'T is not my profit that does lead sovereign power be put upon him, In the second edition of the Advancement,' the phrase "never seen in it" is rendered, "apparently against his will and inclination." Both authors represent the Roman as an adept in dissimulation. 177 PERSONAL VANITY From Shake-speare "Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye, And all my soul, and all my every part; From Bacon "Neither had the fame of Cicero, Seneca, Plinius Secundus, borne her age so well, if it had not been joined with some vanity in themselves; like unto varnish, that makes ceilings not only shine but last. In some persons [this] is not only comely, but gracious." Sonnet 62 (1609). Essay of Vain Glory (1612). And for this sin there is no remedy, 178 PAINTING OF THE FACE "Why should false painting imi tate his cheek, "As for artificial decoration [of the face], it is well worthy of the And steal dead seeing of his living deficiencies which it hath; being hue? neither fine enough to deceive, nor Why should poor beauty indirectly handsome enough to please, nor seek Roses of shadow?" wholesome enough to use."-Advancement of Learning (1603-5). Sonnet 67 (1609). FREQUENT CHANGE OF RULERS, A DISADVANTAGE "Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crown'd king, Of France and England, did this king succeed; Whose state so many had the managing That they lost France and made his England bleed." Epilogue to Henry V. (1623). "That sentence of Scripture 'a nation is miserable which has many rulers'—is interpreted not only to extend to divisions and distractions in government, but also to frequent changes in succession."- Ibid. (1592). In both passages, as Mr. Wigston notes, the storms referred to under this metaphor are political. 184 WIND-CHANGING WARWICK "Wind-changing Warwick now 66 "It is commonly seen that men, once placed, take in with the contrary faction to that by which they enter, thinking belike that they have the first sure, and now are ready for a new purchase." — Essay of Faction (1597). It is very probable that Bacon had Warwick's career in mind when he wrote the above sentence (the first part of it in 1597 and the latter part for the third edition of his Essays in 1625); for that was the most conspicuous instance of wind-changing" that had happened down to that period in the history of England. He amplified the thought still more in the Latin edition, thus: "they have been long sure of the goodwill and zeal of the other faction, and so prepare themselves to gain new friends." The word "purchase" is used by Bacon, as it frequently is by Shake-speare, in its strictly legal sense, of acquisition by any method other than inheritance. To purchase a thing is to pay an equivalent for it; and in one way or another, excepting in the case of an inheritance, a man pays for everything he acquires. Even a theft has its price. Bellerophon, having committed an offence at the court at Argos and being protected from punishment there by the rites of hospitality, was sent away to the king of Lycia with a sealed letter, in which the king was requested to put the bearer to death. Such letters were thence called "Bellerophon's Letters." Bacon's entry of these words in his Promus was made to remind him of this device in correspondence for use in his writings. No other hint of a letter of this kind can be found in all his works, unless the perfect example of it in Hamlet' be his. |