NOTE

33 Deceive: Lat. "deprive of strength."

34 Natural nestling: Lat. "and may be able in various ways to

delight and compose themselves."

35 Platform: plan; cf. our political use of the word.

XLVII. OF NEGOTIATING

1 Quickeneth: Lat. "sharpeneth industry."

2 Absurd: stupid.

3 Bear out itself: Lat. "which have something unjust about them."

4 If a man deal: i. e. if A agrees with B to do something if B does something, the chief thing is, who shall do his part first. A cannot insist that B shall go first unless B's part must of necessity precede A's part, or unless he can persuade B that he will still need B in some other matter, or unless he can persuade B that he (B) shall be thought the more honorable for going before. R. takes the third alternative to mean "that he (A) is a thoroughly trustworthy man." The words admit of either interpretation. 5 Start or first performance: Lat. "the first seizure, so to speak, or the possession of one's desires, is to be counted among the chief points."

6. The honester man: Lat. "for a man especially sound and truthful."

XLVIII. OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS

1 Ordinary followers: an imperfect list of the servants in B.'s London house in 1618 (Life, vi, 336-338) includes a hundred names; at another house, probably Gorhambury, another list shows at least fifty names, and there may have been more.

2 From a man: the Latin adds "if one consider the thing truly."

3 Inquire the secrets: cf. "They wish to know the secrets of the house, and thence to be feared." Juvenal, Satires, iii, 113, of the Greeks at Rome.

4 Base times: R. recalls Thucydides' description of Greece during the civil quarrels of 427 B. C.: The simplicity which is so large an element in a noble nature was laughed to scorn and disappeared. An attitude of perfidious antagonism everywhere prevailed; for there was no word binding enough, nor oath terrible enough to reconcile enemies. Each man was strong only in the conviction that nothing was secure; he must look to his own safety, and could not afford to trust others. Inferior intellects generally succeeded best. For, aware of their own deficiencies, and fearing the capacity of their opponents, for whom they were no match in powers of speech, and whose subtle wits were

NOTE

likely to anticipate them in contriving evil, they struck boldly and at once. But the cleverer sort, presuming in their arrogance that they would be aware in time, and disdaining to act when they could think, were taken off their guard and easily destroyed." iv, 83, trans. Jowett. 5 All is of favor: Lat. "all things proceed from favor, not from obligation."

6 The last impression: Lat. "of the last edition, as they now say; the metaphor is from the printing art.

7 Discovereth the hill: cf. "As those who wish to delineate countries place themselves low in the plain to observe the form and character of mountains and high places, and for the purpose of studying the nature of the low country place themselves high upon an eminence, so one must be a prince to know well the character of the people, and to understand well the nature of a prince one must be of the people." Machiavelli, The Prince, dedication. Cf. also Adv. xxi, 7.

8 To be magnified: the Lat. adds "among the ancients." According to Diogenes Laertius (viii, 10), Pythagoras (c. 582-500 B. C.) was the first to say this.

XLIX. OF SUITORS

1 Undertaken: taken up by the patron (undertaker) or gobetween who tries to advance the suitor's interest with the king or the person to whom he ultimately addresses his suit. Without the help of an undertaker it was hard to get a hearing at court.

2 Embrace: Lat. "receive and eagerly promise aid." 3 Make an information: Lat. "that they may bring up by the way and enquire about something for which they could not otherwise find a pretext.'

4 Suit of controversy: a lawsuit, Lat. "of justice." Attempts were frequently made to influence the course of justice by giving presents to the judge. See Introduction, p. xix.

5 Suit of petition: e. g. for help in obtaining an office. Lat. "of favor."

6 Compound the matter: make a compromise rather than force an injustice through.

7 Iniquum petas: Quintilian, On the Institutes of Oratory, iv, 5, 16.

8 General contrivers: R. takes these to be those who sought to acquire monopolies and their undertakers. The monopolies under James I became a great evil; cf. Introduction. p. xi, bottom.

NOTE

L. OF STUDIES

1 For delight: Lat. "either for pleasure in meditations or ornament in speaking or aid in business."

2 Proyning: cultivating; the same word as prune, but used with an older sense. Cf. Natural History, 432, 823.

3 Distilled waters: kept in the house for medicinal purposes. 4 Flashy: Lat. insipidi, "tasteless." Cf. Lycidas, 123.

5 Poets witty: is this an adequate description of what poetry does?

6 Moral grave: probably "serious, dignified;" Lat. "produces a certain seriousness of manners."

7 Abeunt studia in mores: Ovid, Heroides, xv, 83. Cf. Adv. iii, 4.

8 Stone: of the bladder or the kidneys.

9 Reins: the kidneys; Lat. renes.

10 Cymini sectores: literally "cutters of cumin;" cf. Matthew xxiii, 23. The phrase means rather "niggards, stingy persons;" so Theocritus, Idylls, x, 55.

LI. OF FACTION

1 Not wise: Machiavelli (Discourses, iii, 27) likewise condemns the attempt to rule cities by keeping factions alive. 2 One by one: Lat. "in coaxing, conciliating, and managing individuals.'

3 Cæsar and Pompey: about 52 B. C. Cf. Essay xv, note 13. 4 Antonius and Octavianus: after the battle of Philippi in 42 B. C.

5 A new purchase: Lat. "prepare themselves to acquire new friends."

6 Goeth away with it: Lat. "generally gets an advantage." 7 Tanquam unus: Genesis iii, 22. Note that Adam was an inferior raised to be equal with those above him. 8 League of France: cf. Essay xv, note 7.

LII. OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECTS

1 Without foil: a leaf (foil is from Lat. folium, "leaf") of metal placed under a gem to enhance its brilliance. Lat. "without any ornament."

2 Small matters: Lat. "the smaller virtues."

3 Queen Isabella said: Lat. Isabella regina Castiliana, "queen of Castile." The original saying (Tuningius, Apophthegms, 1609, p. 65) had not "good forms" but "good looks," and has been ascribed to Aristotle and to Diogenes.

4 Behavior: Lat. "countenance and gestures and other externals."

5 Compliments: Lat. "ceremonies and little forms."

6 Solomon saith: Ecclesiastes xi, 4.

7 Point device: excessively nice or precise. Lat. "too elegant."

NOTE

LIII. OF PRAISE

1 Species: Tacitus, Annals, xv, 48.

2 Like a river: the simile occurs several times elsewhere in B.; cf. Novum Org. i, 71, 77.

3 Concur: Lat. "agree with the people."

4 The Scripture saith: Ecclesiastes vii, 1, slightly changed. Cf. the Epistle Dedicatory, p. 3.

5 False points: Lat. "fallacious conditions."

6 Laudando: cf. "To teach a ruler what he ought to be is a fine thing indeed, though arduous and almost presumptuous; but to praise the best of rulers and by this means to hold out, as from a watch-tower, a light to posterity to show what they shall follow, is as useful, without arrogance." Pliny, Epistles, iii, 18.

7 Pessimum genus: Tacitus, Agricola, xli, slightly altered. 8 He that was praised: cf. "Praising thee, the beautiful one, I shall not raise pimples on my slender nose." Theocritus, Idylls, xii, 23, 24. B. distorts the saying.

9 That a blister: cf. "Lest by committing a fraud I raise a blister on my tongue." Theocritus, Idylls, ix, 30.

10 Solomon saith: Proverbs xxvii, 14.

11 Sbirrerie: the Lat. prefixes "by a Spanish word;" but it comes rather from Ital. sbirro, "constable."

12 Catchpoles: literally "catch-heads;" bailiff's assistants. 13 I speak: 2 Corinthians xi, 23.

14 Magnificabo: Romans xi, 13.

LIV. OF VAIN-GLORY

1 The fly sat: cf. Bullokar's Esop, ed. Plessow, p. 90.

2 Livius noteth: xxxv, 12, 17, 18.

3 Qui de contemnenda: Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, i, 15. 4 Socrates: cf. Essay xxxii, note 6.

5 Aristotle: cf. Introduction, p. viii.

6 Galen: a celebrated Greek physician (born in 131) who wrote many works on medicine and acquired a reputation which he did not deserve.

7 Plinius Secundus: the younger Pliny (62-113), an author and public official.

8 Tacitus: History, ii, 80. He seems to refer especially to Mucianus's rhetorical skill.

9 Saith Pliny: Epistles, vi, 17, loosely quoted.

LV. OF HONOR AND REPUTATION

1 Winning: Lat. "true and rightful winning." MS. Harl. 5106 has "true winning."

2 Husband: manager. For the etymology, cf. economist. 3 Broken: the use of the word is not clear. Lat. "honor which is comparative and depresses another."

NOTE

4 Omnis fama: Cicero, On the Petition of the Consulate, v. A. compares the proverb "No man is a hero to his valet" and Hegel's explanation, "The reason is, not that the one is not a hero, but that the other is a valet.'

5 Degrees of sovereign honor: B. has a different view in Novum Organum, i, 129: "The introduction of famous discoveries appears to hold by far the first place among human actions; and this was the judgment of the former ages. For to the authors of inventions they awarded divine honors; while to those who did good service in the state (such as founders of cities and empires, legislators, saviors of their country from long endured evils, quellers of tyrannies, and the like) they decreed no higher honors than heroic. And certainly if a man rightly compare the two, he will find that this judgment of antiquity was just. For the benefits of discoveries may extend to the whole race of man, civil benefits only to particular places; the latter last not beyond a few ages, the former through all time." Spedding's trans.

6 Cyrus: 559-529 B. C., founder of the Persian empire.

7 Ottoman: Osman or Othman, founder of the Turkish empire; became chief of his tribe in 1288, emir in 1299; d. 1326.

8 Ismael: cf. Essay xliii, note 6.

9 Lycurgus: traditional author of the laws of Sparta; lived in the 9th century B. C.

10. Solon: cf. Essay xxix, note 8.

11 Justinian: emperor of the Byzantine empire 527-565, by whose command the body of Roman law was codified and annotated.

12 Eadgar: king of England 959-975; his quiet reign caused him to be called "the Peaceful."

13 Alphonsus: Alphonso X, king of Leon and Castile, 12521282. The code called The Seven Parts forms the basis of Spanish jurisprudence.

14 Vespasianus: cf. Essay ii, note 8. He freed the empire from the civil wars subsequent to Nero's death.

15 Aurelianus: emperor of Rome 270-275; called by the senate the Restorer of the Roman Empire.

16 Theodoricus: 454-526, a celebrated king of the East Goths, famed among the later Germans as Dietrich von Bern, of whom many fabulous stories are told, e. g. that under his rule men were so honest that gold pieces could be left in the highway for a year and a day without being stolen. 17 Henry the Fourth: king 1589-1610. Ended the CatholicProtestant wars; in 1598 signed the edict of Nantes.

18 Scantling: measure.

19 Regulus: died about 250 B. C. A Roman general. Taken prisoner by the Carthaginians, he was sent by them to Rome to ask for peace or an exchange of prisoners, but