Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/203

 10 s. XIL AUG. 28, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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closes with a small piece of casuistry emi- nently Baconian :

" It is better for a time to force men to outward conformity, though mixt with hypocrisy, than suffer them to continue refractory."

The following curious division of History is found likewise in ' The Advancement of Learning ' :

" Of Histories some are Natural, some Civil ; of Civil, some concern the state of the Church, and some the affairs of the Commonwealth. To them both appertaineth the history of places, which is Geography ; of times, which is Chrono- logy ; of descents, which is Genealogy ; and of actions, which is that I now am to speak of, and is principally, singly, and by a kind of prerogative called History."

Bacon makes at first a fourfold division of History natural, civil, ecclesiastical, and literary and later adds to this division, history of cosmography. His main division of history, however, into natural and civil coincides with that of the ' Horse Subsecivse.' This paragraph could have been penned by no other than Bacon:

" The benefit that the understanding receiveth thence [i.e., from reading history] ariseth two wayes. First, it becomes informed, as it were, with matter of fact, by the direct narration of things past, in manner as they fell out. And in this respect, History is said to be, Testis temporum, lux veritatis, nuntia vetustatis. Secondly, it is enabled by particular examples, and by the events of humane counsell (as by so many rules and patterns), to take the wisest course in con- ducting our affaires to their right ends. And for this effect, it is called Magistra vitce."

Of the four discourses which form the

second half of the volume I shall have

little to say. * The Discourse upon the

Beginning of Tacitus ' has Baconian echoes,

but does not reach the same standard as

the rest of the book. Of * The Discourse of

Rome ' one or two words are necessary.

The discourse shows clearly that the writer

has been in Rome, and this fact forms the

chief objection to my plea for the book's

Baconian authorship. The life of Bacon,

as we know it, gives no indication that he

was ever in Italy. But we do know

that he was abroad, and that while abroad

he met M. de Montaigne. Now the reader

of Montaigne's * Journal of his Travels in

Italy ' will recall that Montaigne was

accompanied by a mysterious M. d'Estissac

whose identity has never been ascertained

Yet he must have been a young man o:

consequence, for when the two were ad

mitted to a private audience with the Pope

M. d'Estissac entered the presence first

and would seem to have been the man whon

the Pope wished most to see. May not thi

have been our young friend Francis Bacon

'erhaps the following passages from ' The- Discourse of Rome ' may prove illuminating :

" I do not think it unnecessary to say something f the safety and danger for an Englishman to- ravel thither .... For some persons there can >e no place in the world so dangerous for them

o come in, as this Therefore, the safest course

or such a one, is .... neither to make himself f ior intention known to anybody living, for hen there may be a possibility of discovery. A.nd besides, it is necessary that he have some other language besides his own, that he may pass for

hat Country-man Those times of public

lostility, as in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth,, vhen the Pope thundered excommunications, ind professed himself an open enemy to the Hate, as he did then, it is dangerous."

I do not wish to push this suggestion too- ar, but the conditions seem to answer to he case satisfactorily.* It would be an nteresting task to compare this discourse vith Bacon's essay * Of Travel,' and to see low closely the former is modelled upon he latter, but I must content myself with i, bare indication of the fact. As for the

Discourse against Flatterie,' a remarkable parallel might be instituted with the essays of Bacon, and so also in the case of the

Discourse of Laws.' I shall feel contented, lowever, if I have suggested the likeness, and shall rest my case on the evidence which I have adduced.

To sum up, the anonymous author of

Horse Subsecivae ' and Francis Bacon have many points in common. The style of both is extremely concise, and is notable for

lear analysis and arrangement. Both writers employ rich imagery and striking illustrations. Both show great sagacity and knowledge of human nature. Biblical and classical quotations are frequent in both, and generally inaccurate. Both use obscure Latin derivatives, are fond of balance, antithesis, and what, for want of a better name, may be called the rule of three. Both are eloquent, and of lofty, intellectual elevation. Both look upon life from the same standpoint, and treat of its- same aspects. Both are men of rank, and both excuse ambition if its object be the reform of politics and the advancement of learning. Finally, both have written great books, books that deserve to live. What more shall I say ? Simply that this article is a proof and a plea a proof of the book's authorship and a plea for the book's recog- nition. EDWARD J. H. O'BRIEN. 116, Charles Street, Boston, Mass.

kindly informed by Mr. R. M. Theobald that the late Rev. Walter Begley discovered a brief old biography of Bacon in which the statement was authoritatively made that Bacon visited Italy.
 * Since penning these words I have been