it is 
 for the business' sake, as fittest, and not for 
 flags and pedigree. We see the Switzers last 
 well, notwithstanding their diversity of reli- 
 gion and of cantons ; for utility is their bond, 
 and not respects. The united provinces of 
 the Low Countries in their government ex- 
 cel ; for where there is an equality the con- 
 sultations are more indifferent, and the pay- 
 ments and tributes more cheerful. A great 
 and potent nobility add eth majf-sty to anion- 
 
^4 Of NOBiLrji". 
 
 arch, but diniinisheth power j aad puttetli life 
 and spirit into the people, but presseth their 
 fortune. It is well when nobles are not too- i 
 great for sovereignty nor for justice ; and yet 
 maintained in that height, as the insolency of 
 inferiors may be broken upon thera before it 
 come on too fast upon the majesty of kings. 
 A numerous nobility causeth poverty and in- 
 convenience 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 dispro- 
 portion 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; hov/ much more to 
 behold an ancient noble family, which hath 
 stood against the v/aves and weathers of time ? 
 for new nobility is but the act of power, but an- 
 cient nobility is the act of time. Those that 
 are first raised to nobility are commonly more 
 virtuous, but less innocent than their descend- 
 ants ; for there is rarely any rising but by a 
 commixture of good and evil arts : but it is 
 reason the memory of their virtues remain to 
 their posterity, and their faults die with them- 
 selves. Nobility of birth commonly abateth 
 industry ; and he that is not industrious envi- 
 eth him that is ; besides, noble persons cannot 
 go much higher: and he that standeth at a 
 stay when others rise can hardly avoid mo- 
 tions of envy^ On the other side, nobility ex- 
 
OF SEIjlTlUXS A.ND TllOCHLKS. 35 
 
 tinguisheth the passive envy from other* 
 towards them, because they are in posses- 
 sion of honour. Certainlyj kings that have 
 able men of their nobility shall find ease in 
 employing them, and a better slide into their 
 business ; for people naturally bend to them 
 as bora in some sort to command. 
 
 OF SEDITIONS AND TROL'BLES. 
 
 Shepherds of people had need know the 
 calendars of tempests in states, which are com- 
 monly greatest when things grow to equality ; 
 as natural tempests are greatest about the equi- 
 noctia; and as there are certain hollow blasts 
 of wind and secret sweHiiigs of seas before a 
 tempest, so are there in states : 
 
 'Hie etiarp. ca?co3 iustnre tumultus 
 
 Stcpe monet, fraude.sque et operta tumescere bella." 
 
 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 : 
 
 " Illam terra parens, ira irritata devorum, 
 Extremani (ut perliibeiit) C(po Enceladoque sororem 
 Progenuit." .^neid, IV. 177. 
 
 As if fames were the relics of seditions past ; 
 but they are no less indeed the preludes of se- 
 
^0 OF SEDITIONS 
 
 ditions to come. Howsoever he noteth it 
 right, that seditious tumults and seditious 
 fames differ no more but as brother and sister, 
 masculine and feminine; especially if it come 
 to that, that the best actions of a state, and 
 the most plausible, and which ought to give 
 greatest contentment, are taken in ill sense, 
 and traduced : for that shows the envy great, 
 as Tacitus saith, " conflata, magna invidia, seu 
 bene, seu male, gesta premunt." Neither 
 doth it follow, that because these fames are a 
 sign of troubles, that the suppressing of them 
 with too much severity should be a remedy 
 of troubles ; for the despising of them many 
 times checks them best, and the going about 
 to stop them doth but make a wonder long 
 lived. Also that kind of obedience, which 
 Tacitus speaketh of, is to be held suspected : 
 " Erant in officio, sed tamen qui mallent man- 
 data imperantium interpretari, quam exequi ;" 
 disputing, excusing, cavilling upon mandates 
 and directions, is a kind of shaking off the 
 yoke, and assay of disobedience ; especially 
 if, in those disputings, they which are for the 
 direction speak fearfully and tenderly, and 
 those that are against it audaciously. 
 
 Also, as Machiavel noteth well, when prin- 
 ces, 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 v/eight 
 on the one side : as was well seen in the 
 time of Henry the Third of France ; for first 
 iiimself entered league for the extirpation of 
 
 4 
 
AND TROUBLES. 57 
 
 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 cause, and that there be other bands that 
 lie faster than the band of sovereignty, kings 
 begin to be put almost out of possession. 
 
 Also, v/hen discords, and quarrels, and fac- 
 tions, are carried openly and audaciously, it is 
 a sign the reverence of government is lost ; 
 for the motions of the greatest persons in a 
 government ought to be as the m.otions of the 
 planets imder "primum mobile," (according 
 to the old opinion,) which is, that every of 
 them is carried svriftly by the highest motion, 
 and softly in their own motion : and, there- 
 fore, when great ones in their cvvn particular 
 motion move violently, and, as Tacitus ex- 
 presseth it vrell, '^ libe^iu^3 quam ut irnperanti- 
 iim meminissent," it is a sign the orbs are out 
 of frame : for reverence is that v/herewith 
 princes are girt from God, who threateneth 
 the dissolving thereof; " solvam cingula re~ 
 gum." 
 
 So when any of the four pillars of government 
 are mainly shaken, or Vvxakened, (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 
 w^hich, nevertheless, mere light may be taken 
 from that which folioweth,) and let us speak 
 first of the materials of seditions, then of the 
 jnotives of them, and thirdly of tlie reme-* 
 ^es, 
 
6S t)F SEDITIONS 
 
 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 discontent- 
 ment. It is certain, so many overthrown es- 
 tates, so many votes for troubles. Lucan noteth 
 well the state of Rome before the civil v/ar : 
 
 " Hinc usura vorax, rapidiirnque in tempore fcjRUS, 
 Iliiic concussa Men, et iimliis utile bcUum." 
 
 This same " multis utile belluni'' is an assur- 
 ed and infallible sign of a state disposed to se- 
 ditions and troubles ; and if this poverty and 
 broken estate in the better sort be joined with 
 a want and necessity in the mean people, the 
 danger is imminent and great : for the rebel- 
 lions of the belly are the worst. As for dis- 
 contentments, they are in 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 mo- 
 dus, timendi non item ;" besides, in great op- 
 
AND TROUBLES. 59 
 
 pressions, the same things that provoke the 
 patience do withal meet tht: courage ; but in 
 iears 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 proverb 
 noteth well, " The cord breaketh at the last 
 by the weakest pull." 
 
 The causes and motives of seditions arc, 
 innovation in religion, taxes, alteration of laws 
 and customs, breaking of privileges, general 
 oppression, advancement of unworthy persons, 
 strangers, deaths, disbanded soldiers, factions 
 grown desperate ; and whatsoever in oiTending 
 people joineth and knitteth them in a common 
 cause. 
 
 For the remedies, there may be some gen- 
 eral preservatives, whereof we will speak : as 
 for the just cure, it must answer to the partic- 
 ular disease ; and so be left to counsel rather 
 than rule. 
 
 The first remedy, or prevention, is to re- 
 move, by all means possible, that material 
 cause of sedition whereof we speak, which 
 is, want and poverty in the estate ; to which 
 pui-pose serveth the opening and well balanc- 
 ing of trade; the cherishing of manufactures; 
 the banishing of idleness ; the repressing of 
 waste and excess, bv sumptuan- laws ; the im- 
 
60 OF SEDITIONS 
 
 provement 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 popula- 
 tion 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 low 
 and gather more : therefore, the multiplying 
 of nobility, and other degrees of quality, in 
 an over-proportion to the common people, doth 
 speedily bring a state to necessity ; and sa 
 doth likewise an overgrown clergy, for they 
 bring nothing to the stock; and in like jjif^n- 
 ner, when more are bred scholars than pre- 
 ferments can take off. 
 
 It is likewise to be remembered that, foras- 
 much as the increase of any estate must be up- 
 on the foreigner, (for whatsoever is somewhere 
 gotten is somewhere lost,) there be but three 
 things which one nation seileth unto another ; 
 the commodity as nature yieldeth it ; the man- 
 ufacture ; and the vecture, or carriage ; so that, 
 if these three v/heels go, wealth will flow as 
 in a spring tide. And it cometh many times 
 to pass, that " materiam superabit opus," that 
 the work and carriage is -worth more than the 
 material, and enricheth a state more ; as is no- 
 tably seen in the Lov/ Country men, who have 
 the bc^t mirtrs above frround i-i the world. 
 
AND TKOUBLES. Gf 
 
 Above all things, good policy is to be used, 
 that the treasure and moneys in a state be not 
 gathered into few hands; for, otherwise, a 
 state may have a great stock, and yet starve : 
 and money is like muck, no good except it be 
 spread. This is done chiefly by suppressing, 
 or, at the least, keeping a strait hand upon the 
 devouring trades of usury, engrossing, great 
 pasturages, and the like. 
 
 For removing discontentments, or, at least, 
 the danger of them, there is in every state (as 
 we know) two portions of subjects, the nobles 
 and the commonalty. When one of these is 
 discontent, the danger is not great ; for com- 
 mon people are of slow motion, if they be not 
 excited by the greater sort ; and the greater 
 sort are of small strength, except the multi- 
 tude be apt, and ready to move of themselves : 
 then is the danger, when the greater sort 
 do but wait for the troubling of the waters 
 amongst the meaner, that then they may de- 
 clare 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 hundred 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 dis- 
 contentments to evaporate (so it be without 
 too great insolency or bravery) is a safe way : 
 for he that turaeth the humours back, and 
 maketh the wound bleed inwards, endan- 
 6 
 
62 OF SEDITIONS 
 
 gereth malign ulcers and pernicious imposthu- 
 mations. 
 
 The part of Epimetheus might well become 
 Prometheus, in the case of discontentments, 
 for there is not a better provision against them. 
 Epimetheus, when griefs and evils Bew abroad, 
 at last shut the lid, and kept hope in the bot- 
 tom of the vessel. Certainly, the politic and 
 artificial nourishing and entertaining of hopes, 
 and carrying men from hopes to hopes, is one 
 of the best antidotes against the poison of dis- 
 contentments : and it is a certain sign of a 
 wise government and proceeding, w^ien 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 per- 
 emptory but that it hath some outlet of hope : 
 which is the less hard to do, because both 
 particular persons and factions are apt enough 
 to flatter themselves, or, at least, to brave that 
 which they believe not. 
 
 Also the foresight and prevention, that there 
 be no likely or fit head whereunto discontented 
 persons may resort, and under v/hora 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 
 Yipon 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 ; o'* • he fronted with some 
 
f AND TROUBLES. 63 
 
 ' Other of the same party that may oppose them, 
 and so divide the reputation. Generally, the 
 dividing and breaking of all factions and com- 
 binations that are adverse to the state, and set- 
 ting them at a distance, or, at least, distrust 
 among themselves, is not one of the worst 
 remedies ; for it is a desperate case, if those 
 that hold with the proceeding of the state be 
 full of discord and 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 in- 
 finite hurt in that speech, " Sylla nescivit lite- 
 ras, non potuit dictare ;" for it did utterly cut 
 off that hope which men had entertained, that 
 he would at one time or other give over his 
 dictatorship. Galba undid himself by that 
 speech, " legi a se militem, non emi ;" for it 
 put the soldiers out of hope of the donative .' 
 Probus, likewise, by that speech, " si vixero, 
 non opus erit amplius Romano imperio militi- 
 bus ;" a speech of great despair for the sol-^ 
 diers : and many the like. Surely princes had 
 need, in tender matter and 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 flat things, and not so much noted. 
 
 Lastly, let princes, against all events, not be 
 without some great person, one, or rather more, 
 ftf military valour, near unto them, for the re-' 
 
*84 or ATHEISM. 
 
 pressing of seditions in their beginnings ; for 
 without that, there useth to be more trepida- 
 tion in court upon the first breaking out of 
 trouble than were fit ; and the state runneth 
 the danger of that wiiich Tacitus saith, " at- 
 que is habitus animorum fuit, ut pessimum fa- 
 cinus auderent pauci, plures vellent, omnes 
 paterentur:" but let such military persons be 
 assured, and well reputed of, rather than fac- 
 tious and popular; holding also good corre- 
 spondence ^vith the other great men in the 
 state, or else the remedy is worse than the 
 jdisease. 
 
 OF ATHEISM. 
 
 I HAD rather believe all the fables in the le- 
 gend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than 
 that this universal frame is without a mind ; 
 and, therefore, God never wrought miracles 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 re- 
 ligion ; for, while the mind of man looketh 
 upon the second causes scattered, it may some- 
 times rest in them, and go no farther ; but when 
 it beholdeth the chain of them confederate, 
 and linked together, it must needs fly to Prov- 
 idence and Deity: nay, even that school, 
 which is most accused of atheism, doth most 
 demonstrate religion j that is, the school of 
 
 4 
 
OF ATHEISM. 65 
 
 Leucippus, and Democritus, and Epicurus : 
 for it is a thousand times more credible, that 
 four mutable elements and one immutable fifth 
 essence, duly and eternally placed, need no 
 God, than that an army of infinite small por- 
 tions, or seeds unplaced, should have produced 
 this order and beauty without a divine mar- 
 shal. The scripture saith, "The fool hath 
 said in his heart, There is no God ;" it is not 
 said, "The fool hath thought in his heart;" so 
 as he rather saith it by rote to himself, as that he 
 would have, than that he can thoroughly be- 
 lieve it, or be persuaded of it; for none deny 
 there is a God but those for whom it maketh 
 that there were no God. It appeareth in 
 nothing more, that atheism is rather in the lip 
 than in the heart of man, than by this, that 
 atheists will ever be talking of that their opin- 
 ion, as if they fainted in it within themselves, 
 and would be glad to be strengthened by the 
 opinion of others : nay, more, you shall have 
 atheists strive to get disciples, as it fareth with 
 other sects ; and, which is most of all, you shall 
 have of them that will suffer for atheism, and 
 not recant ; whereas, if they did truly think that 
 there were no such thing as God, why should 
 they trouble themselves ? Epicurus is charg- 
 ed, that he did not dissemble for his credit's 
 sake, when he affirmed there were blessed na- 
 tures, but such as enjoyed themselves without 
 having respect to the government of the world ; 
 wherein they say he did temporize, though in 
 secret he thought there was no God : but cer- 
 
66 OF ATHEIfeM- 
 
 tainly he is Iradnced, for his words are noble 
 and divine : " Nou Deos vulgi negare profa- 
 liiim ; sed vulgi opiniones diis applicare profa- 
 mim," Plato could have said no more ; and, 
 although he had the confidence to deny the 
 administration, he had not the povv er to deny 
 the nature. The Indians of the west have 
 names for their particular gods, though they 
 have no name for God ; as if the heathens 
 should have had the names Jupiter, Apollo, 
 Mars, &c, but not the word Deus,_ which 
 shovv'S, that even those barbarous people 
 have the notion, though they have not the lat?- 
 Itude and extent of it : so that against atheists 
 the very savages take part with the very subtil- 
 est pliiioscphers. The contemplative atheist 
 is rare, a Diagoras, a Bion, a Lucian, perhaps, 
 and some others ; and yet they seem to be more 
 than they are; for that all that impugn a re- 
 ceived religion, or superstition, are, by the ad- 
 verse part, branded with the name of atheists : 
 but the great atheists indeed are hypocrites, 
 which are ever handling holy things, but v^ith- 
 out feeling; so as they must needs be cau- 
 terized in the end. The causes of atheism 
 are, divisions in religion, if there be many; 
 ibr any one main division addeth zeal to both 
 sides, but many divisions introduce atheism : 
 another is, scandal of pnests, when it is come 
 to that which St. Bernard saith, "non est jam 
 dicere, ut populus, sic sacerdos ; quia nee sie 
 populus, ut sacerdos :'' a third is, a custom of 
 profane scoinng in holy matters, which 4oth^ 
 
or ATi!Er^r,i. 67 
 
 by little and litde, deface the reverence of re- 
 ligion; and, lastly, learned times, especially 
 with peace and prosperity; for trcfrib!:'s pj^d 
 ttdversities do more bow men's minds to reli- 
 gion. They that deny a God destroy a man's 
 nobility; for certainly man is cf kin to the 
 beasts by his body; and^ if he be not of kin 
 to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble 
 creature, it destroys, likevvise, magnanimity, 
 ■and the raising human nature ; for, take an er- 
 ample of a dog, and mark what a generosity 
 and courage he vvill put on rvhen he linds him- 
 self maintained by a man, who to liim is instead 
 of a God, or " melior natura ;" which courage 
 is manifestly such as that creature, without 
 that confidence of a better nature than his 
 own, could never attain. So man, when he 
 resteth and assureth himself upon divine pro-- 
 tection and favour, gatliereth a force and faith, 
 which human nature in itself could not ob- 
 tain ; therefore, as atheism is in all respects 
 haleial, so in ibis, thai it depriveth human nz- 
 Hire of the means to exalt itself above human 
 iVailty. As it is in particular persons, zo it is 
 'in nations : ne\'er was there such a state for 
 ina^j^nanimity as Rome : of this state hear 
 wbat Cicero sfdth : '^ Qoam vclumus, licet, pa- 
 tres conscripti, nos amemus, tamen nee nume- 
 TO Hispanos, nee robore Gallos, nee cal'iditate 
 Pcenos, nee artibus Grsscos, nee denique hoe 
 ipso liujus gentis et terr© domestico nativoque 
 ^.osu Italos ipsos et Latinos; sed pie.ate, ae 
 
^8 OF SUPERSTITION. 
 
 religione, atque hac Una sapientia, quod deo- 
 rum immortaiitim numine omnia regi, guber- 
 Uarique per speximus, omnes gentes nationes- 
 que superavimus." 
 
 OF SUPERSTITION. 
 
 It were better to have no opinion of God at 
 all than such an opinion as is unworthy of 
 him ; for the one is unbelief, the other is con- 
 tumely; and certainly superstition is the re- 
 proach of the Deity. Plutarch saith well to 
 that purpose : " Surely (saith he) I had rath- 
 er a great deal men should say there was no 
 such a man at all as Plutarch, than that they 
 should say there was one Plutarch, that would 
 eat his children as soon as they were born ;" 
 as the poets speak of Saturn : and, as the con- 
 tumely is greater towards God, so the danger 
 is greater towards men. Atheism leaves a 
 man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, 
 to laws, to reputation : all which may be 
 guides to an outward moral virtue, though re^ 
 ligion were not; but superstition dismounts 
 all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy 
 in the minds of men : therefore atheism did 
 never perturb states : for it makes men wary 
 of themselves, as looking no farther, and we 
 see the times inclined to atheism (as the time ^ 
 of Augustus Caesar) were civil times : but su- 
 perstition hath been the confusion of many 
 
 J 
 
OF SIPERSTITION. 69 
 
 states, and bringeth in a new " primura mo- 
 iHle," that ravisheth all the spheres of gov- 
 .-erament. The master of superstition is the 
 .people, and in all superstition wise men fol- 
 low fools ; and arguments are fitted to prac- 
 "tice in a reversed order. It was gravely sdd, 
 hy some of the prelates in the council of 
 Trent, where the doctrine of the schoolmen 
 bare great sway, that the schoolmen were like 
 astronomers; which did feign eccentrics and 
 epicicies, and such engines of orbs, to save the 
 phenomena, though they knew there vvere no 
 ,£uch things: and, in like manner, that the 
 -schoolmen had framed a number of subtile and 
 Intricate axioms and theorems, to scve the 
 practice of the church. The ceaises of super- 
 stition are pleasing and sensual rites and cere- 
 monies ; excess of outward and pharisaical 
 holiness; over-great reverence cf traditions^ 
 r>'hich cannot but load the church ; the strata- 
 gems of prelates for their own ambition and 
 lucre ; the favouring too much of good inten- 
 tions, which openeth the gate to conceits and 
 novelties ; the taking an aim at divine mat- 
 ters by human, which cannot but breed mix- 
 ture of imaginations; and, lastly, barbarous 
 times, especially joined with calamities and 
 disasters. Superstition, v,athout a veil, is a 
 deformed thing ; for, p.3 it addeth deformity to 
 an ape to be so like a man, so the similitude 
 of superstition to religion makes it the more 
 deformed : and, as wholesome meat corrupteth 
 tQ little worms, so good forms and crders CQr* 
 
70 or TRAT£L. 
 
 tiipt into a number of petty observance& 
 There is a superstition in avoiding supersti- 
 tion, when men think to do best if they go 
 fartliest from the superstition formerly receiv- 
 ed; therefore care should be had that (as it j 
 fareth in ill purgings) the good be not taken ; 
 away witli the bad, which commonly is done ■ 
 when the people is the reformer* 
 
 OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Travel, in the younger sort, is part of 
 education ; in the elder, a part of experience. 
 He that travelleth into a country, before he 
 hath some entrance into the language, goeth 
 to school, and not to travel. That young men 
 travel under some tutor, or grave servant, I al- 
 low well ; so that he be such a one that hath 
 the language, and hath been in the country 
 before ; whereby he may be able to tell them 
 what things are worthy to be seen in the coun- 
 try where they go, what acquaintances they 
 are to seek, what exercises or discipline the 
 place yieldeth ; for else young men shall go 
 hooded, and look abroad little. It is a strange 
 thing that, in sea voyages, where there is 
 nothing to be seen but sky and sea, men 
 should make diaries; but in land travel, 
 wherein so much is to be observed, for the 
 most part they omit it ; as if chance were fitter 
 to be registered than observation : let diaries, 
 therefore, be brought in use. The things to 
 
; , OF TUAVEL, 71 
 
 be seen and observed are the courts of piiu- 
 ees, especially when they give audience to 
 ambassadors ; the courts of justice, while they 
 sit and hear causes ; and so of consistories ec 
 clesiastic; the churches and monasteries, with 
 the monuments that are therein extant; the 
 walls and fortifications of cities and towns; 
 and so the havens and harbours, antiquities and 
 ruins, libraries, colleges, disputations, and lec- 
 tures, where any are ; shipping and navies ; 
 houses and gardens of state and pleasure, near 
 great cities; armories, arsenals, magazines, 
 exchanges, burses, warehouses, exercises of 
 horsemanship, fencing, training of soldiers, and 
 the like; comedies, such whereunto the better 
 sort of persons do resort; treasuries of jewels 
 and robes ; cabinets and rarities ; and, to con- 
 clude, whatsoever is memorable in the places 
 vrhere they go ; after all which the tutors or 
 servants ought to niake diligent inquiry. As 
 for triumphs, masks, feasts, weddings, funerals, 
 capital executions, and such shows, men need 
 not be put in mind of them : yet they are not 
 to be neglected. If you will have a young 
 man to put his travel into a little room, and in 
 short, time to gather much, this you must do : 
 first, as was said, he must have some entrance 
 into the language before he gocth ; then b^ 
 must have such a servant, or tutor, as knowetii 
 the country, as was likewise said: let him 
 carry with him also some card, or book, de- 
 scribing the couDtry ^vbere he travelletb, v,'hich 
 will be a good key to his tnquu-y ; let him 
 
T2 Ojf TRAVEL, 
 
 lieep also a diary; let him not stay long in 
 one city or tov/n, more or less as the place de- 
 serveth, hut not long; nay, when he stayeth 
 in one city or town, let him change his lodg- 
 ing from one end and part of the town to an- 
 otheFj v/hicli is a great adamant of acquaint- 
 ance ; let him sequester himself from the 
 company of his countrymen, and diet in such 
 places where there is good company of the 
 nation where he travelleth : let him, upon his 
 reinDves from one place to another, procure 
 recommendation to some person of quality re- 
 siding in the place whither he removethj that 
 he may use his favour in those tilings he 
 desireth to see or krioy*- : thus he may abridge 
 his travel with much profit. As for the ac- 
 quaintance which is to be sought in travel, 
 that which li most of all profitable is acquaint- 
 ance with the secretaries aT;d employed men 
 of ambasisdorr; : lor so, in travelli::?g in one 
 c ran try, lie shall suck the experience of many r 
 let hlin also see and visit eminent persons in 
 all kinds, Vihich are of great name abroad, 
 that he may be able to tell how the life agxeetli 
 with the fome. For quarrels, they are vrith 
 care and discretion to be avoided; they are 
 commonly for mistresses, healths, place, and 
 words : and let a man beware how he keepeth 
 company with choleric and quarrelsome per- 
 sons, for tlicy will engage biro into their own 
 quarrels. When a traveller returnclh home, 
 let him not Icy.ve the connlrles where he hath 
 travelled ^itrgether behind bin; bnt mc^intoio 
 
a correspondence by letters with those of his 
 acquaintance which are of most worth ; and 
 let his travel appear rather in his discourse 
 than in his apparel or gesture ; and in his dis- 
 course let him be rather advised in his an- 
 swers than forward to tell stories : and let it 
 appear that he doth not change his country- 
 manners for those of foreign parts ; but only 
 prick in some Howers of that he hath learned 
 abroad into the customs of his ov.ai country. 
 
 OF EMPIRE. 
 
 It is a miserable state of sniid io have few 
 things to desire, and many thii^g^; to fear ; and 
 yet that commonly is the case wirli kingi^, who, 
 being at the highest-, want mairer of desire, 
 
 which mah.,: .'.".::_ '• vim^ laiiguisbing j 
 aiid have tioHs of perils and 
 
 shadows, Wmcii .-lo. .:; i:xcir uindi the less 
 clear : and tliis is cue reason, aJso, of that ef- 
 fect which the scr^nliire ppeaketb of, '^ that 
 the king's heart h inscrutable :^' fir mnhitudc 
 of jealousies, and lack of fccnie predoiniiiant 
 desire, that should mar&lial and put in order all 
 the rest, maketh any man's heart hard to find 
 or sound. Hen:; k, :::.::";: !:ke-^-k;;, tkat prin- 
 ces many times ■.::: : :k';;.:ok;: iy:v:z:. Lnd 
 set their hearts I:..:.:. : :: . ::u:::::iz; upon a 
 building ; -some Q^:: -y. : . ...z ::^e::D.g cf an 
 crder: 5ometi";^- \. -■; ,- r-,u^'i-:-i;-(j! of a 
 
74 or KMf lay- 
 
 person ; sometimes upon obtaining excellence J 
 in some art, or feat of the hand ; as Nero, fori 
 playing on the harp ; Domitian, for certainty of ^ 
 the hand with the arrow ; Commodus, for 
 playing at fence ; Caracalla, for driving chari- 
 ots, and the like. This seemeth incredible 
 unto those that know not the principle, that 
 the mind of man is more cheered and re- 
 freshed by profiting in small things than by 
 standing at a stay in great. We see also 
 that kings that have been fortnnate conquerors 
 in their first years, it being not possible for 
 them to go forward infinitely, but that they 
 must have some check or arrest in their for- 
 tunes, turn, in their latter years, to be supersti- 
 tious and melancholy ; as did Alexander the 
 Great, Dioclesian, and in our memory Charles 
 the Fifth, and others : for he that is used to 
 go forward, and findeth a stop, falleth out of 
 his own favour, and is not the thing he v<;as. 
 
 To speak now of the true temper of empire, 
 it is a thing rare and hard to keep ; for both 
 temper and distemper consist of contraries: 
 but It is one thing to mingle contraries, anoth- 
 er to interchange them. The answer of Apol- 
 lonius to Vespasian is full of excellent instnic- 
 tioa. Vespasian asked him, what was Nero^s 
 overthrow. He answered, Nero could touch 
 and tune the harp well, but in government 
 sometimes he used to wind the pins too high, 
 sometimes to let them down too low ; and cer- 
 tain it 18^ that nothing destioyeth authority %q 
 
OP BMl»IftE. 7f 
 
 miicli as the unequal and untimely interchange 
 of power pressed too far, and relaxed too 
 much. 
 
 This is true, that the wisdom of all these 
 latter times in princes' affairs, is rather fine 
 I deliveries, and shiftings of dangers and mis- 
 I chiefs, when they are near, than solid and 
 I grounded courses to keep them aloof : but this 
 I is but to try masteries with fortune ; and let 
 men beware how^ they neglect and suifer mat- 
 ter of trouble to be prepared ; for no man can 
 forbid the spark, nor tell whence it may come^ 
 The difficulties in princes' business are many 
 and great ; but the greatest difficulty is often 
 in their own mind; for it is common with 
 princes (saith Tacitus) to will contradictories ; 
 " Sunt plerumque regum voluntates vehemen- 
 tes, et inter se contraria3;" for it is the sole- 
 cism of power to think to command the end, 
 and yet not to endure the means. 
 
 Kings have to deal with their neighbours, 
 their vaves, their children, their prelates or 
 clergy, their nobles, their second nobles or gen- 
 tlemen, their merchants, their commons, and 
 their men of w^ar; and from all these arise 
 dangers, if care and circumspection be not 
 used. 
 
 • First, for their neighbours, theiQ can no gen- 
 eral rule be given, (the occasions are so vari- 
 able,) save one, which ever holdeth ; which is, 
 that princes do keep due sentinelj that none 
 of their neighbours do overgrow so (by in- 
 ©rsase of territory, by en:ibracing of trade, by 
 
76 OF EMPIRE. 
 
 approaches, or the like,) as they become more 
 able to annoy them than they were ; and this 
 is generally the work of standing counsels to 
 foresee and to hinder it. During that triumvi- 
 rate of kings, king Henry the Eighth, of Eng~ 
 land, Francis the First, king of France, and 
 Charles the Fifth, emperor, there was such a 
 watch kept, that none of the three could win 
 a palm of ground, but the other two would 
 straightways balance it, either by confedera- 
 tion, or, if need were, by war ; and would not 
 in any wise take up peace at interest : and the 
 like was done by that league (which Guicci- 
 ardine saitli was the security of Italy) made 
 between Ferdinando, king of Naples, Foren- ,, 
 zius Medices, and Ludovicus Sforsa, poten- 
 tates, the one of Florence, the other of Milan. \ 
 Neither is the opinion of some of the school- 
 men to be received, that a war cannot justly 
 be made but upon a precedent injury or provo- 
 cation ; for there is no question, but a just 
 fear of an imminent danger, though there be 
 no blow given, is a lawful cause of a war. 
 
 For their wives, there are cruel examples of 
 them. Livia is infamed for the poisoning of 
 her husband ; Roxalana, Solyman's wife, was 
 the destruction of that renowned prince. Sul- 
 tan Mustapha, and otherv/ise troubled his 
 house and succession ; Edward the Second of 
 England's queen had the principal hand in the 
 deposing and murder of her husband. This 
 kind of danger is then to be feared chiefly 
 when the wives have plots for the raising of 
 
 1 
 
OF EMPIRE. 77 
 
 th^ir own children, or else that they be advou- 
 tresses. 
 
 For their children, the tragedies likewise of 
 dangers from them have been many ; and gen- 
 erally the entering of the fathers into suspicion 
 of their children hath been ever unfortunate. 
 The destruction of Mustapha (that we named 
 before) was so fatal to Solyman's line, as the 
 succession of the Turks from Solyman until 
 this day is suspected to be untrue, and of 
 strange blood ; for that Selymus the Second 
 was thought to be supposititious. The de- 
 struction of Crispus, a youBg prince of rare 
 towardness, by Constantinus the Great, his 
 father, was in like manner fatal to his house, 
 for hoth Constantinus and Constance, his sons, 
 died violent deaths ; and Constantius, his oth- 
 er son, did little better, w^ho died indeed of 
 sickness, but after that Julianus had taken 
 arms against him. The destruction of Deme- 
 trius, son of Philip the Second of Macedon, 
 turned upon the father, who died of repent- 
 ance : and many like examples there are, but 
 few or none where the fathers had good hy 
 such distrust, except it were where the sons 
 Vv'ere in open arms against tliern ; as was Sel- 
 ymus the First against Bajazet, and the three 
 sons of Henry the Second, king of England. 
 For their prelates, when they are proud and 
 great, there is also danger from them ;_ as it 
 was in the times of Anselmus and Thomas 
 Beckett, archbishops of Canterbury, who with 
 their crosiers did almost try it with the king's 
 7* . 
 
78 or Eiurmr. 
 
 sword ; and yet they had to deal with stout 
 and haughty kings, William Rufus, Henry the 
 First, and Henry the Second. The danger is 
 not from that state, but where it hath a depen- 
 dence of foreign authority; or where the 
 churchmen come in and are elected, not by 
 tlie collation of the king, or particular patrons, 
 but by the people. 
 
 For their nobles, to keep them at a distance 
 it is not amiss ; but to depress them may 
 make a king more absolute, but less safe, and 
 less able to perform any thing that he desires. 
 I have noted it in my History of king Henry 
 the Seventh, of England, who depressed his 
 nobility, whereupon it came to pass that his 
 times were full of difficulties and troubles ; for 
 the nobility, though they continued loyal unto 
 him, yet did they not cooperate with him in 
 his business; so that in effect he was fain to 
 do all things himself. 
 
 For their second nobles, there is not much 
 danger from them, being a body dispersed : 
 they may sometimes discourse high, but that 
 doth little hurt; besides, they are a counter- 
 poise to the higher nobility, that they grow not 
 too potent ; and, lastly, being the most imme- 
 diate in authority with the common people, 
 they do best temper popular commotions. 
 
 For their merchants, they are " vena porta;" 
 and if they flourish not, a kingdom may have 
 good limbs, but will have empty veins, and 
 nourish little. Taxes and imposts upon them 
 do seldom good to the king's revenue, for that 
 
OF COUNSEL, 79 
 
 which he wins in the hundred, he loseth in 
 the shire ; the particular rates being increased, 
 but the total bulk of trading rather decreased. 
 
 For their commons, there is little danger 
 from them, except it be where they have great 
 and potent heads ; or where you meddle with 
 the point of religion, or their customs, or 
 means of life. 
 
 For their men of war, it is a dangerous 
 state where they live and remain in a body, 
 and are used to donatives, whereof we see ex^ 
 amples in the janizaries, and pretorian bands 
 of Rome ; but trainings of men, and arming 
 of them in several places, and under sevieral 
 commanders, and without donatives, are things 
 of defence and no danger. 
 
 Princes are like to heavenly bodies, which 
 sause good or evil times ; and which have 
 much veneration, but no rest. All precepts 
 concerning kings are in effect comprehended 
 in those two remembrances, " memento quod 
 Bs homo ;" and " memento quod es Deus, or 
 I'ice Dei ;" the one bridleth their power, and 
 :be other their will. 
 
 OF COUNSEL, 
 
 The greatest trust between man and man is 
 the trust of giving counsel ; for in other con- 
 fidences men commit the parts of life, their 
 lands, their goods, their children, their credit, 
 iome particular affair; but to such as they 
 
so OF COUNSEL. 
 
 make their counsellors they commit the whole ! 
 by how much the more they are obliged to all 
 faith and integrity. The wisest princes need 
 not think it any diminution to their greatness, 
 or derogation to their sufficiency, to rely upon 
 counsel. God himself is not without, but 
 !iath made it one of the great names of his- 
 >lessed Son, ''The Counsellor." Solomon- 
 'lath pronounced, that " in counsel is stabil- 
 ity." Things will have their first or second^ 
 agitation : if they be not tossed upon the argu- 
 ments of counsel, they will be tossed upon the 
 waves of fortune, and be full of inconstancy, 
 doingand undoing, like the reeling of a drunk- 
 en man. Solomon's son found the force of 
 counsel, as his father saw the necessity of it:^ 
 for the beloved kingdom of God was fiirst rent 
 and broken by ill counsel ; upon which coun- 
 sel there are set for our instruction the two 
 marks whereby bad counsel is for ever best' 
 discerned, that it was young counsel for the i 
 persons, and violent counsel for the matter. 
 
 The ancient times do set forth in figure both 
 the incorporation and inseparable conjunction ^ 
 of counsel with kings, and the wise and poli- 
 tic use of counsel by kings : the one, in that 
 they say Jupiter did marry Metis, which sig- 
 nifieth counsel : vv^hereby they intend that 
 sovereignty is married to counsel : the other ; 
 in that which followeth, which was thus : they J 
 say, after Jupiter was married to Metis, she ^ 
 conceived by him and was with child, but Ju- 
 piter suffered her not to stay till she brought 
 
 t 
 
OF COUNSEL. 
 
 81 
 
 I ,..,.,.. 
 
 f 'himself with child, and was delivered of Pal- 
 las armed out of his head. Which monstrous 
 fable containeth a secret of empire, how kings 
 are to make use of their council of state : that, 
 first, they ought to refer matters unto them, 
 vvliicli is the first begetting of impregnation : 
 but when they are elaborate, moulded, and 
 shaped in the womb of their council, and 
 grow ripe and ready to be brought forth, that 
 then they suiFer not their council to go through 
 with the resolution and direction, as if it de- 
 pended on them ; but take the matter back 
 into their own hands, and make it appear to 
 the world, that the decrees and final directions 
 (which, because they com.e forth with pru- 
 dence and power, are resembled to Pallas 
 armed) proceeded from themselves ; and not 
 ionly from their authority, but (the more to add 
 reputation to themselves'^ from their head 
 and device. 
 
 Let us now speak of the inconveniences of 
 counsel, and of the remedies. The inconve- 
 niences that have been noted in calling and 
 u&ing counsel, are three : first, the revealing 
 of affairs, whereby they become less secret ; 
 secoridly, the weakening of the authority of 
 pririces, as if they were less of themselves ; 
 ithirdly, the danger of being unfaithfully coun- 
 Iselled, and more for the good of them that 
 [counsel than of him that is counselled; for 
 which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and 
 practice of France in some kings' times, hath 
 
8S OF COUNSEL. 
 
 introduced cabinet councils ; a remedy worst 
 than the disease. 
 
 As to secrecy, princes are not bound to 
 communicate all matters with all counsellors, 
 but may extract and select ; neither is it ne- 
 cessary, that he that consulteth what he should 
 do should declare what he will do ; but let 
 princes beware that the unsecreting of tiieir 
 affairs comes not from themselves : and, as for 
 cabinet councils, it may be their motto, " ple- 
 nus rimarum sum :" one futile person, that 
 maketh it his glory to tell, will do more hurt 
 than many that know it their duty to conceal. 
 It is true there be some affairs which require 
 extreme secrecy, which will hardly go beyond 
 one or two persons beside the king : neither 
 are those counsels unprosperous ; for, besides 
 the secrecy, they commonly go on constantly 
 in one spirit of direction without distraction : 
 but then it must be a prudent king, such as is 
 able to grind with a hand-mill ; and those in- 
 ward counsellors had need also be wise men, 
 and especially true and trusty to the king's 
 ends ; as it was with king Henry the Seventh 
 of England, who in his greatest business im- 
 parted himself to none, except it were to Mor- 
 ton and Fox. 
 
 For weakness of authority the fable show- 
 eth the remedy : nay, the majesty of kings is 
 rather exalted than diminished when they are 
 in the chair of council : neither was there ev- 
 er prince bereaved of his dependencies by his 
 couDcil except where there hath been either 
 
or COUNSEL. SS 
 
 an orergreatness in one counsellor, or an over- 
 strict combination in divers, which are things 
 soon found and holpen. 
 
 For the last inconvenience, that men will 
 counsel with an eye to themselves ; certainly, 
 " non inveniet fidem super terram," is meant 
 of the nature of times, and not of all particu- 
 lar persons. There be that are in nature faith- 
 ful and sincere, and plain and direct, not crafty 
 and involved : let princes, above all, draw to 
 themselves such natuies. Besides, counsel- 
 lors are not commonly so united, but that one 
 counsellor keepeth sentinel over another ; so 
 that if any counsel out of faction or private 
 ends, it commonly comes to the king's ear : 
 but the best remedy is, if princes know their 
 counsellors, as well as their counsellors know 
 them, 
 
 " Principis est virtus maxima nos?e saos." 
 
 And, on the other side, counsellors should not 
 be too speculative into their sovereign's per- 
 son. The true composition of a counsellor is, 
 rather to be skilful in his master's business 
 than in his nature ; for then he is like to ad- 
 vise him, and not to feed his humour. It is 
 of singular use to princes if they take the 
 opinions of their coimcii both separately and 
 together ; for private opinion is more free, but 
 opinion before others is more reverend. In 
 private, men are more bold in their own hu- 
 mours ; and in consort, men are more obnox- 
 ious to others' humours ; therefore it is good to 
 
S4 OF COUNSEL. ' 
 
 take both, and of the inferior sort rather in , 
 private, to preserve freedom ; of the greater, j 
 rather in consort, to preserve respect. It is in .: 
 vain for princes to take counsel concerning j 
 matters, if they take no counsel likewise con- i 
 earning persons ; for all matters are as dead | 
 images; and the life of the execution of af- 
 fairs resteth in the good choice of person's .•; 
 neither is it enough to consult concerning 
 persons, " secundum genera," as in an idea of 
 mathematical description, v/hat 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 individu- 
 als. It was truly said, " optimi consiliarii 
 mortui :" " books will speak plain when coun- 
 sellors blanch ;" therefore it is good to be con-» 
 versant in them, especially 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 rath- 
 er 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 propounded one day, and not spokefti to 
 till next day; "in nocte consilium:" so was 
 it done in the commission of union between 
 England and Scot and, which was a grave and' 
 orderly assembly. I commend set days for 
 petitions: for bot. it gives the smto?s more 
 certainty for thei;- attendance, and it frees 
 the meetings for riiatters of estate, that thev 
 
or COUNSEL. '€'5 
 
 may " hoc agere." In choice of committees 
 for ripening business for the council, it is bet- 
 ter to choose indifferent persons than to make 
 aii indifferency by putting in those that are 
 strong on both sides. I commend, also, stand- 
 ing commissions ; as for trade, for treasure, for 
 war, for suits, for some provinces ; for where 
 ^there be divers particular councils, and but one 
 council of estate, (as it is in Spain,) they are, 
 in effect, no more than standing commissions, 
 save that they have greater authority. Let 
 such as are to inform councils out of their par- 
 ticular professions, (as lawyers, seamen, mint- 
 men, and the like,) be first heard before com- 
 mittees ; and then, as occasion serves, before 
 the council ; and let them not come in multi- 
 tudes, or in a tribunitious 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 efiect, 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 coun- 
 sellors will but take the wind of him, and, in- 
 stead of giving free co^ nsel, will sing him a 
 song of " placebo." 
 8 
 
OF DELAYS. 
 
 OF DELAYS. 
 
 Fortune is like the market, where, many 
 times, if you can stay a little, the price will 
 fall ; and, again, it is sometimes like Sibylla's 
 offer, which at first offereth the commodity at 
 full, then consumeth part and part, and still 
 holdeth up the price ; for occasion (as it is in 
 the common verse) tmneth a bald noddle after 
 she hath presented her locks in front, and no 
 hold taken; or, at least, turneth the handle of 
 the bottle first to be received, and after the 
 belly, which is hard to clasp. There is sure- 
 ly no greater wisdom than well to time the 
 beginnings and onsets of things. Dangers 
 are no more light, if they once seem light ; 
 and more dangers have deceived men than 
 forced them : nay, it v»^ere better 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 vAih too long shadows, (as some 
 have been when the moon was low, and shone 
 on their enemies' back,) and so to shoot off 
 before the time ; or to teach dangers to come 
 on by over-early buckling towards them, is an- 
 ivjicv extreme. The ripeness or unripeness of 
 the occasion (us v.-e said) must ever be well 
 weighed ; and generally it is good to commit 
 the beginnings of all great actions to Argos 
 with his hundred eyes, and the ends to Bria- 
 
OF CUXiXING. 87 
 
 reus with his hundred hands ; first to watch, 
 and then to speed ; for the helmet of Pluto, 
 which maketh the politic man go invisible, is 
 secrecy in the council, and celerity in the exe- 
 cution ; for when things are once come to the 
 execution, there is no secrecy comparable to 
 celerity ; like the motion of a bullet in the 
 air, which flieth so sv/ift as it outruns the eye. 
 
 OF CUNNING. 
 
 We take cunning for a sinister or crooked 
 wisdom; and certainly there is a great difference 
 between a cunning man and a wise man, not 
 only in point of honesty, but in point of abil- 
 ity. There be that can pack the cards, and 
 yet cannot play well ; 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 
 imderstand matters; for many are perfect in 
 men's humours, that are not greatly capable of 
 the real part of business, which is the consti- 
 tution of one that hath studied men more than 
 books. Such men are fitter for practice than 
 for counsel, and they are good but in their own 
 alley : turn them to new men, and they have 
 lost their aim : so as the old rule, to know a 
 fool from a wise man, " Mitte ambos nudos ad 
 ignotos, et vie*- bis," doth scarce hold for them; 
 andj because these cunning men are like hab- 
 
88 OF CUNNING. 
 
 erdasiiers 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 transpa- 
 rent countenances : yet this would be done 
 ivith a demure abasing of your eye sometimes, 
 as the Jesuits also do use. 
 
 Another is, that when you have any thing 
 to obtain of present despatch, 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 coun- 
 sellor and secretary, that never came to queen 
 Elizabeth of England with bills to sign, but 
 he would always first put her into some dis- 
 course of state, that she might the less mind 
 the bills. 
 
 The like surprise may be made by moving 
 things when the party is in haste, and cannot 
 stay to consider advisedly of that is moved. 
 
 If a man would cross a business that he 
 doubts some other would handsomely and ef- 
 fectually move, let him pretend to wish it 
 well, and move it himself, in such sort as may 
 soil it. 
 
 The breaking off in the midst of that one 
 w^as about to say, as if he took himself up, 
 breeds a greater appetite in him, with whom 
 you confer, to know more. 
 
 And because it works better when any thing 
 geeraeth to be gotten from you by question, 
 
OF CUNNING. 89 
 
 flian if you oifer it of yourself, 7011 may lay a 
 bait for a question, by showing another visage 
 and countenance than you are wont ; to the 
 end, to give occasion for the party to ask what 
 the matter is of the change, as Nehemiah did, 
 " And I had not before tha.t time been sad be- 
 fore the king." 
 
 In things that are tender and unpleasing, it 
 is good to break the ice by some v/hose words 
 are of less weight, and to reserve the more 
 weighty voice to come in as by chance, so 
 that he may be asked the question upon the 
 other's speech; as Narcissus did, in relating 
 to Claudius the marriage of Messalina and 
 Silius. 
 
 In things that a man would not be seen in 
 himself, it is a point of cunning to borrow 
 the name of the w^orld ; as to say, " The 
 world says," or, " There is a speech abroad." 
 
 I knew one that, when he wrote a letter, 
 lie would put that w^hicji was most material 
 in the postscript, as if it had been a by mat- 
 ter. 
 
 I knew another that, when he came to have 
 speech, he Vv'ould pass over that that he in- 
 tended most; and go forth and come back 
 agaiii, and speak of it as a thing he had al- 
 most forgot. 
 
 Some procure themseb'es to be surprised at 
 such times as it is like tlie party that they 
 work upon will suddenly come upon them, 
 and be found with a letter in their hand, or 
 doing somewhat w^hich they are not accustom- 
 
9l» Of CUNNING. 
 
 ed, to the end they may be opposed of those 
 things which of themselves they are desirous 
 to utter. 
 
 It is a point of cunning, to let fall those 
 words in a man's own name, which he would 
 have another man learn and use, and tliere-r 
 upon take advantage. I knew two that were 
 competitors for the secretary's place, in queen 
 Elizabeth's time, and yet kept good quarter 
 between themselves, and would confer one 
 with another upon the business ; and the one 
 of them said, that to be a secretary in the de- 
 clination of a monarchy was a ticklish thing, 
 and that he did not affect it ; 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 declining of a mon-; 
 archy. The first man took hold of it, and 
 found means it was told the queen ; who, 
 hearing of a declination of monarchy, took it 
 so ill, as she would never after hear of the 
 other's suit. 
 
 There is a cunning, which we in England 
 call "The turning of the cat in the pan;" 
 which is, when that which a man says to an-? 
 other, 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 
 
or clnmng. 91 
 
 Tigelliuus did towards Burrhus, ^' se nou di- 
 versas spes, sed iucolumitatein imperatoris 
 sinipliciter spectare." 
 
 Some have in readiness so many tales and 
 storieSj as there is nothing they would insinuate, 
 but they can wrap it into a tale ; which serv- 
 eth both to keep themselves more on guard, 
 and to make others carry it with more pleas- 
 ure. 
 
 It is a good point of cunning for a man to 
 shape the answer he would have in his ov/n 
 words and propositions ; for it makes the other 
 party stick the less. 
 
 It is strange how long some men will lie in 
 wait to speak somewhat they desire to say ; 
 and how far about they will fetch, and how 
 many other matters they will beat over, to come 
 near it : it is a thing of great patience, but yet 
 of much use. 
 
 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 sud- 
 denly came behind him, and called him by his 
 true name, whereat straightways he looked 
 back. 
 
 But these small wares and petty points of 
 cunning are infinite, and it were a good deed 
 to make a list of them ; for that nothing doth 
 more hurt in a state than that cunning men 
 pass for wise. 
 
 But certainly some there are that know the 
 r<?!5ort9 and falls of business, that cannot sink 
 
9'2 OF WISDOM FOR A MAN^S SELF. 
 
 into the main of it ; like a house that hath 
 convenient stairs and entries, but never a fair 
 room : therefore you shall see them find out 
 pretty looses in the conclusion, but are no 
 ways able to examine or debate matters ; and' 
 yet commonly they take advantage of their in- 
 ability, and would be thought wits of direc- 
 tion. Some build rather upon the abusing of 
 others, and (as we now say) putting tricks 
 upon them, than upon the soundness of their 
 own proceedings : but Solomon saith, " Pru- 
 dens advertit ad gressus suos : stultus divertit 
 ad doles." 
 
 OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF. 
 
 An ant is a wise creature for itself, but it is 
 a shrewd thing in an orchard or garden ; and 
 certainly men that are great lovers of them- 
 selves waste the public. Divide with reason 
 between self-love and society ; and be so true 
 to thyself, as thou be not false to others, espe- 
 cially 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 ; whereas, all things that have affinity 
 with the heavens move upon the centre of an-» 
 other, which they benefit. The referring of 
 all to a man's self is more tolerable in a sove- 
 reign prince, because themselves are not only 
 themselves, but their good and evil is at the 
 peril of the public fortune : but it is a despe- 
 
OF WISDOM FOR A MAN's SELF. 9S" 
 
 rate 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 senants as have 
 not this mark ; except they mean their service 
 should be made but the accessary. That 
 V, hich maketh the effect more pernicious is, 
 that all proportion is lost ; it were dispropor- 
 tion enough for the servant's good to be pre- 
 ferred before the master's; but yet it is a 
 greeiter extreme, when a little good of the 
 servant shall carry things against the great 
 good of the master's : and yet that is the case 
 of bad cfScers, treasurers, ambassadors, gener- 
 als, and other false and corrupt servants ; which 
 set a bias upon their bov» 1, of their own petty 
 ends and envies, to the overthrow^ of their 
 master's great and important affairs : and, for 
 the most part, the good such servants receive 
 is after the model of their own fortune ; but 
 the hurt they sell for that good is after the 
 model of their master's fortune : and certainly 
 it is the nature of extreme self-lovers, as they 
 will set a house on fire, and it were but to 
 roast their eggs ; and yet these men many 
 times hold credit with their masters, because 
 their study is but to please them and profit 
 themselves ; and for either respect they will 
 abandon the good of their affairs. 
 
 Wisdom for a man's self is, in many bran- 
 ches thereof a depraved thing : it is the v^ii^ 
 
94 OF INNOVATIONS. 
 
 dom of rats^ tliat will be sure to leave a house 
 sometime before it fall : it is the wisdom of 
 the fox, that thrusts out the badger who dig- 
 ged and made room for him : it is the wis- 
 dom 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 amante, sine rivali," 
 are many times unfortunate ; and whereas they 
 have all their time sacrificed to themselves, 
 they become in the end themselves sacrifices 
 to the inconstancy of fortune, whose wings they 
 thought by their self- wisdom to have pinioned. 
 
 OF INx%^OVATIONS. 
 
 As the births of living creatures at first are 
 ill shapen, so are all innovations, which are 
 the births of time; yet notwithstanding, as 
 those that first bring 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 ev- 
 ery medicine is an innovation, and he that will 
 not apply new remedies must expect new 
 evils ; for time is the greatest innovator ; and 
 if time of course alter things to the worse, and 
 wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the 
 better^ what shall be the end ? It is true, that 
 
OF INNOVA'iiONS. 95 
 
 what is settled by custom, though it be not 
 good, yet at least it is fit ; and those things 
 which have long gone together are, as it were, 
 confederate within themselves ; whereas new 
 things piece not so well ; but, though they 
 help by their utility, yet they trouble by their 
 inconformity : besides, they are like strangers, 
 more admired, and less favoured. All this is 
 ■true, if time stood still ; which, contrariwise 
 moveth so round, that a froward retention oi 
 <;ustom is as turbulent a thing as an innova- 
 tion ; and they that reverence too much old 
 times are but a scorn to the new. It were 
 good, therefore, that men, in their innovations, 
 would follow the example of time itself, which 
 indeed innovateth greatly, but quietly, and by 
 degrees scarce to be perceived ; for otherwise, 
 whatsoever is new is unlocked for ; and ever 
 it mends some, and pairs others ; and he that 
 is holpen takes it for a fortune, and thanks the 
 time ; and he that is hurt, for a wrong, and 
 imputeth it to the author. It is good also not 
 to try experiments in states, except the neces- 
 sity be urgent, or the utility evident ; and well 
 to beware that it be the reformation that draw- 
 eth on the change, and not the desire of 
 change that pretendeth the reformation : and, 
 lastly, that the novelty, though it be not re- 
 jected, yet be held for a suspect ; and, as the 
 scripture saith, " That we make a stand upon 
 the ancient v/ay, and then look about us, and 
 discover what is the straiglit and right way, 
 and so to walk in iV 
 
0(i 
 
 OF DESPATCH. 
 
 Affected despatch is one of the most dan^j 
 gerous tilings to business that can be : it is. 
 like that which the physicians call prediges-' 
 tion, or hasty digestion ; which is sure to fill: 
 the body full of crudities, and secret seeds of 
 diseases : therefore measure not despatch by 
 the time 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, piocur- 
 eth despatch. It is the care of some only ta 
 come off speedily for the time, or to contrive 
 some false periods of business, because they 
 may seem men of despatch : but it is one 
 thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by 
 cutting off; and business so handled at several 
 sittings, or meetings, goeth commonly back- 
 ward and forward in an unsteady manner. I 
 knew a wise man, that had it for a by-word, 
 when he saw men hasten to a conclusion, 
 " Stay a little, that we may make an end the 
 sooner." 
 
 On the other side, true despatch is a rich 
 thing ; for time is the measure of business, as 
 money is of vares ; and business is bought at 
 a dear hand where there is small despatch. 
 The Spartans and Spaniards have been noted 
 to be of small despatch : " Mi venga la muerte 
 de Spagna ;" — " Let my deat/i come from 
 
 jfc 
 
Spain," for then it will be sure to be long in 
 coming. 
 j,! Give good heariog to those that give the 
 
 I first information in business, and rather direct 
 them in the beginning than interrupt tliem in 
 the continua-ice of their speeches ; for he that 
 is put out of his own order will go forward 
 and backward, and be more tedious while he 
 waits upon his memory, than he could have 
 been if he had gone on in his own course ; 
 but sometimes it is seen tliat 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 of- 
 ten the state of the question j for it chaseth 
 away many a frivolous speech as it is coming 
 forth. Long and curious speeches are as lit 
 for despatch as a robe, or mantle, "with a long 
 train, is for a race. Prefaces, and passages, 
 and excusations, and other speeches of refer- 
 ence to the person, are great wastes of time ; 
 and, though they seem to proceed of modesty, 
 they are bravery. Yet beware of being too 
 caaterial when there is any impediment^ or ob- 
 struction, in men's w^ills ; for pre-occupation 
 of mind ever requireth preface of speech, like 
 a fomentation to make the unguent enter. 
 
 Above ail things, order and distribution, and 
 singling out of parts, is the life of despatch ; 
 \i so as the distribution be not too subtile : for 
 he that doth not divide will never enter well 
 into business ; and he that di^adeih too much 
 v:\i\ never come out of it elearlr. To choose 
 9 
 
&5 OF see:\iing witfE. 
 
 time is to save time ; and an uuseasonable mo- 
 tion 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 despatch, let the middle only 
 be the work of many, and the first and last 
 the work of few* The proceeding upon some- 
 Avhat conceived in writing doth, for the most 
 part, facilitate despatch : 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. 
 
 OF SEEMING WISE. 
 
 It hath been an opinion, that the Frenclr 
 are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards 
 seem wiser than tlicy are : but, hov/soever it 
 be between nations, certainly it is so between 
 Bjan and man ; for, as the apostle saith of god- 
 liness, '• having a shov^^ of godliness, but de- 
 nying the power thereof;" so certainly there 
 are in points of wisdom and suiticiency, that 
 do nothing or little very saleinnly : " magno 
 conatu iiiigas.'' It is a ridiculous thiog, and 
 fit for a satire to persons of judgment, to see 
 ''vhat shifts these formalists have, and v;h.at 
 prospectives to make supemces to seem, body 
 ~i-hu hath depth and bulk, Soais-sre so close' 
 and reserved, as they will not el^ow- their, 
 ivtares but by a dark light snd !:8«m= alwsT^ i& 
 
OF DEEMING WISE. &3 
 
 •keep back somewhat; and, when they know 
 within themselves they speak of that they do 
 not well know, would nevertheless seem to oth- 
 ers to know of that which they may not well 
 speak. Some help themselves with counter 
 nance 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 fore- 
 head, and bent the other down to his chin ; 
 *■' respondes, altero ad frontem snblato, altero ad 
 .mentum depresso supercilio, criideliiatem tibi 
 Don placere." Some think to bear it by speak- 
 ing a great word, and being peremptory ; and go 
 on, and take by admittance that w4iich they 
 cannot make good. Some, whatsoever is ber 
 yond their reach, will seem to despise, or make 
 light of it, as impertinent or cnrious : and so 
 would have their ignorance seem judgment. 
 Some are never without a differeace, and com- 
 monly, by amusing men with a siibtilty, blanch 
 the matter; of whom A. Gellius saith, "ho- 
 lainem delirium, qui verborum, minutiis reriim 
 frangit pondera." Of v/hich kind also Plato, 
 in his Protagoras, bringeth in Prodicus in 
 scorn, and niaketh him miake a speech that 
 consisteth of distinctions from the beginning 
 to the end. Generally such men, in all delib- 
 era-tions, find ease to be of the negative side, 
 and affect a credit to object and foretell difhcnl- 
 ties ; for v/hen propositions are denied, there 
 ■is an end of them ; but ii they be allowed, it 
 requireth a new work ; which false point of 
 (Tfisdom 13 the bane of business. To eonchide, 
 
lOO (yV FfiIENl>SLBJafe. 
 
 there is no decaying merchant, or inward h«^ 
 gar, hath so many tricks to uphold the credit 
 of their wealth, as these empty persons have 
 to maintain the credit of their sufficiency. 
 Seeming wise men may make shift to get 
 opinion ; but let no man choose them for em- 
 ployment ; for, certainly, you were better take 
 for business a man somewhat surd than over- 
 formal. 
 
 OF FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 It had been hard for him that spake it ta 
 have put more truth and untruth together ia 
 few words than in that speech, *' \Yhosoever 
 is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast 
 or a god:" for it is most true, that a natural 
 and secret hatred and aversion towards society 
 in any m,an hath somev/hat of the savage 
 beast ; but it is most untme, that it should 
 have any character at ail of the divine nature, 
 except it proceed, not out of a pleasure in sol- 
 itude, 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 heathens ; as Epimenides, the 
 Candian ; Numa, the Roman ; Empedocles, 
 the Sicilian; and Apollonius of Tyana; and 
 truly and really in divers of the ancient her- 
 mits and holy fathers of the church. But lit- 
 tle do men perceive what solitude is, and how 
 fax it extendeth ; for a crowd is not compaayv 
 
G? FRIENDaHIF. lOl 
 
 ■ucd 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 solitude;" be- 
 cause 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 farther, and affirm most truly, that it is 
 a mere and miserable solitude to want true 
 friends, without which the world is but a wil- 
 derness ; and even in this scene also of soli- 
 tude, whosoever in the frame of his nature and 
 RfFectious 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 of the heart, 
 which passions of all kinds do cause and in- 
 duce. We know diseases of stoppings and 
 suilocations are the most dangerous in the 
 body; and it is not much otherv/ise in the 
 mind ; you may take sarza to open the liver, 
 steel to open the spleen, flower of sulphur for 
 the lungs, castoreum for the brain ; but no re- 
 ceipt openeth the heart but a true friend, to 
 whom you may impart griefs, joys, fears, hopes, 
 suspicions, counsels, and whatsoever lieth upon 
 the heart to oppress it, in a kind of civil shrift 
 or confession. 
 
 It is a strange thing to observe how high a 
 
 . rate great kings and monarchs do set upon 
 
 this fruit of friendship whereof we speak : so 
 
 great, as they purchase it many times at the 
 
 •hazard of their ovrn safety and greatne,s3 : for 
 
1&2 OK FmBNDSBiP. 
 
 •princes, in regard of tlie distance of ttieii- foiF- 
 tune from that of their subjects and servants, 
 cannot gather this fruit except (to make them- 
 selves capable thereof ) they raise some per- 
 sons to be as it were companions, and almost 
 equals to themselves, v/hich many times soil- 
 eth to inconvenience. The modem 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 curanmi ;" for it is that which 
 tieth the knot : and we see plainly that this 
 hath been done, not by weak and passionate 
 princes only, but by the wisest and most poli- 
 tic 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 %vord which is receiv- 
 ed between private men. 
 
 L. Sylla, when he commanded Rome) raised 
 Pompey (after surnamed the Great) to that 
 height, that Pompey vaunted himself for Syl- 
 la's overmatch ; for, v/hen he had carried the 
 €onsnlship for a friend of his, against the pur- 
 suit of Sylla, and that Sylla did a little resent 
 thereat, and began to speak great, Pompey 
 turned upon him again, and in effect bade him 
 be quiet ; for that more men adored the sun 
 rising than the sun setting. With Julins Cse- 
 sar, Decimus Brutus had obtained that interest, 
 #« ^e set him down in his tesliaiw^nt for b^k 
 
'ijaoL Hmah^kdtv after hh nepiiew; cu'id ihk 
 f^m tbfe tean tfoit had power with blm tu 
 draw him forth to his death : for when C'^~ 
 sar v/ould have discharged the senate, in 
 regard of seme ill presages, and speciail)- 
 a dream of Galpiirniay this men lified him 
 gently by the arm out of his chair, telling him 
 he hoped he would not dismiss the senate till 
 his wife had dreamed a belter dream ; and it 
 seemed his favour was so great as Actoui-us, ia 
 a letter which is recited verbatim ia one of 
 Cicero's Philippics, called him '' vcnefxa,''— - 
 " witch ;" as if he bad enchanted Cixsar. 
 Augustus raised Agrippa (thoi:gh cf mGOii 
 "birth) to that height, as, when he consulted 
 •with Maeeeaas about the marriage of his 
 daughter Julia, Mscenas took the liberty to 
 tell hiiD, that he mlist either marry Ids do.iigh- 
 ter to Agrippa, or take away liis life : thert^ 
 tvas DO third way, he bad made him so great 
 With Tiberius Csiar, Seian^is had ascen^ied to 
 that height, as they two were termed and reck- 
 oned as a pair of friends. Tiberius, in a let- 
 ter to him, saith, ^^ hfec pro amicitia nostra noa 
 occxiltaW;" and the tvliole senate dedicated 
 sn altar to Friendship, as to a goddess, ia re- 
 spect of the great dearncss of fiiendsliip be- 
 tween tliera two. The like, or more, was be- 
 tween Septimiiis Sevems and Piaiitianiis ; for 
 h^ forced his eldest son to marrf the daughter 
 <df Plautiantis, and would often maintaiD Plau- 
 tiimtis in doing sprouts to his son : and did 
 •1*rit6, ^m, in a lett^eT to the senate, b? thef^e 
 
^O'i OF rSIENDSHI?. 
 
 ivords : " I love the man so well as I wish 
 be may overlive mc." Now, if these princes 
 imd been as a Trajan, cr a Marcus Aurelius, si 
 man might have thought that this had proceed- 
 ed of an abundant goodness of nature ; hut 
 being men so wise, of such strength and se- 
 verity of mind, and so extreme lovers of them- 
 Gelves, as all these Vv'-ere, it proveth, most 
 plainly, that they found their own felicity 
 (though as great as ever happened to mortal 
 men) but as an halfpiece, except they might 
 have a friend to make it entire ; and yet, 
 v/hich is more, they were princes that had 
 v/ives, sons, nephews : yet all these could not 
 supply the comfort of friendship. 
 
 It is not to be forgo tlcn what Comineus ob» 
 serveth of his iirst master, Duke Charles the 
 Hardy, namely, that he would communicate 
 his secrets with none ; and, least of all, those 
 secrets which troubled him most. Whereupon 
 he goeth on, and saltb, that, towards his lattef 
 tirae, that closeness did impair and a little 
 perish his understanding. Surely Comineus 
 might have made the same judgment also, if 
 it had pleased him, of his second master, 
 Lewis the Eleventh, whose closeness v/as in- 
 deed his tormentor. The parable of Pythag- 
 oras is dark, but true, " cor ne edito,'^ — 
 " eat not the heart." Certainly, if a man 
 would give it a hard phrase, those that want 
 friends to open themselves unto are cannibals 
 of their own hearts ; but one thing is most 
 •admirabk, (wherewith I will conclude this 
 
«8? ^TSKl^Hm liX$ 
 
 tot fruit of fnendship,} wbieii is, tb.at thb 
 <Jommimicatiiig of a inan's self to his friend 
 fvorks to contrary effects^ for It redoubleth 
 joys and cuttetk griefs in halve-3 ; for there i$ 
 no man that impaiteth his joys to his frieadj 
 but he joyeth the more ; and no man that ira- 
 parteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieve f^ 
 the less. So that it isj in trath, of operation 
 Upon a man's mind^ of like virtue as the al- 
 chymists use to attribute to their stone foi' 
 man's body, that it worlieth all contrary eifects^ 
 but still to the good and b<?nefit of nature : 
 but yet, without praying in aid of alchymists, 
 there is a manifest in^age of this in the crtii- 
 nary coiirse of nature ; for, ia bcdieSj unicn 
 iBtrengthenetli and cherisheth any natural ac- 
 tion; and, on the other side, weakeneth and 
 •dulleth any vioient impression ; und even so i^ 
 it of minds. 
 
 The second fruit of fnendship is healthful 
 :and sovereign for the understanding, as the 
 £rst is for the affections ; for friendship maketh 
 indeed a fair day in the aiTections from storm 
 land tempests, but it maketh daylight in the 
 understanding, 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 his mind 
 fraught with many thoughts, his wits and un- 
 derstanding do clarify and break up, in the 
 ■eommunicating and discoursing with another ; 
 1 hs tiJssfitb his thoughts moxe easily ; he mar- 
 
106 or miEKDsniF- 
 
 shaileth tbeai more orderly ; lie seeth hovr 
 they look v/hen they are turned into words ; 
 linally, he waxeth wiser than himself; aad 
 that more by an Hour's- discourse than by a 
 day's meditation, it %vas well said by.The- 
 mistocles to the idng of Persia, " that speech 
 was like cloth of Arras,- opened and pin 
 abroad :" whereby the imagery doth appp'-ir in 
 figure; whereas in thoughts they lie but as in 
 packs. Neither is this second fruit of friend- 
 ship, in opening the nnderstanding, restrained 
 only to such friends as are s.ble to give a man 
 coui^sel, (they indeed are best,) but even 
 without that a man learneth of iiimself, and 
 bringeth "^his own thoughts to light, and whet- 
 teth his wits as against a stone, which itself 
 cots not. In a word, a man were better relate 
 himsek" to a statue or picture than to suffer his 
 thoughts to pass in smother. 
 
 Add, now, to make this second fruit of 
 friendship complete, that other point which 
 lieth more open, and falleth within vulgar 
 cbsen^ation : which is faithful counsel from a 
 friend. Heraclitiis saith well in one of his 
 enigmas, ".Dry lisjht is ever the best," and 
 certain it is, that the light that a man receiveth 
 hj connsei from another is drier and purer 
 than that which eometh from his own under- 
 standing and judgment ; which is ever infused 
 find drenched in his affections and customs. 
 So as there is as much difference between the 
 counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man 
 gireth himself, as there is between the- conn-? 
 
OF FKir:-N'v3HIP. 107 
 
 ?'el of a friend and of a flatterer ; . iiyr there is 
 no such flatterer as is a man's self^ .aid there 
 is no such remedy agalDst flattery ^ ( a man's 
 8elf as the iiberty of a Ixiend. Counsel is of 
 two sorts ; the one concerning manners, the 
 other concerning business ; for the iirst, the 
 best preservative to keep the mind in health 
 is the faitiiful admonition of a fricjid. The 
 calling of a man's self to a strict account is a 
 medicirc sonc'in^es t30 7'c"cir~ <rd co""&- 
 
 sive ; leac ng c^^oq ' lu 
 
 s of 'noiiii 
 
 iittie <lat and dead, o^'^ 
 others is sometV.v s i n^ 
 
 --v rr OLl 
 
 -^0-e. f.. c 
 
 but the bes^ i^c- , t f' ' 
 
 1 - I- s O 
 
 best to id' e) ^s ' 
 
 I n 
 
 It is a <rc, ^-^ t-i 
 
 ■i ' 
 
 rors a] d c-' c ^^ 
 
 
 of jhs ^-t„ r '^ ^ o 
 
 I, 
 
 a friend to ^^-h l^^ n 
 
 . , > t 
 
 daniap-c bv^n of i ' 
 
 
 as St'^di-r^^ '- ' 
 
 
 of 
 
 for, 
 
 sometiiieo '3 ^ 
 their c ^' u >' , ^ — 
 a Dinn may thinL, ^' 
 no more tLaa 01.^; 
 aiv/avG mo'-c taij. a *w0^ei--n 
 Id anger it, as v,rse aa iie laa. 
 the fou~-and-l'vveLt}' Icl^e-^ , c 
 may be s'lct osf as \>Ld i^^y ^ 
 a rest; z^xl ^v."! ^-J-^'-^^ ^ 
 
 aatioES, to ih^ilL ^^£ " ^ .a ^ 
 
 til is cone^ tiis ^c ^ - 
 wJiirh -^cttlFth h"^" z 
 
 - ) 
 
 a^r 
 
 a nz^j 
 
 tiat 
 
 sai 
 
 i G/e- 
 
 tha 
 
 t a 
 
 ^•L >C' 
 
 e "^ 
 
 ^ Cl 
 
 •^ u^jon 
 
 L 
 
 r T 
 
 --_"r ^ 
 
 
 ^^-t, 
 
 when 
 
 ^ i_ 
 
 
 '; \l^' 
 
 
 •"t-C 
 
 ' '"/ 
 
St5S OP FtUEKSiStF. 
 
 maa think that he will take cmlnsfel, bsf it 
 shall be by pieces ; asking counsel in one bu- 
 siness of one man, and in another business of 
 another man ; it is as well, (that is to say, bet- 
 ter, perhaps, than if he asked none at all,) but 
 he runneth two dangers ; one, that he shall 
 not be faithfully couHbelled ; 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 
 laath that giveth it : the other, th?,t he shall 
 have counsel given, hurtful and unsafe, (though 
 "■'Vif «good meaning,) ar^d mixed parti j of mis- 
 rhiei", and partly of remedy j even as if you 
 woujid call a pbysiciaii, that is thought good 
 for the cure of the disease you complain ofy 
 but is unacquainted with your body ; and, 
 therefore, may put you in a way for present 
 cure, but overthroweth your health in some 
 other kind, and so cure the disease, and kiU M 
 tJie patient : but a friend, that is wholly ac- 
 ciuainted with a man's estate,' will beware, by 
 fr-rtbering any present business, how he dash- 
 eth upon other inconvenience ; and, therefore^ 
 rest not upon scattered counsels ; for they will 
 mthQT distract and mislead than settle and 
 direct. 
 
 After these two noble fraits of friendship 
 ^peace in the affections and support of the judg- 
 iiicnt) followeth the last fruit, which is, like 
 the pomegranate, full of raany kernels ; I meaa, 
 uid and bearing a part in all actions and. occa- 
 4!ii>^s. H(,T<* th.6 D&Tf t "^TSfy to rapre^eat tp life- 
 
OF FRIENDSHIP. 109 
 
 the manifold use of friendship, is to cast and 
 see how many things there are which a man 
 cannot do himself; and then it wiil appear 
 that it was a sparing speech of the ancients to 
 
 ;; say, " that a friend is another himseh"; for 
 that a friend is far more than himself." Men 
 have their time, and die many times in desire 
 of some things which they principally take to 
 heart ; the bestowing of a ciiild, 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 
 
 I that a man hath, as it p/ere, 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 esercise thern 
 by his fiicnd. How many things are there 
 which a man cannot, with any face or comeli- 
 nes-, say or do himself! A man can scarce 
 allege his own merits wiih modest}', much less 
 extol them : a rnan cannot sometimes brook 
 to supplicate, or beg, uiid a number of the like : 
 but all these things ■;:■: nvjAlin a fi'iend's 
 
 mouth, which are b:i., ^ ::: a man's own. 
 
 So again, a man's person hath many^ proper 
 relations which he cannot put off. A man 
 cannot speak to Jus 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 notes if sorteth with the 
 person ;* but to enumerate these things were 
 10 
 
110 OF EXrENSE. 
 
 endless ; I have given the rule, v/here a mem 
 cannot htly play his own part *, if he have not 
 & friend, he may quit the stage. 
 
 HicKES are for spending, and spending for 
 honour and good actions ; therefore extraordi- 
 nary expense must be limited by the worth of 
 the occasion ; for volimtary nn doing may be 
 ES well for a man's cormtiy as for the kingdom 
 of heaven ; but ordinary expense ought to be 
 limited by a man's estate, and governed "with 
 such regard as it be within his compass ; 
 and not subject to deceit and abuse of ser- 
 vants ; and ordered to the best show, that the 
 bills rnay be less than the estimation abroad. 
 Certainly, if a man will keep but of even 
 hand, his ordinary expenses ought to be but 
 to the half of his receipts ; and if he think to 
 nvax rich, but to the third part. It is no base- 
 ness for the greatest to descend and look into 
 their own estate. Some forbear it, not iipon 
 negligence alone, but doubting to bring them- 
 selves into mekiicholYj in respect they shall 
 find it broken : but v/onnds cannot be cnred 
 %vithout searching. He that cannot look into 
 his own estate at all had need both choose 
 well those whom he employeth, and change 
 them often ; for mw are more timorous and 
 less subtle. Ke that can look into his estatQ 
 
^F THE TRUE GR£ATx%'ESS, $Le. ill 
 
 but seldom, it beliooveth him to turn all to cer- 
 tainties. A man had needj if he be plentiful 
 in some kind of expense, to be as saving again 
 in some other; as, if he be plentiful in aietj 
 to be saving in opparel ; if he be pieritiiul in 
 the hall, to be saving in the stable, and the 
 like : for he that is plentiful in expenses of all 
 kinds will hardly be presen-ed from decsy. 
 In clearing of a man's estate, he may es well 
 hurt himseh'' in being too sudden, as m letting 
 it run on too long ; for hs^sty selling h com* 
 monly as disadvantageable as iBLerest. Be- 
 sides, he that clears at once will relapse; for, 
 finding himself out of straits, he will revert to 
 his custom.s ; but he that cleareth by degrees 
 induceth a habit of fregaiity, and gaineth ss 
 T/ell upon his mind as upon his eitate. Cer* 
 tainly, who hath a state to repair may not de- 
 spise small things ; and, commonly, it is less 
 dishonourable to abridge petty charges than to 
 stoop to petty gettings. A man ought "warily 
 to begin charges, which once begim will con- 
 tinue : but in matcere that return not he miy 
 he more magniiicent. 
 
 OF THS TRUE GREATNESS OP KINGDCSrS 
 
 AND ESTATES. 
 
 The speech of Themistocles the Athenian, 
 irhich was haughty nnd arrogant, in taking so 
 9iuch to himself, had been a grave and wise 
 #'biervetion and censure, applied, at large, to 
 
112 OF THE TRUE GIlEAl'NESS 
 
 others. Desired at a feast to touch a iutc, he 
 said, " he could not fiddle, but yet he could 
 make a small town a great city." These 
 words (bolpen a little with a metaphor) may 
 express two differing abilities in those that deal 
 in business of estate ; for, if a tnie survey be 
 taken of counsellors and statesmen, there may , 
 be found (though rarely) those which can : 
 make a small state great, and yet j;annot fid- ; 
 die ; as, on the other side, there will be found': 
 a great many that can fiddle very cunningly^ j 
 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 degene- 
 rate arts and shifts, whereby many counsellors 
 and governors gain both favour v/ith their 
 masters, and estimation with the vulgar, de- i 
 serve no better name than fiddling ; being 
 things rather pleasing for the time, and grace- 
 ful to themselves only, than tending to the 
 weal and advancement of the state which they ! 
 serve. There are also (no dou')t) counselbrs; 
 and governors which may be held sufficientjt, 
 '' negotiis pares," able to manage affairs, and 
 to keep them from precipices and manifest in- 
 conveniences ; 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 spesik of 
 the work ; that is, the true greatness of king- 
 doms and estates, and the means thereof. An 
 argument fit for great and mighty princes td 
 
Ot KTSNfcrDO^iii aI^H ESTATES. 115 
 
 iiave in their band ; to the end, that neither 
 by overmeasuring their forces they lose them- 
 selves in Tain enterprises; nor, on the other 
 'Bide, by undervaluing them, they descend to 
 fearful and pusillanimous counsels. 
 
 The greatness of an estate, in bulk and ter- 
 ritory, doth fail under measure ; and the great-* 
 ness of finances and revenue doth foil under 
 computation. The population may appear bv^ 
 •musters; and the number and greatness of 
 cities and towns by cards and maps ; but yet 
 '«h«re is not any thing, amongst civil aitairsj 
 more subject to error than the right valuation 
 and true judgment concerning the power and 
 forces of an estate. The kingdom of heaven 
 as conipared, not to any great kernel, or nut, 
 but to a grain of mustard-seed ; which is one 
 of the least grains, but hath in it a property 
 and spirit hastily to get up and spread. So 
 ^re there states great in territory, and yet not 
 apt to enlarge or command: and some that 
 have but a small dimension of stem, and yet 
 are apt to be the foundation of great njonar^ 
 chies. 
 
 Walled towns, stored arsenals and aiTnories., 
 goodly races of horse, chariots of v/ar, ele- 
 phants, 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, w^here the people are of 
 weak courage ; for, as Yirgil saith, " it never 
 tcoubles the wolf how many the sheep be," 
 10 * 
 
114 Ot TRE TRUE GREATNBSS 
 
 The army of the Persians, in the plains of Ar* 
 bela, was such a vast sea of people as it did 
 somewhat astonish the commanders in Alex- 
 ander's army, who came to him, therefore, and 
 wished him to set upon them by night ; but he 
 answered, "■ he would not pilfer the victory ;"^ 
 and the defeat was easy. When Tigranes, the 
 Armenian, being encamped upon a hill with 
 four hundred thousand men, discovered the 
 army of the Romans, being not above fourteen 
 thousand, marching tov^ards him, he made him- 
 self merry with it, and said, " Yonder men are 
 too many for an embassage, and too few for a 
 fight :" but before the sun set, he found them 
 enow to give him the chase, with infinite slaugh- 
 ter. 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 vmr (as it is trivially 
 said) where the sinews of men's arms in base 
 and effeminate people are failing ; for Solon 
 said well to Crossus, (when in ostentation he 
 showed him his gold,) " Sir, if any other 
 come that hath better iron than you, he will 
 be master of all this gold." Therefore, let 
 any prince, or state, think soberly of his forces, 
 except his militia of natives be of good and 
 valiant soldiers ; and let princes on the other 
 side, that have subjects of martial disposition, 
 know their own strength, unless they be other- 
 wise wanting unto themselves. As for mer- 
 
OJ KINSDOMS ANB ESTATES. 115 
 
 eenary 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 Judas and Issachar will 
 never meet ; that the same people, or nation, 
 should be both the lion's whelp and the ass 
 between burdens ; neither will it be, that a 
 people overlaid with taxes should ever become 
 valiant and martial. It is true, that taxes, levi- 
 ed by consent of the estate, do abate men's 
 courage less ; as it hath been seen notably in 
 the exercises of the Low Countries ; and, in 
 some degree, in the subsidies of England : for, 
 you must note, that we speak now of the heart, 
 and not of the purse; so that, although the 
 same tribute and tax, laid by consent or by 
 imposing, be all one to the purse, yet it works 
 diversely upon the courage. So that you may 
 conclude, that no people overcharged with 
 tribute is fit for empire. 
 
 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 svvain, driven 
 out of heart, and, in eiTect, but a gentleman's 
 labourer. Even as you may see in coppice 
 woods ; if you leave your straddles 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 
 
11-6 OF THS TEUii QRiLAT-Si^m 
 
 the hundredth poll will be St for a helmet { 
 especially as to the infantry, which is the^| 
 ner\^e of an army : and so there will be great i 
 population and little strength. This which I 
 speak of hath been no where better seen than 
 by comparing of England and France ; whereof 
 England, though far less in territory and pop- 
 ulation, hath been (nevertheless) an o\ci- 
 match ; in regard the middle people of Eng- 
 land make good soldiers, which the peasants 
 of France do not : and herein the device ci 
 King Henry the Seventh (whereof I have 
 spoken largely in the history of his life) war, 
 profound and admirable ; in making farms ar:-i 
 houses of husbandry of a standard; that is, 
 maintained with sncli a proportion of land unto 
 them as may breed a subject to live in conve- 
 nient plenty, and no servile condition ; and 
 to keep the plough in the hands of the owners, 
 and not mere hirelings ; and thus indeed ye 
 shall attain to Virgil's character, %vhich he gives 
 to ancient Italy : 
 
 " Terra potens armis atque ubera glebse." 
 
 Keither is that state (which, for any thing I 
 know, is almost peculiar to England, and 
 hardly to be found any where else, except it 
 be perhaps in Poland) to be passed over ; I 
 mean the state of free servants and attendants 
 upon noblemen and gentlemen, which are no 
 ways inferiour unto the yeomanry for arms ; 
 find, therefore, out of all question, the splen- 
 i^ur and magnificence, and great rotiiiues, the 
 
OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES. llT 
 
 hospitality of noblemen and gentlemen re- 
 ceived into custom, do much conduce unto 
 martial greatness : whereas, contrariwise, the 
 close and reserved living of noblemen and 
 gentlemen causeth a penury of military forces. 
 By all means it is to be procured, that the 
 trunk of Nebuchadnezzar's tree of monarchy 
 be great enough to bear the branches and the 
 boughs ; that is, that the natural subjects of the 
 crown or state bear a sufficient proportion to the 
 strange subjects that they govern : therefore, 
 all states that are liberal of naturalization to- 
 v/ards strangers are lit 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 point of naturalization : 
 whereby, while they kept their compass, they 
 stood firm ; but when they did spread, and 
 their boughs were become 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 ac- 
 cordingly, for they grew to the greatest mon- 
 archy. Their manner was to grant naturaliza- 
 tion, (which they called "jus civitatis,") and 
 to grant it in the hij^hest degree, that is, not 
 only "jus commercii, jus connu^ii, jus ha^re- 
 ditatis ;" but also "jus snifragii," and "jus 
 honorum ;" and this not to singular persons 
 alone, but likewise to whole families ; yea, to 
 
119 OF THE TRUE iJRBATNESS 
 
 t!itie8, and sometimes to nations. Add to this 
 their custom of plantation of colonies, where- , 
 by the Roman plant was removed into the soil 
 -of other nations ; and, putting both constitu* 
 lions together, you wi!l say, t!\3t it was not (he 
 Romans that spread upon the world, but it ' 
 was the world that spread upon the Romans ; 
 End that was the sure wtiy 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 or- 
 dinary soldiers; yea, and sometimes in their 
 highest commands : nay, it seemeth, at this iu» 
 stant, they are sensible of this want of natives : 
 as by the pragmatical sanction, iiow published, 
 appeareth. 
 
 It is certain, that sedentary and w-ithln-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 fe'avaii ; nei- 
 ther must they be too much brc^ken of it, if 
 they shall be preserved in rigour : therefore, 
 it was great advantage in the ancient states 
 of Sparta, Athens, Rome, and others, that they 
 kad the use of slaves, which commealy did 
 
or KINGDOMS AND ESTATBS. 119 
 
 fid those manufactures ; but that is abolished, 
 in greatest part, by the Christian law. That 
 which Cometh nearest to it is, to leave those 
 arts chiefly to strangers, (which, for that pur- 
 pose, are the more easily to be received,) and 
 to contain the principal bulk of the vulgar na-- 
 lives within those three kinds, tillers of the 
 ground, free servants, and handicraftsmen cf 
 strong and manly arts ; as smiths, masons, 
 carpenters, &,c., not reckoning professed sol- 
 diers. 
 
 But, above all, for empire and greatness, it 
 importeth most, that a nation do profess arms 
 as their principal honour, study, and occupa-- 
 tion ; for the things which we formerly have 
 spoken of, are but habilitations towards arms ; 
 and Vviiat is habilitation vvithout intention and 
 act ? Uomulus, after his death, (as they report 
 or feign,) sent a present to the Romans, that 
 above all they should intend arms, and then 
 they should prove the greatest empire of the 
 world. The fabric of the state of Sparta was 
 wlioHy (though not wisely) framed and com- 
 posed to that scope and end ; the Persians and 
 lUacedouians had it for a iiash ; the Gauls, 
 Germans, Goths, Saxons, Normans, and oth- 
 ers, had it for a time : the Turks have it at 
 this day, though in great declination. Of 
 Christian Europe, they that have it are, in ef- 
 fect, only the Spaniards : but it is so plain, that 
 e^^evj man profiteth in that he most intendeth, 
 that it needeth not to be stood upon : it is 
 pnoTigh to point at it ; that no nation, which 
 
120 OP THE TRUE GRfiATNES* 
 
 doth not directly profess arms, may look to 
 have greatness fall into their mouths ; and, on 
 the other side, it is a most certain oracle of 
 time, that those states that continue long in \ 
 that profession (as the Romans and Turks 
 principally have dowe) do wonders; and those 
 that have professed arms but for an age have, 
 notwithstanding, comroonly attained that great- 
 ness in that age v/hich maintained them long , 
 after, when their profession and exercise of 
 arms hath grown to decay. 
 
 Incident to this point is for a state to have 
 those laws or customs which may reach forth 
 unto them just occasions (as may be pretend- 
 ed) of war ; for there is that justice iniprinted 
 in the nature of men, that they enter not upon 
 wars, (whereof so many calamities do ensue,) 
 but upon some, at the least specious, grounds 
 and quarrels. The Turk hath at hand, for 
 cause of war, the propagation of his law or 
 sect, a quarrel that he may always command. 
 The Romans, though they esteemed the ex- 
 tending the limits of their empire to be great 
 honour to their generals when it was done, ' 
 yet they never rested upon that alone to begin 
 a war : first, therefore, let nations that pre- 
 tend to greatness have this, that they be sen- 
 sible of wrongs, either upon borderers, mer- 
 chants, or politic ministers ; and that they sit 
 not too long upon a provocation : secondly, let 
 thera be pressed and ready to give aids and 
 succours to their confederates as it ever was 
 with the Romans : insomuch a? if the ronfed--.i 
 
* or KiNGJJOAis a:;i» instates. l^>i 
 
 j^rates had leagues defensive with divers other 
 states, and, upon invasion offered, did implore 
 *heir aids severally, yet the Romans would 
 ^ver he the foi-emost, and leave it to none 
 other to have tlie honour. As for the wars, 
 which v/ere anciently made on the oehalf of 
 -a kind of party, or tacit conformity of state, I 
 do not see how ihe}- may be well justified : as 
 when the Romans made a war for the liberty 
 of Grascia ; or, when the Lacedoernonians and 
 Athenians made war to set up or pull dov/n 
 democracies and oligarchies : or, when wars 
 wei-e made by foreigners, under the pretence 
 of justice or protection, to deliver the sobject?; 
 of others from tyranny and oppression, and the 
 like. Let it suihce, that no estate expect to 
 be great, that is not awake upon any just oc^ 
 easion of arming- 
 No body can. be healthful without exercise, 
 neither natural body nor politic ; and^ certain- 
 ly, to a kingdora, or estate, a just and honour- 
 a,ble %var is the true e:cercise. A civil war, 
 indeed, is like the heat of a fever ; but a for- 
 eign war is like the heat of exercise, and 
 serveth to keep the body in health ; for, in a 
 slothful peace, both courages will effeminate, 
 and manners corrupt ; but hov/soever it be for 
 happiness, without all question for greatness,^ 
 it maketh to be still for the most part in arms : 
 and the strength of a veteran army, (though it 
 be a chargeable business,) ahvays on foot, is that 
 which commonly giveth the law; or, at leasts 
 •thee reputation among;:';! all neigbbour stales, as 
 ■ 11 ^' 
 
122 OP TliE TIIUE GREATNESS 
 
 may be well seen in Spain '; which hath had, 
 in one part or other, a veteran army almost 
 continually, now by the space of six score 
 years. 
 
 To be master of the sea is an abridgment 
 of a monarchy. Cicero, writing to Atticus of | 
 Pompey's preparation against Caesar, saith,. 
 *' Consilium Pompeii plane Themistocleum 
 est ; putat enim, qui mari potitur, eum reruni 
 potiri ;" and, without doubt, Pompey had tired 
 out Caesar, if upon vain confidence he had not 
 left that way. We see the great effects of 
 battles by sea : the battle of Actium decided 
 the empire of the world : the battle of Lepanto 
 arrested the greatness of the Turk. There 
 be many examples, where sea fights have been 
 final to the war : but this is when princes, or 
 states, have set up their rest upon the battles ; 
 but thus much is certain, that he that com- 
 mands the sea is at great liberty, and may 
 take as much and as little of the vvar as he 
 %viil ; whereas, those that be strongest by 
 land are raany times, nevertheless, in great 
 straits. Surely, at this day, with us of Eu- 
 rope, the vantage of strength at sea (which is 
 one of the principal dowries of this kingdom 
 of Great Britain) is great ; both because most 
 of the kingdoms of Europe are not merely 
 inland, but girt mth the sea most part of their 
 compass; and because the wealth of both 
 Indies seems, in great part, but an accessary 
 to the command of the seas. 
 
 The wars of later ages mem to be made in 
 
OP KINGDOMa AM) EbTAfEi?. 123 
 
 the dark, in respect of the glory and honour 
 tvhich reflected upon ip.eii from the wars in 
 ancient time. There be now, for martial encour- 
 agement, some degrees and orders of chivalry, 
 which, nevertheless, are conferred promiscuous- 
 ly upon soldiers and no soldiers, and some re- 
 membrance perhaps upon the escutcheon, and 
 some hospitals for maimed soldiers, and sux-li 
 like things ; but, in ancient times, the trophies 
 erected upon the place of the victory ; the 
 funeral laudatives and monuments for those 
 that died in the v/ars ; the crowns and gar- 
 lands personal ; the style of emperor, which 
 the great kings of the world after borrowed ; 
 the triumphs of the generals upon their return ; 
 the great donatives and largesses upon the dis- 
 banding of the armies, — were things able to in- 
 flame all men's courages ; but, above all, that 
 of the triumph amongst the Romans was not 
 pageants, or gaudery, but one of the wisest 
 and noblest institutions that ever was ; for it 
 contained three things, honour to the general, 
 riches to the treasury out of the spoils, and 
 donatives to the army : but that honour, per- 
 haps, were not fit for monarchies ; except it 
 be in the person of the monarch himself, or 
 his sons; as it came to pass in the tim_e3 
 of the Roman emperors, who did impro- 
 priate the actual triumphs to themselves 
 and their sons, for such wars as they did 
 achieve in person, and left only for wars 
 achieved by subjects some triumphal garments 
 »Dd ensigns to the general. 
 
124 OF UEGirvIEX OV iiZALTIJt. 
 
 To conclude : no man can, by care taking, 
 (as the scripture saitb.,) "add a cubit to his 
 stature," in this little model of a man's body ; 
 but in the great frame of kingdoms and com- 
 monwealths, it is in the power of princes, or 
 estates, to add amplitude and greatness to their 
 iiingdoms ; for, by introducing such ordi- 
 nances, constitutions, and customs, as we have 
 now touched, they may sow greatness to their 
 posterity and succession : but these things are 
 commonly not observed, but left to take their 
 rhance. 
 
 OF REGIMEN OF HEALTH, 
 
 There is a wdsdom in this beyond the rules 
 of physic ; a man's own observation, what he 
 finds good of, and wdiat he finds hurt of, is the 
 best physic to preserve health ; but it is a 
 safer conclusion to say, " This agreeth not 
 well with mej therefore I will not continue 
 it," than this, " I find no oilx-nce of this, 
 therefore I m_ay use it :" for strength of na- 
 ture in youth passeth over many excesses 
 which are owing a man till his age. Discern 
 of the coming on of years, and think not to do 
 the same things still ; for age will not be de- 
 fied. Bevv^are of sudden change in any great 
 point 'of diet, and, if necessity enforce it, fit 
 the rest to it ; for it is a secret, both in nature 
 and state, that it is safer to change many 
 things than one. Examine thy customs of 
 
©F REbiMlirM OF KEALTS. V25 
 
 diet, sleep, exercise, apparel, and the like ; 
 and try, in any thing thou sb alt judge hurtful, 
 to discontinue it by little and little ; but so as, 
 if thou dost find any inconvenience by the 
 change, thou come back to it again : for it is 
 hard to distinguish that which is generally 
 held good and wholesome from that which is 
 good particularly, and fit for thine own body. 
 To be free-minded and cheerfully disposed at 
 hours of meat and sleep, and of exercise, is 
 one of the best precepts of long lasting. As 
 for the passions and studies of the mind, avoid 
 envy, anxious fears, anger, fretting inwards, 
 subtile and knotty inquisitions, joys and exhil- 
 arations in access, sadness not communicated. 
 Entertain hopes, mirth rather than joy, variety 
 of delights rather than surfeit of them ; won- 
 der and admiration, and therefore novelties ; 
 studies that fill the mind with splendid ancc 
 illustrious objects, as histories, fables, and 
 contemplations of nature. If you fly physic 
 in health altogether, it will be too strange for 
 your body when you shall need it; if you 
 make it too familiar, it wdli work no extraor- 
 dinary effect when sickness cometh. I com- 
 mend rather some diet for certain seasons than 
 frequent use of physic, except it be grown into 
 a custom ; for those diets alter the body more, 
 and trouble it less. Despise no new accident 
 in your body, but ask opinion of it. In sick- 
 ness, respect health principally ; and in healthy 
 action : for those that put their bodies to en- 
 dure health, may, in most sicknesses wMcIj 
 
 n *' 
 
\'26 OF iiUbi'iciOiV. 
 
 are not very sharp, be cured only with diet 
 and tendering. Celsus conid never have 
 spoken it as a physician, had he not been a 
 wise man v/ithal, when he giveth it for one of 
 the great precepts of health and lasting, that 
 a man do vary and interchange contraries ; 
 but with an inclination to the more benign 
 extreme : use fasting and fall eating, but 
 rather full eating ; v/atching and sleep, but 
 rather sleep ; sitting and exercise, but rather 
 exercise, and the like : so shall nature be 
 cherished, and yet taught masteries. Phj'si- 
 cians are some of them so pleasing and com- 
 formable to the humour of the patient, as they 
 press not the true cure of the disease ; and 
 some other are so regular in proceeding ac- 
 cording to art for the disease, as they respect 
 not sufficiently the condition of the patient. 
 Take one of a middle temper ; or, if it may 
 not be found in one man, combine two of 
 either sort ; and forget not to call as well 
 the best acquainted with your body, as the 
 best reputed of for his faculty. 
 
 OF SUSPICION. 
 
 Suspicions amongst thoughts are like bats 
 amongst birds, they ever iiy by twilight : cer- 
 tainly they are to be repressed, or, at the least, 
 well guarded ; for they cloud the mind, they | 
 lose friends, and they check with business, | 
 Vr'hereby business cannot go on currently and ' 
 
OF susi-i'UON. 1:27 
 
 constantly : they dispose kings to tyranny, 
 husbands to jealousy, wise men to irresolution 
 and melancholy : they are defects, not in the 
 heart, but in the brain ; for they take place in 
 the stoutest natures : as in the example of 
 Henry the Saveiith of England ; there was 
 not a more saspicioiis man nor a more stout : 
 and in such a composition they do small hurt ; 
 for commonly they arc not admitted but with 
 examineition, whether tliey be likely or no ; 
 but in fearful natures they gain ground too 
 fast. There is nothing makes a man suspect 
 much, more than to know little ; and, there- 
 fore, men should remedy suspicion by procur- 
 ing to know more, and not to keep their sus- 
 picions in smother. What v/ould men have ? 
 do they think those they employ and deal witli 
 are saints ? do they not think they will have 
 their own ends, and be truer to themselves 
 than to them ? therefore there is no better 
 way to moderate suspicions than to account 
 upon such su:^picion5 as true, and yet to bridle 
 them as false : for so far a man ought to 
 make use of suspicions as to provide, as if 
 that should be true that he suspects, yet it may 
 do him no hurt. Suspicions that the mind of 
 itself gathers are but buzzes; but suspicions 
 that are artificially nourished, and put into 
 men's heads by the tales and whisperings of 
 others, have stings. Certainly, the best mean 
 to clear the v/ay in this same v>^ood of suspi- 
 cions, is frankly to comm^unicate them with the 
 party that he suspects ; for thereby lie shall 
 
128 OF r>iscouRs«» 
 
 be sure to know more of the truth of them 
 than he did before ; and withal shall make 
 that party more circumspect, not to give fur- 
 ther cause of suspicion ; but this v/ould not be 
 done to men of base natures ; for they, if they 
 find themselves once suspected, will never be 
 true. The Italian says, " Sospetto licentia 
 fede ;" as if suspicion did give a passport to 
 faith ; but it ought rather to kindle it to dis^ 
 charge itself. 
 
 OF DISCOURSE. 
 
 Some in their discourse desire rather com- 
 mendation of wit, in being able to hold all ar- 
 guments, than of judgment, in discerning what 
 is true ; as if it were a praise to know what 
 might be said, and not what should be thought. 
 Some have certain common places and themes, 
 wherein they are good, and want variety; 
 which kind of poverty is, for the most part, 
 tedious, and, when it is once perceived, ridic-' 
 ulous. The honourablest part of talk is to 
 give the occasion ; and again to moderate and 
 pass to somewhat else, for then a man leads 
 the dance. It is good in discourse, and speech 
 of conversation, to vary and intermingle speech 
 of the present occasion with arguments, tales 
 with reasons, asking of questions with telling 
 of opinions, and jest with earnest : for it is a 
 dull thing to tire, and, as we say now, to jade 
 any thing too far. As for jest, there be cer- 
 
OF DISCOURSE. 129 
 
 iain things which ought to be piiviieged from 
 it ; namely, religion, matters of state, great per- 
 sons, any man's present business of importance, 
 and any case that deserveth pity ; yet there be 
 some that think their v/its have been asleep, 
 except tJiey dart out somewhat that is piquant, 
 and to the quick ; that is a vein which should 
 be bridled : 
 
 '' Parce pucr stimulis, et f^;rliu3 uterc loris." 
 
 And, generally, men ought to find the differ- 
 ence between saltness and bitterness. Cer- 
 tainly, he that hath a satirical vein, as he 
 maketh others afraid of his v*^it, so he had 
 need be afraid of others' memory. He that 
 questioneth much shall learn much, and con- 
 tent much ; but especially if he apply Iiis 
 questions to the skill of the persons v/hom he 
 asketh ; for he shall give them occasion to 
 please themselves in speaking, and himself 
 shall continually gather knowledge ; but let 
 his questions not be troublesome, for that is fit 
 for a poser ; and let him be sure to leave other 
 men their tarns to speak : nay, if there be any 
 that would reign 5 and take up all the time, let 
 him find means to take them off, and bring 
 others on : as musicians use to do wdth those 
 that dance too long galliards. If you dissem- 
 ble sometimes your knowledge of that you are 
 thought to know, you shall be thought, another 
 time, to knov\^ that you know not. Speech 
 of a man's self ought to be seldom, and well 
 chosen. I knew one v;as wont to say in scoTn^ 
 
130 OP DISCOURSE. 
 
 " 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 
 whereuato himself pretendeth. Speech of 
 touch towards others should be sparingly used ; 
 for discourse ought to be as a field, without 
 coming home to any man. I knew two no- 
 blemen, of the west part of England, whereof 
 the one was given to scoff, but kept ever 
 royal cheer in his house ; the other would ask 
 of those that had been at the other's table, 
 " Tell truly, was there never a flout or dry 
 blow given ?" to which the guest would an- 
 swer, " Such and such a thing passed :" the 
 lord would say, " I thought he would mar a 
 good dinner." Discretion of speech is more 
 than eloquence ; and to speak agreeably to 
 him with whom we deal, is more than to 
 speak in good words, or in good order. A 
 good continued speech, without a good speech 
 of interlocution, shows slowness ; and a good 
 reply, or second speech, without a good settled 
 speech, showeth shallowness and weakness. 
 As we see in beasts ; 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 
 
OF PLANTATIONS. 131 
 
 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 justly account 
 new plantations to be the children of former 
 kingdoms. I like a plantation in a pure soil ; 
 that is, where people are not displanted to the 
 end to plant in others ; for else it is rather an 
 extirpation than a plantation. Planting of 
 countries is like planting of woods ; for you must 
 make account to lose almost twenty years' 
 profit, and expect your recompense in the end : 
 for the principal thing that hath been the de- 
 struction 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 it may stand with the good 
 of the plantation, but no farther. It is a 
 shameful and unblessed thing to take the scum 
 of people, and wicked, condemned men, to be 
 the people with whom you plant ; and not 
 only so, but it spoileth the plantation ; for 
 they will ever live like rogues, and not fall to 
 work, but be lazy, and do mischief, and spend 
 victuals, and be quickly weary, and tlien cer- 
 tify over to their country to the discredit of 
 the plantation. The people wherewith you 
 plant ought to be gardeners, ploughmen, la- 
 bourers, smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, 
 fowlers, with some few apotheearie?, surgeons, 
 
V6-2 or PLANTATIONS. 
 
 cooks, and bakers. In a country of planta- 
 tion, first look about what kind oi" victual the^ 
 country yields of itself to hand : as chestnuts, 
 walnuts, pine-apples, olives, dates, plums, 
 cherries, v>'i'd Jinney, and tlse like, and make 
 use of them. Then consider what victual^ 
 or esculent things there are, which grov/ speed' 
 ily, and within the year ; as parsnips, carrots, 
 turnips, onions, radish, artichokes of Jerusa- 
 lem, 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, 
 likev/ise, cometh a great increase, and it is a 
 kind of meat. Above ail, there ought to be 
 brought store of biscuit, oatmeal, iiour, meal, 
 and the like, in the beginning, till bread may 
 be had. For beasts or birds, take chiefly such 
 as are least subject to diseases, and multiply 
 fastest ; as swine, goats, cocks, hens, turkeys, 
 geese, house-doves, and the like. The victual 
 in plantations ought to be expended almost as 
 in a besieged tovni ; that is, with certain al- 
 lowance : and let the jnain part of the ground, 
 employed to gardens or corn, be to a commx^n 
 stock ; and to be laid in, and stored up, and 
 then delivered out in proportion ; besides some 
 spots of ground that any particular person 
 v/ill manure for his own private use. Consid- 
 er, likewise, what commodities the soil where 
 the plantation is doth nalnrally yield, that they . 
 ^>ay some vray lielp to defr?y the charge of 
 
OF PLANTATIOAS. 1'3S 
 
 te plantation ; so it be not, as was said, to 
 e untimely j^rejudice of the main business, 
 a3- it hath fared \v'ith tobacco in Virginia. 
 Wood commonly aboundeth but too much ; 
 and therefore timber is lit 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 iirs 
 and pines are, will not fail ; so drugs and 
 sweet woods, where they arc, cannot but yield 
 profit; soap-ashes, likewise, and other things 
 that may be thought of; but moil not too 
 much under ground, for the hope of mines is 
 very uncertain, and useth to make the planters 
 lazy in other things. For government, let it 
 be in the hands of one, assisted with some 
 counsel ; and let them have commission to ex- 
 ercise martial lavvs, with some limitation ; and, 
 above all, let men make that profit of being 
 in tlie v,''ilderneDo, 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 coun- 
 try that plauteth, but upon a temperate num- 
 ber ; and let those be rather noblemen and 
 gentlemen than in'cidio.ixib , f;;i tn^-y !auL ever 
 to the present gain : let there be freedoms 
 from custom, till the plantation be of strength ; 
 and not only freedom from custom, but free- 
 dom to carry their commodities where tliey 
 12 
 
134 OP PLANTATIONS. 
 
 may make their best of them, except there bs- 
 some special cause of caution. Cram not ifl 
 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 m 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 and unwholesome 
 grounds : therefore, though you begin there 
 to avoid carriage and other like discommodi- 
 ties, yet build still rather upwards from the 
 stream 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 neces* 
 sary. If you plant where savages are, do not 
 only entertain them with trifles and gingles, 
 but use them justly and graciously, with suffi- 
 cient guard nevertheless ; and do not win their 
 favour by helping them to invade their ene- 
 mies, 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 com .end it when they 
 return. When the plantation grows to strength, 
 then it is time to plant with women as well as 
 wiiti men ; that the plantation may spread into 
 generations, and not be ever pierced from 
 without. It is the sinfulest thing in the 
 world to forsake or destitute a plantation 
 once in forwardness; for, besidee ^e dis- 
 
or Ricmss, 155 
 
 honour, it is the guiltiness of blood of many 
 commiserable persons. 
 
 OF RICHES. 
 
 I CANNOT call riches better than the baggage 
 of virtue ; the Roman word is better, " imped- 
 imenta ;" 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 disturb- 
 eth the victory ; of great riches there is no 
 real use, except it be in the distribution ; the 
 rest is but conceit; so saith Solomon, " Where 
 much is, there are many to consume it ; and 
 what hath the owner but the sight of it with 
 his eyes r" The personal fruition in any man 
 cannot reach to feel great riches : there is a 
 custody of them; or a power of dole and 
 donative of them ; or a fame of them ; but no 
 solid use to the owner. Do you not see what 
 feigned prices are set upon little stones and 
 rarities ? and vv^ha^ works of ostentation are 
 undertaken, becaiije 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 imagina^- 
 tion of the rich man :" but this is excellently 
 expressed, that it is in imagination, and 
 apt always in fact : for, certainly, great riches 
 have sold more men tiian they have bou|phjl 
 
li^ OF HICJIE8. 
 
 out. Seek not proud riches, but such as thou 
 rnayst get justly, use soberly, distribute cheer- 
 iaUy, and leave contentedly ; yet have no ab- 
 stract or friarly contempt of them ; but distin- 
 giiisli, as Cicero saitli well of Rabirius Post- 
 humus, "in studio rei amplificandas appare* 
 bat, non avaritise praedam, sed instrumentum 
 bonitati qu^ri." Hearken also to Solomon, 
 nnd beware of hasty gathering of riches; 
 " Qui festinat ad divitias, non erit insons." 
 The poets feign that when Piutus (which ig 
 riches) is sent from Jupiter, he limps, and 
 goes slowly ; but when he is sent from Pluto, 
 he runs, and is swift of foot ; meaning, that 
 riches gotten by good means and just labour 
 pace slowly ; but when they come by the 
 death of others, (as by the course of inheri- ; 
 lance, testaments, and the like,) they come 
 tumbling upon a man : but it might be applied 
 likewise to Pluto, taking him for the devil : 
 for when riches com.e from the devil, (as by * 
 fraud and oppression, and unjust means,) they 
 come upon speed. The ^vays to enrich are 
 many, and most of them foul : parsimony is 
 one of the best, and jQt is not innocent ; for it ' 
 withhcldeth men from v%'orks 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 eorth ; but it 
 is slow : and yet, where men of great v.'ealth 
 do stoop to husbandry, it multiplieth riches 
 exceedingly. I knew a nobleman of England, " 
 that had the greatest audits of any man in my 
 
eP RlCflBS. IZH 
 
 6m«, ft great grazier, a great sheep master, a 
 great timber man, a great collier, a great com 
 master, a great lead man, and so of iron, and a 
 number of the like points of husbandry ; so as 
 the earth seemed a sea to him in respect of the 
 perpetual importation. It was truly observed 
 by one, " That himself came very hardly to 
 little riches, and very easily to great riches ;" 
 for when a man's stock is come to that, that 
 he can expect the prime of markets, and over-^ 
 come those bargains, which for their greatness 
 are few men's money^ and be partner in the 
 industries of younger men, he cannot but 
 increase mainly. The gains of ordinary trades 
 and vocations are honest, and furthered by two 
 things, chiefly, by diligence, and by a good 
 name for good and fair dealing ; but the gains 
 of bargains are of a more doubtful nature, 
 when men shall wait upon others' necessity ; 
 broke by servants and instruments to draw 
 them on ; put off others cunningly that would 
 be better chapmen, and the like practices, 
 which are crafty and naughty : as for the 
 chopping of bargains when a man buys not to 
 hold, but to sell over again, that commonly 
 grindeth double, both upon the seller and upon 
 the buyer. Sharings do greatly enrich, if the 
 hands be well chosen that are trusted. Usury 
 is the certainest means of gain, though one of 
 the worst, as that whereby a man doth eat his 
 bread, " in sudore vultus alieni ;" and besides, 
 doth plough upon Sundays : but yet, certain 
 though it be, it hath flaws ; for that the scriv- 
 13 • 
 
}0S or RICHES. 
 
 eners and brokers do value unsound men to 
 serve their own turn. The fortune, in being 
 ihe first in an invention, or in a privilege^ 
 doth cause sometimes a wonderful overgrowth 
 
 in riches ; as it was with the first sugar man 
 in the Canaries ; therefore, if a man can play - 
 the true logician, to have as v/ell judgment as : 
 invention, he may do great matters, especially 
 if the times be fit : lie that resteth upon gains 
 certain shall hardly grow to great riches ; and 
 he that puts all upon adventures, doth oftcu- 
 times break and come to poverty : it is good, ' 
 therefore, to guard adventures v/ith certainties 
 that may uphold losses. Monopolies, and co- 
 emption of wares for resale, where they are 
 not restrained, are great means to tnrlch; ■.. 
 especially if the party have intelligence what 1 
 things are like to come into request, and so 
 store himself beforehand. Riches gotten by 
 service, though it beof the best rise, yet when 
 they are gotten by flattery, feeding humours, -^ 
 and other servile conditions, they may be 
 placed amongst the worst. As for ilvhing for- 
 testaments and executorships, (as Tacitus saith 
 of Seneca, " testamenta et orbos tanquam ^ 
 indagine capi,") it is yet worse, by how much 
 men submit themselves to meaner persons than 
 in service. Believe not much them that seem 
 to despise riches, for they despise them that 
 despair of them ; and none w^brse when they 
 come to them. Be not penny-wdse; riches 
 have wings, and sometimes they fiy away of 
 them.selvesj frometirQes they must be mt Spng. 
 
 Si 
 
 II 
 
I9. bring in more, rvien leave their riches 
 either to their kindred or to the public ; and 
 moderate portions prosper best in both. A 
 great estate left to aa heir Is as a lure to all the 
 birds of prey round about to seize on him, if he 
 be not the belter established in years and judg- 
 ment : likewise glorious gifts and foundalioD^ 
 are like sacrilices without salt; and but the 
 painted sepulchres of alms, which soon Vvill 
 putrify and corrupt inwardly: therefore, meas- 
 ure not thine advancements by quantity, but 
 frame them by measure : and defer not chari- 
 ties till death : for certainly, if a man weigh it 
 rightly, he that doth so is rather liberal of 
 another roan's than of his own. 
 
 OF PROPHECIES. 
 I MEAN not to speak of divine prophecies^ 
 nor of heathen oracles, nor of natural predic- 
 iiions ; but only of prophecies that have been 
 of certain memory, and from hidden causes. 
 Saith the Pythoaissa to Saul, '' Tomorrow 
 thou and thy sons shall be with me.'' Virgil 
 hath these verses from Homer : 
 
 '' At doinus ^Enerc cJinctia dominabitur ori?, 
 
 Hi iiati natorua-;; el qui iKLK.entar ab iliis." .SJln. iii. 07. 
 
 A prophecy as it seems of the Roman empire 
 Seneca^ the tragedian, hath these verses : 
 
 c: Venient anuis 
 
 FsBcuia. seris, quibus oceajius 
 Vin cilia rerum laxet, et in gens 
 Pa-teat telliis, Tiphyeque novoQ 
 X>etegat orbea ; nee sit t-?'i-ris 
 
140 er pROpHEciEg. 
 
 a prophecy of the discovery of America. The 
 daughter of Polycrates dreamed that Jupiter 
 bathed her father, and Apollo anointed him ; 
 and it came to pass that he was crucified in an 
 open place, where the sun made his body run 
 with sweat, and the rain washed it. Philip 
 of Macedon dreamed he sealed up his wife's 
 belly; whereby he did expound 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 phantom, that appeared to H. 
 Brutus in his tent, said to him, " Philippis 
 iterum me videbis." Tiberius said to Galba, 
 " tu quoque, Galba, degustabis iraperium." 
 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 
 tliough it may be was meant of our Saviour, 
 yet Tacitus expounds it of Vespasian. Dom- 
 itian dreamed, the night before he was slain, 
 that a golden head was growing out of the 
 nape of his neck; and indeed the succession 
 that followed him, for many years, made golden ^ 
 times. Henry the Sixth of England said of I 
 Henry the Seventh, when he was a lad, and 
 gave him water, " this is the lad that shall 
 enjoy the crown for which we strive.'' When 
 I was in France, I heard from one Dr. Pena^l 
 that the queen mother, who was given to curi- ) 
 ous arts, caused the king her husband's nativ- 
 ity to be calculated under a false name ; and the 
 astrologer gave a judgment, that he should be 
 
I CK I-hcJFHECI£S. 14 1 
 
 idlled in a duel ; at which the queeii laughed, 
 thinking her husband to be above challenges 
 and duels : but he v/as slain upon a course 
 at tilt, the splinters of the staff of Montgomery 
 £oing in at his beaver. The trivial prophecy 
 \vhich I heard when I was a chiku end qiiten 
 Elizabeth was in the ilower of her yesirsj ^^as, 
 
 ** When hempe is spun 
 EiigJaud's dc^ae:'^ 
 
 whereby it was generaHy conceived, that after 
 the princes had reigned which had the princi- 
 pal letters of the vvord h^n^pe^ (v.'hich v. ere 
 Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth,) 
 England should come to otter confiision ; 
 which, thanks be to God, is verified in the 
 change of the name ; for the king's style is 
 now no more of England but of Esilain. 
 There was also another prophecy bei"ore the 
 year of eighty-eight, which I diO not Vveli 
 imderstand : 
 
 "There shall be soon upon a dajj 
 Between the Baueli ana the JMa5% 
 Tlie bl==ick fleet of Xorwry. 
 W^hen that is come ar.d Kone, 
 Enghmd build houses of IJms and stone, 
 Foi- after wars shall yon hri%-e none.-' 
 
 fit was generally conceived to be meant of the 
 Spanish fleet tliat came in eighty-eight : for 
 r that the king of Spain's surname, as they say, is 
 jKorway. The prediction of RegiomontanuSj 
 
 : " Octogesimus octavos mirabilis annus," 
 
 was thought likewise accomplished in the 
 sending of that great fleet, being the greatest 
 
142 OF PROFHECIES. 
 
 in strength, though not in number, of all that 
 ever swam upon the sea. As for Cleon's 
 dream, I think it was a jest ; it was, that he 
 was devoured of a long dragon ; and it was 
 expounded of a maker of sausages, that trou- 
 bled him exceedingly. There ai'e numbers 
 of the like kind ; especially if you include 
 dreams, and predictions of astrology ; but I 
 have set down these few only of certain credit, 
 for example. My judgment is, that they 
 ought all to be despised, and ought to serve 
 but for winter talk by the fireside. Though, 
 when I say despised, I mean it as for belief; 
 for otherwise, the spreading or publishing of 
 them is in no sort to be despised, for they 
 have done much mischief; and I see many 
 severe laws made to suppress them. That 
 that hath given them grace, and some credit, 
 consisteth in three things. First, that men 
 mark when they hit, and never mark when 
 they miss ; as they do, generally, also of 
 dreams. The second is, that probable conjec- 
 tures, or obscure traditions, many times turn 
 themselves into prophecies : while the nature 
 of man, which coveteth divination, thinks it 
 no peril to foretell that which indeed they do 
 but collect : as that of Seneca's verse ; for so 
 much was then subject to demonstration, that 
 the globe of the earth had. great parts beyond; 
 the Atlantic, which might be probably con- 
 ceived not to be all sea : and, adding thereto 
 the tradition in Plato's Timaeus, and his Atlan*^ 
 tkusj it might encourage one to turn it to * 
 
OF AMBtTION. 143 
 
 prediction. The third and last (which is the 
 great one) is, that almost all of them, being 
 infinite in number, have been impostures, and, 
 by idle and crafty brains, merely contrived 
 and feigned, after the event passed. 
 
 OF AMBITION. 
 
 Ambition is like cholcr, which is a hu- 
 tfiour 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 a dust, and thereby maligti and ven- 
 omous : so ambitious 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 wiih an evil eye, and are best pleased 
 when things go backward ; which is the worst 
 property in a servant of a prince or state : 
 therefore it is good for princes, if they use 
 ambitious men, to handle it so, as they be still 
 progressive, and not retrograde, wdiich, be- 
 cause it cannot be without inconvenience, it is 
 good not to use such natures at all ; for, if they 
 rise not mth their service, they will take order 
 to make their ser^^ice 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 ije<:;€S6ity. Good commanders in the 
 
144 er AMSiifON. 
 
 wars must be taken, be they never so amM-| 
 tious; for the use of their ser^ace dispensetLj] 
 with the rest ; and to take a soldier ^vithoutil 
 ambition is to pull off his spurs. There is a\so% 
 great use of embitious men in being screens:^ 
 to princes in matters of danger and envy ; for 
 no man will take that psrt except he be like a 
 sealed dove, that mounts and mounts, because 
 he cannot see about him, Tbere is use also 
 of ambitious men in pulling down the great-. 
 ness cS any subject that overtops ; as Tiberius • 
 used Macro in the pulling down of Sejanus. 
 Since, therefore, they must be used in such 
 cases, there resteth to speak how they are to be. 
 riddled, that they may be less dangerous : . 
 there is less danger of them if tiiey be of • 
 mean birth than if they be noble; and if they; 
 be rather harsh of namre than gracious and* 
 popular [ and if they be rather new raised, 
 than cjrciYn cunning and fortihed in their,, 
 greatness. It is counted by some a Yv-eakness 
 in princes to have favourites ; but it is, of all 
 others, the best remedy against ambitious 
 great ones ; for when the vvay of pleasuring,, 
 and displeasuring lieth by the favourite, it is 
 impossible any gOiqi should be over great/ 
 Another means to curb them is, to balance 
 them by others as proud as they ; but then 
 there must be some middle counsellors, to keep ; 
 things steady f 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, scourgee to ambitious raea. 
 
or AAiBiL li?:^, 145 
 
 As for the having of them obnoxious to ruin, 
 if they be of fearful natures, it may do weii ; 
 but if they be stout and daring, it may precip- 
 itate their designs, and prove dangerous. As 
 .for the pulling of them do^vn, if the affairs 
 ■require it, and that it may not be done with 
 safety suddenly, the oiily way is, the inter- 
 -f.haiige continually of favours and disgraces, 
 ^whereby they may not know what to expect, 
 and be, as it were, in a Vv'ood. Of ambitions, 
 it is less harmful the ambition to prevail in 
 great things, than that other to appear in every 
 tiling; lor that breeds confusion, and mars 
 business : but yet it is less danger to have an 
 ambitious man stirring in business than great 
 in dependences. Ke that seeketh to be emi^ 
 ncut amongst able men hath a great task ; hut 
 that is ever good for the publie : but he that; 
 •plots to be the oiily ligi^re a'^iongst ciphers h 
 the. decay of a whole age. Hcnour hath three 
 things in if; the vantage ground to tlogood; 
 ,the approach to kings and principal jjersons ; 
 ii.i}d the raising of a man's own fortunes. He 
 that hath the hc^t of these intentions, when 
 he aspirethj is an honest man ; and that prince 
 that can discern of these intentions in another 
 that aspireih, is a wise prince. Generally let 
 princes and states clioosc such ministers aa 
 are more sensible of duty than of rlshig, and 
 6uch as love busiLiess rather upon coi^science 
 thka upon bra"'c:y : and let xilcw dl^eeip 5, 
 
146 OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS* 
 
 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 bett-er they 
 should be graced with elegancy than daubeS 
 with cost. Dancing to song is a thing of great 
 state and pleasure. I understand it that the 
 aong 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 bass and a 
 tenor ; no treble,) and the ditty high and trag- 
 ical ; not nice or dainty. Several quires 
 placed one over against another, and taking 
 the voice by catches, anthemwise, give great 
 pleasure. Turning dances into figure is 
 childish curiosity; and generally let it be 
 noted, that those things which I here set 
 down are such as do naturally take the sense, 
 and not respect petty wonderments. It is true, 
 the alterations of scenes, so it be quietly and 
 without noise, are things of great beauty and 
 pleasure ; for they feed and relieve the eye 
 before it be full of the same object. Let the 
 scenes abound with light, especially colourec 
 and varied ; and let the masquers, or any othei 
 that are to come down from the scene, have 
 
«OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS. 147 
 
 some motions upon the scene itself before their 
 coming down ; for it draws the eye strangely, 
 and makes it with great pleasure to desire to 
 see that it cannot perfectly discern. Let the 
 songs be loud and cheerful, and not chirpings 
 or pulings : let the music likewise be sharp 
 and loud, and well placed. The colours that 
 show best by candle-light are white, carnation, 
 and a kind of sea-water green j and ouches, 
 or spangs, as they are of no great cost, so they 
 are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it 
 is lost and not discerned. Let the suits of the 
 masquers be graceful, and such as become the 
 per-son when the vizards are off; not after ex- 
 amples of known attires ; Turks, soldiers, 
 mariners, and the like. Let anti-masques not 
 be long; they have been commonly of fools, 
 satyrs, baboons, wild men, antics, beasts, 
 spirits, witches, Ethiopes, pigmies, turquets, 
 nymphs, rustics, cupids, statues moving, and 
 the like. As for angels, it is not comical 
 enough to put them in anti-masques : and any 
 thing that is hideous, as devils, giants, is, on 
 the other side, as unfit ; but, chiefly, let the 
 music of them be recreative, and with some 
 strange dianges. Some sw^eet odours suddenly 
 coming forth, without any drops falling, are, 
 in nuch a company as there is steam and heat, 
 things of great pleasure and refreshment. 
 Double masques, one of men, another of ladies, 
 addeth state and variety ; but all is nothing, 
 except the room be kept clean and neat 
 
 I . 
 
OF NATUKt 
 
 For jtists, arid tourneys, and barriers, th6 
 glories of them are cliiefiy 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 en Trance, or in 
 bravery of their liveries, or in the goodly 
 fnrnitiire of their horses and armour. But 
 enough of these toys. 
 
 OF NATURE IN MEN. 
 
 Nature is often hidden, sometimes over- 
 come, seldom extinguished. Force maketh 
 nature more violent in the return ; doctrine 
 and discourse maketh nature less importune ; 
 but custom only doth alter and subdue nature^ 
 He that seeketh victory over his nature, let 
 him not set himself too great nor too small 
 tasks; for the first will make him dejected 
 by often failing, and the second will make 
 him a small proceeder, though by often pre- 
 vailing : and, at the first, let him practise with 
 helps, as swimmers do with bladders or rushes; 
 but, after a time, let him practise with disad- 
 vantages, as dancers do with thick shoes ; for 
 it breeds great perfection if the practice be 
 harder than the use. Where nature is mightyj 
 and therefore the victory hard, the degrees 
 had need be, first, to stay and arrest nature in 
 time ; like to him that woqld say over the 
 
OF NATURE IN MEN. 149 
 
 faur-and-twenty letters ivhen 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 discon- 
 tinue altogether : but if a man have the forti- 
 tude and resolution to enfranchise himself at 
 once, that is the best : 
 
 " Optimus iile animi vindex, If^danlig pectus 
 Vincula qui rupit, dedoluitque semel." 
 
 Neither is the ancient rule amiss, to bend na- 
 ture as a wand to a contrary extreme, whereby 
 to set it right; understanding it where the 
 contrary extreme is no vice. Let not a man 
 force a liabit upon himself with a perpetual 
 eontinuance, but with some intermission ; for 
 both the pause reenforceth 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 habit of both ; 
 and there is no means to help this but by sea- 
 sonable intermission : but let not a man trust 
 his victory over his nature too far ; for nature 
 will lie buried a gi^eat time, and yet revive 
 upon the occasion, or temptation ; like as it 
 was with iEsop's damsel, turned from a cat to 
 a woman, who sat very demurely at the board's 
 end till a mouse ran before her : therefore, let 
 a man either avoid the occasion altogether, or 
 put himself often to it, that he may be little 
 moved with it A man's nature is best per- 
 ceived in privateness ; for there is no affecta- 
 tion in passion ; for thai puttetb a man out of 
 13* 
 
150 OF CUSTOM AN1> LtWAilOts. 
 
 his precepts, and in a new case or experiment, 
 for there custom leaveth him. They are hap-^ 
 py men whose natures sort with their voca- 
 tions; otherwise they may say, "multum 
 incola fuit anima mea," \yhen they con- 
 verse in those things they do not affect. In 
 studies, whatsoever a man commandeth upon 
 himself, let him set hours for it ; but whatso- 
 ever is agreeable to his nature, let him take no 
 care for any set times ; for his thoughts will fly 
 to it of themselves, so as the spaces of other 
 business or studies will sufHce. A man's 
 nature runs either to herbs or weeds : tlierefore, 
 let him seasonably water tlie one, and destroy 
 the other. 
 
 OF CUSTO^f AND EDUCATION, 
 
 Men's thoughts are much according to 
 their inclination ; their discourse and speeches 
 according to their learning and infused opin- 
 ions ; but their deeds are after as they have 
 been accustomed : and, therefore, as Maclii- 
 avel well noteth, (though in an ill favoured 
 instance,) there is no trusting to the force of 
 nature, nor to the bravery of words, except it be 
 corroborate by custom. His instance is that, 
 for the achieving of a desperate conspiracy, a 
 man should not rest upon the fierceness of any 
 man's nature, or his resolute undertakings; 
 but take such a one as hath had his hands for- 
 inerly in blood : but Maohiavel knew not of a 
 
OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATIOX. 15 j 
 
 friar Clement, nor a Tlaviliac, nor a Jaiireguy, 
 nor a Baltazar Gerard ; yet his rule holdeth 
 still, that nature, nor the engagement of words, 
 are not so forcible as custom. Only supersti- 
 tion is now so well advanced, that men of the 
 first blood are as firm as butchers by occupa- 
 ±ion ; and votary resolution is made equipol™ 
 lent 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 
 jpf 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 corpse of their husbands. 
 The lads of Sparta, of ancient time, were 
 %vont to be scoufged upon the altar of Diana, 
 without so much as squeaking. I remember, 
 in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's time of 
 England, an Irish rebel, condemned, put up 
 a petition to the deputy that he might be 
 hanged in a withe, and not in a halter, 
 because it had been so used with former 
 rebels. There be monks in Russia, for pen- 
 ance, that will sit a whole night in a vessel 
 of water, till they be engaged with hard ice. 
 Many examples may be put of the force 
 of custom, both upon mind and body : there- 
 
152 OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION. 
 
 fore, since custom is the principal magis- 
 trate 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 
 see, in languages, the tone is more pliant 
 to all expressions and sounds, the joints are 
 more supple to ail feats of activity and motions 
 in youth, than afterwards ; for it is true, the 
 late learners cannot so well take up the ply, 
 except it be in some minds that have not suf- 
 fered themselves to fix, but have kept them- 
 selves opened and prepared to receive contin- 
 ual amendment, which is exceeding rare : 
 but if the force of custom, simple and sepa- 
 rate, be great, the force of custom, copulate 
 and conjoined and collegiate, is far greater; 
 for their example teach eth, company comfort- 
 eth, emulation quickeneth, glory raiseth ; so 
 as in such places the force of custom is in its 
 exaltation. Certainly, the g" tat multiplication 
 of virtues upon human nature resteth upon 
 societies well ordained and disciplined ; for 
 commonwealths and good governments do 
 nourish virtue grown, but do not much mend 
 the seeds : but the misery is, that the most 
 effectual means are now applied to the ends 
 least to be desired. 
 
OF FORTUNE. 153 
 
 OF FORTUNE. 
 
 It cannot be denied but outward accidents 
 conduce much to fortune ; favour, opportunity, 
 death of others, occasion fitting virtue : but, 
 chieiiy, the mould of a man's fortune is in his 
 own hands: " Faber quisque fortune sus," 
 saith the poet ; and the most frequent of ex- 
 ternal causes is, that the folly of one man is 
 the fortune of another ; for no man prospers 
 so suddenly as hj others' errors ; '' serpens 
 nisi serpentem comederit non sit draco." 
 Overt and apparent virtues bring forth praise ; 
 but there be secret and hidden virtues that 
 bring forth fortune ; certain deliveries of a 
 man's self, v/hich have no name. The Span- 
 ish name, " disemboltura," partly expresseth 
 them, when there be not stands nor restive- 
 ness in a man's nature, but that the wheels of 
 his mind keep v/ay v, itli the wheels of his 
 fortune ; for so Livy (after he had described 
 Cato Major in these v/ords, '' in illo viro, tanr 
 turn robur corporis et animi fuit, ut quocunque 
 loco natus esset, fortunam sibi facturus videre- 
 tur,") falleth upon that he had, "versatile 
 ingeniiim :" 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, bul; 
 living light tog€fther : so are there a numheT- 
 
154 OF FOUTUNE. 
 
 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 it into 
 his other conditions, that he hath " Poco di 
 raatto ;" and, certainly, there be not two more 
 fortunate properties, than to have a little of 
 the fool, and not too much of the honest: 
 therefore extreme lovers of their country, or 
 masters, were never fortunate : neither can 
 they be ; for when a man placeth his thoughts 
 without himself, he goeth not his own way. 
 A hasty fortune maketh an enterpriser and 
 remover ; (the French hath it better, " entre- 
 prenant," or " remuant ;") but the exercised 
 fortune maketh the able man. Fortune is to 
 be honoured ^nd respected, and it be but for 
 her daughters, Confidence and Reputation ; 
 for those two felicity breedeth ; the first within 
 a man's self, the latter in others towards him. 
 AH wise men, to decline the envy of their 
 mvn virtues, use to ascribe them to Provi- 
 dence and Fortune ; for so they may the bet^ 
 ter 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, 
 " Ceesarem portas, et fortunam ejus." So Syl- 
 la chose the name of " felix," and not of 
 " magnus :" and it hath been noted, that those 
 who ascribe openly too much to their own 
 wisdom and policy, end unfortunate. It is 
 written- that Timotheus, the Athenian, after 
 
OF USURY. 155 
 
 he had, in the account he gave to the state of 
 his government, often interlaced this speech, 
 ** And in this fortune had no part," never pros- 
 pered in any thing he undertook afterwards. 
 Certainly there be whose fortunes are like 
 Homer's verses, that have a slide and easi- 
 ness more than the verses of other poets ; as 
 Plutarch saith of Timoleon's fortune in respect 
 of that of Agesilaus, or Epaminondas : and 
 that this should be, no doubt it is much in a 
 man's self* 
 
 OF USURY. 
 
 Many have made witty invectives against 
 usury. They say, that it is pity the devil 
 should have God's part, which is the tithe; 
 that the usurer is the greatest sabbath breaker, 
 because his plough goeth every Sunday ; that 
 the usurer is the drone that Virgil speaketh of; 
 
 "Igaavum fucos pecua a praesepibus arcent ;" 
 
 that the usurer breaketh the first law that was 
 made for mankind after the fall, which was, " in 
 sudore vultus tui comedes panem tuum ;" not 
 " in sudore vultus alieni ;" that usurers should 
 have orange-tawny bonnets, because they do 
 Judaize ; that it is against nature for money to 
 beget money, and the like. I say this only, 
 that usury is a " concessum propter duritiem 
 cordis •" for, since there must be borrowing 
 and lending, and men are so hard of heart as 
 they will not lend freely, usury must be per- 
 
156 OF iSJLUi'. 
 
 mitted. Some others have made suspicious 
 and curmiiag 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 com- 
 modities 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 few^er merchants ; for, w^ere it not for 
 this lazy trade of usury, money would not lie 
 still, but it would in great part be employed 
 upon merchandising ; v/hich is the " vena 
 porta" of wealth in a state : the second, that 
 it makes poor merchants ; for, as a farmer can- 
 not husband his ground so well if he sit at a 
 great rent, so the merchant cannot drive his 
 trade so well if he sit at great usury : the 
 third is incident to the other two ; and that is. 
 the decay of customs of kings, or estates, 
 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 the other at uncertainties, at 
 the end of the game most of the money will 
 be in the box ; and ever a state fiourisheth 
 when wealth is more equally spread : the 
 fittb, that: it beats down the price of land ; for 
 she employment of money is chiefly either 
 rjiercbandiiimg^ or purchasing ^ snd niyry way- 
 I'V:- bcth - the ^ixth, thn it -^kih d\xU and 
 
OF rsuRV. 167 
 
 ^amp all industries, improvements, and new 
 inventions, wherein money would be stirring, 
 If it were not for this slug : the last, that it is the 
 canker and ruin of many men's estates, which 
 in process of time breeds a public poverty* 
 \ On the other side, the commodities of usury 
 fire, first, that howsoever usury in some respect 
 liindereth 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 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 undo- 
 ing, in that they would be forced to sell their 
 means (be it land or goods) far under foot, 
 and so, whereas usury doth but gnaw upon 
 them, bad markets would sv/allovv' them quite 
 up. As for mortgaging, or pawning, it will 
 little mend the matter : for either men will not 
 take pains without use, or, if they do, they 
 will look precisely for the forfeiture. I re- 
 member a cruel monied man in the country, 
 that would say, '^ Tbe 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 tha,t there v/ould be ordi- 
 nary borrowing without profit ; and it is im- 
 possible to conceive the Dumber of inconve- 
 niences that will ensue, if borro'>dng be 
 cramped : IhcrefoT^ to sneak of the Rboli^hing 
 U 
 
lo8 OF UvSURY. 
 
 of usury is idle ; all states have ever had it in 
 one kind or rate, or other : so as that opinion 
 must be sent to Utopia. 
 
 To speak now of the reformation and regle^ 
 ment of usury, how the discommodities of >1 
 may be best avoided, and the commoditietj 
 retained. It appears, by the balance c 
 commodities and discommodities of usur 
 two things are to be reconciled ; the one th 
 the tooth of usury be grinded, that it bite r . 
 too much ; the other, that there be left open 
 a means to invite monied 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 r 
 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 intentions, the way would be 
 briefly thus : that there be two rates of usury ; 
 the one free and general for all; the other 
 under license only to certain persons, and in 
 certain places of merchandising. First, there- 
 fore, let usury in general be reduced to five in 
 the hundred ; and let that rate be proclaimed 
 to be free and current ; and let the state shut 
 itself out to take any penalty for the same : 
 this will preserve borrowing from any general 
 stop or dryness ; this will ease infinite bor- 
 rowers in the country; ihh will, in good pat*ty 
 
OF US L' fir. 15§ 
 
 jfaise file price of land, bec-aiise iaiid purchased 
 at sixteen years' piirchase will yield six in the 
 hundred, and somewhat more, whereas this 
 rate of interest yields but live ; this by like 
 reason wiK encourage and edge industrious 
 and profitable improvements, because many 
 will rather venture in that kind, than take 
 3(ive in the hundred, especially having been 
 used to greater proMt. Secondly, let there be 
 certain persons licensed to lend to known mer- 
 -chants upon usury, at a high rate, and let it be 
 with the cautions following : let the rate be, 
 even with the merchant himself, som.ewhat 
 more easy than that he used formerly to 
 pay; for by that means all borrowers shall 
 iiave some ease by this reformation, be he 
 merchant or whosoever : let it be no bank, or 
 Common stock, but every man be master 
 of his own money; not that I altogether dis- 
 like banks, but they vrill hardly be brooked, 
 in regard of certain suspicions. Let the state 
 be answered some small matter for the 
 •license, and the rest left to the lender ; for, 
 i[ the abatement be but small, it will no 
 whit discourage the lender; for he, for ex- 
 ample, that took before ten or riine in the 
 hundred, will sooner descend to eight in the 
 hundred than give over this trade of usury, 
 and go from certain gains to gains of hazard. 
 Let these licensed lenders be in number inde- 
 finite, but restrained to certain principal cities 
 and towns of merchandising ; for then they 
 ■^^ill be hardly able to . colour other men's 
 
160 OP YOUTH AM) AG J!. 
 
 moneys in the country : 80 as the license of I 
 nine will not suck away the current rate off 
 five ; for no man will lend 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 suffer it to rage by connivance. 
 
 OF YOUTH AND AGE. 
 
 A MAN that is young in years may be old in 
 hours, if he have lost no time ; but that hap* 
 peneth 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 Csesar and Septimius Severus : of the 
 latter of whom it is said, "juventutem egit, 
 erroribus, imo furoribus plenam ;" and yet he 
 was the ablest emperor, almost, of all the list: 
 l)ut reposed natures may do well in youth, aa: 
 it is seen in xlugustus Cssar, Cosmes, dukcj 
 of Florence, Gaston de Fois, and others. On 
 ike, other side, hent end vivacit)' in ao;e is 
 
or YOUT/I A.\D A«K. lt)l 
 
 ; excellent composition for business. Young 
 ; men are fitter to invent than to judge ; fitter 
 for execution than for counsel ; and fitter for 
 new projects than for settled business ; for the 
 experience of age, in things that fal! within 
 the compass of it, directeth them ; but in new 
 things abuseth them. The errors of young 
 ^nen are the ruin of business ; but the errors 
 of aged men amount but to this, that more 
 might have been done, or sooner. Young 
 men, in the conduct and manage of actions, 
 embrace more than they can hold ; stir more 
 than they can quiet ; fiy to the end, without 
 consideration of the meEins and degrees; pur- 
 sue 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 
 retract them, like an unready horse, that will 
 neither stop nor turn. Men of age object too 
 much, consult too long, adventure too little, 
 repent too soon, and seldom drive business 
 home to the full period, but content themselves 
 with a mediocrity of success. Certainly it is 
 ^ood 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 external accidents, 
 because authority foUoweth old men, and 
 favour and popularity vouth ; but for the mor^l 
 14 * ' 
 
part, perhaps, youth will have the pre-emi- 
 nence, 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, bect'.use 
 vision is a clearer revelation than a dream : 
 and, certainly, the more a man drinketh of the 
 world, the more it inloxicateth : and age doth 
 profit rather in the powers of understandings 
 than in the virtues of the will and affections. 
 There be some have an over-early ripeness in 
 their years, which fadeth betimes : these are, 
 first, such as have brittle wits, the edge whereof 
 is soon turned : such as was Hermogenes the 
 rhetorician, whose books are exceeding subtle, 
 who afterwards waxed stupid : a second sort 
 is of those that have some natural dispositions, 
 which have better grace in youth than in age ; 
 such as is a fluent and luxurious speech, 
 which becomes youth well, but not age : so 
 Tully saith of Hortensius, " idem manebat, 
 neque idem decebat:" 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." 
 
 OF BEAUTY. 
 
 Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set; 
 and surely "virtue is beist in a body that h 
 
Bl" BKAUTSf. Itt3 
 
 ;0omely, though not of deiicaie features ; and 
 Itbat hath rather dignity of presence than beau- 
 cty of aspect ; neither is it ahiiost seen, that 
 very beautiful 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 Angus-' 
 :^ tus Csesar, Titus Ye -^-p? si anus, Philip le Belle 
 of France, Edward the Fourth cf Englandj 
 Aicibiades of Athens, Ismael the sophy of 
 Persia, were all high and great spirits, and yet 
 the most beautifiii men of their times. lu 
 beauty, that of favour is more than that of 
 colour ; and that of decent and gracious mo- 
 tion more than that of favour. 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 wdiether Apelles, or Albert Durer, 
 were the more trifier ; 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 person- 
 ages, I think, v/oold please nobody but the 
 painter that made them : not but I think a 
 painter m.ay 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 yoii examine them part by part. 
 
164 &F DEFOItMlTf. 
 
 you shall find iiever 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 
 puleher ;" for no youth can be comely but by 
 pardon, and considering the youth as 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 disso- 
 lute youth, and an age a little out of counte- 
 nance ; but yet certainly again, if it light well, 
 it maketh virtues shine and vices blush. 
 
 OF DEFORMITY. 
 
 Deformed persons are commonly even with 
 nature ; for, as nature hath done ill by them, 
 so do they by nature, being for the most part 
 (as the scripture saith) " void of natural 
 affection :" and so they have their revenge of 
 nature. Certainly there is a consent between 
 the body and the mind, and where Nature 
 erreth in the one, she ventureth in the other : 
 " ubi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero :" 
 but because there is in man an election, 
 touching the frame of his mind, and a neces- 
 sity in the frame of his body, the stars of 
 natural inclination are sometimes obscured by 
 the sun of discipline and virtue ; therefore it d 
 is good to consider of deformity, not as a sign i| 
 which is more deceivable, but as a cause I 
 
ip^hich seidoin failetli of the ellect. Who- 
 eojEver hath any Ihing iixed iu his person 
 that doth induce contempt, hath also a perpet' 
 ual spur in himself to rescue and deliver him- 
 self from scorn ; therefore, ail deformed per- 
 sons are extreme bold ; first, as in their own 
 defence, as being exposed to scorn, but in pro- 
 cess of time by a general habit. Also it stir- 
 reth izi them industry, and especially of tliif^ 
 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 persons that they think they 
 may at pleasure despise : and it hiyeth their 
 competitors and emulators asleep, as never 
 believing they should be in possibility of ad- 
 vancement till they see them in possession : 
 so that upon the matter, in a great wit, defor- 
 mity is an advantage to rising. Kings, in an- 
 cient times, (and at this present in some coun- 
 tries,) were wont to put great trust in eunuchs, 
 because they that are envious towards all are 
 more obnoxious and officious tov/ards one ; 
 but yet their trust towards them hath rather 
 been as to good spials, and good whisperers, 
 than good magistrates and ofBcers : and much 
 like is the reason of deformed persons. Still 
 the ground is, they will, if they be of spirit, 
 seek to free themselves from scorn ; which 
 must be either by virtue or malice ; and, 
 therefore, let it not be marvelled, if sometimes 
 they prove excellent persons ; as was Agesi- 
 ]^M9^ Zanger tlio sor. of Solyman, jEsop^ 
 
l(Jti OF JBLlLDlNt;. 
 
 Gasca, president of Peru ; and Socrates may 
 go likewise amongst them, with others. 
 
 OF BUILDING. 
 
 Houses are built to live in, and not to look 
 on ; therefore, let use be preferred before uni- 
 formity, except where both may be had. 
 Leave the goodly fabrics of houses, for beauty 
 only, to the enchanted palaces of the poets, 
 who build them with small cost. He that 
 builds a fair house upon an ill seat committeth 
 himself to prison ; neither do I reckon it an 
 ill seat only where the air is unwholsome, but 
 likewise where the air is unequal ; as you 
 shall see many fine seats set upon a knap of 
 ground, environed with higher hills round 
 about it, whereby the heat of the sun is pent 
 in, and the wind gathereth as in troughs ; so 
 as you shall have, and that suddenly, as great 
 diversity of heat and cold as if you dwelt in 
 several places. Neither is it ill air only that 
 maketh an ill seat ; but ill ways, ill markets ; 
 and, if you consult with Momus, ill neighbours. 
 I speak not of many more ; want of water, 
 want of wood, shade, and shelter; want of 
 fruitfulness, and mixture of grounds of several 
 oatures ; 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 ; ha-ving the com- 
 
 J 
 
OF BUILDING. 167 
 
 modity of navigable riv-ers, or the discom- 
 modity of their overflowing ; too far off from, 
 great cities, which may hinder business ; or 
 I too near them, which lurcheth ail provisions, 
 and make th every thing dear; where a maa 
 hath a great living laid together, and where he 
 is scanted ; all which, as it is impossible per- 
 haps 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 ?" Lucullus answered, " Why^ 
 do you not think me as wise as some fools are, 
 that ever change their abode towards the 
 winter ?" 
 
 To pass from the seat to the house itself, we 
 will do as Cicero doth in the orator's art, who 
 writes books De Oratore, and a book he enti- 
 tles Orator; whereof the former delivers the 
 precepts of the art, and the latter the perfec- 
 tion. 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 the Escurial, and 
 some others be, and yet scarce a very fair 
 room in them. 
 
 First, therefore, I say, you cannot have a 
 perfect palncc, except yo\i hc!^'c t^\o several 
 
16S *n- suiLiiJNG. m^ 
 
 sides ; a side for tlie banquet, as is spoken ' 
 of in the book of Esther, and a side for the 
 household ; the one for feasts and triumphs,- 
 and the other for dweiiing. 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 
 he on both sides of a great and stately tower 
 in the midst of the front, that, as it were, join- 
 eth 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 tri- 
 umphs. On the other side, which is the 
 household side, I wish it divided at the first 
 into a hail and a chapel, (vvith a partition be- 
 tween,) both of good state and bigness; and 
 those not to go all the length, bat to have at 
 the farther end a winter and a summer par- 
 lour, both fair ; and under these rooms a fair 
 and large cellar sunk under ground; and like- 
 wise 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 goodly 
 leads upon the top, railed with statues inter- 
 posed ; 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 and open newel, and finely railed in with 
 images of wood cast into a brass colour ; and 
 ^ Fen- fair landing-plrvce at the top. But this 
 
OF BL'lLUiiVG. ' 169- 
 
 to be, if you do not point any of the lowei" 
 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 ; 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 out- 
 ride, 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 low-er building. Let the court not be pav- 
 ed, for that strikeih up a great heat in summer, 
 and much cold in winter : but only some side 
 alleys with a cross, and the quarters to graze, 
 'leing kept sliorii, but not too near shorn. The 
 row of return c:i the banquet side, let it be 
 all stately galleries ; in wl^ich galleries let 
 there be three or five iiiie cupolas in the length 
 of it, placed at equal distance, and fme col- 
 oured windows of several works: on the 
 household side, ehambers of presence and 
 ordinary entertainments, w itli some bed-cham- 
 bers : and let all three sides be a double 
 house, without thorough lights on the sideSy 
 that you may have rooms fi'om the sun, both 
 for forenoon and afternoon. Cast it also, 
 that you may have rooms both for summer 
 gnd winter; shady for summer and warm 
 
176 0> BUILDING. 
 
 for winter. You shall have sometimes fair 1 
 houses so full of glass, that one cannot tell i 
 where to become to be out of the sun or cold* jli 
 For embowed windows^ I hold them of good ,if 
 use \ (in cities, indeed, upright do better, in 
 respect of uniformity towards the street ;) for 
 they be pretty retiiing 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 win- 
 dow : but let them be but few^, four in the 
 cottrtj on the sides only. 
 
 Beyond this court, let there be an inward 
 court, ^f the same square and height, which 
 is to be environed with the garden on all 
 sides; and in the iliside, cloistered on all 
 sides upon decent atid beautiful arches, as 
 high as the first story :■ on the under story, 
 towards the garden, let it be turned to a grotto, 
 or place of shade, or estivation; and only 
 have opening and windows towards the gar- 
 den, and be level upon the floor, no whit sunk 
 finder ground, to avoid all dampishness : and let 
 there be a fountain, or some fair work of stat- 
 ues, in the midst of the 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, " antecamera," 
 and " recamera," joining to it : this upon the 
 second story. Upon the ground story, a fair 
 
OF GARDENS. 171 
 
 jpon pillars ; and upon the 
 ^ewise, an open gallery^ upon pil- 
 ilars, to take the prospect and freshness of the 
 garden. At both corners of the farther side, 
 by way of return, let there be two delicate or 
 irich cabinets, daintily paved, richly hanged, 
 glazed with crystalline glass, and a rich cupola 
 in the midst ; and all other elegancy that may 
 be thought upon. In the upper gallery too, I 
 wish that there may be, if the place will yield 
 it, some fountains running in divers places 
 from the wall, with some fine avoidances, 
 And thus much for the model of the palace ; 
 save that you must have, before you come to 
 the front, three courts ; a green court plain, 
 with a wall about it ; a second court of the 
 same, but more garnished with little turrets, 
 or rather embellishments, upon the wall ; and 
 a third court, to make a square with the front, 
 but not to be built, nor yet enclosed with a 
 naked wall, but enclosed with terraces leaded 
 aloft, and fairly garnished on the three sides ; 
 and cloistered on the inside with pillars, and 
 not with arches below. As for offices, let 
 them stand at distance, with some low galle-^ 
 lies to pass from them to the palace itself. 
 
 OF GARDENS. 
 
 God Almighty first planted a garden ; and, 
 indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures ; it 
 is the greatest refreshment to the spirit*^ of 
 
I 
 
 172 OF GAllDESS. 
 
 man; witliout which biiiidiiigs and palaces 
 are but gross handiworks : and a man sliall 
 e^er see, that, w^hen ages grow to civility an^ 
 elegancy, men come to build sta,tely, soone 
 than to garden finely ; as if gardening were' 
 the greater perfection. I do hold it, in the 
 royal ordering of gardens, there ought to 
 gardens for all the months in the year, 
 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, 1 
 ivy, bays, juniper, cypress trees, yew, pines,'? 
 lir trees, rosemary, lavender ; periwinkle, the 
 white, the purple, and the blue; germander, 
 jSag, orange trees, lemon trees^ and myrtles, if 
 they be stoved ; and sweet marjoram, warm 
 set. There followeth, for the latter part of 
 January and February, the mezeron tree, 
 which then blossoms ; crocus vermis, both the 
 yellow and the gray ; primroses, anemones, 
 the early tulip, the hyacinthus, orientalis, 
 chamaVris fritellarla. For March there come 
 violets, especially the single blue, which are 
 the earliest ; the early daffodil, the daisy, the 
 almond tree in blossom, the peach tree in bios- t? 
 som, the cornelian tree in blossom, sweetbriar. i 
 In April follow the double w^hite violet, the | 
 wallflower, the stock gilliflower, the cowslip, 
 Hower-de-luces, and lilies of all natures ; 
 rosemary flowers, the tulip, the double peony, I 
 the pale daffodil, the French honey-suckle,] 
 -the cherry tree in blossom, the damajscene and! 
 
or GARDENS. 173 
 
 plum trees in blossom, the white thorn in leaf, 
 the lilach tree. In May and June come pinks 
 of all sorts, especially the blush pink ; roses 
 of all kinds, except the musk, which comes 
 later; honey-suckles, strawberries, bugloss, 
 columbine, the French marigold, flos Africa- 
 nus, cherry tree in fruit, ribes, figs in fruit, 
 rasps, vine-flowers, lavender in flowers, the 
 sw^et satyrian, with the white flower ; herba 
 muscaria lilium convallium, the apple tree in 
 blossom. In July eome gilliflowers of all 
 varieties, musk-roses, the lime tree in blossom, 
 early pears, and plums in fruit, gennitings, 
 codlins. In August come plums of all sorts 
 in fruit, pears, apricots, berberries, filberds, 
 musk-mellons, monks-hoods of all colours. 
 In September come grapes, apples, poppies of 
 all colours, peaches, melocotones, nectarines, 
 cornelians, wardens, 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," as the place affords. 
 
 And because the breath of flowers is far 
 sweeter in the air, where it comesi and goes, 
 (like the warbling of music,) than in the 
 hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that 
 delight than to know what be the flowers and 
 plants that do best perfume the air. Roses, 
 damask and red, are fast flowers of their 
 smells ; so that you may walk by a whole row 
 15* 
 
174 OF GAIIDENS. 
 
 of tliem, and lind notiiiiig of their sweetness ; 
 yea, though it be in a morning's dew. Bays, 
 likewise, yield no smell as they grow, rose- 
 mary little, nor sweet marjoram ; that which, 
 above all others, yields the sweetest smell in : 
 the air, is the violet, especially the v/hite 
 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 ilower of the vines, it is 
 a little dust like the dust of a bent, which grows 
 upon the cluster in the first coming forth ; then 
 sweetbriars, then wallflowers, which are very 
 delightful to be set under a parlour or lower 
 chamber v^indow ; then pinks and gilliflowers, 
 especially the matted pink and clove-gilll- 
 flower; Ihen the flov/ers of the lime tree; 
 then the honey-suckles, so they be somewhat 
 afar off. Of bean-flowers I speak not, be- 
 cause they are field flowers ; but those w^hich 
 perfume the air most delightfully, not passed by 
 as the rest, but being trodden upon and crush- 
 ed, are three ; that is, burnet, wild thyme, 
 and Yfatermiuts ; therefore, you are to set 
 whole alleys of them, to have the pleasure 
 wlien you walk or tread. 
 
 For gardens, (speaking of those which are, 
 indeed, princelike, as we have done of build- 
 ings,) 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 gat- 
 
or uAi^-ni^Ns. 17.> 
 
 ^n in the midst, besides alleys on budx side3 ; 
 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 mPwu 
 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 gar- 
 den ; but because the eJley will be long, and, 
 in grea.t heat of the ^vear, or day, you o-jglit 
 not to buy the shade in the garden by going 
 in the sun through the green ; therefore you 
 are, of either siJe the green, to plant a covert 
 alley, upon carpenter's v/ork, about twelve 
 foot in height, by wdiich you may go in shade 
 into the garden. As for the making of knots, 
 ox figures, wuth divers coloured earths, that 
 they may lie under the windows of the house 
 on that side on which the garden stands, the^r 
 be but toys : you may see as good sights manyi 
 tiincs in tarts. *The garden is best to be 
 >;quare, encompassed on all the four sides v>dtli 
 a stately arched hedge ; the arches to be upon 
 pillars of carpenter's w^ork, of some ten foot 
 high, and six foot broad, and the spaces between 
 of the same dimensions with the breadth of the 
 arch. Over the arches let there be an entire 
 hedge of some four foot high, framed also upon 
 carpenter's work ; and upon the other hedge- 
 over every arch, a little turnet, with a belly 
 ^nough to receive a cage of birds : and oTer 
 
176 OP GARDEN'S. 
 
 every space between the arches some oth^r 
 little figure, with broad plates of round col- 
 oured glass gilt for the sun to play upon : but 
 this hedge I intend to be raised upon a bank, 
 not steep, but gently slope, of some six foot, 
 set all with flowers. Also I understand, that 
 this square of the garden should not be the 
 whole breadth of the ground, but to leave on 
 either side ground enough for diversity of side 
 alleys, unto which the two covert alleys of 
 the green may deliver you ; but there must be 
 no alleys with hedges at either end of this 
 great enclosure ; not at the hither end, for let- 
 ting your prospect upon this fair hedge from 
 the green ; nor at the farther 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 busy or fiill 
 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, like 
 round welts, with some pretty pyramids, I like 
 well ; and in some places fair columns, upon 
 frames of carpenter's work. I would also 
 have the alleys spacious and fair. You may 
 have closer alleys upon the side grounds, but 
 none in the main garden. I wish also, in the 
 very middle, a fair mount, with three ascents 
 and alleys, enough for four to walk abreast ; 
 which I would have to be perfect circles, 
 
'ivithoiit any bulwarks or 02nbo.ssinei;i- ; and 
 the whole mount to be tliirly feet hi^Ii, and 
 some fine banqueting house, with some chim- 
 neys neatly cast, and without loo much glass. 
 For fountains, they are a great beauty and 
 refreshment ; but pools mar all, and make th^ 
 garden unwholsome, and full of Hies and frogs. 
 Fountains I intend to be of two natures ; l]:e 
 one that sprinkleth or spouteth v;atcr: the 
 other a fair receipt of %Yater, of some thir(y or 
 forty feet square, but without fish, or slime, cr 
 inud. For the first^ the ornaments of images, 
 gilt or of marble, which are in use, do well : 
 but the main matter is so to convey the 
 water, as it never stay, either in the bowls 
 or in the cistern: that the water be never 
 hy rest discoloured, green or red, or the 
 like, or gather any niossiness or putrefac- 
 tion ; besides that, it is to be cleansed every 
 day by the hand : also some steps up to ity 
 and some fine pavement about it do well. Aa 
 for the other kind of fountain, which w^e may 
 call a bathing pool, it may admit much curios- 
 ity and beauty, wherewith we y.ili not trouble 
 ourselves : as, that the bottom be finely paved, 
 and with images; the sides likewise; and 
 withal embellished with coloured glass, and 
 such tilings of lustre ; encompassed also with 
 fme rails of low statues : but the main poin^ 
 is the same which we mentioned in the for- 
 mer kind of fountain ; y.hich is, that the w^a^er 
 be in perpetual motio:;., fed by a water higher 
 
178 OF gardi:n«. 
 
 than the pool, and delivered into it by lair 
 spouts, and then discharged away under 
 ground, by some equality of bores, that it stay 
 little ; and for fine devices, of arching vt^ater 
 without spilling, and making it rise in several 
 forms, (of feathers, drinking glasses, canopies, 
 and the like,) they be pretty things to look 
 on, but nothing to health and sweetness. 
 
 For the heath, which was the third part of 
 our plot, I wished it to be framed as much as 
 may be to a natural wildness. Trees, I would 
 have none in it, but some thickets made only 
 of sweetbriar and honey-suckle, and some 
 wild vine amongst; and the ground set \vith 
 violets, strawberries, and primroses; for 
 these are sweet, and prosper in the shade ; 
 and these are to be in the heath here and 
 there, not in any order. I like also little 
 heaps, in the nature of mole-hills, (such as 
 are in wild heaths,) to be set, some with wild 
 thyme, some with pinks, some with german- 
 der, that gives a good flov/er to the eye ; some 
 with periwinkle, some with violets, some with 
 strawberries, some with cowslips, some with 
 daisies, some with red roses, some with lilium 
 convallium, some with sweet-williams red, some 
 with bear's-foot, and the like low flowers, 
 being withal sweet and sightly : part of 
 which heaps to be with standards of little 
 bushes pricked upon their top, and part 
 without: the standards to be roses, juniper, 
 holly, berberries, (but here and there because 
 
OF WAHDIJ^S. l79 
 
 of the siiiell of their blossoms,) red cunants, 
 gooseberries, rosemary, bays, sweetbriar, 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 
 ishade ;' some of them wheresoever the sun 
 be. You are to frame some of them likewise 
 for shelter, that, -when the wind blows sharp, 
 you may walk as in a gallery : and those 
 alleys must be likewise hedged at both ends 
 to keep out the wind ; and these closer alleys 
 must be ever finely gravelled, and no grass, be- 
 cause of going wet. In many of these alleys, 
 likewise, you are to set fruit-trees of all sorts, 
 as well upon the walls as in ranges ; and this 
 should be generally observed, that the borders 
 wherein you plant your fruit-trees be fair, and 
 large, and low, and not steep ; and set with 
 fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they 
 deceive the trees. At the end of both the 
 side grounds I would have a mount of some 
 pretty height, leaving the wall of the enclo- 
 sure 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 gar- 
 den so as it be not close, but the air open and 
 free. For as for shade, 1 would have you rest 
 upon the alleys of the side grounds, there 
 
rb'/ OF NEGOTIATlXCr, 
 
 to walk, if you be disposed, in the lieat of 
 the year or day ; but to make account that the 
 main garden is for the more temperate parts 
 of the year, and, in the heat of summer, for 
 the morning and the evening, or overcast 
 -:l?.v^. 
 
 For aviaries, I like them not, escept they 
 . 2 of thr.t largeness as Ihey may be tnrfedj, 
 .1 : living plants o:id bushes set in them ; 
 i!). . /. ' c'l dj r.-dv hr.vc more scope and natn- 
 :i'l L I . « ^1 :\ lint no foulness o.ppear on 
 t'io ::.o. .1 .L-aviziry. 
 
 H'j 1 huve made a phViform of a princely 
 i^c.Tdciij partly by pveccpt, partly by drawing ; 
 lata model, but eoine general lines of it; and 
 ^ foT no cost : but it 
 :c3, that, for the most 
 L workmen, with no 
 ogether; and some- 
 ^;ich things, for state 
 nothing to the true 
 
 It is gensrally better to deal by speech than 
 by letter ; and by the mediation of a third 
 than by a man-R :ielL Loiters are good, when 
 a man would draw an an'r^ver by letter bacfc 
 again; or when it may sei7e for a man's jus- 
 tification afterwards toprodoce his own letter; 
 or where it mvA^'be- in dan^or to be interrupted 
 
 in ill is I ha-- 
 
 'C 
 
 spa 
 
 i"ed 
 
 is nodiing fjr 
 
 o\ 
 
 cat 
 
 y/y. 
 
 pari, taking a 1 
 
 /.Z2 
 
 
 ICGS C03t -Ct t 
 
 
 .r :ii 
 
 
 limos aj. ' ^ 
 
 -ll 
 
 '-"? 
 
 ^■\ 
 
 a;id mno^^,.:: 
 
 .. , 
 
 ?:^5 
 
 o:;t 
 
^¥ NEGOTIATING. 181 
 
 tft heard by pieces. To deal in person is 
 good, when a man's face breedeth regard, as 
 commonly with inferiors ; er 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 expound. In choice of instru- 
 ments., it is better to choose men of a plainer 
 sort, that are like to do that that is committed 
 to them, and to report back again faithfully 
 the success, than those that are cunning to 
 contrive out of other men's business some- 
 what to grace themselves, and will help the 
 matter in report, for satisfaction sake. Use 
 •ulso such persons as effect the business where^ 
 in they are employed, for that quickenetU 
 mvich ; and such as are fit for the matter, as 
 hold men for expostulation, fair-spoken men 
 lor persuasion, crafty men for inquiry and ob- 
 servation, froward and absurd m^n for busi- 
 ness that doth not well bear out itself. Use 
 aiso such as have been lucky, and prevailed 
 before in things wherein you have employed 
 them ; for that breeds conlidence, and they 
 vnll strive to maintain their prescription. It 
 is better to sound a person with whom ono 
 deals afar, off, than to fail upon the point st 
 lirst ; except yon mean to , surprise him by 
 ^ojiie sho:rtqu^tio^n. It ig beUer dealing with 
 m^ in a^ppetitej thap ^vitb those that are where 
 i;aa5' 'J^^tmld ba. Jf a.mari deal witli anotjier 
 i^^^dG <t5nditioE^ the start c-f fir^t t-siforxs.'mc^ f? 
 IP 
 
182 OF FOLLOWERS AND FRfENDS. 
 
 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 tlie other party, that he shall still 
 need him in some other thing; or else that be 
 be counted the honester man. All practice is 
 to discover, or to work. Men discover there- 
 selves in trust, in passion, at unawares ; and 
 of necessity, when they would have somewhat 
 done, and cannot find an apt pretext. If you 
 would work any man, you must either know 
 his nature or fashions, and so lead him ; or his 
 ends, and so persuade him ; or his v/eakness 
 and disadvantages, and so awe him ; or those 
 that have interest in him, and so govern him. 
 In dealing with cunning persons, we must 
 ever consider their ends to interpret their 
 speeches ; and it h good to sty little to them, 
 and that Vi^hich they least look for. In ail ne- 
 gotiations of difficulty, a man may not look to 
 sow and reap at once ; but must prepare busi- 
 nesSj and so ripen it by degrees. 
 
 OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS. 
 
 Costly followers are not to be liked ; kst, 
 while a man raaketh his train longer, he make 
 his wings shorter. I reckon to be costly, not 
 them alone which ohatge the purse, but which 
 are wearisome anil in^portiine in suits. Ordi- i 
 nary followers ought to challenge no higher i 
 oonditioas tbr.r. countenance, rec<>BQmendatioD^ I 
 
or fOJ-LOV?ER3 ANiJ fRIENDs. 183 
 
 ^diil protection from wrongs. Factious fol- 
 lowers are worse to be liked j which follow 
 not upon afi'ection to liira, with whom they 
 range themselves, but upon disccntentmeiji 
 conceived against some other ; ^^ hereupon 
 commonly ensueth that ill intelligence that we 
 many times see between great personagts. 
 Likewise glorious followers, who make them- 
 selves as trumpets of the commendation of 
 those they follow, are full of incouveniencej 
 for they taint business through want of secre- 
 cy ; 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 espials ; whicli inquire the 
 secrets of the house, and bear tales of them 
 to others ; yet such men, many times, are ia 
 great favour ; for they are officious, and com- 
 monly exchange tales. The follovring by 
 certain estates of men, answerable to that 
 w^hich a great man himself professeth, (as of 
 soldiers to him tliat 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 apprehendetli to ad- 
 vance virtue and desert in all sorts of persons ; 
 and yet, where there is no eminent odds in 
 sufficiency, it is better to take' with the more 
 passable than with the more able ; and, be- 
 sides, to speak truth in base times, active men 
 ^re of more uae than virliiouji.. It is ti'U^ 
 
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 claini 
 a due: but contrariwise in favour, to use men 
 with much difference and election iy good ; 
 for it maketh the person preferred more thank- 
 ful, and the rest more officious ; because all is 
 of favour. It is good discretion not to n)ake 
 too much of any man at the first ; because one 
 cannot hold out that proportion. To be gov- 
 erned (as we call it) by one is not safe; for 
 it shows softness, and gives a freedom to 
 scandal and disreputation ; for those that 
 would not censure, or speak ill of a man im- 
 Kiediately, 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 is ever honoura- 
 ble ; for lookers-on many times see more than 
 gamesters ; and the vale best discovereth the 
 hill. There is little friendship in the world, 
 and least of all between equals, which was 
 wont to be magnified. That that is, is be- 
 tween superior and inferior, whose fortunes 
 may comprehend the one the other. 
 
«fF SVITOSUi. i!3$ 
 
 OF SUITORa 
 
 Many ill matters and projects are under- 
 taken ; and private suits da putrefy the public 
 good. Many good matters are undertaken 
 with bad minds ; I mean not only corrupt 
 minds, but erai\y minds, that intend not per- 
 formance. Some embrace suits which never 
 mean to deal effectually in them ; but if tJiey 
 see tbere may be life in the matter, by some 
 otlier 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 suitor's 
 topes. Some take hold of suits only for an 
 occasion to cross some other, or to make an 
 information, whereof they could not otherwise 
 have apt pretext, without care what become 
 of the suit when the turn is served ; or, gen-- 
 erally, 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 
 laffection lead a man to favour the wrong side 
 injustice, let him rather use his countenance 
 to compound the matter than to carry it If 
 nffection lead a man to favour the less worthy in 
 desert, let him do it without depraving or dis- 
 abling the better deserver. In suits which » 
 
186 or ^unos*. 
 
 jaan doth not well understand, it is good i6 
 refer them to some friend of trust and judg- 
 ment, that may report whether he may deal 
 in them with honour : but let him choose 
 well his referendaries, for else he may be led 
 by the nose. Suitors are so distasted with 
 delays and abuses, that plain dealing in deny- 
 ing to deal in suits at first, and reporting tlic 
 success barely, and in challenging no moro 
 thanks than one hath deserved, is grown not 
 crily honourable, but also gracious. In suits 
 of favour, the first coming ought to take little 
 place ; so far forth consideration may be had 
 oi his trust, tliat if intelligence of the matter 
 could not otherwise have been had but by him, 
 advantage be not taken of the note, but the 
 party left to his other means ; and in some 
 sort recompensed for his discovery. To be 
 ignorant of the value of a suit is simplicity; 
 as well to be ignorant of the right thereof is 
 want of conscience. Secrecy in suits is a 
 great m.ean of obtaining ; for voicing them id 
 be in forwardness may discourage some kind of 
 suitors ; but doth quicken and awake others ; 
 but timing of the suit is the principle ; timing^ 
 1 say, not only in respect of the person who> 
 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 some- 
 iimos equal to the first graat-, if o man show 
 
himseU' neither dejected nor discontented. 
 " Iniquum petas, ut aequum feras," is a good 
 rule, where a man hath strength of favour : 
 but otherwise, a man were better rise in his 
 suit; i'or he that would have ventured at first 
 to have lost the suitor, will not, in the conclu- 
 sion, lose both the suitor and his own former 
 favour. Nothing is thought so easy a request 
 to a great person as his letter ; and yet, if it be 
 not in a good cause, it is so much out of his 
 reputation. There are no worse instruments 
 than these general contrivers of suits ; for 
 they are but a kind of poison and infection to 
 public proceeding. 
 
 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 execute, and perhaps judge of par- 
 ticulars one by one : biit 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 
 judgnient wholly by their rules is the humour 
 of a scholar : they perfect nature, and are 
 perfected by experience : for natural abilities 
 «re like natural plants, that need pruning b^ 
 
18^ OF srvDivm. 
 
 study; and studies themselves do gi?e fortlir 
 directions too much at large, except they 
 bounded in by experience. Crafty men con- 
 temn studies, simple men admire, 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 1 
 to contradict and confute, nor to believe and 
 take for granted, nor to lind talk and discoursej 
 but to weigh and consider. Some books are 
 to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some 
 few to he chewed and digested ; that is, some 
 books are to be read only in parts ; others to 
 be read, but not curiously ; and some few to 
 be read wholly, and with diligence and atten- 
 tion. Some books also may be read by dep- 
 uty, 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 lit- 
 tle, 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 j 
 moral, grave ; logic and rhetoric, able to con- 
 tend ; " Abeunt studia in mores ;" nay, there 
 is no stand or impediment in the wit, but may 
 be wrought out by fit studies : like as disease* 
 
6F FACtioN.. 15f^ 
 
 of the body may have appropriate exercises j 
 bowling is good for the stone and reins, shoot' 
 ing for the lungs and breast, gentle walking 
 for the stomach, riding for the head, and the 
 like ; so, if a man's wits be wandering, let 
 him study the mathematics, for in demonstra- 
 tions, if his wit be called away never so little, 
 he must begin again ; if his wit be not apt to 
 distinguish or find differences, let him study 
 the schoolmen, for they are " Cymini sec- 
 tores ;" if he be not apt to beat over matters, 
 and to call upon one thing to prove and illus- 
 trate another, let him study the lawyers' cases ; 
 so every defect of the mind may have a spe- 
 cial receipt 
 
 OF FACTION. 
 
 Many have an opinion not wise, that for a 
 prince to govern his estate, or for a great per- 
 son to govern his proceedings, according to 
 the respect to factions, is a principal part of 
 policy ; v/hereas, 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 f ven in beginners, to adhere so moderetclvj 
 
l^t) OV FACTIOK, 
 
 as he be a man of the one faction, which U^ 
 most passable with the other, commonly givelh 
 best way. The lower and weaker faction is 
 the firmer in conjunction ; and it is often seen 
 that a few that are stiff do tire out a greater 
 number that are more moderate. When one 
 of the factions is extinguished, the remaining 
 subdiviaeth ; as the faction between Lucuilus 
 and the rest of the nobles of the senate 
 (which they called " optimates") held out 
 awhile against the faction of Pom.pey and 
 Ccesar ; but when the senate's authority wa3 
 pulled down, Caesar and Pompey soon after 
 brake. The faction or party of Antonius and 
 Octavianus Csesar, 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 subdivideth, prove 
 principals ; but many times also they prove 
 ciphers and cashiered ; for many a man's 
 strength is in opposition ; and w^hen that fail- 
 eth, he grovv^eth out of use. It is commonly 
 seen that men once placed, take in with the 
 contrary faction to that by which they enter : 
 thinking, belike, that they have their 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 mao casteth them, 
 
OP CEREMOMliS A.Vt) RESPECTS. 191 
 
 and he getteth all the thanks. The even car- 
 riage between two factions proceedeth not 
 always of moderation, but of a trueness to a 
 man's telf, with end to make use of both. 
 Certainly, in Italy, they hold it a little suspect 
 in popes, when they have often in their mouth 
 *' Padre commune :" and take it to be a sign 
 of one that meaueth to refer all to the great- 
 ness of his own house*. Kings had need be- 
 ware how they side themselves, and make 
 themselves as of a faction or party ; for leagues 
 Vvichin 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 nobis ;" as was to be 
 eeen in the league of France. When factions 
 are carried too high and too violently, it is a 
 gign 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 motioiis (as the astronomers speak) 
 of the inferior orbs, which may have their 
 proper motions, hut 3'et still are quietly carried 
 by the higher motion of "primum mobile." 
 
 OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECI^. 
 
 He that is only real had need have exceed- 
 ing great parts of virtue; as the stone had 
 Bced to be rich that is set without foil : but if 
 li man mark It well, it is in praise and commen- 
 ts ntipn of TUfTi, as it is in gettings and gains: 
 
19'2 OF CEKEMOMES AND RESPECTS. 
 
 for the proverb is true, " that light gains make 
 heavy purses ;" for light gains come thick, 
 whereas great come but now and then : so it 
 is true, that small matters win great commen- 
 dation, because they are continually in use and 
 in note : whereas the occasion of any great 
 virtue cometh but on festivals : therefore it 
 doth much add to a man's reputation, and is 
 (as queen Isabella said) like perpetual letters 
 commendatory, to have good forms : to attain 
 them, it almost sufficeth not to despise them ; 
 for so shall a man observe them in others ; and 
 let him trust himself with the rest ; for if he 
 labour too much to express them, he shall lose 
 their grace ; which is to be natural and unaf- 
 fected. Some men's behaviour is like a verse, 
 wherein every syllable is measured; how can 
 a man comprehend great matters that breaketh 
 Ms mind too much to small observations ? 
 Not to use ceremonies at all, is to teach oth* 
 crs not to use them again ; and so diminisheth 
 respect to himself; especially they are not to 
 be omitted to strangers and formal natures: 
 but the dv/elling upon them, and exalting them 
 above the moon, is not only tedious, but doth 
 diminish the faith and credit of him tlaat 
 f?p€aks : and, certainly, there is a kind of coa- 
 vepng of effectual and imprinting passages 
 amongst compliments, which is of singular 
 use, if a man can hit upon it. Amongst a 
 iman's peers, a man:shall be sTjre of familiarity" ; 
 and -tJierefc^e it is goad a little to keep state : 
 ■ p:sa(^ngst 3 tnan's inferiorp, one shdf &e fuxe 
 
OF PRAISE. 19S 
 
 of reverence ; and therefore it is good a little 
 to be familiar. He that is too much in any- 
 thing, so that he giveth another occasion of 
 society, maketh himself cheap. To apply 
 45ne'sself to others is good ; so it be with demon- 
 stration, that a man doth it upon regard, and 
 not upon facility. It is a good precept, gener- 
 ally, in seconding another, yet to add some- 
 what of one's own : as if you will grant his 
 opinion, let it be with some distinction ; if 
 you will follow his motion, let it be with con- 
 dition ; if you allow his counsel, let it be with 
 alleging farther reason. Men had need be- 
 ware how they be too perfect in compliments ; 
 for, be they never so suiiicient otherwise, their 
 enviers will be sure to give them that attribute, 
 to the disadvantage of their greater virtues. 
 It is loss also in business to be too full of re- 
 spects, or to be too curious in observing times 
 and opportunities. Solomon saith, "He that 
 considereth the wind shall not sow, and he 
 that looketh to the clouds shall not reap." A 
 wise man will make more opportunities than 
 he finds. Men's behaviour should be like 
 their apparel, not too strait or point device, but 
 free for exercise or motion. 
 
 OF PRAISE. 
 
 Praise is the reflection of virtue, but it is 
 as the glass, or body which giveth the reflec- 
 17 
 
i9'4 OF PRAISE. 
 
 tion ; if it be from the common people, it is* 
 commonly false and nought ; and ravher fol- 
 io weth vain persons than virtuous : for the 
 common people understand not many exeeh 
 lent virtues : the lowest virtues draw praise 
 from them, the middle virtues work in them 
 astonishment or admiration ; but of the high- 
 est virtues they have no sense or perceiving^ 
 at all ; but shows and " species virtutibus 
 similes" serve best with them. Certainly, 
 fame is like a river, that beareth up things 
 light and swollen, and drowns things weighty 
 and solid ; but if persons of quality and judg- 
 ment concur, then it is, (as the scripture saith,) 
 " Nomen bonum instar ungusnti fragrantis ;" 
 it fiileth all round about, and will not easily 
 away ; for the odours of ointments are more 
 durable than those of flowers. There be so 
 many false points of praise, that a man may 
 justly hold it in suspect. Some praises pro- 
 ceed merely of iiattery; and if he be an ordi^ 
 nary flatterer, he will have certain common 
 attributes, which may serve every man ; if he 
 be a cunning flatterer, he will follow the arch 
 flatterer, which is a man's self, and" wherein a 
 man thinketh best of himself, therein the flat^ 
 terer will uphold him most ; but if he be an 
 impudent flatterer, look wherein a man is con-t 
 scious to himself that he is most defective, and 
 is most out of countenance in himself, that 
 will the flatterer entitle him to perforce, 
 ■^^ Spreta conscicntia.'^ Some praises come of 
 
OF PRAISE. 195 
 
 good wishes and respects, which is a form due 
 in civility to kings and great persons, " lan- 
 dando prcecipere ;" when, by teUing 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; ''pessimiun geiius irJmicorum 
 laudantium ;" insomuch as it was a proverb 
 amongst the Grecians, that '•" he that v,"as 
 praised to his hurt should have a push rise 
 upon his nose ;" as we say, that a blister will 
 rise upO?i one's t<^ngue that tells a lie ; cer- 
 tainly, moderate praise, used with opportunity, 
 and not vulgar, is that which doth the good. 
 Solomon saith, " He that praiseth his friend 
 aloud, rising early, it shall be to him no better 
 than a curse." Too much magnifying of 
 man or matter dotii irriiate contradiction, and 
 procure envy and scorn. To praise a man's 
 self cannot be decent, except it be in rare 
 cases ; but to praise a man's office or profes- 
 sion, he may do it with good grace, and with 
 a kind of magnanimity. The cardinals of 
 Rome, which are theologues, and friars, and 
 schoolmen, have a phrase of notable contempt 
 and scorn towards civil business ; for they call 
 all temporal business of wars, embassages, 
 judicature, and other employments, sherrerie, 
 which is under sherifferies, as if they were but 
 matters for under sheriiFs and catchpoies ; 
 though many times those under sheriiferies do 
 more good than their high speculations, St 
 
196 OP VAINGLORY. 
 
 Paul, when he boasts of himself, doth oft j 
 interlace, " I speak like a fool ;" but, speaking I 
 of his calling, he saith, " magnilicabo aposto- 1 
 latum meuni," 
 
 OF VAINGLORY. ] 
 
 It was prettily devised of iEsop, the fly sat : 
 upon the axletree of the chariot wheel, and . 
 said, " What a dust do I raise !" So are there 
 some vain persons, that, 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 stands 
 upon comparisons. Tliey must needs be vio- 
 lent to make good their own vaunts ; neither 
 can they be secret, and therefore not effectual ; 
 but, according to the French proverb, " beau- 
 coup de bruit, pen de fruit ;" — " much bruit, 
 little fruit." Yet, certainly, there is use of this 
 quality in civil affairs : where there is an 
 opinion and fame to be created, either of virtue 
 or greatness, these men are good trumpeters. 
 Again, as Titus i^ivius noteth, in the case of 
 Antiochus and the ^tolians, there are some- 
 times great elfects of cross lies : as if a man 
 that negotiates between two princes, to draw 
 them to join in a v/ar against a third, doth extol 
 the forces of either of them above measure, 
 the one to the other : and sometimes he that 
 Ideals between man and man raiseth his own 
 
V>¥ VAlXULOIiV. 197 
 
 ^edit with both, by pretending greater iiiter-^ 
 est 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 sub- 
 stance. In military commanders and soldiers, 
 \'ainglory is an essential point; for as iron 
 sharpens iron, so by glory one courage sharp- 
 eneth another. In cases of great enterprise 
 upon charge and adventure, a composition of 
 glorious natures dotli put life into business ; 
 and those that are of solid and sober natures 
 have more of the ballast than of the sail. In 
 fame of leafning the flight will be slow with- 
 out some feathers of ostentation : " Qui de 
 contemnenda gloria libros scribunt, nomen 
 suum inscribmit." Socrates, Aristotle, Galen, 
 were men full of ostentation : certainly, vainr 
 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, Sen- 
 eca, Plinius Secundus, borne her age so well, 
 if it had not been joined with some vanity in 
 themselves; like unto varnish, that makes 
 ceilings not only shine but last. But all this 
 while, when I speak of vainglory, I mean not 
 of that property that Tacitus doth attribute to 
 Mucianus, " Omnium, quse dixerat feceratque, 
 arte quadam ostentator :" for that proceeds 
 not of vanity, but of natural magnanimity and 
 discretion ; and, in some persons, is not only 
 comely, but gracious : for excusations, ces> 
 17* 
 
198 OF HONOUR AN15 RlirL'TATIO:^. 
 
 sions, modesty itself, well governed, are but 
 arts of ostentation ; and amongst those arts 
 there is none better than that which Plinius 
 Secundus speaketh of, which is to be liberal 
 of praise and commendation to others, in that 
 wherein a man's self hath any perfection : for, 
 saith Pliny, very wittingly, " In commending 
 another you do yourself right;" for he that 
 you commend is either superior to yoa in that 
 you commend, or inferior; if he be inferior, 
 if he be to be commended, you much more ; 
 if he be superior, if he be not to be com- 
 mended, you much less. Vainglorious men 
 are the scorn of wise men, the admiration of 
 fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of 
 their ow^n vaunts. 
 
 OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 
 
 The wdnning of honour is but the reveal- 
 ing of a man's virtue and worth without disad- 
 vantage ; 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, contrari- 
 wise, darken their virtue in the show of it; 
 so as they be undervalued in opinion. If a 
 man perform that which hath not been at- 
 tempted before, or attempted and given over, 
 or hath been achieved, but not with so good 
 circumstance, he shall purchase more honour 
 JhaB by affecting a matter of greater difficulty 
 
OF HONOUR a:\d reputation. 190 
 
 or virtue wherein he h but a follower. If a 
 man so temper his actions, as in some one of 
 them he doth content every faction or combi- 
 nation of people, the music v/ill be the fuller. 
 A man is an ill husband of his honour that 
 entereth into any acdoii, the failing v/herein 
 may disgrace him more than the carrying of it 
 through can honour him. Konour that is 
 gained and broken upon another hath the 
 quickest reflection, like diamonds cut with 
 fascets ; and, therefore, let a man contend to 
 excel any competitors of his honour, in out- 
 shooting them, if he can, in their own bow. 
 Discreet follovvers and servants help much to 
 reputation : " Omnis fania a domesticis ema- 
 nat." Envy, which is the canker of honour, 
 is best distinguislied 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 " eonditores imperiorum," foun- 
 ders of states and commonAveaiths ; such as 
 w^ere Romulus, Cyrus, Ca?sar, Ottoman, Is- 
 mael : in the second place are " legislatores," 
 lawgivers ; wdiich are also called second foun- 
 ders, or "perpetui principes," because they 
 govern by their ordinances after they are 
 gone; such were Lycurgus, Solon, Justinian, 
 Edgar, Alphonsiis of Castile, the wise, that 
 made the " Siete patridas :" in the third 
 pla.ce are " liberatores," or '• salvalnres ;'' such. 
 
too OF IIOA'OUR AND REPUTATION. 
 
 as compound the long miseries of civil wars^ 
 or deliver their countries from servitude of 
 strangers or tyrants ; as Augustus Ccesar, Ves- 
 pasianus, Aurelianus, Theodoricus, king Hen- 
 ry the Seventh of England, king Henry ih^l 
 Fourth of France : in the fourth place a^l 
 " propagatores," or ^' propugnatores imperii," 
 such as in honourable wars enlarge their ter- 
 ritories, or make noble defence against inva- 
 ders : and, in the last place, are "patres 
 patrise," Avhich 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 curarum," those upon whom 
 princes do discharge the greatest weight of 
 their affairs ; their right hands, as we may call 
 them : the next are " duces belli," great lead- 
 ers; such as are princes' lieutenants, and do 
 them notable services in the wars : the third 
 are "gratiosi," favourites ; such as exceed not 
 this scantling, to be solace to the sovereign, 
 and harmless to the people : and the fourth 
 *'negotiis pares;" such as have great places 
 under princes, and execute their places with 
 sufficiency. There is an honour, likewise, 
 which may be ranked amongst the greatest, 
 which happeneth rarely; that is, of such as 
 sacrifice themselves to death or danger for the 
 good of their country ; as was M. Regulusj 
 and the two Decii. 
 
OF JUDiCATirat:. 201 
 
 OF JUDICATURE. 
 
 -Judges ouglit to remember that their oiiice 
 is "jus dicere," and not "jus dare;" to inter- 
 pret law, and not to make lav/, or give law; 
 else v^ill 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 intro- 
 duce novelty. oTiuiges ought to be more learn- 
 ed 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) 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 land and property. 
 One foul sentence doth more hurt than many 
 foul examples; for these do but corrupt the 
 stream, the other corrupteth the fountain : so 
 Kaith Solomon, " Fons turbaliis, et vena cor- 
 rupta est Justus cadens in causa sua coram 
 adversp.rio." The oiHce of judges may have 
 reference unto the parties that sue, unto the 
 advocates that plead, mlto the clerks and min- 
 isters 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 worntwood ;" and surely there 
 
2'02 OF JUDICATCIIE. 
 
 be also that turn it into vinegar ; for injustice 
 maketli 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 coiiten- 
 tious Suits, which ought to be spewed out, as 
 the suifeit of courts. A judge ought to pre- 
 pare his way to a just sentence, as God useth 
 to prepare his ^vay, by raising valleys and 
 taking down hills : so when there appeareth 
 on either side a high hand, violent prosecu- 
 tion, cunning advantages taken, combination, 
 power, great counsel, then is the virtue of a 
 judge seea to make inequality equal ; that he 
 may plant his judgment as upon an even 
 ground. " Qui fortiter emungit, elicit sangui- 
 nem ;" and where the wine-press is hard 
 wrought. It yields a harsh wine, that tastes of 
 the grape-stone. Judges must beware of hard 
 constructions, and strained inferences ; for 
 there is no worse torture than the torture of 
 laws : especially in case of laws penal, they 
 oughttohave care, that that, wdiich 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 ;^' for penal laws pressed are a 
 shoTver 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 exe- 
 scution : " Judicis officium est, ut res, ita tem-r 
 
OF JUDICATURE. 203 
 
 pora rerum," &c. In causes of life and death, 
 judges ought (as far as the law permitteth) in 
 justice to remember mercy, and to cast a 
 severe eye upon the example, but at merciful 
 eye upon the person. 
 
 Secondly, for the advocates and counsel that 
 plead. Patience and gravity of hearing is an 
 essential part of justice ; and an overspeaking 
 judge is no well-tuned cymbal. It is no 
 grace to a judge first to find that which he 
 might have heard in due time from the bar ; 
 or to show quickness of conceit in cutting off 
 evidence or counsel too short, or to prevent 
 information by questions, though pertinent. 
 The parts of a judge in hearing are four : to 
 direct the evidence ; to moderate length, repe- 
 tition, or impertinency of speech ; to recapit- 
 ulate, select, and collate the material points of 
 that which hath been said, and to give the 
 rule, or sentence. Whatsoever is above these' 
 is too much, and proceedeth either of glory 
 and willingness to speak, or of impatience to 
 hear, or of shortness of memory, or of want of a 
 staid and equal attention. It is a strange thing 
 to see that the boldness of advocates should 
 prevail with judges ; whereas they should im- 
 itate God, in whose seat they sit ; who repress- 
 eth the presumptuous, and giveth grace to 
 the modest : but it is more strange, that judge* 
 should have noted favourites, which camiot but 
 cause multiplication of fees, and suspicion of 
 by-ways. There is due from the judge to the 
 jidvocate some cominendation and grachig, 
 
204 OF JUmCATURE. 
 
 where causes are well handled and fair plead- 
 ed, especially towards the side which obtain- 
 eth not : for that upholds in the client the 
 reputation of his counsel, and beats down in 
 him the conceit of his cause. There is like- 
 wise due to the public a civil reprehension of 
 advocates, where there appeareth cunning 
 counsel, gross neglect, slight information, in- 
 discreet pressing, or an overbold defence ; and 
 let not the counsel at the bar chop with the 
 judge, nor wind himself into the handling of 
 the cause anew after the j'ldge hath declared 
 liis 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 footpace and precincts, and purprise there- 
 of, ought to be preserved without scandal and 
 corruption ; for, certainly, grapes (as the scrip- 
 ture saith) '^will not be gathered off thorns 
 and thistles;" neither can Justice yield her 
 fruit with sweetness amongst the briers and 
 brambles of catching and pulling clerks and 
 ministers. The attendance of courts is sub- 
 ject to four bad instruments : first, certain per- 
 sons that are sovvcrs of suits, which make the 
 court swell and the country pine : the second 
 sort is of those that engage courts in quarrels 
 of jurisdiction, and are not truly " amici cu- 
 Hi?/' but " parasiti curl;*^," m pofEng a court 
 
I OF JUIUCATURE. ^05 
 
 up beyond her bounds for their own scraps and 
 advantages : the third sort is of those that may 
 be accounted the left hands of courts ; per- 
 sons that are full of nimble and sinister tricks 
 and shifts, whereby they pervert the plain and 
 direct courses of courts, and bring justice into 
 oblique lines and labyrinths : and the fourth 
 is the poller and exacter of fees ; w^liich justi- 
 fies 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 the fleece. On the other side, 
 an ancient clerk, skilful in precedents, wary 
 in proceeding, and understanding in the busi- 
 ness of the court, is an excellent figure 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, " Saliis populi suprema lex ;" 
 and to know tliat laws, except they be in 
 order to that eiidj are but things captious, and 
 oracles not vv^el! inspired : therefore it is a 
 happy thing in a slate, Vvdien Icings and states 
 do often consult vath judges ; and, again, when 
 judges do often consult v.itli the king and 
 state ; the one, where there is matter of law 
 intervenient in business of state ; the other, 
 when there is some eonsideratioD of state in- 
 tervenient in matter of law ; far many times 
 the tilings deduced to judgment may be 
 " meum^' and ^'^ tuum;'' v.hen the reason and 
 18 
 
206 OF ANGER. 
 
 consequence thereof may trench to point of 
 estate : I call matter of estate, not only the 
 parts of sovereignty, but whatsoever intro- 
 duceth any great alteration or dangerous pre- 
 cedent; or concerneth manifestly any great 
 portion o£ people : and let no man weakly ^ 
 conceive, that just laws and true policy have ^! 
 any antipathy ; for they are like the spirits 
 and sinews, that one moves with the other. 
 Let judges also remember, that Solomon's 
 throne was supported by lions on both sides t 
 let them be lions, but yet lions under the 
 throne : being circumspect, that they do not 
 check or oppose any points of sovereignty. 
 Let not judges also be so ignorant of their own 
 right, as to think there is not left them, as a 
 principal part of their office, a wise use and 
 application of laws ; for they may remember 
 what the apostle saith of a greater law than 
 theirs ; " Nos scimus quia lex bona est, modo 
 qujg ea utatur legitime." 
 
 OF ANGER. 
 
 To seek to extinguish anger utterly is but t 
 bravery of the Stoics. We have better ora- 
 cles : " Be angry, but sin not : let not tlie sun 
 go down upon your anger." Anger must be 
 limited and confined, both in race and in time. 
 We will first speak how the natural inclina- 
 tion and habit, " to be angry," may be attemper* 
 cd and calmed ; secondly, hoAV the particular 
 
or ANGER. 207 
 
 motions of anger may be repressed, of, at 
 least, refrained from doing mischief ; thirdly, 
 how to raise anger, or appease anger in an- 
 other. 
 
 For the first, there is no other way but to 
 meditate and ruminate well upon the effects of 
 anger, how it troubles man's life : and the best 
 time to do this, is to look back upon anger 
 when the fit is thoroughly over. Seneca saith 
 well, " that anger is like rain, which breaks 
 itself upon that it falls." The scripture ex- 
 horteth us " to possess our souls in patience ;" 
 whosoever is out of patience, is out of posses- 
 sion of bis soul. Men must not turn bees : 
 
 ** Animasque in vulnere ponunt." 
 
 Auger is certainly a kind of baseness ; as it 
 appears well in the weakness of those subjects 
 in whom it reigns, children, women, old folks, 
 sick folks. Only men must beware that they 
 carry their anger rather with scorn than with 
 fear; so that they may seem rather to be 
 above the injury than below it ; which is a 
 thing easily done, if a man will give law to 
 himself in it. 
 
 For the second point, the causes and mo- 
 tives of anger are chiefly three : first, to be 
 sensible of hurt ; for no man is angry that feels 
 not himself hurt ; and, therefore, tender and 
 delicate persons must needs be oft angry, they 
 have so many things to trouble them, which 
 more robust natures have little sense of : the 
 Bext is, the apprehension and construction of 
 
208 OF ANGKK. 
 
 the injury oiTered to be, in the circumstances 
 thereof, full of contempt ; for contempt is that 
 which putteth an edge upon anger, as much 
 or more than the hurt itself; and, therefore, 
 vrhen men are ingenious in picking out cir- 
 cumstances of contempt, they do kindle their 
 anger much : lastly, opinion of the touch of a 
 man's reputation doth multiply and sharpen 
 anger ; wherein the remedy is, that a man 
 should have, as Gonsalvo was wont to say, 
 " telam honoris crassiorem." But in all re- 
 frainings of anger, it is the best remedy to win 
 time, and to make a man's seh^ believe that the 
 opportunity of his revenge is not yet come ; 
 but that he foresees a time for it, and so to 
 still himself in the mean time, and reserve it. 
 
 To contain anger from mischief, though it 
 take hold of a man, there be two things 
 whereof you must have special caution : the 
 one of extreme bitterness of words, especially 
 if they be aculeate and proper ; for "commu- 
 iiia maledicta" are nothing so much ; and 
 again, that in anger a man reveal no secrets ; 
 for that makes him not fit for society : the 
 other, that you do not peremptorily break off 
 in any business in a fit of anger ; but howso- 
 ever you show bitterness, do not act any thing 
 that is not revoca,ble. 
 
 For raising and appeasing anger in another, 
 it is done chiefly by choosing of times, when 
 men are frowardest and v/orst disposed, to in- 
 cense them; again, by gathering (as was 
 ton died before) all that you can find out ta 
 
or VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 209 
 
 aggravate the contempt : and the two reme- 
 dies are by the contraries : the former to take 
 good times, when first to relate to a man an 
 angry business, for the first impression is 
 much ; and the other isj to sever, as much as 
 may be, the cbnStfuction of the injury from the 
 point of contempt ; imputing it to misunder- 
 standing, fear, passion, or what you will. 
 
 OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 
 
 Solomon saith, " there is no new thing upon 
 the earth :" so that as Plato had an imagina- 
 tion that all knowledge was but remembrance ; 
 so Solomon giveth his sentence, " that all 
 novelty is but oblivion ;" whereby you may 
 see, that the river of Lethe runneth as well 
 above ground as below. There is an abstruse 
 astrologer that saith, if it were not for two 
 things that are constant, (the one is, that the 
 fixed stars ever stand at like distance one from 
 another, and never come nearer together, nor 
 go farther asunder ; the other, that the diurnal 
 motion perpetually keepeth time,) no individ- 
 ual would last one moment : certain it is, that 
 matter is in a perpetual flux, and never at a 
 stay. The gjreat winding sheets that bury all 
 things in oblivion are two ; deluges and earth- 
 quakes. As for confliagrations and great 
 droughts, they do not merely dispeople, but 
 destroy. Phaeton's car went but a day ; and 
 the three years' drought, in the time of Elias, 
 18^ 
 
210 OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. - 
 
 was but particular, and left people alive. As 
 for the great burnings by lightnings, which are 
 often in the West Indies, they are but narrow ; 
 but in the other two destructions, by deluge 
 and earthquake, it is farther to be noted, 
 that the remnant of people which happen 
 to be reserved are commonly ignorant and 
 mountainous people, that can give no account 
 of the time past; so that the oblivion is all or.e 
 as if none had been left. If you consider 
 well of the people of the West Indies, it is 
 very probable that they are a newer or a 
 younger people than the people of the old 
 world ; and it is much more likely that the 
 destruction that hath heretofore been there, 
 was not by earthquakes, (as the ^Egyptian 
 priest told Solon, concerning the island of At- 
 lantis, that it was swallowed by an earthquake,) 
 but rather that it was desolated by a particular 
 deluge: for earthquakes are seldom in those 
 parts : but on the other side, they have such 
 pouring rivers, as the rivers of Asia and Africa 
 and Europe are but brooks to them. Their 
 Andes, likewise, or mountains, are far higher 
 than those with us ; whereby it seems, that 
 the remnants of generations of men were in 
 such a particular deluge saved. As for the 
 observation that Machiavel hath, that the 
 jealousy of sects doth much extinguish the 
 memory of things ; traducing Gregory the 
 Great, that he did what in him lay to extin- 
 guish all heathen antiquities; I do not find 
 that those zeals do any gTeat effects, nor last 
 
OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 211 
 
 long; as it appeared in the succession of 
 Sabinian, who did revive the former anti- 
 quities. 
 
 The vicissitude, or mutations, in the supe- 
 rior globe are no fit matter for this present 
 argument. It may be Plato's great year, if 
 the world should last so long, would have some 
 eiTect^ not in renewing the state of like indi- 
 viduals, (for that is the fume of those that 
 conceive the celestial bodies have more accu- 
 rate 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 thej 
 are rather gazed upon, and waited upon in 
 their journey, than wisely observed in their 
 effects ; especially in their respective effects ; 
 that is, what kind of comet for magnitude, 
 colour, version of the beams, placing in the 
 region of heaven, or lasting, produceth what 
 kind of effects. 
 
 There is a toy, which I have heard, and I 
 would not have it given over, but waited upon 
 a little. They say it is observed in the Low 
 Countries, (I know not in what part,) that 
 every five-and- thirty years the same kind and 
 suit of years and weathers come 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 back- 
 wards, I have found some concurrence. 
 
212 OP VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 
 
 But to leave these points of nature, and to 
 come to men. The great vicissitude of things 
 amongst men is the vicissitude of sects and 
 religions ; for those orbs rule in men's minds 
 most. The true religion is built upon the 
 rock ; the rest are tossed upon the waves of 
 time. To speak, therefore, of the causes of 
 new sects, and to give some counsel Goncens* 
 ing them, as far as the weakness of human 
 judgment can give stay to so great revolutions. 
 
 When the religion formerly received is rent 
 by discords, and when the holiness of the pro- 
 fessors of religion is decayed and full of scan- 
 dal, and withal the times be stupid, ignorant, 
 and barbarous, you may doubt the spring- 
 ing up 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 sup- 
 planting, 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 here- 
 sies, (such as were in ancient times the Ari- 
 ans, and now the Arminians,) though they 
 work mightily upon men's wits, yet they do 
 not produce any great alteration 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 ; 
 
<>r vicissirrDE or things. 213 
 
 by the eloquence and wisdom of speech and 
 persuasion ; and by the sword. For martyr- 
 doms, I reckon them amongst miracles, be- 
 cause they seem to exceed the strength of 
 human nature : and I may do the I.ke 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 prin- 
 cipal authors, by winning and advancing them, 
 then to enrage them by violence and bitter- 
 ness. 
 
 The changes and vicissitudes in wars are 
 many, but chiefly in three things; in the 
 seats or stages of the w^ar, in the weapons, and 
 in the manner of the conduct. Wars, in an- 
 cient time, seemed more to move from east 16 
 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 Galio-Gra^cia, the other 
 to Rome : but east and west have no certain 
 points of heaven ; and no more have the w^ars, 
 either from the east or w^est, any certainty of 
 observation : but north and south are fixed ; 
 and it hath seldom or never been seen that the 
 far southern people have invaded the north- 
 ern, but contrariv/ise ; whereby it is manifest 
 that the northern tract of the w^orld is in na- 
 ture the more martial region : be it in respect 
 
214 or yicisaiifDE of TinZ'.^s. 
 
 of the stars of that heinispherej 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 
 ^vhichj without aid of discipline, doth make the 
 bodies hardest, and the courage warrnest. 
 
 Upon the breaking and shivering of a great 
 state and empire, you may be sure ta have 
 w^ars ; for great empires, while they stand, do 
 enervate and destroy the forces of the natives 
 which they have subdued, resting upon their 
 own protecting forces ; and then, when they 
 fail also, all goes to ruin, and they become a 
 prey ; so it w-as in the decay of the Roman 
 empire, and likewise in the empire of Al- 
 maigne, after Charles the Great, every bird 
 taking a feather ; and were not unlike to be- 
 fall to Spain if it should break. The great ac- 
 cessions and unions of kingdoms do likewise 
 stir up wars : for when a state grows to au 
 overpower, it is like a great fi<>od that will be 
 sure to ovsrliov/ ; 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 every where at this day, ex- 
 cept Tartary,) there is no danger of inunda- 
 tions of people : but when there be great 
 shoals of people which go on to populate, 
 without foreseeing means of life and sustenta- 
 tion, it is of necessity that once in an age or 
 
OF VICiSbliLUi: Oi THi.VGS. 215 
 
 two they discharge a portion of their people 
 upon other nations, which the ancient north- 
 ern people were wont to do by lot ; casting 
 lots what part should stay at home, and what 
 should seek their fortunes. When a warlike 
 state grows soft and eifeniinate, 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 encoarageth a war. 
 
 As for the weapons, it hardly ialleih under 
 rale and observation : yet vve see even they 
 have returns and vicissitudes ; for eeitain it is, 
 that ordnance was known in the e^ry of Oxy- 
 draces, in India; and was uvi.i which the 
 Macedonians called thuoder and lightning, 
 and magic ; and It is, well known tliat the use 
 of ordnance hath been in China ahove two 
 thousand years. The conditions of weapons, 
 and tlisir improvements are., iirr«, the fetching 
 afar oif ; for that outruns the danger, as it is 
 seen in ordnance and muskets : secondly, the 
 strength of the pereussiou ; wherein lilcewise 
 ordnance do exceed all arietations and ancient 
 inventions : the third is^ tlit; conimodious use of 
 them ; as that they may serve in ail weathers, 
 that the carriage may be light and manageahlej 
 und the like. 
 
 For the GouduCt of the war : at the first, 
 men rested estremely upon number ; they did 
 •put the wars likewise upon main Ibrce and 
 veloiir, pointing days for pitched fieldr-, and so 
 vrvh}g )t ou?- iTpoD ?in <:i't;ii mat'^h : and they 
 
216 or FAME, 
 
 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 diver- 
 sions, and the like; and they grew more skil- 
 ful in the ordering of their battles. 
 
 In the youth of a state arms do flourish ; in 
 the middle age of a state, learning ; and then 
 both of them together for a time ; in the de- 
 clining age of a state, mechanical arts and 
 merchandise. Learning hath its infancy, vv^hen 
 it is but beginning, and almost childish ; then 
 its youth, v/hen 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: the\ 
 describe her in. part finely and elegantly, auv 
 in part gravely and sententiously : they say 
 Look how many feathers she hath, so mac 
 eyes she hath underneath, so many tongue; 
 so many voices, she pricks up so many ears. 
 
 This is a flourish ; there follow excelle: 
 parables; as that she gathereth strength . 
 going; thnt she goeth upon the ground, ar; 
 
OF FAME. 217 
 
 yet hideth her head in the clouds ; that in the 
 day time she sitteth in a v/atch tower, and 
 flieth most by night ; that she mingleth things 
 done with things not done; and that she is a 
 terror to great cities : but that which passeth 
 all the rest is, they do recount that the Earth, 
 mother of the giants that made war against 
 Jupiter, and were by him destroyed, thereupon 
 in anger brought forth Fame ; for certain it is, 
 that rebels, figured by the giants and seditious 
 fames and libels, are but brothers and sisters, 
 masculine and feminine : but now if a man 
 can tame this monster, and bring her to feed 
 at the hand, and govern her, and with her fly 
 other ravening fowl and kill them, it is some- 
 what worth : but w^e 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 fam.e; 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 move the legions of Syria into Germa- 
 ny, and the legions of Germanv into Syria; 
 19 
 
218 OF FAME. 
 
 whereupon the legions of Syria were infinitely 
 inflamed. Julius Caesar took Pompey unpro- 
 vided, and laid asleep his industry and prepa- 
 rations by a fame that he cunningly gave out, 
 how Caesar's own soldiers loved him not ; and, 
 being wearied with the wars, and laden with 
 the spoils of Gaul, would forsake him as soon 
 as he came into Italy. Livia settled all things 
 for the succession of her son Tiberius, by 
 continually giving out that her husband Au- 
 gustus was upon recovery and amendment; 
 and it is an usual thing with the bashaws to 
 conceal the death of the Great Turk from the 
 janizaries and men of war, to save the sacking 
 of Constantinople, and other towns, as their 
 manner is. Themistocles made Xerxes, king 
 of Persia, post apace out of Graecia, by giving 
 out that the Grecians had a purpose to break 
 his bridge of ships, which he had made 
 athwart the Hellespont. There be a thou- 
 sand such like examples, and the more they 
 are the less they need to be repeated, be- 
 cause a man meeteth with them every 
 where : wherefore, let all wise governors 
 have as great a watch and care over fames, 
 as they have of the actions and designs 
 themselves. 
 
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