Page:Essays of Francis Bacon 1908 Scott.djvu/98

Rh of the cathedrals of England. Bacon's frequent quotations from the Vulgate show that he read the Bible in Latin habitually. Not seldom he quotes the Vulgate from memory, varying considerably from the original, just as he cites the sense of passages from Cicero and Livy. Even when he cites the Bible in English, it would seem that he had oftener in mind the Vulgate, rather than the Authorized Version of his later years. Ecclesiastes v. ii, "Where much is, there are many to consume it; and what hath the owner but the sight of it with his eyes?" is briefer and more picturesque in the essay Of Riches than in the Authorized Version. On the other hand, Bacon's "Salomon saith, Riches are as a strong hold in the imagination of the rich man" has become a proverb in the English of the translators, "The rich man's wealth is his strong city." (Proverbs x. 15.)

One reason why Bacon's Essays, one of the most learned works in English, is so easy to read and to understand, is that the language used is that of the Bible both in vocabulary and construction. The words 'marvel' meaning 'to wonder,' 'wax,' 'to grow,' 'profit,' 'to improve,' need no explanation to the reader of the Authorized Version. So, 'withe,' 'a willow twig,' Of Custom and Education, is familiar from the story of Samson. These and many others are Bible words in Bible meaning, and their construction is in simplest terms. The object of the translators was to put the Bible into the hands of the plain man, so that he could read it and understand it for himself. They Rh