ought to be privileged from it; namely, religion, matters of state, great persons, any man's present business of importance, and any case that deserveth pity; yet there be some that think their wits have been asleep, except they dart out somewhat that is piquant, and to the quick; that is a vein which would be bridled : "Parce, puer, stimulis, et fortius utere loris." [6] And, generally, men ought to find the difference [7] between saltness and bitterness. Certainly, he that hath a satirical vein, as he maketh others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of others' memory. [8] He that questioneth much, shall learn much, and content much; but especially if he apply his questions : The quick is the part that is sensitive to pain, (as 'this toucheth the quick.'-Latimer.) Hence to the quick means, so as to produce a lively sensation. Piquant: Synonyme? Would be, &c.: Should be bridled, i. e. requires to be. Query. Is there not a mixed figure in the phrase, ' a vein which should be bridled?' How should we go to work to put a bridle on a vein, whether you regard vein as a current of blood flowing in its tube, or in the geological sense as a seam or layer of mineral substance? Compare with Essay I, § 2, where Bacon uses vein in the first of these senses. How may the idea be conveyed without a mixture of figures? from the fault now adverted to: Ille habitus omnino coercendus.' The phrase dart out is highly expressive and appropriate. Parce, &c.: 'Boy spare the spur (or whip) and more firmly hold the reins.'-Ovid's Met. 2: 127. [6.] To find: Synonyme? [Discrimen servandum inter salsa et amara.] [7.] Satirical vein: satirical tendency and aptitude of mind 'He can open a vein of true and noble thinking.'-Swift. [8.] Content: please or gratify. "It doth much content me to have him so inclined."—Shak, to the skill of the persons whom he asketh; for he shall give them occasion to please themselves in speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge; but let his questions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a poser; and let him be sure to leave other men their turns to speak: nay, if there be any that would reign and take up all the time, let him find means to take them off, and bring others on; as musicians use to do with those that dance too long galliards. If you [9] dissemble sometimes your knowledge of that you are thought to know, you shall be thought, another time, to know that you know not. Speech of a man's [10] self ought to be seldom, and well chosen. I knew [11] one was wont to say in scorn, "He must needs be a wise man, he speaks so much of himself;" and there is but one case wherein a man may commend himself with good grace, and that is, in commending virtue in another, especially if it be such a virtue whereunto himself Skill: Synonyme? Apply: Synonyme ? Poser: examiner (from pose, to question closely). 'She posed him, and sifted him to try whether he were the very Duke of York, or not.'-Bacon's Henry VII. [Id examinatori convenit.] Galliards: a light, sprightly dance, very much practiced in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. "Gay galliards here my love shall dance Whilst I my foes goe fighte."—Fair Rosamond. "What is thy excellence in a galliard, Knight?”—Shak. : [12] pretendeth. Speech of touch towards others should be sparingly used; for discourse ought to be as [13] a field, without coming home to any man. I knew two noblemen, of the west part of England, whereof the one was given to scoff, but kept ever royal cheer in his house the other would ask of those that had been at the other's table, "Tell truly, was there never a flout [14] or dry blow given ?" To which the guest would [15] answer, "Such and such a thing passed." The lord would say, "I thought he would mar a good [16] 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 [17] order. A good continued speech, without a good [12.] Speech of touch towards others: of particular application to them; personal and severe hits. [Sermo alios pungens et vellicans, parce utendus; etenim sermones familiares debent esse, instar campi aperti, in quo spatiari licet; non viæ regiæ, quæ deducit domum.] [13.] Flout: insult, taunt, jibe. "These doors are barred against a bitter flout; Snarl if you please; but you shall snarl without.”—Dryden. "Full of comparisons and wounding flouts.”—Shak. Dry blow: sarcastic, biting remark. [16.] Agreeably: in a manner suited. arrangement of words. Order: style; [17.] A good, &c.: To understand the passage, strong emphasis must be laid on without, in each member. It may thus be paraphrased :—A good protracted speech, where there is a want of ability to make a good reply to questions or objections that may unexpectedly be urged by way of interruption, shows a want of promptness; and, on the other hand, a good reply, or speech suggested by something said by another party, where speech of interlocution, shows slowness: and a good reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth shallowness and weakness. As we see [18] in beasts, that those that are weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in the turn; as it is betwixt the greyhound and the hare. To use too many circum- [19] there is no ability to make a good set speech, free from interruptions, shows superficiality and want of force. [18.] That those that: a disagreeable combination and alliteration. Better, that those which. As it is, &c.: a condensed clause. Expand it. [19.] Circumstances: unimportant particulars; preliminaries; adjuncts. The matter: another condensed expression, for the principal matter. [Circumstantiis nimio pluribus orationem vestire, antequam rem ipsam attingas, tædium parit; iisdem penitus carere, abruptum quiddam est, et ingratum.] To use too many, &c.: Bacon might have noticed some who never come to the matter.' How many a meandering discourse one hears, in which the speaker aims at nothing, and-hits it. In this Essay, Bacon does not notice the important distinction between those who speak because they wish to say something, and those who speak because they have something to say that is, between those who are aiming at displaying their own knowledge or ability, and those who speak from fullness of matter, and are thinking only of the matter, and not of themselves and the opinion that will be formed of them. This latter Bishop Butler calls (in reference to writings) 'a man's writing with simplicity and in earnest.' Another distinction similar to the above, is between an unconscious' and a 'conscious' manner; only that the latter extends to persons who are not courting applause, but anxiously guarding against censure. By a 'conscious' manner is meant, in short, a continual thought about oneself, and about what the company will think of us. Some draw a distinction, again, between the desire to please, and the desire to give pleasure: meaning by the former an anxiety to obtain for yourself the good opinion of those you stances, ere one come to the matter, is wearisome; to use none at all, is blunt. converse with, and by the other, the wish to gratify them. Again, the more intensely occupied any one is with the subject matter of what he is saying-the business itself that he is engaged in the less will his thoughts be turned on himself, and on what others think of him.-W. 1. Point out the sentences that may be improved by division into two or more. 2. Write an Analysis of the Essay; also a Paraphrase of the whole, conformed to modern style. 3. Point out the obsolete words or phrases; or those whose meaning has undergone a change since the Essay was written. |