ESSAY XLIV. OF DEFORMITY. EFORMED persons are commonly even with nature; for DEF as nature hath done ill by them, so do they by nature, being for the most part (as the Scripture saith) 'void of natural affection:" and so they have their revenge of nature. Certainly there is a consent2 between the body and the mind, and 'where nature erreth in the one she ventureth in the other' ('Ubi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero '): but because there is in man an election touching the frame of his mind, and a necessity in the frame of his body, the stars of natural inclination are sometimes obscured by the sun of discipline and virtue ; therefore, it is good to consider of deformity, not as a sign which is more deceivable, but as a cause which seldom faileth of the effect. Whosoever hath anything fixed in his person that doth induce contempt, hath also a perpetual spur in himself to rescue and deliver himself from scorn; therefore, all deformed persons are extreme bold-first, as in their own defence, as being exposed to scorn, but in process of time by a general habit. Also, it stirreth in them industry, and especially of this kind, to watch and observe the weakness of others, that they may have somewhat to repay. Again, in their superiors, it quencheth jealousy towards them, as persons that they think they may at pleasure despise; and it layeth their competitors and emulators asleep, as never believing they should be in possibility of advancement, till they see them in possession; so that upon the matter, in a great wit, deformity is an advantage to rising. Kings, in ancient times (and at this present, in some countries), were wont to put great trust in eunuchs, 1 Rom. i. 31. 2 Consent. Agreement. 4 'With one consent, let all the earth To God their cheerful voices raise.'-Tate's Version of Psalm c. 3 Extreme. * Matter. Whole. (Upon the matter'—On the whole.) He grants the deluge to have come so very near the matter, that but very few escaped.'-Tillotson. To be accustomed. Now at the feast the governor was wont to 5 Wont. release unto them a prisoner.'-Matt. xxvii. 15. 'I this night, have dream'd, If dreamed, not as I oft am wont of thee.'-Milton. because they that are envious towards all are obnoxious' and officious towards one: but yet their trust towards them hath rather been as to good spials and good whisperers than good magistrates and officers; and much like is the reason of deformed persons. Still the ground is, they will, if they be of spirit, seek to free themselves from scorn, which must be either by virtue or malice; and therefore, let it not be marvelled, if sometimes they prove excellent persons; as was Agesilaus, Zanger the son of Solyman, Æsop, Gasca, president of Peru; and Socrates may go likewise amongst them, with others. ANNOTATION. Bacon is speaking principally of original deformities, not such as result from accident or disease. And it is very remarkable how much less tendency these latter have, than the other, to produce such effects as he is speaking of. 1 Obnoxious. Subject; submissive. The writings of lawyers, which are tied and obnoxious to their particular laws.'-Bacon. 2 Spials. Spies. 3 Malice. 'The Prince's spials have inform'd me.'-Shakespere. Vice. (Not, as now, restricted to malevolence.) In malice be ye children.'-1 Cor. xiv. 20. 'Not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness.'— I Pet. ii. 16. To wonder at. 4 Marvel. again.'-John iii. 'Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born 2 ESSAY XLV. OF BUILDING. OUSES are built to live in, and not to look on; therefore, let use be preferred before' uniformity, except where both may be had. Leave the goodly fabrics of houses, for beauty, only to the enchanted palaces of the poets, who build them with small cost. He that builds a fair house upon an ill seat, committeth himself to prison-neither do I reckon it an ill seat only where the air is unwholesome, but likewise where the air is unequal; as you shall see many fine seats set upon a knap3 of ground, environed with higher hills round about it, whereby the heat of the sun is pent in, and the wind gathereth as in troughs; so as you shall have, and that suddenly, as great diversity of heat and cold as if you dwelt in several places. Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill markets; and if you consult with Momus, ill neighbours. I speak not of many more; want of water, want of wood, shade, and shelter, want of fruitfulness, and mixture of grounds of several natures; want of prospect, want of level grounds, want of places at some near distance for sports of hunting, hawking, and races; too near the sea, too remote; having the commodity of navigable rivers, or the discommodity of their overflowing; too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; or too 1 Preferred before. Preferred to. 'O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples, the upright heart and pure, Instruct me.'-Milton. "It remaineth now that we find out the seat of Eden.' 3 Knap. A prominence; a knoll. 4 As. That. 5 Ill. Bad. Hark, on knap of yonder hill, Some sweet shepherd tunes his quill.'—Brown. See page 23. 'There some ill planet reigns.'-Shakespere. 6 Commodity. Advantage; convenience. See page 393. 7 Discommodity. Disadvantage. See page 393. near them, which lurcheth' all provisions, and maketh everything dear; where a man hath a great living laid together, and where he is scanted; all which, as it is impossible perhaps to find together, so it is good to know them, and think of them, that a man may take as many as he can; and, if he have several dwellings, that he sort3 them so, that what he wanteth in the one he may find in the other. Lucullus answered Pompey well, who, when he saw his stately galleries and rooms so large and lightsome, in one of his houses, said, 'Surely, an excellent place for summer, but how do you in winter?' Lucullus answered, " Why do you not think me as wise as some fowls are, that ever change their abode towards the winter ?' 4 To pass from the seat to the house itself, we will do as Cicero doth in the orator's art, who writes books De Oratore, and a book he entitles Orator; whereof the former delivers the precepts of the art, and the latter the perfection. We will therefore describe a princely palace, making a brief model thereof; for it is strange to see, now in Europe, such huge buildings as the Vatican and Escurial, and some others be, and yet' scarce a very fair" room in them. First, therefore, I say, you cannot have a perfect palace, except you have two several sides; a side for the banquet, as is spoken of in the book of Esther, and a side for the household; the one for feasts and triumphs, and the other for dwelling. I understand both these sides to be not only returns, but parts of the front; and to be uniform without, though severally partitioned within; and to be on both sides of a great and stately tower in the midst of the front, that, as it were, joineth them together on either hand. I would have, on the 1 Lurch. To absorb. (From l'ourche-a game in which the stakes are put into a box, where the loser is obliged to leave them. Hence perhaps the expression 'to be left in the lurch.') 2 Scanted. Limited; restricted. 'I am scanted in the pleasure of dwelling on your actions.'-Dryden. 3 Sort. 4 Plut. 5 Fair. To chuse. 'To sort some gentleman well skilled in music.'-Shakespere. Handsome. 'Carry him to my fairest chamber.'-Shakespere. 6 Several. Separate. He dwelt in a several house.'-2 Kings xv. 5. 7 Triumphs. Shows on festive occasions. See page 366. side of the banquet in front, one only goodly room above stairs, of some forty feet high; and under it a room for a dressing, or preparing place, at times of triumphs. On the other side, which is the household side, I wish it divided at the first into a hall and a chapel, with a partition between, both of good state and bigness,' and those not to go all the length, but to have at the farther end a winter and a summer parlour, both fair; and under these rooms a fair and large cellar sunk under ground; and likewise some privy kitchens, with butteries and pantries, and the like. As for the tower, I would have it two stories, of eighteen feet high a-piece above the two wings; and goodly leads upon the top, railed with statues interposed; and the same tower to be divided into rooms, as shall be thought fit. The stairs likewise to the upper rooms, let them be upon a fair and open newel, and finely railed in with images of wood cast into a brass colour, and a very fair landing place at the top. But this to be, if you do not point2 any of the lower rooms for a dining place of servants; for otherwise you shall have the servants' dinner after your own, for the steam of it will come up as in a tunnel. And so much for the front, only I understand the height of the first stairs to be sixteen feet, which is the height of the lower room. Beyond this front is there to be a fair court, but three sides of it of a far lower building than the front; and in all the four corners of that court fair staircases, cast into turrets on the outside, and not within the rows of buildings themselves; but those towers are not to be of the height of the front, but rather proportionable to the lower building. Let the court not be paved, for that striketh up a great heat in summer, and much cold in winter, but only some side alleys with a cross, and the quarters to graze, being kept shorn, but not too near shorn. The row of return on the banquet side, let it be all stately galleries; in which galleries let there be three or five fine cupolas in the length of it, placed at equal distance, and fine coloured windows of several works; on the household side, 1 Bigness. Size, whether great or small. Several sorts of rays make vibrations of several bignesses.'-Sir Isaac Newton. 2 Point. To appoint. To celebrate the solemn bridall cheere "Twixt Peleus and dame Thetis pointed there.'-Spenser. |