weakness, which are, great prosperity and great adversity; though this latter hath been less observed: both which times kindle love, and make it more fervent, and therefore show it to be the child of folly. They do best, who, if they cannot but admit love, yet make it keep quarter,1 and sever it wholly from their serious affairs and actions of life for if it check once with business, it troubleth men's fortunes, and maketh men that they can no ways be true to their own ends. I know not how, but martial men are given to love: I think it is but as they are given to wine; for perils commonly ask to be paid in pleasures. There is in man's nature a secret inclination and motion towards love of others; which, if it be not spent upon some one or a few, doth naturally spread itself towards many, and maketh men become humane and charitable; as it is seen sometime in friars. Nuptial love maketh mankind; friendly love perfecteth it; but wanton love corrupteth and imbaseth1 it. XI. OF GREAT PLACE. Men in great Place5 are thrice servants: servants of the Sovereign or State; servants of fame ; and servants of busiSo as they have no freedom, neither in their persons, nor in their actions, nor in their times. It is a strange ness. 1 Make it keep quarter] That is, order. Lat. In ordinem redigunt. Compare Shaksp. K. John, v. 5, 'Keep good quarter and good care to-night;' Oth. ii. 3, 'Friends all but now, even now in quarter;' Com. of Err. ii. I, 'So he would keep fair quarter with his bed.' 2 Check] Interfere. In the 31st Essay he says of suspicions that 'they check with business, whereby business cannot go on currently and constantly.' 8 But as] Just as. • Imbaseth] Degrades. : 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 downfal, 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 :3 like old townsmen, that will be still sitting at their street door, though thereby they offer age to scorn. Certainly, great persons had need to borrow other men's opinions1 to think themselves happy; for if they judge by their own feeling, they cannot find it but if they think with themselves 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 they be the last that find their own faults. Certainly, men in great fortunes are strangers to themselves; and while they are in the puzzle of business they have no time to tend their health either of body or mind. : Illi mors gravis incubat, 1 Cum non sis, &c.] Cicero, Epist. Fam. That when you are not what you have been, there is no reason why you should wish to live. 2 It were reason] It would be reasonable. Compare in Scripture, Acts vi. 2, 'It is not reason that we should leave,' &c. 3 The shadow] The shade; a quiet retreat. 4 To borrow, &c.] of them. To adopt the opinions which other men have 5 Illi mors, &c.] Seneca, Thyest. ii. 401. 'Death presses heavily on him who, very well known to all others, dies unknown to himself.' 4 In Place, there is licence to do good and evil; whereof the latter is a curse; for in evil the best condition is not to will, the second not to can. But power to do good is the true and lawful end of aspiring. For good thoughts, though God accept them, yet towards men are little better than good dreams, except they be put in act; and that cannot be without power and Place, as the vantage and commanding ground. Merit and good works is the end of man's motion;2 and conscience3 of the same is the accomplishment of man's rest. For if a man can be partaker of God's theatre, he shall likewise be partaker of God's rest. Et conversus Deus, ut adspiceret opera quæ fecerunt manus suæ, vidit quod omnia essent bona nimis; 5 and then the sabbath. In the discharge of thy Place set before thee the best examples; for imitation is a globe of precepts. And after a time set before thee thine own example; and examine thyself strictly whether thou didst not best at first. Neglect not also the examples of those that have carried themselves ill in the same Place: not to set off thyself by taxing their memory; but to direct thyself what to avoid. Reform therefore without bravery, or To can] To know how; to be able. A. S. Cunnan, to know. 2 The end, &c.] The proper object of man's labours. 3 Conscience] Consciousness. Bacon refers to a ▲ Theatre] Contemplation. See p. 38, note 4. man that can contemplate his own works, as God did, and see that they are good. The word theatre is the Greek θέατρον, from θεάομαι, to behold. 5 Et conversus, &c.] And God, having looked round upon the works which his hands created, saw that they all were very good. Gen i. 31. • The sabbath] The word sabbath signifies rest. "A globe of precepts] One of the meanings of the Latin globus is a crowd gathered round anything. Thus Virgil, Æn. x. 373, ‘Quâ globus ille virûm densissimus urget ;' and hence Milton, P. L. ii. 512, 'Him round a globe of fiery Seraphim enclosed.' A globe of precepts is a body or collection of counsels. 3 scandal of former times and persons; 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 degenerate; 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 ;3 that men may know beforehand what they may expect: but be not too positive and peremptory; and express thyself well* when thou digressest from thy rule. Preserve the right of thy Place, but stir not questions of jurisdiction; and rather assume thy right in silence, and de facto,5 than voice it with claims and challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of inferior Places; and think it more honour to direct in chief than to be busy in all. Embrace and invite helps and advices touching the execution of thy Place; and do not drive away such as bring thee information, as meddlers, but accept of them in good part. The vices of authority are chiefly four delays, corruption, roughness, and facility. For delays: give easy access; keep times appointed; go through with that which is in hand, and interlace not business but of necessity. For corruption: do not only bind thine own hands or thy servant's hands from taking, but bind the hands of suitors also from offering. For integrity used doth the one; but integrity professed, and with a manifest detestation of bribery, doth the other: and avoid not only the fault, but the suspicion. Whosoever is found variable, and changeth manifestly without manifest cause, 8 1 Set it down] Propose; prescribe. 3 Regular] An observance of rules. 2 Reduce] Refer. • Express thyself well] Lat. Quid sit quod agas diligenter expone. 5 De facto] As a matter of fact. • Voice it] Utter or assert it. "Do not drive away, &c.] Do not drive away, as meddlers or intrusive persons, such as bring, &c. For delays] As regards, or with respect to, delays. giveth suspicion of corruption. Therefore, always, when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, and declare it, together with the reasons that move thee to change; and do not think to steal it. A servant or a favourite, if he be inward,2 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;3 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.5 For bribes come but now and then; but if importunity or idle respects lead a man, he shall never be without. As Solomon saith: To respect persons is not good; for such a man will transgress for a piece of bread. It is most true that was anciently spoken, 'A Place showeth the man ; "7 and it showeth some to the better, and some to the worse: Omnium consensu, capax To steal it] That you can do such a thing stealthily. 2 Inward] In your counsels or confidence; intimate with you. Compare Shakspeare, Rich. III. iii. 4, 'Who is most inward with the noble duke?' and Meas. for Meas. iii. 2, 'I was an inward of his.' 3 Discontent] Ill-will. Facility] Proneness to yield or comply. 5 Bribery] The taking of bribes. In the Advancement, II., he says, 'A judge were better be a briber (that is, a taker of bribes) than a respecter of persons; for a corrupt judge offendeth not so highly as a facile.' In Latimer's 3rd Serm. before Edward VI. we have, 'All the rulers are bribers.' • To respect persons, &c.] Prov. xxviii. 21. The A Place showeth the man] Lat. Magistratus virum indicat. saying originated with some one of the seven sages of Greece. Epaminondas quoted and enlarged it, when his enemies thought to degrade him by making him overseer of the customs, while others, inferior to him in merit, were placed in higher offices. In Sir Thomas North's Epaminondas, added to his translation of Plutarch's Lives, it is said, 'He despised not this office, but did discharge it very faithfully; for, said he, office or authority showeth not only what the man is, but also the man what the office is.' (Plut. Prac. Civ.) |