Fly o'er our heads and downward

look on us,

As we were sickly prey."

Julius Cæsar, v. 1 (1623).

Epicurus denied the existence of Fate, and therefore opposed every form of augury. His philosophy is fully set forth in the writings of Diogenes Laertius, a Greek writer of the third century, B. C.

The speech was on a money bill. It is so wise, so far in advance of Bacon's time and even of our own, on an important principle of political economy (namely, that a nation prospers as its neighbors also prosper), that we take the liberty to quote the full sentiment on the point given above:

"Sure I am that the treasure from you to her Majesty is but as a vapor which riseth from the earth and gathereth into a cloud, and stayeth not there long, but upon the same earth it falleth again; and what if some drops of this do fall upon France or Flanders? It is like a sweet odor of honor and reputation to our nation throughout the world."

416

STANLEY CROWNING HENRY VII. ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE

"Stanley. Lo! here, this long

usurped royalty

From the dead temples of this bloody wretch

"Sir William Stanley, after some acclamations of the soldiers in the field, put a crown of ornament (which Richard wore in the

Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy
brows withal;
Wear it, enjoy it, and make much
of it."

Richard III., V. 4 (1597).

battle and was found amongst the spoils) upon King Henry's head, as if it were his chief title." — History of Henry VII. (1621).

Of the three titles to the crown open to the choice of Henry VII., after the death of Richard on Bosworth Field, that of conquest was the one, according to Bacon, which his soldiers regarded as the chief; it is the one, also, according to Shake-speare, which was urged upon him by Sir William Stanley and others in the moment of victory. A temporary crown, taken from Richard's head, was presented to him, as per each account, as the badge of royalty. The play ends, and the prose history begins, at this point.

The reign of Henry VII. is the only gap in the consecutive series of Shake-speare's historical dramas, beginning with that of Richard II. (1366-1399) and extending through those of Henry IV. (1399-1413), Henry V. (1413-1422), Henry VI. (1422-1471), Edward IV. (1471–1483), Richard III. (1483– 1485), to Henry VIII. (1509–1547) inclusive. Bacon's prose history of Henry VII. exactly fills the gap of twenty-four years.

417

ENCLOSURE OF COMMON LANDS

From Shake-speare "Queen Margaret. Are your supplications to his lordship?

Suffolk. What's yours? What's here [Reads] Against the Duke of Suffolk for enclosing the commons of Melford. How now, sir knave!

Second petitioner. Alas! sir, I am but a poor petitioner of our whole township." - 2 Henry VI., i. 3 (1594).

From Bacon

"Though it may be thought ill and very prejudicial to lords that have enclosed great grounds, and pulled down even whole towns, and converted them to sheep-pastures, [yet] I should be sorry to see within this kingdom that piece of Ovid's verse prove true, Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit (there is a cornfield where Troy was); so in England, instead of a whole town full of people, none but green fields, but a shepherd and a dog."

Speech in Parliament (1597).

Into the movement to arrest decay of tillage by preventing enclosure of common lands Bacon threw all his energy. He introduced a bill on the subject into the House of Commons and advocated it in the speech from which we quote. In the play a whole township protests against such an enclosure made by the Duke of Suffolk, though the reputed poet, William Shakspere, favored a nefarious proceeding of this kind at Stratford, after he had been secretly guaranteed against personal loss by the promoters.

A most striking and beautiful metaphor, appearing and reappearing constantly, with different applications, in both sets of works.

The practice of ensnaring birds by the use of lime or other viscous substance on bushes is often employed metaphorically by both authors.

'The Great Cryptogram,' p. 364.

423

KNOWLEDGE

"Knowledge [is] the wing where

with we fly to heaven."
2 Henry VI., iv. 7 (1623).

"To praise knowledge, or to persuade your lordship to the love of it, I shall not need to use many words; I will only say, that where that wants, the man is void of all good; without it, there can be no fortitude; without it, no liberality; without it, no justice; without it, no constancy or patience; without it, no temperance; nay, without it, no true religion.” - - Letter to Rutland (1596) [abridged].

William Shakspere, the reputed poet, had two children, both of whom passed their lives in utter ignorance. One could not write her name at the age of twenty-six, and the other could not identify her husband's handwriting after a married life with him of twenty-eight years.

The good is oft interrèd with their strongest in continuance; but

The Great Cryptogram,' p. 386.