"There was never yet philosopher That could endure the tooth-ache patiently." "It is more than a philosopher morally can digest. I esteem it like the pulling out of a tooth." Much Ado about Nothing, v. 1 Letter to Essex (1595). "I esteem it like the pulling out of an aching tooth, which, I remember, when I was a child and had little philosophy, I was glad of when it was done." - Ibid. This striking parallelism on the incompatibility of philosophy and the toothache was pointed out by Mr. Donnelly in his 'Great Cryptogram,' p. 377. The above is Mr. Hudson's version of an obscure passage in Hamlet.' The parallelism, however, extends into further details, thus: "It is a very hard and unhappy condition (as the proverb well remarks) of men pre-eminent for virtue, that their errors, be they never so trifling, are never excused. But, as in the clearest diamond, every little cloud or speck catches and displeases the eye, which in a less perfect stone would hardly be discerned, so in men of remarkable virtue the slightest faults are seen, talked of, and severely censured, which in ordinary men would either be entirely unobserved, or readily excused." De Augmentis (1622). "The best governments, yea and the best men, are like the best precious stones, wherein every flaw, or icicle or grain is seen and noted more than in those that are generally foul and corrupted." —Reply to the Speaker (1621). The origin of this sentiment, at least so far as Shakespeare's expression of it is concerned, seems to have been in Dante's 'Convito,' which had not been translated into English when 'Hamlet' was re-written in 1604. It may be interesting to compare the two poets on this fine point of the moral law: "Now, the man is stained with some passion, which he cannot always resist; now, he is blemished by some fault of limb; now, he is soiled by the ill-fame of his parents, or of some near relation n; things which Fame does not bear with her, but which hang to the man, so that he reveals them by his conversation; and these spots cast some shadow upon the brightness of goodness so that they cause it to appear less bright and less excellent." ELIZABETH PRICE SAYER. Translated by 111 BODIES WRINKLED IN OLD AGE From Shake-speare "I am a scribbled form, drawn with a pen Upon a parchment, and against whole body twists, curls, and rolls this fire Do I shrink up." King John, v. 7 (1623). up." · Historia Densi et Rari (1623). Bacon contends that the shrivelling of human bodies in old age, or under the action of heat, is due to the loss of spirit. King John feels this loss, just before his death, in his own body, and compares his condition, almost in Bacon's prose language, with that of parchment before a fire.1 1 Mr. Donnelly calls attention to this parallelism in the First Part of his 'Great Cryptogram,' p. 371. We take this occasion to say that in our judg ment he has given in this part the best popular presentation of the argument for Bacon thus far produced. The intimation of his belief that Bacon wrote Montaigne's Essays is, of course, to be regretted. |