21. Respects considerations, motives 22. ruled." = "One whom all would have considered fit for rule, if he had not 23. "Alone of all the emperors, Vespasian was changed for the better." 24. To side to lean to one side. 4. Prospectives = perspective glasses. They make things appear different from what they are. 6. "With one brow raised to your forehead, the other bent downward to your chin, you answer that cruelty does not please you." II. 66 = = subtle distinction. avoid, evade. "A foolish man who fritters away matters by trifling with words." 12. Inward beggar: = a man secretly insolvent. OF DISCOURSE. 66 I. Boy, spare the spur, and hold the reins more lightly." Ovid. 4. That a gay, lively dance, much in fashion in Bacon's time. what, that which. Frequently so used. Cf. John iii. 11. "We speak that we do know." 5. Speech of touch = speech of particular application, personal hits. = 1. Impedimenta = baggage, especially of an army. Marriage and Single Life." See notes on "Of 2. Riches. – This noun is really singular, though commonly used in the plural. Fr. richesse. 3. Disturbeth = interferes with. Lat. dis, apart, and turbare, to trouble; from turba, disorder, tumult. = 4. Conceit imagination, fancy. O. Fr. conceit, past part. of concevoir; Lat. conceptus, from con, together, and capere, to take, hold. 5. Eccles. v. II. The language of the Authorized Version is somewhat different. enjoy. 6. Fruition = enjoyment. 7. Reach: extend. = Coined as if from fruitio. Lat. frui, to distribution. A. S. dael, division; it is a doublet of deal. 10. Feigned = fictitious. 11. Because Life." in order that. See note 5 on "Of Marriage and Single 12. Prov. xviii. II. In the Authorized Version, "The rich man's wealth is his strong city." Also Prov. x. 15. 14. Abstract: = withdrawn from the concrete; not considering the uses that may be made of wealth. Lat. abs, from, and trahere, to draw. = 15. Friarly like a friar, one of whose vows was poverty. 16. Cicero, the greatest of Roman orators, was born 106 B.C., and murdered 43 B.C. 17. Rabirius Posthumus, a Roman knight, was accused by the Senate of having lent large sums of money to the king of Egypt for unlawful purposes. He was defended by Cicero and acquitted. 18. "In his desire to increase his wealth it was evident that he sought, not the gratification of avarice, but the means of doing good." 19. Prov. xxviii. 20: "He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." 20. Plutus = 21. Jupiter the god of riches. the supreme deity of Roman mythology. 22. Pluto: = the god of shades, or of the infernal regions, brother of Neptune and Jupiter. 23. Upon speed in or with speed. = 24. Audits: = 26. Expect the prime of market 66 = wait for the best markets. So in Heb. x. 13. Expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." 27. Overcome = come upon, take advantage of. 29. Broke: = to transact business through a broker or middle man. Here in the fut. tense with "shall" from the preceding clause understood. 30. Them those pressed by necessity. traders, merchants. A. S. ceap, trade, and mann, man. 32. Naught naughty, bad. = 33. Chopping speculating. bartering, exchanging. Chopping of bargains means 34. Sharings = partnerships. 35. Usury = interest; now illegal or exorbitant interest, charged for the use of money. Lat. usura, from uti, to use. 36. "In the sweat of another's brow." scribes, persons who draw up contracts, especially in 41. Canaries = Canary Islands, off the north-west coast of Africa, noted in the early part of the sixteenth century for the production of sugar. 42. Coemption the purchase of the whole quantity of any commodity. Lat. co, for con, together, and emere, to buy. 43. Of the best rise : = of the best kind or most lucrative sort. 44. Feeding humours = 45. indulging caprices or flattering whims. "Wills and childless parents taken as with a net." 46. None worse none are worse. 47. Penny-wise = niggardly when important interests are at cake. 48. Glorious = ostentatious. 1. Ability = power to accomplish things. 2. Privateness and retiring = privacy and retirement. 3. Disposition = arrangement. Lat. dis, apart, and ponere, to place. 4. Plots and marshalling = complicated plans and arranging in due order. 8. Curiously carefully, attentively. Lat. cura, care. = 9. Flashy transitorily bright; showy, but useless. 10. Conference = conversation, discussion. II. Witty inventive, brilliant. 12. "Studies pass into manners." 13. Stond = stop, hesitation. An old form of stand. = 14. Bowling playing at bowls, a game corresponding to ten-pins. 15. Stone and reins = gravel and kidneys. The gravel is a disease produced by small calculous concretions in the kidneys and bladder. 16. Shooting, that is, with bow and arrow. 17. Wandering hard to concentrate on a subject. 18. Schoolmen = the scholars of the Middle Ages, who applied the logic of Aristotle to theology. 19. Cymini sectores = splitters of cummin. 20. To beat over to examine thoroughly. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. IF Shakespeare had left an autobiography, we should esteem it one of our greatest literary treasures. If some Boswell had dogged his footsteps, noted carefully the incidents of his every-day life, and recorded the sentiments and thoughts that dropped spontaneously from his lips, how eagerly we should read the book to gain a clearer insight into the great master's soul. As it is, we are shut up to very meagre records, to names and dates found in business accounts or legal documents; and the greatest genius of all literature is concealed behind his works almost in the haze of a myth. We are dependent, not upon history, but upon fancy, to fill up the measure of what must have been an interesting, varied, and bountiful life. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon, April 23, 1564. On his father's side, he was of Saxon lineage; on his mother's side, he was of Norman descent; and in his character the qualities of these two races Saxon sturdiness and Norman versatility—were exquisitely harmonized. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glover, wool-dealer, and yeoman, who attained prominence in Stratford as an alderman and bailiff. He was a man of substantial qualities, and for many years lived in easy circumstances; but afterwards, when his son. was passing into early manhood, he suffered a sad decline in fortune. William's mother, Mary Arden, was brought up on a landed estate; and besides inheriting from her the finer qualities of his mind, the future poet probably learned under her influence to appreciate the exceeding beauty of gentle and tender womanhood. His education was received in the free school of Stratford, ། |