NOTE persuaded the Romans to refuse this and voluntarily returned to prison. 20 Decii: the Romans Publius Decius Mus and his son of the same name sacrificed themselves to win a doubtful battle, in 340 B. C. and 295 B. c. Virgil mentions them in his Eneid, vi, 824. LVI. OF JUDICATURE 1 Exposition of Scripture: the Catholic Church claims authority based on Matthew xvi, 18, 19. 2 Cursed is he: Deuteronomy xxvii, 17. 4 Saith Solomon: Proverbs xxv, 26. 6 By raising valleys: cf. Isaiah xl, 4. 7 Qui fortiter: Proverbs xxx, 33. 8 Pluet super eos: Psalms xi, 6. Has no connection with 9 A shower of snares: a favorite metaphor with B. 10 Judicis officium: Ovid, Sorrows, i, 1, 37. 11 Well-tuned cymbal: cf. Psalms cl, 5. 12 Length: Lat. "the prolixity of lawyers and witnesses." 13 That: Lat. quantum, "how much." 14 Represseth the presumptuous: another translation of Proverbs iii, 34. 15 Of by-ways: Lat. "of corruption, and of irregular access to the judges." 16 Chop with: Lat. obstrepat, "clamor against." 17 Scripture saith: Matthew vii, 16. 18 Quarrels of jurisdiction: then common by reason of the unsettled condition of the law. 19 In weather: in storm. 20 Twelve Tables: promulgated in 451-450 B. c.; formed the chief basis of later Roman jurisprudence. 21 The spirits: the brain and nervous system. 22 Solomon's throne: cf. 1 Kings x, 18-20. 23 Do not check or oppose: note how far modern democracy has progressed from this idea; cf. the Declaration of Independence. 24 Nos scimus: 1 Timothy i, 8. LVII. OF ANGER 1 Bravery: Lat. ostentatio, "an ostentatious attempt." 2 Be angry: Ephesians iv, 26. 3 Seneca saith well: On Anger, i, 1. NOTE 6 A kind of baseness: Lat. "a low thing, beneath the dignity of 7 Consalvo: Gonsalvo Hernandez de Cordova, a celebrated Spanish general (1443–1515), called “The Great Captain." 8 Aculeate: stinging. 9 Passion: Lat. "sudden excitement of the mind." LVIII. OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS 1 Solomon saith: Ecclesiastes i, 9. 2 Plato: Phædo, 72 E. 3 His sentence: Ecclesiastes i, 10, 11. 4 Lethe: forgetfulness. oblivion. From this river the ghosts drank 5 An abstruse astrologer: R. thinks this may be Telesius, whose On the Nature of Things, i, 10, bears some resemblance to this passage. 6 Phaeton's car: the Lat. amplifies: "The fable of Phaeton represented the shortness of a conflagration, lasting for only a day." Phaeton asked his father Helios (the sun) to be allowed to drive the chariot of the sun across the heavens for one day. As he was too weak to guide the horses, they rushed out of the track and nearly set the earth on fire. Zeus then killed Phaeton with a thunderbolt. Bacon got the idea from Plato's Timæus. 7 Three years' drought: 1 Kings xvii, xviii. 8 The West Indies: the New World in general. 9 Atlantis: Plato, Timæus 25 D. 10 Machiavel: Discourses, ii, 5, which probably suggested this Essay. 11 Gregory the Great: pope 590–604. 12 Sabinian: succeeded Gregory the Great as pope in 604; under him there was a revival of the earlier attachment to the ancient gods. 13 The former antiquities: the Lat. adds, "Then indeed things forbidden, even if covered with darkness, creep out and have their times." 14 Superior globe: the upper sphere, the heavens. 15 Plato's great year: the time at the end of which all the heavenly bodies, having completed all their revolutions, return to the places they had at the beginning of the world. Cf. "As for the great year, some say it compriseth eight years; others nineteen; and others again sixty wanting one. Heraclitus saith it consisteth of 80,000 solar years; Diogenes, of 365 years such as Heraclitus speaketh of; and others, of 7777." Plutarch, Morals, p. 676. 16 Influences: cf. Essay ix, note 2. 17 Heaven: the Lat. adds, "the season of the year; the path or course." 18 The rock: Arber's text has 'a rock." Cf. Matthew xvi, 18. NOTE 19 May doubt: Lat. metuendum, "fear." 20 His law: the Koran. Cf. Essay xvi, note 3. 21 Arians: followers of Arius (256-336) who maintained respecting the Trinity that the Son is of a nature similar to but not the same as that of the Father and is subordinate to him; thus tending toward a denial of the divinity of Christ. 22 Arminians: followers of Jakob Harmensen (1560-1609), who, protesting against the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination, taught that God had predestined the salvation or condemnation of individuals only after he saw who would accept and who would decline the mercy of Christ. 23 Persians: e. g. the invasion of Greece in 480 B. C. 24 Assyrians: under Sennacherib and Esarhaddon conquered Egypt (705-668 B. C.). 25 Arabians: conquered Spain in 711 and maintained sovereignty over it in general till 1492. 26 Tartars: under Jenghis Khan conquered China and central Asia in 1206-1221. 27 Gallo-Grecia: Galatia, in Asia Minor, conquered by Gauls in 279 B. C. 28 Rome: invaded by the Gauls in 390 B. C. 29 In respect of the stars: this view was upheld by Roger Bacon in his Opus Majus (c. 1267). 30 Courages warmest: the Lat. adds: "as is seen in the people of Arauco, who, seated the farthest south, far excel all the Peruvians in courage.' "" B. refers to the Araucanians in southern Chile. 31 Almaigne: Germany. 32 Charles: c. 742-814, king of the Franks from 768 on, and emperor of the Romans 800-814. 33 By lot: legend has it that in this way the early Anglian and Saxon emigrants to Britain were chosen. 34 Encourageth a war: Lat. "excites other nations to invade them." 35 Ordnance: Lat. tormenta ænea, "brass ordnance." 36 Known: the Lat. adds "in the time of Alexander the Great." 37 Arietations: use of battering-rams. 38 His infancy: the gen. its had not come into general use. 39 Exhaust: the Lat. adds "the loquaciousness also remaining." 40 Philology: apparently Bacon means "the history.' 41 Circle of tales: Lat. ". a certain mass of tales and useless observations." LIX. OF FAME First printed by Rawley in 1657. 1 They say: a free translation follows of Virgil, Æneid, iv, 173188. NOTE 2 Mucianus: Tacitus, History, ii, 80. 3 Julius Cæsar: Plutarch, Lives, v, 31, 32. 4 Livia: Tacitus, Annals, i, 5. Cf. Essay vi, p. 18, l. 6. 5 Themistocles: Plutarch, Lives, i, 300, 301. It happened after the battle of Salamis in 480 B. C. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STUDY OF THE ESSAYS There are three kinds of study which the high-school student may devote to the Essays. To make his study profitable in the highest degree, and to appreciate the Essays most fully, he should give some attention to each of these kinds. I. LINGUISTIC. a. Note the proportion of native English words to those of Latin origin and to those of French origin. Is B. fond of words of Latin or Greek origin? b. Does B. often use words now obsolete, or in senses not now common or intelligible, e. g. leese, compound (Essay lv, p. 164, 1. 2 f. b.), Almaigne, graze (Essay xlv, p. 139, 1. 14 f. b.), glorious (Essay xlviii, p. 15, 1. 3 f. b.)? Does he make frequent use of scientific terms? c. How far does B. differ from modern standard usage in his inflections, especially of verbs? How does his usage compare with that of the King James Bible? Is he careful in using the subjunctive mode? d. Are B.'s sentences modern in structure? In what respects do they strike us as strange or old-fashioned? Is he fond of balance? Of periodic sentences? How many obsolete constructions do we find, e. g. there be some have (Essay xlii, p. 133, 1. 19), so as for so that? How do his sentences compare in structure with those of the Bible, and of Shakespeare's prose? II. RHETORICAL. a. The structure of the Essays will be much better understood if either an outline or an abstract is made of each one. The outlines or briefs may be made more or less elaborate as time permits, but should invariably be done with care. The abstracts should be as concise as possible. b. Are the Essays structurally clear? Are the general divisions well marked? Are transitions easily made? At what points does certainly occur, and are there any Essays in which it does not occur? Which Essays seem to have been most carefully planned? Which Essays are formally introduced? In which is there a formal conclusion? Does B. conform to the modern canons of unity, sequence, coherence? c. How much narrative, description, argument does B. mingle with his exposition? Are any Essays arguments? d. In what respects do the Essays differ from modern essays, e. g. those of Addison, Macaulay, Carlyle, Stevenson? Are these differences to be accounted for by the author's different purpose? e. What is B.'s attitude toward his reader? Does he address |