Vt fupra.

ply, which he made to his friends asking him, what he would referve for himselfe giving away so many and great guifts? Hope, faid he; as one who well knew that when all accounts are caft up aright, Hope is the true portion and inheritance of all that refolve upon great enterprizes. This was Iulius Cafer's portion when he went into Gaull, all his eftate being exhaufted by profufe Largeffes. This was likewise the portion of that noble Princeshowfoever tranfported with Ambition, Henry Duke of Guyfe, of whom it was usually said,. That S. FRAN. be was the greatest ufurer in all France, because that all his Apol.

wealth was in names, and that he had turned his while estate into obligations. But the admiration of this Prince whilst I réprefent him to my felfe, not as Alexander the Great, but as Ariftotles Scholler, hath perchance carried me too farre.

BACON,

Orat.

As for Iulius Cafar the excellency of his Learning, needs Cic. de cla not to be argued, either from his education, or his compa- Cic.de Ony, or his answers; For this, in a high degree, doth declare it rat.l.3. felfe in his own writings, and works, whereof fome are ex- Suet.in Iul. tant, fome unfortunately perifh't. For first, there is left unto us that excellent History of his own warres, which he entitled only a COMMENTARY; wherein all fucceeding times have Suet. in admired the folid waight of matter; and lively images of parag.56. Actions and Perfons, expreft in the greatest propriety of words, and perfpicuity of Narration, that ever was. Which endowments, that they were not infused by nature, but acquired by Precepts and inftrullions of Learning, is well wit neffed by that work of his entitled DE ANALOGIA, which Parag.56. was nothing else but a Grammaticall Philofophy, wherein he did labour, to make this, vox ad Placitum, to become vox ad Licitum, and to reduce cuftome of speech, to congruity of fpeech; that words, which are the images of things, might accord with the things themselves, and not ftand to the Arbitrement of the vulgar. So likewife we have by his edict, areformed computation of the year, correfpondent to the courfe Suet. in of the Sunne; which evidently fhewes, that he accounted it parag.4o. his equall glory, to finde out the lawes, of the starres in hea ven; as to give lawes to men on earth. So in that Book of

his

Plut. in
Cæfar.

his entitled ANTI-CATO, it doth easily appear, that he did afpire,as well to victory of wit, as victory of warre;undertaking therein a Conflict against the greatest Champion with the Penne,that then lived,Cicero the Oratour. Againe in his Book of APOPHTHEGMES, which he collected, we see he estimed it more honour, to make himfelfe but a paire of Tables, or Codicills, wherein to register the wife and grave fayings of others; then if his own words were hallowed as Oracles, as many vain Princes by cuftome of Flattery, delight to doe. But if I fhould report diverse of his Speeches, as I did in Alexander, they are truly luch, as Ecclef. 13. Salomon notes, Verba Sapientum funt tanquam aculei, tanquam clavi in altum defixi:wherefore I will here only propound three, not fo admirable for elegancy, as for vigor and efficacy:As firft, it is reafon he be thought a maifter of words, that could with one word appease a mutiny in his army · the occafion was this; The Romans, when their Generalls did speak in their Army, did use the word, Milites, when the Magiftrates spake to the people, they did use the word, Quirites: Cefars fouldiers were in a tumult, and feditiously prayed to be caffed, not that they so ment, but by expoftulation thereof, to draw Cafar to other conditions; He, nothing daunted and refolute, after fome filence began thus, Suet.in Iul. Ego, Quirites, which word did admit them already caffeeparag.70. red; wherewith the fouldiers were so furprized, and so a

mazed;as they would not fuffer him to goc on in his speech; and relinquishing their demands of Difmißion, made it now their carneft fuit, that the name of Milites, might be again reftored them. The fecond fpeech was thus; Cafar did extreamly affect the name of King; therefore some were let on, as he paffed by, in popular acclamation to falute him King he finding the crie weak and poore, put off the matter Suet.parag. with a jeft, as if they had mift his fur-name, Non Rex fum ̧ (faith he fed Cafar; indeed fuch a speech as if it be exactly fearcht, the life and fulneffe of it can scarce be expreft. For firft it pretended a refufall of the name, but yet not ferious. again it did carry with it an infinite confidence, and magna

72.

.nimity;

CHAPTER II.

BACON'S ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING, 1640.

"Another error induced by the former is, a suspicion and diffidence, that anything should be now to be found ont, WHICH THE WORLD SHOULD HAVE MISSED AND PASSED OVER SO LONG TIME."-P. 36, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING, 1640.

In Lord Bacon's Distribution Preface of the Advancement of Learning, 1640, he explains the scope, end and divisions of his Instauration, which he divides into six parts. Of these we only possess the three first completed parts. A mystery pertaining both to language and Bacon's intentions surrounds the fourth part, as also the fifth and sixth. The fourth part was to consist of Examples of Inquisition and of Invention, which Bacon suspiciously terms Types and platforms, which may present as it were, to the eye, the whole procedure of the mind, and the continued fabric and order of invention in certain selected subjects; and they various and of remark. For it came into our mind, that in MATHEMATICS, the frame standing, the demonstration inferred is facile and perspicuous; on the contrary, without this accommodation and dependency, all seems involved and more subtle than indeed they be." (Pp. 35, 36, Distribution Preface, 1640.)

It is plain from this passage the Examples Bacon alludes to are closely connected with mathematics. Inasmuch as theory is always necessary to discovery, and hypothesis is the first step to finding the true terms of induction, and inasmuch as the 1623 Folio and Bacon's Advancement of Learning are both largely mispaged, the question arises, is there no possible connection between the language quoted above and this mispaging? It is certain, if a cipher be introduced by means of mathematics and dates, Shakespeare's age when he died would be the most simple and pointed way of expressing Shakespeare. It is, therefore, very striking to find the first pages mispaged in Bacon's Advancement of Learning of 1640 are 52, 53, which represent Shakespeare's age 1616, as recorded upon his monument at Stratford. Directly we turn to the Folio 1623 plays. we find the only four entries of

the word "Bacon " upon pages 53 Merry Wives of Windsor and 53 1st King Henry IV., and upon page 52 1st King Henry IV. (mispaged 54).1 I think, therefore, it is important the closest possible examination should be given to everything recorded by Bacon upon the mispȧging of his Advancement, 1640. I, therefore, give the pages 48 to 56 in fac-simile reproduction, whereby not only the mispaging, but the extraordinary system of italicizing may be studied. If Lord Bacon wrote the plays ascribed to Shakespeare with a view to revelation of their real authorship by posterity, nothing would be more probable than that he should furnish a key work to their unlocking. The question is, are the "Examples of Inquisition and Invention," to which mathematics are to be applied (evidently, in some way by, "demonstration, facile and perspicuous"), the 1623 Folio plays? Is the mysterious expression, "The frame standing," a subtle hint for the margin of the letter-press carrying the paging as a portrait in the frame? Thus, 52, 53 would stand for Shakespeare, 1616; 55, 56 for Lord Bacon at the same date, 1616; 62, 63 for Lord Bacon, 1623. It will be noticed the mispaging 53 does actually mask the real 55 on the reproduced page. Shakespeare and Bacon are thus, as it were, identified by mathematics, the false paging 53 supplanting the real 55, which latter was Bacon's full or completed years, 1616. two ages; that is, the years completed and the year entered. To the thoughful reader two numbers like these, employed as cipher, (mispaging, or otherwise), would greatly assist discovery by double repetition, and assist induction. It is for this reason, I have already suggested, we find Troilus and Cressida omitted from the 1623 catalogue of the plays, thus giving the two numbers 35, 36. It may be remarked the passage of the Preface, from which we quote as to the Examples of Inquisition and Invention, is upon pages 35, 36. All this has already been discussed in my work Hermes Stella, but without any fac-simile lithographs of the pages, which I now reproduce. As the translation or English version of the 1623 De Augmentis is an excessively rare work to obtain, I have thought it as well to reproduce some of its pages here. The reader is, therefore, in the position of having the work itself before his eyes.

We all have

The profound student will recognize the extraordinary force of

1 The mispaging commences in the play upon page 47, which will be found mispaged 49, the previous page being 46. This error is carried on continuously, and, if corrected, reduces page 54 to 52, page 53 to 51.

the hint Bacon gives us in these Learned Princes, upon pages 52 (false), 51, 52 (correct), 53, 54, 53 (false), of the Advancement of Learning, 1640, when we discover most of them were patrons of poets. For example, the first illustration is of Domitian (page 52, false). Domitian, although a bad man, gave great honors and gifts to the Poet Eustathius, who wrote a history from Æneas to Anastasius, the emperor. At a solemn feast, he caused him to sit at his table, crowned with a garland of laurels. Antoninus Pius, whom Bacon quotes upon page 51, we find (according to Suetonius) giving Appian so many ducats of gold, as there were number of verses in a great work, which he had written concerning nature and fishes. Bacon writes of this emperor, "Antoninus, as by name, so native, a man exceeding pious, for his nature and inbred goodness was beloved and most acceptable to men of all sorts and degrees" (p. 51). Of Nerva Bacon writes: "Nerva was a learned prince, an inward acquaintance, and even a disciple to Apollonius, the Pythagorean, who also almost expired in a verse of Homer's:

"Telis Phoebe tuis, lachrimas ulciscere nostras.'" (p. 52.) Bacon could not allude directly to Shakespeare, but, by analogy, he introduces upon this page (bearing a frame portrait of Shakespeare, 1616, aged 52) Shakespeare's greatest prototype, Homer. But it is Alexander the Great Bacon dwells on the most that is for four pages (52, 53, 54 and half of 53) — and I do not think the reason Bacon so dwells upon him and finally compares him to himself is far to seek-that is, Alexander's love of Homer. And mark the following passage is upon page 52 (Shakespeare's completed age 1616), and in the margin against the passage are the words ut supra, which are repeated page 53 (false).

"Alexander was bred and taught under Aristotle (certainly a great philosopher), who dedicated divers of his books of philosophy unto him. What price and estimation he had learning in doth notably appear in many particulars, as in the envy he expressed towards Achilles' great fortune in this. that he had so good a trumpet of his actions and prowess as Homer's Verses. In the judgment he gave touching the precious cabinet of Darius, which was found amongst the rest of the spoils; whereof, when question was moved, what thing was worthy to be put into it, and one said one thing, and another, another, he gave sentence for Homer's Works." (p. 52, correct.)

Upon page 53 (correct) it may be seen Bacon once more introduces Homer in context with Alexander.

"In poesy, let that speech be observed, when, upon the bleeding of his wounds, he called unto him one of his flatterers, that was