appetere vt non metuas sunt animi pusilli diffidentis And it seemeth to me that most of the doctrines of the Philosophers are more fearefull and cautionary then the Nature of things requireth So haue they encreased the feare of death in offering to cure it For when they would haue a mans whole life to be but a discipline or preparation to dye they must needes make men thinke that it is a terrible Enemy against whom there is no end of preparing Better saith the Poet Qui sinem vitae extremum inter Munera ponat Naturae So haue they sought to make mens minds to vniforme and harmonicall by not breaking them sufficiently to cōtrary Motions the reason whereof I suppose to be because they themselues were men dedicated to a pri uate free and vnapplied course of life For as we see vpon the lute or like Instrument a Ground though it be sweet and haue shew of many changes yet breaketh not the hand to such strange and hard stoppes and passages as a Set song or Voluntary much after the same Manner was the diuersity betweene a Philosophicall and a ciuile life And therefore men are to Imitate the wisedome of Iewellers who if there be a graine or a cloude or an I se which may be ground forth without taking to much of the stone they help it but if it should lessen and abate the stone to much they will not meddle with it So ought men so to procure Serenity as they destroy not magnanimity Hauing therefore deduced the Good of Man which is priuate particular as far as seemeth fit wee will now returne to that Good of man which respecteth and be beholdeth Society which we may terme Duty bicause the term of duty is more propper to a minde well framed disposed towards others as the terme of vertue is applyed to a mind well formed cōposed in it selfe though neither can a man vnderstand vertue without some relation to Society nor duety without an inwarde disposition This part may seem at first to pertaine to Science Ciuile and Politicke but not if it be wel obserued For it concerneth the Rcgimēt gouernment of euery man over himself not ouer others And as in architectur the directiō of framing the postes beames other parts of building is not the same with the maner of ioyning them and erecting the building And in mechanicalls the direction how to frame an Instrument or Engyne is not the same with the manner of setting it on woorke and imploying it and yet neuerthelesse in expressing of the one you incidently expresse the Aptnesse towardes the other So the doctrine of Coniugation of men in Socyety differereth from that of their conformity therevnto This part of Duty is sudiuided into two parts the common duty of euery man as a Man or member of a State The other the respectiue or speciall duty of euery man in his prosession vocation and place The first of these is extāt wel laboured as hathbeen said The secōd like wise I may report rather dispersed thē dcficiēt which maner of dispersed writing in this kind of Argumēt I acknowledge to be best For who cā take vpō him to write of the proper duty vertue cha and right of euery seuerall vocation profession and place For although sometimes a Looker on may see more then a gamester and there be a Prouerb more arrogant theu sound That the vale best discouereth the hill yet there is small doubt but that men can write best and most really materialy in their owne professions that the writing of speculatiue men of Actiue Matter for the most part doth seeme to men of Experience as Phormioes Argument of the warrs seemed to Hannibal to be but dreames and dotage Onely there is one vice which accompanieth them that write in their own professions that they magnify thē in excesse But generally it were to be wished as that which wold make learning indeed solide fruit ful that Actiue men woold or could become writers In which kind I cannot but mencion Honoris causa your Maiesties exellent book touching the duty of a king a woorke ritchlye compounded of Diuinity Morality and Policy with great aspersion of all other artes being in myne opinion one of the moste sound healthful writings that I haue read not distempered in the heat of inuention nor in the Couldnes of negligence not sick of Dusinesse as those are who leese themselues in their order nor of Convulsions as those which Crampe in matters impertinent not sauoring of perfumes paintings as those doe who seek to please the Reader more then Nature beareth and chiefelye wel disposed in the spirits thereof beeing agreeable to truth and apt for action and farre remooued from that Naturall insirmity whereunto I noted those that write in their own professions to be subiect which is that they exalt it aboue measure For your Maiesty hath truly described not a king of Assyria or Persia in their extern glory but a Moses or a Dauid Pastors of their people Neither can I euer leese out of my remembraunce what I heard your Maiesty in the same sacred spirite of Gouernment deliuer in a great cause of Iudicature which was That Kings ruled by theyr lawes as God did by the lawes of Nature and ought as rarely to put in vse theyr supreme Prerogatiue as God doth his power of working Miracles And yet notwithstandiug in your book of a free Monarchy you do well giue men to vnderstand that you know the plenitude of the power and right of a King as well as the Circle of his office and duty Thus haue I presumed to alledge this excellent writing of your Maiesty as a prime or eminent example of Tractates concerning speciall respectiue dutyes wherin I should haue said as much if it had beene written a thousand yeares since Neither am I mooued with cer tain Courtly decencyes which esteeme it flattery to prayse in presence No it is flattery to prayse in absence that is when eyther the vertue is absent or the occasion is absent and so the prayse is not Naturall but forced either in truth or in time But let Cicerobe read in his Oration pro Marcello which is nothing but an excellent Table of Caesars vertue and made to his face besides the example of many other excellent per sons wiser a great deale then such obseruers and we will neuer doubt vpon a full occasion to giue iust prayses to present or absent But to return there belongeth further to the handling of this partie touching the duties of professions and vocations a Relatiue or opposite touching the fraudes cautels impostures vices of euery profession which hath been likewise handled But howe rather in a Satyre Cinicaly then seriously wisely for men haue rather sought by wit to deride and traduce much of that which is good in professions then with Iudgement to discouer and seuer that which is corrupt For
THE Tvvoo Bookes of FRANCIS BACON Of the proficience and aduancement of Learning diuine and humane To the King AT LONDON ¶ Printed for Henrie Tomes and are to be sould at his shop at Graies Inne Gate in Holborne 1605. THE FIRST BOOKE of FRANCIS BACON of the proficience and aduancement of Learning diuine and humane To the King THere were vnder the Lawe excellent King both dayly Sacrifices and free will Offerings The one proceeding vpon ordinarie obseruance The other vppon a deuout cheerefulnesse In like manner there belongeth to Kings from their Seruants both Tribute of dutie and presents of affection In the former of these I hope I shal not liue to be wanting according to my most humble dutie and the good pleasure of your Maiesties employments for the later I thought it more respectiue to make choyce of some oblation which might rather referre to the proprietie and excellencie of your indiuiduall person than to the businesse of your Crowne and State Wherefore representing your Maiestie many times vnto my mind and beholding you not with the inquisitiue eye of presumption to discouer that which the Scripture telleth me is inscrutable but with the obseruant eye of dutie and admiration leauing aside the other parts of your vertue and fortune I haue been touched yea and possessed with an extreame woonder at those your vertues and faculties which the Philosophers call intellectuall The largenesse of your capacitie the faithfulnesse of your memorie the swiftnesse of your apprehension the penetration of your Iudgement and the facilitie and order of your elocution and I haue often thought that of all the persons liuing that I haue knowne your Maiestie were the best instance to make a man of Platoes opinion that all knowledge is but remembrance and that the minde of man by nature knoweth all things and hath but her owne natiue and originall motions which by the strangenesse and darkenesse of this Tabernacle of the bodie are sequestred againe reuiued and restored such a light of Nature I haue obserued in your Maiestie and such a readinesse to take flame and blaze from the least occasion presented or the least sparke of anothers knowledge deliuered And as the Scripture sayth of the wisest King That his heart was as the sands of the Sea which though it be one of the largest bodies yet it cōsisteth of the smallest finest portions So hath God giuen your Maiestie a cōposition of vnderstanding admirable being able to compasse comprehend the greatest matters neuerthelesse to touch and apprehend the least wheras it should seeme an impossibility in Nature for the same Instrument to make it selfe fit for great and small workes And for your gift of speech I call to minde what Cornelius Tacitus sayth of Augustus Caesar Augusto profluens quae principem deceret eloquentia fuit For if we note it well speech that is vttered with labour and difficultie or speech that sauoreth of the affectation of art and precepts or speech that is framed after the imitation of some patterne of eloquence though neuer so excellent All this hath somewhat seruile and holding of the subiect But your Maiesties manner of speech is indeed Prince-like flowing as from a fountaine and yet streaming branching it selfe into Natures order full of facilitie felicitie imitating none ininimitable by any And as in your ciuile Estate there appeareth to be an emulation contentiō of your Maiesties vertue with your fortune a vertuous disposition with a fortunate regiment a vertuous expectation when time was of your greater fortune with a prosperous possession thereof in the due time a vertuous obseruation of the lawes of marriage with most blessed and happie fruite of marriage a vertuous and most christian desire of peace with a fortunate inclination in your neighbour Princes thereunto So likewise in these intellectuall matters there seemeth to be no lesse contention betweene the excellencie of your Maiesties gifts of Nature and the vniuersalitie and profection of your learning For I am well assured that this which I shall say is no amplification at all but a positiue and measured truth which is that there hath not beene since Christs time any King or temporall Monarch which hath ben so learned in all literature erudition diuine humane For let a man seriously diligently reuolue and peruse the succession of the Emperours of Rome of which Caesar the Dictator who liued some yeeres before Christ and Marcus Antoninus were the best learned and so descend to the Emperours of Grecia or of the West and then to the lines of Fraunce Spaine England Scotland and the rest and he shall finde this iudgement is truly made For it seemeth much in a King if by the compendious extractions of other mens wits and labours he can take hold of any superficiall Ornaments and shewes of learning or if he countenance and preferre learning and learned men But to drinke indeed of the true Fountaines of learning nay to haue such a fountaine of learning in himselfe in a King and in a King borne is almost a Miracle And the more because there is met in your Maiesty a rare Coniunction aswell of diuine and sacred literature as of prophane and humane So as your Maiestie standeth inuested of that triplicitie which in great veneration was ascribed to the ancient Hermes the power and fortune of a King the knowledge and illumination of a Priest and the learning and vniuersalitie of a Philosopher This propriety inherent and indiuiduall attribute in your Maiestie deserueth to be expressed not onely in the same and admiration of the present time nor in the Historie or tradition of the ages succeeding but also in some solide worke fixed memoriall and immortall monument bearing a Character or signature both of the power of a king and the difference and perfection of such a king Therefore I did conclude with my selfe that I could not make vnto your Maiesty a better oblation then of some treatise tending to that end whereof the summe will consist of these two partes The former concerning the excellencie of learning and knowledge and the excellencie of the merit and true glory in the Augmentation and Propagation thereof The latter what the particuler actes and workes are which haue been imbraced and vndertaken for the aduancement of learning And againe what defects and vndervalewes I finde in such particuler actes to the end that though I cannot positiuely or affirmatiuelie aduise your Maiestie or propound vnto you framed particulers yet I may excite your princely Cogitations to visit the excellent treasure of your owne mind and thence to extract particulers for this purpose agreeable to your magnanimitie and wisedome IN the entrance to the former of these to cleere the way as it were to make silence to haue the true testimonies concerning the dignitie of Learning to be better heard without the interruption of tacite obiections I thinke good to deliuer it from the discredites and disgraces which it hath
ordinances As in the lawe of the Leprousie where it is sayd If the whitenesse hauâ—… ouer spread the flâ—…sh the Patient may passe abroad for clean But if there be any whole flâ—…sh remayning he is to be shut vp for vncleane One of them noteth a principle of nature that putrefaction is more contagious before maturitie than after And another noteth a position of morall Philosophie that men abandoned to vice doe not so much corrupt manners as those that are halfe good and halfe euill so in this and verie many other places in that lawe there is to bee found besides the Theologicall sence much aspersion of Philosophie So likewise in that excellent Booke of Iob if it be reâ—…olued with diligence it will be found pregnant and swelling with naturall Philosophie as for example Cosmographie and the roundnesse of the world Qui extendit aquilonem super vacuum appendit terram super nihilum wherein the pensilenesse of the earth the pole of the North and the finitenesse or conuexitie of Heauen are manifestly touched So againe matter of Astronomie Spiritus eius ornauit coelos obstetricante manu eius eductus est coluber tortuosus And in another place Nunquid coniungere valebis micantes stellds pleyadas aut gyrum arcturi poteris dissipare where the fixing of the starres euer standing at equall distance is with great elegancie noted And in another place Qui faâ—…arcturum â—…ona hyadas interiora austri where againe hee takes knowledge of the depression of the Southerne pole calling it the secrets of the South because the southerne starres were in that climate vnseene Matter of generation Annon si ut lac mulsisti me sicut caseum coagulasti me c. Matter of Mynerals Habet argentum venarum suarum principia aurolocus est in quo conâ—…latur ferrâ—…m de tâ—…rra tollitur lapis solutus calore in 〈◊〉 vertiâ—…r and so forwards in that Chapter So likewise in the person of Salomon the King wee see the guist or endowment of wisedome and learning both in Salomons petition and in Gods assent thereunto preferred before all other terrene and temporall selicitie By vertue of which grant or donatiue of God Salomon became inabled not onely to write those excellent Parables or Aphorismes concerning diuine and morall Philosophie but also to compile a naturall Historie of all verdor from the Cedar vpon the Mountaine to the mosse vppon the wall which is but a rudiment betweene putrefaction and an hearbe and also of all things that breath or moone Nay the same Salomon the King although he excelled in the glorie of treasure and magnificent buildings of shipping and Nauigation of seruice and attendance of same and renowne and the like yet hee maketh no claime to any of those glories but onely to the glorie of Inquisition of truth for so he sayth expressely The glorie of God is to conceale a thing But the glorie of the King is to find it out as if according to the innocent play of Children the diuine Maiestie tooke delight to hide his workes to the end to haue them sound out and as if Kinges could not obtaine a greater honour than to bee Gods play-fellowes in that game considering the great commaundement of wits and meanes whereby nothing needeth to be hidden from them Neither did the dispensation of God varie in the times after our Sauiour came into the world for our Sauiour himselfe did first shew his power to subdue ignorance by his conference with the Priests and Doctors of the lawe before he shewed his power to subdue nature by his miracles And the comming of the holy spirite was chiefely figured and expressed in the similitude and guist of tongues which are but Vehicula scientiae So in the election of those Instruments which it pleased God to vse for the plantation of the faith notwithstanding that at the first hedid employ persons altogether vnlearned otherwise than by inspiration more euidently to declare his immediate working and to abbase all humane wisedome or knowledge yet neuerthelesse that Counsell of his was no sooner perfourmed but in the next vicissitude and succession he did send his diuine truth into the world wayted on with other Learnings as with Seruants or Handmaides For so we see Saint Paule who was only learned amongst the Apostles had his penne most vsed in the scriptures of the new Testament So againe we finde that many of the ancient Bishops and Father of the Church were excellently redde studied in all the learning of the Heathen insomuch that the Edict of the Emperour Iulianus whereby it was interdicted vnto Christians to bee admitted into Schooles Lectures or exercises of learning was esteemed and accounted a more pernitious engine and machination against the Christian faith than were all the sanguinarie prosecutions of his Predecessors Neither could the emulation and Iealousie of Gregorie the first of that name Bishop of Rome euer obtaine the opinion of pietie or deuotion but contrarywise receiued the censure of humour malignitie and pusillanimitie euen amongst holy men in that he designed to obliterate and extinguish the memorie of Heathen antiquitie and Authors But contrarewise it was the Christian Church which amidst the inundations of the Scythians on the one side from the Northwest and the Saracens from the East did preserue in the sacred lappe and bosome thereof the pretious Reliques euen of Heathen Learning which otherwise had beene extinguished as if no such thing had euer beene And wee see before our eyes that in the age of our selues and our Fathers when it pleased God to call the Church of Rome to account for their degenerate manners and ceremonies and sundrie doctrines obnoxious and framed to vphold the same abuses At one and the same time it was ordayned by the diuine prouidence that there should attend withall a renouation and new spring of all other knowledges And on the other side we see the Iesuites who partly in themselues and partly by the emulation and prouocation of their example haue much quickned and strengthned the state of Learning we see Isay what notable seruice and reparation they haue done to the Romane Sea Wherefore to conclude this part let it bee obserued that there be two principall duties and seruices besides ornament illustration which Philosophie and humane learning doe perfourme to faith and Religion The one because they are an effectuall inducement to the exaltation of the glory of God For as the Psalmes and other Scriptures doe often inuite vs to consider and magnifie the great and wonderfull workes of God so if we should rest onely in the contemplation of the exterior of them as they first offer themselues to our sences we should do a like iniurie vnto the Maiestie of God as if wee should iudge or construe of the store of some excellent Ieweller by that onely which is set out toward the streete in his shoppe The other because they minister a singuler helpe and preseruatiue against
should deliuer vp their Armes and submit themselues to the Kings mercy To which Message before answere was made diuers of the Army coÌ„ferred familiarly with Falinus and amongst the rest Xenophon happened to say Why Falinus we haue now but these two thinges left our Armes and our Vertue and if we yeeld vp our Armes how shall we make vse of our Vertue Whereto Falinus smiling on him sayd If I be not deceiued young Gentleman you are an Athenian and I beleeue you studie Philosophie and it is pretty that you say but you are much abused if you thinke your vertue can withstand the Kings power Here was the scorne the wonder followed which was that this young Scholler or Philosopher after all the Captaines were murthered in parlye by treason conducted those ten Thousand foote through the heart of all the Kinges high Countreys from Babilon to Grecia in safetie in despight of all the Kings forces to the astonishment of the world and the encouragement of the Grecians in times succeeding to make inuasion vpon the Kings of Persia as was after purposed by Iason the Thessalian attempted by Agesiâ—…aus the Spartan and atchieued by Alexander the Macedonian all vpon the ground of the Act of that young Scholler To proceede now from imperiall and militarie vertue to morall and priuate vertue first it is an assured truth which is contained in the verses Scilicet ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros It taketh away the wildnesse and barbarisme and fiercenesse of mens minds but indeed the accent had need be vpon fideliter For a little superficiall learning doth rather worke a contrary effect It taketh away all leuitie temeritie and insolencie by copious suggestion of all doubts and difficulties and acquainting the minde to ballance reasons on both sides and to turne backe the first offers and conceits of the minde and to accept of nothing but examined and tryed It taketh away vaine admiration of any thing which is the roote of all weakenesse For all things are admired either because they are new or because they are great For nouelty no man that wadeth in learning or contemplation throughly but will find that printed in his heart Nil noui super terram Neither can any man maruaile at the play of Puppets that goeth behinde the curtaine and aduiseth well of the Motion And for magnitude as Alexander the Great after that hee was vsed to great Armies and the great Conquests of the spatious Prouinces in Asia when hee receiued Letters out of Greece of some fights and seruices there which were commonly for a passage or a Fort or some walled Towne at the most he sayd It seemed to him that he was aduertised of the battailes of the Frogs and the Mise that the ould tales went of So cettainely if a man meditate much vppon the vniuersall frame of nature the earth with men vppon it the diuinesse of soules except will not seeme much other than an Ant-hill whereas some Ants carrie corne and some carrie their young and some goe emptie and all too and fro a little heape of dust It taketh away or mitigateth feare of death or aduerse fortune which is one of the greatest impediments of vertue and imperfections of manners For if a mans minde be deepely seasoned with the consideration of the mortalitie and corruptible nature of thinges hee will easily concurre with Epictetus who went foorth one day and sawe a woman weeping for her Pitcher of earth that was broken and went foorth the next day and sawe a woman weepinge for her Sonne that was deade and thereuppon sayde Heri vidi fragilem frangi hodiè vidi mortalem mori And therefore Virgill did excellently and profoundlye couple the knowledge of causes and the Conquest of all feares together as Concomitantia Foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas Quique metus omnes inexorabile fatum Subiecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis auari It were too long to goe ouer the particular remedies which learning doth minister to all the diseases of the minde sometimes purging the ill humours sometimes opening the obstructions sometimes helping digestion sometimes encreasing appetite somtimes healing the wounds and exulcerations thereof and the like and therefore I will conclude with that which hath rationem totius which is that it disposeth the constitution of the minde not to be fixed or setled in the defects thereof but still to be capable and susceptible of growth and reformation For the vnlearned man knowes not what it is to descend into himselfe or to cal himselfe to account nor the pleasure of that Suauissima vita indies sentire se fieri meliorem The good parts hee hath hee will learne to shew to the full and vse them dexterously but not much to encrease them The faults he hath he will learne how to hide and colour them but not much to amend them like an ill Mower that mowes on still and neuer whets his Syth whereas with the learned man it fares otherwise that he doth euer intermix the correction and amendment of his minde with the vse and employment thereof Nay further in generall and in sum certain it is that Veritas and Bonitas differ but as the Seale and the Print for Truth prints Goodnesse and they be the cloudes of Error which descend in the stormes of passions and perturbations From morall vertue let vs passe on to matter of power and commandement and consider whether in right reason there be any comparable with that wherewith knowledge inuesteth and crowneth mans nature We see the dignitie of the commandement is according to the dignitie of the commaunded to haue commaundement ouer beasts as Heard-men haue is a thing contemptible to haue commandement ouer children as Schoole-Masters haue is a matter of small honor to haue commandement ouer Gally-slaues is a disparagement rather than an honour Neither is the commaundement of Tyrants much better ouer people which haue put off the Generositie of their mindes And therefore it was euer holden that honors in free Monarchies and Common-wealths had a sweetnesse more than in Tyrannies because the commandement extendeth more ouer the wils of men and not only ouer their deeds and seruices And therefore when Virgill putteth himselfe forth to attribute to Augustus Caesar the best of humane honours hee doth it in these wordes Victorque volentes Per populos dat iura viamque affectat Olympo But yet the commandement of knowledge is yet higher than the commandement ouer the will for it is a commaundement ouer the reason beleefe and vnderstanding of man which is the highest part of the minde and giueth law to the will it selfe For there is no power on earth which setteth vp a throne or chaire of Estate in the spirits and soules of men and in their cogitations imaginations opinions and beleefes but knowledge and learning And therefore wee see the detestable and extreame pleasure that Arch-heretiques and false Prophets and Impostors are transported
Sonne and in the application to the Holy spirit for by the Holy Ghost was Christ conceiued in flesh and by the Holy Ghost are the Elect regenerate in spirite This worke likewise we consider either effectually in the Elect or priuately in the reprobate or according to apparance in the visible Church For manners the Doctrine thereof is contained in the lawe which discloseth sinne The lawe it selfe is deuided according to the edition thereof into the lawe of Nature the lawe Morall and the lawe Positiue and according to the stile into Negatiue and Affirmatiue Prohibitions and Commandements Sinne in the matter and subiect thereof is deuided according to the Commandements in the forme thereof it referreth to the three persons in deitie Sinnes of Infirmitie against the father whose more speciall attribute is Power Sinnes of Ignorance against the Sonne whose attribute is wisedome and sinnes of Malice against the Holy Ghost whose attribute is Grace or Loue. In the motions of it it either mooueth to the right hand or to the left either to blinde deuotion or to prophane libertine transgressiō either in imposing restraint where GOD granteth libertie or in taking libertie where GOD imposeth restrainte In the degrees and progresse of it it deuideth it selfe into thought word or Act. And in this part I commend much the diducing of the Lawe of GOD to cases of conscience for that I take indeede to bee a breaking and not exhibiting whole of the bread of life But that which quickneth both these Doctrines of faith and Manners is the eleuatition and consent of the heart whereunto appertaine bookes of exhortation holy meditation christian resolution and the like For the Lyturgie or seruice it consisteth of the reciprocall Acts betweene GOD and Man which on the part of GOD are the Preaching of the word and the Sacraments which are seales to the couenant or as the visible worde and on the part of Mans Inuocation of the name of GOD and vnder the law Sacrifices which were as visible praiers or confessions but now the adoration being in Spiritu veritate there remaineth only vituli labiorum although the vse of holy vowes of thankefulnesse and retribution may be accounted also as sealed petitions And for the Gouernment of the Church it consisteth of the patrimonie of the church the franchises of the Church and the offices and iurisdictions of the Church and the Lawes of the Church directing the whole All which haue two considerations the one in them selues the other how they stand compatible and agreeable to the Ciuill Estate This matter of Diuinitie is handled either in forme of instruction of truth or in forme of confutation of falshood The declinations from Religion besides the primitiue which is Atheisme and the Branches thereof are three Heresies Idolatrie and Witch-craft Heresies when we serue the true GOD with a false worship Idolatrie when wee worship false Gods supposing them to be true and Witch-craft when wee adore false Gods knowing them to be wicked and false For so your Maiestie doth excellently well obserue that Witch-craft is the height of Idolatry And yet we see thogh these be true degrees Samuel teacheth us that they are all of a nature when there is once a receding from the word of GOD for so he saith Quasi Peccatum ariolandi est repugnare quasi scelus Idololatriae nolle acquiescere These thinges I haue passed ouer so briefely because I can report noe deficience concerning them For I can finde no space or ground that lieth vacant and vnsowne in the matter of Diuinitie so diligent haue men beene either in sowing of good seede or in sowing of Tares Thus haue I made as it were a small Globe of the Intellectuall world as truly and faithfully as I coulde discouer with a note and description of those parts which seeme to mee not constantly occupate or not well conuerted by the labour of Man In which if I haue in any point receded from that which is commonly receiued it hath beene with a purpose of proceeding in melius and not in aliud a minde of amendment and proficience and not of change and difference For I could not bee true and constant to the argument I handle if I were not willing to goe beyond others but yet not more willing then to haue others goe beyond mee againe which may the better appeare by this that I haue propounded my opinions naked and vnarmed not seeking to preoccupate the libertie of mens iudgements by confutations For in any thing which is well set downe I am in good hope that if the first reading mooue an obiection the second reading will make an answere And in those things wherein I haue erred I am sure I haue not preiudiced the right by litigious arguments which certainly haue this contrarie effect and operation that they adde authoritie to error and destroy the authoritie of that which is well inuented For question is an honour and preferment to falshood as on the other side it is a repulse to truth But the errors I claime and challenge to my selfe as mine owne The good if any bee is due Tanquam adeps sacrificij to be incensed to the honour first of the diuine Maiestie and next of your Maiestie to whom on earth I am most bounden Historia Literarū Historia Naturae Errantis Historia Mechanica Historia Prophetica Metaphisica siue De formis F◅bus Rerū Naturalis Magiasiue Phisica Operatiua Maior Inuentarium Opum bumanarum Continuatio Problematum in Natura Catalogus Falsitatū grassantiū in historia Naturae De Antiquis Philosophijs Narrationes Medicinales Anatomia comparata Inquisitio vlterior de Morbis insanabisibus De Euthanasia exteriore Medicinae experimentales Imitatio Naturae in Balneis Aquis Medicinalibus Filum Medicinale siue de vicibus Medicinarum Experientia literata interpretatio Naturae Elenchi magni s◅e d◅ Idolis animi humani natiuis aduentitijs De Analogia Demonstrationum De Notis Rerum De Methode syncera siue ad filios Scientiarum De prudentia Traditionis De Productione Axiomatum Deprudentia sermonis priuati Colores boni mali simplicis comparati Antitheta rerum De cultura Animi Faber Fortunae siue de Am. bitu vitae De prudētia legislatoria fiue de fontibus Iuris De vsu legittimo rationis humanae in diuinis Degradibus vnitatis in Ci◅itate Dei Emanationes Scripturarum in doctrinas Positiuas
that other that monies weretl◅e sinews of the warres wheras saith he the true sinews of the warres are the sinews of mens Armes that is a valiant populous and Military Nation he voucheth aptly the authority of Solon who when Craesus shewed him his treasury of goalde saide to him that if another came that had better Iron he woulde be maister o◅ his Gould In like manner it may be truly affirmed that it is not monies that are the sinews of fortune but it is the sinews and steele of mens Mynds Witte Courage Audacity Resolution Temper Industry and the like In thirde place I set down Reputation because of the peremptory Tides Currants it hath which if they bee not taken in their due time are sildome recouered it beinge extreame harde to plaie an after game of reputation And lastly I place honoure which is more easily wonne by any of the other three much more by all then any of them can bee purchased by honour To conclude this precepte as there is order and priority in Matter so is there in Time the proposterous placing whereof is one of the commonest Errors while men fly to their ends when they shoulde intend their beginninings and doe not take things in order of time as they come on but marshall them according to greatnes and not according to instance not obseruing the good precepte Quod nunc instat agamus Another precept of this knowledge is not to imbrace any matters which doe occupie to great a quantity of time but to haue that sounding in a mans eares Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus and that is the cause why those which take their course of rising by professions of Burden as Lawyers Orators painefull diuines and the like are not commonlie so politique for their owne fortune otherwise then in their ordinary way because they want time to learne particulars to waite occasions and to deuise plottes Another precept of this knowledge is to imitate nature which doth nothing in vaine which surely a man may do if he do well interlace his businesse and bend not his mind too much vpon that which he prin cipally intendeth For a man ought in euery particular action so to carry the motions of his mind and so to haue one thing vnder another as if he cannot haue that he seeketh in the best degree yet to haue it in a second or so in a third and if he can haue no parte of that which he purposed yet to turn the vse of it to sōwhat els and if he cannot make any thing of it for the present yet to make it as a seed of somwhat in time to come and if he can contriue no effect or substaunce from it yet to win som good opinion by it or the like so that he should exact an account of himself of euery action to reape somwhat and not to stand amazed and confused if he saile of that he chiefly meant for nothing is more impollitique then to mind actions wholly one by one For he that dooth so leeseth infinite occasions which enterveine and are many times more proper and propitious for somewhat that he shall need afterwards then for that which he vrgeth for the present and therfore men must be parfite in that rule Haec oportet facere illa non omittere Another precept of this knowledge is not to ingage a mans selfe peremptorily in any thing though it seem not liable to accident but euer to haue a window to flie out at or away to retyre following the wisedom in the ancient fable of the two frogs which consulted when their plash was drie whether they should go and the one mooued to go down into a pit because it was not likely the water would dry there but the other answered True but if it do how shall we get out againe Another precept of this knowledge is that ancient precept of Bias construed not to any point of perfidiousnesse but only to caution and moderation Et ama tanquam inimicus suturus odi tanquam amaturus For it vtterly betraieth al vtility for mē to imbarque them selues to far into vnfortunate friendships troublesom spleans childish humorous enuies or aemulatiōs But I continue this beyond the measure of an example led because I wold not haue such knowledges which I note as deficient to be thought things Imaginatiue or in the ayre or an obseruation or two much made of but thinges of bulke and masse whereof an end is hardlier made then a beginning It must be likewise conceiued that in these pointes which I mencion and set downe they are far from complete tractates of them but onelye as small peeces for patternes And lastlye no man I suppose will thinke that I meane fortunes are not obteyned without all this adoe For I know they come tumblinge into some mens lappes and a nomber obtaine good fortunes by dilligence in a plaine way Little intermedlinge and keeping themselues from grosse errors But as Cicero when he setteth down an Idea of a parfit Orator doth not mean that euery pleader should be such and so likewise when a Prince or a Courtier hath been described by such as haue handled those subiects the mould hath vsed to be made accordinge to the perfectiō of the Arte and not according to cō mon practise So I vnderstand it that it ought to be done in the description of a Pollitique man I meane pollitique for his owne fortune But it must be remembred al this while that the precepts which we haue set down are of thatkind which may be coūted called Bonae Artes as for euill arts if a man would set down for himselfe that principle of Machiauel That a man seeke not to attaine vertue it selfe But the apparance onely thereof because the credite of vertue is a helpe but the vse of it is cumber or that other of his principles That he presuppose that men are not fitly to be wrought otherwise but by feare and therefore that he seeke to haue euery mā obnoxius lowe in streight which the Italiās cal seminar spine to sowe thornes or that other principle cōteined in the verse which Cice ro cyteth cadant amici dūmodo Inimici intercidāt as the Trium virs which fould euery one to other the liues of their friends for the deaths of theire enemiees or that other protestation of L. Catilina to set on fire trouble states to the end to fish in droumy waters to vnwrappe their fortunes Ego si quid in fortunis meis excitatum sit incendium id non aqua sed ruina restinguam or that other principle of Lysāder That childrē are to be deceiued with cōfittes men with othes the like euil and corrupt positions whereof as in al things there are more in number then of the good Certainly with these dispensations from the lawes of charity integryty the pressing of a mans fortune may be more ha sty and compendious But it
is in life as it is in ways The shortest way is comonly the fowlest surely the fairer way is not much about But men if they be in their own power doe beare sustaine themselues and bee not caryed awaye with a whirle winde or tempest of ambition oughte in the pursute of their owne fortune to set before their eies not only that general Map of the world That al things are vanity vexatioÌ„ of spirit but many other more par ticular Cards directioÌ„s cheefly that That Being without wel being is a curse the greater being the greater curse And that all vertue is most rewarded al wickednesse most punished in it selfe according as the Poet saith excellently Quae vobis que digna viri pro laudibus istis Premia posse rear solui pulcherrima primum Dij moresque dabunt vestri And so of the contrary And secondly they oughte to looke vp to the eternal prouidence and diuine iudgemente which often subuerteth the wisdome of euyll plots imaginations according to that scripture He hath conceiued mischiefe shal bring soorth a vainething And although men should refraine themselues from iniury and euil artes yet this incessant Sabbathlesse pursute of a mans fortune leaueth not tribute which we owe to God of our time who we see demandeth a tenth of our substaÌ„ce a seauenth which is more strict of our time and it is 〈◊〉 to smal purpose to haue an erected face towards heaueÌ„ a perpetual groueling spirit vpon earth eating dust as doth the serpent Atque affigit humo Diuinae particulam aurae And if any maÌ„ flatter himself that he will imploy his fortune wel though he shold obtain it ill as was said concerning Aug. Caesar after of Septimius Seuerus That either they shold neuer haue bin born or else they shold nener haue died they did so much mischief in the pursut asceÌ„tof their greatnes so much good when they were established yet these coÌ„pensations satisfactions are good to be vsed but neuer good to be purposed And lastly it is not amisse for meÌ„ in their race toward their fortuneto cooll theÌ„selues a litle with that coÌ„ceit which is elegaÌ„t ly expressed bythe Emperor Charls the 5. in his instruc tioÌ„s to the K. his son That fortune hath sowhat of the nature of a womaÌ„ that if she be too much woed she is the farder of But this last is but a remedy for those whose Tasts are corrupted let meÌ„ rather build vpo that fouÌ„dation which is as a cornerstone of diuinity and philosophie wherein they ioyne close namely that same Primum quaerite For diuinity sayth Primum quaerite regnuÌ„ Dei ista omnia adâ—…icieÌ„tur Vobis Philosophy saith PrimuÌ„ quaerite bona animi coetera aut aderunt aut non oberunt And although the humane foundation hath somewhat of the same as we see in M Brutus when hee brake forth into that speech Te colui Virtus vt rem ast tu nomen inane es Yet the diuine foundation is vpon the Rocke But this may serue for a Tast of that knowledge which I noted as deficient Concerning gouernment it is a part of knowledge secret and retyred in both these respects in which things are deemed secret for some things are secret because they are hard to know and some because they are not fit to vtter wee see all gouernments are obscure and inuisible Totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem magno corpore miscet Such is the description of gouernments we see the gouernmeÌ„t of God ouer the world is hidden insomuch as it seemeth to participate of much irregularitie and confusion The gouernment of the Soule in moouing the Body is inward and profound and the passages therof hardly to be reduced to demonstration Againe the wisedome of Antiquitie the shadowes whereof are in the Poets in the description of torments and paines next vnto the crime of Rebellion which was the Giants offence doth detest the offence offacilitie as in Sysiphus and Tantalus But this was meant of particulars Neuerthelesse euen vnto the generall rules and discourses of pollicie and gouernment there is due a reuerent and reserued handling But contrariwise in the gouernors towards the gouerned all things ought as far as the frailtie of Man permitteth to be manifest reuealed For so it is expressed in the Scriptures touching the gouernment of God that this Globe which seemeth to vs a dark and shady body is in the view of God as Christall Et in conspectu sedis tanquaÌ„ mare vitreuÌ„ simile christallo So vnto Princes and States and specially towardes wise Senats and Councels the natures and dispositions of the people their conditions and necessities their factions and combinations their animosities and discontents ought to be in regard of the varietie of their Intelligences the wisedome of their obseruations and the height of their station where they keepe Centinell in great part cleare and transparent wherefore considering that I write to a king that is a maister of this Science and is so wel assisted I thinke it decent to passe ouer this part in sileÌ„ce as willing to obtaine the certificate which one of the ancient Philosophers aspired vnto who being silent when others contended to make demonstration of their abilities by speech desired it mought â—…e certified for his part that there was one that knewe how to hold his peace Notwithstanding for the more publique part of Gouernment which is Lawes I think good to note onley one deficience which is that all those which haue writteÌ„ of Lawes haue written either as Philosophers or as lawiers none as Statesmen As for the Philosophers they make imaginary Lawes for imaginary coÌ„mon-wealths their discourses are as the Stars which giue little light because they are so high For the Lawyers they write according to the States where they liue what is receiued Law not what ought to be Law For the wisedome of a Law-maker is one of a Lawyer is another For ther are in Nature certaine fountaines of Iustice whence all Ciuil Lawes are deriued but as streames like as waters doe take tinctures and tastes from the soyles through which they run So doe ciuill Lawes vary according to the Regions and gouernments where they are plaÌ„ted though they proceed from the same fountaines Againe the wisedome of a Lawmaker consisteth not onely in a platforme of Iustice but in the application thereof taking into consideration by what meanes Lawes may be made certaine and what are the causes remedies of the doubtfulnesse and incertaintie of Law by what meanes Lawes may be made apt and easie to be executed and what are the impediments and remedies in the execution of lawes what influence lawes touching priuate right of Meum Tuum haue into the publike state and how they may be made apt and agreable how lawes are to be penned and deliuered whether in Texts or in Acts briefe or large with