[134] Too great easiness of access.
[135] Predilections that are undeserved.
[136] Proverbs xxviii. 21. The whole passage stands thus in our version: “He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. To have respect of persons is not good; for, for a piece of bread, that man will transgress.”
[137] “By the consent of all he was fit to govern, if he had not governed.”
[138] “Of the emperors, Vespasian alone changed for the better _after [139] Plut. vit. Demosth. 17, 18.
[140] It is not improbable that this passage suggested Pope’s beautiful lines in the _Essay on Man_, Ep. i. 125-28.
“Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes, Men would be angels, angels would be gods.
Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell, Aspiring to be angels, men rebel.”
[141] Auger Gislen Busbec, or Busbequius, a learned traveller, born at Comines, in Flanders, in 1522. He was employed by the Emperor Ferdinand as ambassador to the Sultan Solyman II. He was afterwards ambassador to France, where he died, in 1592. His “Letters” relative to his travels in the East, which are written in Latin, contain much interesting information. They were the pocket companion of Gibbon, and are highly praised by him.
[142] In this instance the stork or crane was probably protected, not on the abstract grounds mentioned in the text, but for reasons of state policy and gratitude combined. In Eastern climates the cranes and dogs are far more efficacious than human agency in removing filth and offal, and thereby diminishing the chances of pestilence. Superstition, also, may have formed another motive, as we learn from a letter written from Adrianople, by Lady Montagu, in 1718, that storks were “held there in a sort of religious reverence, because they are supposed to make every winter the pilgrimage to Mecca. To say truth, they are the happiest subjects under the Turkish government, and are so sensible of their privileges, that they walk the streets without fear, and generally build their nests in the lower parts of the houses. Happy are those whose houses are so distinguished, as the vulgar Turks are perfectly persuaded that they will not be that year attacked either by fire or pestilence.” Storks are still protected, by municipal law, in Holland, and roam unmolested about the market-places.
[143] Nicolo Machiavelli, a Florentine statesman. He wrote “Discourses on the first Decade of Livy,” which were conspicuous for their liberality of sentiment, and just and profound reflections. This work was succeeded by his famous treatise, “Il Principe,” “The Prince;” his patron, Cæsar Borgia, being the model of the perfect prince there described by him. The whole scope of this work is directed to one object—the maintenance of power, however acquired. Though its precepts are no doubt based upon the actual practice of the Italian politicians of that day, it has been suggested by some writers that the work was a covert exposure of the deformity of the shocking maxims that it professes to inculcate. The question of his motives has been much discussed, and is still considered open. The word “Machiavellism” has, however, been adopted to denote all that is deformed, insincere, and perfidious in politics. He died in great poverty, in the year 1527.
[144] _Vide_ Disc. Sop. Liv. ii. 2.
[145] St. Matthew v. 45. “For he maketh his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
[146] This is a portion of our Saviour’s reply to the rich man who asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life: “Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow [147] See St. Luke xvi. 21.
[148] Timon of Athens, as he is generally called (being so styled by Shakspeare in the play which he has founded on his story), was surnamed the “Misanthrope,” from the hatred which he bore to his fellow-men.
He was attached to Apemantus, another Athenian of similar character to himself, and he professed to esteem Alcibiades, because he foresaw that he would one day bring ruin on his country. Going to the public assembly on one occasion, he mounted the rostrum, and stated that he had a fig-tree, on which many worthy citizens had ended their days by the halter; that he was going to cut it down for the purpose of building on the spot, and therefore recommended all such as were inclined, to avail themselves of it before it was too late.
[149] A piece of timber that has grown crooked, and has been so cut that the trunk and branch form an angle.
[150] He probably here refers to the myrrh-tree. Incision is the method usually adopted for extracting the resinous juices of trees; as in the India-rubber and gutta-percha trees.
He alludes to the words of St. Paul in his Second Epistle to Timothy ii. 10: “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
[152] Consideration of, or predilection for, particular persons.
[153] The Low Countries had then recently emancipated themselves from the galling yoke of Spain. They were called the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands.
[154] This passage may at first sight appear somewhat contradictory; but he means to say, that those who are first ennobled will commonly be found more conspicuous for the prominence of their qualities, both good and bad.
[155] Consistent with reason and justice.
[156] The periods of the Equinoxes.
[157] “He often warns, too, that secret revolt is impending, that treachery and open warfare are ready to burst forth.”—_Virg. Georg._ i.
465.
[158] “Mother Earth, exasperated at the wrath of the Deities, produced her, as they tell, a last birth, a sister to the giants Cœus, and [159] “Great public odium once excited, his deeds, whether good or whether bad, cause his downfall.” Bacon has here quoted incorrectly, probably from memory. The words of Tacitus are (_Hist._ B. i. C. 7): “Inviso semel principe, seu bene, seu male, facta premunt,”—“The ruler once detested, his actions, whether good or whether bad, cause his downfall.”
[160] “They attended to their duties; but still, as preferring rather to discuss the commands of their rulers, than to obey them.”—_Tac.
Hist._ ii. 39.
[161] He alludes to the bad policy of Henry the Third of France, who espoused the part of “The League,” which was formed by the Duke of Guise and other Catholics for the extirpation of the Protestant faith.
When too late he discovered his error, and finding his own authority entirely superseded, he caused the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal De Lorraine, his brother, to be assassinated.
[162] “The primary motive power.” He alludes to an imaginary centre of gravitation, or central body, which was supposed to set all the other heavenly bodies in motion.
[163] “Too freely to remember their own rulers.”
[164] “I will unloose the girdles of kings.” He probably alludes here to the first verse of the 45th chapter of Isaiah: “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates.”
[165] “Hence devouring usury, and interest accumulating in lapse of time; hence shaken credit, and warfare, profitable to the [166] “Warfare profitable to the many.”
[167] “To grief there is a limit, not so to fear.”
[169] This is similar to the proverb now in common use: “’Tis the last feather that breaks the back of the camel.”
[170] The state.
[171] Though sumptuary laws are probably just in theory, they have been found impracticable in any other than infant states. Their principle, however, is certainly recognized in such countries as by statutory enactment discountenance gaming. Those who are opposed to such laws upon principle, would do well to look into Bernard Mandeville’s “Fable of the Bees,” or “Private Vices Public Benefits.” The Romans had numerous sumptuary laws, and in the Middle Ages there were many enactments in this country against excess of expenditure upon wearing apparel and the pleasures of the table.
[172] He means that they do not add to the capital of the country.
[173] At the expense of foreign countries.
[174] “The workmanship will surpass the material.”—_Ovid, Met._ B. ii.
l. 5.
[175] He alludes to the manufactures of the Low Countries.
[176] Like manure.
[177] Sometimes printed _engrossing, great pasturages_. By _engrossing_, is meant the trade of _engrossers_—men who buy up all that can be got of a particular commodity, then raise the price. By _great pasturages_ is meant turning corn land into pasture. Of this practice great complaints had been made for near a century before Bacon’s time, and a law passed to prevent it.—See _Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s History of Henry VIII._ [178] The myth of Pandora’s box, which is here referred to, is related in the _Works and Days_ of Hesiod. Epimetheus was the personification of “Afterthought,” while his brother Prometheus represented “Forethought,” or prudence. It was not Epimetheus that opened the box, but Pandora—“All-gift,” whom, contrary to the advice of his brother, he had received at the hands of Mercury, and had made his wife. In their house stood a closed jar, which they were forbidden to open. Till her arrival, this had been kept untouched; but her curiosity prompting her to open the lid, all the evils hitherto unknown to man flew out and spread over the earth, and she only shut it down in time to prevent the escape of Hope.
[179] “Sylla did not know his letters, _and so_ he could not dictate.”
This saying is attributed by Suetonius to Julius Cæsar. It is a play on the Latin verb _dictare_, which means either “to dictate,” or “to act the part of Dictator,” according to the context. As this saying was presumed to be a reflection on Sylla’s ignorance, and to imply that by reason thereof he was unable to maintain his power, it was concluded by the Roman people that Cæsar, who was an elegant scholar, feeling himself subject to no such inability, did not intend speedily to yield i. vii. 12.
[180] “That soldiers were levied by him, not bought.”—_Tac. Hist._ i. 5.
[181] “If I live, there shall no longer be need of soldiers in the Roman empire.”—_Flav. Vop. Vit. Prob._ 20.
[182] “And such was the state of feeling, that a few dared to perpetrate the worst of crimes; more wished to do so; all submitted to it.”—_Hist._ i. 28.
[183] He probably alludes to the legends or miraculous stories of the saints; such as walking with their heads off, preaching to the fishes, sailing over the sea on a cloak, &c. &c.
[184] This is a book that contains the Jewish traditions, and the rabbinical explanations of the law. It is replete with wonderful narratives.
[185] This passage not improbably contains the germ of Pope’s famous lines:— “A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.”
[186] A philosopher of Abdera; the first who taught the system of atoms, which was afterwards more fully developed by Democritus and Epicurus.
[187] He was a disciple of the last-named philosopher, and held the same principles; he also denied the existence of the soul after death.
He is considered to have been the parent of experimental philosophy, and was the first to teach, what is now confirmed by science, that the Milky Way is an accumulation of stars.
[188] Spirit.
[189] Psalm xiv. 1, and liii. 1.
[190] To whose (seeming) advantage it is; the wish being father to the thought.
[191] “It is not profane to deny _the existence of_ the deities of the vulgar; but, to apply to the divinities the received notions of the [192] He alludes to the native tribes of the continent of America and the West Indies.
[193] He was an Athenian philosopher, who, from the greatest superstition, became an avowed atheist. He was proscribed by the Areiopagus for speaking against the gods with ridicule and contempt, and is supposed to have died at Corinth.
[194] A Greek philosopher, a disciple of Theodorus the atheist, to whose opinions he adhered. His life was said to have been profligate, and his death superstitious.
[195] Lucian ridiculed the follies and pretensions of some of the ancient philosophers; but though the freedom of his style was such as to cause him to be censured for impiety, he hardly deserves the stigma of atheism here cast upon him by the learned author.
[196] “It is not for us now to say, ‘Like priest like people,’ for the people are not even so _bad_ as the priest.” St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, preached the second Crusade against the Saracens, and was unsparing in his censures of the sins then prevalent among the Christian priesthood. His writings are voluminous, and by some he has been considered as the latest of the fathers of the Church.
[198] “We may admire ourselves, conscript fathers, as much as we please; still, neither by numbers _did we vanquish_ the Spaniards, nor by bodily strength the Gauls, nor by cunning the Carthaginians, nor through the arts the Greeks, nor, in fine, by the inborn and native good sense of this _our_ nation, and this _our_ race and soil, the Italians and Latins themselves; but through our devotion and our religious feeling, and this, the sole _true_ wisdom, the having perceived that all things are regulated and governed by the providence of the immortal Gods, have we subdued all races and nations.”—_Cic. de.
Harus. Respon._ 9.
[199] The justice of this position is, perhaps, somewhat doubtful. The superstitious man _must_ have _some_ scruples, while he who believes not in a God (if there is such a person), _needs_ have _none_.
[200] Time was personified in Saturn, and by this story was meant its tendency to destroy whatever it has brought into existence.—_Plut. de Superstit._ x.
[201] The primary motive power.
[202] This Council commenced in 1545, and lasted eighteen years.
It was convened for the purpose of opposing the rising spirit of Protestantism, and of discussing and settling the disputed points of the Catholic faith.
[203] Irregular or anomalous movements.
[204] An epicycle is a smaller circle, whose centre is in the circumference of a greater one.
[205] To account for.
[206] Synods, or councils.
[207] At the present day called _attachés_.
[208] He probably means the refusing to join on the occasion of drinking healths when taking wine.
[209] Something to create excitement.
[211] Commodus fought naked in public as a gladiator, and prided himself on his skill as a swordsman.
[212] Making a stop at, or dwelling too long upon.
[213] After a prosperous reign of twenty-one years, Diocletian abdicated the throne, and retired to a private station.
[214] After having reigned thirty-five years, he abdicated the thrones of Spain and Germany, and passed the last two years of his life in retirement at St. Just, a convent in Estremadura.
[215] Philost. vit. Apoll. Tyan. v. 28.
[216] “The desires of monarchs are generally impetuous and conflicting among themselves.”—Quoted rightly, _A. L._ ii. xxii. 5, from _Sallust_ (B. J. 113).
[217] He was especially the rival of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, and was one of the most distinguished sovereigns that ever ruled over France.
[218] An eminent historian of Florence. His great work, which is here alluded to, is, “The History of Italy during his own Time,” which is considered one of the most valuable productions of that age.
[219] Spoken badly of. Livia was said to have hastened the death of Augustus, to prepare the accession of her son Tiberius to the throne.
[220] Solyman the Magnificent was one of the most celebrated of the Ottoman monarchs. He took the Isle of Rhodes from the Knights of St.
John. He also subdued Moldavia, Wallachia, and the greatest part of Hungary, and took from the Persians Georgia and Bagdad. He died A. D.
1566. His wife Roxolana (who was originally a slave called Rosa or Hazathya), with the Pasha Rustan, conspired against the life of his son Mustapha, and by their instigation this distinguished prince was strangled in his father’s presence.
[221] The infamous Isabella of Anjou.
[222] Adulteresses.
[223] He, however, distinguished himself by taking Cyprus from the Venetians in the year 1571.
[224] He was falsely accused by his brother Perseus of attempting to dethrone his father, on which he was put to death by the order of Philip, B. C. 180.
[225] Anselm was Archbishop of Canterbury in the time of William Rufus and Henry the First. Though his private life was pious and exemplary, through his rigid assertion of the rights of the clergy he was continually embroiled with his sovereign. Thomas à Becket pursued a similar course, but with still greater violence.
[226] The great vessel that conveys the blood to the liver, after it has been enriched by the absorption of nutriment from the intestines.
[227] This is an expression similar to our proverb, “Penny-wise and pound-foolish.”
[228] A subdivision of the shire.
[229] The Janizaries were the body-guards of the Turkish sultans, and enacted the same disgraceful part in making and unmaking monarchs, as the mercenary Prætorian guards of the Roman Empire.
[233] Isaiah ix. 6: “His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
[234] Prov. xx. 18: “Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.”
[235] The wicked Rehoboam, from whom the ten tribes of Israel revolted, and elected Jeroboam their king.—See 1 _Kings_ xii.
[236] Hesiod, Theog. 886.
[237] The political world has not been convinced of the truth of this doctrine of Lord Bacon; as cabinet councils are now held probably by every sovereign in Europe.
[239] That is, without a complicated machinery of government.
[240] Master of the Rolls and Privy Councillor under Henry VI., to whose cause he faithfully adhered. Edward IV. promoted him to the See of Ely, and made him Lord Chancellor. He was elevated to the See of Canterbury by Henry VII., and in 1493 received the Cardinal’s hat.
[241] Privy Councillor and Keeper of the Privy Seal to Henry VII., and, after enjoying several bishoprics in succession, translated to the See of Winchester. He was an able statesman, and highly valued by Henry VII. On the accession of Henry VIII. his political influence was counteracted by Wolsey; on which he retired to his diocese, and devoted the rest of his life to acts of piety and munificence.
[242] Before mentioned, relative to Jupiter and Metis.
[243] Remedied.
[244] “He shall not find faith upon the earth.” Lord Bacon probably alludes to the words of our Saviour, St. Luke xviii. 8: “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth?”
[245] He means to say, that this remark was only applicable to a particular time, namely, the coming of Christ. The period of the destruction of Jerusalem was probably referred to.
[246] “’Tis the especial virtue of a prince to know his own men.”
[247] In his disposition, or inclination.
[248] Liable to opposition from.
[249] “According to classes,” or, as we vulgarly say, “in the lump.”
Lord Bacon means that princes are not, as a matter of course, to take counsellors merely on the presumption of talent, from their rank and station; but that, on the contrary, they are to select such as are tried men, and with regard to whom there can be no mistake.
[250] “The best counsellors are the dead.”
[251] “Are afraid” to open their mouths.
359.
[253] On the accession of James the Sixth of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603.
[254] A phrase much in use with the Romans, signifying, “to attend to the business in hand.”
[255] A tribunitial or declamatory manner.
[256] “I’ll follow the bent of your humor.”
[257] The Sibyl alluded to here is the Cumæan, the most celebrated, who offered the Sibylline Books for sale to Tarquin the Proud.
“At this time, an unknown woman appeared at court, loaded with nine volumes, which she offered to sell, but at a very considerable price.
Tarquin refusing to give it, she withdrew and burnt three of the nine.
Some time after she returned to court, and demanded the same price for the remaining six. This made her looked upon as a mad woman, and she was driven away with scorn. Nevertheless, having burnt the half of what were left, she came a third time, and demanded for the remaining three the same price which she had asked for the whole nine. The novelty of such a proceeding, made Tarquin curious to have the books examined.
They were put, therefore, into the hands of the augurs, who, finding them to be the oracles of the Sybil of Cumæ, declared them to be an invaluable treasure. Upon this the woman was paid the sum she demanded, and she soon after disappeared, having first exhorted the Romans to preserve her books with care.”—_Hooke’s Roman History._ [258] Bald head. He alludes to the common saying: “Take time by the forelock.”
[259] Phæd. viii.
[261] Packing the cards is an admirable illustration of the author’s meaning. It is a cheating exploit, by which knaves, who, perhaps, are inferior players, insure to themselves the certainty of good hands.
[262] “Send them both naked among strangers, and _then_ you will see.”
[263] This word is used here in its primitive sense of “retail dealers.” It is said to have been derived from a custom of the Flemings, who first settled in this country in the fourteenth century, stopping the passengers as they passed their shops, and saying to them, “Haber das, herr?”—“Will you take this, sir?” The word is now generally used as synonymous with linen-draper.
[264] To watch.
[265] State.
[266] Discussing matters.
[267] He refers to the occasion when Nehemiah, on presenting the wine, as cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes, appeared sorrowful, and, on being asked the reason of it, entreated the king to allow Jerusalem to be [268] This can hardly be called a marriage, as, at the time of the intrigue, Messalina was the wife of Claudius; but she forced Caius Silius, of whom she was deeply enamored, to divorce his own wife, that she herself might enjoy his society. The intrigue was disclosed to Claudius by Narcissus, who was his freedman, and the pander to his infamous vices; on which Silius was put to death. Vide _Tac. Ann._ xi.
29, _seq._ [269] To speak in his turn.
[270] Be questioned upon.
[271] Kept on good terms.
[272] Desire it.
[273] “That he did not have various hopes in view, but solely the safety of the emperor.” Tigellinus was the profligate minister of Nero, and Africanus Burrhus was the chief of the Prætorian Guards.—_Tac.
Ann._ xiv. 57.
[274] As Nathan did, when he reproved David for his criminality with [275] Use indirect stratagems.
[276] He alludes to the old Cathedral of St. Paul, in London, which, in the sixteenth century, was a common lounge for idlers.
[277] Movements, or springs.
[278] Chances, or vicissitudes.
[279] Enter deeply into.
[280] Faults, or weak points.
[281] “The wise man gives heed to his own footsteps; the fool turneth aside to the snare.” No doubt he here alludes to Ecclesiastes xiv. 2, which passage is thus rendered in our version: “The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness.”
[282] Mischievous.
[283] It must be remembered that Bacon was not a favorer of the Copernican system.
[285] Remedy.
[286] Adapted to each other.
[287] Injures or impairs.
[288] A thing suspected.
[289] He probably alludes to Jeremiah vi. 16: “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”
[290] That is, by means of good management.
[291] It is supposed that he here alludes to Sir Amyas Paulet, a very able statesman, and the ambassador of Queen Elizabeth to the court of France.
[292] Quotations.
[293] Apologies.
[294] Boasting.
[295] Prejudice.
[298] “With one brow raised to your forehead, the other bent downward to your chin, you answer that cruelty delights you not.”—_In Pis._ 6.
[299] “A foolish man, who fritters away the weight of matters by [301] Find it easier to make difficulties and objections than to originate.
[302] One really in insolvent circumstances, though to the world he does not appear so.
[303] He here quotes from a passage in the _Politica_ of Aristotle, book i. “He who is unable to mingle in society, or who requires nothing, by reason of sufficing for himself, is no part of the state, so that he is either a wild beast or a divinity.”
[304] Epimenides, a poet of Crete (of which Candia is the modern name), is said by Pliny to have fallen into a sleep which lasted 57 years.
He was also said to have lived 299 years. Numa pretended that he was instructed in the art of legislation by the divine nymph Egeria, who dwelt in the Arician grove. Empedocles, the Sicilian philosopher, declared himself to be immortal, and to be able to cure all evils.
He is said by some to have retired from society that his death might not be known, and to have thrown himself into the crater of Mount Ætna. Apollonius of Tyana, the Pythagorean philosopher, pretended to miraculous powers, and after his death a temple was erected to him at that place. His life is recorded by Philostratus; and some persons, among whom are Hierocles, Dr. More, in his Mystery of Godliness, and recently Strauss, have not hesitated to compare his miracles with those of our Saviour.
[306] Sarsaparilla.
[307] A liquid matter of a pungent smell, extracted from a portion of the body of the beaver.
[309] Plutarch (_Vit. Pomp._ 19) relates that Pompey said this upon Sylla’s refusal to give him a triumph.
[310] Plut. Vit. J. Cæs. 64.
[311] Cic. Philip. xiii. 11.
[312] “These things, by reason of our friendship, I have not concealed [313] Dio Cass. lxxv.
[314] Such infamous men as Tiberius and Sejanus hardly deserve this commendation.
[315] Philip de Comines.
[316] Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, the valiant antagonist of Louis XI. of France. De Comines spent his early years at his court, but afterwards passed into the service of Louis XI. This monarch was notorious for his cruelty, treachery, and dissimulation, and had all the bad qualities of his contemporary, Edward IV. of England, without any of his redeeming virtues.
[317] Pythagoras went still further than this, as he forbade his disciples to eat flesh of any kind whatever. See the interesting speech which Ovid attributes to him in the fifteenth book of the Metamorphoses. Sir Thomas Browne, in his Pseudoxia (_Browne’s Works_, Bohn’s Antiq. ed. vol. i. p. 27, _et seq._), gives some curious explanations of the doctrines of this philosopher.—_Plut. de Educat.
Puer._ 17.
[318] Tapestry. Speaking hypercritically, Lord Bacon commits an anachronism here, as Arras did not manufacture tapestry till the middle ages.
[319] Plut. Vit. Themist. 28.
[320] Ap. Stob. Serm. v. 120.
[321] James i. 23.
[322] He alludes to the recommendation which moralists have often given, that a person in anger should go through the alphabet to himself, before he allows himself to speak.
[323] In his day, the musket was fixed upon a stand, called the “rest,” much as the gingals or matchlocks are used in the East at the present day.
[324] From debts and incumbrances.
[325] Plut. Vit. Themist. ad init.
[327] He alludes to the following passage, St. Matthew xiii. 31: “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”
[328] Virg. Ecl. vii. 51.
[330] He was vanquished by Lucullus, and finally submitted to [331] He alludes to the prophetic words of Jacob on his death-bed, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion...Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.”
[332] Sums of money voluntarily contributed by the people for the use of the sovereign.
[333] Young trees.
[334] “A land strong in arms and in the richness of the soil.”—_Virg.
Æn._ i. 535.
[335] He alludes to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which is mentioned Daniel iv. 10; “I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.”
[342] Long since the time of Lord Bacon, as soon as these colonies had arrived at a certain state of maturity, they at different periods revolted from the mother country.
[343] The laws and ordinances promulgated by the sovereigns of Spain were so called. The term was derived from the Byzantine empire.
[344] Qualifications.
[345] Attend to.
[346] For a short or transitory period.
[347] Be in a hurry.
[348] It was its immense armaments that in a great measure consumed the vitals of Spain.
[349] “Pompey’s plan is clearly that of Themistocles; for he believes that whoever is master of the sea will obtain the supreme power.”—_Ad Att._ x. 8.
[350] Encomiums.
[351] St. Matthew vi. 27; St. Luke xii. 25.
[352] The effects of which must be felt in old age.
[353] Of benefit in your individual case.
[354] Any striking change in the constitution.
[355] Take medical advice.
[356] Incline rather to fully satisfying your hunger.
[358] To hope the best, but be fully prepared for the worst.
[359] “Suspicion is the passport to faith.”
[360] A censure of this nature has been applied by some to Dr. Johnson, and possibly with some reason.
[361] To start the subject.
[362] Requires to be bridled.
[363] He quotes here from Ovid: “Boy, spare the whip, and tightly grasp the reins.”—_Met._ ii. 127.
[364] One who tests or examines.
[365] The galliard was a light active dance, much in fashion in the time of Queen Elizabeth.
[366] Hits at, or remarks intended to be applied to, particular individuals.
[367] A slight or insult.
[368] A sarcastic remark.
[369] The old term for colonies.
[370] He perhaps alludes covertly to the conduct of the Spaniards in extirpating the aboriginal inhabitants of the West India Islands, against which the venerable Las Casas so eloquently but vainly protested.
[371] Of course, this censure would not apply to what is primarily and essentially a convict colony; the object of which is to drain the mother country of its impure superfluities.
[372] Times have much changed since this was penned, tobacco is now the staple commodity, and the source of “the main business” of Virginia.
[373] To labor hard.
[374] Marshy; from the French _marais_, a marsh.
[375] Gewgaws, or spangles.
[376] He alludes to Ecclesiastes v. 11, the words of which are somewhat varied in our version: “When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?”
xviii. 11.
[378] “In his anxiety to increase his fortune, it was evident that not the gratification of avarice was sought, but the means of doing good.”
[379] “He who hastens to riches will not be without guilt.” In our version the words are: “He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be [380] Pluto being the king of the infernal regions, or place of departed spirits.
[381] Rent-roll, or account taken of income.
[382] Wait till prices have risen.
[383] “In the sweat of another’s brow.” He alludes to the words of Genesis iii. 19: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”
[384] Planter of sugar-canes.
[385] “Wills and childless persons were caught _by him_, as though with [386] “Pythoness,” used in the sense of witch. He alludes to the witch of Endor, and the words in Samuel xxviii. 19. He is, however, mistaken in attributing these words to the witch: it was the spirit of Samuel that said, “To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me.”
[387] “But the house of Æneas shall reign over every shore, both his children’s children, and those who shall spring from them.”—_Æn._ iii.
97.
[388] “After the lapse of years, ages will come in which Ocean shall relax his chains around the world, and a vast continent shall appear, and Tiphys shall explore new regions, and Thule shall be no longer the utmost verge of earth.”—_Sen. Med._ ii. 375.
[389] He was king of Samos, and was treacherously put to death by Orœtes, the governor of Magnesia, in Asia Minor. His daughter, in consequence of her dream, attempted to dissuade him from visiting Orœtes, but in vain.—_Herod._ iii. 124.
[390] Plut. Vit. Alex. 2.
[391] “Thou shalt see me again at Philippi.”—_Appian Bell. Civ._ iv.
134.
[392] “Thou, also, Galba, shalt taste of empire.”—_Suet. Vit. Gall._ 4.
[393] Hist. v. 13.
[394] Suet. vit. Domit. 23.
[395] Catherine de Medicis, the wife of Henry II. of France, who died from a wound accidentally received in a tournament.
[396] James I. being the first monarch of Great Britain.
[398] “Aristophanes, in his Comedy of the Knights, satirizes Cleon, the Athenian demagogue. He introduces a declaration of the oracle, that the Eagle of hides (by whom Cleon was meant, his father having been a tanner), should be conquered by a serpent, which Demosthenes, one of the characters in the play, expounds as meaning a maker of sausages.