time a friend, let him but take the account of his memory (for we have
no other keeper of our pleasures past), and truly examine what it hath
reserved, either of beauty and youth, or foregone delights; what it
hath saved, that it might last, of his dearest affections, or of
whatever else the amorous springtime gave his thoughts of contentment,
then invaluable, and he shall find that all the art which his elder
years have can draw no other vapor out of these dissolutions than
heavy, secret, and sad sighs. He shall find nothing remaining but
those sorrows which grow up after our fast-springing youth, overtake
it when it is at a stand, and overtop it utterly when it begins to
wither; insomuch as, looking back from the very instant time, and from
our now being, the poor, diseased, and captive creature hath as little
sense of all his former miseries and pains as he that is most blest,
in common opinion, hath of his forepast pleasures and delights. For
whatsoever is cast behind us is just nothing; and what is to come,
deceitful hope hath it. _Omniæ quæ eventura sunt in incerto jacent._
Only those few black swans I must except who, having had the grace to
value worldly vanities at no more than their own price, do, by
retaining the comfortable memory of a well-acted life, behold death
without dread, and the grave without fear, and embrace both as
necessary guides to endless glory....
If we seek a reason of the succession and continuance of boundless
ambition in mortal men, we may add, that the kings and princes of the
world have always laid before them the actions, but not the ends of
those great ones which preceded them. They are always transported with
the glory of the one, but they never mind the misery of the other,
till they find the experience in themselves. They neglect the advice
of God while they enjoy life, or hope it, but they follow the counsel
of death upon his first approach. It is he that puts into man all the
wisdom of the world without speaking a word, which God, with all the
words of His law, promises, or threats, doth not infuse. Death, which
hateth and destroyeth man, is believed; God, which hath made him and
loves him, is always deferred. "I have considered," saith Solomon,
"all the works that are under the sun, and, behold, all is vanity and
vexation of spirit"; but who believes it, till death tells it us? It
was death, which, opening the conscience of Charles V. made him enjoin
his son Philip to restore Navarre, and King Francis I. of France to
command that justice should be done upon the murderers of the
Protestants in Merindol and Cabrieres, which till then he neglected.
It is therefore death alone that can suddenly make man to know
himself. He tells the proud and insolent that they are but abjects,
and humbles them at the instant, makes them cry, complain, and repent,
yea, even to hate their forepassed happiness. He takes the account of
the rich, and proves him a beggar, a naked beggar, which hath interest
in nothing but in the gravel that fills his mouth. He holds a glass
before the eyes of the most beautiful, and makes them see therein
their deformity and rottenness, and they acknowledge it.
O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast
persuaded; what none hath dared, thou hast done; and whom all the
world hath flattered, thou only hast cast out of the world and
despised; thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness,
all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over
with these two narrow words, _Hic jacet_!
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 26: From the preface to the "History of the World."]
FRANCIS BACON
Born in 1561, died in 1626; commonly styled "Lord" Bacon,
but incorrectly, his title being Baron Verulam and Viscount
St. Albans; educated at Cambridge; entered Parliament in
1584; solicitor-general in 1607; privy counsellor in 1616;
lord keeper in 1617; lord chancellor in 1618; tried for
bribery, condemned, fined and removed from office in 1621;
one of the chief founders of modern inductive science;
author of "Advancement of Learning" (1605), the "Novum
Organum" (1620), "Essays" (1597-1625), a "History of Henry
VII" (1622) and other works.
I
OF TRAVEL[27]
Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education, in the elder, a
part of experience. He that traveleth into a country before he hath
some entrance into the language, goeth to school, and not to travel.
That young men travel under some tutor, or grave servant, I allow
well; so that he be such a one that hath the language, and hath been
in the country before; whereby he may be able to tell them what things
are worthy to be seen in the country where they go; what acquaintances
they are to seek; what exercises or discipline the place yieldeth. For
else young men shall go hooded, and look abroad little. It is a
strange thing, that in sea voyages, where there is nothing to be seen
but sky and sea, men should make diaries; but in land-travel, wherein
so much is to be observed, for the most part they omit it; as if
chance were fitter to be registered than observation. Let diaries
therefore be brought in use. The things to be seen and observed are:
the courts of princes, specially when they give audience to
ambassadors; the courts of justice, while they sit and hear causes;
and so of consistories ecclesiastic; the churches and monasteries,
with the monuments which are therein extant; the walls and
fortifications of cities and towns, and so the havens and harbors;
antiquities and ruins; libraries, colleges, disputations, and
lectures, where any are; shipping and navies; houses and gardens of
state and pleasure, near great cities; armories; arsenals; magazines;
exchanges; burses; warehouses; exercises of horsemanship, fencing,
training of soldiers, and the like; comedies, such whereunto the
better sort of persons do resort; treasuries of jewels and robes;
cabinets and rarities; and, to conclude, whatsoever is memorable in
the places where they go. After all which the tutors or servants ought
to make diligent study. As for triumphs, masks, feasts, weddings,
funerals, capital executions, and such shows, men need not to be put
in mind of them; yet are they not to be neglected.
If you will have a young man to put his travel into a little room, and
in short time to gather much, this you must do. First, as was said, he
must have some entrance into the language before he goeth. Then he
must have such a servant or tutor as knoweth the country, as was
likewise said. Let him carry with him also some card or book
describing the country where he traveleth; which will be a good key to
his inquiry. Let him keep also a diary. Let him not stay long in one
city or town; more or less as the place deserveth, but not long; nay,
when he stayeth in one city or town, let him change his lodging from
one end and part of the town to another; which is a great adamant of
acquaintance. Let him sequester himself from the company of his
countrymen, and diet in such places where there is good company of the
nation where he traveleth. Let him, upon his removes from one place to
another, procure recommendation to some person of quality residing in
the place whither he removeth; that he may use his favor in those
things he desireth to see or know. Thus he may abridge his travel with
much profit.
As for the acquaintance which is to be sought in travel; that which is
most of all profitable is acquaintance with the secretaries and
employed men of ambassadors: for so in traveling in one country he
shall suck the experience of many. Let him also see and visit eminent
persons in all kinds, which are of great name abroad; that he may be
able to tell how the life agreeth with the fame. For quarrels, they
are with care and discretion to be avoided. They are commonly for
mistresses, healths, place, and words. And let a man beware how he
keepeth company with choleric and quarrelsome persons; for they will
engage him into their own quarrels. When a traveler returneth home,
let him not leave the countries where he hath traveled altogether
behind him; but maintain a correspondence by letters with those of his
acquaintance which are of most worth. And let his travel appear rather
in his discourse than in his apparel or gesture; and in his discourse
let him be rather advised in his answers, than forwards to tell
stories; and let it appear that he doth not change his country
manners for those of foreign parts; but only prick in some flowers of
that he hath learned abroad into the customs of his own country.
II
OF RICHES
I cannot call riches better than the baggage of virtue. The Roman word
is better, _impedimenta_. For as the baggage is to an army, so is
riches to virtue. It cannot be spared nor left behind, but it
hindereth the march; yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or
disturbeth the victory. Of great riches there is no real use, except
it be in the distribution; the rest is but conceit. So saith Solomon,
"Where much is, there are many to consume it; and what hath the owner
but the sight of it with his eyes?" The personal fruition in any man
cannot reach to feel great riches: there is a custody of them; or a
power of dole and donative of them; or a fame of them; but no solid
use to the owner. Do you not see what feigned prices are set upon
little stones and rarities? and what works of ostentation are
undertaken, because there might seem to be some use of great riches?
But then you will say, they may be of use to buy men out of dangers or
troubles. As Solomon saith, "Riches are as a stronghold, in the
imagination of the rich man."
But this is excellently exprest, that it is in imagination, and not
always in fact. For certainly great riches have sold more men than
they have bought out. Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest
get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly.
Yet have no abstract or friarly contempt of them. But distinguish as
Cicero saith well of Rabirius Posthumus, _In studio rei amplificandæ
apparebat, non avaritiæ prædam, sed instrumentum bonitari quæri_.[28]
Harken also to Solomon, and beware of hasty gathering of riches: _Qui
festinat ad divitias, non erit insons_.[29] The poets feign, that when
Plutus (which is Riches) is sent from Jupiter, he limps and goes
slowly; but when he is sent from Pluto, he runs and is swift of foot.
Meaning that riches gotten by good means and just labor pace slowly;
but when they come by the death of others (as by the course of
inheritance, testaments, and the like), they come tumbling upon a man.
But it might be applied likewise to Pluto, taking him for the devil.
For when riches come from the devil (as by fraud and oppression and
unjust means), they come upon speed.
The ways to enrich are many, and most of them foul. Parsimony is one
of the best, and yet is not innocent; for it withholdeth men from
works of liberality and charity. The improvement of the ground is the
most natural obtaining of riches; for it is our great mother's
blessing, the earth's; but it is slow. And yet where men of great
wealth do stoop to husbandry, it multiplieth riches exceedingly. I
knew a nobleman in England, that had the greatest audits of any man in
my time; a great grazier, a great sheep-master, a great timber man, a
great collier, a great corn-master, a great lead-man, and so of iron,
and a number of the like points of husbandry. So as the earth seemed a
sea to him, in respect of the perpetual importation. It was truly
observed by one, that himself came very hardly to a little riches, and
very easily to great riches. For when a man's stock is come to that,
that he can expect the prime of markets, and overcome those bargains
which for their greatness are few men's money, and be partner in the
industries of younger men, he cannot but increase mainly.
The gains of ordinary trades and vocations are honest; and furthered
by two things chiefly: by diligence, and by a good name for good and
fair dealing. But the gains of bargains are of a more doubtful nature;
when men shall wait upon others' necessity, broke by servants and
instruments to draw them on, put off others cunningly that would be
better chapmen, and the like practises, which are crafty and naught.
As for the chopping of bargains, when a man buys not to hold but to
sell over again, that commonly grindeth double, both upon the seller
and upon the buyer. Sharings do greatly enrich, if the hands be well
chosen that are trusted. Usury is the certainest means of gain, tho
one of the worst; as that whereby a man doth eat his bread in _sudore
vultus alieni_;[30] and besides, doth plough upon Sundays. But yet
certain tho it be, it hath flaws; for that the scriveners and brokers
do value unsound men to serve their own turn. The fortune in being the
first in an invention or in a privilege doth cause sometimes a
wonderful overgrowth in riches; as it was with the first sugar man in
the Canaries.[31] Therefore if a man can play the true logician, to
have as well judgment as invention, he may do great matters;
especially if the times be fit.
He that resteth upon gains certain shall hardly grow to great riches;
and he that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes break and come to
poverty: it is good therefore to guard adventures with certainties,
that may uphold losses. Monopolies, and co-emption of wares for
re-sale, where they are not restrained, are great means to enrich;
especially if the party have intelligence what things are like to come
into request, and so store himself beforehand. Riches gotten by
service, tho it be of the best rise, yet when they are gotten by
flattery, feeding humors, and other servile conditions, they may be
placed amongst the worst. As for fishing for testaments and
executorships (as Tacitus saith of Seneca, _testamenta et orbos
tamquam indagine capi_,[32]) it is yet worse; by how much men submit
themselves to meaner persons than in service. Believe not much them
that seem to despise riches; for they despise them that despair of
them; and none worse when they come to them. Be not penny-wise; riches
have wings, and sometimes they fly away of themselves, sometimes they
must be set flying to bring in more. Men leave their riches either to
their kindred, or to the public; and moderate portions prosper best in
both. A great estate left to an heir, is as a lure to all the birds of
prey round about to seize on him, if he be not the better established
in years and judgment. Likewise glorious gifts and foundations are
like sacrifices without salt; and but the painted sepulchers of alms,
which soon will putrefy and corrupt inwardly. Therefore measure not
thine advancements by quantity, but frame them by measure: and defer
not charities till death; for, certainly, if a man weigh it rightly,
he that doth so is rather liberal of another man's than of his own.
III
OF YOUTH AND AGE
A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he have lost no
time. But that happeneth rarely. Generally, youth is like the first
cogitations, not so wise as the second. For there is a youth in
thoughts, as well as in ages. And yet the invention of young men is
more lively than that of old; and imaginations stream into their minds
better, and as it were more divinely. Natures that have much heat and
great and violent desires and perturbations are not ripe for action
till they have passed the meridian of their years; as it was with
Julius Cæsar and Septimius Severus. Of the latter of whom it is said,
_Juventutem egit erroribus, imo furoribus, plenam_.[33] And yet he was
the ablest emperor, almost, of all the list. But reposed natures may
do well in youth. As it is seen in Augustus Cæsar, Cosmus Duke of
Florence, Gaston de Foix, and others. On the other side, heat and
vivacity in age is an excellent composition for business.
Young men are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution
than for counsel; and fitter for new projects than for settled
business. For the experience of age, in things that fall within the
compass of it, directeth them; but in new things, abuseth them. The
errors of young men are the ruin of business; but the errors of aged
men amount but to this, that more might have been done, or sooner.
Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than
they can hold; stir more than they can quiet; fly to the end, without
consideration of the means and degrees; pursue some few principles
which they have chanced upon absurdly; care not to innovate, which
draws unknown inconveniences; use extreme remedies at first; and that
which doubleth all errors will not acknowledge or retract them; like
an unready horse, that will neither stop nor turn. Men of age object
too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and
seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves
with a mediocrity.
Certainly it is good to compound employments of both; for that will be
good for the present, because the virtues of either age may correct
the defects of both; and good for succession, that young men may be
learners, while men in age are actors; and, lastly, good for extern
accidents, because authority followeth old men, and favor and
popularity youth. But for the moral part, perhaps youth will have the
preeminence, as age hath for the politic. A certain rabbin, upon the
text, _Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams_, inferreth that young men are admitted nearer to God than old,
because vision is a clearer revelation than a dream. And certainly,
the more a man drinketh of the world, the more it intoxicateth; and
age doth profit rather in the powers of understanding, than in the
virtues of the will and affections. There be some have an over-early
ripeness in their years, which fadeth betimes. These are, first, such
as have brittle wits, the edge whereof is soon turned; such as was
Hermogenes[34] the rhetorician, whose books are exceeding subtle; who
afterwards waxed stupid.
A second sort is of those that have some natural dispositions which
find better grace in youth than in age; such as is a fluent and
luxuriant speech; which becomes youth well, but not age: so Tully
saith of Hortensius,[35] _Idem manebat, neque idem decebat_. The
third is of such as take too high a strain at the first, and are
magnanimous more than tract of years can uphold. As was Scipio
Africanus, of whom Livy saith[36] in effect, _Ultima primis cedebant_.
IV
OF REVENGE
Revenge is a kind of wild justice; which the more man's nature runs
to, the more ought law to weed it out. For as for the first wrong, it
doth but offend the law; but the revenge of that wrong putteth the law
out of office. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with
his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a
prince's part to pardon. And Solomon, I am sure, saith, _It is the
glory of a man to pass by an offense._ That which is past is gone, and
irrevocable; and wise men have enough to do with things present and to
come; therefore they do but trifle with themselves, that labor in past
matters. There is no man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake; but
thereby to purchase himself profit, or pleasure, or honor, or the
like. Therefore why should I be angry with a man for loving himself
better than me? And if any man should do wrong merely out of
ill-nature, why, yet it is but like the thorn or brier, which prick
and scratch, because they can do no other.
The most tolerable sort of revenge is for those wrongs which there is
no law to remedy; but then let a man take heed the revenge be such as
there is no law to punish; else a man's enemy is still beforehand, and
it is two for one. Some, when they take revenge, are desirous the
party should know whence it cometh. This is the more generous. For the
delight seemeth to be not so much in doing the hurt as in making the
party repent. But base and crafty cowards are like the arrow that
flieth in the dark. Cosmus,[37] Duke of Florence, had a desperate
saying against perfidious or neglecting friends, as if those wrongs
were unpardonable: _You shall read_ (saith he) _that we are commanded
to forgive our enemies; but you never read that we are commanded to
forgive our friends._ But yet the spirit of Job was in a better tune:
_Shall we_ (saith he) _take good at God's hands, and not be content to
take evil also?_ And so of friends in a proportion. This is certain,
that a man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which
otherwise would heal and do well. Public revenges are for the most
part fortunate; as that for the death of Cæsar; for the death of
Pertinax;[38] for the death of Henry the Third of France;[39] and many
more. But in private revenges it is not so. Nay rather, vindictive
persons live the life of witches; who, as they are mischievous, so end
they infortunate.
V
OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE
He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for
they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or
mischief. Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the
public, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men; which both
in affection and means have married and endowed the public. Yet it
were great reason that those that have children should have greatest
care of future times; unto which they know they must transmit their
dearest pledges. Some there are, who tho they lead a single life, yet
their thoughts do end with themselves, and account future times
impertinences. Nay, there are some other that account wife and
children but as bills of charges. Nay more, there are some foolish
rich covetous men, that take a pride in having no children, because
they may be thought so much the richer. For perhaps they have heard
some talk, _Such an one is a great rich, man_, and another except to
it, _Yea, but he hath a great charge of children_; as if it were an
abatement to his riches.
But the most ordinary cause of a single life is liberty, especially in
certain self-pleasing and humorous minds, which are so sensible of
every restraint, as they will go near to think their girdles and
garters to be bonds and shackles. Unmarried men are best friends, best
masters, best servants; but not always best subjects; for they are
light to run away; and almost all fugitives are of that condition. A
single life doth well with churchmen; for charity will hardly water
the ground where it must first fill a pool. It is indifferent for
judges and magistrates; for if they be facile and corrupt, you shall
have a servant five times worse than a wife. For soldiers, I find the
generals commonly in their hortatives put men in mind of their wives
and children; and I think the despising of marriage among the Turks
maketh the vulgar soldier more base.
Certainly wife and children are a kind of discipline of humanity; and
single men, tho they may be many times more charitable, because their
means are less exhaust, yet, on the other side, they are more cruel
and hard-hearted (good to make severe inquisitors), because their
tenderness is not so oft called upon.
Grave natures, led by custom, and therefore constant, are commonly
loving husbands, as was said of Ulysses,[40] _vetulam suam prætulit
immortalitati_. Chaste women are often proud and froward, as presuming
upon the merit of their chastity. It is one of the best bonds both of
chastity and obedience in the wife, if she think her husband wise;
which she will never do if she find him jealous. Wives are young men's
mistresses; companions for middle age; and old men's nurses. So as a
man may have a quarrel to marry when he will. But yet he was reputed
one of the wise men, that made answer to the question, when a man
should marry--_A young man not yet, an elder man not at all._ It is
often seen that bad husbands have very good wives; whether it be that
it raiseth the price of their husband's kindness when it comes; or
that the wives take a pride in their patience. But this never fails,
if the bad husbands were of their own choosing, against their friends'
consent; for then they will be sure to make good their own folly.
VI
OF ENVY