,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,the ,,plays ,,of ,,shakspere ,,unfolded4 ,,by ,,delia ,,bacon4 ,,with ,a ,,preface ,,by ,,nathanial ,,hawthorne ,,author ,,of ',,the ,,scarlet ,,letter1' ,,etc ,aphorisms representing ,a ,,knowledge broken do invite men to inquire further ,,lord ,,bacon ,you find not the apostophes1 and so miss the accent4 ,,love',s ,,labour',s ,,lost ,untie the spell4--,,prospero ,,london3 ,,groombridge ,,and ,,sons ,,paternoster ,,row4 #aheg ,,ames ,,press ,,new ,,york ,,harvard ,,university ,,library ,,dec #f1 #aigb ,reprinted from a copy in the collection of the ,harvard ,college ,library ,reprinted from the edition of #aheg1 ,london ,first ,,ams ,,edition published #aigj ,manufactured in the ,united ,states of ,america ,international ,standard ,book ,number3 #j-djd-jjddc-a ,library of ,congress ,card ,catalog ,number3 #gc-aacedg ,,ams ,,press1 ,,inc4 ,,new ,,york1 ,n4,y4 #ajjjc ,,table ,,of ,,contents4 ,,preface ,,introduction4 ,i4 ,the ,proposition ,,ii4 ,the ,age of ,elizabeth1 and the ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters ,,iii4 ,extracts from the ,life of ,raleigh4--,raleigh's ,school ,,iv4 ,raleigh's ,school1 continued4--,the ,new ,academy 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,i ,the ,,historical ,,key to the ,,elizabethan ,,art of ,,tradition1 which formed the ,,first ,,book of this ,work as it was originally prepared for the ,press1 is reserved for separate publication4 ,,the ,,elizabethan ,,art ,,of ,,delivery ,,and ,,tradition4 ,,part ,i4 ,,michael ,,de ,,montaigne',s ',,private ,,and ,,retired ,,arts4' ,i4 ,ascent from ,particulars to the ',highest ,parts of ,sciences1' by the ,enigmatic ,method illustrated ,,ii4 ,further ,illustration of ',particular ,methods of ,tradition4'--,embarrassments of ,literary ,statesmen ,,iii4 ,the ,possibility of great anonymous ,works1--or ,works published under an assumed name1--conveying under rhetorical ,disguises the ,principal ,sciences1--re-suggested and illustrated ,,part ,,ii4 ,,the ,,baconian ,,rhetoric1 ,,or ,,the ,,method ,,of ,,progression4 ,i4 ,,the ',,beginners4'--',particular ,methods of ,tradition4'-- ,the ,double ,method of ',illustration' and ',concealment' ,,ii4 ,,index to the ',illustrated' and ',concealed ,tradition' of the ,principal and ,supreme ,sciences4--,,the ,,science ,,of ,,policy ,,iii4 ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,morality4 ,section ,i4 ,the ,exemplar of ,good ,,iv4 ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,morality4 ,section ,,ii4 ,the ,husbandry thereunto1 or the ,cure and ,culture of the ,mind4--,,application ,v4 ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,morality4--,,alteration ,,vi4 ,method of ,convoying the ,wisdom of the ,moderns 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,,ii4 ,,elizabethan ',,secrets ,,of ,,morality ,,and ,,policy'2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,fables ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,learning4 ,,introductory4 ,i4 ,the ,design ,,ii4 ,the ,missing ,books of the ,great ,instauration or ',philosophy itself' ,,part ,i4 ,,lear',s ,,philosopher2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,the ',,special ,,and ,,respective ,,duties1' ,,defined ,,and ',,illustrated' ,,in ,,tables ,,of ',,presence' ,,and ',,absence4' ,i4 ,philosophy in the ,palace ,,ii4 ,unaccommodated ,man ,,iii4 ,the ,king and the ,beggar ,,iv4 ,the ,use of ,eyes ,v4 ,the ,statesman's ,note-,book--and the ,play ,,part ,,ii4 ,,julius ,,caesar ,,and ,,coriolanus4 ,,the ,,scientific ,,cure ,,of ,,the ,,common-,,weal2 ,,or1 ',,the ,,common ,,duty ,,of ,,every ,,man ,,as ,a ,,man1 ,,or ,,member ,,of ,a ,,state1' ,,defined ,,and ,,illustrated ,,in ',,negative ,,instances' ,,and ',,instances ,,of ,,presence4' ,,julius ,,caesar2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,empirical ,,treatment ,,in ,,diseases ,,of ,,the ,,common-,,weal ,,examined4 ,i4 ,the ,death of ,tyranny2 or1 the ,question of the ,prerogative ,,ii4 ,caesar's ,spirit ,,coriolanus4 ,,the ,,question ,,of ,,the ,,consulship2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,scientific ,,cure ,,of ,,the ,,common-,,weal ,,propounded4 ,i4 ,the ,elizabethan ,heroism ,,ii4 ,criticism of the ,martial ,government ,,iii4 ',insurrections ,arguing' ,,iv4 ,political ,retrospect ,v4 ,the ,popular ,election ,,vi4 ,the ,scientific ,method in ,politics ,,vii4 ,volumnia and her ,boy ,,viii4 ,metaphysical ,aid ,,ix4 ,the ,cure4--,plan of ,innovation4--,new ,definitions4 ,x4 ,the ,cure4--,plan of ,innovation4--,new ,constructions4 ,,xi4 ,the ,cure4--,plan of ,innovation4--',the ,initiative' ,,xii4 ,the ,ignorant ,election revoked4--,a ',wrestling ,instance'4 ,,xiii4 ,conclusion ,,preface4 ,this ,volume contains the argument1 drawn from the ,plays usually attributed to ,shakspere1 in support of a theory which the author of it has demonstrated by historical evidences in another work4 ,having never read this historical demonstration 7which remains still in manuscript1 with the exception of a preliminary chapter1 published long ago in an ,american periodical71 ,i deem it necessary to cite the author's own account of it3-- ',the ,historical ,part of this work 7which was originally the principal part1 and designed to furnish the historical key to the great ,elizabethan writings71 though now for a long time completed and ready for the press1 and though repeated reference is made to it in this volume1 is1 for the most part1 omitted here4 ,it contains a true and before unwritten history1 and it will yet1 perhaps1 be published as it stands2 but the vivid and accumulating historic detail1 with which more recent research tends to enrich the earlier statement1 and disclosures which no invention could anticipate1 are waiting now to be subjoined to it4 ',the ,,internal ,,evidence of the assumptions made at the outset is that which is chiefly relied on in the work now first presented on this subject to the public4 ,the demonstration will be found complete on that ground2 and on that ground alone the author is willing1 and deliberately prefers1 for the present1 to rest it4 ',external evidence1 of course1 will not be wanting2 there will be enough and to spare1 if the demonstration here be correct4 ,but the author of the discovery was not willing to rob the world of this great question2 but wished rather to share with it the benefit which the true solution of the ,problem offers--the solution prescribed by those who propounded it to the future4 ,it seemed better to save to the world the power and beauty of this demonstration1 its intellectual stimulus1 its demand on the judgment4 ,it seemed better1 that the world should acquire it also in the form of criticism1 instead of being stupified and overpowered with the mere force of an irresistible1 external1 historical proof4 ,persons incapable of appreciating any other kind of proof1--those who are capable of nothing that does not 'directly fall under and strike the senses' as ,lord ,bacon expresses it1--will have their time also2 but it was proposed to present the subject first to minds of another order4' ,in the present volume1 accordingly1 the author applies herself to the demonstration and development of a system of philosophy1 which has presented itself to her as underlying the superficial and ostensible text of ,shakspere's plays4 ,traces of the same philosophy1 too1 she conceives herself to have found in the acknowledged works of ,lord ,bacon1 and in those of other writers contemporary with him4 ,all agree in one system2 all these traces indicate a common understanding and unity of purpose in men among whom no brotherhood has hitherto been suspected1 except as representatives of a grand and brilliant age1 when the human intellect made a marked step in advance4 ,the author did not 7as her own consciousness assures her7 either construct or originally seek this new philosophy4 ,in many respects1 if ,i have rightly understood her1 it was at variance with her pre-conceived opinions1 whether ethical1 religious1 or political4 ,she had been for years a student of ,shakspere1 looking for nothing in his plays beyond what the world has agreed to find in them1 when she began to see1 under the surface1 the gleam of this hidden treasure4 ,it was carefully hidden1 indeed1 yet not less carefully indicated1 as with a pointed finger1 by such marks and references as could not ultimately escape the notice of a subsequent age1 which should be capable of profiting by the rich inheritance4 ,so1 too1 in regard to ,lord ,bacon4 ,the author of this volume had not sought to put any but the ordinary and obvious interpretation upon his works1 nor to take any other view of his character than what accorded with the unanimous judgment upon it of all the generations since his epoch4 ,but1 as she penetrated more and more deeply into the plays1 and became aware of those inner readings1 she found herself compelled to turn back to the ',advancement of ,learning' for information as to their plan and purport2 and ,lord ,bacon's ,treatise failed not to give her what she sought2 thus adding to the immortal dramas1 in her idea1 a far higher value than their warmest admirers had heretofore claimed for them4 ,they filled out the scientific scheme which ,bacon had planned1 and which needed only these profound and vivid illustrations of human life and character to make it perfect4 ,finally1 the author's researches led her to a point where she found the plays claimed for ,lord ,bacon and his associates1--not in a way that was meant to be intelligible in their own perilous times1--but in characters that only became legible1 and illuminated1 as it were1 in the light of a subsequent period4 ,the reader will soon perceive that the new philosophy1 as here demonstrated1 was of a kind that no professor could have ventured openly to teach in the days of ,elizabeth and ,james4 ,the concluding chapter of the present work makes a powerful statement of the position which a man1 conscious of great and noble aims1 would then have occupied2 and shows1 too1 how familiar the age was with all methods of secret communication1 and of hiding thought beneath a masque of conceit or folly4 ,applicably to this subject1 ,i quote a paragraph from a manuscript of the author's1 not intended for present publication3-- ',it was a time when authors1 who treated of a scientific politics and of a scientific ethics internally connected with it1 naturally preferred this more philosophic1 symbolic method of indicating their connection with their writings1 which would limit the indication to those who could pierce within the veil of a philosophic symbolism4 ,it was the time when the cipher1 in which one could write 'omnia per omnia1' was in such request1 and when 'wheel ciphers' and 'doubles' were thought not unworthy of philosophic notice4 ,it was a time1 too1 when the phonographic art was cultivated1 and put to other uses than at present1 and when a 'nom de plume' was required for other purposes than to serve as the refuge of an author's modesty1 or vanity1 or caprice4 ,it was a time when puns1 and charades1 and enigmas1 and anagrams1 and monograms1 and ciphers1 and puzzles1 were not good for sport and child's play merely2 when they had need to be close2 when they had need to be solvable1 at least1 only to those who should solve them4 ,it was a time when all the latent capacities of the ,english language were put in requisition1 and it was flashing and crackling1 through all its lengths and breadths1 with puns and quips1 and conceits1 and jokes1 and satires1 and inlined with philosophic secrets that opened down into the bottom of a tomb--that opened into the ,tower--that opened on the scaffold and the block4' ,i quote1 likewise1 another passage1 because ,i think the reader will see in it the noble earnestness of the author's character1 and may partly imagine the sacrifices which this research has cost her3-- ',the great secret of the ,elizabethan age did not lie where any superficial research could ever have discovered it4 ,it was not left within the range of any accidental disclosure4 ,it did not lie on the surface of any ,elizabethan document4 ,the most diligent explorers of these documents1 in two centuries and a quarter1 had not found it4 ,no faintest suspicion of it had ever crossed the mind of the most recent1 and clear-sighted1 and able investigator of the ,baconian remains4 ,it was buried in the lowest depths of the lowest deeps of the deep ,elizabethan ,art2 that ,art which no plummet1 till now1 has ever sounded4 ,it was locked with its utmost reach of traditionary cunning4 ,it was buried in the inmost recesses of the esoteric ,elizabethan learning4 ,it was tied with a knot that had passed the scrutiny and baffled the sword of an old1 suspicious1 dying1 military government--a knot that none could cut--a knot that must be untied4 ',the great secret of the ,elizabethan ,age was inextricably reserved by the founders of a new learning1 the prophetic and more nobly gifted minds of a new and nobler race of men1 for a research that should test the mind of the discoverer1 and frame and subordinate it to that so sleepless and indomitable purpose of the prophetic aspiration4 ,it was the device by which they undertook to live again in the ages in which their achievements and triumphs were forecast1 and to come forth and rule again1 not in one mind1 not in the few1 not in the many1 but in all4 ,for there is no throne like that throne in the thoughts of men1 which the ambition of these men climbed and compassed4 ',the principal works of the ,elizabethan ,philosophy1 those in which the new method of learning was practically applied to the noblest subjects1 were presented to the world in the form of ,,an ,,enigma4 ,it was a form well fitted to divert inquiry1 and baffle even the research of the scholar for a time2 but one calculated to provoke the philosophic curiosity1 and one which would inevitably command a research that could end only with the true solution4 ,that solution was reserved for one who would recognise1 at last1 in the disguise of the great impersonal teacher1 the disguise of a new learning4 ,it waited for the reader who would observe1 at last1 those thick-strewn scientific clues1 those thick-crowding enigmas1 those perpetual beckonings from the theatre into the judicial palace of the mind4 ,it was reserved for the student who would recognise1 at last1 the mind that was seeking so perseveringly to whisper its tale of outrage1 and the secrets it was forbid4 ,it waited for one who would answer1 at last1 that philosophic challenge1 and say1 ,go on1 ,i'll follow thee6 ,it was reserved for one who would count years as days1 for the love of the truth it hid2 who would never turn back on the long road of initiation1 though all ,,the ,,idols must be left behind in its stages2 who would never stop until it stopped in that new cave of ,apollo1 where the handwriting on the wall spells anew the old ,delphic motto1 and publishes the word that unties the spell4 ,on this object1 which she conceives so loftily1 the author has bestowed the solitary and self-sustained toil of many years4 ,the volume now before the reader1 together with the historical demonstration which it pre-supposes1 is the product of a most faithful and conscientious labour1 and a truly heroic devotion of intellect and heart4 ,no man or woman has ever thought or written more sincerely than the author of this book4 ,she has given nothing less than her life to the work4 ,and1 as if for the greater trial of her constancy1 her theory was divulged1 some time ago1 in so partial and unsatisfactory a manner--with so exceedingly imperfect a statement of its claims--as to put her at great disadvantage before the world4 ,a single article from her pen1 purporting to be the first of a series1 appeared in an ,american ,magazine2 but unexpected obstacles prevented the further publication in that form1 after enough had been done to assail the prejudices of the public1 but far too little to gain its sympathy4 ,another evil followed4 ,an ,english writer 7in a ',letter to the ,earl of ,ellesmere1' published within a few months past7 has thought it not inconsistent with the fair-play1 on which his country prides itself1 to take to himself this lady's theory1 and favour the public with it as his own original conception1 without allusion to the author's prior claim4 ,in reference to this pamphlet1 she generously says3-- ',this has not been a selfish enterprise4 ,it is not a personal concern4 ,it is a discovery which belongs not to an individual1 and not to a people4 ,its fields are wide enough and rich enough for us all2 and he that has no work1 and whoso will1 let him come and labour in them4 ,the field is the world's2 and the world's work henceforth is in it4 ,so that it be known in its real comprehension1 in its true relations to the weal of the world1 what matters it8 ,so that the truth1 which is dearer than all the rest--which abides with us when all others leave us1 dearest then--so that the truth1 which is neither yours nor mine1 but yours and mine1 be known1 loved1 honoured1 emancipated1 mitred1 crowned1 adored--who loses anything1 that does not find it4' ',and what matters it1' says the philosophic wisdom1 speaking in the abstract1 'what name it is proclaimed in1 and what letters of the alphabet we know it by8--what matter is it1 so that they spell the name that is good for ,,all1 and good for each1'--for that is the ,,real name here8 ,speaking on the author's behalf1 however1 ,i am not entitled to imitate her magnanimity2 and1 therefore1 hope that the writer of the pamphlet will disclaim any purpose of assuming to himself1 on the ground of a slight and superficial performance1 the result which she has attained at the cost of many toils and sacrifices4 ,and now1 at length1 after many delays and discouragements1 the work comes forth4 ,it had been the author's original purpose to publish it in ,america2 for she wished her own country to have the glory of solving the enigma of those mighty dramas1 and thus adding a new and higher value to the loftiest productions of the ,english mind4 ,it seemed to her most fit and desirable1 that ,america--having received so much from ,england1 and returned so little--should do what remained to be done towards rendering this great legacy available1 as its authors meant it to be1 to all future time4 ,this purpose was frustrated2 and it will be seen in what spirit she acquiesces4 ',the author was forced to bring it back1 and contribute it to the literature of the country from which it was derived1 and to which it essentially and inseparably belongs4 ,it was written1 every word of it1 on ,english ground1 in the midst of the old familiar scenes and household names1 that even in our nursery songs revive the dear ancestral memories2 those royal pursuivants with which our mother-land still follows and retakes her own4 ,it was written in the land of our old kings and queens1 and in the land of our own ,,philosophers and ,,poets also4 ,it was written on the spot where the works it unlocks were written1 and in the perpetual presence of the ,english mind2 the mind that spoke before in the cultured few1 and that speaks to-day in the cultured many4 ,and it is now at last1 after so long a time--after all1 as it should be--the ,english press that prints it4 ,it is the scientific ,english press1 with those old gags 7wherewith our kings and queens sought to stop it1 ere they knew what it was7 champed asunder1 ground to powder1 and with its last ,elizabethan shackle shaken off1 that restores1 in a better hour1 the torn and garbled science committed to it1 and gives back the bread cast on its sure waters4' ,there remains little more for me to say4 ,i am not the editor of this work2 nor can ,i consider myself fairly entitled to the honor 7which1 if ,i deserved it1 ,i should feel to be a very high as well as a perilous one7 of seeing my name associated with the author's on the title-page4 ,my object has been merely to speak a few words1 which might1 perhaps1 serve the purpose of placing my countrywoman upon a ground of amicable understanding with the public4 ,she has a vast preliminary difficulty to encounter4 ,the first feeling of every reader must be one of absolute repugnance towards a person who seeks to tear out of the ,anglo-,saxon heart the name which for ages it has held dearest1 and to substitute another name1 or names1 to which the settled belief of the world has long assigned a very different position4 ,what ,i claim for this work is1 that the ability employed in its composition has been worthy of its great subject1 and well employed for our intellectual interests1 whatever judgment the public may pass upon the questions discussed4 ,and1 after listening to the author's interpretation of the ,plays1 and seeing how wide a scope she assigns to them1 how high a purpose1 and what richness of inner meaning1 the thoughtful reader will hardly return again--not wholly1 at all events--to the common view of them and of their author4 ,it is for the public to say whether my countrywoman has proved her theory4 ,in the worst event1 if she has failed1 her failure will be more honorable than most people's triumphs2 since it must fling upon the old tombstone1 at ,stratford-on-,avon1 the noblest tributary wreath that has ever lain there4 ,,nathaniel ,,hawthorne4 ,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,the ,,plays ,,of ,,shakspere4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,introduction4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,proposition4 ',one time will owe another4'--,coriolanus4 ,this work is designed to propose to the consideration1 not of the learned world only1 but of all ingenuous and practical minds1 a new development of that system of practical philosophy from which ,,the ,,scientific ,,arts of the ,modern ,ages proceed1 and which has already become1 just to the extent to which it has been hitherto opened1 the wisdom1--the universally approved1 and practically adopted1 ,wisdom of the ,moderns4 ,it is a development of this philosophy1 which was deliberately postponed by the great ,scientific ,discoverers and ,reformers1 in whose ,scientific ,discoveries and ,reformations our organised advancements in speculation and practice have their origin2--,reformers1 whose scientific acquaintance with historic laws forbade the idea of any immediate and sudden cures of the political and social evils which their science searches to the root1 and which it was designed to eradicate4 ,the proposition to be demonstrated in the ensuing pages is this3 ,that the new philosophy which strikes out from the ,court--from the ,court of that despotism that names and gives form to the ,modern ,learning1--which comes to us from the ,court of the last of the ,tudors and the first of the ,stuarts1--that new philosophy which we have received1 and accepted1 and adopted as a practical philosophy1 not merely in that grave department of learning in which it comes to us professionally as philosophy1 but in that not less important department of learning in which it comes to us in the disguise of amusement1--in the form of fable and allegory and parable1--the proposition is1 that this ,elizabethan philosophy is1 in these two forms of it1--not two philosophies1--not two ,elizabethan philosophies1 not two new and wondrous philosophies of nature and practice1 not two new ,inductive philosophies1 but one1--one and the same3 that it is philosophy in both these forms1 with its veil of allegory and parable1 and without it2 that it is philosophy applied to much more important subjects in the disguise of the parable1 than it is in the open statement2 that it is philosophy in both these cases1 and not philosophy in one of them1 and a brutish1 low-lived1 illiterate1 unconscious spontaneity in the other4 ,the proposition is that it proceeds1 in both cases1 from a reflective deliberative1 eminently deliberative1 eminently conscious1 designing mind2 and that the coincidence which is manifest not in the design only1 and in the structure1 but in the detail to the minutest points of execution1 is not accidental4 ,it is a proposition which is demonstrated in this volume by means of evidence derived principally from the books of this philosophy--books in which the safe delivery and tradition of it to the future was artistically contrived and triumphantly achieved3--the books of a new 'school' in philosophy2 books in which the connection with the school is not always openly asserted2 books in which the true names of the authors are not always found on the title-page2--the books of a school1 too1 which was compelled to have recourse to translations in some cases1 for the safe delivery and tradition of its new learning4 ,the facts which lie on the surface of this question1 which are involved in the bare statement of it1 are sufficient of themselves to justify and command this inquiry4 ,the fact that these two great branches of the philosophy of observation and practice1 both already virtually recognised as that1--the one openly1 subordinating the physical forces of nature to the wants of man1 changing the face of the earth under our eyes1 leaving behind it1 with its new magic1 the miracles of ,oriental dreams and fables2--the other1 under its veil of wildness and spontaneity1 under its thick-woven veil of mirth and beauty1 with its inducted precepts and dispersed directions1 insinuating itself into all our practice1 winding itself into every department of human affairs2 speaking from the legislator's lips1 at the bar1 from the pulpit1--putting in its word every where1 always at hand1 always sufficient1 constituting itself1 in virtue of its own irresistible claims and in the face of what we are told of it1 the oracle1 the great practical1 mysterious1 but universally acknowledged1 oracle of our modern life2 the fact that these two great branches of the modern philosophy make their appearance in history at the same moment1 that they make their appearance in the same company of men--in that same little courtly company of ,elizabethan ,wits and ,men of ,letters that the revival of the ancient learning brought out here--this is the fact that strikes the eye at the first glance at this inquiry4 ,but that this is none other than that same little clique of disappointed and defeated politicians who undertook to head and organize a popular opposition against the government1 and were compelled to retreat from that enterprise1 the best of of them effecting their retreat with some difficulty1 others failing entirely to accomplish it1 is the next notable fact which the surface of the inquiry exhibits4 ,that these two so illustrious branches of the modern learning were produced for the ostensible purpose of illustrating and adorning the tyrannies which the men1 under whose countenance and protection they are produced1 were vainly attempting1 or had vainly attempted to set bounds to or overthrow1 is a fact which might seem of itself to suggest inquiry4 ,when insurrections are suppressed1 when 'the monstrous enterprises of rebellious subjects are overthrown1 then ,,fame1 who is the posthumous sister of the giants1--the sister of defeated giants springs up'2 so a man who had made some political experiments himself that were not very successful1 tells us4 ,the fact that the men under whose patronage and in whose service ',will the ,jester' first showed himself1 were men who were secretly endeavouring to make political capital of that new and immense motive power1 that not yet available1 and not very easily organised political power which was already beginning to move the masses here then1 and already threatening1 to the observant eye1 with its portentous movement1 the foundations of tyranny1 the fact1 too1 that these men were understood to have made use of the stage unsuccessfully as a means of immediate political effect1 are facts which lie on the surface of the history of these works1 and unimportant as it may seem to the superficial enquirer1 it will be found to be anything but irrelevant as this inquiry proceeds4 ,the man who is said to have contributed a thousand pounds towards the purchase of the theatre and wardrobe and machinery1 in which these philosophical plays were first exhibited1 was obliged to stay away from the first appearance of ,hamlet1 in the perfected excellence of the poetic philosophic design1 in consequence of being immured in the ,tower at that time for an attempt to overthrow the government4 ,this was the ostensible patron and friend of the ,poet2 the partner of his treason was the ostensible friend and patron of the ,philosopher4 ,so nearly did these philosophic minds1 that were 'not for an age but for all time1' approach each other in this point4 ,but the protg and friend and well-nigh adoring admirer of the ,poet1 was also the protg and friend and well-nigh adoring admirer of the ,philosopher4 ,the fact that these two philosophies1 in this so close juxta-position1 always in contact1 playing always into each other's hands1 never once heard of each other1 know nothing of each other1 is a fact which would seem at the first blush to point to the secret of these ',know-,nothings1' who are men of science in an age of popular ignorance1 and therefore have a 'secret'2 who are men of science in an age in which the questions of science are 'forbidden questions1' and are therefore of necessity ',know-,nothings4' ,as to ,ben ,jonson1 and the evidence of his avowed admiration for the author of these plays1 from the point of view here taken1 it is sufficient to say in passing1 that this man1 whose natural abilities sufficed to raise him from a position hardly less mean and obscure than that of his great rival1 was so fortunate as to attract the attention of some of the most illustrious personages of that time2 men whose observation of natures was quickened by their necessities2 men who were compelled to employ 'living instruments' in the accomplishment of their designs2 who were skilful in detecting the qualities they had need of1 and skilful in adapting means to ends4 ,this dramatist's connection with the stage of course belongs to this history4 ,his connection with the author of these ,plays1 and with the player himself1 are points not to be overlooked4 ,but the literary history of this age is not yet fully developed4 ,it is enough to say here1 that he chanced to be honored with the patronage of three of the most illustrious personages of the age in which he lived4 ,he had three patrons4 ,one was ,sir ,walter ,raleigh1 in whose service he was2 one was the ,lord ,bacon1 whose well nigh idolatrous admirer he appears also to have been2 the other was ,shakspere1 to whose favor he appears to have owed so much4 ,with his passionate admiration of these last two1 stopping only 'this side of idolatry' in his admiration for them both1 and being under such deep personal obligations to them both1 why could he not have mentioned some day to the author of the ,advancement of ,learning1 the author of ,hamlet--,hamlet who also 'lacked advancement8' ,what more natural than to suppose that these two philosophers1 these men of a learning so exactly equal1 might have some sympathy with each other1 might like to meet each other4 ,till he has answered that question1 any evidence which he may have to produce in apparent opposition to the conclusions here stated will not be of the least value4 ,these are questions which any one might properly ask1 who had only glanced at the most superficial or easily accessible facts in this case1 and without any evidence from any other source to stimulate the inquiry4 ,these are facts which lie on the surface of this history1 which obtrude themselves on our notice1 and demand inquiry4 ,that which lies immediately below this surface1 accessible to any research worthy of the name is1 that these two so new extraordinary developments of the modern philosophy which come to us without any superficially avowed connexion1 which come to us as branches of learning merely1 do in fact meet and unite in one stem1 'which has a quality of entireness and continuance throughout1' even to the most delicate fibre of them both1 even to the 'roots' of their trunk1 'and the strings of those roots1' which trunk lies below the surface of that age1 buried1 carefully buried1 for reasons assigned2 and that it is the sap of this concealed trunk1 this new trunk of sciences1 which makes both these branches so vigorous1 which makes the flowers and the fruit both so fine1 and so unlike anything that we have had from any other source in the way of literature or art4 ,the question of the authorship of the great philosophic poems which are the legacy of the ,elizabethan ,age to us1 is an incidental question in this inquiry1 and is incidentally treated here4 ,the discovery of the authorship of these works was the necessary incident to that more thorough inquiry into their nature and design1 of which the views contained in this volume are the result4 ,at a certain stage of this inquiry1--in the later stages of it1--that discovery became inevitable4 ,the primary question here is one of universal immediate practical concern and interest4 ,the solution of this literary problem1 happens to be involved in it4 ,it was the necessary prescribed1 pre-ordered incident of the reproduction and reintegration of the ,inductive ,philosophy in its application to its 'principal' and 'noblest subjects1' its 'more chosen subjects4' ,the ,,historical ,,key to the ,elizabethan ,art of ,tradition1 which formed the first book of this work as it was originally prepared for the press1 is not included in the present publication4 ,it was the part of the work first written1 and the results of more recent research require to be incorporated in it1 in order that it should represent adequately1 in that particular aspect of it1 the historical discovery which it is the object of this work to produce4 ,moreover1 the demonstration which is contained in this volume appeared to constitute properly a volume of itself4 ,those who examine the subject from this ground1 will find the external collateral evidence1 the ample historical confirmation which is at hand1 not necessary for the support of the propositions advanced here1 though it will1 of course1 be inquired for1 when once this ground is made4 ,the embarrassing circumstances under which this great system of scientific practice makes its appearance in history1 have not yet been taken into the account in our interpretation of it4 ,we have already the documents which contain the theory and rule of the modern civilisation1 which is the civilisation of science in our hands4 ,we have in our hands also1 newly lit1 newly trimmed1 lustrous with the genius of our own time1 that very lamp with which we are instructed to make this inquiry1 that very light which we are told we must bring to bear upon the obscurities of these documents1 that very light in which we are told1 we must unroll them2 for they come to us1 as the interpreter takes pains to tell us1 with an 'infolded' science in them4 ,that light of 'times1' that knowledge of the conditions under which these works were published1 which is essential to the true interpretation of them1 thanks to our contemporary historians1 is already in our hands4 ,what we need now is to explore the secrets of this philosophy with it1--necessarily secrets at the time it was issued--what we need now is to open these books of a new learning in it1 and read them by it4 ,in that part of the work above referred to1 from which some extracts are subjoined for the purpose of introducing intelligibly the demonstration contained in this volume1 it was the position of the ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters that was exhibited1 and the conditions which prescribed to the founders of a new school in philosophy1 which was none other than the philosophy of practice1 the form of their works and the concealment of their connection with them--conditions which made the secret of an ,association of ',naturalists' applying science in that age to the noblest subjects of speculative inquiry1 and to the highest departments of practice1 a life and death secret4 ,the physical impossibility of publishing at that time1 anything openly relating to the questions in which the weal of men is most concerned1 and which are the primary questions of the science of man's relief1 the opposition which stood at that time prepared to crush any enterprise proposing openly for its end1 the common interests of man as man1 is the point which it was the object of that part of the work to exhibit4 ,it was presented1 not in the form of general statement merely1 but in those memorable particulars which the falsified1 suppressed1 garbled history of the great founder of this school betrays to us2 not as it is exhibited in contemporary documents merely1 but as it is carefully collected from these1 and from the traditions of 'the next ages4' ,that the suppressed ,elizabethan ,reformers and ,innovators were men so far in advance of their time1 that they were compelled to have recourse to literature for the purpose of instituting a gradual encroachment on popular opinions1 a gradual encroachment on the prejudices1 the ignorance1 the stupidity of the oppressed and suffering masses of the human kind1 and for the purpose of making over the practical development of the higher parts of their science1 to ages in which the advancements they instituted had brought the common mind within hearing of these higher truths2 that these were men whose aims were so opposed to the power that was still predominant then1--though the 'wrestling' that would shake that predominance1 was already on foot1--that it became necessary for them to conceal their lives as well as their works1--to veil the true worth and nobility of them1 to suffer those ends which they sought as means1 means which they subordinated to the noblest uses1 to be regarded in their own age as their ends2 that they were compelled to play this great game in secret1 in their own time1 referring themselves to posthumous effects for the explanation of their designs2 postponing their honour to ages able to discover their worth2 this is the proposition which is derived here from the works in which the tradition of this learning is conveyed to us4 ,but in the part of this work referred to1 from which the ensuing extracts are made1 it was the life1 and not merely the writings of the founders of this school which was produced in evidence of this claim4 ,it was the life in which these disguised ulterior aims show themselves from the first on the historic surface1 in the form of great contemporaneous events1 events which have determined and shaped the course of the world's history since then2 it was the life in which these intents show themselves too boldly on the surface1 in which they penetrate the artistic disguise1 and betray themselves to the antagonisms which were waiting to crush them2 it was the life which combined these antagonisms for its suppression2 it was the life and death of the projector and founder of the liberties of the ,new ,world1 and the obnoxious historian and critic of the tyrannies of the ,old1 it was the life and death of ,sir ,walter ,raleigh that was produced as the ,historical ,key to the ,elizabethan ,art of ,tradition4 ,it was the ,man of the ,globe ,theatre1 it was the ,man in the ,tower with his two ,hemispheres1 it was the modern ',hercules and his load too1' that made in the original design of it1 the ,frontispiece of this volume4 ',but stay ,i see thee in the hemisphere ,advanced and made a constellation there4 ,shine forth1 thou ,star of ,poets1 and with rage ,or influence1 chide or cheer the drooping stage1 ,which since thy flight from hence hath mourned like night1 ,and despairs day1 but for thy ,volume's light4 ',to draw no envy ,shake-spear on thy name1 ,am ,i thus ample to thy book and fame4'--,,ben ,,jonson4 ,the machinery that was necessarily put in operation for the purpose of conducting successfully1 under those conditions1 any honourable or decent enterprise1 presupposes a forethought and skill1 a faculty for dramatic arrangement and successful plotting in historic materials1 happily so remote from anything which the exigencies of our time have ever suggested to us1 that we are not in a position to read at a glance the history of such an age2 the history which lies on the surface of such an age when such men--men who are men--are at work in it4 ,these are the ,elizabethan men that we have to interpret here1 because1 though they rest from their labours1 their works do follow them--the ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters2 and we must know what that title means before we can read them or their works1 before we can 'untie their spell4' ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,elizabeth1 ,,and ,,the ,,elizabethan ,,men ,,of ,,letters4 ',the times1 in many cases1 give great light to true interpretations4' ,advancement of ,learning4 ',on fair ground ,i could beat forty of them4' ',i could myself ,take up a brace of the best of them1 yea the two tribunes4' ',but now 'tis odds beyond arithmetic1 ,and manhood is called foolery when it stands ,against a falling fabric4'--,coriolanus4 ,the fact that the immemorial liberties of the ,english ,,people1 and that idea of human government and society which they brought with them to this island1 had been a second time violently overborne and suppressed by a military chieftainship1--one for which the unorganised popular resistance was no match1--that the ,english ,people had been a second time 'conquered'--for that is the word which the ,elizabethan historian suggests--less than a hundred years before the beginning of the ,elizabethan ,age1 is a fact in history which the great ,elizabethan philosopher has contrived to send down to us1 along with his philosophical works1 as the key to the reading of them4 ,it is a fact with which we are all now more or less familiar1 but it is one which the ,elizabethan ,poet and ,philosopher became acquainted with under circumstances calculated to make a much more vivid impression on the sensibilities than the most accurate and vivacious narratives and expositions of it which our time can furnish us4 ,that this second conquest was unspeakably more degrading than the first had been1 inasmuch as it was the conquest of a chartered1 constitutional liberty1 recovered and established in acts that had made the ,english history1 recovered on battle-fields that were fresh1 not in oral tradition only2 inasmuch as it was effected in violation of that which made the name of ,englishmen1 that which made the universally recognised principle of the national life2 inasmuch1 too1 as it was an undivided conquest1 the conquest of the single will--the will of the 'one only man'--not unchecked of commons only1 unchecked by barons1 unchecked by the church1 unchecked by council of any kind1 the pure arbitrary absolute will1 the pure idiosyncrasy1 the crowned demon of the lawless1 irrational will1 unchained and armed with the sword of the common might1 and clothed with the divinity of the common right2 that this was a conquest unspeakably more debasing than the conquest 'commonly so called1'--this1 which left no nobility1--which clasped its collar in open day on the proudest ,norman neck1 and not on the ,saxon only1 which left only one nation of slaves and bondmen--that this was a subjugation--that this was a government which the ,english nation had not before been familiar with1 the men whose great life-acts were performed under it did not lack the sensibility and the judgment to perceive4 ,a more hopeless conquest than the ,norman conquest had been1 it might also have seemed1 regarded in some of the aspects which it presented to the eye of the statesman then2 for it was in the division of the former that the element of freedom stole in1 it was in the parliaments of that division that the limitation of the feudal monarchy had begun4 ,but still more fatal was the aspect of it which its effects on the national character were continually obtruding then on the observant eye1--that debasing1 deteriorating1 demoralising effect which such a government must needs exert on such a nation1 a nation of ,englishmen1 a nation with such memories4 ,the ,poet who writes under this government1 with an appreciation of the subject quite as lively as that of any more recent historian1 speaks of 'the face of men' as a 'motive'--a motive power1 a revolutionary force1 which ought to be sufficient of itself to raise1 if need be1 an armed opposition to such a government1 and sustain it1 too1 without the compulsion of an oath to reinforce it2 at least1 this is one of the three motives which he produces in his conspiracy as motives that ought to suffice to supply the power wanting to effect a change in such a government4 ',if not the face of men1 ,the sufferance of our souls1 the time's abuse1-- ,if these be motives weak1 break of betimes4' ,there is no use in attempting a change where such motives are weak4 ',break off betimes1 ,and every man hence to his idle bed4' ,that this political degradation1 and its deteriorating and corrupting influence on the national character1 was that which presented itself to the politician's eye at that time as the most fatal aspect of the question1 or as the thing most to be deprecated in the continuance of such a state of things1 no one who studies carefully the best writings of that time can doubt4 ,and it must be confessed1 that this is an influence which shows itself very palpably1 not in the degrading hourly detail only of which the noble mind is1 in such circumstances1 the suffering witness1 and the secretly protesting suffering participator1 but in those large events which make the historic record4 ,the ,england of the ,plantagenets1 that sturdy ,england which ,henry the ,seventh had to conquer1 and not its pertinacious choice of colours only1 not its fixed determination to have the choosing of the colour of its own ',roses' merely1 but its inveterate idea of the sanctity of 'law' permeating all the masses--that was a very different ,england from the ,england which ,henry the ,seventh willed to his children2 it was a very different ,england1 at least1 from the ,england which ,henry the ,eighth willed to his4 ,that some sparks of the old fire were not wanting1 however1--that the nation which had kept alive in the common mind through so many generations1 without the aid of books1 the memory of that 'ancestor' that 'made its laws1' was not after all1 perhaps1 without a future--began to be evident about the time that the history of 'that last king of ,england who was the ancestor' of the ,english ,stuart1 was dedicated by the author of the ,novum ,organum to the ,prince of ,wales1 afterwards ,charles ,i41 not without a glance at these portents4 ,circumstances tending to throw doubt upon the durability of this institution--circumstances which seemed to portend that this monstrous innovation was destined on the whole to be a much shorter-lived one than the usurpation it had displaced--had not been wanting1 indeed1 from the first1 in spite of those discouraging aspects of the question which were more immediately urged upon the contemporary observer4 ,it was in the eleventh century2 it was in the middle of the ,dark ,ages1 that the ,norman and his followers effected their successful landing and lodgement here2 it was in the later years of the fifteenth century1--it was when the bell that tolled through ,europe for a century and a half the closing hour of the ,middle ,ages1 had already begun its peals1 that the ,tudor 'came in by battle4' ,that magnificent chain of events which begins in the middle of the fifteenth century to rear the dividing line between the ,middle ,ages and the ,modern1 had been slow in reaching ,england with its convulsions3 it had originated on the continent4 ,the great work of the restoration of the learning of antiquity had been accomplished there3 ,italy1 ,germany1 and ,france had taken the lead in it by turns2 ,spain had contributed to it4 ,the scientific discoveries which the genius of ,modern ,europe had already effected under that stimulus1 without waiting for the ,new ,organum1 had all originated on the continent4 ,the criticism on the institutions which the decaying ,roman ,empire had given to its ,northern conquerors1--that criticism which necessarily accompanied the revival of learning began there4 ,not yet recovered from the disastrous wars of the fifteenth century1 suffering from the diabolical tyranny that had overtaken her at that fatal crisis1 ,england could make but a feeble response as yet to these movements4 ,they had been going on for a century before the influence of them began to be visible here4 ,but they were at work here1 notwithstanding3 they were germinating and taking root here1 in that frozen winter of a nation's discontent2 and when they did begin to show themselves on the historic surface1--here in this ancient soil of freedom1--in this natural retreat of it1 from the extending1 absorbing1 consolidating feudal tyrannies1--here in this 'little world by itself'--this nursery of the genius of the ,north--with its chief races1 with its union of races1 its 'happy breed of men1' as our ,poet has it1 who notes all these points1 and defines its position1 regarding it1 not with a narrow ,english partiality1 but looking at it on his ,map of the ,world1 which he always carries with him1--looking at it from his ',globe1' which has the ,old ,world and the ,new on it1 and the ,past and the ,future1--'a precious stone set in the silver sea1' he calls it1 'in a great pool1 a swan's nest'3--when that seed of all ages did at last show itself above the ground here1 here in this nursery of hope for man1 it would be with quite another kind of fruit on its boughs1 from any that the continent had been able to mature from it4 ,it was in the later years of the sixteenth century1 in the latter half of the reign of ,elizabeth1 that the ,printing press1 and the revived ,learning of ,antiquity1 and the ,reformation1 and the discovery of ,america1 the new revival of the genius of the ,north in art and literature1 and the ,scientific ,discoveries which accompanied this movement on the continent1 began to combine their effects here2 and it was about that time that the political horizon began to exhibit to the statesman's eye1 those portents which both the poet and the philosopher of that time1 have described with so much iteration and amplitude4 ,these new social elements did not appear to promise in their combination here1 stability to the institutions which ,henry the ,seventh1 and ,henry the ,eighth had established in this island4 ,the genius of ,elizabeth conspired with the anomaly of her position to make her the steadfast patron and promoter of these movements1--worthy grand-daughter of ,henry the seventh as she was1 and opposed on principle1 as she was1 to the ultimatum to which they were visibly and stedfastly tending2 but1 at the same time1 her sagacity and prudence enabled her to ward off the immediate result4 ,she secured her throne1--she was able to maintain1 in the rocking of those movements1 her own political and spiritual supremacy1--she made gain and capital for absolutism out of them1--the inevitable reformation she herself assumed1 and set bounds to3 whatever new freedom there was1 was still the freedom of her will2 she could even secure the throne of her successor3 it was mischief for ,charles ,i4 that she was nursing4 ,the consequence of all this was--the ,age of ,elisabeth4 ,that was what this ,queen meant it should be literally1 and that was what it was apparently4 ,but it so happened1 that her will and humours on some great questions jumped with the time1 and her dire necessities compelled her to lead the nation on its own track2 or else it would have been too late1 perhaps1 for that exhibition of the monarchical institution1--that revival of the heroic1 and ante-heroic ages1 which her reign exhibits1 to come off here as it did at that time4 ,it is this that makes the point in this literary history4 ,this is the key that unlocks the secret of the ,elizabethan ,art of ,delivery and ,tradition4 ,without any material resources to sustain it--strong in the national sentiments1--strong in the moral forces with which the past controls the present1--strong in that natural abhorrence of change with which nature protects her larger growths1--that principle which tyranny can test so long with impunity--which it can test with impunity1 till it forgets that this also has in nature its limits1--strong in the absence of any combination of opposition1 to the young awakening ,england of that age1 that now hollow image of the past1 that phantom of the military force that had been1 which seemed to be waiting only the first breath of the popular will to dissolve it1 was as yet an armed and terrific reality2 its iron was on every neck1 its fetter was on every step1 and all the new forces1 and world-grasping aims and aspirations which that age was generating were held down and cramped1 and tortured in its chains1 dashing their eagle wings in vain against its iron limits4 ,as yet all ,england cowered and crouched1 in blind servility1 at the foot of that terrible1 but unrecognised embodiment of its own power1 armed out of its own armoury1 with the weapons that were turned against it4 ,so long as any yet extant national sentiment1 or prejudice1 was not yet directly assailed--so long as that arbitrary power was yet wise1 or fortunate enough to withhold the blow which should make the individual sense of outrage1 or the feeling of a class the common one--so long as those peaceful1 social elements1 yet waited the spark that was wanting to unite them--so long 'the laws of ,england' might be1 indeed1 at a ,falstaff's or a ,nym's or a ,bardolph's 'commandment1' for the ,poet has but put into 'honest ,jack's' mouth1 a boast that worse men than he1 made good in his time--so long1 the faith1 the lives1 the liberties1 the dearest earthly hopes1 of ,england's proudest subjects1 her noblest1 her bravest1 her best1 her most learned1 her most accomplished1 her most inspired1 might be at the mercy of a woman's caprices1 or the sport of a fool's sheer will and obstinacy1 or conditioned on some low-lived 'favorites' whims4 ,so long3 ,and how long was that8--who does not know how long it was8--that was long enough for the whole ,elizabethan ,age to happen in4 ,in the reign of ,elizabeth1 and in the reign of her successor1 and longer still1 that was the condition of it--till its last act was finished--till its last word was spoken and penned--till its last mute sign was made--till all its celestial inspiration had returned to the ,god who gave it--till all its ,promethean clay was cold again4 ,this was the combination of conditions of which the ,elizabethan ,literature was the result4 ,the ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters1 the organisers and chiefs of the modern civilization were the result of it4 ,these were men in whom the genius of the ,north in its happiest union of developments1 under its choicest and most favourable conditions of culture1 in its yet fresh1 untamed1 unbroken1 northern vigour1 was at last subjected to the stimulus and provocation which the ancient learning brings with it to the northern mind--to the now unimaginable stimulus which1 the revival of the ancient art and learning brought with it to the mind of ,europe in that age1--already secure1 in its own indigenous development1 already advancing to its own great maturity under the scholastic culture--the meagre ,scholastic1 and the rich ,romantic culture--of the ,mediaeval ,era4 ,the ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters are men who found in those new and dazzling stores of art and literature which the movements of their age brought in all their freshly restored perfection to them1 only the summons to their own slumbering intellectual activities1--fed with fires that old ,eastern and ,southern civilizations never knew1 nurtured in the depths of a nature whose depths the northern antiquity had made2 they were men who found in the learning of the ,south and the ,east--in the art and speculation that had satisfied the classic antiquity--only the definition of their own nobler want4 ,the first result of the revival of the ancient learning in this island was1 a report of its 'defects4' ,the first result of that revival here was a map--a universal map of the learning and the arts which the conditions of man's life require--a new map or globe of learning on which lands and worlds1 undreamed of by the ancients1 are traced4 ',a map or globe' on which 'the principal and supreme sciences1' the sciences that are essential to the human kind1 are put down among 'the parts that lie fresh and waste1 and not converted by the industry of man4' ,the first result of the revival of learning here was 'a plot' for the supply of these deficiencies4 ,the ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters were men1 in whom the revival of 'the ,wisdom of the ,ancients1' which in its last results1 in its most select and boasted conservations had combined in vain to save antiquity1 found the genius of a happier race1 able to point out at a glance the defect in it2 men who saw with a glance at those old books what was the matter with them2 men prepared already to overlook from the new height of criticism which this sturdy insular development of the practical genius of the ,north created1 the remains of that lost civilization--the splendours rescued from the wreck of empires1--the wisdom which had failed so fatally in practice that it must needs cross from a lost world of learning to the barbarian's new one1 to find pupils--that it must needs cross the gulf of a thousand years in learning--such work had it made of it--ere it could revive1--the wisdom rescued from the wreck it had piloted to ruin1 not to enslave1 and ensnare1 and doom new ages1 and better races1 with its futilities1 but to be hung up with its immortal beacon-light1 to shew the track of a new learning1 to shew to the contrivers of the chart of new ages1 the breakers of that old ignorance1 that old arrogant wordy barren speculation4 ,for these men were men who would not fish up the chart of a drowned world for the purpose of seeing how nearly they could conduct another under different conditions of time and races to the same conclusion4 ,and they were men of a different turn of mind entirely from those who lay themselves out on enterprises having that tendency4 ,the result of this ,english survey of learning was the sanctioned and organised determination of the modern speculation to those new fields which it has already occupied1 and its organised1 but secret determination1 to that end of a true learning which the need of man1 in its whole comprehension in this theory of it1 constitutes4 ,but the men with whom this proceeding originates1 the ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters1 were1 in their own time1 'the ,few4' ,they were the chosen men1 not of an age only1 but of a race1 'the noblest that ever lived in the tide of times2' men enriched with the choicest culture of their age1 when that culture involved not the acquisition of the learning of the ancients only1 but the most intimate acquaintance with all those recent and contemporaneous developments with which its restoration on the ,continent had been attended4 ,was it strange that these men should find themselves without sympathy in an age like that8--an age in which the masses were still unlettered1 callous with wrongs1 manacled with blind traditions1 or swaying hither and thither1 with the breath of a common prejudice or passion1 or swayed hither and thither by the changeful humours and passions1 or the conflicting dogmas and conceits of their rulers4 ,that is the reason why the development of that age comes to us as a ,literature4 ,that is why it is on the surface of it ,elizabethan4 ,that is the reason why the leadership of the modern ages1 when it was already here in the persons of its chief interpreters and prophets1 could get as yet no recognition of its right to teach and rule--could get as yet nothing but paper to print itself on1 nothing but a pen to hew its way with1 nor that1 without death and danger dogging it at the heels1 and threatening it1 at every turn1 so that it could only wave1 in mute gesticulation1 its signals to the future4 ,it had to affect1 in that time1 bookishness and wiry scholasticism4 ,it had to put on sedulously the harmless old monkish gown1 or the jester's cap and bells1 or any kind of a tatterdemalion robe that would hide1 from head to heel1 the waving of its purple4 ',motley's the only wear1' whispers the philosopher1 peering through his privileged garb for a moment4 ,king ,charles ,,ii4 had not more to do in reserving himself in an evil time1 and getting safely over to the year of his dominion4 ,letters were the only ships that could pass those seas4 ,but it makes a new style in literature1 when such men as these1 excluded from their natural sphere of activity1 get driven into books1 cornered into paragraphs1 and compelled to unpack their hearts in letters4 ,there is a new tone to the words spoken under such compression4 ,it is a tone that the school and the cloister never rang with1--it is one that the fancy dealers in letters are not able to deal in4 ,they are such words as ,caesar speaks1 when he puts his legions in battle array1--they are such words as were heard at ,salamis one morning1 when the breeze began to stiffen in the bay2 and though they be many1 never so many1 and though they be musical1 as is ,apollo's lute1 that ,lacedemonian ring is in each one of them4 ,there is great business to be done in them1 and their haste looks through their eyes4 ,in the sighing of the lover1 in the jest of the fool1 in the raving of the madman1 and not in ,horatio's philosophy only1 you hear it4 ,the founders of the new science of nature and practice were men unspeakably too far above and beyond their time1 to take its bone and muscle with them4 ,there was no language in which their doctrines could have been openly conveyed to an ,english public at that time without fatal misconception4 ,the truth1 which was to them arrayed with the force of a universal obligation1--the truth1 which was to them religion1 would have been1 of course1 in an age in which a single1 narrow-minded1 prejudiced ,englishwoman's opinions were accepted as the ultimate rule of faith and practice1 'flat atheism4' ,what was with them loyalty to the supremacy of reason and conscience1 would have been in their time madness and rebellion1 and the majority would have started at it in amazement2 and all men would have joined hands1 in the name of truth and justice1 to suppress it4 ,the only thing that could be done in such circumstances was1 to translate their doctrine into the language of their time4 ,they must take the current terms--the vague popular terms--as they found them1 and restrict and enlarge them1 and inform them with their new meanings1 with a hint to 'men of understanding' as to the sense in which they use them4 ,that is the key to the language in which their books for the future were written4 ,but who supposes that these men were so wholly super-human1 so devoid of mortal affections and passions1 so made up of 'dry light1' that they could retreat1 with all those regal faculties1 from the natural sphere of their activity to the scholar's cell1 to make themselves over in books to a future in which their mortal natures could have no share1--a future which could not begin till all the breathers of their world were dead8 ,who supposes that the 'staff' of ,prospero was the first choice of these chiefs8--these 'heads of the ,state1' appointed of nature to the ,cure of the ,common-,weal4 ,the leading minds of that age are not minds which owed their intellectual superiority to a disproportionate development of certain intellectual tendencies1 or to a dwarfed or inferior endowment of those natural affections and personal qualifications which tend to limit men to the sphere of their particular sensuous existence4 ,the mind of this school is the representative mind1 and all men recognise it as that1 because1 in its products1 that nature which is in all men1 which philosophy had1 till then1 scorned to recognise1 which the abstractionists had missed in their abstractions1--that nature of will1 and sense1 and passion1 and inanity1 is brought out in its true historical proportions1 not as it exists in books1 not as it exists in speech1 but as it exists in the actual human life4 ,it is the mind in which this historical principle1 this motivity which is not reason1 is brought in contact with the opposing and controlling element as it had not been before4 ,in all its earth-born ,titanic strength and fulness1 it is dragged up from its secret lurking-places1 and confronted with its celestial antagonist4 ,in all its self-contradiction and cowering unreason1 it is set face to face with its celestial umpire1 and subjected to her unrelenting criticism4 ,there are depths in this microcosm which this torch only has entered1 silences which this speaker only has broken1 cries which he only knows how to articulate4 ',the soundest disclosing and expounding of men is by their natures and ends1' so the one who is best qualified to give us information on this question tells us1--by their natures and ends2 'the weaker sort by their natures1 and the wisest by their ends'2 and 'the distance' of this wisest sort 'from the ends to which they aspire1' is that 'from which one may take measure and scale of the rest of their actions and desires4' ,the first end which these ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters grasped at1 the thing which they pursued with all the intensity and concentration of a master passion1 was--power1 political power4 ,they wanted to rule their own time1 and not the future only4 ',you are hurt1 because you do not reign1' is the inuendo which they permit us to apply to them as the key to their proceedings4 ',such men as this are never at heart's ease1' ,caesar remarks in confidence to a friend1 'whiles they behold a greater than themselves4' ',come on my right hand1 for this ear is deaf1' he adds1 'and tell me truly what thou think'st of him4' ,these are the kind of men that seek instinctively 'predominance1' not in a clique or neighbourhood only1--they are not content with a domestic reflection of their image1 they seek to stamp it on the state and on the world4 ,these ,elizabethan ,men of ,letters were men who sought from the first1 with inveterate determination1 to rule their own time1 and they never gave up that point entirely4 ,in one way or another1 directly or indirectly1 they were determined to make their influence felt in that age1 in spite of the want of encouragement which the conditions of that time offered to such an enterprise4 ,but they sought that end not instinctively only1 but with the stedfastness of a rational1 scientifically enlightened purpose4 ,it was an enterprise in which the intense motivity of that new and so 'conspicuous' development of the particular and private nature1 which lies at the root of such a genius1 was sustained by the determination of that not less superior development of the nobler nature in man1 by the motivity of the intellect1 by the sentiment which waits on that1 by the motive of 'the larger whole1' which is1 in this science of it1 'the worthier4' ,we do not need to apply the key of times to those indirectly historical remains in which the real history1 the life and soul of a time1 is always best found1 and in which the history of such a time1 if written at all1 must necessarily be inclosed2 we do not need to unlock these works to perceive the indications of suppressed movements in that age1 in which the most illustrious men of the age were primarily concerned1 the history of which has not yet fully transpired4 ,we do not need to find the key to the cipher in which the history of that time is written1 to perceive that there was to have been a change in the government here at one time1 very different from the one which afterwards occurred1 if the original plans of these men had succeeded4 ,it is not the ,plays only that are full of that frustrated enterprise4 ,these were the kind of men who are not easily baffled4 ,they changed their tactics1 but not their ends2 and the enterprises which were conducted with so much secresy under the surveillance of the ,tudor1 began already to crown themselves as certainties1 and compare their 'olives of endless age' with the spent tombs of brass' and 'tyrant's crests1' at that sure prospect which1 a change of dynasties at that moment seemed to open1--at least1 to men who were in a position then to estimate its consequences4 ,that this1 at all events1 was a state of things that was not going to endure1 became palpable about that time to the philosophic mind4 ,the transition from the rule of a sovereign who was mistress of 'the situation1' who understood that it was a popular power which she was wielding--the transition from the rule of a ,queen instructed in the policy of a tyranny1 inducted by nature into its arts1 to the policy of that monarch who had succeeded to her throne1 and whose ',,crest' began to be reared here then in the face of the insulted reviving ,english nationality1--this transition appeared upon the whole1 upon calmer reflection1 at least to the more patient minds of that age1 all that could reasonably at that time be asked for4 ,no better instrument for stimulating and strengthening the growing popular sentiment1 and rousing the latent spirit of the nation1 could have been desired by the ,elizabethan politicians at that crisis1 'for the great labour was with the people'--that uninstructed power1 which makes the sure basis of tyrannies--that power which ,mark ,antony takes with him so easily--the ignorant1 tyrannical1 humour-led masses--the masses that still roar their ,elizabethan stupidities from the immortal groups of ,coriolanus and ,julius ,caesar4 ,we ourselves have not yet overtaken the chief minds of this age2 and the gulf that separated them from those overpowering numbers in their own time1 to whose edicts they were compelled to pay an external submission1 was broad indeed4 ,the difficulty of establishing an understanding with this power was the difficulty4 ,they wanted that 'pulpit' from which ,brutus and ,mark ,antony swayed it by turns so easily--that pulpit from which ,mark ,antony showed it ,caesar's mantle4 ,they wanted some organ of communication with these so potent and resistless rulers--some 'chair' from which they could repeat to them in their own tongue the story of their lost institutions1 and revive in them the memory of 'the kings their ancestors'--some school in which they could collect them and instruct them in the scientific doctrine of the commons1 the doctrine of the common-weal and its divine supremacy4 ,they wanted a school in which they could tell them stories--stories of various kinds--such stories as they loved best to hear--,midsummer stories1 or ,winter's tales1 and stories of their own battle-fields--they wanted a school in which they could teach the common people ,history 7and not ,english history only71 with illustrations1 large as life1 and a magic lantern to aid them1--'visible history4' ,but to wait till these slow methods had taken effect1 would be1 perhaps1 to wait1 not merely till their estate in the earth was done1 but till the mischief they wished to avert was accomplished4 ,and thus it was1 that the proposal 'to go the beaten track of getting arms into their hands under colour of ,caesar's designs1 and because the people understood them not1' came to be considered4 ,to permit the new dynasty to come in without making any terms with it1 without insisting upon a definition of that indefinite power which the ,tudors had wielded with impunity1 and without challenge1 would be to make needless work for the future1 and to ignore criminally the responsibilities of their own position1 so at least some ,english statesmen of that time1 fatally for their favour with the new monarch1 were known to have thought4 ',to proceed by process1' to check by gradual constitutional measures that overgrown and monstrous power in the state1 was the project which these statesmen had most at heart4 ,but that was a movement which required a firm and enlightened popular support4 ,charters and statutes were dead letters till that could be had4 ,it was fatal to attempt it till that was secured4 ,failing in that popular support1 if the statesman who had attempted that movement1 if the illustrious chief1 and chief man of his time1 who headed it1 did secretly meditate other means for accomplishing the same end--which was to limit the prerogative--such means as the time offered1 and if the evidence which was wanting on his trial had been produced in proof of it1 who that knows what that crisis was would undertake to convict him on it now8 ,he was arrested on suspicion4 ,he was a man who had undertaken to set bounds to the absolute will of the monarch1 and therefore he was a dangerous man4 ,he 7,sir ,walter ,raleigh71 together with the ,lord ,chobham1 ,sir ,j4 ,fortescue1 and others1 would have obliged the king to articles before he was admitted to the throne1 and thought the number of his countrymen should be limited4--,osborne's ,memorials of ,king ,james4 ,the charges that were made against him on that shameless trial were indignantly repelled4 ',do you mix1 me up with these spiders8' 7alluding1 perhaps1 more particularly to the ,jesuit associated with him in this charge74 ',do you think ,i am a ,jack ,cade or a ,robin ,hood8' he said4 ,but though the evidence on this trial is not only in itself illegal1 and by confession perjured1 but the report of it comes to us with a falsehood on the face of it1 and is therefore not to be taken without criticism2 that there was a movement of some kind meditated about that time1 by persons occupying chief places of trust and responsibility in the nation--a movement not favourable to the continuance of 'the standing departments' in the precise form in which they then stood--that the project of an administrative reform had not1 at least1 been wholly laid aside--that there was something which did not fully come out on that trial1 any one who looks at this report of it will be apt to infer4 ,it was a project which had not yet proceeded to any overt act2 there was no legal evidence of its existence produced on the trial2 but suppose there were here1 then1 already1 men 'who loved the fundamental part of state1' more than in such a crisis 'they doubted the change of it'--men 'who preferred a noble life before a long'--men1 too1 'who were more discreet' than they were 'fearful1' who thought it good practice to 'jump a body with a dangerous medicine that was sure of death without it2' suppose there was a movement of that kind arrested here then1 and the evidence of it were produced1 what ,englishman1 or who that boasts the ,english lineage to-day1 can have a word to say about it8 ,who had a better right than those men themselves1 those statesmen1 those heroes1 who had waked and watched for their country's weal so long1 who had fought her battles on land and sea1 and planned them too1 not in the tented field and on the rocking deck only1 but in the more 'deadly breach' of civil office1 whose scaling-ladders had entered even the tyrant's council chamber1--who had a better right than those men themselves to say whether they would be governed by a government of laws1 or by the will of the most despicable 'one-only-man power1' armed with sword and lash1 that ever a nation of ,oriental slaves in their political imbecility cowered under8 ,who were better qualified than those men themselves1 instructed in detail in all the peril of that crisis1--men who had comprehended and weighed with a judgment which has left no successor to its seat1 all the conflicting considerations and claims which that crisis brought with it1--who better qualified than these to decide on the measures by which the hideous nuisances of that time should be abated2 by which that axe1 that sword1 that rack1 that stake1 and all those burglar's tools1 and highwayman's weapons1 should be taken out of the hands of the mad licentious crew with which an evil time had armed them against the common-weal--those weapons of lawless power1 which the people had vainly1 for want of leaders1 refused before-hand to put into their hands4 ,who better qualified than these natural chiefs and elected leaders of the nation1 to decide on the dangerous measures for suppressing the innovation1 which the ,tudor and his descendants had accomplished in that ancient sovereignty of laws1 which was the sovereignty of this people1 which even the ,norman and the ,plantagenet had been taught to acknowledge8 ,who better qualified than they to call to an account--'the thief1' the 'cut-purse of the empire and the rule1' who 'found the precious diadem on a shelf1 and stole and put it in his pocket'8 ',shall the blessed ,sun of ,heaven prove a micher1 and eat blackberries'8 ,a question not to be asked6 ,shall the blessed ',son of ,england' prove a thief1 and take purses8 ,a question to be asked4 ',the poor abuses of the time want countenance4' ,lear4 ,take that from me1 my friend1 who have the power to seal the accuser's lips4 ,who better qualified could be found to head the dangerous enterprise for the deliverance of ,england from that shame1 than the chief in whom her ,alfred arose again to break from her neck a baser than the ,danish yoke1 to restore her kingdom and found her new empire1 to give her domains1 that the sun never sets on1--her ,poet1 her ,philosopher1 her ,soldier1 her ,legislator1 the builder of her ,empire of the ,sea1 her founder of new ',states4' ,but then1 of course1 it is only by the rarest conjunction of circumstances1 that the movements and plans which such a state of things gives rise to1 can get any other than the most opprobrious name and place in history4 ,success is their only certificate of legitimacy4 ,to attempt to overthrow a government still so strongly planted in the endurance and passivity of the people1 might seem1 perhaps1 to some minds in these circumstances1 a hopeless1 and1 therefore1 a criminal undertaking4 ',that opportunity which then they had to take from us1 to resume1 we have again1' might well have seemed a sufficient plea1 so it could have been made good4 ,but it is not strange that some few1 even then1 should find it difficult to believe that the national ruin was yet so entire1 that the ashes of the ancient nobility and commons of ,england were yet so cold1 as that a system of despotism like that which was exercised here then1 could be permanently and securely fastened over them4 ,it is not strange that it should seem to these impossible that there should not be enough of that old ,english spirit which1 only a hundred years before1 had ranged the people in armed thousands1 in defence of ,,law1 against absolutism1 enough of it1 at least1 to welcome and sustain the overthrow of tyranny1 when once it should present itself as a fact accomplished1 instead of appealing beforehand to a courage1 which so many instances of vain and disastrous resistance had at last subdued1 and to a spirit which seemed reduced at last1 to the mere quality of the master's will4 ,that was a narrow dominion apparently to which ,king ,james consigned his great rival in the arts of government1 but that rival of his contrived to rear a 'crest' there which will outlast 'the tyrants1' and 'look fresh still' when tombs that artists were at work on then 'are spent4' ',and when a soldier was his theme1 my name--my name namme de plume was nor far off4' ,king ,james forgot how many weapons this man carried4 ,he took one sword from him1 he did not know that that pen1 that harmless goose-quill1 carried in its sheath another4 ,he did not know what strategical operations the scholar1 who was 'an old soldier' and a politician also1 was capable of conducting under such conditions4 ,those were narrow quarters for 'the ,shepherd of the ,ocean1' for the hero of the two hemispheres1 to occupy so long2 but it proved no bad retreat for the chief of this movement1 as he managed it4 ,it was in that school of ,elizabethan statesmanship which had its centre in the ,tower1 that many a scholarly ,english gentleman came forth prepared to play his part in the political movements that succeeded4 ,it was out of that school of statesmanship that ,john ,hampden came1 accomplished for his part in them4 ,the papers that the chief of the ,protestant cause prepared in that literary retreat to which the ,monarch had consigned him1 by means of those secret channels of communication among the better minds which he had established in the reign of ,elizabeth1 became the secret manual of the revolutionary chiefs2 they made the first blast of the trumpet that summoned at last the nation to its feet4 ',the famous ,mr4 ,hamden' 7says an author1 who writes in those 'next ages' in which so many traditions of this time are still rife7 'a little before the civil wars was at the charge of transcribing three thousand four hundred and fifty-two sheets of ,sir ,walter ,raleigh's ,,mss41 as the amanuensis himself told me1 who had his close chamber1 his fire and candle1 with an attendant to deliver him the originals and take his copies as fast as he could write them4' ,that of itself is a pretty little glimpse of the kind of machinery which the ,elizabethan literature required for its 'delivery and tradition' at the time1 or near the times1 in which it was produced4 ,that is a view of 'an ,interior' 'before the civil wars4' ,it was ,john ,milton who concluded1 on looking over1 a long time afterwards1 one of the unpublished papers of this statesman1 that it was his duty to give it to the public4 ',having had1' he says1 'the ,,ms4 of this treatise ,the ,cabinet ,council written by ,sir ,walter ,raleigh1 many years in my hands1 and finding it lately by chance among other books and papers1 upon reading thereof1 ,i thought it a kind of injury to withhold longer the work of so eminent an author from the public2 it being both answerable in style to other works of his already extant1 as far as the subject would permit1 and given me for a true copy by a learned man at his death1 who had collected several such pieces4' ',a kind of injury4'--,that is the thought which would naturally take possession of any mind1 charged with the responsibility of keeping back for years this man's writings1 especially his choicest ones--papers that could not be published then on account of the subject1 or that came out with the leaves uncut1 labouring with the restrictions which the press opposed then to the issues of such a mind4 ,that great result which the chief minds of the ,modern ,ages1 under the influence of the new culture1 in that secret association of them were able to achieve1 that new and all comprehending science of life and practice which they made it their business to perfect and transmit1 could not1 indeed1 as yet be communicated directly to the many4 ,the scientific doctrines of the new time were necessarily limited in that age to the few4 ,but another movement corresponding to that1 simultaneous in its origin1 related to it in its source1 was also in progress here then1 proceeding hand in hand with this1 playing its game for it1 opening the way to its future triumph4 ,this was that movement of the new time1--this was that consequence1 not of the revival of learning only1 but of the growth of the northern mind which touched everywhere and directly the springs of government1 and made 'bold power look pale1' for this was the movement in 'the many4' ,this was the movement which had already convulsed the continent2 this was the movement of which ,raleigh was from the first the soldier2 this was 'the cause' of which he became the chief4 ,it was as a youth of seventeen1 bursting from those old fastnesses of the ,middle ,ages that could not hold him any longer1 shaking off the films of ,aristotle and his commentators1 that he girded on his sword for the great world-battle that was raging already in ,europe then4 ,it was into the thickest of it1 that his first step plunged him4 ,for he was one of that company of a hundred ,english gentlemen who were waiting but for the first word of permission from ,elizabeth to go as volunteers to the aid of the ,huguenots4 ,this was the movement which had at last reached ,england4 ,and like these other continental events which were so slow in taking effect in ,england when it did begin to unfold here at last2 there was a taste of 'the island' in it1 in this also4 ,it was not on the continent only1 that ,raleigh and other ,english statesmen were disposed to sustain this movement4 ,it was not possible as yet to bring the common mind openly to the heights of those great doctrines of life and practice which the ,wisdom of the ,moderns also embodies1 but the new teachers of that age knew how to appreciate1 as the man of science only can fully appreciate1 the worth of those motives that were then beginning to agitate so portentously so large a portion of the ,english people4 ,the ,elizabethan politicians nourished and patronised in secret that growing faction4 ,the scientific politician hailed with secret delight1 hailed as the partner of his own enterprise1 that new element of political power which the changing time began to reveal here then1 that power which was already beginning to unclasp on the necks of the masses1 the collar of the absolute will--that was already proclaiming1 in the stifled undertones of 'that greater part which carries it1' another supremacy4 ,they gave in secret the right hand of a joyful fellowship to it4 ,at home and abroad the great soldier and statesman1 who was the first founder of the ,modern ,science1 headed that faction4 ,he fought its battles by land and sea2 he opened the ,new ,world to it1 and sent it there to work out its problem4 ,it was the first stage of an advancement that would not rest till it found its true consummation4 ,that infinity which was speaking in its confused tones1 as with the voice of many waters1 was resolved into music and triumphal marches in the ear of the ,interpreter4 ,it gave token that the nobler nature had not died out under the rod of tyranny2 it gave token of the earnestness that would not be appeased until the ends that were declared in it were found4 ,but at the same time1 this was a power which the wise men of that age were far from being willing to let loose upon society then in that stage of its development2 very far were they from being willing to put the reins into its hands4 ,to balance the dangers that were threatening the world at that crisis was always the problem4 ,it was a very narrow line that the policy which was to save the state had to keep to then4 ,there were evils on both sides4 ,but to the scientific mind there appeared to be a choice in them4 ,the measure on one side had been taken1 and it was in all men's hearts1 but the abysses on the other no man had sounded4 ',the danger of stirring things1'--the dangers1 too1 of that unscanned swiftness that too late ties leaden pounds to his heels were the dangers that were always threatening the ,elizabethan movement1 and defining and curbing it4 ,the wisest men of that time leaned towards the monarchy1 the monarchy that was1 rather than the anarchy that was threatening them4 ,the will of the one rather than the wills of the many1 the head of the one rather than 'the many-headed4' ,to effect the change which the time required without 'wrenching all'--without undoing the work of ages--without setting at large from the restraints of reverence and custom the chained tiger of an unenlightened popular will1 this was the problem4 ,the wisest statesmen1 the most judicious that the world has ever known were here1 with their new science1 weighing in exactest scales those issues4 ,we must not quarrel with their concessions to tyranny on the one hand1 nor with their determination to effect changes on the other1 until we are able to command entirely the position they occupied1 and the opposing dangers they had always to consider4 ,we must not judge them till they have had their hearing4 ,what freedom and what hope there is of it upon the earth to-day1 is the legacy of their perseverance and endurance4 ,they experienced many defeats4 ,the hopes of youth1 the hopes of manhood in turn grew cold4 ,that the 'glorious day' which 'flattered the mountain tops' of their immortal morning with its sovereign eye would never shine on them2 that their own1 with all its unimagined splendours obscured so long1 would go down hid in those same 'base clouds1' that for them the consummation was to 'peep about to find themselves dishonourable graves' was the conviction under which their later tasks were achieved4 ,it did not abate their ardour4 ,they did not strain one nerve the less for that4 ,driven from one field1 they showed themselves in another4 ,driven from the open field1 they fought in secret4 ',i will bandy with thee in faction1 ,i will o'errun thee with policy1 ,i will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways1' the ,jester who brought their challenge said4 ,the ,elizabethan ,england rejected the ,elizabethan ,man4 ,she would have none of his meddling with her affairs4 ,she sent him to the ,tower1 and to the block1 if ever she caught him meddling with them4 ,she buried him alive in the heart of his time4 ,she took the seals of office1 she took the sword1 from his hands and put a pen in it4 ,she would have of him a ,man of ,letters4 ,and a ,man of ,letters he became4 ,a ,man of ,runes4 ,he invented new letters in his need1 letters that would go farther than the sword1 that carried more execution in them than the great seal4 ,banished from the state in that isle to which he was banished1 he found not the base-born ,caliban only1 to instruct1 and train1 and subdue to his ends1 but an ,ariel1 an imprisoned ,ariel1 waiting to be released1 able to conduct his masques1 able to put his girdles round the earth1 and to 'perform and point' to his ,tempest4 ',go bring the ,,rabble1 o'er whom ,i give thee power1 here to this place1' was the ,new ,magician's word4 ,here is another version of it4 ',when ,sir ,nicholas ,bacon1 the ,lord ,keeper1 lived1 every room in ,gorhambury was served with a pipe of water from the pond distant about a mile off4 ,in the lifetime of ,mr4 ,anthony ,bacon the water ceased1 and his lordship coming to the inheritance could not recover the water without infinite charge4 ,when he was ,lord ,chancellor1 he built ,verulam ,house close by the pond yard1 for a place of privacy when he was called upon to dispatch any urgent business4 ,and being asked why he built there1 his lordship answered that1 seeing he could not carry the water to his ,house1 he would carry his ,house to the water4 ,this is not the place for the particulars of this history or for the barest outline of them4 ,they make a volume of themselves4 ,but this glimpse of the circumstances under which the works were composed which it is the object of this volume to open1 appeared at the last moment to be required1 in the absence of the ,historical ,key which the proper development of them makes1 to that ,art of ,delivery and ,tradition by means of which the secrets of the ,elizabethan ,age have been conveyed to us4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,extracts ,,from ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,raleigh4--,,raleigh',s ,,school ',our court shall be a little ,academe1 ,still and contemplative in living ,art4' ',what is the end of study8 let me know4' ,love's ,labour's ,lost4 ,but it was not on the ,new ,world wholly1 that this man of many toils could afford to lavish the revenues which the ,queen's favour brought him4 ,it was not to that enterprise alone that he was willing to dedicate the eclat and influence of his rising name4 ,there was work at home which concerned him more nearly1 not less deeply1 to which that new influence was made at once subservient2 and in that there were enemies to be encountered more formidable than the ,spaniard on his own deck1 or on his own coast1 with all his war-weapons and defences4 ,it was an enemy which required a strategy more subtle than any which the exigencies of camp and field had called for4 ,the fact that this hero throughout all his great public career--so full of all kinds of excitement and action--enough1 one would say1 to absorb the energies of a mind of any ordinary human capacity--that this soldier whose name had become1 on the ,spanish coasts1 what the name of ',coeur de ,lion' was in the ,saracen nursery1 that this foreign adventurer who had a fleet of twenty-three ships sailing at one time on his errands--this legislator1 for he sat in ,parliament as representative of his native shire--this magnificent courtier1 who had raised himself1 without any vantage-ground at all1 from a position wholly obscure1 by his personal achievements and merits1 to a place in the social ranks so exalted2 to a place in the state so near that--which was chief and absolute--the fact that this many-sided man of deeds1 was all the time a literary man1 not a scholar merely1 but himself an ,originator1 a ,teacher1 the ,founder of a ,school--this is the explanatory point in this history--this is the point in it which throws light on all the rest of it1 and imparts to it its true dignity4 ,for he was not a mere blind historical agent1 driven by fierce instincts1 intending only their own narrow ends1 without any faculty of comprehensive survey and choice of intentions2 impelled by thirst of adventure1 or thirst of power1 or thirst of gold1 to the execution of his part in the great human struggle for conservation and advancement2 working like other useful agencies in the ,providential ,scheme--like 'the stormy wind fulfilling his pleasure4' ,there is1 indeed1 no lack of the instinctive element in this heroic 'composition2' there is no stronger and more various and complete development of it4 ,that 'lumen siccum' which his great contemporary is so fond of referring to in his philosophy1 that dry light which is so apt1 he tells us1 in most men's minds1 to get 'drenched' a little sometimes1 in 'the humours and affections1' and distorted and refracted in their mediums1 did not always1 perhaps1 in its practical determinations1 escape from that accident even in the philosopher's own2 but in this stormy1 world-hero1 there was a latent volcano of will and passion2 there was1 in his constitution1 'a complexion' which might even seem to the bystanders to threaten at times1 by its 'o'ergrowth1' the 'very pales and forts of reason'2 but the intellect was1 notwithstanding1 in its due proportion in him2 and it was the majestic intellect that triumphed in the end4 ,it was the large and manly comprehension1 'the large discourse looking before and after1' it was the overseeing and active principle of 'the larger whole1' that predominated and had the steering of his course4 ,it is the common human form which shines out in him and makes that manly demonstration1 which commands our common respect1 in spite of those particular defects and o'ergrowths which are apt to mar its outline in the best historical types and patterns of it1 we have been able to get as yet4 ,it was the intellect1 and the sense which belongs to that in its integrity--it was the truth and the feeling of its obligation1 which was sovereign with him4 ,for this is a man who appears to have been occupied with the care of the common-weal more than with anything else2 and that1 too1 under great disadvantages and impediments1 and when there was no honour in caring for it truly1 but that kind of honour which he had so much of2 for this was the time precisely which the poet speaks of in that play in which he tells us that the end of playing is 'to give to the very age and body of the time its form and pressure4' ,this was the time when 'virtue of vice must pardon beg1 and curb and beck for leave to do it good4' ,it was the relief of man's estate1 or the ,creator's glory1 that he busied himself about2 that was the end of his ends2 or if not1 then was he1 indeed1 no hero at all4 ,for it was the doctrine of his own school1 and 'the first human principle' taught in it1 that men who act without reference to that distinctly human aim1 without that manly consideration and kind-liness of purpose1 can lay no claim either to divine or human honours2 that they are not1 in fact1 men1 but failures2 specimens of an unsuccessful attempt in nature1 at an advancement2 or1 as his great contemporary states it more clearly1 'only a nobler kind of vermin4' ,during all the vicissitudes of his long and eventful public life1 ,raleigh was still persistently a scholar4 ,he carried his books--his 'trunk of books' with him in all his adventurous voyages2 and they were his 'companions' in the toil and excitement of his campaigns on land4 ,he studied them in the ocean-storm2 he studied them in his tent1 as ,brutus studied in his4 ,he studied them year after year1 in the dim light which pierced the deep embrasure of those walls with which tyranny had thought to shut in at last his world-grasping energies4 ,he had had some chance to study 'men and manners' in that strange and various life of his1 and he did not lack the skill to make the most of it2 but he was not content with that narrow1 one-sided aspect of life and human nature1 to which his own individual personal experience1 however varied1 must necessarily limit him4 ,he would see it under greater varieties1 under all varieties of conditions4 ,he would know the history of it2 he would 'delve it to the root4' ,he would know how that particular form of it1 which he found on the surface in his time1 had come to be the thing he found it4 ,he would know what it had been in other times1 in the beginning1 or in that stage of its development in which the historic light first finds it4 ,he was a man who wished even to know what it had been in the ,assyrian1 in the ,phenician1 in the ,hebrew1 in the ,egyptian2 he would see what it had been in the ,greek1 and in the ,roman4 ,he was1 indeed1 one of that clique of ,elizabethan ,naturalists1 who thought that there was no more curious thing in nature2 and instead of taking a ,jack ,cade view of the subject1 and inferring that an adequate knowledge of it comes by nature1 as reading and writing do in that worthy's theory of education1 it was the private opinion of this school1 that there was no department of learning which a scholar could turn his attention to1 that required a more severe and thorough study and experiment1 and none that a man of a truly scientific turn of mind would find better worth his leisure4 ,and the study of antiquity had not yet come to be then what it is now2 at least1 with men of this stamp4 ,such men did not study it to discipline their minds1 or to get a classic finish to their style4 ,the books that such a man as this could take the trouble to carry about with him on such errands as those that he travelled on1 were books that had in them1 for the eager eyes that then o'er-ran them1 the world's 'news'--the world's story4 ,they were full of the fresh living data of his conclusions4 ,they were notes that the master minds of all the ages had made for him2 invaluable aid and sympathy they had contrived to send to him4 ,the man who had been arrested in his career1 more ignominiously than the magnificent ,tully had been in his1--in a career1 too1 a thousand times more noble1--by a ,caesar1 indeed1 but such a ,caesar2--the man who had sat for years with the executioner's block in his yard1 waiting only for a scratch of the royal pen1 to bring down upon him that same edge which the poor ,cicero1 with all his truckling1 must feel at last1--such a one would look over the old philosopher's papers with an apprehension of their meaning1 somewhat more lively than that of the boy who reads them for a prize1 or to get1 perhaps1 some classic elegancies transfused into his mind4 ,during the ten years which intervene between the date of ,raleigh's first departure for the ,continent and that of his beginning favour at home1 already he had found means for ekeing out and perfecting that liberal education which ,oxford had only begun for him1 so that it was as a man of rarest literary accomplishments that he made his brilliant debt at the ,english ,court1 where the new ,elizabethan ,age of ,letters was just then beginning4 ,he became at once the centre of that little circle of highborn wits and poets1 the elder wits and poets of the ,elizabethan age1 that were then in their meridian there4 ,sir ,philip ,sidney1 ,thomas ,lord ,buckhurst1 ,henry ,lord ,paget1 ,edward ,earl of ,oxford1 and some others1 are included in the contemporary list of this courtly company1 whose doings are somewhat mysteriously adverted to by a critic1 who refers to the condition of 'the ,art of ,poesy' at that time4 ',the gentleman who wrote the late ,shepherds' ,calendar' was beginning then to attract considerable attention in this literary aristocracy4 ,the brave1 bold genius of ,raleigh flashed new life into that little nucleus of the ,elizabethan development4 ,the new ',round ,table1' which that newly-beginning age of chivalry1 with its new weapons and devices1 and its new and more heroic adventure had created1 was not yet 'full' till he came in4 ,the ,round ,table grew rounder with this knight's presence4 ,over those dainty stores of the classic ages1 over those quaint memorials of the elder chivalry1 that were spread out on it1 over the dead letter of the past1 the brave ,atlantic breeze came in1 the breath of the great future blew1 when the turn came for this knight's adventure2 whether opened in the prose of its statistics1 or set to its native music in the mystic melodies of the bard who was there to sing it4 ,the ,round ,table grew spheral1 as he sat talking by it2 the ,round ,table dissolved1 as he brought forth his lore1 and unrolled his maps upon it2 and instead of it1--with all its fresh yet living interests1 tracked out by land and sea1 with the great battle-ground of the future outlined on it1--revolved the round world4 ',universality' was still the motto of these ,paladins2 but ',,the ,,globe'--the ,globe1 with its ,,two hemispheres1 became henceforth their device4 ,the promotion of ,raleigh at ,court was all that was needed to make him the centre and organiser of that new intellectual movement which was then just beginning there4 ,he addressed himself to the task as if he had been a man of literary tastes and occupations merely1 or as if that particular crisis had been a time of literary leisure with him1 and there were nothing else to be thought of just then4 ,the relation of those illustrious literary partners of his1 whom he found already in the field when he first came to it1 to that grand development of the ,english genius in art and philosophy which follows1 ought not indeed to be overlooked or slightly treated in any thorough history of it4 ,for it has its first beginning here in this brilliant assemblage of courtiers1 and soldiers1 and scholars1--this company of ,poets1 and ,patrons and ,encouragers of ,art and ,learning4 ,least of all should the relation which the illustrious founder of this order sustains to the later development be omitted in any such history1--'the prince and mirror of all chivalry1' the patron of the young ,english ,muse1 whose untimely fate keeps its date for ever green1 and fills the air of this new ',helicon' with immortal lamentations4 ,the shining foundations of that so splendid monument of the later ,elizabethan genius1 which has paralyzed and confounded all our criticism1 were laid here4 ,the extraordinary facilities which certain departments of literature appeared to offer1 for evading the restrictions which this new poetic and philosophic development had to encounter from the first1 already began to attract the attention of men acquainted with the uses to which it had been put in antiquity1 and who knew what gravity of aim1 what height of execution1 that then rude and childish ,english ,play had been made to exhibit under other conditions2--men fresh from the study of those living and perpetual monuments of learning1 which the genius of antiquity has left in this department4 ,but the first essays of the new ,english scholarship in this untried field1--the first attempts at original composition here1 derive1 it must be confessed1 their chief interest and value from that memorable association in which we find them4 ,it was the first essay1 which had to be made before those finished monuments of art1 which command our admiration on their own account wholly1 could begin to appear4 ,it was 'the tuning of the instruments1 that those who came afterwards might play the better4' ,we see1 of course1 the stiff1 cramped hand of the beginner here1 instead of the grand touch of the master1 who never comes till his art has been prepared to his hands1--till the details of its execution have been mastered for him by others4 ,in some arts there must be generations of essays before he can get his tools in a condition for use4 ,ages of prophetic genius1 generations of artists1 who dimly saw afar off1 and struggled after his perfections1 must patiently chip and daub their lives away1 before ever the star of his nativity can begin to shine4 ,considering what a barbaric age it was that the ,english mind was emerging from then2 and the difficulties attending the first attempt to create in the ,english literature1 anything which should bear any proportion to those finished models of skill which were then dazzling the imagination of the ,english scholar in the unworn gloss of their fresh revival here1 and discouraging1 rather than stimulating1 the rude poetic experiment2--considering what weary lengths of essay there are always to be encountered1 where the standard of excellence is so far beyond the power of execution2 we have no occasion to despise the first bold attempts to overcome these difficulties which the good taste of this company has preserved to us4 ,they are just such works as we might expect under those circumstances2--yet full of the pedantries of the new acquisition1 overflowing on the surface with the learning of the school1 sparkling with classic allusions1 seizing boldly on the classic original sometimes1 and working their new fancies into it2 but1 full already of the riant vigour and originality of the ,elizabethan inspiration2 and never servilely copying a foreign original4 ,the ,english genius is already triumphant in them4 ,their very crudeness is not without its historic charm1 when once their true place in the structure we find them in1 is recognised4 ,in the later works1 this crust of scholarship has disappeared1 and gone below the surface4 ,it is all dissolved1 and gone into the clear intelligence2-- it has all gone to feed the majestic current of that new1 all-subduing1 all-grasping originality4 ,it is in these earlier performances that the stumbling-blocks of our present criticism are strewn so thickly4 ,nobody can write any kind of criticism of the ',comedy of ,errors1' for instance1 without recognizing the ,poet's acquaintance with the classic model1 ,see a recent criticism in ',the ,times4'--without recognizing the classic treatment4 ',love's ,labour's ,lost1' ',the ,taming of the ,shrew1' the condemned parts of ',henry the ,,vi41' and generally the ,poems which are put down in our criticism as doubtful1 or as the earlier ,poems1 are just those ,poems in which the ,poet's studies are so flatly betrayed on the surface4 ,among these are plays which were anonymously produced by the company performing at the ,rose ,theatre1 and other companies which ,english noblemen found occasion to employ in their service then4 ,these were not so much as produced at the theatre which has had the honor of giving its name to other productions1 bound up with them4 ,we shall find nothing to object to in that somewhat heterogeneous collection of styles1 which even a single ,play sometimes exhibits1 when once the history of this phenomenon accompanies it4 ,the ,cathedrals that were built1 or re-built throughout1 just at the moment in which the ,cathedral ,architecture had attained its ultimate perfection1 are more beautiful to the eye1 perhaps1 than those in which the story of its growth is told from the rude1 massive ,anglo-,saxon of the crypt or the chancel1 to the last refinement of the mullion1 and groin1 and tracery4 ,but the antiquary1 at least1 does not regret the preservation4 ,and these crude beginnings here have only to be put in their place1 to command from the critic1 at least1 a similar respect4 ,for here1 too1 the history reports itself to the eye1 and not less palpably4 ,it may seem surprising1 and even incredible1 to the modern critic1 that men in this position should find any occasion to conceal their relation to those quite respectable contributions to the literature of the time1 which they found themselves impelled to make4 ,the fact that they did so1 is one that we must accept1 however1 on uncontradicted cotemporary testimony1 and account for it as we can4 ,the critic who published his criticisms when 'the gentleman who wrote the late ,shepherd's ,calendar' was just coming into notice1 however inferior to our modern critics in other respects1 had certainly a better opportunity of informing himself on this point1 than they can have at present4 ',they have writ excellently well1' he says of this company of ,poets1--this 'courtly company1' as he calls them1--' they have writ excellently well1 if their doings could be found out and made public with the rest4' ,sir ,philip ,sidney1 ,raleigh1 and the gentleman who wrote the late ,shepherd's ,calendar1 are included in the list of ,poets to whom this remark is applied4 ,it is ,raleigh's verse which is distinguished1 however1 in this commendation as the most 'lofty1 insolent1 and passionate2' a description which applies to the anonymous poems alluded to1 but is not particularly applicable to those artificial and tame performances which he was willing to acknowledge4 ,and this so commanding ,poet1 who was at the same time an aspiring courtier and meddler in affairs of state1 and who chose1 for some mysterious reason or other1 to forego the honours which those who were in the secret of his literary abilities and successes1--the very best judges of poetry in that time1 too1 were disposed to accord him1--and we are not without references to cases in antiquity corresponding very nearly to this2 and which seemed to furnish1 at least1 a sufficient precedent for this proceeding2--this so successful poet1 and courtier1 and great man of his time1 was already in a position to succeed at once to that chair of literary patronage which the death of ,sir ,philip ,sidney had left vacant4 ,instinctively generous1 he was ready to serve the literary friends whom he attracted to him1 not less lavishly than he had served the proud ,queen herself1 when he threw his gay cloak in her obstructed path1--at least1 he was not afraid of risking those sudden splendours which her favour was then showering upon him1 by wearying her with petitions on their behalf4 ,he would have risked his new favour1 at least with his ',cynthia1'--that twin sister of ,phoebus ,apollo1--to make her the patron1 if not the inspirer of the ,elizabethan genius4 ',when will you cease to be a beggar1 ,raleigh8' she said to him one day1 on one of these not infrequent occasions4 ',when your ,majesty ceases to be a most gracious mistress1' was this courtier's reply4 ,it is recorded of her1 that 'she loved to hear his reasons to her demands4' ,but though1 with all his wit and eloquence1 he could not contrive to make of the grand-daughter of ,henry the ,seventh1 a ,pericles1 or an ,alexander1 or a ,ptolemy1 or an ,augustus1 or an encourager of anything that did not appear to be directly connected with her own particular ends1 he did succeed in making her indirectly a patron of the literary and scientific development which was then beginning to add to her reign its new lustre1--which was then suing for leave to lay at her feet its new crowns and garlands4 ,indirectly1 he did convert her into a patron1--a second-hand patron of those deeper and more subtle movements of the new spirit of the time1 whose bolder demonstrations she herself had been forced openly to head4 ,seated on the throne of ,henry the ,seventh1 she was already the armed advocate of ,european freedom2--,raleigh had contrived to make her the legal sponsor for the ,new ,world's liberties2 it only needed that her patronage should be systematically extended to that new enterprise for the emancipation of the human life from the bondage of ignorance1 from the tyranny of unlearning1--that enterprise which the gay1 insidious ,elizabethan literature was already beginning to flower over and cover with its devices1--it only needed that1 to complete the anomaly of her position4 ,and that through ,raleigh's means was accomplished4 ,he became himself the head of a little ,alexandrian establishment4 ,his house was a home for men of learning4 ,he employed men in literary and scientific researches on his account1 whose business it was to report to him their results4 ,he had salaried scholars at his table1 to impart to him their acquisitions1 ,antiquities1 ,history1 ,poetry1 ,chemistry1 ,mathematics1 scientific research of all kinds1 came under his active and persevering patronage4 ,returning from one of his visits to ,ireland1 whither he had gone on this occasion to inspect a seignorie which his 'sovereign goddess' had then lately conferred upon him1 he makes his re-appearance at court with that so obscure personage1 the poet of the ',faery ,queene1' under his wing2--that same gentleman1 as the court is informed1 whose bucolics had already attracted so much attention in that brilliant circle4 ,by a happy coincidence1 ,raleigh1 it seems1 had discovered this ,author in the obscurity of his clerkship in ,ireland1 and had determined to make use of his own influence at court to push his brother poet's fortunes there2 but his efforts to benefit this poor bard personally1 do not appear to have been attended at any time with much success4 ,the mysterious literary partnership between these two1 however1 which dates apparently from an earlier period1 continues to bring forth fruit of the most successful kind2 and the ',faery ,queene' is not the only product of it4 ,all kinds of books began now to be dedicated to this new and so munificent patron of arts and letters4 ,his biographers collect his public history1 not from political records only1 but from the eulogies of these manifold dedications4 ,ladonnier1 the artist1 publishes his ,sketches of the ,new ,world through his aid4 ,hooker dedicates his ,history of ,ireland to him2 ,hakluyt1 his ,voyages to ,florida4 ,a work ',on ,friendship' is dedicated to him2 another ',on ,music1' in which art he had found leisure1 it seems1 to make himself a proficient2 and as to the poetic tributes to him1--some of them at least are familiar to us already4 ,in that gay court1 where ,raleigh and his haughty rivals were then playing their deep games1--where there was no room for ,spenser's muse1 and the worth of his ',old ,song' was grudgingly reckoned1--the 'rustling in silks' is long since over1 but the courtier's place in the pageant of the ',faery ,queene' remains1 and grows clearer with the lapse of ages4 ,that time1 against which he built so perseveringly1 and fortified himself on so many sides1 will not be able to diminish there 'one dowle that's in his plume4' ,he was also a patron of ,plays and ,players in this stage of his career1 and entertained private parties at his house with very recherch performances of that kind sometimes4 ,in the ,lord ,timon of the ,shakspere piece1 which was rewritten from an ,academic original after ,raleigh's consignment to the ,tower1--in that fierce satire into which so much ,elizabethan bitterness is condensed1 under the difference of the reckless prodigality which is stereotyped in the fable1 we get1 in the earlier scenes1 some glimpses of this ',athenian' also1 in this stage of his career4 ,but it was not as a ,patron only1 or chiefly1 that he aided the new literary development4 ,a scholar1 a scholar so earnest1 so indefatigable1 it followed of course that he must be1 in one form or another1 an ,instructor also2 for that is still1 under all conditions1 the scholar's destiny--it is still1 in one form or another1 his business on the earth4 ,but with that temperament which was included among the particular conditions of his genius1 and with those special and particular endowments of his for another kind of intellectual mastery1 he could not be content with the pen--with the ,poet's1 or the ,historian's1 or the ,philosopher's pen--as the instrument of his mental dictation4 ,a ,teacher thus furnished and ordained1 seeks1 indeed1 naturally and instinctively1 a more direct and living and effective medium of communication with the audience which his time is able to furnish him1 whether 'few' or many1 whether 'fit' or unfit1 than the book can give him4 ,he must have another means of 'delivery and tradition1' when the delivery or tradition is addressed to those whom he would associate with him in his age1 to work with him as one man1 or those to whom he would transmit it in other ages1 to carry it on to its perfection--those to whom he would communicate his own highest view1 those whom he would inform with his patiently-gathered lore1 those whom he would instruct and move with his new inspirations4 ,for the truth has become a personality with him--it is his nobler self4 ,he will live on with it4 ,he will live or die with it4 ,for such a one there is1 perhaps1 no institution ready in his time to accept his ministry4 ,no chair at ,oxford or ,cambridge is waiting for him4 ,for they are1 of course1 and must needs be1 the strong-holds of the past--those ancient and venerable seats of learning1 'the fountains and nurseries of all the humanities1' as a ,cambridge ,professor calls them1 in a letter addressed to ,raleigh4 ,the principle of these larger wholes is1 of course1 instinctively conservative4 ,their business is to know nothing of the new4 ,the new intellectual movement must fight its battles through without1 and come off conqueror there1 or ever those old ,gothic doors will creak on their reluctant hinges to give it ever so pinched an entrance4 ,when it has once fought its way1 and forced itself within--when it has got at last some marks of age and custom on its brow--then1 indeed1 it will stand as the last outwork of that fortuitous conglomeration1 to be defended in its turn against all comers4 ,already the revived classics had been able to push from their chairs1 and drive into corners1 and shut up finally and put to silence1 the old ,aristotelian ,doctors--the ,seraphic and ,cherubic ,doctors of their day--in their own ancient halls4 ,it would be sometime yet1 perhaps1 however1 before that study of the dead languages1 which was of course one prominent incident of the first revival of a dead learning1 would come to take precisely the same place in those institutions1 with their one instinct of conservation and 'abhorrence of change1' which the old monastic philosophy had taken in its day2 but that change once accomplished1 the old monastic philosophy itself1 religious as it was1 was never held more sacred than this profane innovation would come to be4 ,it would be some time before those new observations and experiments1 which ,raleigh and his school were then beginning to institute1 experiments and inquiries which the universities would have laughed to scorn in their day1 would come to be promoted to the ,professor's chair2 but when they did1 it would perhaps be difficult to convince a young gentleman liberally educated1 at least1 under the wings of one of those 'ancient and venerable' seats of learning1 now gray in ,raleigh's youthful ,west--ambitious1 perhaps1 to lead off in this popular innovation1 where ,saurians1 and ,icthyosaurians1 and ,entomologists1 and ,chonchologists are already hustling the poor ,greek and ,latin ,teachers into corners1 and putting them to silence with their growing terminologies--it would perhaps be difficult to convince one who had gone through the prescribed course of treatment in one of these 'nurseries of humanity1' that the knowledge of the domestic habits and social and political organisations of insects and shell-fish1 or even the experiments of the laboratory1 though never so useful and proper in their place1 are not1 after all1 the beginning and end of a human learning4 ,it was no such place as that that this department of the science of nature took in the systems or notions of its ,elizabethan ,founders4 ,they were ',naturalists1' indeed2 but that did not imply1 with their use of the term1 the absence of the natural common human sense in the selection of the objects of their pursuits4 ',it is a part of science to make judicious inquiries and wishes1' says the speaker in chief for this new doctrine of nature2 speaking of the particular and special applications of it which he is forbidden to make openly1 but which he instructs1 and prepares1 and charges his followers to make for themselves4 ,one of those innovations1 one of those movements in which the new ground of ages of future culture is first chalked out--a movement whose end is not yet1 whose beginning we have scarce yet seen--was made in ,england1 not very far from the time in which ,sir ,walter ,raleigh1 began first to convert the eclat of his rising fortunes at home1 and the splendour of his heroic achievements abroad1 and all those new means of influence which his great position gave him1 to the advancement of those deeper1 dearer ambitions1 which the predominance of the nobler elements in his constitution made inevitable with him4 ,even then he was ready to endanger those golden opinions1 waiting to be worn in their newest gloss1 not cast aside so soon1 and new-won rank1 and liberty and life itself1 for the sake of putting himself into his true intellectual relations with his time1 as a philosopher and a beginner of a new age in the human advancement4 ,for 'spirits are not finely touched but to fine issues4' ,if there was no ,professor's ,chair1 if there was no ,pulpit or ,bishop's ,stall waiting for him1 and begging his acceptance of its perquisites1 he must needs institute a chair of his own1 and pay for leave to occupy it4 ,if there was no university with its appliances within his reach1 he must make a university of his own4 ,the germ of a new 'universality' would not be wanting in it4 ,his library1 or his drawing-room1 or his 'banquet1' will be ,oxford enough for him4 ,he will begin it as the old monks began theirs1 with their readings4 ,where the teacher is1 there must the school be gathered together4 ,and a school in the end there will be3 a school in the end the true teacher will have1 though he begin it1 as the barefoot ,athenian began his1 in the stall of the artisan1 or in the chat of the ,gymnasium1 amid the compliments of the morning levee1 or in the woodland stroll1 or in the midnight revel of the banquet4 ,when the hour and the man are indeed met1 when the time is ripe1 and one truly sent1 ordained of that ,power which chooses1 not one only--what uncloaked atheism is that1 to promulgate in an age like this6--not the ,teachers and ,rabbis of one race only1 but all the successful agents of human advancement1 the initiators of new eras of man's progress1 the inaugurators of new ages of the relief of the human estate and the ,creator's glory--when such an one indeed appears1 there will be no lack of instrumentalities4 ,with some verdant hill-side1 it may be1 some blossoming knoll or 'mount' for his 'chair1' with a daisy or a lily in his hand1 or in a fisherman's boat1 it may be1 pushed a little way from the strand1 he will begin new ages4 ,the influence of ,raleigh upon his time cannot yet be fully estimated2 because1 in the first place1 it was primarily of that kind which escapes1 from its subtlety1 the ordinary historical record2 and1 in the second place1 it was an influence at the time necessarily covert1 studiously disguised4 ,his relation to the new intellectual development of his age might1 perhaps1 be characterised as ,socratic2 though certainly not because he lacked the use1 and the most masterly use1 of that same weapon with which his younger contemporary brought out at last1 in the face of his time1 the plan of the ,great ,instauration4 ,in the heart of the new establishment which the magnificent courtier1 who was a ',queen's delight1' must now maintain1 there soon came to be a little ',academe4' ,the choicest youth of the time1 'the ,spirits of the ,morning ,sort1' gathered about him4 ,it was the new philosophic and poetic genius of the age that he attracted to him2 it was on that philosophic and poetic genius that he left his mark for ever4 ,he taught them1 as the masters taught of old1 in dialogues--in words that could not then be written1 in words that needed the master's modulation to give them their significance4 ,for the new doctrine had need to be clothed in a language of its own1 whose inner meaning only those who had found their way to its inmost shrine were able to interpret4 ,we find some contemporary and traditional references to this school1 which are not without their interest and historical value1 as tending to show the amount of influence which it was supposed to have exerted on the time1 as well as the acknowledged necessity for concealment in the studies pursued in it4 ,the fact that such an ,association existed1 that it began with ,raleigh1 that young men of distinction were attracted to it1 and that in such numbers1 and under such conditions1 that it came to be considered ultimately as a ',school1' of which he was the head-master--the fact that the new experimental science was supposed to have had its origin in this association1--that opinions1 differing from the received ones1 were also secretly discussed in it1--that anagrams and other devices were made use of for the purpose of infolding the esoteric doctrines of the school in popular language1 so that it was possible to write in this language acceptably to the vulgar1 and without violating preconceived opinions1 and at the same time instructively to the initiated1--all this remains1 even on the surface of statements already accessible to any scholar1--all this remains1 either in the form of contemporary documents1 or in the recollections of persons who have apparently had it from the most authentic sources1 from persons who profess to know1 and who were at least in a position to know1 that such was the impression at the time4 ,but when the instinctive dread of innovation was already so keenly on the alert1 when ,elizabeth was surrounded with courtiers still in their first wrath at the promotion of the new 'favourite1' indignant at finding themselves so suddenly overshadowed with the growing honours of one who had risen from a rank beneath their own1 and eagerly watching for an occasion against him1 it was not likely that such an affair as this was going to escape notice altogether4 ,and though the secrecy with which it was conducted1 might have sufficed to elude a scrutiny such as theirs1 there was another1 and more eager and subtle enemy1--an enemy which the founder of this school had always to contend with1 that had already1 day and night1 at home and abroad1 its ,argus watch upon him4 ,that vast and secret foe1 which he had arrayed against him on foreign battle fields1 knew already what kind of embodiment of power this was that was rising into such sudden favour here at home1 and would have crushed him in the germ--that foe which would never rest till it had pursued him to the block1 which was ready to join hands with his personal enemies in its machinations1 in the court of ,elizabeth1 as well as in the court of her successor1 that vast1 malignant1 indefatigable foe1 in which the spirit of the old ages lurked1 was already at his threshold1 and penetrating to the most secret chamber of his councils4 ,it was on the showing of a ,jesuit that these friendly gatherings of young men at ,raleigh's table came to be branded as 'a school of ,atheism4' ,and it was through such agencies1 that his enemies at court were able to sow suspicions in ,elizabeth's mind in regard to the entire orthodoxy of his mode of explaining certain radical points in human belief1 and in regard to the absolute 'conformity' of his views on these points with those which she had herself divinely authorised1 suspicions which he himself confesses he was never afterwards able to eradicate4 ,the matter was represented to her1 we are told1 'as if he had set up for a doctor in the faculty and invited young gentlemen into his school1 where the ,bible was jeered at1' and the use of profane anagrams was inculcated4 ,the fact that he associated with him in his chemical and mathematical studies1 and entertained in his house1 a scholar labouring at that time under the heavy charge of getting up 'a philosophical theology1' was also made use of greatly to his discredit4 ,and from another uncontradicted statement1 which dates from a later period1 but which comes to us worded in terms as cautious as if it had issued directly from the school itself1 we obtain another glimpse of these new social agencies1 with which the bold1 creative1 social genius that was then seeking to penetrate on all sides the custom-bound time1 would have roused and organised a new social life in it4 ,it is still the second-hand hearsay testimony which is quoted here4 ',he is said to have set up an ,office of ,address1 and it is supposed that the office might respect a more liberal intercourse--a nobler mutuality of advertisement1 than would perhaps admit of all sorts of persons4' ',raleigh set up a kind of ,office of ,address1' says another1 'in the capacity of an agency for all sorts of persons4' ,john ,evelyn1 refers also to that long dried fountain of communication which ,montaigne first proposed1 ,sir ,walter ,raleigh put in practice1 and ,mr4 ,hartlib endeavoured to renew4 ',this is the scheme described by ,sir ,w4 ,pellis1 which is referred traditionally to ,raleigh and ,montaigne 7see ,book ,i4 chap4 xxxiv47 ,an ,office of ,address whereby the wants of all may be made known to ,,all 7that painful and great instrument of this design71 where men may know what is already done in the business of learning1 what is at present in doing1 and what is intended to be done1 to the end that1 by such a general communication of design and mutual assistance1 the wits and endeavours of the world may no longer be as so many scattered coals1 which1 for want of union1 are soon quenched1 whereas being laid together they would have yielded a comfortable light and heat4 ,this is evidently traditional language 444 such as advanced rather to the improvement of men themselves than their means4'--,,oldys4 ,this then is the association of which ,raleigh was the chief2 this was the state1 within the state which he was founding4 7',see the reach of this man1' says ,lord ,coke on his ,trial47 ,it is true that the honour is also ascribed to ,montaigne2 but we shall find1 as we proceed with this inquiry1 that all the works and inventions of this new ,english school1 of which ,raleigh was chief1 all its new and vast designs for man's relief1 are also claimed by that same aspiring gentleman1 as they were1 too1 by another of these ,egotists1 who came out in his own name with this identical project4 ,it was only within the walls of a school that the great principle of the new philosophy of fact and practice1 which had to pretend to be profoundly absorbed in chemical experiments1 or in physical observations1 and inductions of some kind--though not without an occasional hint of a broader intention1--it was only in esoteric language that the great principles of this philosophy could begin to be set forth in their true comprehension4 ,the very trunk of it1 the primal science itself1 must needs be mystified and hidden in a shower of metaphysical dust1 and piled and heaped about with the old dead branches of scholasticism1 lest men should see for themselves how broad and comprehensive must be the ultimate sweep of its determinations2 lest men should see for themselves1 how a science which begins in fact1 and returns to it again1 which begins in observation and experiment1 and returns in scientific practice1 in scientific arts1 in scientific re-formation1 might have to do1 ere all was done1 with facts not then inviting scientific investigation--with arts not then inviting scientific reform4 ,in consequence of a sudden and common advancement of intelligence among the leading men of that age1 which left the standard of intelligence represented in more than one of its existing institutions1 very considerably in the rear of its advancement1 there followed1 as the inevitable result1 a tendency to the formation of some medium of expression1--whether that tendency was artistically developed or not1 in which the new and nobler thoughts of men1 in which their dearest beliefs1 could find some vent and limited interchange and circulation1 without startling the ear4 ,eventually there came to be a number of men in ,england at this time1--and who shall say that there were none on the continent of this school1--occupying prominent positions in the state1 heading1 it might be1 or ranged in opposite factions at ,court1 who could speak and write in such a manner1 upon topics of common interest1 as to make themselves entirely intelligible to each other1 without exposing themselves to any of the risks1 which confidential communications under such circumstances involved4 ,for there existed a certain mode of expression1 originating in some of its more special forms with this particular school1 yet not altogether conventional1 which enabled those who made use of it to steer clear of the ,star ,chamber and its sister institution2 inasmuch as the terms employed in this mode of communication were not in the more obvious interpretation of them actionable1 and to a vulgar1 unlearned1 or stupid conceit1 could hardly be made to appear so4 ,there must be a ,high ,court of ,wit1 and a ,bench of ,peers in that estate of the realm1 or ever these treasons could be brought to trial4 ,for it was a mode of communication which involved in its more obvious construction the necessary submission to power4 ,it was the instructed ear1--the ear of a school1--which was required to lend to it its more recondite meanings2--it was the ear of that new school in philosophy which had made ,history the basis of its learning1--which1 dealing with principles instead of words1 had glanced1 not without some nice observation in passing1 at their more 'conspicuous' historical ',,instances'2--it was the ear of a school which had everywhere the great historical representations and diagrams at its control1 and could substitute1 without much hindrance1 particulars for generals1 or generals for particulars1 as the case might be2 it was the ear of a school intrusted with discretionary power1 but trained and practised in the art of using it4 ,originally an art of necessity1 with practice1 in the skilful hands of those who employed it1 it came at length to have a charm of its own4 ,in such hands1 it became an instrument of literary power1 which had not before been conceived of2 a medium too of densest ornament1 of thick crowding conceits1 and nestling beauties1 which no style before had ever had depth enough to harbour4 ,it established a new1 and more intimate and living relation between the author and his reader1--between the speaker and his audience4 ,there was ever the charm of that secret understanding lending itself to all the effects4 ,it made the reader1 or the hearer1 participator in the artist's skill1 and joint proprietor in the result4 ,the author's own glow must be on his cheek1 the author's own flash in his eye1 ere that result was possible4 ,the nice point of the skilful pen1 the depth of the lurking tone was lost1 unless an eye as skilful1 or an ear as fine1 tracked or waited on it4 ,it gave to the work of the artist1 nature's own style2--it gave to works which had the earnest of life and death in them the sport of the 'enigma4' ,it is not too much to say1 that the works of ,raleigh and ,bacon1 and others whose connection with it is not necessary to specify just here1 are written throughout in the language of this school4 ',our glorious ,willy'--7it is the gentleman who wrote the ',faery ,queene' who claims him1 and his glories1 as 'ours'71--'our glorious ,willy' was born in it1 and knew no other speech4 ,it was that ',round ,table' at which ,sir ,philip ,sydney presided then1 that his lurking meanings1 his unspeakable audacities first 'set in a roar4' ,it was there1 in the keen encounters of those flashing 'wit combats1' that the weapons of great genius grew so fine4 ,it was there1 where the young wits and scholars1 fresh from their continental tours1 full of the gallant young ,england of their day1--the ,mercutios1 the ,benedicts1 the ,birons1 the ,longuevilles1 came together fresh from the ,court of ,navarre1 and smelling of the lore of their foreign ',academe1' or hot from the battles of continental freedom1--it was there1 in those runions1 that our ,poet caught those gracious airs of his--those delicate1 thick-flowering refinements--those fine impalpable points of courtly breeding--those aristocratic notions that haunt him everywhere4 ,it was there that he picked up his various knowledge of men and manners1 his acquaintance with foreign life1 his bits of travelled wit1 that flash through all4 ,it was there that he heard the clash of arms1 and the ocean-storm4 ,and it was there that he learned 'his old ward4' ,it was there1 in the social collisions of that gay young time1 with its bold over-flowing humours1 that would not be shut in1 that he first armed himself with those quips and puns1 and lurking conceits1 that crowd his earlier style so thickly1--those double1 and triple1 and quadruple meanings1 that stud so closely the lines of his dialogue in the plays which are clearly dated from that era1--the natural artifices of a time like that1 when all those new volumes of utterance which the lips were ready to issue1 were forbidden on pain of death to be 'extended1' must needs 'be crushed together1 infolded within themselves4' ,of course it would be absurd1 or it would involve the most profound ignorance of the history of literature in general1 to claim that the principle of this invention had its origin here4 ,it had already been in use1 in recent and systematic use1 in the intercourse of the scholars of the ,middle ,ages2 and its origin is coeval with the origin of letters4 ,the free-masonry of learning is old indeed4 ,it runs its mountain chain of signals through all the ages1 and men whom times and kindreds have separated ascend from their week-day toil1 and hold their ,sabbaths and synods on those heights4 ,they whisper1 and listen1 and smile1 and shake the head at one another2 they laugh1 and weep1 and complain together2 they sing their songs of victory in one key4 ,that machinery is so fine1 that the scholar can catch across the ages1 the smile1 or the whisper1 which the contemporary tyranny had no instrument firm enough to suppress1 or fine enough to detect4 ',but for her father sitting still on hie1 ,did warily still watch the way she went1 ,and eke from far observed with jealous eye1 ,which way his course the wanton ,bregog bent4 ,him to deceive1 for all his watchful ward1 ,the wily lover did devise this slight4 ,first1 into many parts1 his stream he shared1 ,that whilst the one was watch'd1 the other might ,pass unespide1 to meet her by the way4 ,and then besides1 those little streams1 so broken1 ,he under ground so closely did convey1 ,that of their passage doth appear no token4' ,it was the author of the ',faery ,queene1' indeed1 his fine1 elaborate1 fertile genius burthened with its rich treasure1 and stimulated to new activity by his poetical alliance with ,raleigh1 whose splendid invention first made apparent the latent facilities which certain departments of popular literature then offered1 for a new and hitherto unparalleled application of this principle4 ,in that prose description of his great ,poem which he addresses to ,raleigh1 the distinct avowal of a double intention in it1 the distinction between a particular and general one1 the emphasis with which the elements of the ideal name1 are discriminated and blended1 furnish to the careful reader already some superficial hints1 as to the capabilities of such a plan to one at all predisposed to avail himself of them4 ,and1 indeed1 this ,poet's manifest philosophical and historical tendencies1 and his avowed view of the comprehension of the ,poet's business would have seemed beforehand to require some elbow-room1--some chance for poetic curves and sweeps1--some space for the line of beauty to take its course in1 which the sharp angularities1 the crooked lines1 the blunt bringing up everywhere1 of the new philosophic tendency to history would scarcely admit of4 ,there was no breathing space for him1 unless he could contrive to fix his poetic platform so high1 as to be able to override these restrictions without hindrance4 ',for the ,poet thrusteth into the midst1 even where it most concerneth him1 and then recoursing to the things fore-past1 and divining of things to come1 he maketh a pleasing analysis of ,,all4' ,and it so happened that his ,prince ,arthur had dreamed the poet's dream1 the hero's dream1 the philosopher's dream1 the dream that was dreamed of old under the ,olive shades1 the dream that all our ,poets and inspired anticipators of man's perfection and felicity have always been dreaming2 but this one 'awakening1' determined that it should be a dream no longer4 ,it was the hour in which the genius of antiquity was reviving2 it was the hour in which the poetic inspiration of all the ages was reviving1 and arming itself with the knowledge of 'things not dreamt of' by old reformers--that knowledge of nature which is power1 which is the true magic4 ,for this new ,poet had seen in a vision that same 'excellent beauty' which 'the divine' ones saw of old1 and 'the ,new ,atlantis1' the celestial vision of her kingdom2 and being also 'ravished with that excellence1 and awakening1 he determined to seek her out4 ,and so being by ,merlin armed1 and by ,timon thoroughly instructed1 he went forth to seek her in ,fairy ,land4' ,there was a little band of heroes in that age1 a little band of philosophers and poets1 secretly bent on that same adventure1 sworn to the service of that same ,gloriana1 though they were fain to wear then the scarf and the device of another ,queen on their armour4 ,it is to the prince of this little band--'the prince and mirror of all chivalry'--that this ,poet dedicates his poem4 ,but it is ,raleigh's device which he adopts in the names he uses1 and it is ,raleigh who thus shares with ,sydney the honour of his dedication4 ',in that ,faery ,queene1 ,i mean1' he says1 in his prose description of the ,poem addressed to ,raleigh1 'in that ,faery ,queene1 ,i mean ,glory in my general intention2 but1 in my particular1 ,i conceive the most glorious person of our sovereign the ,queen1 and her kingdom--in ,fairy ,land4 ',and yet1 in some places1 ,i do otherwise shadow her4 ,for considering she beareth two persons1 one of a most ,royal ,queen or ,empress1 the other of a most ,,virtuous and ,,beautiful lady--the latter part ,i do express in ,,bel-,,phebe1 fashioning her name according to your own most excellent conceit of ,cynthia1 ,phebe and ,cynthia being both names of ,diana4' ,and thus he sings his poetic dedication3-- ',to thee1 that art the ,summer's ,nightingale1 ,thy sovereign goddess's most dear delight1 ,why do ,i send this rustic madrigal1 ,that may thy tuneful ear unseason quite8 ,thou1 only fit this argument to write1 ,in whose high thoughts pleasure hath built her bower1 ,and dainty love learn'd sweetly to indite4 ,my rhymes1 ,i know1 unsavoury are and soure ,to taste the streams1 which like a golden showre1 ,flow from thy fruitful head of thy love's praise4 ,fitter1 perhaps1 to thunder martial stowre1,footnote ,when thee so list thy tuneful thoughts to raise1 ,yet till that thou thy poem wilt make known1 ,let thy fair ,cynthia's praises be thus rudely shown4' ,footnote3 ',shine forth1 thou ,star of ,poets1 and with rage ,or influence chide1 or cheer the drooping stage4' ,,ben ,,jonson4 ',of me1' says ,raleigh1 in a response to this obscure partner of his works and arts1--a response not less mysterious1 till we have found the solution of it1 for it is an enigma4 ',of me no lines are loved1 no letters are of price1 ,of all that speak the ,english tongue1 but those of thy device4' ,it was a 'device' that symbolised all4 ,it was a circle containing the alphabet1 or the ,a ,b ,c1 and the esoteric meaning of it was 'all in each1' or all in all1 the new doctrine of the unity of science 7the ',ideas' of the ,new ',academe'74 ,that was the token-name under which a great ,book of this ,academy was issued4 ,it is to ,sidney1 ,raleigh1 and the ,poet of the ',faery-,queene1' and the rest of that courtly company of ,poets1 that the contemporary author in the ,art of ,poetry alludes1 with a special commendation of ,raleigh's vein1 as the 'most lofty1 insolent1 and passionate1' when he says1' they have writ excellently well1 if their doings could be found out and made public with the rest4' ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,raleigh',s ,,school1 ,,continued4--,,the ,,new ,,academy4 ,,extract ,,from ,a ,,later ,,chapter ,,of ,,raleigh',s ,,life4 ,oliver4 ,where will the old ,duke live8 ,charles4 ,they say he is already in the forest of ,arden1 and a many merry men with him2 and there they live like the old ,robin ,hood of ,england3 they say many young gentlemen flock to him every day1 and fleet the time carelessly as they did in the golden world4 ,as ,you ,like ,it4 ,stephano sings4 ,flout 'em and skout'em2 and skout'em and flout 'em1 ,thought is free4 ,cal4 ,that's not the tune4 ,ariel plays the tune on a tabor and pipe4 ,ste4 ,what is this same8 ,trin4 ,this is the tune of our catch1 played by--the picture of--,nobody4 ,but all was not over with him in the old ,england yet--the present had still its chief tasks for him4 ,the man who had 'achieved' his greatness1 the chief who had made his way through such angry hosts of rivals1 and through such formidable social barriers1 from his little seat in the ,devonshire corner to a place in the state1 so commanding1 that even the jester1 who was the ',mr4 ,punch' of that day1 conceived it to be within the limits of his prerogative to call attention to it1 and that too in 'the presence' itself ,see 'the knave' commands 'the queen4'--,tarleton--a place of command so acknowledged1 that even the poet could call him in the ear of ,england 'her most dear delight'--such a one was not going to give up so easily the game he had been playing here so long4 ,he was not to be foiled with this great flaw in his fortunes even here2 and though all his work appeared for the time to be undone1 and though the eye that he had fastened on him was 'the eye' that had in it 'twenty thousand deaths4' ,it is this patient piecing and renewing of his broken webs1 it is this second building up of his position rather than the first1 that shows us what he is4 ,one must see what he contrived to make of those 'apartments' in the ,tower while he occupied them2 what before unimagined conveniencies1 and elegancies1 and facilities of communication1 and means of operation1 they began to develop under the searching of his genius3 what means of reaching and moving the public mind2 what wires that reached to the most secret councils of state appeared to be inlaid in those old walls while he was within them2 what springs that commanded even there movements not less striking and anomalous than those which had arrested the critical and admiring attention of ,tarleton under the ,tudor administration1--movements on that same royal board which ,ferdinand and ,miranda were seen to be playing on in ,prospero's cell when all was done1--one must see what this logician1 who was the magician also1 contrived to make of the lodging which was at first only 'the cell' of a condemned criminal2 what power there was there to foil his antagonists1 and crush them too1--if nothing but throwing themselves under the wheels of his advancement would serve their purpose2 one must look at all this to see 'what manner of man' this was1 what stuff this genius was made of1 in whose hearts ideas that had been parted from all antiquities were getting welded here then--welded so firmly that all futurities would not disjoin them1 so firmly that thrones1 and dominions1 and principalities1 and powers1 and the rulers of the darkness of this world might combine in vain to disjoin them--the ideas whose union was the new 'birth of time4' ,it is this life in 'the cell'--this game1 these masques1 this tempest1 that the magician will command there--which show us1 when all is done1 what new stuff of ,nature's own this was1 in which the new idea of combining 'the part operative' and the part speculative of human life--this new thought of making 'the art and practic part of life the mistress to its theoric' was understood in this scholar's own time 7as we learn from the secret traditions of the school7 to have had its first germination3 this idea which is the idea of the modern learning--the idea of connecting knowledge generally and in a systematic manner with the human conduct--knowledge as distinguished from pre-supposition--the idea which came out afterwards so systematically and comprehensively developed in the works of his great contemporary and partner in arts and learning4 ,we must look at this1 as well as at some other demonstrations of which this time was the witness1 to see what new mastership this is that was coming out here so signally in this age in various forms1 and in more minds than one2 what soul of a new era it was that had laughed1 even in the boyhood of its heroes1 at old ,aristotle on his throne2 that had made its youthful games with dramatic impersonations1 and caricatures1 and travesties of that old book-learning2 that in the glory of those youthful spirits--'the spirits of youths1 that meant to be of note and began betimes'--it thought itself already competent to laugh down and dethrone with its 'jests'2 that had laughed all its days in secret2 that had never once lost a chance for a jibe at the philosophy it found in possession of the philosophic chairs--a philosophy which had left so many things in heaven and earth uncompassed in its old futile dreamy abstractions4 ,unless philosophy can make a ,juliet1 ,displant a town1 reverse a prince's doom1 ,hang up philosophy1 was the word of the poet of this new school in one of his 'lofty and passionate' moods1 at a much earlier stage of this philosophic development4 ',see what learning is6' exclaims the ,nurse1 speaking at that same date from the same dictation1 for there is a ,friar 'abroad' there already in the action of that play1 who is undertaking to bring his learning to bear upon practice1 and opening his cell for scientific consultation and ghostly advice on the questions of the play as they happen to arise2 and it is his apparent capacity for smoothing1 and reconciling1 and versifying1 not words only1 but facts1 which commands the ,nurse's admiration4 ,this doctrine of a practical learning1 this part operative of the new learning for which the founders of it beg leave to reintegrate the abused term of ,natural ,magic1 referring to the ,persians in particular1 to indicate the extent of the field which their magical operations are intended ultimately to occupy2 this idea1 which the master of this school was illustrating now in the ,tower so happily1 did not originate in the ,tower1 as we shall see4 ,the first heirs of this new invention1 were full of it4 ,the babbling infancy of this great union of art and learning1 whose speech flows in its later works so clear1 babbled of nothing else3 its ,elizabethan savageness1 with its first taste of learning on its lips1 with its new classic lore yet stumbling in its speech1 already1 knew nothing else4 ,the very rudest play in all this collection of the school1--left to show us the march of that 'time-bettering age1' the play which offends us most--belongs properly to this collection2 contains this secret1 which is the ,elizabethan secret1 and the secret of that art of delivery and tradition which this from the first inevitably created1--yet rude and undeveloped1 but there4 ,we need not go so far1 however1 as that1 in this not pleasant retrospect2 for these early plays are not the ones to which the interpreter of this school would choose to refer the reader1 for the proof of its claims at present2--these which the faults of youth and the faults of the time conspire to mar3 in which the overdoing of the first attempt to hide under a cover suited to the tastes of the ,court1 or to the yet more faulty tastes of the rabble of an ,elizabethan play-house1--the boldest scientific treatment of 'the forbidden questions1' still leaves so much upon the surface of the play that repels the ordinary criticism2--these that were first sent out to bring in the rabble of that age to the scholar's cell1 these in which the new science was first brought in1 in its slave's costume1 with all its native glories shorn1 and its eyes put out 'to make sport' for the ,tudor--perilous sport6--these first rude essays of a learning not yet master of its unwonted tools1 not yet taught how to wear its fetters gracefully1 and wreathe them over and make immortal glories of them--still clanking its irons4 ,there is nothing here to detain any criticism not yet instructed in the secret of this ,art ,union4 ,but the faults are faults of execution merely2 the design of the ,novura ,organum is not more noble1 not more clear4 ,for these works are the works of that same 'school' which the ,jesuit thought so dangerous1 and calculated to affect unfavourably the morality of the ,english nation--the school which the ,jesuit contrived to bring under suspicion as a school in which doctrines that differed from opinions received on essential points were secretly taught1--contriving to infect with his views on that point the lady who was understood1 at that time1 to be the only person qualified to reflect on questions of this nature2 the school in which ,raleigh was asserted to be perverting the minds of young men by teaching them the use of profane anagrams2 and it cannot be denied1 that anagrams1 as well as other 'devices in letters1' were made use of1 in involving 'the bolder meanings' contained in writings issued from this school1 especially when the scorn with which science regarded the things it found set up for its worship had to be conveyed sometimes in a point or a word4 ,it is a school1 whose language might often seem obnoxious to the charge of profanity and other charges of that nature to those who do not understand its aims1 to those who do not know that it is from the first a school of ,natural ,science1 whose chief department was that history which makes the basis of the 'living art1' the art of man's living1 the essential art of it1--a school in which the use of words was1 in fact1 more rigorous and scrupulous than it had ever been in any other1 in which the use of words is for the first time scientific1 and yet1 in some respects1 more bold and free than in those in which mere words1 as words1 are supposed to have some inherent virtue and efficacy1 some mystic worth and sanctity in them4 ,this was the learning in which the art of a new age and race first spoke1 and many an old foolish1 childish1 borrowed notion went off like vapour in it at its first word1 without any one's ever so much as stopping to observe it1 any one whose place was within4 ,it is the school of a criticism much more severe than the criticism which calls its freedom in question4 ,it is a school in which the taking of names in vain in general is strictly forbidden4 ,that is the first commandment of it1 and it is a commandment with promise4 ,the man who sits there in the ,tower1 now1 driving that same 'goose-pen' which he speaks of as such a safe instrument for unfolding practical doctrines1 with such patient energy1 is not now occupied with the statistics of ,noah's ,ark1 grave as he looks2 though that1 too1 is a subject which his nautical experience and the indomitable bias of his genius as a western man towards calculation in general1 together with his notion that the affairs of the world generally1 past as well as future1 belong properly to his sphere as a man1 will require him to take up and examine and report upon1 before he will think that his work is done4 ,it is not a chapter in the ,history of the ,world which he is composing at present1 though that work is there at this moment on the table1 and forms the ostensible state-prison work of this convict4 ,this is the man who made one so long ago in those brilliant ',round ,table' reunions1 in which the idea of converting the new belles lettres of that new time1 to such grave and politic uses was first suggested2 he is the genius of that company1 that even in such frolic mad-cap games as ,love's ,labour's ,lost1 and the ,taming of the ,shrew1 and ,midsummer ,night's ,dream1 could contrive to insert1 not the broad farce and burlesque on the old pretentious wordy philosophy and pompous rhetoric it was meant to dethrone only1 and not the most perilous secret of the new philosophy1 only1 but the secret of its organ of delivery and tradition1 the secret of its use of letters1 the secret of its 'cipher in letters1' and not its 'cipher in words' only1 the cipher in which the secret of the authorship of these works was infolded1 and in which it was found1 but not found in these earlier plays1--plays in which these so perilous secrets are still conveyed in so many involutions1 in passages so intricate with quips and puns and worthless trivialities1 so uninviting or so marred with their superficial meanings1 that no one would think of looking in them for anything of any value4 ,for it is always when some necessary1 but not superficial1 question of the play is to be considered1 that the ,clown and the ,fool are most in request1 for 'there be of them that will themselves laugh to set on some barren spectators to laugh too'2 and under cover of that mirth it is1 that the grave or witty undertone reaches the ear of the judicious4 ,it is in the later and more finished works of this school that the key to the secret doctrines of it1 which it is the object of this work to furnish1 is best found4 ,but the fact1 that in the very rudest and most faulty plays in this collection of plays1 which form so important a department of the works of this school1 which make indeed the noblest tradition1 the only adequate tradition1 the 'illustrated tradition' of its noblest doctrine--the fact that in the very earliest germ of this new union of 'practic and theoric1' of art and learning1 from which we pluck at last ,advancements of ,learning1 and ,hamlets1 and ,lears1 and ,tempests1 and the ,novum ,organum1 already the perilous secret of this union is infolded1 already the entire organism that these great fruits and flowers will unfold in such perfection is contained1 and clearly traceable1--this is a fact which appeared to require insertion in this history1 and not1 perhaps1 without some illustration4 ',it is not amiss to observe1' says the ,author of the ,advancement of ,learning1 when at last his great exordium to the science of nature in man1 and the art of culture and cure that is based on that science is finished--pausing to observe it1 pausing ere he will produce his index to that science1 to observe it3 ',it is not amiss to observe'1 he says--7speaking of the operation of culture in general on young minds1 so forcible1 though unseen1 as hardly any length of time1 or contention of labour1 can countervail it afterwards7--'how small and mean faculties gotten by education1 yet when they fall into great men1 or great matters1 do work great and important effects2 whereof we see a notable example in ,tacitus1 of two stage-players1 ,percennius and ,vibulenus1 who1 by their faculty of playing1 put the ,pannonian armies into an extreme tumult and combustion2 for1 there arising a mutiny among them1 upon the death of ,augustus ,caesar1 ,blaesus the lieutenant had committed some of the mutineers1 which were suddenly rescued2 whereupon ,vibulenus got to be heard speak being a stage-player1 which he did in this manner4 ',these poor innocent wretches appointed to cruel death1 you have restored to behold the light3 but who shall restore my brother to me1 or life to my brother1 that was sent hither in message from the legions of ,germany to treat of--,,the ,,common ,,cause8 ,and he hath murdered him this last night by some of his fencers and ruffians1 that he hath about him for his executioners upon soldiers4 ,the mortalest enemies do not deny burial2 when ,i have performed my last duties to the corpse with kisses1 with tears1 command me to be slain besides him1 so that these1 my fellows1 for our good meaning and our true hearts to ,,the ,,legion1 may have leave to bury us4 ',with which speech he put the army into an infinite fury and uproar2 whereas1 truth was1 he had no brother1 neither was there any such matter in that case1 but he played it merely as if he had been upon the stage4' ,this is the philosopher and stage critic who expresses a decided opinion elsewhere1 that 'the play's the thing1' though he finds this kind of writing1 too1 useful in its way1 and for certain purposes2 but he is the one who1 in speaking of the original differences in the natures and gifts of men1 suggests that 'there are a kind of men who can1 as it were1 divide themselves2' and he does not hesitate to propound it as his deliberate opinion1 that a man of wit should have at command a number of styles adapted to different auditors and exigencies2 that is1 if he expects to accomplish anything with his rhetoric4 ,that is what he makes himself responsible for from his professional chair of learning2 but it is the ,prince of ,denmark1 with his remarkable natural faculty of speaking to the point1 who says1 ',seneca can not be too heavy1 nor ,plautus too light1 for--what8--the law of writ--and--the liberty4' ',these are the only men1' he adds1 referring apparently to that tinselled gauded group of servants that stand there awaiting his orders4 ',my lord--you played once in the university1 you say1' he observes afterwards1 addressing himself to that so politic statesmen whose overreaching court plots and performances end for himself so disastrously4 ',that did ,i1 my lord1' replies ,polonius1 'and was accounted a good actor4' ',and what did you enact8' ',i did enact ,julius ,caesar4 ,i--was killed i' the ,capitol ,i4 ,brutus killed me4' ',it was a brute part of him collateral sounds--,elizabethan phonography to kill so capitol a calf there4--,be the players ready8'7874 ,that is the question4 ',while watching the progress of the action at ,sadlers' ,wells1' says the dramatic critic of the ',times1' in the criticism of the ,comedy of ,errors before referred to1 directing attention to the juvenile air of the piece1 to 'the classic severity in the form of the play1' and 'that baldness of treatment which is a peculiarity of antique comedy'--'while watching the progress of the action at ,sadlers' ,wells1 we may almost fancy we are at ,st4 ,peter's ,college1 witnessing the annual performance of the ,queen's scholars4' ,that is not surprising to one acquainted with the history of these plays1 though the criticism which involves this kind of observation is not exactly the criticism to which we have been accustomed here4 ,but any one who wishes to see1 as a matter of antiquarian curiosity1 or for any other purpose1 how far from being hampered in the first efforts of his genius with this class of educational associations1 that particular individual would naturally have been1 in whose unconscious brains this department of the modern learning is supposed to have had its accidental origin1--any one who wishes to see in what direction the antecedents of a person in that station in life would naturally have biased1 at that time1 his first literary efforts1 if1 indeed1 he had ever so far escaped from the control of circumstances as to master the art of the collocation of letters--any person who has any curiosity whatever on this point is recommended to read in this connection a letter from a professional contemporary of this individual--one who comes to us with unquestionable claims to our respect1 inasmuch as he appears to have had some care for the future1 and some object in living beyond that of promoting his own immediate private interests and sensuous gratification4 ,it is a letter of ,mr4 ,edward ,alleyn 7the founder of ,dulwich ,college71 published by the ,shakspere ,society1 to which we are compelled to have recourse for information on this interesting question2 inasmuch as that distinguished contemporary and professional rival of his referred to1 who occupies at present so large a space in the public eye1 as it is believed for the best of reasons1 has failed to leave us any specimens of his method of reducing his own personal history to writing1 or indeed any demonstration of his appreciation of the art of chirography1 in general4 ,he is a person who appears to have given a decided preference to the method of oral communication as a means of effecting his objects4 ,but in reading this truly interesting document from the pen of an ,elizabethan player1 who has left us a specimen of his use of that instrument usually so much in esteem with men of letters1 we must take into account the fact1 that this is an exceptional case of culture4 ,it is the case of a player who aspired to distinction1 and who had raised himself by the force of his genius above his original social level2 it is the case of a player who has been referred to recently as a proof of the position which it was possible for 'a stage player' to attain to under those particular social conditions4 ,but as this letter is of a specially private and confidential nature1 and as this poor player who did care for the future1 and who founded with his talents1 such as they were1 a noble charity1 instead of living and dying to himself1 is not to blame for his defects of education1--since his acts command our respect1 however faulty his attempts at literary expression1--this letter will not be produced here4 ,but whoever has read it1 or whoever may chance to read it1 in the course of an antiquarian research1 will be apt to infer1 that whatever educational bias the first efforts of genius subjected to influences of the same kind would naturally betray1 the faults charged upon the ,comedy of ,errors1 the leaning to the classics1 the taint of ,st4 ,peter's ,college1 the tone of the ,queen's scholars1 are hardly the faults that the instructed critic would look for4 ,but to ascertain the fact1 that the controlling idea of that new learning which the ,man in the ,tower is illustrating now in so grand and mature a manner1 not with his pen only1 but with his 'living art1' and with such an entire independence of classic models1 is already organically contained in those earlier works on which the classic shell is still visible1 it is not necessary to go back to the ,westminster play of these new classics1 or to the performances of the ,queen's ,scholars4 ,plays having a considerable air of maturity1 in which the internal freedom of judgment and taste is already absolute1 still exhibit on the surface of them this remarkable submission to the ancient forms which are afterwards rejected on principle1 and by a rule in the new rhetoric--a rule which the author of the ,advancement of ,learning is at pains to state very clearly4 ,the wildness of which we hear so much1 works itself out upon the surface1 and determines the form at length1 as these players proceed and grow bolder with their work4 ,a play1 second to none in historical interest1 invaluable when regarded simply in its relation to the history of this school1 one which may be considered1 in fact1 the ,introductory ,play of the ,new ,school of ,learning1 is one which exhibits very vividly these striking characteristics of the earlier period4 ,it is one in which the vulgarities of the ,play-house are still the cloak of the philosophic subtleties1 and incorporated1 too1 into the philosophic design2 and it is one in which the unity of design1 that one design which makes the works of this school1 from first to last1 as the work of one man1 is still cramped with those other unities which the doctrines of ,dionysus and the mysteries of ,eleusis prescribed of old to their interpreters4 ',what is the end of study8 ,what is the end of it8' was the word of the ,new ,school of ,learning4 ,that was its first speech4 ,it was a speech produced with dramatic illustrations1 for the purpose of bringing out its significance more fully1 for the purpose of pointing the inquiry unmistakeably to those ends of learning which the study of the learned then had not yet comprehended4 ,it is a speech on behalf of a new learning1 in which the extant learning is produced on the stage1 in its actual historical relation to those 'ends' which the new school conceived to be the true ends of it1 which are brought on to the stage in palpable1 visible representation1 not in allegorical forms1 but in instances1 'conspicuous instances1' living specimens1 after the manner of this school4 ',what is the end of study8' cried the setter forth of this new doctrine1 as long before as when lore and love were debating it together in that 'little ,academe' that was yet1 indeed1 to be 'the wonder of the world1 still and contemplative in living art4' ',what is the end of study8' cries already the voice of one pacing under these new olives4 ,that was the word of the new school2 that was the word of new ages1 and these new minds taught of nature--her priests and prophets knew it then1 already1 ',let fame that all hunt after in their lives1' they cry-- ,live registered upon our brazen tombs1 ,and then grace us in the disgrace of death2 ,when spite of cormorant devouring time1 ,the endeavour of this present breath may buy ,that honour which shall bate his scythe's keen edge1 ,and make us ,,heirs of all eternity--of ,,all4 99 99 99 99 99 ,navarre shall be the wonder of the world1 ,our ,court shall be a little ,academe1 ,still and contemplative in--,,living art4 ,this is the ,poet of the ,woods who is beginning his 'recreations' for us here--the poet who loves so well to take his court gallants in their silks and velvets1 and perfumes1 and fine court ladies with all their courtly airs and graces1 and all the stale conventionalitites that he is sick of1 out from under the low roofs of princes into that great palace in which the ,queen1 whose service he is sworn to1 keeps the ,state4 ,this is the school-master who takes his school all out on holiday excursions into green fields1 and woods1 and treats them to country merry-makings1 and not in sport merely4 ,this is the one that breaks open the cloister1 and the close walls that learning had dwelt in till then1 and shuts up the musty books1 and bids that old droning cease4 ,this is the one that stretches the long drawn aisle and lifts the fretted vault into a grander temple4 ,the ,court with all its pomp and retinue1 the school with all its pedantries and brazen ignorance1 ',high ,art' with its new graces1 divinity1 ,mar-texts and all1 must 'come hither1 come hither1' and 'under the green-wood tree lie with me1' the ding-dong of this philosopher's new learning says1 calling his new school together4 ,this is the linguist that will find 'tongues in trees1' and crowd out from the halls of learning the lore of ancient parchments with their verdant classics1 their 'truth in beauty dyed4' ,this is the teacher with whose new alphabet you can find 'sermons in stones1 books in the running brooks1' and good1--good--his 'good' the good of the ,new ,school1 that broader 'good' in every thing4 ',the roof of this court is too high to be yours1' says the princess of this out-door scene to the sovereignty that claimed it then4 ,this is 'great ,nature's' ,poet and ,interpreter1 and he takes us always into 'the continent of nature'2 but man is his chief end1 and that island which his life makes in the universal being is the point to which that ,naturalist brings home all his new collections4 ,this is the ,poet of the ,woods1 but man1--man at the summit of his arts1 in the perfection of his refinements1 is always the creature that he is 'collecting' in them4 ,in his wildest glades1 this is still the species that he is busied with4 ,he has brought him there to experiment on him1 and that we may see the better what he is4 ,he has brought him there to improve his arts1 to reduce his conventional savageness1 to re-refine his coarse refinements1 not to make a wild-man of him4 ,this is the ,poet of the ,woods2 but he is a woodman1 he carries an axe on his shoulder4 ,he will wake a continental forest with it and subdue it1 and fill it with his music4 ,for this is the ,poet who cries ',westward ,ho6' ,but he has not got into the woods yet in this play4 ,he is only on the edge of them as yet4 ,it is under the blue roof of that same dome which is 'too high1' the princess here says1 to belong to the pygmy that this ,philosopher likes so well to bring out and to measure under that canopy--it is 'out of doors' that this new speech on behalf of a new learning is spoken4 ,but there is a close rim of conventionalities about us still4 ,it is a ,park that this audacious proposal is uttered in4 ,but nothing can be more orderly1 for it is 'a ,park with a ,palace in it4' ,there it is1 in the background4 ,if it were the ,attic proscenium itself hollowed into the south-east corner of the ,acropolis1 what more could one ask4 ,but it is the palace of the ,king of--,navarre1 who is the prince of good fellows and the prince of good learning at one and the same time1 which makes1 in this case1 the novelty4 ',a ,park with a ,palace in it' makes the first scene4 ',another part of the same' with the pavilion of a princess and the tents of her ,court seen in the distance1 makes the second2 and the change from one part of this park to another1 though we get into the heart of it sometimes1 is the utmost license that the rigours of the ,greek ,drama permit the ,poet to think of at present4 ,this criticism on the old learning1 this audacious proposal for the new1 with all the bold dramatic illustration with which it is enforced1 must be managed here under these restrictions4 ,whatever 'persons' the plot of this drama may require for its evolutions1 whatever witnesses and reporters the trial and conviction of the old learning1 and the definition of the ground of the new1 may require1 will have to be induced to cross this park at this particular time1 because the form of the new art is not yet emancipated1 and the ,muse of the ,inductive ,science cannot stir from the spot to search them out4 ,however1 that does not impair the representation as it is managed4 ,there is a very bold artist here already1 with all his deference for the antique4 ,we shall be sure to have all when he is the plotter4 ,the action of this drama is not complicated4 ,the persons of it are few2 the characterization is feeble1 compared with that of some of the later plays2 but that does not hinder or limit the design1 and it is all the more apparent for this artistic poverty1 anatomically clear2 while as yet that perfection of art in which all trace of the structure came so soon to be lost in the beauty of the illustration1 is yet wanting2 while as yet that art which made of its living instance an intenser life1 or which made with its living art a life more living than life itself1 was only germinating4 ,the illustration here1 indeed1 approaches the allegorical form1 in the obtrusive1 untempered predominance of the qualities represented1 so overdone as to wear the air of a caricature1 though the historical combination is still here4 ,these diagrams are alive evidently2 they are men1 and not allegorical spectres1 or toys1 though they are 'painted in character4' ,the entire representation of the extant learning is dramatically produced on this stage2 the germ of the 'new' is here also2 and the unoccupied ground of it is marked out here as1 in the ,advancement of ,learning1 by the criticism on the deficiences of that which has the field4 ,here1 too1 the line of the extant culture1--the narrow indented boundary of the culture that professed to take all is always defining the new1--cutting out the wild not yet visited by the art of man2--only here the criticism is much more lively1 because here 'we come to particulars1' a thing which the new philosophy--much insists on2 and though this want in learning1 and the wildness it leaves1 is that which makes tragedies in this method of exhibition2 it has its comical aspect also2 and this is the laughing and weeping philosopher in one who manages these representations2 and in this case it is the comical aspect of the subject that is seized on4 ,our diagrams are still coarse here1 but they have already the good scientific quality of exhausting the subject4 ,it is the ,new ,school that occupies the centre of the piece4 ,their quarters are in that palace1 but the king of it is the ,royalty 7,raleigh7 that founded and endowed this ,school--that was one of his secret titles1--and under that name he may sometimes be recognized in descriptions and dedications that persons who were not in the secret of the ,school naturally applied in another quarter1 or appropriated to themselves4 ',rex was a surname among the ,romans1' says the ,interpreter of this ,school1 in a very explanatory passage1 'as well as ,king is with us4' ,it is the ,new ,school that is under these boughs here1 but hardly that as yet4 ,it is rather the representation of the new classical learning1--the old learning newly revived1--in which the new is germinating4 ,it is that learning in its first effect on the young1 enthusiastic1 but earnest practical ,english mind4 ,it is that revival of the old learning1 arrested1 daguerrotyped at the moment in which the new begins to stir in it1 in minds which are going to be the master-minds of ages4 ',common sense' is the word here already4 ',common sense' is the word that this new ,academe is convulsed with when the curtain rises4 ,and though it is laughter that you hear there now1 sending its merry ,english peals through those musty1 antique walls1 as the first ray of that new beam enters them2 the muse of the new mysteries has also another mask1 and if you will wait a little1 you shall hear that tone too4 ,cries that the old mysteries never caught1 lamentations for ,adonis not heard before1 griefs that ,dionysus never knew1 shall yet ring out from those walls4 ,under that classic dome which still calls itself ,platonic1 the questions and experiments of the new learning are beginning4 ,these youths are here to represent the new philosophy1 which is science1 in the act of taking its first step4 ,the subject is presented here in large masses4 ,but this central group1 at least1 is composed of living men1 and not dramatic shadows merely4 ,there are good historical features peering through those masks a little4 ,these youths are full of youthful enthusiasm1 and aspiring to the ideal heights of learning in their enthusiasm4 ,but already the practical bias of their genius betrays itself4 ,they are making a practical experiment with the classics1 and to their surprise do not find them 'good for life4' ,here is the ,school1 then1--with the classics on trial in the persons of these new school-men4 ,that is the central group4 ,what more do we want8 ,here is the new and the old already4 ,but this is the old revived--newly revived2--this is the revival of learning in whose stimulus the new is beginning4 ,there is something in the field besides that4 ,there is a 'school-master abroad' yet1 that has not been examined4 ,these young men who have resolved themselves in their secret sittings into a committee of the whole1 are going to have him up4 ,he will be obliged to come into this park here1 and speak his speech in the ear of that ,english 'common sense1' which is meddling here1 for the first time1 in a comprehensive manner with things in general2 he will have to 'speak out loud and plain1' that these ,english parents who are sitting here in the theatre1 some of 'the wiser sort' of them1 at least1 may get some hint of what it is that this pedagogue is beating into their children's brains1 taking so much of their glorious youth from them--that priceless wealth of nature which none can restore to them1--as the purchase4 ,but this is not all4 ,there is a man who teaches the grown-up children of the parish in which this ,park is situated1 who happens to live hard by1--a man who professes the care and cure of minds4 ,he1 too1 has had a summons sent him2 there will be no excuse taken2 and his examination will proceed at the same time4 ,these two will come into the ,park together2 and perhaps we shall not be able to detect any very marked difference in their modes of expressing themselves4 ,they are two ordinary1 quiet-looking personages enough4 ,there is nothing remarkable in their appearance2 their coming here is not forced4 ,there are deer in this ,park2 and 'book-men' as they are1 they have a taste for sport also it seems4 ,unless you should get a glimpse of the type1--of the unit in their faces--and that shadowy train that the cipher points to1--unless you should observe that their speech is somewhat strongly pronounced for an individual representation--merely glancing at them in passing--you would not1 perhaps1 suspect who they are4 ,and yet the hints are not wanting2 they are very thickly strewn1--the hints which tell you that in these two men all the extant learning1 which is in places of trust and authority1 is represented2 all that is not included in that elegant learning which those students are making sport of in those 'golden books' of theirs1 under the trees here now4 ,but there is another department of art and literature which is put down as a department of 'learning1' and a most grave and momentous department of it too1 in that new scheme of learning which this play is illustrating1--one which will also have to be impersonated in this representation1--one which plays a most important part in the history of this ,school4 ,it is that which gives it the power it lacks and wants1 and in one way or another will have4 ,it is that which makes an arm for it1 and a long one4 ,it is that which supplies its hidden arms and armour4 ,but neither is this department of learning as it is extant1--as this ,school finds it prepared to its hands1 going to be permitted to escape the searching of this comprehensive satire4 ,there is a 'refined traveller of ,spain' haunting the purlieus of this ,court1 who is just the bombastic kind of person that is wanted to act this part4 ,for this impersonation1 too1 is historical4 ,there are just such creatures in nature as this4 ,we see them now and then2 or1 at least1 he is not much overdone1--'this child of ,fancy1--,don ,armado hight4' ,it is the ,old ,romance1 with his ballads and allegories1--with his old 'lies' and his new arts1--that this company are going to use for their new minstrelsy2 but first they will laugh him out of his bombast and nonsense1 and instruct him in the knowledge of 'common things1' and teach him how to make poetry out of them4 ,they have him here now1 to make sport of him with the rest4 ,it is the fashionable literature1-- the literature that entertains a court1--the literature of a tyranny1 with his gross servility1 with his courtly affectations1 with his arts of amusement1 his 'vain delights1' with his euphuisms1 his 'fire-new words1' it is the polite learning1 the ,elizabethan ,belles ,lettres1 that is brought in here1 along with that old ,dryasdust ,scholasticism1 which the other two represent1 to make up this company4 ,these critics1 who turn the laugh upon themselves1 who caricature their own follies for the benefit of learning1 who make themselves and their own failures the centre of the comedy of ,love's ,labour's ,lost1 are not going to let this thing escape2 with the heights of its ideal1 and the grossness of its real1 it is the very fuel for the mirth that is blazing and crackling here4 ,for these are the woodmen that are at work here1 making sport as they work2 hewing down the old decaying trunks1 gathering all the nonsense into heaps1 and burning it up and and clearing the ground for the new4 ',what is the end of study1' is the word of this ,play4 ,to get the old books shut1 but not till they have been examined1 not till all the good in them has been taken out1 not till we have made a stand on them2 to get the old books in their places1 under our feet1 and 'then to make progression' after we see where we are1 is the proposal here--here also4 ,it is the shutting up of the old books1 and the opening of the new ones1 which is the business here4 ,but that--that is not the proposal of an ignorant man 7as this ,poet himself takes pains to observe72 it is not the proposition of a man who does not know what there is in books--who does not know but there is every thing in them that they claim to have in them1 every thing that is good for life1 magic and all4 ,an ignorant man is in awe of books1 on account of his ignorance4 ,he thinks there are all sorts of things in them4 ,he is very diffident when it comes to any question in regard to them4 ,he tells you that he is not 'high learned1' and defers to his betters4 ,neither is this the proposition of a man who has read a little1 who has only a smattering in books1 as the ,poet himself observes4 ,it is the proposition of a scholar1 who has read them all1 or had them read for him and examined1 who knows what is in them all1 and what they are good for1 and what they are not good for4 ,this is the man who laughs at learning1 and borrows her own speech to laugh her down with4 ,this1 and not the ignorant man1 it is who opens at last 'great nature's' gate to us1 and tells us to come out and learn of her1 because that which old books did not 'clasp in1' that which old philosophies have 'not dreamt of1'--the lore of laws not written yet in books of man's devising1 the lore of that of which man's ordinary life consisteth is here1 uncollected1 waiting to be spelt out4 ,king4 ,how well he's read to reason against reading4 is the inference here4 ,dumain4 ,proceeded well to stop all good proceeding4 ,it is progress that is proposed here also4 ,after the survey of learning 'has been well taken1 then to make progession' is the word4 ,it is not the doctrine of unlearning that is taught here in this satire4 ,it is a learning that includes all the extant wisdom1 and finds it insufficient4 ,it is one that requires a new and nobler study for its god-like ends4 ,but1 at the same time1 the hindrances that a practical learning has to encounter are pointed at from the first4 ,the fact1 that the true ends of learning take us at once into the ground of the forbidden questions1 is as plainly stated in the opening speech of the ,new ,academy as the nature of the statement will permit4 ,the fact1 that the intellect is trained to vain delights under such conditions1 because there is no earnest legitimate occupation of it permitted1 is a fact that is glanced at here1 as it is in other places1 though not in such a manner1 of course1 as to lead to a 'question' from the government in regard to the meaning of the passages in which these grievances are referred to4 ,under these embarrassments it is1 we are given to understand1 however1 that the criticism on the old learning and the plot for the new is about to proceed4 ,here it takes the form of comedy and broad farce4 ,there is a touch of 'tart ,aristophanes' in the representation here4 ,this is the introductory performance of the school in which the student hopes for high words howsoever low the matter1 emphasizing that hope with an allusion to the heights of learning1 as he finds it1 and the highest word of it1 which seems irreverent1 until we find from the whole purport of the play how far he at least is from taking it in vain1 whatever implication of that sort his criticism may be intended to leave on others1 who use good words with so much iteration and to so little purpose4 ',that is a high hope for a low having' is the rejoinder of that associate of his1 whose views on this point agree with his own so entirely4 ,it is the height of the hope and the lowness of the having--it is the height of the words and the lowness of the matter1 that makes the incongruity here4 ,that is the soul of all the mirth that is stirring here4 ,it is the height of 'the style' that 'gives us cause to climb in the merriment' that makes the subject of this essay4 ,it is literature in general that is laughed at here1 and the branches of it in particular4 ,it is the old books that are walking about under these trees1 with their follies all ravelled out1 making sport for us4 ,but this is not all4 ,it is the defect in learning which is represented here--that same 'defect' which a graver work of this ,academy reports1 in connection with a proposition for the ,advancement of ,learning--for its advancement into the fields not yet taken up1 and which turn out1 upon inquiry1 to be the fields of human life and practice2--it is that main defect which is represented here4 ',i find a kind of science of words but none of things1' says the reporter4 ',what do you read1 my lord8' ',words1 words1 words1' echoes the ,prince of ,denmark4 ',i find in these antique books1 in these ,philosophies and ,poems1 a certain resplendent or lustrous mass of matter chosen to give glory either to the subtilty of disputations1 or to the eloquence of discourses1' says the other and graver reporter2 'but as to the ordinary and common matter of which life consisteth1 ,i do not find it erected into an art or science1 or reduced to written inquiry4' ',how low soever the matter1 ,i hope in ,god for high words1' says a speaker1 who comes out of that same palace of learning on to this stage with the secret badge of the new lore on him1 which is the lore of practice--a speaker not less grave1 though he comes in now in the garb of this pantomime1 to make sport for us with his news of learning4 ,for ',seneca cannot be too heavy1 nor ,plautus too light for the law of writ and the liberty4' ,it is the high words and the low having that make the incongruity4 ,but we cannot see the vanity of those heights of words1 till the lowness of the matter which they profess to abstract has been brought into contrast with them1 till the particulars which they do not grasp1 which they can not compel1 have been brought into studious contrast with them4 ,the delicate graces of those flowery summits of speech which the ideal nature1 when it energises in speech1 creates1 must overhang in this design the rude actuality which the untrained nature in man1 forgotten of art1 is always producing4 ,and it is the might of nature in this opposition1 it is the force of 'matter1' it is the unconquerable cause contrasted with the vanity of the words that have not comprehended the cause1 it is the futility of these heights of words that are not 'forms' that do not correspond to things which must be exhibited here also4 ,it is the force of the law in nature1 that must be brought into opposition here with the height of the word1 the ideal word1 the higher1 but not yet scientifically abstracted word1 that seeks in vain because it has no 'grappling-hook' on the actuality1 to bind it4 ,there already are the heights of learning as it is1 as this school finds it1 dramatically exhibited on the one hand2 but this1 too1--life as it is1--as this school finds it1 man's life as it is1 unreduced to order by his philosophy1 unreduced to melody by his verse1 must also be dramatically exhibited on the other hand1 must also be impersonated4 ,it is life that we have here1 the 'theoric' on the one side1 the 'practic' on the other4 ,the height of the books on the one side1 the lowness1 the unvisited1 'unlettered' lowness of the life on the other4 ,that which exhibits the defect in learning that the new learning is to remedy1 the new uncultured1 unbroken ground of science must be exhibited here also4 ,but that is man's life4 ,that is the world4 ,and what if it be8 ,there are diagrams in this theatre large enough for that4 ,it is the theatre of the ,new ,academy which deals also in ,,ideas1 but prefers the solidarities4 ,the wardrobe and other properties of this theatre are specially adapted to exigencies of this kind4 ,the art that put the extant learning with those few strokes into the grotesque forms you see there1 will not be stopped on this side either1 for any law of writ or want of space and artistic comprehension4 ,this is the learning that can be bounded in the nut-shell of an aphorism and include all in its bounds4 ,there are not many persons here1 and they are ordinary looking persons enough4 ,but if you lift those dominos a little1 which that 'refined traveller of ,spain' has brought in fashion1 you will find that this rustic garb and these homely country features hide more than they promised2 and the princess1 with her train1 who is keeping state in the tents yonder1 though there is an historical portrait there too1 is greater than she seems4 ,this ,antony ,dull is a poor rude fellow2 but he is a great man in this play4 ,this is the play in which one asks ',which is the princess8' and the answer is1 ',the tallest and the thickest4' ,antony is the thickest1 he is the acknowledged sovereign here in this school2 for he is of that greater part that carries it1 and though he hath never fed of the dainties bred in a book1 these spectacles which the new 'book men' are getting up here are intended chiefly for him4 ,and that unlettered small knowing soul ',me'--'still me'--insignificant as you think him when you see him in the form of a country swain1 is a person of most extensive domains and occupations1 and of the very highest dignity1 as this philosophy will demonstrate in various ways1 under various symbols4 ,you will have that same me in the form of a ,mountain1 before you have read all the books of this school1 and mastered all its 'tokens' and 'symbols4' ,the dramatic representation here is meagre2 but we shall find upon inquiry it is already the ,globe ,theatre1 with all its new solidarities1 new in philosophy1 new in poetry1 that the leaves of this park hide--this park that the doors and windows of the ,new ,academe open into--these new grounds that it lets out its students to play and study in1 and collect their specimens from--'still and contemplative in living art4' ,it was all the world that was going through that park that day haply1 we shall find4 ,it is all the world that we get in this narrow representation here1 as we get it in a more limited representation still1 in another place4 ',all the world knows me in my book and my book in me1' cries the ,egotist of the ,mountain4 ,it is the first ,canto of that great ,epic1 whose argument runs through so many books1 that is chanted here4 ,it is the war1 the unsuccessful war of lore and nature1 whose lost fields have made man's life1 that is getting reviewed at last and reduced to speech and writing4 ,it is the school itself that makes the centre of the plot in this case2 these gay young philosophers with 'the ribands' yet floating in their 'cap of youth1' who oppose lore to love1 who 'war against their own affections and ,,the ,,huge ,,army ,,of ,,the ,,world',s ,,desires1' ere they know what they are2 who think to conquer nature's potencies1 her universal powers and causes1 with wordy ignorance1 with resolutions that ignore them simply1 and make a virtue of ignoring them1 these are the chief actors here1 who come out of that classic tiring house where they have been shut up with the ancients so long1 to celebrate on this green plot1 which is life1 their own defeat1 and propose a better wisdom1 the wisdom of the moderns4 ,and ,holofernes1 the schoolmaster1 who cultivates minds1 and ,sir ,nathaniel1 the curate1 who cures them1 and ,don ,armado or ,don ,adramadio1 from the flowery heights of the new ,belles ,lettres1 with the last refinement of ,euphuism on his lips1 and ,antony ,dull1 and the country damsel and her swain1 and the princess and her attendants1 are all there to eke out and complete the philosophic design1--to exhibit the extant learning in its airy flights and gross descents1 in its ludicrous attempt to escape from those particulars or to grapple1 without loss of grandeur1 those particulars of which man's life consisteth4 ,it is the vain pretension and assumption of those faulty wordy abstractions1 whose falseness and failure in practice this school is going to expose elsewhere2 it is the defect of those abstractions and idealisms that the ,novum ,organum was invented to remedy1 which is exhibited so grossly and palpably here4 ,it is the height of those great swelling words of rhetoric and logic1 in rude contrast with those actualities which the history of man is always exhibiting1 which the universal nature in man is always imposing on the learned and unlearned1 the profane and the reverend1 the courtier and the clown1 the 'king and the beggar1' the actualities which the natural history of man continues perseveringly to exhibit1 in the face of those logical abstractions and those ideal schemes of man as he should be1 which had been till this time the fruit of learning2--those actualities1 those particulars1 whose lowness the new philosophy would begin with1 which the new philosophy would erect into an art or science4 ,the foundation of this ascent is natural history4 ,there must be nothing omitted here1 or the stairs would be unsafe4 ,the rule in this ,school1 as stated by the ,interpreter in ,chief1 is1 'that there be nothing in the globe of matter1 which should not be likewise in the globe of crystal or form2' that is1 he explains1 'that there should not be anything in being and action1 which should not be drawn and collected into contemplation and doctrine4' ,the lowness of matter1 all the capabilities and actualities of speech and action1 not of the refined only1 but of the vulgar and profane1 are included in the science which contemplates an historical result1 and which proposes the reform of these actualities1 the cure of these maladies1--which comprehends man as man in its intention1--which makes the ,common ,weal its end4 ,science is the word that unlocks the books of this ,school1 its gravest and its lightest1 its books of loquacious prose and stately allegory1 and its ,book of ,sports and ,riddles4 ,science is the clue that still threads them1 that never breaks1 in all their departures from the decorums of literature1 in their lowest descents from the refinements of society4 ,the vulgarity is not the vulgarity of the vulgar--the inelegancy is not the spontaneous rudeness of the ill-bred--any more than its doctrine of nature is the doctrine of the unlearned4 ,the loftiest refinements of letters1 the courtliest breeding1 the most exquisite conventionalities1 the most regal dignities of nature1 are always present in these works1 to measure these abysses1 flowering to their brink4 ,man as he is1 booked1 surveyed1--surveyed from the continent of nature1 put down as he is in her book of kinds1 not as he is from his own interior isolated conceptions only1--the universal powers and causes as they are developed in him1 in his untaught affections1 in his utmost sensuous darkness1--the universal principle instanced whereit is most buried1 the cause in nature found2--man as he is1 in his heights and in his depths1 'from his lowest note to the top of his key1'--man in his possibilities1 in his actualities1 in his thought1 in his speech1 in his book language1 and in his every-day words1 in his loftiest lyric tongue1 in his lowest pit of play-house degradation1 searched out1 explained1 interpreted4 ,that is the key to the books of this ,academe1 who carry always on their armour1 visible to those who have learned their secret1 but hid under the symbol of their double worship1 the device of the ,hunters1--the symbol of the twin-gods1--the silver bow1 or the bow that finds all4 ',seeing that she beareth two persons 444 ,i do also otherwise shadow her4' ,it is man's life1 and the culture of it1 erected into an art or science1 that these books contain4 ,in the lowness of the lowest1 and in the aspiration of the noblest1 the powers whose entire history must make the basis of a successful morality and policy are found4 ,it is all abstracted or drawn into contemplation1 'that the precepts of cure and culture may be more rightly concluded4' ',for that which in speculative philosophy corresponds to the cause1 in practical philosophy becomes the rule4' ,it is not necessary to illustrate this criticism in this case1 because in this case the design looks through the execution everywhere4 ,the criticism of the ,novum ,organum1 the criticism of the ,advancement of ,learning1 and the criticism of ,raleigh's ,history of the ,world1 than which there is none finer1 when once you penetrate its crust of profound erudition1 is here on the surface4 ,and the scholasticism is not more obtrusive here1 the learned sock is not more ostentatiously paraded1 than in some critical places in those performances2 while the humour that underlies the erudition issues from a depth of learning not less profound4 ,as1 for instance1 in this burlesque of the descent of ,euphuism to the prosaic detail of the human conditions1 not then accommodated with a style in literature1 a defect in learning which this ,academy proposed to remedy4 ,a new department in literature which began with a series of papers issued from this establishment1 has since undertaken to cover the ground here indicated1 the every-day human life1 and reduce it to written inquiry1 notwithstanding 'the lowness of the matter4' ,,letter ,,from ,,don ,,armado ,,to ,,the ,,king4 ,king reads1 ',great deputy1 the welkin's vicegerent1 and sole dominator of ,navarre1 my soul's earth's god1 and body's fostering patron4444 ,so it is1--besieged with sable-coloured melancholy1 ,i did commend the black1 oppressing humour to the most wholesome physick of thy health-giving air1 and1 as ,i am a gentleman1 betook myself to walk4 ,the time when8 ,about the sixth hour3 when beasts most graze1 birds best peck1 and men sit down to that nourishment which is called supper4' ,no one who is much acquainted with the style of the author of this letter ought to have any difficulty in identifying him here4 ,there was a method of dramatic composition in use then1 and not in this dramatic company only1 which produced an amalgamation of styles4 ',on a forgotten matter1' these associated authors themselves1 perhaps1 could not always 'make distinction of their hands4' ,but there are places where ,raleigh's share in this 'cry of players' shows through very palpably4 ',so much for the time when4 ,now for the ground which2 which ,i mean ,i walked upon3 it is ycleped thy park4 ,then for the place where2 where ,i mean ,i did encounter that obscene and most preposterous event1 that draweth from my snow-white pen the ebon-coloured ink1 which here thou beholdest1 surveyest1 or seest1 etc4444 ',thine in all compliments of devoted and heart-burning heat of duty4 ',,don ,,adriano ,,de ,,armado4' ,and in another letter from the same source1 the dramatic criticism on that style of literature which it was the intention of this ,school 'to reform altogether' is thus continued4 444 ',the magnanimous and most illustrate ,king ,cophetua1 set eye upon the pernicious and indubitate beggar ,zenelophon4 ,and it was he that might rightly say1 ,veni1 vidi1 vici2 which to anatomise in the vulgar1 7,o base and obscure vulgar67 ,videlicet1 he came1 saw1 and overcame444 ,who came8 the king4 ,why did he come8 to see4 ,why did he see8 to overcome4 ,to whom came he8 to the beggar4 ,what saw he8 the beggar4 ,who overcame he8 the beggar4 ,the conclusion is victory4 ,on whose side8 etc4 ',thine in the dearest design of industry4' ,dramatic comment4 ,boyet4 ,i am much deceived but ,i remember the style4 ,princess4 ,else your memory is bad going o'er it erewhile4 ,jaquenetta4 ,good ,master ,parson1 be so good as to read me this letter--it was sent me from ,don ,armatho3 ,i beseech you to read it4 ,holofernes4 ,speaking here1 however1 not in character but for 'the ,academe4' ,fauste precor gelida quando pecus omne sub umbra ,ruminat1 and so forth4 ,ah1 good old ,mantuan6 ,i may speak of thee as the traveller doth of ,venice --,vinegia1 ,vinegia1 ,chi non te vede1 ei non te pregia4 ,old ,mantuan6 ,old ,mantuan6 ,who understandeth thee not1 loves thee not4--,ut re sol la mi fa4--,under pardon1 ,sir1 what are ,,the ,,contents8 or1 rather1 as ,horace says in his--,what1 my soul1 verses8 ,nath4 ,ay1 ,sir1 and very learned one would say so upon examination4 ,hol4 ,let me have a staff1 a stanza1 a verse2 ,lege ,domine4 ,nath4 ,reads the 'verses4'--',if love make me forsworn1' etc4 ,hol4 ,you find not the apostrophe1 and so--miss the accent--criticising the reading4 ,it is necessary to find the apostrophe in the verses of this ,academy1 before you can give the accent correctly2 there are other points which require to be noted also1 in this refined courtier's writings1 as this criticism will inform us4 ,let me supervise the canzonet4 ,here are only numbers ratified1 but for the elegancy1 facility1 and golden cadency of poesy1 caret4 ,ovidius ,naso was the man4 ,and why1 indeed1 ,naso2 but for smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy1 the jerks of invention4 ,imitari is nothing2 so doth the hound his master1 the ape his keeper1 the tired horse his rider4 ,it was no such reading and writing as that which this ,academy was going to countenance1 or teach4 ,but1 ,damosella1 was this directed to you8 ,jaq4 ,ay1 ,sir1 from one ,monsieur ,biron1 one of the strange queen's lords4 ,hol4 ,i will over-glance the super-script4 ',to the snow white hand of the most beauteous lady ,rosaline4' ,i will look again on the intellect of the letter for the nomination of the party writing1 to the person written unto 7,rosaline74--,look again4--,that is the rule for the reading of letters issued from this ,academy1 whether they come in ,don ,armado's name or another's1 when the point is not to 'miss the accent4' ',your ladyship's1 in all desired employment1 ,,biron4' ,sir ,nathaniel1 this ,biron is one of the votaries with the king1 and here he hath framed a letter to a sequent of the stranger queen's1 which1 accidentally or by way of progression1 hath miscarried4 ,trip and go1 my sweet2 deliver this paper into the royal hand of the king4 ,it may concern much4 ,stay not thy compliment1 ,i forgive thy duty4 ,adieu4 ,nath4 ,sir1 you have done this in the fear of ,god1 very religiously2 and as a certain father saith-- ,hol4 ,sir1 tell me not of the father1 ,i do fear colorable colors4 ,but to return to the verses4 ,did they please you1 ,sir ,nathaniel8 ,nath4 ,marvellous well for the pen4 ,hol4 ,i dine to-day at the father's of a certain pupil of mine1 where1 if before repast1 it shall please you to gratify the table with a grace1 ,i will1 on my privilege ,i have with the parent of the foresaid child1 or pupil1 undertake your ben venuto1 where ,i will prove those verses to be very unlearned1 neither savouring of poetry1 wit1 nor invention4 ,i beseech your society4 ,nath4 ,and thank you1 too2 for society 7saith the text7 is the happiness of ,,life4 ,hol4 ,and1 certes1 the text most infallibly concludes it4--,sir1 to ,dull ,i do invite you too1 to hear the verses ex-criticised you shall not say me nay3 pauca verba4 ,away2 the gentles are at their games1 and we will to our recreation4 ,another part of the same4 ,after dinner4 ,re-enter ,holofernes1 ,sir ,nathaniel1 and ,dull4 ,hol4 ,satis quod sufficit4 ,nath4 ,i praise ,god for you1 ,sir3 your reasons at dinner have been sharp and sententious2 pleasant without scurrility1 witty without affection1 audacious without impudency1 learned without opinion1 and strange without heresy4 ,i did converse this quondam day with a companion of the king's1 who is intituled1 nominated1 or called ,don ,adriano de ,armado4 ,hol4 ,novi hominem tanquam te4 ,his manner is lofty1 his discourse peremptory1 his tongue filed1 his eye ambitious1 and his general behaviour1 vain1 ridiculous and thrasonical4 ,he is too picked1 too spruce1 too affected1 too odd1 and1 as it were1 too peregrinate1 as ,i may call it4 ,nath4 ,a most singular and choice epithet6 ,takes out his table-book4 ,hol4 ,he draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument1 ',more matter with less art1' says the queen in ,hamlet1 ,i abhor such fantastical phantasms1 such insociable and point device companions1 such rackers of orthography1 as to speak doubt fine when he should say doubt1 etc4 ,this is abhominable which he would call abominable2 it insinuateth me of insanie2 ,ne intelligis1 domine8 to make frantic1 lunatic4 ,nath4 ,lans deo bone intelligo4 ,hol4 ,bone--bone for bene3 ,priscian1 a little scratched 'twill serve4 ,this was never meant to be printed of course2 all this is understood to have been prepared only for a performance in 'a booth4' ,enter ,armado1 etc4 ,nath4 ,videsne quis venit8 ,ho4 ,video et gaudeo4 ,arm4 ,chirra6 ,hol4 ,quare ,chirra not ,sirrah6 ,but the first appearance of these two book-men1 as ,dull takes leave them to call them in this scene1 is not less to the purpose4 ,they come in with ,antony ,dull1 who serves as a foil to their learning2 from the moment that they open their lips they speak 'in character1' and they do not proceed far before they give us some hints of the author's purpose4 ,nath4 ,very reverent sport truly1 and done in the testimony of a good conscience4 ,hol4 ,the deer was1 as you know1 in sanguis1 ripe as a pomewater1 who now hangeth like a jewel in the ear of ,coelo1 the sky1 the welkin1 the heaven1 and anon falleth like a crab on the face of terra--the soil1 the land1 the earth4 ,a-side glance at the heights and depths of the incongruities which are the subject here4 ,nath4 ,truly1 ,master ,holofernes1 the epithets are sweetly varied1 like a scholar at the least1 but1 etc44444 ,hol4 ,most barbarous intimation6 referring to ,antony ,dull1 who has been trying to understand this learned language1 and apply it to the subject of conversation1 but who fails in the attempt1 very much to the amusement and self-congratulation of these scholars4 ,yet a kind of insinuation1 as it were1 in via1 in way of explication a style much in use in this school1 facere1 as it were1 replication1 or rather ostentare1 to show1 as it were1 his inclination1 after his undressed1 unpolished1 uneducated1 unpruned1 untrained1 or rather unlettered1 or ratherest unconfirmed fashion1--to insert again my haud credo for a deer4444 ,twice sod simplicity1 bis coctus6 ,oh thou monster ignorance1 how deformed dost thou look6 ,nath4 explaining ,sir1 he hath never fed of the dainties bred in a book2 he hath not eat paper1 as it were2 he hath not drunk ink2 his intellect is not replenished2 he is only an animal--only sensible in the duller parts2 ,and such barren plants are set before us that we thankful should be1 7,which we of taste and feeling are7 for those parts that do fructify in us more than he4 ,for as it would ill become me to be vain1 indiscreet1 or a fool1 ,so were there a patch set on learning to see ,,him in a school4 ,that would be a new 'school1' a new 'learning1' patching the 'defect' 7as it would be called elsewhere7 in the old4 ,dull4 ,you two are book-men4 ,can you tell me by your wit1 etc4 ,nath4 ,a rare talent4 ,dull4 ,if a talent be a claw1 look how he claws him with a talent4 ,hol4 ,this is a gift that ,i have2 simple1 simple2 a foolish extravagant spirit1 full of forms1 figures1 shapes1 objects1 ideas1 apprehensions1 motions1 revolutions3 ,but the gift is good in those in whom it is acute1 and ,i am thankful for it4 ,nath4 ,sir1 ,i praise the ,lord for you1 and so may my parishioners2 for their sons are well tutored by you1 and their daughters profit very greatly under you2 you are a good member of the ,,common-,,wealth4 ,he is in earnest of course4 ,is the ,poet so too8 ',what is the end of study8'--let me know4 ',o they have lived long in the alms-basket of ,,words1' is the criticism on this learning with which this showman1 whoever he may he1 explains his exhibition of it4 ,and surely he must be1 indeed1 of the school of ,antony ,dull1 and never fed with the dainties bred in a book1 who does not see what it is that is criticised here2--that it is the learning of an unlearned time1 of a barbarous time1 of a vain1 frivolous debased1 wretched time1 that has been fed long--always from the alms-basket of words4 ,and one who is acquainted already with the style of this school1 who knows already its secret signs and stamp1 would not need to be told to look again on the intellect of the letter for the nomination of the party writing1 to the person written to1 in order to see what source this pastime comes from1--what player it is that is behind the scene here4 ',whoe'er he be1 he bears a mounting mind1' and beginning in the lowness of the actual1 and collecting the principles that are in all actualities1 the true forms that are forms in nature1 and not in man's speech only1 the new ,,ideas of the ,new ,academy1 the ideas that are powers1 with these 'simples' that are causes1 he will reconstruct fortuitous conjunctions1 he will make his poems in facts2 he will find his ,fairy ,land in her kingdom whose iron chain he wears4 ',the gentles were at their games1' and the soul of new ages was beginning its re-creations4 ,for this is but the beginning of that ',armada' that this ,don ,armado--who fights with sword and pen1 in ambush and in the open field--will sweep his old enemy from the seas with yet4 ,o like a book of sports thou'lt read me o'er1 ,but there's more in me than thou'lt understand4 ,look how the father's face ,lives in his issue2 even so the race ,of ,shake-spear's mind and manners brightly shines ,in his well turn'd and true filed lines1 ,in each of which he seems to shake a lance1 ,as brandished in the eyes of--what8--,ignorance6 ,,ben ,,jonson4 ,ignorance6--yes1 that was the word4 ,it is the ,prince of that little ,academe that sits in the ,tower here now4 ,it is in the ,tower that that little ,academe holds its 'conferences' now4 ,there is a little knot of men of science who contrive to meet there4 ,the associate of ,raleigh's studies1 the partner of his plans and toils for so many years1 ,hariot1 too scientific for his age1 is one of these4 ,it is in the ,tower that ,raleigh's school is kept now4 ,the ,english youth1 the hope of ,england1 follow this teacher still4 ',many young gentlemen still resort to him4' ,gilbert ,harvey is one of this school4 ',none but my father would keep such a bird in such a cage1' cries one of them--that ,prince of ,wales through whom the bloodless revolution was to have been accomplished2 and a ,queen seeks his aid and counsel there still4 ,it is in the ,tower now that we must look for the sequel of that holiday performance of the school4 ,it is the genius that had made its game of that old love's labour's lost that is at work here still1 still bent on making a lore of life and love1 still ready to spend its rhetoric on things1 and composing its metres with them4 ,nor shall death brag thou wanderest in his shade1 ,when in eternal lines to time thou growest4 ,he is building and manning new ships in his triumphant fleet4 ,but they are more warlike than they were4 ,the papers that this ,academe issues now have the stamp of the ,tower on them4 ',the golden shower1' that 'flowed from his fruitful head of his love's praise' flows no more4 ,fierce bitter things are flung forth from that retreat of learning1 while the kingly nature has not yet fully mastered its great wrongs4 ,the 'martial hand' is much used in the compositions of this school indeed for a long time afterwards4 ,fitter perhaps to thunder martial stower ,when thee so list thy tuneful thoughts to raise1 said the partner of his verse long before4 ,with rage ,or influence chide or cheer the drooping stage1 says his proteg4 ,it was while this arrested soldier of the human emancipation sat amid his books and papers1 in old ,julius ,caesar's ,tower1 or in the ,tower of that ,conqueror1 'commonly so called1' that the 'readers of the wiser sort' found1 'thrown in at their study windows1' writings1 as if they came 'from several citizens1 wherein ,caesar's ambition was obscurely glanced at' and thus the whisper of the ,roman ,brutus 'pieced them out4' ,brutus thou sleep'st2 awake1 and see thyself4 ,shall ,rome soft--'thus must ,i piece it out4' ,shall ,rome stand under one man's awe8 ,what ,rome8 99 99 99 99 99 ,the fault1 dear ,brutus1 is not in our stars1 ,but in ourselves that we are underlings4 99 99 99 99 99 ,age1 thou art shamed4 ,it was while he sat there1 that the audiences of that player who was bringing forth1 on 'the banks of ,thames1' such wondrous things out of his treasury then1 first heard the ,roman foot upon their stage1 and the long-stifled1 and pent-up speech of ,english freedom1 bursting from the old ,roman patriot's lips4 ,cassius4 ,and let us swear our resolution4 ,brutus4 ,no1 not an oath3 ,if not the face of men1 ,the sufferance of our soul's1 the time's abuse1 ,if these be motives weak1 break off betimes1 ,and every man hence to his idle bed2 ,so let high-sighted tyranny range on1 ,till each man drop by lottery4 ,it was while he sat there1 that the player who did not write his speeches1 said-- ,nor stony tower1 nor walls of beaten brass1 ,nor airless dungeon1 nor strong links of iron1 ,can be retentive to the strength of spirit2 ,if ,i know this1 know all the world beside1 ,that part of tyranny that ,i do bear1 ,i can shake off at pleasure4 ,and why should ,caesar be a tyrant then8 ,poor ,man6 ,i know he would not be a wolf1 ,but that he sees the ,romans are but sheep3 ,he were no lion1 were not ,romans hinds4 ,but ,i1 perhaps1 speak this ,before a willing bondman4 ,hamlet4 ,my lord1--you played once in the university1 you say8 ,polonius4 ,that did ,i1 my lord2 and was accounted a good actor4 ,hamlet4 ,and what did you enact8 ,polonius4 ,i did enact ,julius ,caesar4 ,i was killed i'the ,capitol2 ,brutus killed me4 ,hamlet4 ,it was a brute part of him to kill so capital a calf there4--,be the players ready8 ,seneca cannot be too heavy1 nor ,plautus too light4 ,for the law of writ1 and the liberty4 ,these are the only men4 ,hamlet4 ,why do you go about to recover the wind of me1 as if you would drive me into a toil8 ,guild4 ,o my lord1 if my duty be too bold1 my love is too unmannerly4 ,hamlet4 ,i do not well understand that4 ,will you play upon this pipe8 ,guild4 ,my lord1 ,i cannot4 ,hamlet4 ,i pray you4 ,guild4 ,believe me1 ,i cannot4 ,hamlet4 ,i do beseech you4 ,guild4 ,i know no touch of it1 my lord4 ,hamlet4 ',tis as easy as lying4 ,govern these ventages with your fingers and thumb1 give it breath with your mouth1 and it will discourse most eloquent music4 ,look you1 these are the stops4 ,guild4 ,but these cannot ,i command to any utterance of harmony3 ,i have not the ,,skill4 ,hamlet4 ,why1 look you now1 how unworthy a thing you make of ,,me8 ,you would play upon ,,me2 you would seem to know my stops2 you would pluck out the heart of ,,my ,,mystery2 you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my key2 and there is much music1 excellent voice in this little organ1 yet cannot you make it speak4 ',sblood6 do you think ,i ,,am ,,easier ,,to ,,be ,,played ,,on ,,than ,a ,,pipe8 ,call me what instrument you will1 though you can fret me1 you cannot ,,play upon me4 ,hamlet4 ,why did you laugh when ,i said1 ,man delights not me8 ,guild4 ,to think1 my lord1 if you delight not in man1 what lenten entertainment ,,the ,,players shall receive from you4 ,we coted them on the way1 and thither are they coming to offer you--,,service4 ,,book ,i4 ,,the ,,elizabethan ,,art ,,of ,,delivery ,,and ,,tradition4 ,,part ,i4 ,,michael ,,de ,,montaigne',s ',,private ,,and ,,retired ,,arts4' ,and thus do we of wisdom and of reach1 ,with windlaces and with assays of bias1 ,by indirections1 find directions out2 ,so by my former lecture and advice1 ,shall you1 my son4--,hamlet4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,ascent ,,from ,,particulars ,,to ,,the ',,highest ,,parts ,,of ,,sciences1' ,,by ,,the ,,enigmatic ,,method ,,illustrated4 ,single1 ,i'll resolve you4--,tempest4 ,observe his inclination in yourself4--,hamlet4 ,for ciphers1 they are commonly in letters1 but may be in words4 ,advancement of ,learning4 ,the fact that a ,science of ,practice1 not limited to ,physics and the ,arts based on the knowledge of physical laws1 but covering the whole ground of the human activity1 and limited only by the want and faculty of man1 required1 in the reigns of ,elizabeth and ,james the ,first1 some special and profoundly artistic methods of 'delivery and tradition1' would not appear to need much demonstration to one acquainted with the peculiar features of that particular crisis in the history of the ,english nation4 ,and certainly any one at all informed in regard to the condition of the world at the time in which this science1--which is the new practical science of the modern ages1--makes its first appearance in history1--any one who knows what kind of a public opinion1 what amount of intelligence in the common mind the very fact of the first appearance of such a science on the stage of the human affairs presupposes1--any one who will stop to consider what kind of a public it was to which such a science had need as yet to address itself1 when that engine for the diffusion of knowledge1 which has been battering the ignorance and stupidity of the masses of men ever since1 was as yet a novel invention1 when all the learning of the world was still the learning of the cell and the cloister1 when the practice of the world was still in all departments1 unscientific1--any one at least who will stop to consider the nature of the 'preconceptions' which a science that is none other than the universal science of practice1 must needs encounter in its principal and nobler fields1 will hardly need to be told that if produced at all under such conditions1 it must needs be produced covertly4 ,who does not know1 beforehand1 that such a science would have to concede virtually1 for a time1 the whole ground of its nobler fields to the preoccupations it found on them1 as the inevitable condition of its entrance upon the stage of the human affairs in any capacity1 as the basis of any toleration of its claim to dictate to the men of practice in any department of their proceedings4 ,that that little 'courtly company' of ,elizabethan scholars1 in which this great enterprise for the relief of man's estate was supposed in their own time to have had its origin1 was composed of wits and men of learning who were known1 in their own time1 to have concealed their connection with the works on which their literary fame chiefly depended--that that 'glorious ,willy1' who finds these forbidden fields of science all open to his pastime1 was secretly claimed by this company--that a style of 'delivery' elaborately enigmatical1 borrowed in part from the invention of the ancients1 and the more recent use of the middle ages1 but largely modified and expressly adapted to this exigency1 was employed in the compositions of this school1 both in prose and verse1 a style capable of conveying not merely a double1 but a triple significance2 a style so capacious in its concealments1 so large in its 'cryptic1' as to admit without limitation the whole scope of this argument1 and so involved as to conceal in its involutions1 all that was then forbidden to appear1--this has been proved in that part of the work which contains the historical key to this delivery4 ,we have also incontestable historical evidence of the fact1 that the man who was at the head of this new conjunction in speculation and practice in its more immediate historical developments1--the scholar who was most openly concerned in his own time in the introduction of those great changes in the condition of the world1 which date their beginning from this time1 was himself primarily concerned in the invention of this art4 ,that this great political chief1 this founder of new polities and inventor of new social arts1 who was at the same time the founder of a new school in philosophy1 was understood in his own time to have found occasion for the use of such an art1 in his oral as well as in his written communications with his school2--that he was connected with a scientific association1 which was known to have concealed under the profession of a curious antiquarian research1 an inquiry into the higher parts of sciences which the government of that time was not disposed to countenance2--that in the opinion of persons who had the best opportunity of becoming acquainted with the facts at the time1 this inventor of the art was himself beheaded1 chiefly on account of the discovery of his use of it in one of his gravest literary works2--all this has been produced already1 as matter of historic record merely4 ,all this remains in the form of detailed contemporary statement1 which suffices to convey1 if not the fact that the forbidden parts of sciences were freely handled in the discussions of this school1 and not in their secret oral discussions only1 but in their great published works1--if not that1 at least the fact that such was the impression and belief of persons living at the time1 whether any ground existed for it or not4 ,but the arts by which these new men of science contrived to evade the ignorance and the despotic limitations of their time1 the inventions with which they worked to such good purpose upon their own time1 in spite of its restrictions and oppositions1 and which enable them to 'outstretch their span1' and prolong and perpetuate their plan for the advancement of their kind1 and compel the future ages to work with them to the fulfilment of its ends2--the arts by which these great original naturalists undertook to transfer in all their unimpaired splendour and worth1 the collections they had made in the nobler fields of their science to the ages that would be able to make use of them2--these are the arts that we shall have need to master1 if we would unlock the legacy they have left to us4 ,the proof of the existence of this special art of delivery and tradition1 and the definition of the objects for which it was employed1 has been derived thus far chiefly from sources of evidence exterior to the works themselves2 but the inventors of it and those who made use of it in their own speech and writings1 are undoubtedly the persons best qualified to give us authentic and lively information on this subject2 and we are now happily in a position to appreciate the statements which they have been at such pains to leave us1 for the sake of clearing up those parts of their discourse which were necessarily obscured at the time4 ,now that we have in our hands that key of ,times which they have recommended to our use1 that knowledge of times which 'gives great light in many cases to true interpretations1' it is not possible any longer to overlook these passages1 or to mistake their purport4 ,but before we enter upon the doctrine of ,art which was published in the first great recognized work of this philosophy1 it will be necessary to produce here some extracts from a book which was not originally published in ,england1 or in the ,english language1 but one which was brought out here as an exotic1 though it is in fact one of the great original works of this school1 and one of its boldest and most successful issues2 a work in which the new grounds of the actual experience and life of men1 are not merely inclosed and propounded for written inquiry1 but openly occupied4 ,this is not the place to explain this fact1 though the continental relations of this school1 and other circumstances already referred to in the life of its founder1 will serve to throw some light upon it2 but on account of the bolder assertions which the particular form of writing and publication rendered possible in this case1 and for the sake also of the more lively exhibition of the art itself which accompanies and illustrates these assertions in this instance1 it appears on the whole excusable to commence our study of the special ,art for the delivery and tradition of knowledge in those departments which science was then forbidden on pain of death to enter1 with that exhibition of it which is contained in this particular work1 trusting to the progress of the extracts themselves to apologize to the intelligent reader for any thing which may seem to require explanation in this selection4 ,it is only necessary to premise1 that this work is one of the many works of this school1 in which a grave1 profoundly scientific design is concealed under the disguise of a gay1 popular1 attractive form of writing1 though in this case the audience is from the first to a certain extent select4 ,it has no platform that takes in--as the plays do1 with their more glaring attractions and their lower and broader range of inculcation1--the populace4 ,there is no pit in this theatre4 ,it is throughout a book for men of liberal culture2 but it is a book for the world1 and for men of the world1 and not for the cloister merely1 and the scholar4 ,but this1 too1 has its differing grades of readers1 from its outer court of lively pastime and brilliant aimless chat to that esoteric chamber1 where the abstrusest parts of sciences are waiting for those who will accept the clues1 and patiently ascend to them4 ,the work is popular in its form1 but it is inwoven throughout with a thread of lurking meanings so near the surface1 and at times so boldly obtruded1 that it is difficult to understand how it could ever have been read at all without occasioning the inquiry which it was intended to occasion under certain conditions1 but which it was necessary for this society to ward off from their works1 except under these limitations1 at the time when they were issued4 ,for these inner meanings are everywhere pointed and emphasized with the most bold and vivid illustration1 which lies on the surface of the work1 in the form of stories1 often without any apparent relevance in that exterior connection--brought in1 as it would seem1 in mere caprice or by the loosest threads of association4 ,they lie1 with the 'allegations' which accompany them1 strewn all over the surface of the work1 like 'trap' on 'sand-stone1' telling their story to the scientific eye1 and beckoning the philosophic explorer to that primeval granite of sciences that their vein will surely lead to4 ,but the careless observer1 bent on recreation1 observes only a pleasing feature in the landscape1 one that breaks happily its threatened dulness2 the reader1 reading this book as books are wont to be read1 finds nothing in this phenomenon to excite his curiosity4 ,and the author knows him and his ways so well1 that he is able to foresee that result1 and is not afraid to trust to it in the case of those whose scrutiny he is careful to avoid4 ,for he is one who counts largely on the carelessness1 or the indifference1 or the stupidity of those whom he addresses4 ,there is no end to his confidence in that4 ,he is perpetually staking his life on it4 ,neither is he willing to trust to the clues which these unexplained stories might seem of themselves to offer to the studious eye1 to engage the attention of the reader--the reader whose attention he is bent on securing4 ,availing himself of one of those nooks of discourse1 which he is at no loss for the means of creating when the purpose of his essaie requires it1 he beckons the confidential reader aside1 and thus explains his method to him1 outright1 in terms which admit of but one construction4 ',neither these stories1' he says1 'nor my allegations do always serve simply for example1 authority1 or ornament2 ,i do not only regard them for the use ,i make of them2 they carry sometimes1 besides what ,i apply them to1 the seeds of a richer and bolder matter1 and sometimes1 collaterally1 a more delicate sound1 both to me myself1--who will say no more about it in this place' we shall hear more of it in another place1 however1 and where the delicate collateral sounds will not be wanting--'both to me myself1 and to others who happen to be of my ear4' ,to the reader1 who does indeed happen to be of his ear1 to one who has read the 'allegations' and stories that he speaks of1 and the whole work1 and the works connected with it1 by means of that knowledge of the inner intention1 and of the method to which he alludes1 this passage would of course convey no new intelligence4 ,but will the reader1 to whom the views here presented are yet too new to seem credible1 endeavour to imagine or invent for himself any form of words1 in which the claim already made in regard to the style in which the great original writers of this age and the founders of the new science of the human life were compelled to infold their doctrine1 could have been1 in the case of this one at least1 more distinctly asserted4 ,here is proof that one of them1 one who counted on an audience too1 did find himself compelled to infold his richer and bolder meanings in the manner described4 ,all that need be claimed at present in regard to the authorship of this sentence is1 that it is written by one whose writings1 in their higher intention1 have ceased to be understood1 for lack of the 'ear' to which his bolder and richer meanings are addressed1 for lack of the ear1 to which the collateral and more delicate sounds which his words sometimes carry with them are perceptible2 and that it is written by a philosopher whose learning and aims and opinions1 down to the slightest points of detail1 are absolutely identical with those of the principal writers of this school4 ,but let us look at a few of the stories which he ventures to introduce so emphatically1 selecting only such as can be told in a sentence or two4 ,let us take the next one that follows this explanation--the story in the very next paragraph to it4 ,the question is apparently of ,cicero1 of his style1 of his vanity1 of his supposed care for his fame in future ages1 of his real disposition and objects4 ',away with that eloquence that so enchants us with its harmony1 that we should more study it than things' what new soul of philosophy is this1 then1 already8--'unless you will affirm that of ,cicero to be of so supreme perfection as to form a body of itself4 ,and of him1 ,i shall further add one story we read of to this purpose1 wherein his nature will much more manifestly be laid open to us' than in that seeming care for his fame in future ages1 or in that lower object of style1 just dismissed so scornfully4 ',he was to make an oration in public1 and found himself a little straitened in time1 to fit his words to his mouth as he had a mind to do1 when ,eros1 one of his slaves1 brought him word that the audience was deferred till the next day1 at which he was so ravished with joy that he enfranchised him4' ,the word 'time'--here admits of a double rendering whereby the author's aims are more manifestly laid open2 and there is also another word in this sentence which carries a 'delicate sound' with it1 to those who have met this author in other fields1 and who happen to be of his counsel4 ,but lest the stories of themselves should still seem flat and pointless1 or trivial and insignificant to the uninstructed ear1 it may be necessary to interweave them with some further 'allegations on this subject1' which the author assumes1 or appears to assume1 in his own person4 ',i write my book for few men1 and for few years4 ,had it been matter of duration1 ,i should have put it into a better language4 ,according to the continual variation that ours has been subject to hitherto and we know who had a similar view on this point1 who can expect that the present form of language should be in use fifty years hence4 ,it slips every day through our fingers2 and since ,i was born1 is altered above one half4 ,we say that it is now perfect3 every age says the same of the language it speaks4 ,i shall hardly trust to that so long as it runs away and changes as it does4 '',tis for good and useful writings to nail and rivet it to them1 and its reputation will go according to the fortune of our state4 ,for which reason1 ,i am not afraid to insert herein several private articles1 which will spend their use amongst the men now living1 ,,and ,,that ,,concern ,,the ,,particular ,,knowledge ,,of ,,some ,,who ,,will ,,see ,,further ,,into ,,them ,,than ,,the ,,common ,,reader4' ,but that the inner reading of these private articles--that reading which lay farther in--to which he invites the attention of those whom it concerns--was not expected to spend its use among the men then living1 that which follows might seem to imply4 ,it was that wrapping of them1 it was that gross superscription which 'the fortune of our state was likely to make obsolete ere long1' this author thought1 as we shall see if we look into his prophecies a little4 ',i will not1 after all1 as ,i often hear dead men spoken of1 that men should say of me3 ,he judged1 and ,,lived ,,so and ,,so4 ,could he have spoken when he was dying1 he would have said so or so4 ,i knew him better than any4 ',so our virtues ,lie in the interpretation of the times1' 'says the unfortunate ,tullus ,aufidius1 in the act of conducting a ,volscian army against the infant ,roman state1 bemoaning himself upon the conditions of his historic whereabouts1 and beseeching the sympathy and favourable constructions of posterity-- ,so our virtues ,lie in the interpretation of the times2 ,and power unto itself most commendable ,hath not a tomb so evident as a hair ,to extol what it hath done4 ',the times1' says ,lord ,bacon1 speaking in reference to books particularly1 though he also recommends the same key for the reading of lives1 'the times in many cases give great light to true interpretations4' ',now as much as decency permits1' continues the other1 anticipating here that speech which he might be supposed to have been anxious to make in defence of his posthumous reputation1 could he have spoken when he was dying1 and forestalling that criticism which he foresaw--that odious criticism of posterity on the discrepancy between his life and his judgment--',now as much as decency permits1 ,i here discover my inclinations and affections4 ,if any observe1 he will find that ,i have either told or designed to tell ,,all4 ,what ,i cannot express ,i point out with my finger4 ',there was never greater circumspection and military prudence than sometimes is seen among ,,us2 can it be that men are afraid to lose themselves by the way1 that they reserve themselves to the end of the game8' ',there needs no more but to see a man promoted to dignity1 though we knew him but three days before a man of no mark1 yet an image of grandeur and ability insensibly steals into our opinion1 and we persuade ourselves that growing in reputation and attendants1 he is also increased in merit'3-- ,hamlet4 ,do the boys carry it away8 ,ros4 ,ay1 that they do1 my lord4 ,hercules and his load too4 ,hamlet4 ,it is not very strange2 for my uncle is king of ,denmark1 and those that would make mouths at him while my father lived1 give twenty1 forty1 fifty1 a hundred ducats a-piece for his picture in little4 ',sblood1 there is something in this1 more than natural talking of the supernatural1 if philosophy could find it out4 ',but1' our prose philosopher1 whose mind is running much on the same subjects1 continues 'if it happens so that he this favourite of fortune falls again1 and is mixed with the common crowd1 every one inquires with wonder into the cause of his having been hoisted so high4 ,is it he8 say they3 did he know no more than this when he was in ,,place8' 'change places 444 robes and furred gowns hide all4' ,do princes satisfy themselves with so little8 ,truly we were in good hands6 ,that which ,i myself adore in kings1 is note it the crowd of the adorers4 ,all reverence and submission is due to them1 except that of the understanding2 my reason is not to bow and bend1 'tis my knees' ',i will not do't' says another1 who is in this one's counsels1 ,i will not do't ,lest ,i surcease to honour mine own truth1 ,and by my body's action1 teach my mind ,a most inherent baseness4 ,coriolanus4 ',antisthenes one day entreated the ,athenians to give orders that their asses might be employed in tilling the ground1--to which it was answered1 that those animals were not destined to such a service4 ,that's all one1 replied he2 it only sticks at your command2 for the most ignorant and incapable men you employ in your commands of war1 immediately become worthy enough because--,,you ,,employ ,,them4' ,there mightst thou behold the great image of authority4 ,a dog's obeyed in office4--,lear4 ,for thou dost know1 oh ,damon dear1 ,this realm dismantled was ,of ,jove himself2 and now reigns here1 ,a very--very--,peacock4 ,horatio4 ,you might have rhymed4 ,hamlet4 'to which1' continues this political philosopher1--that is1 to which preceding anecdote--containing such unflattering intimations with regard to the obstinacy of nature1 in the limits she has set to the practical abilities of those animals1 not enlarging their natural gifts out of respect to the ,athenian selection 7an anecdote which supplies a rhyme to ,hamlet's verse1 and to many others from the same source7--'to which the custom of so many people1 who canonize the ,,kings they have chosen out of their own body1 and are not content only to honour1 but adore them1 comes very near4 ,those of ,mexico for instance1 it would not of course do to take any nearer home1 after the ceremonies of their king's coronation are finished1 dare no more look him in the face2 but1 as if they deified him by his royalty1 among the oaths they make him take to maintain their religion and laws1 to be valiant1 just and mild2 he moreover swears1--to make the sun run his course in his wonted light1--to drain the clouds at a fit season1--to confine rivers within their channels1--and to cause all things necessary for his people to be borne by the earth4' '7,they told me ,i was everything4 ,but when the rain came to wet me once1 when the wind would not peace at my bidding1' says ,lear1 'there ,i found them1 there ,i smelt them out47' ,this1 in connection with the preceding anecdote1 to which1 in the opinion of this author1 it comes properly so very near1 may be classed of itself among the suggestive stories above referred to2 but the bearing of these quotations upon the particular question of style1 which must determine the selection here1 is set forth in that which follows4 ,it should be stated1 however1 that in a preceding paragraph1 the author has just very pointedly expressed it as his opinion1 that men who are supposed1 by common consent1 to be so far above the rest of mankind in their single virtue and judgment1 that they are permitted to govern them at their discretion1 should by no means undertake to maintain that view1 by exhibiting that supposed kingly and divine faculty in the way of speech or argument2 thus putting themselves on a level with their subjects1 and by meeting them on their own ground1 with their own weapons1 giving occasion for comparisons1 perhaps not altogether favourable to that theory of a superlative and divine difference which the doctrine of a divine right to rule naturally presupposes4 ',for1' he says1 'neither is it enough for those who govern and command us1 and have all the world in their hand1 to have a common understanding1 and to be able to do what the rest can' their faculty of judgment must match their position1 for if it be only a common one1 the difference will make it despised3 'they are very much below us1 if they be not infinitely above us4 ,and1 therefore1 silence is to them not only a countenance of respect and gravity1 but very often of good profit and policy too2 for1 ,megabysus going to see ,apelles in his painting room1 stood a great while without speaking a word1 and at last began to talk of his paintings1 for which he received this rude reproof4 ',whilst thou wast silent1 thou seemedst to be something great1 by reason of thy chains and pomp2 but now that we have heard thee speak1 there is not the meanest boy in my shop that does not despise thee4' ,but after the author's subsequent reference to 'those animals' that were to be made competent by a vote of the ,athenian people for the work of their superiors1 to which he adds the custom of people who canonize the kings they have chosen out of their own body1 which comes so near1 he goes on thus3--,i differ from this common fashion1 and am more apt to suspect capacity when ,i see it accompanied with grandeur of fortune and public applause4 ,we are to consider of what advantage it is1 to speak when one pleases1 to choose the subject one will speak of--an advantage not common with authors then--,,to ,,interrupt ,,or ,,change ,,other ,,men',s ,,arguments1 ,,with ,a ,,magisterial ,,authority1 to protect oneself from the opposition of others1 by a nod1 a smile1 or silence1 in the presence of an assembly that trembles with reverence and respect4 ,a man of a prodigious fortune1 coming to give his judgment upon some slight dispute that was foolishly set on foot at his table1 began in these words3--',it can only be a liar or a fool that will say otherwise than so and so4' ',pursue this philosophical point with a dagger in your hand4' ,here is an author who does contrive to pursue his philosophical points1 however1 dagger or no dagger1 wherever they take him4 ,by putting himself into the trick of singularity1 and affecting to be a mere compound of eccentricities and oddities1 neither knowing nor caring what it is that he is writing about1 and dashing at haphazard into anything as the fit takes him1--',let us e'en fly at anything1' says ,hamlet1--by assuming1 in short1 the disguise of the elder ,brutus2 and1 on account of a similar necessity1 there is no saying what he cannot be allowed to utter with impunity4 ,under such a cover it is1 that he inserts the passages already quoted1 which have lain to this hour without attracting the attention of critics1 unpractised happily1 and unlearned also1 in the subtleties which tyrannies--such tyrannies--at least generate2 and under this cover it is1 that he can venture now on those astounding political disquisitions1 which he connects with the complaint of the restrictions and embarrassments which the presence of a man of prodigious fortune at the table occasions1 when an argument1 trivial or otherwise1 happens to be going on there4 ,under this cover1 he can venture to bring in here1 in this very connection1 and to the very table1 even of this man of prodigious fortune1 pages of the freest political discussion1 containing already the finest analysis of the existing political 'situation1' so full of dark and lurid portent1 to the eye of the scientific statesman1 to whom1 even then1 already under the most intolerable restrictions of despotism1 of the two extremes of social evil1 that which appeared to be the most terrible1 and the most to be guarded against1 in the inevitable political changes then at hand1 was--not the consolidation but the dissolution of the state4 ,for already the horizon of that political oversight included1 not the eventualities of the ,english ,revolutions only1 but the darker contingencies of those later political and social convulsions1 from whose soundless whirlpools1 men spring with joy to the hardest sharpest ledge of tyranny2 or hail with joy and national thanksgiving the straw that offers to land them on it4 ,already the scientific statesman of the ,elizabethan age could say1 casting an eye over ,christendom as it stood then1 ',that which most threatens us is1 not an alteration in the entire and solid mass1 but its dissipation and divulsion4' ,it is after pages of the freest philosophical discussion1 that he arrives at this conclusion--discussion1 in which the historical elements and powers are for the first time scientifically recognized and treated throughout with the hand of the new master4 ,for this is a philosopher1 who is able to receive into his philosophy the fact1 that out of the most depraved and vicious social materials1 by the inevitable operation of the universal natural laws1 there will1 perhaps1 result a social adhesion and predominance of powers--a social 'whole1' more capable of maintaining itself than any that ,plato or ,aristotle1 from the heights of their abstractions1 could have invented for them4 ,he ridicules1 indeed1 those ideal politics of antiquity as totally unfit for practical realisation1 and admits that though the question as to that which is absolutely the best form of government might be of some value in a new world1 the basis of all alterations in existing governments should be the fact1 that we take a world already formed to certain customs1 and do not beget it1 as ,pyrrha or ,cadmus did theirs1 and by what means soever we may have the privilege to rebuild and reform it anew1 we can hardly writhe it from its wonted bent1 but we shall break all4 ,for the subtlest principles of the philosophy of things are introduced into this discussion1 and the boldest applications of the ,shakspere muse are repeated in it4 ',that is the way to lay all flat1' cries the philosophic poet in the ,roman play1 opposing on the part of the ,conservatist1 the violence of an oppressed people1 struggling for new forms of government1 and bringing out fully1 along with their claims1 the anti-revolutionary side of the question4 ',that which tempts me out on these journeys1' continues this foreign philosopher1 speaking in his usual ambiguous terms of his rambling excursive habits and eccentricities of proceedings1 glancing also1 perhaps1 at his outlandish tastes--'that which tempts me out on these journeys1 is unsuitableness to the present manners of ,,our ,,state4 ,i could easily console myself with this corruption in reference to the public interest1 but not to my own3 ,i am in particular too much oppressed3--for1 in my neighbourhood we are of late by the long libertinage of our civil wars grown old in so riotous a form of state1 that in earnest 'tis a wonder how it can subsist4 ,in fine1 ,i see by our example1 that the society of men is maintained and held together at what price soever2 in what condition soever they are placed they will close and stick together see the doctrine of things and their original powers in the ,novum ,organum--moving and heaping up themselves1 as uneven bodies1 that shuffled together without order1 find of themselves means to unite and settle4 ,king ,philip mustered up a rabble of the most wicked and incorrigible rascals he could pick out1 and put them altogether in a city which he had built for that purpose1 which bore their name2 ,i believe that they1 even from vices1 erected a government among them1 and a commodious and just society4' ',nothing presses so hard upon a state as innovation'2 and let the reader note here1 how the principle which has predominated historically in the ,english ,revolution1 the principle which the fine ,frankish1 half ,gallic genius1 with all its fire and artistic faculty1 could not strike instinctively or empirically1 in its political experiments--it is well to note1 how this distinctive element of the ,english ,revolution--that revolution which is still in progress1 with its remedial vitalities--already speaks beforehand1 from the lips of this foreign ,elizabethan ,revolutionist4 ',nothing presses so hard upon a state as innovation2 change only gives form to injustice and tyranny4 ,,when ,,any ,,piece ,,is ,,out ,,of ,,order ,,it ,,may ,,be ,,propped1 one may prevent and take care that the decay and corruption ,,natural ,,to ,,all ,,things1 do not carry us too far from our beginnings and principles2 but to undertake to found so great a mass anew1 and to change the foundations of so vast a building1 is for them to do who to make clean1 efface1 who would reform particular defects by a universal confusion1 and cure diseases by death4' ,surely1 one may read in good ,elizabethan ,english passages which savor somewhat of this policy4 ,one would say that the principle was in fact identical1 as1 for instance1 in this case4 ',sir ,francis ,bacon 7who was always for moderate counsels71 when one was speaking of such a reformation of the ,church of ,england1 as would in effect make it no church1 said thus to him3--',sir1 the subject we talk of is the eye of ,england1 and if there be a speck or two in the eye1 we endeavour to take them off2 but he were a strange oculist who would pull out the eye4' ,and here is another writer who seems to be taking1 on this point and others1 very much the same view of the constitution and vitality of states1 about these times3-- ,he's a disease that must be cut away4 ,oh1 he's a limb that has but a disease2 ,mortal to cut it off2 to cure it1 easy4 ,but our ,gascon philosopher goes on thus1 with his ,gascon inspirations3 and these sportive notions1 struck off at a heat1 these careless intuitions1 these fine new practical axioms of scientific politics1 appear to be every whit as good as if they had been sifted through the scientific tables of the ,novum ,organum4 ,they are1 in fact1 the identical truth which the last vintage of the ,novum ,organum yields on this point4 ',the world is unapt for curing itself2 it is so impatient of any thing that presses it1 that it thinks of nothing but disengaging itself1 at what price soever4 ,we see1 by a thousand examples1 that it generally cures itself to its cost4 ,the discharge of a present evil is no cure1 if a general amendment of condition does not follow2 the surgeon's end is not only to cut away the dead flesh1--that is but the progress of his cure2--he has a care over and above1 to fill up the wound with better and more natural flesh1 and to restore the member to its due state4 ,whoever only proposes to himself to remove that which offends him1 falls short2 for good does not necessarily succeed evil2 another evil may succeed1 and a worse1 as it happened in ,caesar's killers1 who brought the republic to such a pass1 that they had reason to repent their meddling with it4' ',i fear there will a worse one come in his place1' says a fellow in ,shakespear's crowd1 at the first ,caesar's funeral2 and that his speech made the moral of the piece1 we shall see in the course of this study4 ,but though the frantic absolutisms and irregularities of that 'old riotous form of military government1' which the long civil wars had generated1 seemed of themselves to threaten speedy dissolution1 this old ,gascon prophet1 with his inexhaustible fund of ,english shrewdness1 and sound ,english sense1 underlying all his ,gasconading1 by no means considers the state as past the statesman's care3 'after all1 we are not1 perhaps1 at the last gasp1' he says4 ',the conservation of states is a thing that in all likelihood surpasses our understanding3 a civil government is1 as ,plato says1 a mighty and powerful thing1 and hard to be dissolved4 ,states1 as great engines1 move slowly1 says ,lord ,bacon2 and are not so soon put out of frame2--that is1 so soon as the resolution of particular persons1 which is his reason for producing his moral philosophy1 or rather his moral science1 as his engine for attack upon the state1 a science which concerns the government of every man over himself2 for1 as in ,egypt1 the seven good years sustained the seven bad2 so governments1 for a time well-grounded1 do bear out errors following4' ,but this is the way that this ,gascon philosopher records his conclusions on the same subject4 ',every thing that totters does not fall4 ,the contexture of so great a body holds by more nails than one4 ,it holds even by its antiquity1 like old buildings from which the foundations are worn away by time1 without rough cast or cement1 which yet live or support themselves by their own weight4 ,moreover1 it is not rightly to go to work to reconnoitre only the flank and the fosse1 to judge of the security of a place2 it must be examined which way approaches can be made to it1 ,,and ,,in ,,what ,,condition ,,the ,,assailant ,,is--that is the question4 ',few vessels sink with their own weight1 and without some exterior violence4 ,let us every way cast our eyes4 ,every thing about us totters4 ,in all the great states1 both of ,christendom and elsewhere1 that are known to us1 if you will but look1 you will there see evident threats of alteration and ruin4 ,astrologers need not go to heaven to foretell1 as they do1 ,,great ,,revolutions' this is the speech of the ,elizabethan age--'great revolutions' 'and imminent mutations4' ,this is the new kind of learning and prophecy2 there was but one source of it open then1 that could yield axioms of this kind2 for this is the kind that ,lord ,bacon tells us the head-spring of sciences must be visited for4 ',but conformity is a quality antagonist to ,,dissolution4 ,for my part1 ,i despair not1 and fancy ,i perceive ways to save us4' ,and surely this is one of the inserted private articles1 before mentioned1 which may1 or may not be1 'designed to spend their use among the men now living'2 but 'which concern the particular knowledge of some who will see further into them than the common reader4' ,if there had been a ',london ,times' going then1 and this old outlandish ,gascon ,antic had been an ,english statesman preparing this article as a leader for it1 the question of the ,times could hardly have been more roundly dealt with1 or with a clearer northern accent4 ,but it is high time for him to bethink himself1 and 'draw his old cloak about him'2 for1 after all1 this so just and profound a view of so grave a subject1 proceeds from one who has no aims1 no plan1 no learning1 no memory2--a vain1 fantastic egotist1 who writes only because he will be talking1 and talking of himself above all2 who is not ashamed to attribute to himself all sorts of mad inconsistent humours1 and to contradict himself on every page1 if thereby he can only win your eye1 or startle your curiosity1 and induce you to follow him4 ,after so long and grave a discussion1 suddenly it occurs to him that it is time for a little miscellaneous confidential chat about himself1 and those certain oddities of his which he does not wish you to lose sight of altogether2 and it is time1 too1 for another of those stories1 which serve to divert the attention when it threatens to become too fixed1 and break up and enliven the dull passages1 besides having that other purpose which he speaks of so frankly4 ,and although this whole discussion is not without a direct bearing upon that particular topic1 with which it is here connected1 inasmuch as the political situation1 which is so clearly exhibited1 is precisely that of the ,elizabethan scholar1 it is chiefly this little piece of confidential chat with which it closes1 and its significance in that connection1 which gives the rest its insertion here4 ,for suddenly he recollects himself1 and stops short to express the fear that he may have written something similar to this elsewhere2 and he gives you to understand--not all at once--but by a series of strokes1 that too bold a repetition here1 of what he has said elsewhere might be attended1 to him1 with serious consequences2 and he begs you to note1 as he does in twenty other passages and stories here and elsewhere1 that his style is all hampered with considerations such as these--that instead of merely thinking of making a good book1 and presenting his subjects in their clearest and most effective form for the reader2--a thing in itself sufficiently laborious1 as other authors find to their cost1 he is all the time compelled to weigh his words with reference to such points as this4 ,he must be perpetually on his guard that the identity of that which he presents here1 and that which he presents elsewhere1 under other and very different forms 7in much graver forms perhaps1 and perhaps in others not so grave71 shall no where become so glaring as to attract popular attention1 while he is willing and anxious to keep that identity or connection constantly present to the apprehension of the few1 for whom he tells us his book--that is1 this book within the book--is written4 ',i fear in these reveries of mine1' he continues1 suspending at last suddenly this bold and continuous application to the immediate political emergency of those philosophical principles which he has exhibited in the abstract1 in their common and universal form1 elsewhere2 ',i fear1 in these reveries of the treachery of my memory1 lest by inadvertence it should make me write the same thing twice4 ,now ,i here set down nothing new1 these are common thoughts1 and having per-adventure conceived them a hundred times1 ,i am afraid ,i have set them down somewhere else already4 ,repetition is everywhere troublesome1 though it were in ,homer1 but 'tis ruinous in things that have only a superficial and transitory ,,show4 ,i do not love inculcation1 even in the most profitable things1 as in ,seneca1 and the practice of his ,stoical school displeases me of repeating upon every subject and at length1 ,,the ,,principles and ,,presuppositions ,,that ,,serve ,,in ,,general1 and always to re-allege anew2' that is1 under the particular divisions of the subject1 common and universal reasons4 ',what ,i cannot express ,i point out with my finger1' he tells you elsewhere1 but it is thus that he continues here4 ',my memory grows worse and worse every day4 ,i must fain for the time to come 7collateral sounds71 for hitherto1 thank ,god1 nothing has happened much amiss1 to avoid all preparation1 for fear of tying myself to some obligation upon which ,i must be forced to insist4 ,to be tied and bound to a thing puts me quite out1 and especially where ,i have to depend upon so weak an instrument as my memory4 ,i never could read this story without being offended at it1 with as it were a personal and natural resentment4' ,the reader will note that the question here is of style1 or method1 and of this author's style in particular1 and of his special embarrassments4 ',lyncestes accused of conspiracy against ,alexander1 the day that he was brought out before the army1 according to the custom1 to be heard in his defence1 had prepared a studied speech1 of which1 haggling and stammering1 he pronounced some words4 ,as he was becoming more perplexed and struggling with his memory1 and trying to recollect himself1 the soldiers that stood nearest killed him with their spears1 looking upon his confusion and silence as a confession of his guilt3 very fine1 indeed6 ,the place1 the spectators1 the expectation1 would astound a man even though were there no object in his mind but to speak well2 but ,,what when 'tis an harangue upon which his life depends8' ,you that happen to be of my ear1 it is my style that we are speaking of1 and there is my story4 ',for my part the very being tied to what ,i am to say1 is enough to loose me from it'--that is the cause of his wandering--',the more ,i trust to my memory1 the more do ,i put myself out of my own power1 so much as to find it in my own countenance1 and have sometimes been very much put to it to conceal the slavery wherein ,i was bound1 whereas my design is to manifest in speaking a perfect nonchalance1 both of face and accent1 and casual and unpremeditated motions1 as rising from present occasions1 choosing rather to say nothing to purpose1 than to show that ,i came prepared to speak well2 a thing especially unbecoming a man of my profession4 ,the preparation begets a great deal more expectation than it will satisfy2 a man very often absurdly strips himself to his doublet to leap no further than he would have done in his gown4' ,perhaps the reflecting scholar will recollect to have seen an instance of this magnificent preparation for saying something to the purpose1 attended with similarly lame conclusions2 but1 if he does not1 the story which follows may tend to refresh his memory on this point4 ',it is recorded of the orator ,curio1 that when he proposed the division of his oration into three or four parts1 it often happened either that he forgot some one1 or added one or two more4' ,a much more illustrious speaker1 who spoke under circumstances not very unlike those in which the poor conspirator above noted made his haggling and fatal attempts at oratory1 is known to have been guilty of a similar oversight2 for1 having invented a plan of universal science1 designed for the relief of the human estate1 he forgot the principal application of it4 ,but this author says1 ,i have always avoided falling into this inconvenience1 having always hated these promises and announcements1 not only out of distrust of my memory1 but also because this method relishes too much of the artificial4 ,you will find no scientific plan here ostentatiously exhibited2 you will find such a plan elsewhere with all the works set down in it1 but the works themselves will be missing2 and you will find the works elsewhere1 but it will be under the cover of a superficial and transitory show1 where it would be ruinous to produce the plan1 ',i have always avoided falling into this inconvenience4 ,simpliciora militares decent4' ,but as he appears1 after all1 to have had no military weapon with which to sustain that straight-forwardness of speech which is becoming in a military power1 and no dagger to pursue his points with1 some artifice1 though he professes not to like it1 may be necessary1 and the rule which he here specifies is1 on the whole1 perhaps1 not altogether amiss4 '',tis enough that ,i have promised to myself never to take upon me to speak in a place where ,i owe respect2 for as to that sort of speaking where a man reads his speech1 besides that it is very absurd1 it is a mighty disadvantage to those who naturally could give it a grace by action1 and to rely upon the mercy of the readiness of my invention1 ,i will much less do it2 'tis heavy and perplexed1 and such as would never furnish me in sudden and important necessities4' ',speaking1' he says in another place1 'hurts and discomposes me1--my voice is loud and high1 so that when ,i have gone to whisper some great person about an affair of consequence1 they have often had to moderate my voice4 ,this story deserves a place here4 ',some one in a certain ,greek school was speaking loud as ,i do4 ,the master of the ceremonies sent to him to speak lower4 ,tell him then1 he must send me1 replied the other1 the tone he would have me speak in4 ,to which the other replied1 that he should take the tone from the ear of him to whom he spake4 ,it was well said1 if it be understood4 ,speak according to the affair you are speaking about to the auditor1--7speak according to the business you have in hand1 to the purpose you have to accomplish7--for if it mean1 it is sufficient that he hears you1 ,i do not find it reason4' ,it is a more artistic use of speech that he is proposing in his new science of it1 for as ,lord ,bacon has it1 who writes as we shall see on this same subject1 'the proofs and persuasions of rhetoric ought to differ according to the auditors1' and the ,arts of ,rhetoric have for their legitimate end1 'not merely ,,proof1 but much more1 ,,impression4' ',for many forms are equal in signification which are differing in impression1 as the difference is great in the piercing of that which is sharp1 and that which is flat1 though the strength of the percussion be the same2 for instance1 there is no man but will be a little more raised1 by hearing it said1 ,your enemies will be glad of this1 than by hearing it said only1 ,this is evil for you4' ,but it is thus that our ,gascon proceeds1 whose comment on his ,greek story we have interrupted4 ',there is a voice to flatter1 there is a voice to instruct1 and a voice to reprehend4 ,i would not only have my voice to reach my hearer1 but peradventure that it strike and pierce him4 ,when ,i rate my footman in a sharp and bitter tone1 it would be very fine for him to say1 ,pray master1 speak lower1 for ,i hear you very well4 ,speaking is half his that speaks1 and half his that hears2 the last ought to prepare himself to receive it1 according to its motion1 as with tennis players2 he that receives the ball1 shifts1 draws back1 and prepares himself to receive it1 according as he sees him move1 who strikes the stroke1 and according to the stroke itself4' ,it is not1 therefore1 because this author has failed to furnish the rules of interpretation necessary for penetrating to the ultimate intention of this new kind of speaking1 if all this affectation of simplicity1 and all these absurd contradictory statements of his1 have been suffered hitherto to pass unchallenged4 ,it is the public mind he has to deal with4 ',that which he adores in kings is the throng of their adorers4' ,if he should take the public at once into his confidence1 and tell them beforehand precisely what his own opinions were of things in general1 if he should set before them in the outset the conclusions to which he proposed to drive them1 he might indeed stand some chance to have his arguments interrupted1 or changed with a magisterial authority2 he would indeed find it necessary to pursue his philosophical points with a dagger in his hand4 ,and besides1 this dogmatical mode of teaching does not appear to him to secure the ends of teaching4 ,he wishes to rouse the human mind to activity1 to compel it to think for itself1 and put it on the inevitable road to his conclusions4 ,he wishes the reader to strike out those conclusions for himself1 and fancy himself the discoverer if he will4 ,so far from being simple and straightforward1 his style is in the profoundest degree artistic1 for the soul of all our modern art inspired it4 ,he thinks it does no good for scholars to call out to the active world from the platform of their last conclusions4 ,the truths which men receive from those didactic heights remain foreign to them4 ',we want medicines to arouse the sense1' says ,lord ,bacon1 who proposed exactly the method of teaching which this philosopher had1 as it would seem1 already adopted4 ',i bring a trumpet to awake his ear1 to set his sense on the attentive bent1 and then to speak1' says that poet who best put this art in practice4 ,but here it is the prose philosopher who would meet this dull1 stupid1 custom-bound public on its own ground4 ,he would assume all its absurdities and contradictions in his own person1 and permit men to despise1 and marvel1 and laugh at them in him without displeasure4 ,for whoever will notice carefully1 will perceive that the use of the personal pronoun here1 is not the limited one of our ordinary speech4 ,such an one will find that this philosophical ,i is very broad2 that it covers too much to be taken in its literal acceptation4 ,under this term1 the term by which each man names himself1 the common term of the individual humanity1 he finds it convenient to say many things4 ',they that will fight custom with grammar1' he says1 'are fools4 ,when another tells me1 or when ,i say to myself1 ,this is a word of ,gascon growth2 this a dangerous phrase2 this is an ignorant discourse2 thou art too full of figures2 this is a paradoxical saying2 this is a foolish expression3 thou makest thyself merry sometimes1 and men will think thou sayest a thing in good earnest1 which thou only speakest in jest4 ,yes1 say ,i2 but ,i correct the faults of inadvertence1 not those of custom4 ,i have done what ,i designed1' he says1 in triumph1 ',all the world knows ,,me in my book1 and my book in ,,me4' ,and thus1 by describing human nature under that term1 or by repeating and stating the common opinions as his own1 he is enabled to create an opposition which could not exist1 so long as they remain unconsciously operative1 or infolded in the separate individuality1 as a part of its own particular form4 ',my errors are sometimes natural and incorrigible1' he says2 'but the good which virtuous men do to the public in making themselves imitated1 ,i1 perhaps1 may do in making my manners avoided4 ,while ,i publish and accuse my own imperfections1 somebody will learn to be afraid of them4 ,the parts that ,i most esteem in myself1 are more honoured in decrying than in commending my own manners4 ,pausanias tells us of an ancient player upon the lyre1 who used to make his scholars go to hear one that lived over against him1 and played very ill1 that they might learn to hate his discords and false measures4 ,the present time is fitting to reform us backward1 more by dissenting than agreeing2 by differing than consenting4' ,that is his application of his previous confession4 ,and it is this present time that he impersonates1 holding the mirror up to nature1 and provoking opposition and criticism for that which was before buried in the unconsciousness of a common absurdity1 or a common wrong4 ',profiting little by good examples1 ,i endeavour to render myself as agreeable as ,i see others offensive2 as constant as ,i see others fickle2 as good as ,i see others evil4' ',there is no fancy so frivolous and extravagant that does not seem to me a suitable product of the human mind4 ,all such whimsies as are in use amongst us1 deserve at least to be hearkened to2 for my part1 they only with me import inanity1 but they import that4 ,moreover1 vulgar and casual opinions are something more than nothing in nature4 ',if ,i converse with a man of mind1 and no flincher1 who presses hard upon me1 right and left1 his imagination raises up mine4 ,the contradictions of judgments do neither offend nor alter1 they only rouse and exercise me4 ,i could suffer myself to be rudely handled by my friends4 ,thou art a fool2 thou knowest not what thou art talking about4 ,when any one contradicts me1 he raises my attention1 not my anger4 ,i advance towards him that contradicts1 as to one that instructs me4 ,i embrace and caress truth1 in what hand soever ,i find it1 and cheerfully surrender myself1 and extend to it my conquered arms2 and take a pleasure in being reproved1 and accommodate myself to my accusers aside 7very often more by reason of civility than amendment72 loving to gratify the liberty of admonition1 by my facility of submitting to it1 at my own expense4 ,nevertheless1 it is hard to bring the men of my time to it4 ,they have not the courage to correct1 because they have not the courage to be corrected1 and speak always with dissimulation in the presence of one another4 ,i take so great pleasure in being judged and known1 that it is almost indifferent to me in which of ,,the ,,two ,,forms ,i am so4 ,my imagination does so often contradict and condemn itself1 that it is all one to me if another do it4 ,the study of books is a languishing1 feeble motion1 that heats not1 whereas conversation teaches and exercises at once4' ,but what if a book could be constructed on a new principle1 so as to produce the effect of conference--of the noblest kind of conference--so as to rouse the stupid1 lethargic mind to a truly human activity--so as to bring out the common1 human form1 in all its latent actuality1 from the eccentricities of the individual varieties8 ,something of that kind appears to be attempted here4 ,he cannot too often charge the attentive reader1 however1 that his arguments require examination4 ',in conferences1' he says1 'it is a rule that every word that seems to be good1 is not immediately to be accepted4 ,one must try it on all points1 to see how it is lodged in the author3 perhaps he is not in earnest for one must not always presently yield what truth or beauty soever seem to be in the argument4' ,a little delay1 and opposition1 the necessity of hunting1 or fighting1 for it1 will only make it the more esteemed in the end4 ,in such a style1 'either the author must stoutly oppose it that is1 whatsoever beauty or truth is to be the end of the argument in order to challenge the reader or draw back1 under colour of not understanding it1 and so piquing the reader into a pursuit of it or1 sometimes1 perhaps1 he may aid the point1 and carry it beyond its proper reach and so forcing the reader to correct him4 ,this whole work is constructed on this principle4 ,as when ,i contend with a vigorous man1 ,i please myself with anticipating his conclusions2 ,i ease him of the trouble of explaining himself2 ,i strive to prevent his imagination1 whilst it is yet springing and imperfect2 the order and pertinency of his understanding warns and threatens me afar off4 ,but as to these1--and the sequel explains this relative1 for it has no antecedent in the text--as to these1 ,i deal quite contrary with them4 ,i must understand and presuppose nothing but by them4444 ,now1 if you come to explain anything to them and confirm them 7these readers71 they presently catch at it1 and rob you of the advantage of your interpretation4 ,it was what ,i was about to say2 it was just my thought1 and if ,i did not express it so1 it was only for want of language4 ,very pretty6 ,malice itself must be employed to correct this proud ignorance--'tis injustice and inhumanity to relieve and set him right who stands in no need of it1 and is the worse for it4 ,i love to let him step deeper into the mire1'--luring him on with his own confessions1 and with my assumptions of his case 'and so deep that if it be possible1 they may at least discern their error4 ,,folly ,,and ,,absurdity ,,are ,,not ,,to ,,be ,,cured ,,by ,,bare ,,admonition4 ,what ,cyrus answered him who importuned him to harangue his army upon the point of battle1 that men do not become valiant and warlike on a sudden1 by a fine oration1 no more than a man becomes a good musician by hearing a fine song1 may properly be said of such an admonition as this2' or1 as ,lord ,bacon has it1 ',it were a strange speech1 which spoken1 or spoken oft1 should reclaim a man from a vice to which he is by nature subject2 it is order1 pursuit1 sequence1 and interchange of application1 which is mighty in nature4' ,but the other continues3--',these are apprenticeships that are to be served beforehand by a long continued education4 ,we owe this care and this assiduity of correction and instruction to our own1 that is the school1 but to go to preach to the first passer-by1 and to lord it over the ignorance and folly of the first we meet1 is a thing that ,i abhor4 ,i rarely do it1 even in my own particular conferences1 and rather surrender my cause1 than proceed to these supercilious and magisterial instructions4' ,the clue to the reading of his inner book4 ,this is what ,lord ,bacon also condemns1 as the magisterial method1--',my humour is unfit1 either to speak or write for beginners2' he will not shock or bewilder them by forcing on them prematurely the last conclusions of science2 'but as to things that are said in common discourse or amongst other things1 ,i never oppose them either by word or sign1 how false or absurd soever4' ',let none even doubt1' says the author of the ,novum ,organum1 who thought it wisest to steer clear even of doubt on such a point1 'whether we are anxious to destroy and demolish the philosophical arts and sciences which are now in use4 ,on the contrary1 we readily cherish their practice1 cultivation1 and honour2 for we by no means interfere to prevent the prevalent system from encouraging discussion1 adorning discourses1 or being employed serviceably in the chair of the ,professor1 or the practice of common life1 and being taken in short1 by general consent1 as current coin4 ,nay1 we plainly declare that the system we offer will not be very suitable for such purposes1 not being easily adapted to vulgar apprehension1 except by ,,effects ,,and ,,works4 ,to show our sincerity hear in professing our regard and friendly disposition towards the received sciences1 we can refer to the evidence of our published writings1 especially our books on--the ,advancement--the ,advancement of ,learning4' ,and the reader who can afford time for 'a second cogitation1' the second cogitation which a superficial and interior meaning1 of course1 requires1 with the aid of the key of times1 will find much light on that point1 here and there1 in the works referred to1 and especially in those parts of them in which the scientific use of popular terms is treated4 ',we will not1 therefore1' he continues1 'endeavour to evince it 7our sincerity7 any further by words1 but content ourselves with steadily1 etc41 444 professedly premising that no great progress can be made by the present methods in the theory and contemplation of science1 and that they can not be made to produce any very abundant effects4' ,this is the proof of his sincerity in professing his regard and friendly disposition towards them1 to be taken in connection with his works on the ,advancement of ,learning1 and no doubt it was sincere1 and just to that extent to which these statements1 and the practice which was connected with them1 would seem to indicate2 but the careful reader will perceive that it was a regard1 and friendliness of disposition1 which was naturally qualified by that doubly significant fact last quoted4 ,but the question of style is still under discussion here1 and no wonder that with such views of the value of the 'current coin1' and with a regard and reverence for the received sciences so deeply qualified2 or1 as the other has it1 with a humour so unfit either to speak or write for beginners1 a style which admitted of other efficacies than bare proofs1 should appear to be demanded for popular purposes1 or for beginners4 ,and no wonder that with views so similar on this first and so radical point1 these two men should have hit upon the same method in ,rhetoric exactly1 though it was then wholly new4 ,but our ,gascon1 goes on to describe its freedoms and novelties1 its imitations of the living conference1 its new vitalities4 ',may we not1' says the successful experimenter in this very style1 'mix with the subject of conversation and communication1 the quick and sharp repartees which mirth and familiarity introduce amongst friends pleasantly and wittingly jesting with one another2 an exercise for which my natural gaiety renders me fit enough1 if it be not so extended and serious as the other ,i just spoke of1 'tis no less smart and ingenious1 nor of less utility as ,lycurgus thought4' ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,further ,,illustration ,,of ',,particular ,,methods ,,of ,,tradition4'--,,embarrassments ,,of ,,literary ,,statesmen4 ,here's neither bush nor shrub to bear off any weather at all1 and another storm brewing4 ,i hear it sing in the wind4 ,my1 best way is to creep under his gaberdine2 there is no other shelter hereabout3 ,misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows4 ,i will here shroud1 till the dregs of the storm be past4--,tempest4 ,here then1 in the passages already quoted1 we find the plan and theory--the premeditated form of a new kind of ,socratic performance2 and this whole work1 as well as some others composed in this age1 make the realization of it2 an invention which proposes to substitute for the languishing feeble motion which is involved in the study of books--the kind of books which this author found invented when he came--for the passive1 sluggish receptivity of another's thought1 the living glow of pursuit and discovery1 the flash of self-conviction4 ,it is a ,socratic dialogue1 indeed2 but it waits for the reader's eye to open it2 he is himself the principal interlocutor in it2 there can be nothing done till he comes in4 ,whatsoever beauty or truth maybe in the argument2 whatsoever jokes and repartees2 whatsoever infinite audacities of mirth may be hidden under that grave cover1 are not going to shine out for any lazy book-worm's pleasure4 ,he that will not work1 neither shall he eat of this food4 ',up to the mountains1' for this is hunter's language1 'and he that strikes the venison first shall be lord of this feast4' ,it is an invention whereby the author will remedy for himself the complaint1 that life is short1 and art is long2 whereby he will 'outstretch his span1' and make over1 not his learning only but his living to the future2--it is an instrumentality by which he will still maintain living relations with the minds of men1 by which he will put himself into the most intimate relations of sympathy1 and confidence1 and friendship1 with the mind of the few2 by which he will reproduce his purposes and his faculties in them1 and train them to take up in their turn that thread of knowledges which is to be spun on4 ,but if this design be buried so deeply1 is it not lost then8 ,if all the absurd and contradictory developments--if all the mad inconsistencies--all the many-sided contradictory views1 which are possible to human nature on all the questions of human life1 which this single personal pronoun was made to represent1 in the profoundly philosophic design of the author1 are still culled out by learned critics1 and made to serve as the material of a grave1 though it is lamented1 somewhat egotistical biography1 is not all this ingenuity1 which has successfully evaded thus far not the careless reader only1 but the scrutiny of the scholar1 and the sharp eye of the reviewer himself1 is it not an ingenuity which serves after all to little purpose1 which indeed defeats its own design8 ,no1 by no means4 ,that disguise which was at first a necessity1 has become the instrument of his power4 ,it is that broad ,i of his1 that ,i myself1 with which he still takes all the world2 it is that single1 many-sided1 vivacious1 historical impersonation1 that ideal impersonation of the individual human nature as it is--not as it should be--with all its 'weaved-up follies ravelled out1' with all its before unconfessed actualities1 its infinite absurdities and contradictions1 so boldly pronounced and assumed by one laying claim to an historical existence1 it is this historical assumption and pronunciation of all the before unspoken1 unspeakable facts of this unexplored department of natural history1 it is this apparent confession with which this magician entangles his victims1 as he tells us in a passage already quoted1 and leads them on through that objective representation of their follies in which they may learn to hate them1 to that globe mirror--that mirror of the age which he boasts to have hung up here1 when he says1 ',i have done what ,i designed3 all the world knows me in my book1 and my book in me4' ,who shall say that it is yet time to strip him of the disguise which he wears so effectively8 ,with all his faults1 and all his egotisms1 who would not be sorry to see him taken to pieces1 after all8 ,and who shall quite assure us1 that it would not still be treachery1 even now1 for those who have unwound his clues1 and traversed his labyrinths to the heart of his mystery1--for those who have penetrated to the chamber of his inner school1 to come out and blab a secret with which he still works so potently2 insensibly to those on whom he works1 perhaps1 yet so potently8 ,but there is no harm done4 ,it will still take the right reader to find his way through these new devices in letters2 these new and vivacious proofs of learning2 for him1 and for none other1 they lurk there still4 ,to evade political restrictions1 and to meet the popular mind on its own ground1 was the double purpose of the disguise2 but it is a disguise which will only detect1 and not baffle1 the mind that is able to identify itself with his1 and able to grasp his purposes2 it is a disguise which will only detect the mind that knows him1 and his purposes already4 ,the enigmatical form of the inculcation is the device whereby that mind will be compelled to follow his track1 to think for itself his thoughts again1 to possess itself of the inmost secret of his intention2 for it is a school in whose enigmatical devices the mind of the future was to be caught1 in whose subtle exercises the child of the future was to be trained to an identity that should restore the master to his work again1 and bring forth anew1 in a better hour1 his clogged and buried genius4 ,but1 if the fact that a new and more vivid kind of writing1 issuing from the heart of the new philosophy of things1 designed to work new and extraordinary effects by means of literary instrumentalities1-- effects hitherto reserved for other modes of impression1--if the fact1 that a new and infinitely artistic mode of writing1 burying the secrets of philosophy in the most careless forms of the vulgar and popular discourse1 did1 in this instance at least1 exist2 if this be proved1 it will suffice for our present purpose4 ,what else remains to be established concerning points incidentally started here1 will be found more pertinent to another stage of this enquiry4 ,from beginning to end1 the whole work might be quoted1 page by page1 in proof of this2 but after the passages already produced here1 there would seem to be no necessity for accumulating any further evidence on this point4 ,a passage or two more1 at least1 will suffice to put that beyond question4 ,the extracts which follow1 in connection with those already given1 will serve1 at least1 to remove any rational doubt on that point1 and on some others1 too1 perhaps4 ',but whatever ,i deliver myself to be1 provided it be such as ,i really am1 ,i have my end2 neither will ,i make any excuse for committing to paper such mean and frivolous things as these2 the meanness of the subject compels me to it4'--',human reason is a two-edged and a dangerous sword4 ,observe1 in the hand of ,socrates1 her most intimate and familiar friend1 how many points it has4 ,thus1 ,i am good for nothing but to follow1 and suffer myself to be easily carried away with the crowd4'--',i have this opinion of these political controversies3 ,be on what side you will1 you have as fair a game to play as your adversary1 provided you do not proceed so far as to jostle principles that are too manifest to be disputed2 and yet1 'tis my notion1 in public affairs hear1 there is no government so ill1 provided it be ancient1 and has been constant1 that is not better than change and alteration4 ,our manners are infinitely corrupted1 and wonderfully incline to grow worse3 of our laws and customs1 there are many that are barbarous and monstrous3 nevertheless1 by reason of the difficulty of reformation1 and the danger of stirring things1 if ,i could put something under to stay the wheel1 and keep it where it is1 ,i would do so with all my heart4 ,it is very easy to beget in a people a contempt of its ancient observances2 never any man undertook1 but he succeeded2 but to establish a better regimen in the stead of that a man has overthrown1 many who have attempted this have foundered in the attempt4 ,i very little consult my prudence philosophic 'prudence' in my conduct4 ,i am willing to let it be guided by public rule4 ',in fine1 to return to myself1 the only things by which ,i esteem myself to be something1 is that wherein never any man thought himself to be defective4 ,my recommendation is vulgar and common2 for whoever thought he wanted sense4 ,it would be a proposition that would imply a contradiction in itself2 in such subtleties thickly studding this popular work1 the clues which link it with other works of this kind are found--the clues to a new practical human philosophy4 ',tis a disease that never is where it is discerned2 'tis tenacious and strong2 but the first ray of the patient's sight does nevertheless pierce it through and disperse it1 as the beams of the sun do a thick mist3 to accuse one's self1 would be to excuse one's self in this case2 and to condemn1 to absolve4 ,there never was porter1 or silly girl1 that did not think they had sense enough for their need4 ,the reasons that proceed from the natural arguing of others1 we think that if we had turned our thoughts that way1 we should ourselves have found it out as well as they4 ,knowledge1 style1 and such parts as we see in other works1 we are readily aware if they excel our own2 but for the simple products of the understanding1 every one thinks he could have found out the like1 and is hardly sensible of the weight and difficulty1 unless--and then with much ado--in an extreme and incomparable distance2 and whoever should be able clearly to discern the height of another's judgment1 would be also able to raise his own to the same pitch2 so that this is a sort of exercise1 from which a man is to expect very little praise1 a kind of composition of small repute4 ,and1 besides1 for whom do you write8'--for he is merely meeting this common sense4 ,his object is merely to make his reader confess1 ',that was just what ,i was about to say1 it was just my thought2 and if ,i did not express it so1 it was only for want of language2'--'for whom do you write8 ,the learned1 to whom the authority appertains of judging books1 know no other value but that of learning1 and allow of no other process of wit but that of erudition and art4 ,if you have mistaken one of the ,scipios for another1 what is all the rest you have to say worth8 ,whoever is ignorant of ,aristotle1 according to their rule1 is in some sort ignorant of himself4 ,heavy and vulgar souls cannot discern the grace of a high and unfettered style4 ,now these two sorts of men make the world4 ,the third sort1 into whose hands you fall1 of souls that are regular1 and strong of themselves1 is so rare1 that it justly has neither name nor place amongst us1 and it is pretty well time lost to aspire to it1 or to endeavour to please it4' ,he will not content himself with pleasing the few4 ,he wishes to move the world1 and its approbation is a secondary question with him4 ',he that should record my idle talk1 to the prejudice of the most paltry law1 opinion1 or custom of his parish1 would do himself a great deal of wrong1 and me too2 for1 in what ,i say1 ,i warrant no other certainty1 but 'tis what ,i had then in my thought1 a thought tumultuous and wavering4 ,i have nothing with this answer1 ,hamlet1 says the offended king4 ,these words are not mine4 ,hamlet3 ,nor mine now4 ,all ,i say is by way of discourse4 ,i should not speak so boldly1 if it were my due to be believed1 and so ,i told a great man1 who complained to me of the tartness and contention of my advice4' ,and1 indeed1 he would not1 in this instance1 that is very certain2--for he has been speaking on the subject of ,,religious ,,toleration1 and among other remarks1 somewhat too far in advance of his time1 he has let fall1 by chance1 such passages as these1 which1 of course1 he stands ready to recall again in case any one is offended4 7',these words are not mine1 ,hamlet4' ',nor mine now4'7 ',to kill men1 a clear and shining light is required1 and our life is too real and essential1 to warrant these supernatural and fantastic accidents4' ',after all 'tis setting a man's conjectures at a very high price to cause a man to be roasted alive upon them4' ,he does not look up at all1 after making this accidental remark2 for he is too much occupied with a very curious story1 which happens to come into his head at that moment1 of certain men1 who being more profoundly asleep than men usually are1 became1 according to certain grave authorities1 what in their dreams they fancied they were2 and having mentioned one case sufficiently ludicrous to remove any unpleasant sensation or inquiry which his preceding allusion might have occasioned1 he resumes1 ',if dreams can sometimes so incorporate themselves with effects of life1 ,i cannot believe that therefore our will should be accountable to justice4 ,which ,i say1 as a man1 who am neither judge nor privy counsellor1 nor think myself1 by many degrees1 worthy so to be1 but a man of the common sort1 born and vowed to the obedience of the public realm1 both in words and acts4 ',thought is free2--thought is free4' ,ariel4 ',perceiving you to be ready and prepared on one part1 ,i propose to you on the other1 with all the care ,i can1 to clear your judgment1 not to enforce it4 ,truly1 ,i have not only a great many humours1 but also a great many opinions which ,i bring forward here1 and assume as mine that ,i would endeavour to make my son dislike1 if ,i had one4 ,the truest1 are not always the most commodious to man2 he is of too wild a composition4 ,we speak of all things by precept and resolution1 he continues1 returning again to this covert question of toleration1 and ,lord ,bacon complains also that that is the method in his meridian4 ,they make me hate things that are likely1 when they impose them on me for infallible4 ,wonder is the foundation of all philosophy--7or1 as ,lord ,bacon expresses it1 wonder is the seed of knowledge7--enquiry the progress--ignorance the end4 ,ay1 but there is a sort of ignorance1 strong and generous1 that yields nothing in honour and courage to knowledge1 a knowledge1 which to conceive1 requires no less knowledge than knowledge itself4' ',i saw1 in my younger days1 a report of a process that ,corras1 a counsellor of ,thoulouse1 put in print4'--,the vain1 egotistical1 incoherent1 rambling old ,frenchman1 the old ,roman ,catholic ,french gentleman1 who is understood to be the author of this new experiment in letters1 was not far from being a middle-aged man1 when the pamphlet which he here alludes to was first published2 but his chronology1 generally1 does not bear a very close examination4 ,some very extraordinary anachronisms1 which the critics are totally at a loss to account for1 have somehow slipped into his story4 ,there was a young philosopher in ,france in those days1 of a most precocious1 and subtle1 and inventive genius--of a most singularly artistic genius1 combining speculation and practice1 as they had never been combined before1 and already busying himself with all sorts of things1 and among other things1 with curious researches in regard to ciphers1 and other questions not less interesting at that time2--there was a youth in ,france1 whose family name was also ,english1 living there with his eyes wide open1 a youth who had found occasion to invent a cipher of his own even then1 into whose hands that publication might well have fallen on its first appearance1 and one on whose mind it might very naturally have made the impression here recorded4 ,but let us return to the story4--',i saw in my younger days1 a report of a process1 that ,corras1 a counsellor of ,thoulouse1 put in print1 of a strange accident of two men1 who presented themselves the one for the other4 ,i remember1 and ,i hardly remember anything else1 that he seemed to have rendered the imposture of him whom he judged to be guilty1 so wonderful1 and so far exceeding both our knowledge and his who was the judge1 that ,i thought it a very bold sentence that condemned him to be hanged4 ,that is the point4 ,let us take up ,,some ,,form of ,,arrest1 that shall say1 ,,the ,,court understands nothing of the matter1 more freely and ingenuously than the ,areopagites did1 who ordered the parties to appear again in a hundred years4' ,we must not forget that these stories 'are not regarded by the author merely for the use he makes of them1--that they carry1 besides what he applies them to1 the seeds of a richer and bolder matter1 and sometimes collaterally a more delicate sound1 both to the author himself who declines saying anything more about it in that place1 and to others who shall happen to be of his ear6' ,one already prepared by previous discovery of the method of communication here indicated1 and by voluminous readings in it1 to understand that appeal1 begs leave to direct the attention of the critical reader to the delicate collateral sounds in the story last quoted4 ,it is not irrelevant to notice that this story is introduced to the attention of the reader1 'who will1 perhaps1 see farther into it than others1' in that chapter on toleration in which it is suggested that considering the fantastic1 and unscientific1 and unsettled character of the human beliefs and opinions1 and that even 'the ,fathers' have suggested in their speculations on the nature of human life1 that what men believed themselves to be1 in their dreams1 they really became1 it is after all setting a man's conjectures at a very high price to cause a man to be roasted alive on them2 the chapter in which it is intimated that considering the natural human liability to error1 a little more room for correction of blunders1 a little larger chance of arriving at the common truth1 a little more chance for growth and advancement in learning1 would1 perhaps1 on the whole1 be likely to conduce to the human welfare1 instead of sealing up the human advancement for ever1 with axe and cord and stake and rack1 within the limits of doctrines which may have been1 perhaps1 the very wisest1 the most learned1 of which the world was capable1 at the time when their form was determined4 ,it is the chapter which he calls fancifully1 a chapter 'on cripples1' into which this odd story about the two men who presented themselves1 the one for the other1 in a manner so remarkable1 is introduced1 for lameness is always this author's grievance1 wherever we find him1 and he is driven to all sorts of devices to overcome it2 for he is the person who came prepared to speak well1 and who hates that sort of speaking1 where a man reads his speech1 because he is one who could naturally give it a grace by action1 or as another has it1 he is one who would suit the action to the word4 ,but it was not the question of 'hanging' only1 or 'roasting alive1' that authors had to consider with themselves in these times4 ,for those forms of literary production which an author's literary taste1 or his desire to reach and move and mould the people1 might incline him to select--the most approved forms of popular literature1 were in effect forbidden to men1 bent1 as these men were1 on taking an active part in the affairs of their time4 ,any extraordinary reputation for excellence in these departments1 would hardly have tended to promote the ambitious views of the young aspirant for honors in that school of statesmanship1 in which the ',fairy ,queen' had been scornfully dismissed1 as 'an old song4' ,even that disposition to the gravest and profoundest forms of philosophical speculation1 which one foolish young candidate for advancement was indiscreet enough to exhibit prematurely there1 was made use of so successfully to his disadvantage1 that for years his practical abilities were held in suspicion on that very account1 as he complains4 ,the reputation of a ,philosopher in those days was quite as much as this legal practitioner was willing to undertake for his part4 ,that of a ,poet might have proved still more uncomfortable1 and more difficult to sustain4 ,his claim to a place in the management of affairs would not have been advanced by it1 in the eyes of those old statesmen1 whose favour he had to propitiate4 ,however1 he was happily relieved from any suspicion of that sort4 ,if those paraphrases of the ,psalms for which he chose to make himself responsible1--if those ,hebrew melodies of his did not do the business for him1 and clear him effectually of any such suspicion in the eyes of that generation1 it is difficult to say what would4 ,but whether his devotional feelings were really of a kind to require any such painful expression as that on their own account1 may reasonably be doubted by any one acquainted at all with his general habits of thought and sentiment4 ,these lyrics of the philosopher appear on the whole to prove too much2 looked at from a literary point of view merely1 they remind one forcibly of the attempts of ,mr4 ,silence at a ,bacchanalian song4 ',i have a reasonable good ear in music1' says the unfortunate ,pyramus1 struggling a little with that cerebral development and uncompromising facial angle which he finds imposed on him4 ',i have a reasonable good ear in music3 let us have the tongs and the bones4' ',a man must frame some probable cause1 why he should not do his best1 and why he should dissemble his abilities1' says this author1 speaking of colour1 or the covering of defects2 and that the prejudice just referred to was not peculiar to the ,english court1 the remarkable piece of dramatic criticism which we are about to produce from this old ,gascon philosopher's pages1 may or may not indicate1 according as it is interpreted4 ,it serves as an introduction to the passage in which the author's double meaning1 and the occasionally double sound of his stories is noted4 ,in the preceding chapter1 it should be remarked1 however1 the author has been discoursing in high strains1 upon the vanity of popular applause1 or of any applause but that of reason and conscience2 sustaining himself with quotations from the ,stoics1 whose doctrines on this point he assumes as the precepts of a true and natural philosophy2 and among others the following passage was quoted3--,taken from an epistle of ,seneca1 but including a quotation from a letter of ,epicurus1 on the same subject4--',remember him who being asked why he took so much pains in an art that could come to the knowledge of but few persons1 replied1 ,a few are enough for me4 ,i have enough with one1 ,i have enough with never a one4 ,he said true2 yourself and a companion are theatre enough to one another1 or you to yourself4 ,let us be to you the whole people1 and the whole people to you but one4 ,you should do like the beasts of chase who efface the track at the entrance into their den4' ,but this author's comprehensive design embraces all the oppositions in human nature2 he thinks it of very little use to preach to men from the height of these lofty philosophic flights1 unless you first dive down to the platform of their actualities1 and by beginning with the secret of what they are1 make sure that you take them with you4 ,so then the latent human vanity1 must needs be confessed1 and instead of taking it all to himself this time1 poor ,cicero and ,pliny are dragged up1 the latter very unjustly1 as the commentator complains1 to stand the brunt of this philosophic shooting4 ',but this exceeds all meanness of spirit in persons of such quality as they were1 to think to derive any glory from babbling and prating1 even to the making use of their private letters to their friends1 and so withal that though some of them were never sent1 the opportunity being lost1 they nevertheless published them2 with this worthy excuse1 that they were unwilling to lose their labour1 and have their lucubrations thrown away4'--,was it not well becoming two consuls of ,rome1 sovereign magistrates of the republic1 that commanded the world1 to spend their time in patching up elegant missives1 in order to gain the reputation of being well versed in their own mother tongue8 ,what could a pitiful schoolmaster have done worse1 who got his living by it8 ,if the acts of ,xenophon and ,caesar had not far transcended their eloquence1 ,i don't believe they would ever have taken the pains to write them4 ,they made it their business to recommend not their saying1 but their doing4 ,the companions of ,demosthenes in the embassy to ,philip1 extolling that prince as handsome1 eloquent1 and a stout drinker1 ,demosthenes said that those were commendations more proper for a woman1 an advocate1 or a sponge4 ',tis not his profession to know either how to hunt1 or to dance well4 ,orabunt causas alii1 coelique meatus ,describent radio1 et fulgentia sidera dicent1 ,hic regere imperio populos sciat4 ,plutarch says1 moreover1 that to appear so excellent in these less necessary qualities1 is to produce witness against a man's self1 that he has spent his time and study ill1 which ought to have been employed in the acquisition of more necessary and more useful things4 ,thus ,philip1 ,king of ,macedon1 having heard the great ,alexander1 his son1 sing at a feast to the wonder and envy of the best musicians there4 ',art thou not ashamed1' he said to him1 'to sing so well8' ,and to the same ,philip1 a musician with whom he was disputing about something concerning his art1 said1 ',heaven forbid1 sir1 that so great a misfortune should ever befall you as to understand these things better than ,i4' ,perhaps this author might have made a similar reply1 had his been subjected to a similar criticism4 ,and ,lord ,bacon quotes this story too1 as he does many others1 which this author has first selected1 and for the same purpose2 for1 not content with appropriating his philosophy1 and pretending to invent his design and his method1 he borrows all his most significant stories from him1 and brings them in to illustrate the same points1 and the points are borrowed also3 he makes use1 indeed1 of his common-place book throughout in the most shameless and unconscionable manner4 ',rack his style1 ,madam1 rack his style8' he said to ,queen ,elizabeth1 as he tells us1 when she consulted him--he being then of her counsel learned1 in the case of ,dr4 ,hayward1 charged with having written 'the book of the deposing of ,richard the ,second1 and the coming in of ,henry the ,fourth1' and sent to the ,tower for that offence4 ,the queen was eager for a different kind of advice4 ,racking an author's book did not appear to her coarse sensibilities1 perfectly unconscious of the delicacy of an author's susceptibilities1 a process in itself sufficiently murderous to satisfy her revenge4 ,there must be some flesh and blood in the business before ever she could understand it4 ,she wanted to have 'the question' put to that gentleman as to his meaning in the obscure passages in that work under the most impressive circumstances2 and ,mr4 ,bacon1 himself an author1 being of her counsel learned1 was requested to make out a case of treason for her2 and wishes from such a source were understood to be commands in those days4 ,now it happened that one of the managers and actors at the ,globe ,theatre1 who was at that time sustaining1 as it would seem1 the most extraordinary relations of intimacy and friendship with the friends and patrons of this same person1 then figuring as the queen's adviser1 had recently composed a tragedy on this very subject2 though that gentleman1 more cautious than ,dr4 ,hayward1 and having1 perhaps1 some learned counsel also1 had taken the precaution to keep back the scene of the deposing of royalty during the life-time of this sharp-witted queen1 reserving its publication for the reign of her erudite successor2 and the learned counsel in this case being aware of the fact1 may have felt some sympathy with this misguided author4 ',no1 madam1' he replied to her inquiry1 thinking to take off her bitterness with a merry conceit1 as he says1 'for treason ,i can not deliver opinion that there is any1 but very much felony4' ,the queen apprehending it gladly1 asked1 ',how8' and 'wherein8' ,mr4 ,bacon answered1 ',because he had stolen many of his sentences and conceits out of ,cornelius ,tacitus4' ,it would do one good to see1 perhaps1 how many felonious appropriations of sentences1 and quotations1 and ideas1 the application he recommends would bring to light in this case4 ,but the instances already quoted are not the only ones which this free spoken foreign writer1 this ,elizabethan genius abroad1 ventures to adduce in support of this position of his1 that statesmen--men who aspire to the administration of republics or other forms of government--if they cannot consent on that account to relinquish altogether the company of the ,muses1 must at least so far respect the prevailing opinion on that point1 as to be able to sacrifice to it the proudest literary honours4 ,will the reader be pleased to notice1 not merely the extraordinary character of the example in this instance1 but the grounds of the assumption which the critic makes with so much coolness4 ',and could the perfection of eloquence have added any lustre proportionable to the merit of a great person1 certainly ,scipio and ,laelius had never resigned the honour of their comedies1 with all the luxuriancies and delicacies of the ,latin tongue1 to an ,african slave1 for that the work was ,,theirs its beauty and excellency ,,sufficiently ,,prove4' ,this is from a book in which the supposed autograph of ,shakspere is found2 a work from which he quotes incessantly1 and from which he appears1 indeed1 to have taken the whole hint of his learning4 ',besides ,terence himself confesses as much1 and ,i should take it ill in any one that would dispossess me of that belief4' ,for1 as he says in another place1 in a certain deeply disguised dedication which he makes of the work of a friend1 a poet1 whose early death he greatly lamented1 and whom he is 'determined1' as he says1 'to revive and raise again to life if he can3' ',as we often judge of the greater by the less1 and as the very pastimes of great men give an honourable idea to the clear-sighted of the source from which they spring1 ,i hope you will1 by this work of his1 rise to the knowledge of himself1 and by consequence love and embrace his memory4 ,in so doing1 you will accomplish what he exceedingly longed for whilst he lived4' ,but here he continues thus1 ',i have1 indeed1 in my time known some1 who1 by a knack of writing1 have got both title and fortune1 yet disown their apprenticeship1 purposely corrupt their style1 and affect ignorance of so vulgar a quality 7which also our nation observes1 rarely to be seen in very learned hands71 carefully seeking a reputation by better qualities4' ,i once did hold it1 as our statists do1 a baseness to write fair3 but now it did me yeoman's service4--,hamlet4 ,and it is in the next paragraph to this1 that he takes occasion to mention that his stories and allegations do not always serve simply for example1 authority1 or ornament2 that they are not limited in their application to the use he ostensibly makes of them1 but that they carry1 for those who are in his secret1 other meanings1 bolder and richer meanings1 and sometimes collaterally a more delicate sound4 ,and having interrupted the consideration upon ,cicero and ,pliny1 and their vanity and pitiful desire for honour in future ages1 with this criticism on the limited sphere of statesmen in general1 and the devices to which ,llius and ,scipio were compelled to resort1 in order to get their plays published without diminishing the lustre of their personal renown1 and having stopped to insert that most extraordinary avowal in regard to his two-fold meanings in his allegations and stories1 he returns to the subject of this correspondence again1 for there is more in this also than meets the ear2 and it is not ,pliny1 and ,cicero only1 whose supposed vanity1 and regard for posthumous fame1 as men of letters1 is under consideration4 ',but returning to the speaking virtue2' he says1 ',i find no great choice between not knowing to speak anything but ill1 and not knowing anything but speaking well4 ,the sages tell us1 that as to what concerns knowledge there is nothing but philosophy1 and as to what concerns effects nothing but virtue1 that is generally proper to all degrees and orders4 ,there is something like this in these two other philosophers1 for they also promise ,,eternity to the letters they write to their friends1 but 'tis after another manner1 and by accommodating themselves for a good end to the vanity of another2 for they write to them that if the concern of making themselves known to future ages1 and the thirst of glory1 do yet detain them in the management of public affairs1 and make them fear the solitude and retirement to which they would persuade them2 let them never trouble themselves more about it1 forasmuch as they shall have credit enough with posterity to assure them that1 were there nothing else but the letters thus writ to them1 those letters will render their names as known and famous as their own public actions themselves could do4 ,and that--that is the key to the correspondence between two other philosophers enigmatically alluded to here4 ,and besides this difference1' for it is 'these two other philosophers1' and not ,pliny and ,cicero1 and not ,seneca and ,epicurus alone1 that we talk of here1 'and besides this difference1 these are not idle and empty letters1 that contain nothing but a fine jingle of well chosen words1 and fine couched phrases2 but replete and abounding with grave and learned discourses1 by which a man may render himself--not more eloquent but more wise1 and that instruct us not to speak but to do well'2 for that is the rhetorical theory that was adopted by the scholars and statesmen then alive1 whose methods of making themselves known to future ages he is indicating1 even in these references to the ancients4 ',away with that eloquence which so enchants us with its harmony that we should more study it than things'2 for this is the place where the quotation with which our investigation of this theory commenced is inserted in the text1 and here it is1 in the light of these preceding collections of hints that he puts in the story first quoted1 wherein he says1 the nature of the orator will be much more manifestly laid open to us1 than in that seeming care for his fame1 or in that care of his style1 for its own sake4 ,it is the story of ,eros1 the slave1 who brought the speaker word that the audience was deferred1 when in composing a speech that he was to make in public1 'he found himself straitened in time1 to fit his words to his mouth as he had a mind to do4' ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,possibility ,,of ,,great ,,anonymous ,,works1--,,or ,,works ,,published ,,under ,,an ,,assumed ,,name1--,,conveying1 ,,under ,,rhetorical ,,disguises1 ,,the ,,principal ,,sciences1--,,re-,,suggested1 ,,and ,,illustrated4 ,is the storm overblown8 ,i hid me under the dead moon-calf's gaberdine for fear of the storm4--,tempest4 ,,but as to this love of glory which the stoics1 whom this philosopher quotes so approvingly1 have measured at its true worth2 as to this love of literary fame1 this hankering after an earthly immortality1 which he treats so scornfully in the ,roman statesman1 let us hear him again in another chapter1 and see if we can find any thing whereby his nature and designs will more manifestly be laid open to us4 ',of all the foolish dreams in the world1' he says1 that which is most universally received1 is the solicitude of reputation and glory1 which we are fond of to that degree as to abandon riches1 peace1 life1 and health1 which are effectual and substantial good1 to pursue this vain phantom4 ,and of all the irrational humours of men1 it should seem that the philosophers themselves have the most ado1 and do the least disengage themselves from this the most restive and obstinate of all the follies4 ,there is not any one view of which reason does so clearly accuse the vanity1 as that2 but it is so deeply rooted in us1 that ,i doubt whether any one ever clearly freed himself from it1 or no4 ,after you have said all1 and believed all that has been said to its prejudice1 it creates so intestine an inclination in opposition to your best arguments1 that you have little power and firmness to resist it2 for 7as ,cicero says7 even those who controvert it1 would yet that the books they write should appear before the world with their names in the title page1 and seek to derive glory from seeming to despise it4 ,all other things are communicable and fall into commerce2 we lend our goods-- ,it irks me not that men my garments wear4 and stake our lives for the necessities and service of our friends2 but to communicate one's honour1 and to robe another with one's own glory1 is very rarely seen4 ,and yet we have some examples of that kind4 ,catulus ,luctatius1 in the ,cymbrian war1 having done all that in him lay to make his flying soldiers face about upon the enemy1 ran himself at last away with the rest1 and counterfeited the coward1 to the end that his men might rather seem to follow their captain1 than to fly from the enemy2 and after several anecdotes full of that inner significance of which he speaks elsewhere1 in which he appears1 but only appears1 to lose sight of this question of literary honour1 for they relate to military conflicts1 he ventures to approach1 somewhat cautiously and delicately1 the latent point of his essay again1 by adducing the example of persons1 not connected with the military profession1 who have found themselves called upon in various ways1 and by means of various weapons1 to take part in these wars2 who have yet1 in consequence of certain 'subtleties of conscience1' relinquished the honour of their successes2 and though there is no instance adduced of that particular kind of disinterestedness1 in which an author relinquishes to another the honour of his title page1 as the beginning might have led one to anticipate2 on the whole1 the not indiligent reader of this author's performances here and elsewhere1 will feel that the subject which is announced as the subject of this chapter1 ',not to communicate a man's honour or glory1' has been1 considering the circumstance1 sufficiently illustrated4 ',as women succeeding to peerages had1 notwithstanding their sex1 the right to assist and give their votes in the causes that appertain to the jurisdiction of peers2 so the ecclesiastical peers1 notwithstanding their profession1 were obliged to assist our kings in their wars1 not only with their friends and servants1 but in their own persons4 ,and he instances the ,bishop of ,beauvais1 who took a gallant share in the battle of ,bouvines1 but did not think it fit for him to participate in the fruit and glory of that violent and bloody trade4 ,he1 with his own hand1 reduced several of the enemy that day to his mercy1 whom he delivered to the first gentleman he met1 either to kill or to receive them to quarter1 referring that part to another hand4 ,as also did ,william1 ,earl of ,salisbury1 to ,messire ,john de ,neale1 with a like subtlety of conscience to the other1 he would ,,kill1 but ,,not ,,wound him1 and for that reason1 fought only with a mace4 ,and a certain person in my time1 being reproached by the king that he had laid hands on a priest1 stiffly and positively denied it4 ,the case was1 he had cudgelled and kicked him4' ,and there the author abruptly1 for that time1 leaves the matter without any allusion to the case of still another kind of combatants1 who1 fighting with another kind of weapon1 might also1 from similar subtleties of conscience1 perhaps think fit to devolve on others the glory of their successes4 ,but in a chapter on names1 in which1 if he has not told1 he has designed to tell all2 and what he could not express1 he has at least pointed out with his finger1 this subject is more fully developed4 ,in this chapter1 he regrets that such as write chronicles in ,latin do not leave our names as they find them1 for in making of ,vaudemont ,,valle-,,montanus1 and metamorphosing names to dress them out in ,greek or ,latin1 we know not where we are1 and with the persons of the men1 lose the benefit of the story3 but one who tracks the inner thread of this apparently miscellaneous collection of items1 need be at no such loss in this case4 ,but at the conclusion of this apparently very trivial talk about names1 he resumes his philosophic humour again1 and the subsequent discourse on this subject1 recalls once more1 the considerations with which philosophy sets at nought the loss of fame1 and forgets in the warmth that prompts to worthy deeds1 the glory that should follow them4 ',but this consideration--that is the consideration that it is the custom in ,france1 to call every man1 even a stranger1 by the name of any manor or seigneury1 he may chance to come in possession of1 tends to the total confusion of descents1 so that surnames are no security1--for1 he says1 a younger brother of a good family1 having a manor left him by his father1 by the name of which he has been known and honoured1 cannot handsomely leave it2 ten years after his decease1 it falls into the hand of a stranger1 who does the same4 ,do but judge whereabouts we shall be concerning the knowledge of these men4 ,this consideration leads me therefore into another subject4 ,let us look a little more narrowly into1 and examine upon what foundation we erect this glory and reputation1 for which the world is turned topsy-turvy4 ,wherein do we place this renown1 that we hunt after with such infinite anxiety and trouble4 ,it is in the end ,,pierre or ,,william that bears it1 takes it into his possession1 and whom only it concerns4 ,oh what a valiant faculty is ,,hope1 that in a mortal subject1 and in a moment1 makes nothing of usurping infinity1 immensity1 eternity1 and of supplying her master's indigence1 at her pleasure1 with all things that he can imagine or desire4 ,and this ,pierre or ,william1 what is it but a sound1 when all is done1 7,what's in a name87 or three or four dashes with a pen8' ,and he has already written two paragraphs to show1 that the name of ,william1 at least1 is not excepted from the general remarks he is making here on the vanity of names2 while that of ,pierre is five times repeated1 apparently with the same general intention1 and another combination of sounds is not wanting which serves with that free translation the author himself takes pains to suggest and defend1 to complete what was lacking to that combination1 in order to give these remarks their true point and significance1 in order to redeem them from that appearance of flatness which is not a characteristic of this author's intentions1 and in his style merely serves as an intimation to the reader that there is something worth looking for beneath it4 ,as to the name of ,william1 and the amount of personal distinction which that confers upon its owners1 he begins by telling us1 that the name of ,guienne is said to be derived from the ,williams of our ancient ,aquitaine1 'which would seem1' he says1 rather far fetched1 were there not as crude derivations in ,plato himself1 to whom he refers in other places for similar precedents2 and when he wishes to excuse his enigmatical style--the titles of his chapters for instance4 ,and by way of emphasizing this particular still further1 he mentions1 that on the occasion when ,henry1 the ,duke of ,normandy1 the son of ,henry the ,second1 of ,england1 made a feast in ,france1 the concourse of nobility and gentry was so great1 that for sport's sake he divided them into troops1 according to their names1 and in the first troop1 which consisted of ,williams1 there were found a hundred and ten knights sitting at the table of that name1 without reckoning the simple gentlemen and servants4 ,and here he apparently digresses from his subject for the sake of mentioning the ,emperor ,geta1 'who distributed the several courses of his meats by the first letters of the meats themselves1 where those that began with ,b were served up together2 as brawn1 beef1 beccaficos1 and so of the others4' ,this appears to be a little out of the way2 but it is not impossible that there may be an allusion in it to the author's own family name of ,eyquem1 though that would be rather farfetched1 as he says2 but then there is ,plato at hand1 still to keep us in countenance4 ,but to return to the point of digression4 ',and this ,pierre1 or ,william1 what is it but a sound when all is done8 ,or three or four dashes with a pen1 so easy to be varied1 that ,i would fain know to whom is to be attributed the glory of so many victories1 to ,guesquin1 to ,glesquin1 or to ,gueaguin4 ,and yet there would be something more in the case than in ,lucian that ,sigma should serve ,tau with a process1 for ,he seeks no mean rewards4 ,the quere is here in good earnest4 ,the point is1 which of these letters is to be rewarded for so many sieges1 battles1 wounds1 imprisonment1 and services done to the crown of ,france by this famous constable4 ,nicholas ,denisot never concerned himself further than the letters of his name1 of which he has altered the whole contexture1 to build up by anagram the ,count d',alsinois whom he has endowed with the glory of his poetry and painting4 ,a good precedent--but here is a better one4 ,and the historian ,suetonius looked only to the meaning of his2 and so1 cashiering his fathers surname1 ,lenis left ,tranquillus successor to the reputation of his writings4 ,who would believe that the ,captain ,bayard should have no honour but what he derives from the great deeds of ,peter 7,pierre7 ,terrail1 the name of ,bayard--the meaning and that ,antonio ,escalin should suffer himself1 to his face1 to be robbed of the honour of so many navigations1 and commands at sea and land1 by ,captain ,poulin and the ,baron de la ,garde4 ,the name of ,poulin was taken from the place where he was born1 ,de la ,garde from a person who took him in his boyhood into his service4 ,who hinders my groom from calling himself ,pompey the ,great8 ,but1 after all1 what virtue1 what springs are there that convey to my deceased groom1 or the other ,pompey 7who had his head cut off in ,egypt71 this glorious renown1 and these so much honoured flourishes of the pen8' ,instructive suggestions1 especially when taken in connection with the preceding items contained in this chapter1 apparently so casually introduced1 yet all with a stedfast bearing on this question of names1 and all pointing by means of a thread of delicate sounds1 and not less delicate suggestions1 to another instance1 in which the possibility of circumstances tending to countervail the so natural desire to appropriate to the name derived from one's ancestors1 the lustre of one's deeds1 is clearly demonstrated4 '',tis with good reason that men decry the hypocrisy that is in war2 for what is more easy to an old soldier than to shift in time of danger1 and to counterfeit bravely1 when he has no more heart than a chicken4 ,there are so many ways to avoid hazarding a man's own person'--'and had we the use of the ,platonic ring1 which renders those invisible that wear it1 if turned inwards towards the palm of the hand1 it is to be feared that a great many would often hide themselves1 when they ought to appear4' ',it seems that to be known1 is in some sort to a man's life and its duration in another's keeping4 ,i for my part1 hold that ,i am wholly in myself1 and that other life of mine which lies in the knowledge of my friends1 considering it nakedly and simply in itself1 ,i know very well that ,i am sensible of no fruit or enjoyment of it but by the vanity of a fantastic opinion2 and1 when ,i shall be dead1 ,i shall be much less sensible of it1 and shall withal absolutely lose the use of those real advantages that sometimes accidentally follow it4 ,that was ,lord ,bacon's view1 too1 exactly4 ,i shall have no more handle whereby to take hold of reputation1 or whereby it may take hold of me3 for to expect that my name should receive it1 in the first place1 ,i have no name that is enough my own4 ,of two that ,i have1 one is common to all my race1 and even to others also3 there is one family at ,paris1 and another at ,montpelier1 whose surname is ,montaigne2 another in ,brittany1 and ,xaintonge called ,de la ,montaigne4 ,the transposition of one syllable only is enough to ravel our affairs1 so that ,i shall peradventure share in their glory1 and they shall partake of my shame2 and1 moreover1 my ancestors were formerly surnamed ,eyquem1 a name wherein a family well known in ,england at this day is concerned4 ,as to my other name1 any one can take it that will1 and so1 perhaps1 ,i may honour a porter in my own stead4 ,and1 besides1 though ,i had a particular distinction myself1 what can it distinguish when ,i am no more4 ,can it point out and favour inanity8 ,but will thy manes such a gift bestow ,as to make violets from thy ashes grow8 ',but of this ,i have spoken elsewhere4' ,he has--and to purpose4 ,but as to the authority for these readings1 ,lord ,bacon himself will give us that2 for this is the style which he discriminates so sharply as 'the enigmatical1' a style which he1 too1 finds to have been in use among the ancients1 and which he tells us has some affinity with that new method of making over knowledge from the mind of the teacher to that of the pupil1 which he terms the method of progression-- 7which is the method of essaie7--in opposition to the received method1 the only method he finds in use1 which he1 too1 calls the magisterial4 ,and this method of progression1 with which the enigmatical has some affinity1 is to be used1 he tells us1 in cases where knowledge is delivered as a thread to be spun on1 where science is to be removed from one mind to another to grow from the root1 and not delivered as trees for the use of the carpenter1 where the root is of no consequence4 ,in this case1 he tells us it is necessary for the teacher to descend to the foundations of knowledge and consent1 and so to transplant it into another as it grew in his own mind1 'whereas as knowledge is now delivered1 there is a kind of contract of error between the deliverer and the receiver1 for he that delivereth knowledge desireth to deliver it in such a form as may best be believed1 and not as may best be examined3 and he that receiveth knowledge desireth rather present satisfaction than expectant inquiry1 and so rather not to doubt than not to err1 glory making the author not to lay open his weakness1 and sloth making the disciple not to know his strength4' ,now1 so very grave a defect as this1 in the method of the delivery and tradition of ,learning1 would of course be one of the first things that would require to be remedied in any plan in which 'the ,advancement' of it was seriously contemplated4 ,and this method of the delivery and tradition of knowledge which transfers the root with them1 that they may grow in the mind of the learner1 is the method which this philosopher professes to find wanting1 and the one which he seems disposed to invent4 ,he has made a very thorough survey of the stores of the ancients1 and is not unacquainted with the more recent history of learning2 he knows exactly what kinds of methods have been made use of by the learned in all ages1 for the purpose of putting themselves into some tolerable and possible relations with the physical majority2 he knows what devices they have always been compelled to resort to1 for the purpose of establishing some more or less effective communication between themselves and that world to which they instinctively seek to transfer their doctrine4 ,but this method1 which he suggests here as the essential condition of the growth and advancement of learning1 he does not find invented4 ,he refers to a method which he calls the enigmatical1 which has an affinity with it1 'used in some cases by the discretion of the ancients1' but disgraced since1 'by the impostures of persons1 who have made it as a false light for their counterfeit merchandises4' ,the purpose of this latter style is1 as he defines it1 'to remove the secrets of knowledge from the penetration of the more vulgar capacities1 and to reserve them to selected auditors1 or to wits of such sharpness as can pierce the veil4' ,and that is a method1 he tells us1 which philosophy can by no means dispense with in his time1 and 'whoever would let in new light upon the human understanding must still have recourse to it4' ,but the method of delivery and tradition in those ancient schools1 appears to have been too much of the dictatorial kind to suit this proposer of advancement2 its tendency was to arrest knowledge instead of promoting its growth4 ,he is not pleased with the ambition of those old masters1 and thinks they aimed too much at a personal impression1 and that they sometimes undertook to impose their own particular and often very partial grasp of those universal doctrines and principles1 which are and must be true for all men1 in too dogmatical and magisterial a manner1 without making sufficient allowance for the growth of the mind of the world1 the difference of races1 etc4 ,but if any doubt in regard to the use of the method described1 in the composition of the work now first produced as ,,an ,,example of the use of it1 should still remain in any mind2 or if this method of unravelling it should seem too studious1 perhaps the author's own word for it in one more quotation may be thought worth taking4 ',i can give no account of my life by ,,my ,,actions1 fortune has placed them too low2 ,i must do it ,,by ,,my ,,fancies4 ,and when shall ,i have done representing the continual agitation and change of my thoughts as they come into my head1 seeing that ,diomedes filled six thousand books upon the subject of grammar4' ,the commentators undertake to set him right here1 but the philosopher only glances in his intention at the voluminousness of the science of words1 in opposition to the science of things1 which he came to establish4 ',what must prating produce1 since prating itself1 and the first beginning to speak1 stuffed the world with such a horrible load of volumes4 ,so many words about words only4 ,they accused one ,galba1 of old1 of living idly2 he made answer that every one ought to give account of his actions1 but not of his leisure4 ,he was mistaken1 for justice--the civil authority--has cognizance and jurisdiction over those that do nothing1 or only ,,play at ,,working4444 ,scribbling appears to be the sign of a disordered age4 ,every man applies himself negligently to the duty of his vocation at such a time and debauches in it4' ,from that central wrong of an evil government1 an infectious depravity spreads and corrupts all particulars4 ,everything turns from its true and natural course4 ,thus scribbling is the sign of a disordered age4 ,men write in such times instead of acting2 and scribble1 or seem to perhaps1 instead of writing openly to purpose4 ,and yet1 again1 that central1 and so divergent1 wrong is the result of each man's particular contribution1 as he goes on to assert4 ',the corruption of this age is made up by the particular contributions of every individual man1'-- ,he were no lion1 were not ,romans hinds4--,cassius4 ',some contribute treachery1 others injustice1 irreligion1 tyranny1 avarice and cruelty1 according as they have power2 the ,,weaker ,,sort ,,contribute ,,folly1 ,,vanity1 and ,,idleness1 and of these ,i am one4' ,caesar loves no plays as thou dost1 ,antony4 ,such men are dangerous4 ,or1 as the same poet expresses it in another ,roman play3-- ,this double worship1 ,where one part does disdain with cause1 the other ,insult without all reason2 where gentry1 title1 wisdom ,cannot conclude but by the yea and no ,of general ignorance1--it must omit ,real necessities--and give way the while ,to unstable slightness2 purpose so barred1 ,it follows1 nothing is done to purpose4 ,and that is made the plea for an attempt to overthrow the popular power1 and to replace it with a government containing the true head of the state1 its nobility1 its learning1 its gentleness1 its wisdom4 ,but the essayist continues3--',it seems as if it were the season for vain things when the hurtful oppress us2 in a time when doing ill is common1 to do nothing but what signifies nothing is a kind of commendation4 ',tis my comfort that ,i shall be one of the last that shall be called in question1--for it would be against reason to punish the less troublesome while we are infested with the greater4 ,as the physician said to one who presented him his finger to dress1 and who1 as he perceived1 had an ulcer in his lungs1 ,friend1 it is not now time to concern yourself about your finger's ends4 ,and yet ,i saw some years ago1 a person1 whose name and memory ,i have in very great esteem1 in the very height of our great disorders1 when there was neither law nor justice put in execution1 nor magistrate that performed his office1--no more than there is now1--publish ,i know not what pitiful reformations about clothes1 cookery and law chicanery4 ,these are amusements wherewith to feed a people that are ill used1 to show that they are not totally forgotten4 ,these others do the same1 who insist upon stoutly defending the forms of speaking1 dances and games to a people totally abandoned to all sorts of execrable vices--it is for the ,spartans only to fall to combing and curling themselves1 when they are just upon the point of running headlong into some extreme danger of their lives4 ',for my part1 ,i have yet a worse custom4 ,i scorn to mend myself by halves4 ,if my shoe go awry1 ,i let my shirt and my cloak do so too3 when ,i am out of order ,i feed on mischief4 ,i abandon myself through despair1 and let myself go towards the precipice1 and as the saying is1 throw the helve after the hatchet4' ,we should not need1 perhaps1 the aid of the explanations already quoted1 to show us that the author does not confess this custom of his for the sake of commending it to the sense or judgment of the reader1--who sees it here for the first time it may be put into words or put on paper1 who looks at it here1 perhaps1 for the first time objectively1 from the critical stand-point which the review of another's confession creates2 and though it may have been latent in the dim consciousness of his own experience1 or practically developed1 finds it now for the first time1 collected from the phenomena of the blind1 instinctive1 human motivity1 and put down on the page of science1 as a principle in nature1 in human nature also4 ,but this is indeed a ,spartan combing and curling1 that the author is falling to1 in the introductory flourishes 7'diversions' as he calls them7 of this great adventure1 that his pen is out for now3 he is indeed upon the point of running headlong into the fiercest dangers2--it is the state1 the wretched1 discased1 vicious state1 dying apparently1 yet full of teeth and mischief1 that he is about to handle in his argument with these fine1 lightsome1 frolicsome preparations of his1 without any perceptible 'mittens'2 it is the heart of that political evil that his time groans with1 and begins to find insufferable1 that he is going to probe to the quick with that so delicate weapon4 ,it is a tilt against the block and the rack1 and all the instruments of torture1 that he is going to manage1 as handsomely1 and with as many sacrifices to the graces1 as the circumstances will admit of4 ,but the political situation which he describes so boldly 7and we have already seen what it is7 affects us here in its relation to the question of style only1 and as the author himself connects it with the point of our inquiry4 ',a man may regret1' he says1 'the better times1 but cannot fly from the present1 we may wish for other magistrates1 but we must1 notwithstanding1 obey those we have2 and1 peradventure1 it is more laudable to obey the bad than the good1 so long as the image of the ancient and received laws of this monarchy shall shine in any corner of the kingdom4 ,if they happen1 unfortunately1 to thwart and contradict one another1 so as to produce two factions of doubtful choice1'-- ,and my soul aches ,to know1 says ,coriolanus when two authorities are up1 ,neither supreme1 how soon confusion ,may enter 'twixt the gap of both1 and take ,the one by the other4 --'in this contingency will willingly choose1' continues the other1 'to withdraw from the tempest1 and in the meantime1 nature or the hazards of war may lend me a helping hand4 ,betwixt ,csar and ,pompey1 ,i should soon and frankly have declared myself1 but amongst the three robbers that came after1 a man must needs have either hid himself1 or have gone along with the current of the time1 which ,i think a man may lawfully do1 when reason no longer rules4' ',whither dost thou wandering go8' ',this medley is a little from my subject1 ,i go out of my way but 'tis rather by licence than oversight4 ,my fancies follow one another1 but sometimes at a great distance1 and look towards one another1 but 'tis with an oblique glance4 ,i have read a ,,dialogue of ,,plato of such a motley and fantastic composition4 ,the beginning was about love1 and all the rest ,,about ,,rhetoric4 ,they stick not 7that is1 the ancients7 at these variations1 and have a marvellous grace in letting themselves to be carried away at the pleasure of the winds2 or at least to seem as if they were4 ,the titles of my chapters do not always comprehend the whole matter1 they often denote it by some mark only1 as those other titles ,andria ,eunuchus1 or these1 ,sylla1 ,cicero1 ,torquatus4 ,i love a poetic march1 by leaps and skips1 'tis an art1 as ,plato says1 light1 nimble2 and a little demoniacal4 ,there are places in ,plutarch where he forgets his theme1 where the proposition of his argument is only found incidentally1 and stuffed throughout with foreign matter4 ,do but observe his meanders in the ,demon of ,socrates4 ,how beautiful are his variations and digressions2 and then most of all1 when they seem to be fortuitous1 hear and introduced for want of heed4 ',tis the indiligent reader that loses my subject--not ,i4 ,there will always be found some words or other in a corner that are to the purpose1 though it lie very close that is the unfailing rule4 ,i ramble about indiscreetly and tumultously3 my style and my wit wander at the same rate1 he wanders wittingly4 ,a little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity1 say the precepts1 and much more the examples of our masters4 ,a thousand poets flag and languish after a prosaic manner2 but the best old prose1 and ,i strew it here up and down indifferently for verse1 shines throughout with the vigor and boldness of poetry1 and represents some air of its fury4 ,certainly1 prose must yield the pre-eminence in speaking4 ,the poet1 says ,plato1 when set upon the muse's tripod1 pours out with fury1 whatever comes into his mouth1 like the pipe of a fountain1 without considering and pausing upon what he says1 and things come from him of various colors1 of contrary substance1 and with an irregular torrent3 he himself 7,plato7 is all over poetical1 and all the old theology 7as the learned inform us7 is poetry1 and the first philosophy1 is the origiual language of the gods4 ',i would have the matter distinguish itself2 it sufficiently shows where it changes1 where it concludes1 where it begins1 and where it resumes1 without interlacing it with words of connection1 introduced for the relief of weak or negligent ears1 and without commenting myself4 ,who is he that had not rather not be read at all1 than after a drowsy or cursory manner8 ,seeing ,i cannot fix the reader's attention by the weight of what ,i write1 maneo male1 if ,i should chance to do it by my intricacies4 ,hear4 ,i mortally hate obscurity and would avoid it if ,i could4 ,in such an employment1 to whom you will not give an hour you will give nothing2 and you do nothing for him for whom you only do1 whilst you are doing something else4 ,to which may be added1 that ,i have1 perhaps1 some particular obligation to speak only by halves1 to speak confusedly and discordantly4' ,but this is1 perhaps1 enough to show1 in the way of direct assertion1 that we have here1 at least1 a philosophical work composed in that style which ,lord ,bacon calls 'the enigmatical1' in which he tells us the secrets of knowledge are reserved for selected auditors1 or wits of such sharpness as can pierce the veil2 a style which he1 too1 tells us was sometimes used by the discretion of the ancients1 though he does not specify either ,plutarch or ,plato2 in that place1 and one which he introduces in connection with his new method of progression1 in consequence of its having1 as he tells us1 some affinity with it1 and that we have here also a specimen of that new method itself1 by means of which knowledge is to be delivered as a thread to be spun on4 ,but let us leave1 for the present1 this wondrous ,gascon1 though it is not very easy to do so1 so long as we have our present subject in hand1--this philosopher1 whose fancies look towards one another at such long1 such very long distances1 sometimes1 though not always1 with an oblique glance1 who dares to depend so much upon the eye of his reader1 and especially upon the reader of that 'far-off' age he writes to4 ,it would have been indeed irrelevant to introduce the subject of this foreign work and its style in this connection without further explanation1 but for the identity of political situation already referred to1 and but for those subtle1 interior1 incessant connections with the higher writings of the great ,elizabethan school1 which form the main characteristic of this production4 ,the fact1 that this work was composed in the country in which the chief ,elizabethan men attained their maturity1 that it dates from the time in which ,bacon was completing his education there1 that it covers ostensibly not the period only1 but the scenes and events of ,raleigh's six years campaigning there1 as well as the fact alluded to by this author himself1 in a passage already quoted1--the fact that there was a family then in ,england1 very well known1 who bore the surname of his ancestors1 a family of the name of ,eyquem1 he tells us with whom1 perhaps1 he still kept up some secret correspondence and relations1 the fact1 too1 which he mentions in his chapter on ,names1 that a surname in ,france is very easily acquired1 and is not necessarily derived from one's ancestors1--that same chapter in which he adduces so many instances of men who1 notwithstanding that inveterate innate love of the honour of one's own proper name1 which is in men of genius still more inveterate1--have for one reason or another been willing to put upon anagrams1 or synonyms1 or borrowed names1 all their honours1 so that in the end it is ,william or ,pierre who takes them into his possession1 and bears them1 or it's the name of 'an ,african slave' perhaps1 or the name of a 'groom' 7promoted1 it may be1 to the rank of a jester1 or even to that of a player17 that gets all the glory4 ,all these facts1 taken in connection with the conclusions already established1 though insignificant in themselves1 will be found anything but that for the philosophical student who has leisure to pursue the inquiry4 ,and though the latent meanings1 in which the interior connections and identities referred to above are found1 are not yet critically recognised1 a latent national affinity and liking strong enough to pierce this thin1 artificial1 foreign exterior1 appears to have been at work here from the first4 ,for though the seed of the richer and bolder meanings from which the author anticipated his later harvest1 could not yet be reached1 that new form of popular writing1 that effective1 and vivacious mode of communication with the popular mind on topics of common concern and interest1 not heretofore recognised as fit subjects for literature1 which this work offered to the world on its surface1 was not long in becoming fruitful4 ,but it was on the ,english mind that it began to operate first4 ,it was in ,england1 that it began so soon to develop the latent efficacies it held in germ1 in the creation of that new and widening department in letters--that so new1 so vast1 and living department of them1 which it takes today all our reviews1 and magazines1 and journals1 to cover4 ,and the work itself has been from the first adopted1 and appropriated here1 as heartily as if it had been an indigenous production1 some singularly distinctive product too1 of the so deeply characterised ,english nationality4 ,but it is time to leave this wondrous ,gascon1 this new ',michael of the ,mount1' this man who is 'consubstantial with his book1'--this ',man of the ,mountain1' as he figuratively describes it4 ,let us yield him this new ascent1 this new triumphant peak and pyramid in science1 which he claims to have been the first to master1--the unity of the universal man1--the historical unity1--the universal human form1 collected from particulars1 not contemplatively abstracted1--the inducted ,man of the new philosophy4 ',authors1' he says1 'have hitherto communicated themselves to the people by some particular and foreign mark2 ,i1 the first of any by my universal being1 as ,michael de ,montaigne1 ,i propose a life mean and without lustre3 all moral philosophy is applied as well to a private life as to one of the greatest employment4 ,every man carries the entire form of the human condition444,i1 the first of any by my universal being1 as ,michael1'--see the chapter on names1--'as ,michael de ,montaigne4' ,let us leave him for the present1 or attempt to1 for it is not very easy to do so1 so long as we have our present subject in hand4 ,for1 as we all know1 it is from this idle1 tattling1 rambling old ,gascon--it is from this outlandish looker-on of human affairs1 that our ,spectators and ,ramblers and ,idlers and ,tattlers1 trace their descent2 and the ,times1 and the ,examiners1 and the ,observers1 and the ,spectators1 and the ,tribunes1 and ,independents1 and all the ,monthlies1 and all the ,quarterlies1 that exercise so large a sway in human affairs to-day1 are only following his lead2 and the best of them have not been able as yet to leave him in the rear4 ,but how it came to pass1 that a man of this particular turn of mind1 who belonged to the old party1 and the times that were then passing away1 should have felt himself called upon to make this great signal for the human advancement1 and how it happens that these radical connections with other works of that time1 having the same general intention1 are found in the work itself1--these are points which the future biographers of this old gentleman will perhaps find it for their interest to look to4 ,and a little of that more studious kind of reading which he himself so significantly solicited1 and in so many passages1 will inevitably tend to the elucidation of them4 ,,part ,,ii4 ,,the ,,baconian ,,rhetoric1 ,,or ,,the ,,method ,,of ,,progression4 ',the secrets of nature have not more gift in taciturnity4' ,troilus and ,cressida4 ',i did not think that ,mr4 ,silence had been a man of this mettle4' ,falstaff4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ',,beginners4' ',,prospero4--,go bring ,,the ,,rabble1 ,o'er whom ,i give thee power1 here1 to this place4' ,tempest4 ,but though a foreign philosopher may venture to give us the clue to it1 perhaps1 in the first instance1 a little more roundly1 it is not necessary that we should go the ,mayor of ,bordeaux1 in order to ascertain on the highest possible authority1 what kind of an art of communication1 what kind of an art of delivery and tradition1 men1 in such circumstances1 find themselves compelled to invent2--that is1 if they would not be utterly foiled for the want of it1 in their noblest purposes2--we need not go across the channel to find the men themselves1 to whom this art is a necessity1--men so convinced that they have a mission of instruction to their kind1 that they will permit no temporary disabilities to divert them from their end1--men who must needs open their school1 no matter what oppositions there may be1 to be encountered1 no matter what imposing exhibitions of military weapons may be going on just then1 in their vicinity2 and though they should find themselves straitened in time1 and not able to fit their words to their mouths as they have a mind to1 though they should be obliged to accept the hint from the master in the ,greek school1 and take their tone from the ear of those to whom they speak1 though many speeches which would spend their use among the men then living would have to be inserted in their most enduring works with a private hint concerning that necessity1 and a private reading of them for those whom it concerned2 though the audience they are prepared to address should be deferred1 though the benches of the inner school should stand empty for ages4 ,we need not go abroad at all to discover men of this stamp1 and their works and pastimes1 and their arts of tradition2--men so filled with that which impels men to speak1 that speak they must1 and speak they will1 in one form or another1 by word or gesture1 by word or deed1 though they speak to the void waste1 though they must speak till they reach old ocean in his unsunned caves1 and bring him up with the music of their complainings1 though the marble ,themis fling back their last appeal1 though they speak to the tempest in his wrath1 to the wind and the rain1 and the fire and the thunder1--men so impregnated with that which makes the human speech1 that speak they will1 though they have but a rusty nail1 wherewith to etch their story1 on their dungeon wall2 though they dig in the earth and bury their secret1 as one buried his of old--that same secret still2 for it is still those ,,ears--those 'ears' that ',midas hath' which makes the mystery4 ,they know that the days are coming when the light will enter their prison house1 and flash in its dimmest recess2 when the light they sought in vain1 will be there to search out the secrets they are forbid4 ,they know that the day is coming1 when the disciple himself1 all tutored in the art of their tradition1 bringing with him the key of its delivery1 shall be there to unlock those locked-up meanings1 to spell out those anagrams1 to read those hieroglyphics1 to unwind with patient loving research to its minutest point1 that text1 that with such tools as the most watchful tyranny would give them1 they will yet contrive to leave there4 ,they know that their buried words are seeds1 and though they lie long in the earth1 they will yet spring up with their 'richer and bolder meanings1' and publish on every breeze1 their boldest mystery4 ,for let not men of narrower natures fancy that such action is not proper to the larger one1 and cannot be historical4 ,for there are different kinds of men1 our science of men tells us1 and that is an unscientific judgment which omits 'the particular addition1 that bounteous nature hath closed in each1'--her 'addition to the bill that writes them all alike4' ,for there is a kind of men 'whose minds are proportioned to that which may be dispatched at once1 or within a short return of time1 and there is another kind1 whose minds are proportioned to that which begins afar off1 and is to be won with length of pursuit1'--so the ,coryphus of those choir that the latter kind compose1 informs us1 'so that there may be fitly said to be a longanimity1 which is commonly also ascribed to ,god as a magnanimity4' ,and our ,english philosophers had to light what this one calls a new ',lamp of ,tradition1' before they could make sure of transmitting their new science1 through such mediums as those that their time gave them2 and a very gorgeous many-branched lamp it is1 that the great ,english philosopher brings out from that 'secret school of living ,learning and living ,art' to which he secretly belongs1 for the admiration of the professionally learned of his time1 and a very lustrous one too1 as it will yet prove to be1 when once it enters the scholar's apprehension that it was ever meant be lighted1 when once the little movement that turns on the dazzling jet is ordered4 ,for we have all been so taken up with the ,baconian ,logic hitherto and its wonderful effects in the relief of the human estate1 that the ,baconian ,,rhetoric has all this time escaped our notice2 and nobody appears to have suspected that there was anything in that worth looking at2 any more than they suspect that there is anything in some of those other divisions which the philosopher himself lays so much stress on his proposal for the ,advancement of ,learning1--in his proposal for the advancement of it into all the fields of human activity4 ,but we read this proposition still1 as ,james the ,first was expected to read it1 and all these departments which are brought into that general view in such a dry and formal and studiously scholastic manner1 appear to be put there merely to fill up a space2 and because the general plan of this so erudite performance happened to include them4 ,for inasmuch as the real scope and main bearing of this proposition1 though it is in fact there1 is of course not there1 in any such form as to attract the particular attention of the monarch to whose eye the work is commended2 and inasmuch as the new art of a scientific ,rhetoric is already put to its most masterly use in reserving that main design1 for such as may find themselves able to receive it1 of course1 the need of any such invention is not apparent on the surface of the work1 and the real significance of this new doctrine of ,art and its radical relation to the new science1 is also reserved for that class of readers who are able to adopt the rules of interpretation which the work itself lays down4 ,because the real applications of the ,new ,logic could not yet be openly discussed1 no one sees as yet1 that there was1 and had to be1 a ,rhetoric to match it4 ,for this author1 who was not any less shrewd than the one whose methods we have just been observing a little1 had also early discovered in the great personages of his time1 a disposition to moderate his voice whenever he went to speak to them on matters of importance1 in his natural key1 for his voice too1 was naturally loud1 and high as he gives us to understand1 though he 'could speak small like a woman'2 he too had learned to take the tone from the ear of him to whom he spake1 and he too had learned1 that it was not enough merely to speak so as to make himself heard by those whom he wished to affect4 ,he also had learned to speak according to the affair he had in hand1 according to the purpose which he wished to accomplish4 ,he also is of the opinion that different kinds of audiences and different times1 require different modes of speech1 and though he found it necessary to compose his works in the style and language of his own time1 he was confident that it was a language which would not remain in use for many ages2 and he has therefore provided himself with another1 more to his mind which he has taken pains to fold carefully within the other1 and one which lie thinks will bear the wear and tear of those revolutions that he perceives to be imminent4 ,but in consequence of our persistent oversight of this ,art of ,tradition1 on which he relies so much1 7which is as fine an invention of his1 as any other of his inventions which we find ourselves so much the better for71 that appeal to 'the times that are farther off1' has not yet taken effect1 and the audience for whom he chiefly laboured is still 'deferred4' ,this so noble and benign art which he calls1 with his own natural modesty and simplicity1 the ,art of ,tradition1 this art which grows so truly noble and worthy1 so distinctively human1 in his clear1 scientific treatment of it1--in his scientific clearance of it from the wildnesses and spontaneities of accident1 or the superfluities and trickery of an art without science1--that stops short of the ultimate1 the human principle1--this so noble art of speech or tradition is1 indeed1 an art which this great teacher and leader of men will think it no scorn to labour3 it is one on which1 even such a teacher can find time to stop2 it is one which even such a teacher can stop to build from the foundation upwards1 he will not care how splendidly2 it is one on which he will spend without stint1 and think it gain to spend1 the wealth of his invention4 ,but1 at the same time1 it is with him a subordinate art4 ,it has no worth or substance in itself2 it borrows all its worth from that which masters and rigorously subdues it to its end4 ,here1 too1 we find ourselves coming down on all its old ceremonial and observance1 from that new height which we found our foreign philosopher in such quiet possession of1--taking his way at a puff through poor ,cicero's periods1--those periods which the old orator had taken so much pains with1 and laughing at his pains3--but this ,english philosopher is more daring still1 for it is he who disposes1 at a word1 without any comment1 just in passing merely1--from his practical stand-point1--of 'the flutes and trumpets of the ,greeks1' like the other making nothing at all in his theory of criticism of mere elegance1 though it is the ,gascon1 it is true1 who undertakes the more lively and extreme practical demonstrations of this theoretical contempt of it1--setting it at nought1 and flying in the face of it1--writing in as loquacious and homely a style as he possibly can1 just for the purpose for setting it at nought1 though not without giving us a glimpse occasionally1 of a faculty that would enable him to mince the matter as fine as another if he should see occasion--as1 perhaps1 he may4 ,for he talks very emphatically about his poetry here and there1 and seems to intimate that he has a gift that way2 and that he has1 moreover1 some works of value in that department of letters1 which he is anxious to 'save up' for posterity1 if he can4 ,but here1 it is the scholar1 and not the loquacious old gentleman at all1 who is giving us in his choicest1 selectest1 courtliest phrase1 in his most stately and condensed style1 his views of this subject2 but that which is noticeable is1 that the art in its fresh1 new upspringing from the secret of life and nature1 from the soul of things1 the art and that which it springs from1 is in these two so different forms identical4 ,here1 too1 the point of its criticism and review is the same4 ',away with that eloquence that so enchants us with its harmony that we should more study it than things'2 but here the old ,roman masters the philosopher1 for a moment1 and he puts in a scholarly parenthesis1 'unless you will affirm that of ,cicero to be of so supreme perfection as to form a body of itself4' ,but ,hamlet1 in his discourse with that wise reasoner1 and unfortunate practitioner1 who thought that brevity was the soul of wit1 and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes1 puts it more briefly still4 ,polonius4 ,what do you read1 my lord8 ,hamlet4 ,words1 words1 words6 ',more matter1 and less art1' another says in that same treatise on art and speculation4 ,now inasmuch as this art and science derives all its distinction and lustre from that new light on the human estate of which it was to be the vehicle1 somebody must find the trick of it1 so as to be able to bring out that doctrine by its help1 before we can be prepared to understand the real worth of this invention4 ,it would be premature to undertake to set it forth fully1 till that is accomplished4 ,there must be a more elaborate exhibition of that science1 before the art of its transmission can be fully treated2 we cannot estimate it1 till we see how it strikes to the root of the new doctrine1 how it begins with its beginning1 and reaches to its end3 we cannot estimate it till we see its relation1 its essential relation1 to that new doctrine of the human nature1 and that new doctrine of state1 which spring from the doctrine of nature in general1 which is the doctrine1 which is the beginning and the end of the new science4 ,we find here on the surface1 as we find everywhere in this comprehensive treatise1 much apparent parade of division and subdivision1 and the author appears to lay much stress upon this1 and seems disposed to pride himself upon his dexterity in chopping up the subject as finely as possible1 and keeping the parts quite clear of one another2 and sometimes1 in his distributions1 putting those points the farthest apart which are the most nearly related1 though not so far1 that they cannot 'look towards each other1' though it may be1 as the other says1 'obliquely4' ,he evidently depends very much on his arrangement1 and seems1 indeed1 to be chiefly concerned about that1 when he comes to the more critical parts of his subject4 ,but it is to the continuities which underlie these separations1 to which he directs the attention of those to whom he speaks in earnest1 and not in particular cases only4 ',generally1' he says1 'let this be a rule1 that all partitions of knowledge be accepted rather for ,,lines and ,,veins1 than for sections and separations1 and that the continuance and entireness of knowledge be preserved4 ,for the contrary hereof1' he says1 'is that which has made ,,particular ,,sciences ,,barren1 ,,shallow1 and ,,erroneous1 while they have not been nourished and maintained from the common fountain4' ,for this is the ,,one ,,science1 the deep1 the true1 the fruitful one1 the fruitful because the ,,one4 ,these lines1 then1 which he cautions us against regarding as divisions1 which are brought in with such parade of scholasticism1 with such a profound appearance of artifice1 will always be found by those who have leisure to go below the surface1 to be but the indications of those natural articulations and branches into which the subject divides and breaks itself1 and the conducting lines to that trunk and heart of sciences1 that common fountain from which all this new vitality1 this sudden up-springing and new blossoming of learning proceeds1 that fountain in which its flowers1 as well as its fruits1 and its thick leaves are nourished4 ,here in this ,art of ,tradition1 which comprehends the whole subject of the human speech from the new ground of the common nature in man--that double nature which tends to isolation on the one hand1 and which makes him a part and a member of society on the other2 we find it treated1 first1 as a means by which men come simply to a common understanding with each other1 by which that common ground1 that ground of community1 and communication1 and identity1 which a common understanding in this kind makes1 can be best reached2 and next we find it treated as a means by which more than the understanding shall be reached1 by which the sentiment1 the common sentiment1 which also belongs to the larger nature1 shall be strengthened and developed1--by which the counteracting and partial sentiments shall be put in their place1 and the will compelled2 whereby that common human form1 which in its perfection is the object of the human love and reverence shall be scientifically developed2 by which the particular form with its diseases shall be artistically disciplined and treated4 ,this ,art of ,tradition concerns1 first1 the understanding2 and secondly1 the affections and the will4 ,as man is constituted1 it is not enough to convince his understanding4 ,first1 then1 it is 'the organ' and 'method' of tradition2 and next1 it is what he calls the illustration of it4 ,first1 the object is1 to bring truth to the understanding in as clear and unobstructed a manner as the previous condition--as the diseases and pre-occupations of the mind addressed will admit of1 and next to bring all the other helps and arts by which the sentiments are touched and the will mastered4 ,first1 he will speak true1 or as true as they will let him2 but it is not enough to speak true4 ,he must be able to speak sharply too1 perhaps--or humorously1 or touchingly1 or melodiously1 or overwhelmingly1 with words that burn4 ,it is not enough1 perhaps1 to reach the ear of his auditor3 'peradventure' he too 'will also pierce it4' ,it is not enough to draw diagrams in chalk on a black board in this kind of mathematics1 where the will and the affections are the pupils1 and standing ready to defy axioms1 prepared at any moment to demonstrate practically1 that the part is greater than the whole1 and face down the universe with it1 'murdering impossibility to make what cannot be1 slight work4' ,it is not enough to have a tradition that is clear1 or as clear a one as will pass muster with the government and with the preconceptions of the people themselves4 ,he must have a pictured one--a pictorial1 an illuminated one--a beautiful one1--he must have what he calls an ,,illustrated ,,tradition4 ',why not1' he says4 ,he runs his eye over the human instrumentalities1 and this art which we call art--par excellence1 which he sees setting up for itself1 or ministering to ignorance and error1 and feeding the diseased affections with 'the sweet that is their poison1' he seizes on at once1 in behalf of his science1 and declares that it is her lawful property1 'her slave1 born in her house1' and fit for nothing in the world but to minister to her2 and what is more1 he suits the action to the word--he brings the truant home1 and reforms her1 and sets her about her proper business4 ,that is what he proposes to have done in his theory of art1 and it is what he tells us he has done himself2 and he has3 there is no mistake about it4 ,that is what he means when he talks about his illustrated tradition of science--his illustrated tradition of the science of ,,human ,,nature and its differences1 original and acquired1 and the diseases to which it is liable1 and the artificial growths which appertain to it4 ,it is very curious1 that no one has seen this tradition--this illustrated tradition1 or anything else1 indeed1 that was at all worthy of this new interpreter of mysteries1 who goes about to this day as the inventor of a method which he was not able himself to put to any practical use2 an inventor who was obliged to leave his machine for men of a more quick and subtle genius1 or to men of a more practical turn of mind to manage1 men who had a closer acquaintance with nature4 ,that which is first to be noted in looking carefully at this draught of a new ,art of ,tradition which the plan of the ,advancement of ,learning includes1--that which the careful reader cannot fail to note1 is the fact1 that throughout all this most complete and radical exhibition of the subject 7for brief and casual as that exhibition seems on the surface1 the science and art from its root to its outermost branches1 is there7--throughout all this exhibition1 under all the superficial divisions and subdivisions of the subject1 it is still the method of ,,progression which is set forth here3 under all these divisions1 there is still one point made2 it is still the ,art of a ,tradition which is designed to reserve the secrets of science1 and the nobler arts of it1 for the minds and ages that are able to receive them4 ,this new art of tradition1 with its new organs and methods1 and its living and beautiful illustration1 when once we look through the network of it to the unity within1 this new rhetoric of science1 is in fact the instrument which the philosopher would substitute1 if he could1 for those more cruel weapons which the men of his time were ready to take in hand2 and it is the instrument with which he would forestall those yet more fearful political convulsions that already seemed to his eye to threaten from afar the social structures of ,christendom2 it is the beautiful and bloodless instrumentality whereby the mind of the world is to be wrenched insensibly from its old place without 'breaking all4' ,for neither does this author1 any more than that other1 who has been quoted here on this point1 think it wise for the philosopher to rush madly out of his study with his ,,eureka1 and bawl to the first passer by in scientific terms the last result of his science1 'lording it over his ignorance' with what can be to him only a magisterial announcement4 ,for what else but that can it be1 for instance1 to tell the poor peasant1 on his way to market1 with his butter and eggs in his basket1 planting his feet on the firm earth without any qualms or misgivings1 and measuring his day by the sun's great toil and rejoicing race in heaven1 what but this same magisterial teaching is it1 to stop him1 and tell him to his bewildered face that the sun never rises or sets1 and that the earth is but a revolving ball8 ,instead of giving him a truth you have given him a falsehood4 ,you have brought him a truth out of a sphere with which he is not conversant1 which he cannot ascend to--whose truths he cannot translate into his own1 without jarring all4 ,either you have told him what must be to him a lie1 or you have upset all his little world of beliefs with your magisterial doctrine1 and confounded and troubled him to no purpose4 ,but the ,method of ,progression1 as set forth by ,lord ,bacon1 requires that the new scientific truth shall be1 not nakedly and flatly1 but artistically exhibited2 because1 as he tells us1 'the great labour is with the people1 and this people who knoweth not the law are cursed4' ,he will not have it exhibited in bare propositions1 but translated into the people's dialect4 ,he would not begin if he could--if there were no political or social restriction to forbid it--by overthrowing on all points the popular belief1 or wherever it differs from the scientific conclusion4 ,it is a very different kind of philosophy that proceeds in that manner4 ,this is one which comprehends and respects all actualities4 ,the popular belief1 even to its least absurdity 'is something more than nothing in nature'2 and the popular belief with all its admixture of error1 is better than the half-truths of a misunderstood1 untranslated science2 better than these would be in its place4 ,that truth of nature which it contains for those who are able to receive it1 and live by it1 you would destroy for them1 if you should attempt to make them read it prematurely1 in your language4 ,any kind of organism which by means of those adjustments and compensations1 with which nature is always ready to help out anything really hers1--any organism that is capable of serving as the means of an historical social continuance1 is already some gain on chaos and social dissolution2 and is1 perhaps1 better than a series of philosophical experiments4 ,the difficulty is not to overthrow the popular errors1 but to get something better in their place1 he tells us2 and that there are men who have succeeded in the first attempt1 and very signally failed in the second4 ,beautiful and vigorous unions grew up under the classic mythologies1 that dissolved and went down for ever1 in the sunshine of the classic philosophies4 ,for there were more things in heaven and earth than were included in those last1 or dreamt of in them4 ,in your expurgation1 of the popular errors1 you must be sure that the truth they contain1 is in some form as strongly1 as effectively composed in your text1 or the popular error is truer and better than the truth with which you would replace it4 ,this is a master who will have no other kind of teaching in his school4 ,his scholars must go so far in their learning as to be able to come back to this popular belief1 and account for it and understand it2 they must be as wise as the peasant again1 and be able to start with him1 from his starting point1 before they can get any diploma in this ,school of ,advancement1 or leave to practise in it4 ,but when the old is already ruinous and decaying1 and oppressing and keeping back the new1--when the vitality is gone out of it1 and it has become deadly instead1 when the new is struggling for new forms1 the man of science though never so conservative from inclination and principle1 will not be wanting to himself and to the state in this emergency4 ,he 'loves the fundamental part of state more' than in such a crisis he will 'doubt the change of it1' and will not 'fear to jump a body with a dangerous physic1 that's sure of death without it4' ,first of all then1 the condition of this lamp of tradition1 that is to burn on for ages1 is1 that it shall be able to adapt itself to the successive stages of the advancement it lights4 ,it is the inevitable condition of this school which begins with the present1 which begins with the people1 which descends to the lowest stage of the contemporary popular belief1 and takes in the many-headed monster himself1 without any trimming at all1 for its audience1--it is the first condition of such a school1 conducted by a man of science1 that it shall have its proper grades of courts and platforms1 its selecter and selectest audiences4 ,there must be landing places in the ascent1 points of rendezvous agreed on1 where 'the delicate collateral sounds' are heard1 which only those who ascend can hear4 ,there is no jar1--there is no forced advancement in this school2 there is no upward step for any1 who have not first been taught to see it1 who have not1 indeed1 already taken it4 ,for it is an artist's school1 and not a pedant's1 or a vague speculator's1 who knows not how to converge his speculation1 even upon his mode of tradition4 ,the founders of this school trust much in their general plan of instruction and relief1 to the gradual advancement of a common intelligence1 by means of a scientific1 but concealed historical teaching4 ,they will teach their lower classes1 their 'beginners1' as great nature teaches--insensibly2--as great nature teaches--in the concrete1 'in easy instances4' ,for the secret of her method is that which they have studied2 that is the learning which they have mastered2 the spirit of it1 which is the poet's gift1 the quickest1 subtlest1 most searching1 most analytic1 most synthetic spirit of it1 is that with which great nature has endowed them4 ,they will speak1 as they tell us1 as the masters always have spoken from of old to them who are without2 they will 'open their mouths in parables1' they will 'utter their dark sayings on the harp4' ,they know that men are already prepared by nature's own instruction1 to feel in a fact1--to receive in historical representations--truths which would startle them in the abstract1 truths which they are not yet prepared to disengage from the historical combinations in which they receive them2 though with every repetition1 and especially with the pointed1 selected1 prolonged repetition of the teacher1 where the ',,illustrious ,,instance' is selected and cleared of its extraneous incident1 and made to enter the mind alone1 and pierce it with its principle1--with every such repetition1 the step to that generalization and axiom becomes insensibly shorter and more easy4 ,they know that men are already wiser than their teachers1 in some--in many things2 that they have all of them a great stock of incommunicative wisdom which all their teachers have not been able to make them give up1 which they never will give up1 till the strong man1 who is stronger1 enters with his larger learning out of the same book1 with his mightier weapons out of the same armory1 and spoils their goods1 or makes them old and worthless1 by the side of the new1 resplendent1 magic wealth he brings with him4 ,the new philosophy of nature has truths to teach which nature herself has already been teaching all men1 with more or less effect1 miscellaneously1 and at odd hours1 ever since they were born2 and this philosopher gives a large place in his history1 to that vulgar1 practical human wisdom1 which all the books till his time had been of too high a strain to glance at4 ,but 'art is a second nature1 and imitateth that dextrously and compendiously1 which nature performs by ambages and length of time4' ,the scientific interpreter of nature will select1 and unite1 and teach continuously1 and pointedly1 in grand1 ideal1 representative fact1 in 'prerogative instances1' that which nature has but faintly and unconsciously impressed with her method2 for he has a scientific organum1 and what is more1--a great deal more1 a thousand times more1--he has the scientific genius that invented it4 ,his soul is a ,novum ,organum--his mind is a table of rejections that sifts the historic masses1 and brings out the instances that are to his purpose1 the bright1 bold instances that flame forth the doubtful truth1 that tell their own story and need no interpreter1 the high ideal instances that talk in verse because it is their native tongue and they can no other4 ,he has found1--or rather nature lent it to him1 the universal historic solvent1 and the dull1 formless1 miscellaneous facts of the common human experience1 spring up in magic orders1 in beautiful1 transparent1 scientific continuities1 as they arrange themselves by the laws of his thinking4 ,for the truth is1 and it must be said here1 and not here only1 but everywhere1 wherever there is a chance to say it1--that ,novum ,organum was not made to examine the legs of spiders with1 or the toes of 'the grandfather-long-legs1' or any of their kindred2 though of course it is susceptible of such an application1 when it falls into the hands of persons whose genius inclines them in those directions2 and it is a use1 that the inventor would not have disdained to put it to himself1 if he had had time1 and if his attention had not been so much distracted by the habits and history of that 'nobler kind of vermin1' which he found feeding on the human weal in his time1 and eating out the heart of it4 ,this man was not a fool1 but a man4 ,he was a naturalist indeed1 of the newest and highest style1 but that did not hinder his being a man at the same time4 ,he and his company were the first that set the example of going1 deliberately1 and on principle1 out of the human nature for knowledge2 but it was that they might re-return with better axioms for the culture1 and nobility1 and sway of that form1 which1 'though it be but a part in the continent of nature1' is as this one openly declares1 'the end and term of ,,natural ,,philosophy1 in the intention of ,,man4' ,his science included the humblest and least agreeable of nature's performances2 his ,novum ,organum was able to take up the smallest conceivable atom of existence1 whether animate or not1 and make a study of it4 ,he has no disrespect for caterpillars or any kind of worm or insect2 but he is not a caterpillar himself1 or an insect of any kind1 or a ,saurian1 or an ,icthyosaurian1 but a man2 and it was for the sake of building up from a new basis a practical doctrine of human life1 that he invented that instrument1 and put so much fine work upon it4 ,with his ',,prerogative ,,instances1' he will build height after height1 the solid1 but imperceptible stair-way to his summit of knowledges1 so that men shall tread its utmost floors without knowing what heights they are--even as they tread great nature's own solidities1 without inquiring her secret4 ,the shrewd unlearned man of practice shall take that great book of nature1 that illustrated digest of it1 on his knees1 to while away his idle hours with1 in rich pastime1 and smile to see there1 all written out1 that which he faintly knew1 and never knew that he knew before2 he will find there in sharp points1 in accumulations1 and percussions1 that which his own experience has at length wearily1 dimly1 worked and worn into him4 ,it is his own experience1 exalted indeed1 and glorified1 but it is that which beckons him on to that which is yet beyond it2 he shall read on1 and smile1 and laugh1 and weep1 and wonder at the power2 but never dream that it is science1 the new science--the science of nature--the product of the new organum of it applied to human nature1 and human life4 ,the abstract statement of that which the concrete exhibition veils1 is indeed always there1 though it lie never so close1 in never so snug a corner2 but it is there so artistically environed1 that the reader who is not ready for it1 who has not learned to disengage the principle from the instance1 who has had no hint of an illustrated tradition in it1 will never see it2 or if he sees it1 he will think it is there by accident1 or inspiration1 and pass on4 ,here1 in this open treatise upon the art of delivering and teaching of knowledge1 the author lays down1 in the most impressive terms1 the necessity of a style which shall serve as a veil of tradition1 imperceptible or impenetrable to the uninitiated1 and admitting 'only such as have by the help of a master1 attained to the interpretation of dark sayings1 or are able by their own genius to enter within the veil'2 and after having distributed under many heads1 the secret of this method of scientific communication1 he asserts distinctly that there is no other mode of dealing with the popular belief and preconception1 but the one just described--that same method which the teachers of the people have always instinctively adopted1 whenever that which was new and contrary to the received doctrines1 was to be communicated4 ',for a man of judgment1' he says1 'must1 of course1 perceive1 that there should be a difference in the teaching and delivery of knowledge1 according to the presuppositions1 which he finds infused and impressed upon the mind of the learner4 ,for that which is new and foreign from opinions received1 is to be delivered in ,,another ,,form1 from that which is agreeable and familiar4 ,and1 therefore1 ,aristotle1 when he says to ,democritus1 if we shall indeed dispute and not follow after similitudes1 as if he would tax ,democritus with being too full of comparisons1 where he thought to reprove1 really commended him4' ,there is no use in disputing in such a case1 he thinks4 ',for those whose doctrines are already seated in popular opinion1 have only to dispute or prove2 but those whose doctrines are beyond the popular opinions1 have a double labour2 the one to make themselves conceived1 and the other to prove and demonstrate2 so that it is of necessity with them to have recourse to similitudes ,,and ,,translations to express themselves4 ,and1 therefore1 in the infancy of learning1 and in rude times1 when those conceptions which are now trivial1 were then new1 the world was full of parables and similitudes1 for else would men either have passed over without mark1 or else ,,rejected ,,for ,,paradoxes1 that which was offered before they had understood or judged4 ,so in divine learning1 we see how frequent parables and tropes are1 for it is a rule in the doctrine of delivery1 that every science which is not consonant with presuppositions and prejudices1 must pray in aid of similes and allusions4' ,the true master of the art of teaching will vary his method too1 he tells us according to the subject which he handles1--and the reader should note particularly the illustration of this position1 the instance of this general necessity1 which the author selects for the sake of pointing his meaning here1 for it is here--precisely here--that we begin to touch the heart of that new method which the new science itself prescribed1--'the true teacher will vary his method according to the subject which he handles1' for there is a great difference in the delivery of mathematics1 which are the most abstracted of sciences1 and ,,policy1 which is the most immersed1 and the opinion that 'uniformity of method1 in multiformity of matter1 is necessary1' has proved very hurtful to learning1 for it tends to reduce learning to certain empty and barren--note it1--barren-- 'generalities2'--7so important is the method as that2 that it makes the difference between the fruitful and the barren1 between the old and the new7 'being but the very husks and shells of sciences1 all the kernel being forced out and expressed with the torture and press of the method2 and1 therefore1 as ,i did allow well of particular topics for invention'--therefore--his science requires him to go into particulars1 and as the necessary consequence of that1 it requires freedom--'therefore'--as ,i did allow well of particular topics of invention1 'so do ,i allow likewise of particular methods of tradition4' ,elsewhere1--in his ,novum ,organum--he quotes the scientific outlines and divisions of this very book1 he quotes the very draught and outline of the new human science1 which is the principal thing in it1 and tells us plainly that he is perfectly aware that those new divisions1 those essential differences1 those true and radical forms in nature1 which he has introduced here1 in his doctrine of human nature1 will have no practical effect at all1 as they are exhibited here2 because they are exhibited in this method which he is here criticising1 that is1 in empty and barren abstractions1-- because it was impossible for him to produce here anything but the husks and shells of that principal science1 all the kernel being forced out and expulsed with the torture and press of the method4 ,but1 at the same time1 he gives us to understand1 that these same shells and husks may be found in another place1 with the kernels and nuts in them1 and that he has not taken so much pains to let us see in so many places1 what new forms of delivery the new philosophy will require1 merely for the sake of letting us see1 at the same time1 that when it came to practice1 he himself stood by the old ones1 and contented himself with barren abstractions1 and generalities1 the husks and shells of sciences1 instead of aiming at particulars1 and availing himself of these 'particular methods of tradition4' ,he takes also this occasion to recommend a method which was found extremely serviceable at that time2 namely1 the method of teaching by aphorism1 'without any show of an art or method2 not merely because it tries the author1 since aphorisms being made out of the pith and heart of sciences1 no man can write them who is not sound and grounded1' who has not a system with its trunk and root1 though he makes no show of it1 but buries it and shows you here and there the points on the surface that are apt to look as if they had some underlying connection--not only because it tries the author1 but because they point to action2 for particulars being dispersed1 do best agree with dispersed directions2 and1 moreover1 aphorisms representing a ,,broken ,,knowledge1 invite men to inquire farther1 whereas methods1 carrying the show of a total1 do secure men as if they were at farthest1 and it is the advancement of learning that he is proposing4 ,he suggests again1 distinctly here1 the rule he so often claims he has himself put in practice1 elsewhere1 that the use of ,,confutation in the delivery of science1 ought to be very sparing2 and to serve to remove strong preoccupations and prejudgments1 and not to minister and excite disputations and doubts4 ,for he says in another place1 ',as ,alexander ,borgia was wont to say of the expedition of the ,french for ,naples1 that they came with chalk in their hands1 to mark up their lodgings1 and not with weapons to fight1 so ,i like better that entry of truth which cometh peaceably1 with chalk to mark up those minds1 which are capable to lodge and harbour it1 than that which cometh with pugnacity and contention4' ,he alludes here too1 in passing1 to some other distinctions of method1 which are already received1 that of ,,analysis and synthesis1 or ,,constitution1 that of concealment1 or ,,cryptic1 which he says 'he allows well of1 though he has himself stood upon those which are least handled and observed4' ,he brings out his doctrine of the necessity of a method which shall include particulars for practical purposes also1 under another head3 here it is the limit of rules1--the propositions or precepts of arts that he speaks of1 and the degree of particularity which these precepts ought to descend to4 ',for every knowledge1' he says1 'may be fitly said to have a latitude and longitude1 accounting the latitude towards other sciences' 7for there are rules and propositions of such latitude as to include all arts1 all sciences7--'and the longitude towards action1 that is1 from the greatest generality1 to the most particular precept3 and as to the degree of particularity to which a knowledge should descend1' though something must1 of course1 be left in all departments to the discretion of the practitioner1 he thinks it is a question which will bear looking into in a general way2 and that it might be possible to have rules in all departments1 which would limit very much the necessity of individual experiment1 and not leave us so much at the mercy of individual discretion in the most serious matters4 ,philosophy1 as he finds it1 does not appear to be very helpful to practice1 on account of its keeping to those general propositions1 so much1 as well as on some other accounts1 and has fallen into bad repute1 it seems1 among men who find it necessary to make1 without science1 as they best can1 rules of some sort2--rules that are capable of dealing with that quality in particulars which is apt to be called obstinacy in this aspect of it4 ',for we see remote and superficial generalities do but offer knowledge to scorn of practical men1 and are no more aiding to practice1 than an ,ortelius's universal map is to direct the way between ,london and ,york4' ,and what is this itself but a universal map1 this map of the advancement of learning8 ,all this doctrine of the tradition of sciences1 he produces under the head of the method of their tradition1 but in speaking of the organ of it1 he treats it exclusively as the medium of tradition for those sciences which require ,,concealment1 or admit only of a suggestive exhibition4 ,and as he makes1 too1 the claim that he has himself given practical proof1 in passing1 of his proficiency in this art1 and appeals to the skilful for the truth of this statement1 the passage1 at least1 in which this assertion is made1 will be likely to repay the inquiry which it invites4 ,he begins by drawing our attention to the fact1 that words are not the only representatives of things1 and he says 'this is not an inconsiderable thing1 for while we are treating of the coin of intellectual matters1 it is pertinent to observe1 that as money may be made of other materials besides gold and silver1 so other marks of things may be invented besides words and letters4' ,and by way of illustrating the advantages of such a means of tradition1 under certain disadvantages of position1 he adduces as much in point1 the case of ,periander1 who being consulted how to preserve a tyranny newly usurped1 bid the messenger attend and report what he saw him do1 and went into his garden and topped all the highest flowers2 signifying that it consisted in the cutting off and keeping low of the nobility and grandees4 ,and thus other apparently trivial1 purely purposeless and sportive actions1 might have a traditionary character of no small consequence1 if the messenger were only given to understand beforehand1 that the acts thus performed were axiomatical1 pointing to rules of practice1 that the forms were representative forms1 whose 'real' exhibition of the particular natures in question1 was much more vivid and effective1 much more memorable as well as safe1 than any abstract statement of that philosophic truth1 which is the truth of direction1 could be4 ,as to the 'accidents of words1 which are measure1 sound1 and elevation of accent1 and the sweetness and harshness of them1' even here the new science suggests a new rule1 which is not without a remarkable relation to that 'particular method of tradition1' which the author tells us in another place1 some parts of his new science required4 ',this subject1' he says1 'involves some curious observations in rhetoric1 but chiefly ,,poesy1 as we consider it in respect of the verse1 and not of the argument2 wherein1 though men in learned tongues do tie themselves to the ancient measures1 yet in modern languages it seemeth to me as free to make new measures of verses as of dances4' ,the spirit of the new philosophy had a chance to speak out there for once1 without intending1 of course1 to transcend that particular limit just laid down1 namely1 the measure of verses1 and with that literal limitation1 to the form of the verse1 the remark is sufficiently suggestive2 for he brings out from it at the next step1 in the way of formula1 the new principle1 the new ,shaksperian principle of rhetoric3 ,in these things the sense is better judge than the art4 ,and of the servile expressing antiquity in an unlike and an unfit subject1 it is well said3--',quod tempore antiquum videtur1 id incongruitate est maxime novum4'' ,but when he comes to speak specifically of writing as a means of tradition1 he confines his remarks to that particular kind of writing1 which is agreed on betwixt particular persons1 and called by the name of cipher1 giving excellent reasons for this proceeding1 impertinent as it may seem1 to those who think that his only object is to make out a list and 'muster-roll of the arts and sciences'2--stopping to tell us plainly that he knows what he is about1 and that he has not brought in 'these private and retired arts1' with so much stress1 and under so many heads1 in connection with 'the principal and supreme sciences1' and the mode of their tradition1 without having some occasion for it4 ',ciphers are commonly in letters1 or alphabets1 but may be in words1' he says1 proceeding to enumerate the different kinds1 and furnishing on the spot1 some pretty specimens of what may be done in the way of that kind which he calls 'doubles1' a kind which he is particularly fond of2 one hears again the echo of those delicate1 collateral sounds1 which our friend1 over the mountains1 warned us of1 declining to say any more about them in that place4 ,in the later edition1 he takes occasion to say1 in this connection1 'that as writing in the received manner no way obstructs the manner of pronunciation1 but leaves that free1 an innovation in it is of no purpose4' ,and if a cipher be the proper name for a private method of writing1 agreed on betwixt particular persons1 it is certainly the name for the method which he proposes to adopt in his tradition of the principal sciences2 as he takes occasion to inform those whom it may concern1 in an early portion of the work1 and when he is occupied in the critical task of putting down some of the primary terms4 ',i doubt not1' he says1 by way of explanation1 'but it will easily appear to men of judgment1 that in this and other particulars1 wheresoever my conception and notion may differ from the ancient1 ,i am studious to keep the ancient terms4' ,surely there is no want of frankness here1 so far as the men of judgment are concerned at least4 ,and after condemning those innovators who have taken a different course1 he says again1 ',but to me on the other side that do desire as much as lieth in my pen1 to ground a sociable intercourse between antiquity and proficience1 it seemeth best to keep way with antiquity usque ad aras2 and therefore to retain the ancient ,,terms1 though ,i sometimes alter the uses and definitions1 according to the moderate proceeding in civil government1 where1 although there be some alteration1 yet that holdeth which ,tacitus wisely noteth 'eadem magistratuum vocabula4' ,surely that is plain enough1 especially if one has time to take into account the force and historic reach of that last illustration1 'eadem magistratuum vocabula4' ,in the later and enlarged edition of his work1 he lays much stress upon the point that the cipher 'should be free from suspicion1' for he says1 'if a letter should come into the hands of such as have a power over the writer or receiver1 though the cipher itself be trusty and impossible to decipher1 it is still subject to examination and question1 and 7as he says himself71 'to avoid all suspicion1' he introduces there a cipher in letters1 which he invented in his youth in ,paris1 'having the highest perfection of a cipher1 that of signifying omnia per omnia2' and for the same reason perhaps1 that of 'avoiding all suspicion1' he quite omits there that very remarkable passage in the earlier work1 in which he treats it as a medium of tradition1 and takes pains to intimate his reasons for producing it in that connection1 with the principal and supreme sciences4 ,if it was1 indeed1 any object with him to avoid suspicion1 and recent disclosures had then1 perhaps1 tended to sharpen somewhat the contemporary criticism2 he did well1 unquestionably1 to omit that passage4 ,but at the time when that was written1 he appears to be chiefly inclined to notice the remarkable facilities1 which this style offers to an inventive genius4 ,for he says1 'in regard of the rawness and unskilfulness of the hands through which they pass1 the greatest matters1 are sometimes carried in the weakest ciphers4' ,and that there may be no difficulty or mistake as to the reading of that passage1 he immediately adds1 ',in the enumeration of these private and retired arts1 it may be thought ,i seek to make a great muster-roll of sciences1 naming them for show and ostentation1 and to little other purpose4 ,but'--note it--',but1 let those which are skilful in them judge1 whether ,i bring them in only for appearance1 or whether1 in that which ,i speak of them1 though in few words1 there be not some seed of proficience4 ,and this must be remembered1 that as there be many of great account in their countries and provinces1 which1 when they come up to the seat of the estate1 are but of mean rank1 and scarcely regarded2 so these arts1 7these private and retired arts17 being here placed with the principal and supreme sciences1 seem petty things1 ,,yet ,,to ,,such ,,as ,,have ,,chosen ,,them ,,to ,,spend ,,their ,,labours ,,and ,,studies ,,in ,,them1 ,,they ,,seem ,,great ,,matters4 7,let those which are skilful in them1 judge 7after that7 whether ,i bring them in only for appearance or to little other purpose74' ,that apology would seem sufficient1 but we must know what these labours and studies are1 before we can perceive the depth of it4 ,and if we have the patience to follow him but a step or two further1 we shall find ourselves in the way of some very direct and accurate information1 as to that4 ,for we are coming now1 in the order of the work we quote from1 to that very part1 which contains the point of all these labours and studies1 the end of them1--that part to which the science of nature in general1 and the secret of this art of tradition1 was a necessary introduction4 ,for this ,art of ,tradition makes the link between the new ,logic and the application of it to ,human ,nature and ,human ,life4 ,thus far1 this art has been treated as a means of simply transferring knowledge1 in such forms as the conditions of the ,advancement of ,learning prescribe1--forms adapted to the different stages of mental advancement1 commencing with the lowest range of the common opinion in his time1--starting with the contemporary opinions of the majority1 and reserving 'the secrets of knowledge1' for such as are able to receive them4 ,thus far1 it is the ,method1 and the ,organ of the tradition of which he has spoken4 ,but it is when he comes to speak of what he calls the ,illustration of it1 that the convergency of his design begins to be laid open to us1 for this work is not what it may seem on the surface1 as he takes pains to intimate to us--a 'mere muster-roll of sciences4' ,it is when he comes to tell us that he will have his 'truth in beauty dyed1' that he does not propose to have the new learning left in the form of argument and logic1 or in the form of bare scientific fact1 that he does not mean to appeal with it to the reason only2 that he will have it in a form in which it will be able to attract and allure men1 and make them in love with it1 a form in which it will be able to force its way into the will and the affections1 and make a lodgement in the hearts of men1 long ere it is able to reach the judgment2--it is not till he begins to bring out here1 his new doctrine of the true end of rhetoric1 and the use to which it ought to be put in subordination to science1 that we begin to perceive the significance of the arrangement which brings this theory of an ,illustrated ,art of ,tradition into immediate connection with the new science of human nature and human life which the ,author is about to constitute1--so as to serve as an introduction to it--the arrangement which interposes this art of ,tradition1 between the ,new ,logic and its application to ,human ,nature and ,human ,life--to ,,policy and ,,morality4 ,he will not consent to have this so powerful engine of popular influence1 which the sthetic art seems1 to his eye1 to offer1 left out1 in his scheme of scientific instrumentalities3 he will not pass it by scornfully1 as some other philosophers have done1 treating it merely as a voluptuary art4 ,he will have of it1 something which shall differ1 not in degree only1 but in kind1 from the art of the confectioner4 ,he begins by stating frankly his reasons for making so much of it in this grave treatise1 which is what it professes to be1 a treatise on ,learning and its ,advancement4 ',for although1' he says1 'in true value1 it is inferior to wisdom1 as it is said by ,god to ,moses1 when he disabled himself for want of this faculty1 ,aaron shall be thy speaker1 and thou shalt be to him as ,god2 yet with people it is the more mighty1 and it is just that which is mighty with the people--which he tells us in another place--is wanting4 ,for this people who knoweth not the law are cursed4' ,but here he continues1 'for so ,solomon saith1 ,sapiens corde appellabitur prudens1 sed dulcis eloquio majora reperiet2 signifying that profoundness of wisdom will help a man to a name or admiration1'--7it is something more than that which he is proposing as his end7--'but that it is eloquence--which prevails in active life2' so that the very movement which brought philosophy down to earth1 and put her upon reforming the practical life of men1 was the movement which led her to assume1 not instinctively1 only1 but by theory1 and on principle1 this new and beautiful apparel1 this deep disguise of pleasure4 ,she comes into the court with her case1 and claims that this ,art1 which has been treated hitherto as if it had some independent rights and laws of its own1 is properly a subordinate of hers2 a chattel gone astray1 and setting up for itself as an art voluptuary4 ,works on rhetorics are not wanting1 the author reports4 ,antiquity has laboured much in this field4 ,notwithstanding1 he says1 there is something to be done here too1 and the ,elizabethan sthetics must be begun also in the prima philosophia4 ',notwithstanding1' he continues1 'to stir the earth a little about the roots of this science1 as we have done of the rest2 the duty and office of ,rhetoric is to apply reason to imagination for the better moving of ,,the ,,will2 for we see reason is disturbed in the administration of the will by three means2 by sophism1 which pertains to logic2 by imagination or impression1 which pertains to rhetoric2 and by passion or affection1 which pertains to morality4' ,so in this negotiation within ourselves1 men are undermined by inconsequences1 solicited and importuned by impressions and observations1 and transported by passions4 ,neither is the nature of man so unfortunately built1 as that these powers and arts should have force to disturb reason and not to establish and advance it4 ,for the end of logic is to teach a form of logic to secure reason1 not to entrap it4 ,the end of morality is to procure the affections to obey reason1 and not to invade it4 ,the end of rhetoric is to fill the imagination to second reason1 and not to oppress it4 ,for these abuses of arts come in but ex obliquo for caution4 ,that is the real original ,english doctrine of ,art3--that is the doctrine of the age of ,elizabeth1 at least1 as it stands in that queen's ,english1 and though it may be very far from being orthodox at present1 it is the doctrine which must determine the rule of any successful interpretation of works of art composed on that theory4 ',and1 therefore1' he proceeds to say1 'it was great injustice in ,plato1 though springing out of a just hatred of the rhetoricians of his time1 to esteem of rhetoric but as a voluptuary art1 resembling it to cookery that did mar wholesome meats1 and help unwholesome1 by variety of sauces to the pleasure of the taste4' ',and therefore1 as ,plato said eloquently1 ,that virtue1 if she could be seen1 would move great love and affection1 so1 seeing that she cannot be showed to the sense by corporal shape1 the next degree is to show her to the imagination in lively representation3 for to show her to reason only1 in subtilty of argument was a thing ever derided in--,chrysippus and many of the ,stoics--who thought to thrust virtue upon men by sharp disputations and conclusions1 which have no sympathy with the will of man4' ',again1 if the affections in themselves were pliant and obedient to reason1 it were true there should be no great use of persuasions and injunctions to the will1 more than of naked propositions and proofs2 but in regard of the continual mutinies and seditions of the affections1 ,video meliora proboque ,deteriora sequor2 ',reason would become captive and servile1 if eloquence of persuasions did not practise and win the imagination from the affections part1 and contract a confederacy between the reason and the imagination1 against the affections2 for the affections themselves carry ever an appetite to good1 as reason doth4 ,the difference is'--mark it--'the difference is1 that the affection beholdeth merely the present2 reason beholdeth the future and sum of time4 ,and therefore the present filling the imagination most1 reason is commonly vanquished2 but after that force of eloquence and persuasion hath made things future and remote1 appear as present1 then1 upon the revolt of the imagination reason prevaileth4' ,not less important than that is this art in his scheme of learning4 ,no wonder that the department of learning which he refers to the imagination should take that prime place in his grand division of it1 and be preferred deliberately and on principle to the two others4 ',logic differeth from ,rhetoric chiefly in this1 that logic handleth reason exact and in truth1 and rhetoric handleth it as it is planted in popular opinions and manners4 ,and therefore ,aristotle doth wisely place rhetoric as between logic on the one side1 and moral or civil knowledge on the other1 7and when we come to put together the works of this author1 we shall find that that and none other is the place it takes in his system1 that that is just the bridge it makes in his plan of operations47' ,the proofs and demonstrations of logic are towards all men indifferent and the same3 but the proofs and persuasions of rhetoric ought to differ according to the auditors4 ,orpheus in sylvis inter delphinas ,arion4 ,which application1 in perfection of idea1 ought to extend so far1 that if a man should speak of the same thing to several persons1 he should speak to them all respectively1 and several ways2 and there was a great folio written on this plan which came out in those days dedicated 'to the ,great ,variety of ,readers4 ,from the most able to him that can but spell'2 7this is just the doctrine1 too1 which the ,continental philosopher sets forth we see72--though this 'politic part of eloquence in private speech1' he goes on to say here1 'it is easy for the greatest orators to want2 whilst by observing their well graced forms of speech1 they lose the volubility of ,,application2 and therefore it shall not be amiss to recommend this to better inquiry1 not being curious whether we place it here1 or in that part which concerneth policy4' ,certainly one would not be apt to infer from that decided preference which the author himself manifests here for those stately and well-graced forms of speech1 judging merely from the style of this performance at least1 one would not be inclined to suspect that he himself had ever been concerned in any literary enterprises1 or was like to be1 in which that volubility of application which he appears to think desirable1 was successfully put in practice4 ,but we must remember1 that he was just the man who was capable of conceiving of a variety of styles adapted to different exigencies1 if we would have the key to this style in particular4 ,but we must look a little at these labours and studies themselves1 which required such elaborate and splendid arts of delivery1 if we would fully satisfy ourselves1 as to whether this author really had any purpose after all in bringing them in here beyond that of mere ostentation1 and for the sake of completing his muster-roll of the sciences4 ,above1 we see an intimation1 that the divisions of the subject are1 after all1 not so 'curious' but that the inquiry might possibly be resumed again in other connections1 and in the particular connection specified1 namely1 in that part which concerneth ,policy4 ,in that which follows1 the new science of human nature and human life--which is the end and term of this treatise1 we are told--is brought out under the two heads of ,morality and ,policy2 and it is necessary to look into both these departments in order to find what application he was proposing to make of this art and science of ,tradition and ,delivery1 and in order to see what place--what vital place it occupied in his system4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,policy4 ',policy is the most immersed4'--,advancement of ,learning4 ,reversing the philosophic order1 we glance first into that new department of science which the author is here boldly undertaking to constitute under the above name1 because in this his own practical designs1 and rules of proceeding1 are more clearly laid open1 and the place which is assigned in his system to that radical science1 for which these arts of ,delivery and ,tradition are chiefly wanting1 is distinctly pointed out4 ,and1 moreover1 in this department of ,policy itself1 in marking out one of the grand divisions of it1 we find him particularly noticing1 and openly insisting on1 the form of delivery and inculcation which the new science must take here1 that is1 if it is going to be at all available as a science of practice4 ,in this so-called plan for the advancement of learning1 the author proceeds1 as we all know1 by noticing the deficiencies in human learning as he finds it2 and everywhere it is that radical deficiency1 which leaves human life and human conduct in the dark1 while the philosophers are busied with their controversies and wordy speculations4 ,and in that part of his inventory where he puts down as wanting a science of practice in those every-day affairs and incidents1 in which the life of man is most conversant1 embodying axioms of practice that shall save men the wretched mistakes and blunders of which the individual life is so largely made up2 blunders which are inevitable1 so long as men are left here1 to natural human ignorance1 to uncollected individual experience1 or to the shrewdest empiricism2--in this so original and interesting part of the work1 he takes pains to tell us at length1 that that which he has before put down under the head of 'delivery' as a point of form and method1 becomes here essential as a point of substance also4 ,it is not merely that he will have his axioms and precepts of direction digested from the facts1 instead of being made out of the teacher's own brains1 but he will have ,,the ,,facts themselves1 in all their stubbornness and opposition to the teacher's preconceptions1 for the body of the discourse1 and the precepts accommodated thereto1 instead of having the precepts for the body of the discourse1 and the facts brought in to wait upon them4 ,that is the form of the practical doctrine4 ,he regrets that this part of a true learning has not been collected hitherto into writing1 to the great derogation of learning1 and the professors of learning2 for from this proceeds the popular opinion which has passed into an adage1 that there is no great concurrence between wisdom and learning4 ,the deficiency here is well nigh total he says3 'but for the wisdom of business1 wherein man's life is most conversant1 there be no books of it1 except some few scattered advertisements1 that have no proportion to the magnitude of the subject4 ,for if books were written of this1 as of the other1 ,i doubt not but learned men with mean experience would far excel men of long experience without learning1 and outshoot them with their own bow4 ,neither need it be thought that this knowledge is too variable to fall under precept1' he says2 and he mentions the fact1 that in old ,rome1 so renowned for practical ability1 in its wisest and saddest times1 there were professors of this learning1 that were known for ,,general ,,wise ,,men1 who used to walk at certain hours in the place1 and give advice to private citizens1 who came to consult with them of the marriage of a daughter1 for instance1 or the employing of a son1 or of an accusation1 or of a purchase or bargain1 and every other occasion incident to man's life4 ,there is a pretty scheme laid out truly4 ,have we any general wise man1 or ghost of one1 who walks up and down at certain hours and gives advice on such topics8 ,however that may be1 this philosopher does not despair of such a science4 ',so1' he says1 commenting on that ,roman custom1 'there is a wisdom of council and advice1 even in private cases1 arising out of a universal insight into the affairs of the world1 which is used indeed upon particular cases propounded1 but is gathered by general observation of cases of like nature4' ,and fortifying himself with the example of ,solomon1 after collecting a string of texts from the ,sacred ,proverbs1 he adds1 'though they are capable1 of course1 of a more divine interpretation1 taking them as instructions for life1 they might have received large discourse1 if he would have broken them and illustrated them1 by deducements and examples4 ,nor was this in use with the ,hebrews only1 but it is generally to be found in the wisdom of the more ancient times1 that as men found out any observation that they thought was good for life1 they would gather it1 and express it in parable1 or aphorism1 or fable4' ,but for fables1 they were vicegerents and supplies1 where examples failed4 ,now that the times abound with history1 ,,the ,,aim ,,is ,,better ,,when ,,the ,,mark ,,is ,,alive4 ,and1 therefore1 he recommends as the form of writing1 'which is of all others fittest for this variable argument1 discourses upon histories and examples3 for knowledge drawn freshly1 and in our view1 out of particulars1 knoweth the way best to particulars again2 and it hath much greater life for practice1 when the discourse attendeth upon the example1 than when the example attendeth upon the discourse4 ,for this is no point of order as it seemeth at first' 7indeed it is not1 it is a point as substantial as the difference between the old learning of the world and the new7--'this is no point of order1 but of substance4 ,for when the example is the ground being set down in a history at large1 it is set down with all circumstances1 which may sometimes control the discourse thereupon made1 and sometimes supply it as a very pattern for action2 whereas the examples which are alleged for the discourse's sake1 are cited succinctly and without particularity1 and carry a servile aspect towards the discourse which they are brought in to make good4' ,the question of method is here1 as we see1 incidentally introduced2 but it is to be noted1 and it makes one of the rules for the interpretation of that particular kind of style which is under consideration1 that in this casual and secondary introduction of a subject1 we often get shrewder hints of the author's real intention than we do in those parts of the work where it is openly and distinctly treated2 at least1 these scattered and apparently accidental hints1--these dispersed directions1 often contain the key for the 'second' reading1 which he openly bespeaks for the more open and elaborate discussion4 ,and thus we are able to collect1 from every part of this proposal for a practical and progressive human learning1 based on the defects of the unpractical and stationary learning which the world has hitherto been contented with1 the author's opinion as to the form of delivery and inculcation best adapted to effect the proposed object under the given conditions4 ,this question of form runs naturally through the whole work1 and comes out in specifications of a very particular and significant kind under some of its divisions1 as we shall see4 ,but everywhere we find the point insisted on1 which we have just seen so clearly brought out1 in the department which was to contain the axioms of success in private life4 ,whatever the particular form may be1 everywhere we come upon this general rule4 ,whatever the particular form may be1 everywhere it is to be one in which the facts shall have the precedence1 and the conclusions shall follow2 and not one in which the conclusions stand first1 and the facts are brought in to make them good4 ,and this very circumstance is enough of itself to show that the form of this new doctrine will be thus far new1 as new as the doctrine itself2 that the new learning will be found in some form very different1 at least1 from that which the philosophers and professed teachers were then making use of in their didactic discourses1 in some form so much more lively than that1 and so much less oracular1 that it would1 perhaps1 appear at first1 to those accustomed only to the other1 not to be any kind of learning at all1 but something very different from that4 ,but this is not the only point in the general doctrine of delivery which we find produced again in its specific applications4 ,through all the divisions of this discourse on ,learning1 and not in that part of it only in which the ,art of its ,tradition is openly treated1 we find that the prescribed form of it is one which will adapt it to the popular preconceptions2 and that it must be a form which will make it not only universally acceptable1 but universally attractive2 that it is not only a form which will throw open the gates of the new school to all comers1 but one that will bring in mankind to its benches4 ,not under the head of ,method only1 or under the head of ,delivery and ,tradition1 but in those parts of the work in which the substance of the new learning is treated1 we find dispersed intimations and positive assertions1 that the form of it is1 at the same time1 popular and enigmatical1--not openly philosophical1 and not 'magisterial1'-- but insensibly didactic2 and that it is1 in its principal and higher departments--in those departments on which this plan for the human relief concentrates its forces--essentially ,,poetical4 ,that is what we find in the body of the work2 and the author repeats in detail what he has before made a point of telling us1 in general1 under this head of ,delivery and ,tradition of knowledge1 that he sees no reason why that same instrument1 which is so powerful for delusion and error1 should not be restored to its true uses as an instrument of the human advancement1 and a vehicle1 though a veiled one--a beautiful and universally-welcome vehicle--for bringing in on this ,globe ,theatre the knowledges that men are most in need of4 ,the doctrine which is to be conveyed in this so subtle and artistic manner is none other than the ,doctrine of ,human ,nature and ,human ,life1 or1 as this author describes it here1 the ,scientific ,doctrine of ,,morality and ,,policy4 ,it is that new doctrine of human nature and human life which the science of nature in general creates4 ,it is the light which universal science1 collected from the continent of nature1 gives to that insular portion of it 'which is the end and term of natural philosophy in the intention of man4' ,under these heads of ,morality and ,policy1 the whole subject is treated here4 ,but to return to the latter4 ,the question of ,civil ,government is1 in the light of this science1 a very difficult one2 and this philosopher1 like the one we have already quoted on this subject1 is disposed to look with much suspicion on propositions for violent and sudden renovations in the state1 and immediate abolitions and cures of social evil4 ,he too takes a naturalist's estimate of those larger wholes1 and their virtues1 and faculties of resistance4 ',civil knowledge is conversant about a subject1' he says1 'which is1 of all others1 most immersed in matter1 and hardliest reduced to axiom4 ,nevertheless1 as ,cato1 the censor1 said1 that the ,romans were like sheep1 for that a man might better drive a flock of them than one of them1 for1 in a flock1 if you could get ,,some ,,few to go right1 the rest would follow2 so in that respect1 ,,moral ,,philosophy is more difficult than policy4 ,again1 moral philosophy propoundeth to itself the framing of internal goodness1 but civil knowledge requireth only an external goodness1 for that1 as to society1 sufficeth4 ,again1 ,states1 as great engines1 move slowly1 and are not so soon put out of frame2' 7that is what our foreign statist thought also7 'for1 as in ,egypt the seven good years sustained the seven bad1 so governments for a time1 well grounded1 do bear out errors following4 ,but the resolution of particular persons is more suddenly subverted4 ,these respects do somewhat qualify the extreme difficulty of civil knowledge4' ,this is the point of attack1 then1--this is the point of scientific attack1--the resolution of particular persons4 ,he has showed us where the extreme difficulty of this subject appears to lie in his mind1 and he has quietly pointed1 at the same time1 to that place of resistance in the structure of the state1 which is the key to the whole position4 ,he has marked the spot exactly where he intends to commence his political operations4 ,for he has discovered a point there1 which admits of being operated on1 by such engines as a feeble man like him1 or a few such together1 perhaps1 may command4 ,it is the new science that they are going to converge on that point precisely1 namely the resolution of particular persons4 ,it is the novum organum that this one is bringing up1 in all its finish1 for the assault of that particular quarter4 ,hard as that old wall is1 great as the faculty of conservation is in these old structures that hold by time1 there is one element running all through it1 these chemists find1 which is within their power1 namely1 the resolution of particular persons4 ,it is the science of the conformation of the parts1 it is the constitutional structure of the human nature1 which1 in its scientific development1 makes men1 naturally1 members of communities1 beautiful and felicitous parts of states1--it is that which the man of science will begin with4 ,if you will let him have that part of the field to work in undisturbed1 he will agree not to meddle with the state4 ,and beside those general reasons1 already quoted1 which tend to prevent him from urging the immediate application of his science to this 'larger whole1' for its wholesale relief and cure1 he ventures upon some specifications and particulars1 when he comes to treat distinctly of government itself1 and assign to it its place in his new science of affairs4 ,if one were to judge by the space he has openly given it on his paper in this plan for the human advancement and relief1 one would infer that it must be a very small matter in his estimate of agencies2 but looking a little more closely1 we find that it is not that at all in his esteem1 that it is anything but a matter of little consequence4 ,it was enough for him1 at such a time1 to be allowed to put down the fact that the art of it was properly scientific1 and included in his plan1 and to indicate the kind of science that is wanting to it2 for the rest1 he gives us to understand that he has himself fallen on such felicitous times1 and finds that affair in the hands of a person so extremely learned in it1 that there is really nothing to be said4 ,and being thrown into this state of speechless reverence and admiration1 he considers that the most meritorious thing he can do1 is to pass to the other parts of his discourse with as little delay as possible4 ,it is a very short paragraph indeed for so long a subject2 but1 short as it is1 it is not less pithy1 and it contains reasons why it should not be longer1 and why that new torch of science which he is bringing in upon the human affairs generally1 cannot be permitted to enter that department of them in his time4 ',the first is1 that it is a part of knowledge secret and retired in both those respects in which things are deemed secret2 for some things are secret because they are hard to know1 and some because they are not fit to utter4 ,again1 the wisdom of antiquity1 the shadows whereof are in the ,poets1 in the description of torments and pains1 next unto the crime of rebellion1 which was the giants offence1 doth detest the crime of futility1 as in ,sisyphus and ,tantalus4 ,but this was meant of particulars4 ,nevertheless1 even unto the general rules and discourses of policy and government1 it extends2 for even here there is due a reverent handling4' ,and after having briefly indicated the comprehension 'of this science1' and shown that it is the thing he is treating under other heads1 he concludes1 'but considering that ,i write to a king who is a master of it1 and is so well assisted1 ,i think it decent to pass over this part in silence1 as willing to obtain the certificate which one of the ancient philosophers aspired unto2 who being silent when others contended to make demonstration of their abilities by speech1 desired it might be certified for his part that there was one that knew how to hold his peace4' ,and having thus distinctly cleared himself of any suspicion of a disposition to introduce scientific inquiry and innovation into departments not then open to a procedure of that sort1 his proposal for an advancement of learning in other quarters was1 of course1 less liable to criticism4 ,but even that part of the subject to which he limits himself involves1 as we shall see1 an incidental reference to this1 from which he here so modestly retires1 and affords no inconsiderable scope for that genius which was by nature so irresistibly impelled1 in one way or another1 to the criticism and reformation of the larger wholes4 ,he retires from the open assault1 but it is only to go deeper into his subject4 ,he is constituting the science of that from which the state proceeds4 ,he is analyzing the state1 and searching out in the integral parts of it1 that which makes true states impossible4 ,he has found the revolutionary forces in their simple forms1 and is content to treat them in these4 ,he is bestowing all his pains upon an art that will develop--on scientific principles1 by simply attending to the natural laws1 as they obtain in the human kind1 royalties1 and nobilities1 and liege-men of all degrees--an art that will make all kinds of pieces that the structure of the state requires4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,morality4 ,section ,i4--,,the ,,exemplar ,,of ,,good4 ',nature craves ,all dues to be rendered to their owners4' ,but this great innovator is busying himself here with drawing up a report of ,,the ,,deficiencies ,,in ,,learning2 and though he is the first to propose a plan and method by which men shall build up1 systematically and scientifically1 a knowledge of ,nature in general1 instead of throwing themselves altogether upon their own preconceptions and abstract controversial theories1 after all1 the principal deficiency which he has to mark--that to which1 even in this dry report1 he finds himself constrained to affix some notes of admiration--this principal deficiency is ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,man--,,the ,,science of human nature itself4 ,and the reason of this deficiency is1 that very deficiency before named2 it is that very act of shutting himself up to his own theories which leaves the thinker without a science of himself4 ',for it is the greatest proof of want of skill1 to investigate the nature of any object in itself alone2 and1 in general1 those very things which are considered as secret1 are manifested and common in other objects1 but will never be clearly seen if the contemplations and experiments of men be directed to themselves alone4' ,it is this science of ,,nature ,,in ,,general which makes the ,,science of ,human ,nature for the first time possible2 and that is the end and term of the new philosophy1--so the inventor of it tells us4 ,and the moment that he comes in with that new torch1 which he has been out into 'the continent of nature' to light1--the moment that he comes back with it1 into this old debateable ground of the schools1 and begins to apply it to that element in the human life in which the scientific innovation appears to be chiefly demanded1 'most of the controversies1' as he tells us very simply--'most of the controversies1 wherein moral philosophy is conversant1 are judged and determined by it4' ,but here is the bold and startling criticism with which he commences his approach to this subject2 here is the ground which he makes at the first step2 this is the ground of his scientific innovation2 not less important than this1 is the field which he finds unoccupied4 ,in the handling of this science he says1 7the science of 'the ,appetite and ,will of ,man'71 'those which have written seem to me to have done as if a man that professed to teach to write did only exhibit fair copies of alphabets and letters joined1 without giving any precepts or directions for the carriage of the hand1 or the framing of the letters2 so have they made good and fair exemplars and copies1 carrying the draughts and portraitures of good1 virtue1 duty1 felicity2 propounding them1 well described1 as the true objects and scopes of man's will and designs2 but how to attain these excellent marks1 and how to frame and subdue the will of man to become true and conformable to these pursuits1 they pass it over altogether1 or slightly and unprofitably2 for it is not1' he says1 'certain scattered glances and touches that can excuse the absence of this part of--,,science4 ',the reason of this omission1' he supposes1 'to be that hidden rock1 whereupon both this and many other barks of knowledge have been cast away1 which is1 that men have despised to be conversant in ordinary and common matters1 the judicious direction whereof1 nevertheless1 is the wisest doctrine2 for life consisteth not in novelties nor subtleties1 but1 contrariwise1 they have compounded sciences chiefly of a certain resplendent or lustrous mass of matter1 chosen to give glory either to the subtlety of disputations1 or to the eloquence of discourses4' ,but his theory of teaching is1 that ',doctrine should be such as should make men in love with the lesson1 and not with the teacher2 being directed to the auditor's benefit1 and not to the author's commendation4' ,neither needed men of so excellent parts to have despaired of a fortune which the poet ,virgil promised himself1 and1 indeed1 obtained1 who got as much glory of eloquence1 wit1 and learning1 in the expressing of the observations of husbandry as of the heroical acts of neas4 ',nec sum animi dubius1 verbis ea vincere magnum ,quam sit1 et angustis hunc addere rebus honorum4' ,georg4 iii4 #bhi4 ,so1 then1 there is room for a new ,virgil1 but his theme is here2--one who need not despair1 if he be able to bring to his subject those excellent parts this author speaks of1 of getting as much glory of eloquence1 wit1 and learning1 in the expressing of the observations of this husbandry1 as those have had who have sketched the ideal forms of the human life1 the dream of what should be4 ,the copies and exemplars of good1--that vision of heaven1--that idea of felicity1 and beauty1 and goodness that the human soul brings with it1 like a memory1--those celestial shapes that the thought and heart of man1 by a law in nature1 project1--that garden of delights that all men remember1 and yearn for1 and aspire to1 and will have1 in one form or another1 in delicate air patterns1 or gross deceiving images1--that large1 intense1 ideal good which men desire--that perfection and felicity1 so far above the rude mocking realities which experience brings them1--that1 that has had its poets4 ,no lack of these exemplars the historian finds1 when he comes to make out his report of the condition of his kind--where he comes to bring in his inventory of the human estate3 when so much is wanting1 that good he reports 'not deficient4' ,edens in plenty1--gods1 and demi-gods1 and heroes1 not wanting2 the purest abstract notions of virtue and felicity1 the most poetic embodiments of them1 are put down among the goods which the human estate1 as it is1 comprehends4 ,this part of the subject appears1 to the critical reviewer1 to have been exhausted by the poets and artists that mankind has always employed to supply its wants in this field4 ,no room for a poet here6 ,the draught of the ideal ,eden is finished2--the divine exemplar is finished2 that which is wanting is1--the husbandry thereunto4 ,till now1 the philosophers and poetic teachers had always taken their stand at once1 on the topmost peak of ,olympus1 pouring down volleys of scorn1 and amazement1 and reprehension1 upon the vulgar nature they saw beneath1 made out of the dust of the ground1 and qualified with the essential attributes of that material1--kindled1 indeed1 with a breath of heaven1 but made out of clay1--different kinds of clay1--with more or less of the ,promethean spark in it2 but always clay1 of one kind or another1 and always compelled to listen to the laws that are common to the kinds of that substance4 ,and it was to this creature1 thus bound by nature1 thus doubly bound1--'crawling between earth and heaven1' as the poet has it1--that these winged philosophers on the ideal cliffs1 thought it enough to issue their mandates1 commanding it to renounce its conditions1 to ignore its laws1 and come up thither at a word1--at a leap1--making no ado about it4 ',i can call spirits from the vasty deep4' ',and so can ,i1 and so can any man2' ,says the new philosopher-- ',but will they come8 ,will they come--when you do call for them8' ,it was simply a command1 that this dirty earth should convert itself straight into ,elysian lilies1 and bloom out1 at a word1 with roses of ,paradise4 ,excellent patterns1 celestial exemplars1 of the things required were held up to it2 and endless declamation and argument why it should be that1 and not the other1 were not wanting3--but as to any scientific inquiry into the nature of the thing on which this form was to be superinduced1 as to any scientific exhibition of the form itself which was to be superinduced1 these so essential conditions of the proposed result1 were in this case alike wanting4 ,the position which these reformers occupy1 is one so high1 that the question of different kinds of soils1 and chemical analyses and experiments1 would not come within their range at all2 and 'the resplendent or lustrous mass of matter1' of which their sciences are compounded1 chosen to give glory either to the subtilty of disputations or to the eloquence of discourses1 would not bear any such vulgar admixture4 ,it would make a terrible jar in the rhythm1 which those large generalizations naturally flow in1 to undertake to introduce into them any such points of detail4 ,and the new teacher will have a mountain too2 but it will be one that 'overlooks the vale1' and he will have a rock-cut-stair to its utmost summit4 ,he is one who will undertake this despised unlustrous matter of which our ordinary human life consists1 and make a science of it1 building up its generalizations from its particulars1 and observing the actual reality1--the thing as it is1 freshly1 for that purpose2 and not omitting any detail1--the poorest4 ,the poets who had undertaken this theme before had been so absorbed with the idea of what man should be1 that they could only glance at him as he is3 the idea of a science of him1 was not of course1 to be thought of4 ,there was but one name for the creature1 indeed1 in their vocabulary and doctrine1 and that was one which simply seized and embodied the general fact1 the unquestionable historic fact1 that he has not been able hitherto to attain to his ideal type in nature1 or indeed to make any satisfactory approximation to it4 ,but when the ,committee of ,inquiry sits at last1 and the business begins to assume a systematic form1 even the science of that ideal good1 that exemplar and pattern of good1 which men have been busy on so long1--the science of it1--is put down as 'wanting1' and the science of the husbandry thereunto1 'wholly deficient4' ,and the report is1 that this new argument1 notwithstanding its every-day theme1 is one that admits of being sung also2 and that the ,virgil who is able to compose 'these ,georgies of the ,mind1' may promise himself fame1 though his end is one that will enable him to forego it4 ,let us see if we can find any further track of him and his great argument1 whether in prose or verse2--this poet who cares not whether he has his 'singing robes' about him or not1 so he can express and put upon record his new 'observations of this husbandry4' ,,the ,,exemplar ,,of ,,good4--',and surely1' he continues1 'if the purpose be in good earnest1 not to write at leisure that which men may read at leisure'--note it--that which men may read at leisure--'but really to instruct and suborn action and active life1 these ,,georgics of the ,,mind1 concerning the husbandry and tillage thereof1 are no less worthy than the heroical descriptions of virtue1 duty1 and felicity2 therefore the main and primitive division of ,,moral ,,knowledge1 seemeth to be into the ,,exemplar or ,,platform of ,,good1 and ,,the ,,regimen or ,,culture ,,of ,,the ,,mind1 the one describing the ,,nature of ,,good1 the other prescribing ,,rules how to ,,subdue1 ,,apply1 and ,,accommodate ,,the ,,will ,,of ,,man ,,thereunto4' ,as to 'the nature of good1 positive or simple1' the writers on this subject have1 he says1 'set it down excellently1 in describing the forms of virtue and duty1 with their situations1 and postures1 in distributing them into their kinds1 parts1 provinces1 actions1 and administrations1 and the like3 nay1 farther1 they have commended them to man's nature and spirit1 with great quickness of argument1 and beauty of persuasions2 yea1 and fortified and entrenched them1 as much as discourse can do1 against corrupt and popular opinions4 ,and for the degrees and comparative nature of good1 they have excellently handled it also4'--,that part deserveth to be reported for 'excellently laboured4' ,what is it that is wanting then8 ,what radical1 fatal defect is it that he finds even in the doctrine of the ,,nature ,,of ,,good8 ,what is the difficulty with this platform and exemplar of good as he finds it1 notwithstanding the praise he has bestowed on it8 ,the difficulty is1 that it is not scientific4 ,it is not broad enough4 ,it is special1 it is limited to the species1 but it is not properly1 it is not effectively1 specific1 because it is not connected with the doctrine of nature in general4 ,it does not strike to those universal original principles1 those simple powers which determine the actual historic laws and make the nature of things itself4 ,this is the criticism1 therefore1 with which this critic of the learning of the world as he finds it1 is constrained to qualify that commendation4 ,notwithstanding1 if before they had come to the popular and received notions of 'vice' and 'virtue1' 'pleasure' and 'pain1' and the rest1 they had stayed a little longer upon the inquiry concerning ,,the ,,roots of ,,good and ,,evil1 and the strings to those roots1 they had given1 in my opinion1 a great light to that which followed1 and especially if they had consulted with nature1 they had made their doctrines less prolix and more profound1 which being by them in part omitted1 and in part handled with much confusion1 we will endeavour to resume and open in a more clear manner4 ,here then1 is the preparation of the ,platform or ,exemplar of ,good1 the scientific platform of virtue and felicity2 going behind the popular notion of vice and virtue1 pain and pleasure1 and the like1 he strikes at once to the nature of good1 as it is 'formed in everything1' for the foundation of this specific science4 ,he lays the beams of it1 in the axioms and definitions of his 'prima philosophia' 'which do not fall within the compass of the special parts of science1 but are more common and of a higher stage1 for the distributions and partitions of knowledge are not like several lines that meet in one angle1 and so touch but in a point1 but are like branches of a tree that meet in a stem which hath a dimension and quantity of entireness and continuance before it comes to discontinue and break itself into arms and boughs1' and it is not the narrow and specific observation on which the popular notions are framed1 but the scientific1 which is needed for the ,new ,ethics1--the new knowledge1 which here too1 is ,,power4 ,he must detect and recognise here also1 he must track even into the nature of man1 those universal 'footsteps' which are but 'the same footsteps of nature treading or printing in different substances4' ',there is formed in everything a double nature of good1 the one as everything is a total or substantive in itself1 and the other1 as it is a part or member of a greater body whereof the latter is in degree the greater and the worthier1 because it tendeth to the conservation of a more general form4444 ,this double nature of good1 and the comparison thereof1 is much more engraven upon ,,man1 if he degenerate not1 unto whom the conservation of duty to the public ought to be much more precious than the conservation of life and being2' and1 by way of illustration1 he mentions first the case of ,pompey the ,great1 'who being in commission of purveyance for a famine at ,rome1 and being dissuaded with great vehemency by his friends1 that he should not hazard himself to sea in an extremity of weather1 he said only to them1 ,necesse est ut eam1 non ut vivam4' ,but1 he adds1 'it may be truly affirmed1 that there was never any philosophy1 religion1 or other discipline1 which did so plainly and highly exalt the good which is communicative1 and depress the good which is private and particular1 as the holy faith1 well declaring that it was the same ,god that gave the ,christian law to men1 who gave those laws of nature to inanimate creatures that we spake of before2 for we read that the elected saints of ,god have wished themselves anathematised1 and razed out of the book of life1 in an ecstasy of charity1 and infinite feeling of communion4' ,and having first made good his assertion1 that this being set down1 and strongly planted1 determines most of the controversies wherein moral philosophy is conversant1 he proceeds to develop still further these scientific notions of good and evil1 which he has gone below the popular notions and into the nature of things to find1 these scientific notions1 which1 because they are scientific1 he has still to go out of the specific nature to define2 and when he comes to nail down his scientific platform of the human good with them1 when he comes to strike their clear and simple lines1 deep as the universal constitution of things1 through the popular terms1 and clear up the old confused theories with them1 we find that what he said of them beforehand was true2 they do indeed throw great light upon that which follows4 ,to that exclusive1 incommunicative good which inheres in the private and particular nature1--and he does not call it any hard names at all from his scientific platform2 indeed in the vocabulary of the ,naturalist we are told1 that these names are omitted1 'for we call a nettle but a nettle1 and the faults of fools their folly1'--that exclusive good he finds both passive and active1 and this also is one of those primary distinctions which 'is formed in all things1' and so too is the subdivision of passive good which follows4 ',for there is impressed upon all things a triple desire1 or appetite1 proceeding from love to themselves2 one1 of preserving and continuing their form2 another1 of advancing and perfecting their form2 and a third1 of multiplying and extending their form upon other things2 whereof the multiplying or signature of it upon other things1 is that which we handled by the name of active good4' ,but passive good includes both conservation and perfection1 or advancement1 which latter is the highest degree of passive good4 ,for to preserve in state is the less2 to preserve with advancement is the greater4 ,as to man1 his approach or assumption to ,,divine or ,,angelical ,,nature is the perfection of his form1 the error or false imitation of which good is that which is the tempest of human life4 ,so we have heard before2 but in the doctrine which we had before1 it was the dogma1--the dogma whose inspiration and divinity each soul recognized2 to whose utterance each soul responded1 as deep calleth unto deep1--it was the ,law1 the ,divine ,law1 and not the science of it1 that was given4 ,and having deduced 'that good of man which is private and particular1 as far as seemeth fit1' he returns 'to that good of man which respects and beholds society1' which he terms ,,duty1 because the term of duty is more proper to a mind well framed and disposed towards others1 as the term of ,,virtue is applied to a mind well formed and composed in itself2 though neither can a man understand virtue1 without some relation to society1 nor duty1 without an inward disposition4 ,but he wishes us to understand and remember1 now that he comes out of the particular nature1 and begins to look towards society with this term of ,duty1 that he is still dealing with 'the will of particular persons1' that it is still the science of morals1 and not politics1 that he is meddling with4 ',this part may seem at first1' he says1 'to pertain to science civil and politic1 but not if it be well observed2 for it concerneth the regiment and government of every man over himself1 and not over others4' ,and this is the plan which he has marked out in his doctrine of government as the most hopeful point in which to commence political reformations2 and one cannot but observe1 that if this art and science should be successfully cultivated1 the one which he dismisses so briefly would be cleared at once of some of those difficulties1 which rendered any more direct treatment of it at that time unadvisable4 ,this part of learning concerneth then 'the regiment and government of every man over himself1 and not over others4' ',as in architecture the direction of the framing the posts1 beams1 and other parts of building1 is not the same with the manner of joining them and erecting the building2 and in mechanicals1 the direction how to frame ,,an ,,instrument ,,or ,,engine is not the same with the manner of setting it on work1 and employing it2 and yet1 nevertheless1 in expressing of the one1 you incidentally express the aptness towards the other hear so the doctrine of the conjugation of men in society differeth from that of their conformity thereunto4' ,the received doctrine of that conjugation certainly appeared to2 and the more this scientific doctrine of the parts1 and the conformity thereunto1 is incidentally expressed1--the more the scientific direction how to frame the instrument or engine1 is opened1 the more this difference becomes apparent4 ,but even in limiting himself to the individual human nature as it is developed in particular persons1 regarding society only as it is incidental to that1 even in putting down his new scientific platform of the good that the appetite and will of man naturally seeks1 and in marking out scientifically its degrees and kinds1 he gives us an opportunity to perceive in passing1 that he is not altogether without occasion for the use of that particular art1 with its peculiar 'organs' and 'methods' and 'illustration1' which he recommends under so many heads in his treatise on that subject1 for the delivery or tradition of knowledges1 which tend to innovation and advancement--knowledge which is 'progressive' and 'foreign from opinions received4' ,this doctrine of duty is sub-divided into two parts2 the common duty of every man as a ,,man1 or ,a ,,member of ,a ,,state1 which is that part of the platform and exemplar of good1 he has before reported as 'extant1 and well laboured4' ,the other is the respective or special duty of every man in his ,,profession1 ,,vocation and ,,place2 and it is under this head of the special and respective duties of places1 vocations and professions1 where the subject begins to grow narrow and pointed1 where it assumes immediately1 the most critical aspects1--it is here that his new arts of delivery and tradition come in to such good purpose1 and stand him instead of other weapons4 ,for this is one of those cases precisely1 which the philosopher on the ,mountain alluded to1 where an argument is set on foot at the table of a man of prodigious fortune1 when the man himself is present4 ,nowhere1 perhaps1--in his freest forms of writing1 does he give a better reason1 for that so deliberate and settled determination1 which he so openly declares1 and everywhere so stedfastly manifests1 not to put himself in an antagonistic attitude towards opinions1 and vocations1 and professions1 as they stood authorized in his time4 ,nowhere does he venture on a more striking comparison or simile1 for the purpose of setting forth that point vividly1 and impressing it on the imagination of the reader4 ',the first of these sub-divisions of duty is extant1 and well laboured1 as hath been said4 ,the second1 likewise1 ,i may report rather dispersed than deficient2 which manner of dispersed argument ,i acknowledge to be best2 it is one he is much given to2 for who can take upon him to write of the proper duty1 virtue1 challenge and right of ,,every several vocation1 profession and place8 --truly8-- ,for although sometimes a looker on1 may see more than a gamester1 and there be a proverb more arrogant than sound1 'that the vale best discovereth the hill1' yet there is small doubt1 that men can write best1 and most really and materially of their own professions1' and it is to be wished1 he says1 'as that which would make learning1 indeed1 solid and fruitful1 that active men would1 or could1 become writers4' ,and he proceeds to mention opportunely in that connection1 a case very much in point1 as far as he is concerned1 but not on the face of it1 so immediately to the purpose1 as that which follows4 ,it will1 however1 perhaps1 repay that very careful reading of it1 which will be necessary1 in order to bring out its pertinence in this connection4 ,and we shall1 perhaps1 not lose time ourselves1 by taking1 as we pass1 the glimpse which this author sees fit to give us1 of the facilities and encouragements which existed then1 for the scientific treatment of this so important question of the duties and vices of vocations and professions4 ',in which ,i cannot but mention1 honoris causa1 your majesty's excellent book1 touching the duty of ,a ,,king' and he goes on to give a description which applies1 without much 'forcing1' to the work of another king1 which he takes occasion to introduce1 with a direct commendation1 a few pages further on--'a work richly compounded of divinity1 morality1 and policy1 with great aspersion of all other arts2 and being1 in mine opinion1 one of the most sound and healthful writings that ,i have read4 ,not sick of business1 as those are who lose themselves in their order1 nor of convulsions1 as those which cramp in matters impertinent2 not savoring of perfumes and paintings as those do1 who seek to please the reader more than nature beareth1 and chiefly well disposed in the spirits thereof1 being agreeable to truth1 and apt for action2'--this passage contains some hints as to this author's notion of what a book should be1 in form1 as well as substance1 and1 therefore1 it would not be strange1 if it should apply to some other books1 as well--'and far removed from that natural infirmity1 whereunto ,i noted those that write in their own professions1 to be subject1 which is that they exalt it above measure2 for your majesty hath truly described1 not a king of ,assyria or ,persia1 in their external glory1 and not that kind of king1 or kingly author is he talking of but a ,moses1 or a ,david1 pastors of their people4 ',neither can ,i ever lose out of my remembrance1 what ,i heard your majesty1 in the same sacred spirit of government1 deliver in a great cause of judicature1 which was1 that kings ruled by their laws1 as ,god did by the laws of nature1 and ought rarely to put in use their supreme prerogative1 as ,god doth his power of working miracles4 ,and yet1 notwithstanding1 in your book of a free monarchy1 you do well give men to understand1 that you know the plenitude of the power and right of a king1 as well as the circle of his office and duty4 ,thus have ,i presumed to allege this excellent writing of your majesty1 as a prime or eminent example of ,tractates1 concerning special and respective duties4' ,it is1 indeed1 an exemplar that he talks of here4 ',wherein ,i should have said as much1 if it had been written a thousand years since3 neither am ,i moved with certain courtly decencies1 which ,i esteem it flattery to praise in presence2 no1 it is flattery to praise in absence3 that is1 when either the virtue is absent1 or--the occasion is absent1 and so the praise is not natural1 but forced1 either in truth1 or--in time4 ,but let ,cicero be read in his oration pro ,marcello1 which is nothing but an excellent ,,table of ,caesar's ,,virtue1 and made to his face2 besides the example of many other excellent persons1 wiser a great deal than such observers1 and we will never doubt upon a full occasion1 to give just praises to present or absent4' ,the reader who does not think that is1 on the whole1 a successful paragraph1 considering the general slipperiness of the subject1 and the state of the ice in those parts of it1 in particular where the movements appear to be the most free and graceful2 such a one has1 probably1 failed in applying to it1 that key of 'times1' which a full occasion is expected to produce for this kind of delivery4 ,but if any doubt exists in any mind1 in regard to this author's opinion of the rights of his own profession and vocation1 and the circle of its office and duties1--if any one really doubts what only allegiance this author professionally acknowledges1 and what kingship it is to which this great argument is internally dedicated1 it may be well to recall the statement on that subject1 which he has taken occasion to insert in another part of the work1 so that that point1 at least1 may be satisfactorily determined4 ,he is speaking of 'certain base conditions and courses1' in his criticism on the manners of learned men1 which he says 'he has no purpose to give allowance to1 wherein divers professors of learning have wronged themselves and gone too far1'--glancing in particular at the trencher philosophers of the later age of the ,roman state1 'who were little better than parasites in the houses of the great4 ,but above all the rest1' he continues1 'the gross and palpable flattery1 whereunto1 many1 not unlearned1 have abased and abused their wits and pens1 turning1 as ,du ,bartas saith1 ,hecuba into ,helena1 and ,faustina into ,lucretia1 hath most diminished the price and estimation of learning4 ,neither is the modern dedication1 of books and writings as to patrons1 to be commended3 for that books--such as are worthy the name of books1 ought to have no patrons1 but--7hear7 but--,truth and ,reason4 ,and the ancient custom was to dedicate them only to private and equal friends1 or to entitle the books with their names1 or if to kings and great persons1 it was some such as the argument of the book was fit and proper for3 but these and the like courses may deserve rather reprehension than defence4 ',not that ,i can tax1' he continues1 however1 'or condemn the application of learned men to men in fortune4' ,and he proceeds to quote here1 approvingly1 a series of speeches on this very point1 which appear to be full of pertinence2 the first of the philosopher who1 when he was asked in mockery1 ',how it came to pass that philosophers were followers of rich men1 and not rich men of philosophers1' answered soberly1 and yet sharply1 ',because the one sort knew what they had need of1 and the other did not'4 ,and then the speech of ,aristippus1 who1 when some one1 tender on behalf of philosophy1 reproved him that he would offer the profession of philosophy such an indignity1 as for a private suit to fall at a tyrant's feet1 replied1 ',it was not his fault1 but it was the fault of ,dionysius1 that he had his ears in his feet'2 and1 lastly1 the reply of another1 who1 yielding his point in disputing with ,caesar1 claimed1 ',that it was reason to yield to him who commanded thirty legions1' and 'these1' he says1 'these1 and the like applications1 and stooping to points of necessity and convenience1 cannot be disallowed2 for1 though they may have some outward baseness1 yet1 in a judgment truly made1 they are to be accounted submissions to the occasion1 and not to the person4' ,and that is just ,volumnia's view of the subject1 as will be seen in another place4 ,now1 this no more dishonors you at all1 ,than to take in a town with gentle words1 ,which else would put you to your fortune1 and ,the hazard of much blood4-- ,and you will rather show our general louts ,how you can frown1 than spend a fawn upon them1 ,for the inheritance of their loves1 and safeguard ,of what that want might ruin4 ,but then1 in the dramatic exhibition1 the other side comes in too3-- ,i will not do't2 ,lest ,i surcease to honor mine own truth1 ,and by my body's action1 teach my mind ,a most inherent baseness4 ,it is the same poet who says in another place3-- ,almost my nature is subdued to that it works in4 ',but to return1' as our author himself says1 after his complimentary notice of the king's book1 accompanied with that emphatic promise to give an account of himself upon a full occasion1 and we have here1 apparently1 a longer digression to apologize for1 and return from2 but1 in the book we are considering1 it is1 in fact1 rather apparent than real1 as are most of the author's digressions1 and casual introductions of impertinent matter2 for1 in fact1 the exterior order of the discourse is often a submission to the occasion1 and is not so essential as the author's apparent concern about it would lead us to infer2 indeed he has left dispersed directions to have this treatise broken up1 and recomposed in a more lively manner1 upon a full occasion1 and when time shall serve2 for1 at present1 this too is chiefly well disposed in the spirits thereof4 ,and in marking out the grounds in human life1 then lying waste1 or covered with superstitious and empirical arts and inventions1 in merely showing the fields into which the inventor of this new instrument of observation and inference by rule1 was then proposing to introduce it1 and in presenting this new report1 and this so startling proposition1 in those differing aspects and shifting lights1 and under those various divisions which the art of delivery and tradition under such circumstances appeared to prescribe2 having come1 in the order of his report1 to that main ground of the good which the will and appetite of man aspires to1 and the direction thereto1--this so labored ground of philosophy1--when it was found that the new scientific platform of good1 included--not the exclusive good of the individual form only1 but that of those 'larger wholes1' of which men are constitutionally parts and members1 and the special ,,duty1--for that is the specific name of this principle of integrity in the human kind1 that is the name of that larger law1 that spiritual principle1 which informs and claims the parts1 and conserves the larger form which is the worthier1--when it was found that this part included the particular duty of every man in his place1 vocation1 and profession1 as well as the common duty of men as men1 surely it was natural enough to glance here1 at that particular profession and vocation of authorship1 and the claims of the respective places of king and subject in that regard1 as well as at the duty of the king1 and the superior advantages of a government of laws in general1 as being more in accordance with the order of nature1 than that other mode of government referred to4 ,it was natural enough1 since this subject lies always in abeyance1 and is essentially involved in the work throughout1 that it should be touched here1 in its proper place1 though never so casually1 with a glance at those nice questions of conflicting claims1 which are more fully debated elsewhere1 distinguishing that which is forced in time1 from that which is forced in truth1 and the absence of the person1 from the absence of the occasion4 ,but the approval of that man of prodigious fortune1 to whom this work is openly dedicated1 is always1 with this author1 who understands his ground here so well1 that he hardly ever fails to indulge himself in passing1 with a good humoured1 side-long1 glance at 'the situation1' this approval is the least part of the achievement4 ,that which he1 too1 adores in kings1 is 'the throng of their adorers'4 ,it is the sovereignty which makes kings1 and puts them in its liveries1 that he bends to2 it is that that he reserves his art for4 ,and this proposal to run the track of the science of nature through this new field of human nature and its higher and highest aims1 and into the very field of every man's special place1 and vocation1 and profession1 could not well be made without a glance at those difficulties1 which the clashing claims of authorship1 and other professions1 would in this case create2 without a glance at the imperious necessities which threaten the life of the new science1 which here also imperiously prescribe the form of its ,,tradition2 he could not go by this place1 without putting into the reader's hands1 with one bold stroke1 the key of its ,,delivery4 ,for it is in the paragraph which follows the compliment to the king in his character as an author1 in pursuing still further this subject of vocations and professions1 that we find in the form of 'fable' and 'allusion1'--that form which the author himself lays down in his ,art of ,tradition1 as the form of inculcation for new truth1--the precise position1 which is the key to this whole method of new sciences1 which makes the method and the interpretation1 the vital points1 in the writing and the reading of them4 ',but1 to return1 there belongeth farther to the handling of this part1 touching the ,duties of ,professions and ,vocations1 a relative1 or opposite1 touching the frauds1 impostures and vices of every profession1 which hath been likewise handled4 ,but how8 ,rather in a satire and cynically1 than seriously and wisely2 for men have rather sought by wit to deride and traduce much of that which is good in ,,professions1 than with judgment to discover and sever that which is corrupt4 ,for1 as ,solomon saith1 he that cometh to seek after knowledge with a mind to scorn and censure1 shall be sure to find matter for his humour1 but no matter for his instruction4 ,but the managing of this argument with integrity and truth1 which ,i note as deficient1 seemeth to me to be one of the best fortifications for honesty and virtue that can be planted4 ,for1 as the fable goeth of the basilisk1 that if he see you first1 you die for it1 but if ,,you ,,see ,,him ,,first--,,he ,,dieth2 so it is with deceits and evil arts1 which if they be first ,,espied lose their life1 but if they prevent1 endanger4' ,if they see you first1 you die for it2 and not you only1 but your science4 ,yet were there but this single plot to lose1 ,this mould of ,marcius1 they to dust should grind it1 ,and throw it against the wind4 ',so that we are much beholden' he continues1 'to ,machiavel and others that write what men do1 and not what they ought to do1 perhaps he refers here to that writer before quoted1 who writes1 others form men1--,i report him2 for it is not possible1' continues the proposer of the science of special duties of place1 and vocation1 and profession1 'the critic of this department1 too1--it is not possible to join the serpentine wisdom with the columbine innocency1 except men know exactly all the conditions of the serpent1--that is1 all forms and natures of evil1 for without this1 virtue lieth open and un-fenced4 ,nay1 an honest man can do no good upon those that are wicked1 to reclaim them1 without the help of the knowledge of evil3 for men of corrupted minds pre-suppose that honesty groweth out of simplicity of manners1 and believing of preachers1 schoolmasters1 and men's exterior language2 so as1 except you can make them perceive that you know the utmost reaches of their own corrupt opinions1 they despise all morality4' ,a book composed for the express purpose of meeting the difficulty here alluded to1 has been already noticed in the preceding pages1 on account of its being one of the most striking samples of that peculiar style of tradition1 which the advancement of ,learning prescribes1 and here is another1 in which the same invention and discovery appears to be indicated3--',why ,i can teach you'--says a somewhat doubtful claimant to supernatural gifts3 ',why1 ,i can teach you1 cousin1 to command ,the devil4' ',and ,i can teach thee1 coz1 to shame the devil2 ,by telling truth2 ,if thou hast power to raise him1 bring him hither1 ,and ,i'll be sworn ,i have power to shame him hence3 ,oh1 while you live1 ,,tell ,,truth4' ,but this is the style1 in which the one before referred to1 falls in with the humour of this ,advancer of ,learning4 ',as to the rest1 ,i have enjoined myself to dare to say1 all that ,i dare to do1 and even thoughts that are not to be published1 displease me4 ,the worst of my actions and qualities do not appear to me so foul1 as ,i find it foul and base not to dare to own them4 ,every one is wary and discreet in confession1 but men ought to be so in action4 ,i wish that this excessive license of mine1 may draw men to freedom above these timorous and mincing pretended virtues1 sprung from our imperfections1 and that at the expense of my immoderation1 ,i may reduce them to reason4 ,a man must see and study his vice to correct it1 they who conceal it from others1 commonly conceal it from themselves and do not think it covered enough1 if they themselves see it4444 the diseases of the soul1 the greater they are1 keep themselves the more obscure2 the most sick are the least sensible of them3 for these reasons they must often be dragged into light1 by an unrelenting and pitiless hand2 they must be opened and torn from the caverns and secret recesses of the heart4' ',to meet the ,huguenots1 who condemn our auricular and private confession1 ,i confess myself in public1 religiously and purely1--others have published the errors of their opinions1 ,i of my manners4 ,i am greedy of making myself known1 and ,i care not to how many1 provided it be truly2 or rather1 ,i hunger for nothing1 but ,i mortally hate to be mistaken by those who happen to come across my name4 ,he that does all things for honor and glory as some great men in that time were supposed to1 what can he think to gain by showing himself to the world in a mask1 and by concealing his true being from the people8 ,commend a hunchback for his fine shape1 he has a right to take it for an affront3 if you are a coward1 and men commend you for your valor1 is it of you that they speak8 ,they take you for another4 ,archelaus1 king of ,macedon1 walking along the street1 somebody threw water on his head2 which they who were with him said he ought to punish1 ,ay1 but1 said the other1 he did not throw the water upon me1 but upon him whom he took me to be4 ,socrates being told that people spoke ill of him1 ,not at all1 said he1 there is nothing in me of what they say6 ,i am content to be less commended provided ,i am better known4 ,i may be reputed a wise man1 in such a sort of wisdom as ,i take to be folly4' ,truly the ,advancement of ,learning would seem to be not all in the hands of one person in this time4 ,it appears1 indeed1 to have been in the hands of some persons who were not content with simply propounding it1 and noting deficiencies1 but who busied themselves with actively carrying out1 the precise plan propounded4 ,here is one who does not content himself with merely criticising 'professions and vocations' and suggesting improvements1 but one who appears to have an inward call himself to the cure of diseases4 ,whoever he may be1 and since he seems to care so very little for his name himself1 and looks at it from such a philosophical point of view1 we ought not1 perhaps1 to be too particular about it2 whoever he may be1 he is unquestionably a ,doctor of the ,new ,school1 the scientific school1 and will be able to produce his diploma when properly challenged2 whoever he may be1 he belongs to 'the ,globe' for the manager of that theatre is incessantly quoting him1 and dramatizing his philosophy1 and he says himself1 ',i look on all men as my compatriots1 and prefer the universal and common tie to the national4' ,but in marking out and indicating the plan and method of the new operation1 which has for its end to substitute a scientific1 in the place of an empirical procedure1 in the main pursuits of human life1 the philosopher does not limit himself in this survey of the special social duties to the special duties of professions and vocations4 ',unto this part1' he says1 'touching respective duty1 doth also appertain the duties between husband and wife1 parent and child1 master and servant3 so likewise the laws of friendship and gratitude1 the civil bond of companies1 colleges1 and politic bodies1 of neighbourhood1 and all other proportionate duties2 not as they are parts of a government and society1 but as to the framing of the mind of particular persons4' ,the reader will observe1 that that portion of moral philosophy which is here indicated1 contains1 according to this index1 some extremely important points1 points which require learned treatment2 and in our further pursuit of this inquiry1 we shall find1 that the new light which the science of nature in general throws upon the doctrine of the special duties and upon these points here emphasized1 has been most ably and elaborately exhibited by a contemporary of this philosopher1 and in the form which he has so specially recommended1--with all that rhetorical power which he conceives to be the natural and fitting accompaniment of this part of learning4 ,and the same is true also throughout of that which follows4 ',the knowledge concerning good respecting society1 doth handle it also not simply alone1 but comparatively1 whereunto belongeth the weighing of duties between person and person1 case and case1 particular and public3 as we see in the proceeding of ,lucius ,brutus against his own sons1 which was so much extolled1 yet what was said8 ,infelix utcunque ferent ea fata minores4 ',so the case was doubtful1 and had opinion on both sides4 ,so the philosopher on the mountain tells us1 too1 for his common-place book and this author's happen to be the same4 ,again we see when ,m4 ,brutus and ,cassius invited to a supper certain whose opinions they meant to feel1 whether they were fit to be made their associates1 and cast forth the question touching the killing of a tyrant1--being an usurper1--they were divided in opinion2' this of itself is a very good specimen of the style in which points are sometimes introduced casually in passing1 and by way of illustration merely some holding that servitude was the extreme of evils1 and others that tyranny was better than a civil war2 and this question also our philosopher of the mountain has considered very carefully from his retreat1 weighing all the pros and cons of it4 ,and it is a question which was treated also1 as we all happen to know1 in that other form of writing for which this author expresses so decided a preference1 in which the art of the poet is brought in to enforce and impress the conclusion of the philosopher4 ,indeed1 as we proceed further with the plan of this so radical part of the subject1 we shall find1 that the ground indicated has everywhere been taken up on the spot by somebody1 and to purpose4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,morality4 ,section ,,ii4--,,the ,,husbandry ,,thereunto2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,cure ,,and ,,culture ,,of ,,the ,,mind4 ',tis an unweeded garden ,that grows to seed--' ,hamlet4 ,but we have finished now with what he has to say here of the ,,exemplar or science of ,,good1 and its kinds1 and degrees1 and the comparison of them1 the good that is proper to the individual1 and the good that includes society4 ,he has found much fine work on that platform of virtue1 and felicity1--excellent exemplars1 the purest doctrine1 the loftiest virtue1 tried by the scientific standard4 ,and though he has gone behind those popular names of vice and virtue1 pain and pleasure1 and the like1 in which these doctrines begin1 to the more simple and original forms1 which the doctrine of nature in general and its laws supplies1 for a platform of moral science1 his doctrine is large enough to include all these works1 in all their excellence1 and give them their true place4 ,a reviewer so discriminating1 then1 so far from that disposition to scorn and censure1 which he reprehends1 so careful to conserve that which is good in his scientific constructions and reformations1 so pure in judgment in discovering and severing that which is corrupt1 a reporter so clearly scientific1 who is able to maintain through all this astounding report of the deficiences in human learning1 a tone so quiet1 so undemonstrative1 such a one deserves the more attention when he comes now to 'the art and practic part' of this great science1 to which all other sciences are subordinate1 and declares to us that he finds it1 as a part of science1 ',,wanting6' not defective1 but wanting4 ',now1 therefore1 that we have spoken of this ,,fruit of ,,life1 it remaineth to speak of the ,,husbandry that belongeth thereunto1 without which part the former seemeth to be no better than a fair image or statue1 which is beautiful to contemplate1 but is without life and motion4' ,but as this author is very far1 as he confesses1 from wishing to clothe himself with the honors of an ,innovator1--such honors as awaited the ,innovator in that time1--but prefers always to sustain himself with authority from the past1 though at the expense of that lustre of novelty and originality1 which goes far1 as he acknowledges1 in establishing new opinions1--adopting in this precisely the practices1 and1 generally1 to save trouble1 the quotations of that other philosopher1 so largely quoted here1 who frankly gives his reasons for his procedure1 confessing that he pinches his authors a little1 now and then1 to make them speak to the purpose2 and that he reads them with his pencil in his hand1 for the sake of being able to produce respectable authority1 grown gray in trust1 with the moss of centuries on it1 for the views which he has to set forth2 culling bits as he wants them1 and putting them together in his mosaics as he finds occasion2 so now1 when we come to this so important part of the subject1 where the want is so clearly reported--where the scientific innovation is so unmistakeably propounded--we find ourselves suddenly involved in a storm of ,latin quotations1 all tending to prove that the thing was perfectly understood among the ancients1 and that it is as much as a man's scholarship is worth to call it in question4 ,the author marches up to the point under cover of a perfect cannonade of classics1 no less than five of the most imposing of the ,greek and ,latin authors being brought out1 for the benefit of the stunned and bewildered reader1 in the course of one brief paragraph1 the whole concluding with a reference to the ,psalms1 which nobody1 of course1 will undertake to call in question2 whereas1 in cases of ordinary difficulty1 a proverb or two from ,solomon is thought sufficient4 ,for this last writer1 with his practical inspiration--with his aphorisms1 or 'dispersed directions1' which the author prefers to a methodical discourse1 as they best point to action--with his perpetual application of divinity to matters of common life1 and to the special and respective duties1 this1 of all the sacred writers1 is the one which he has most frequent occasion to refer to2 and when1 in his chapter on ,policy1 he brings out openly his proposal to invade the every-day practical life of men1 in its apparently most unaxiomatical department1 with his scientific rule of procedure--a proposal which he might not have been 'so prosperously delivered of1' if it had been made in any less considerate manner--he stops to produce whole pages of solid text from this so unquestionably conservative authority1 by way of clearing himself from any suspicion of innovation4 ,first1 then1 in setting forth this so novel opinion of his1 that the doctrine of the ,,fruit of ,,life should include not the scientific platform of good1 and its degrees and kinds only1--not the doctrine of the ideal excellence and felicity only1 but the doctrine--the scientific doctrine--the scientific art of the ,husbandry thereunto2--in setting forth the opinion1 that that first part of moral science is but a part of it1 and that as human nature is constituted1 it is not enough to have a doctrine of good in its perfection1 and the divinest exemplars of it2 first of all he produces the subscription of no less a person than ,aristotle1 whose conservative faculties had proved so effectual in the dark ages1 that the opinion of ,solomon himself could hardly have been considered more to the purpose4 ',in such full words1' he says2 and seeing that the advancement of ,learning has already taken us on to a place where the opinions of ,aristotle1 at least1 are not so binding1 we need not trouble ourselves with that long quotation now--'in such full words1 and with such iteration1 doth he inculcate this part1 so saith ,cicero in great commendation of ,cato the second1 that he had applied himself to philosophy--,non ita disputandi causa1 sed ita vivendi4 ,and although the neglect of our times1 wherein few men do hold any consultations touching the reformation of their ,,life1 as ,seneca excellently saith1 ,de partibus vitae1 quisque deliberat1 de summa nemo1 may make this part seem superfluous1 yet ,i must conclude with that aphorism of ,hippocrates1 ,qui gravi morbo correpti dolores non sentiunt1 iis mens aegrotat2 they need medicines not only to assuage the disease1 but to awake the sense4 ',and if it be said that the cure of men's minds belongeth to sacred divinity1 it is most true2 but yet ,moral ,philosophy'--that is1 in his meaning of the term1 ,moral ,science1 the new science of nature--'may be preferred unto her1 as a wise servant and humble handmaid4 ,for1 as the ,psalm saith1 that the eye of the handmaid looketh perpetually towards the mistress1 and yet1 no doubt1 many things are left to the discretion of the handmaid1 to discern of the mistress's will2 so ought moral philosophy to give a constant attention to the doctrines of divinity1 and yet so as it may yield of herself1 within due limits1 many sound and profitable directions4' ,that is the doctrine4 ,that is the position of the ,new ,science in relation to divinity1 as defined by the one who was best qualified to place it--that is the mission of the ,new ,science1 as announced by the new ,interpreter of ,nature1--the priest of her ignored and violated laws1--on whose work the seal of that testimony which he challenged to it has already been set--on whose work it has already been written1 in the large handwriting of that ,providence ,divine1 whose benediction he invoked1 'accepted'--accepted in the councils from which the effects of life proceed4 ',this part1 therefore1' having thus defined his position1 he continues1 'because of the excellency thereof1 ,i cannot but find it ,,exceeding ,,strange that it is not reduced to written inquiry2 the rather because it consisteth of much matter1 wherein both speech and action is often conversant1 and such wherein the common talk of men1 which is rare1 but yet cometh sometimes to pass1 is wiser than their books4 ,it is reasonable1 therefore1 that we propound it with the more particularity1 both for the worthiness1 and because we may acquit ourselves for reporting it deficient' with such 'iteration and fulness1' with all his discrimination1 does he contrive to make this point2 'which seemeth almost incredible1 and is otherwise conceived--note it--and is otherwise conceived and presupposed by those themselves that have written4' ,they do not see that they have missed it4 ',we will1 therefore1 enumerate some ,,heads or ,,points thereof1 that it may appear the better what it is1 and whether it be extant4' ,a momentous question1 truly1 for the human race4 ,that was a point1 indeed1 for this reporter to dare to make1 and insist on and demonstrate4 ,doctrines of ,,the ,,fruit of ,,life--doctrines of its perfection1 exemplars of it2 but no science--no science of the ,culture or the ,husbandry thereunto--though it is otherwise conceived and presupposed by those who have written6 ,yes1 that is the position2 and not taken in the general only1 for he will proceed to propound it with more particularity--he will give us the ,,heads of it--he will proceed to the articulation of that which is wanting--he will put down1 before our eyes1 the points and outlines of the new human science1 the science of the husbandry thereto1 both for the worthiness thereof1 and that it may appear the better ,,what ,,it ,,is1 and whether--,,whether ,,it ,,be ,,extant4 ,for who knows but it may be8 ,who knows1 after all1 but the points and outlines here1 may prove but the track of that argument which the new ,georgics will be able to hide in the play of their illustration1 as ,periander hid his8 ,who knows but the ,naturalist in this field was then already on the ground1 making his collections8 ,who knows but this new ,virgil1 who thought little of that resplendent and lustrous mass of matter1 that old poets had taken for their glory1 who seized the common life of men1 and not the ideal life only1 for his theme--who made the relief of the human estate1 and not glory1 his end1 but knew that he might promise himself a fame which would make the old heroic poets' crowns grow dim1--who knows but that he--he himself--is extant1 contemplating his theme1 and composing its ,index--claiming as yet its ,,index only8 ,truly1 if the propounder of this argument can in any measure supply the defects which he outlines1 and opens here1--if he can point out to us any new and worthy collections in that science for which he claims to break the ground--if he can1 in any measure1 constitute it1 he will deserve that name which he aspired to1 and for which he was willing to renounce his own1 ',benefactor of men1' and not of an age or nation4 ,but let us see where this new science1 and scientific art of human culture begins1--this science and art which is to differ from those which have preceded it1 as the other ,baconian arts and sciences which began in the new doctrine of nature1 differed from those which preceded them4 ',,first1 therefore1 in this1 as in all things which are practical1 we ought to cast up our account1 ,,what is ,,in ,,our ,,power1 ,,and ,,what ,,not8 ,,for the one may be dealt with by way of ,,alteration1 but the other by way of ,,application only4 ,the husbandman cannot command either the nature of the earth or the seasons of the weather1 no more can the physician the constitution of the patient1 and the variety of accidents4 ,so in the ,,culture and ,,cure of ,,the ,,mind of ,,man two things are without our command1 ,,points ,,of ,,nature1 and ,,points of ,,fortune3 for to the basis of the one1 and the conditions of the other1 our work is limited and tied4' ,that is the first step3 that is where the ,,new begins4 ,there is no science or art till that step is taken4 ',in these things1 therefore1 it is left unto us to proceed by ,,application4 ,vincenda est omnis fortuna ferendo3 and so likewise--,vincenda est omnis natura ferendo4 ,but when we speak of suffering1 we do not speak of a dull neglected suffering1 but of a wise and industrious suffering1 which draweth and contriveth use and advantage out of that which seemeth adverse and contrary1 which is that properly which we call accommodating or applying4 ,sweet are the uses of it1 and blest indeed are they who can translate the stubbornness of fortune into so quiet and so sweet a style4 ',now the wisdom of ,,application resteth principally in the exact and distinct knowledge of the precedent state or disposition1 unto which we do apply4'--,this is the process which the ,novum ,organum sets forth with so much care1 'for we cannot fit a garment1 except we first take the measure of the body4' ,so then ,,the ,,first ,,article ,,of ,,this ,,knowledge is--what8--'to set down sound and true distributions and descriptions of ,,the ,,several ,,characters ,,and ,,tempers of ,,men',s ,,natures and ,,dispositions1 specially having regard to those differences which are most radical1 in being the fountains and causes of the rest1 or most frequent in concurrence or commixture 7not simple differences merely1 but the most frequent conjunctions71 wherein it is not the handling of a few of them1 in passage1 the better to describe the mediocrities of virtues1 that can satisfy this intention'2 and he proceeds to introduce a few points1 casually1 as it were1 and by way of illustration1 but the rule of interpretation for this digest of learning1 in this press of method is1 that such points are never casual1 and usually of primal1 and not secondary import2 'for if it deserve to be considered that there are minds which are proportioned to great matters1 and others to small1 which ,aristotle handleth1 or ought to have handled1 by the name of magnanimity1 doth it not deserve as well to be considered1 that there are minds proportioned to intend many matters1 and others to few8' ,so that some can divide themselves1 others can perchance do exactly well1 but it must be in few things at once2 and so there cometh to be a narrowness of mind1 as well as a ,,pusillanimity4 ,and again1 'that some minds are proportioned to that which may be despatched at once1 or within a short return of time2 others to that which begins afar off1 and is to be won with length of pursuit4 ,jam tum tenditque fovetque4 ',so that there may be fitly said to be a longanimity1 which is commonly also ascribed to ,god as a magnanimity4' ,undoubtedly1 he considers this one of those differences in the natures and dispositions of men1 that it is most important to note1 otherwise it would not be inserted here4 ',so farther deserved it to be considered by ,aristotle that there is a disposition in conversation1 supposing it in things which do in no sort touch or concern a man's self1 to soothe and please2 and a disposition contrary to contradict and cross2 and deserveth it not much better to be considered that there is a disposition1 not in conversation1 or talk1 but in matter of more serious nature1 and supposing it still in things merely indifferent1 to take pleasure in the good of another1 and a disposition contrariwise to take distaste at the good of another1 which is that properly which we call good-nature1 or ill-nature1 benignity or malignity4' ,is not this a field for science1 then1 with such differences as these lying on the surface of it1--does not it begin to open up with a somewhat inviting aspect8 ,this so remarkable product of nature1 with such extraordinary 'differences' in him as these1 is he the only thing that is to go without a scientific history1 all wild and unbooked1 while our philosophers are weeping because 'there are no more worlds to conquer1' because every stone and shell and flower and bird and insect and animal has been dragged into the day and had its portrait taken1 and all its history to its secretest points scientifically detected8 ',and therefore1' says this organizer of the science of nature1 who keeps an eye on practice1 in his speculations1 and recommends to his followers to observe his lead in that respect1 at least1 until the affairs of the world get a little straighter than they were in his time1 and there is leisure for mere speculation1--',and1 therefore1' he resumes1 having noted these remarkable differences in the natural and original dispositions of men1--and certainly there is no more curious thing in science than the points noted1 though the careful reader will observe that they are not curious merely1 but that they slant in one direction very much1 and towards a certain kind of practice4 ',and1 therefore1' he resumes1 noticing that fact1 ',i cannot sufficiently marvel1 that this part of knowledge1 touching the several characters of natures and dispositions should be omitted both in ,,morality and ,,policy1 considering that it is of so great ministry and suppeditation to them ,,both4' ',the several characters4' ,the range of difference is limited4 ,they are comprehensible within a science1 as the differences in other species are4 ,no wonder1 then1 'that he cannot sufficiently marvel that this part of knowledge should be omitted4' ,but in neither of these two departments1 which he here marks out1 as the ultimate field of the naturalist1 and his arts1 in neither of them unfortunately1 lies the practice of mankind1 as yet so wholly recovered from that 'lameness1' which this critical observer remarked in it in his own time1 that these observations have ceased to have a practical interest4 ,and having thus ventured to express his surprise at this deficiency1 he proceeds to note what only indications he observes of any work at all in this field1 and the very quarters he goes to for these little accidental hints and beginnings of such a science1 show how utterly it was wanting in those grandiloquent schools of philosophic theory1 and those magisterial chairs of direction1 which the author found in possession of this department in his time4 ',a man shall find in the traditions of ,,astrology1 some pretty and apt divisions of men's natures1'--so in the discussions which occur on this same point in ,lear1 where this part of philosophy comes under a more particular consideration1 and the great ministry which it would yield to morality and policy is suggested in a different form1 this same reference to the astrological observations repeatedly occurs4 ,the ,poet1 indeed1 discards the astrological theory of these natural differences in the dispositions of men1 but is evidently in favour of an observation1 and inquiry of some sort1 into the second causes of these 'sequent effects1' and an anatomy of the living subject is in one case suggested1 by a person who is suffering much from the deficiencies of science in this field1 as a means of throwing light on it4 ',then let ,regan be anatomised4' ,for in the ,play1--in the poetic impersonation1 which has a scientific purpose for its object1 the historical extremes of these natural differences are touched1 and brought into the most vivid dramatic oppositions2 so as to force from the lips of the by-standers the very inquiries and suggestions which are put down here2 so as to wring from the broken hearts of men--tortured and broken on the wheel1 which 'blind men' call fortune1--tortured and broken on the rack of an unlearned and barbaric human society1--or1 from hearts that do not break with anything that such a world can do1 the imperious direction of the new science4 ',then let ,regan be anatomised1 and see what it is that breeds about her heart4' ,he has asked already1 ',what is the cause of thunder8' ,but 'his philosopher' must not stop there4 ',is there any cause--is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts8'-- ,it is the stars6 ,the stars above us govern our conditions1 ,else one self mate and mate could not beget ,such different issues4 ',a man shall find in the traditions of astrology some pretty and apt divisions of men's natures1' 7'let them be anatomised1' he1 too1 says17 'according to the predominance of the planets2' 7this is the 'spherical predominance1' which ,edmund does not believe in7--'lovers of quiet1 lovers of action1 lovers of victory1 lovers of honour1 lovers of pleasure1 lovers of arts1 lovers of change1 and so forth4' ,and here1 also1 is another very singular quarter to go to for a science which is so radical in morality2 here is a place1 where men have empirically hit upon the fact that it has some relation to policy4 ',a man shall find in the wisest sorts of these relations which the ,italians make touching conclaves1 the natures of the several ,cardinals1 handsomely and livelily painted forth'2--and what he has already said in the general1 of this department1 he repeats here under this division of it1 that the conversation of men in respect to it1 is in advance of their books2--'a man shall meet with1 in every day's conference1 the denominations of sensitive1 dry1 formal1 real1 humorous1 huomo di prima impressione1 huomo di ultima impressione1 and the like3 but this is no substitute for science in a matter so radical1'--'and yet1 nevertheless1 this observation1 wandereth in words1 but is not fixed in inquiry4 ,for the distinctions are found1 many of them1 but we conclude no precepts upon them'2 it is induction then that we want here1 after all--here also--here as elsewhere3 'the distinctions are found1 many of them1 but we conclude no precepts upon them3 wherein our fault is the greater1 because both ,,history1 ,,poesy1 and ,,daily ,,experience1 are as goodly fields where these observations grow2 whereof we make a few poesies to hold in our hands1 but no man bringeth them to the confectionery that receipts might be made of them for the use of life4' ,how could he say that1 when there was a man then alive1 who was doing in all respects1 the very thing which he puts down here1 as the thing which is to be done1 the thing which is of such radical consequence1 which is the beginning of the new philosophy1 which is the beginning of the new reformation2 who is making this very point in that science to which the others are subordinate8--how could he say it1 when there was a man then alive1 who was ransacking the daily lives of men1 and putting all history and poesy under contribution for these very observations1 one1 too1 who was concluding precepts upon them1 bringing them to the confectionery1 and composing receipts of them for the use of life2 a scholar who did not content himself with merely reporting a deficiency so radical as this1 in the human life2 a man who did not think1 apparently1 that he had fulfilled his duty to his kind1 by composing a paragraph on this subject4 ,and how comes it--how comes it that he who is the first to discover this so fatal and radical defect in the human science1 has himself failed to put upon record any of these so vital observations8 ,how comes it that the one who is at last able to put his finger on the spot where the mischief1 where all the boundless mischief1 is at work here1--where the cure must begin1 should content himself with observations and collections in physical history only8 ,how comes it that the man who finds that all the old philosophy has failed to become operative for the lack of this historical basis1 who finds it so 'exceeding strange1 so incredible1' who 'cannot sufficiently marvel1' that these observations should have been omitted in this science1 heretofore1--the man who is so sharp upon ,aristotle and others1 on account of this incomprehensible oversight in their ethics1--is himself guilty of this very thing8 ,and how will this defect in his work1 compare with that same defect which he is at so much pains to note and describe in the works of others--others who did not know the value of this history8 ,and how can he answer it to his kind1 that with the views he has dared to put on record here1 of the relation1 the essential relation1 of this knowledge to human advancement and relief1 he himself has done nothing at all to constitute it1 except to write this paragraph4 ,and yet1 by his own showing1 the discoverer of this field was himself the man to make collections in it2 for he tells us that accidental observations are not the kind that are wanted here1 and that the truth of direction must precede the severity of observation4 ,is this so8 ,whose note book is it then1 that has come into our hands1 with the rules and plummet of the new science running through it1 where all the observation takes1 spontaneously1 the direction of this new doctrine of nature1 and brings home all its collections1 in all the lustre of their originality1 in all their multiplicity1 and variety1 and comprehension1 in all the novelty and scientific rigour of their exactness1 into the channels of these defects of learning8 ,and who was he1 who thought there were more things in heaven and earth1 than were dreamt of in old philosophies1 who kept his tables always by him for open questions8 and whose tablets--whose many-leaved tablets1 are they then1 that are tumbled out upon us here1 glowing with 'all saws1 all forms1 all pressures past1 that youth and observation copied there4' ,and if aphorisms are made out of the pith and heart of sciences1 if 'no man can write good aphorisms who is not sound and grounded1' what ,wittenberg1 what ,university was he bred in8 ,till now there has been no man to claim this new and magnificent collection in natural science3 it is a legacy that came to us without a donor2--this new and vast collection in natural history1 which is put down here1 all along1 as that which is wanting--as that which is wanting to the science of man1 to the science of his advancement to his place in nature1 and to the perfection of his form1--as that which is wanting to the science of the larger wholes1 and the art of their conservation4 ,there was no man to claim it1 for the boast1 the very boast made on behalf of the thing for whom it was claimed--was-- he did not know it was worth preserving6--he did not know that this mass of new and profoundly scientific observation--this so new and subtle observation1 so artistically digested1 with all the precepts concluded on it1 strewn1 crowded everywhere with those aphorisms1 those axioms of practice1 that are made out of the pith and heart of sciences--he did not know it was of any value6 ,that is his history4 ,that is the sum of it1 and surely it is enough4 ,who1 that is himself at all above the condition of an oyster1 will undertake to say1 deliberately and upon reflection1 that it is not8 ,so long as we have that one fact in our possession1 it is absurd1 it is simply disgraceful1 to complain of any deficiency in this person's biography4 ,there is enough of it and to spare4 ,with that fact in our possession1 we ought to have been able to dispense long ago with some1 at least1 of those details that we have of it4 ,the only fault to be found with the biography of this individual as it stands at present is1 that there is too much of it1 and the public mind is labouring under a plethora of information4 ,if that fact be not enough1 it is our own fault and not the author's4 ,he was perfectly willing to lie by1 till it was4 ,he would not take the trouble to come out for a time that had not studied his philosophy enough to find it1 and to put the books of it together4 ,many years afterwards1 the author of this work on the ,advancement of ,learning1 saw occasion to recast it1 and put it in another language4 ,but though he has had so long a time to think about it1 and though he does not appear to have taken a single step in the interval1 towards the supplying of this radical deficiency in human science2 we do not find that his views of its importance are at all altered4 ,it is still the first point with him in the scientific culture of human nature1--the first point in that ,art of ,human ,life1 which is the end and term of ,natural ,philosophy1 as he understands the limits of it4 ,we still find the first ,article of the ,culture of the ,mind put down1 ',,the ,,different ,,natures ,,or ,,dispositions ,,of ,,men1' not the vulgar propensities to ,,virtues and ,,vices--note it--'or perturbations and passions1 but of such as are more internal and radical1 which are generally neglected4' ',this is a study1' he says1 which 'might afford ,,great ,,light ,,to ,,the ,,sciences4' ,and again he refers us to the existing supply1 such as it is1 and repeats with some amplification1 his previous suggestions4 ',in astrological traditions1 the natures and dispositions of men1 are tolerably distinguished according to the influence of the planets1 where some are said to be by nature formed for contemplation1 others for war1 others for politics4' ,apparently it would be 'great ministry to policy1' if one could get the occult sources of such differences as these1 so as to be able to command them at all1 in the culture of men1 or in the fitting of men to their places4 ',but' he proceeds1 'so likewise among the poets of all kinds1 we everywhere find characters of nature1 though commonly drawn with excess and exceeding the limits of nature4' ,here1 too1 the philosopher refers us again to the common discourse of men1 as containing wiser observations on this subject1 than their books4 ',but much the best matter of all1' he says1 'for such a treatise1 may be derived from the more prudent historians1 and not so well from eulogies or panegyrics1 which are usually written soon after the death of an illustrious person1 but much rather from a whole body of history1 as often as such a person appears1 for such an inwoven account gives a better description than panegyrics4444 ,but we do not mean that such characters should be received in ethics1 as perfect civil images4' ,they are to be subjected to an artistic process1 which will bring out the radical principles in the dispositions and tempers of men in general1 as the material of inexhaustible varieties of combination4 ,he will have these historic portraits merely 'for outlines and first draughts of the images themselves1 which1 being variously compounded and mixed1 afford all kinds of portraits1 so that an artificial and accurate dissection may be made of ,,men',s ,,minds ,,and ,,natures1 and the secret disposition of each particular man laid open1 that from the knowledge of the whole1 the ,,precepts concerning the ,,errors of ,,the ,,mind may be ,,more ,,rightly ,,formed4' ,who did that very thing8 ,who was it that stood on the spot and put that design into execution8 ,but this is not all2 this is only the beginning of the observation and study of differences4 ,for he would have also included in it1 'those impressions of nature which are otherwise imposed upon by the mind1 by the ,,sex1 ,,age1 ,,country1 ,,state ,,of ,,health1 ,,make ,,of ,,body1 as of beauty and deformity1 and ,,the ,,like1 which are inherent and not external3' and more1 he will have included in it--in these practical ,ethics he will have included--',,points ,,of ,,fortune1' and the differences that they make2 he will have all the differences that this creature exhibits1 under any conditions1 put down2 he will have his whole nature1 so far as his history is able to show it1 on his table2 and not as it is exhibited accidentally1 or spontaneously merely1 but under the test of a studious inquiry1 and essay2 he will apply to it the trials and vexations of ,art1 and wring out its last confession4 ,this is the practical doctrine of this species2 this is what the author we have here in hand1 calls the science of it1 or the beginning of its science4 ,this is one of the parts of science which he says is wanting4 ,let us follow his running glimpse of the points here1 then1 and see whether it is extant here1 too1 and whether there is anything to justify all this preparation in bringing it in1 and all this exceeding marvelling at the want of it4 ',and again those differences which proceed from ,,fortune1 as ,,sovereignty1 ,,nobility1 ,,obscure ,,birth1 ,,riches1 ,,want1 ,,magistracy1 ,,privateness1 ,,prosperity1 ,,adversity1 constant fortune1 variable fortune1 rising per saltum1 per gradus1 and the like4' ,these are articles that he puts down for points in his table of natural history1 points for the collection of instances2 this is the tabular preparation for induction here2 for he does not conclude his precepts on the popular1 miscellaneous1 accidental history4 ,that will do well enough for books4 ,it won't do to get out axioms of practice from such loose material4 ,they have to ring with the proof of another kind of condensation4 ,all his history is artificial1 prepared history more select and subtle and fit than the other kind1 he says1--prepared on purpose2 perhaps we shall come across his tables1 some day1 with these very points on them1 filled in with the observations of one1 so qualified by the truth of direction to make them 'severe'4 ,it would not be strange1 for he gives us to understand that he is not altogether idle in this part of his ,instauration1 and that he does not think it enough to lay out work for others1 without giving an occasional specimen of his own1 of the thing which he notes as deficient1 and proposes to have done1 so that there may be no mistake about it as to what it really is2 for he appears to think there is some danger of that4 ,even here1 he produces a few illustrations of his meaning1 that it may appear the better what is1 and whether it be extant4 ',and therefore we see1 that ,plautus maketh it a wonder to see an ,,old man beneficent4 ,st4 ,paul concludeth that severity of discipline was to be used to the ,cretans1 7increpa eos dure71 upon the disposition of ,,their ,,country4 ,cretenses semper mendaces1 mal bestize1 ventres pigri4 ,sallust noteth that it is usual with ,,kings to desire contradictories2 ,sed plerumque1 regi voluntates1 ut vehementes sunt sic mobiles saepeque ips sibi advers4 ,tacitus observeth how rarely ,,the ,,raising ,,of ,,the ,,fortune mendeth the disposition4 ,solus ,vespasianus mutatus in melius4 ,pindar maketh an observation that great and sudden fortune for the most part defeateth men4 ,so the ,psalm showeth it more easy to keep a measure in the enjoying of fortune1 than in the increase of fortune2 ,diviti si affluant nolite cor apponere4' ',these observations1 and the like1'--what book is it that has so many of 'the like'8--',i deny not but are touched a little by ,aristotle as in passage in his ,rhetorics1 and are handled in some scattered discourses4' ,one would think it was another philosopher1 with pretensions not at all inferior1 but professedly very much1 and altogether superior to those of ,aristotle1 whose short-comings were under criticism here2 'but they 7these observations7 were never ,,incorporated into moral philosophy1 to which they do ,,essentially appertain1 as ,,the ,,knowledge of ,,the ,,diversity of ,,ground and ,,moulds doth to agriculture1 and the knowledge of the ,,diversity of ,,complexions and ,,constitutions doth to the physician2 except'--note it--'except we mean to follow the indiscretion of empirics1 which minister the same medicines to all patients4' ,truly this does appear to give us some vistas of a science1 and a 'pretty one1' for these particulars and illustrations are here1 that we may see the better what it is1 and whether it be extant4 ,that is the question4 ,and it happens singularly enough1 to be a question just as pertinent now1 as it was when the philosopher put it on his paper1 two hundred and fifty years ago4 ,there is the first point1 then1 in the table of this scientific history1 with its subdivisions and articulations2 and here is the second1 not less essential4 ',another article of this knowledge is the inquiry touching ,,the ,,affections2 for1 as in medicining the body1'--and it is a practical science we are on here2 it is the cure of the mind1 and not a word for show1--'as in medicining the body1 it is in order1 first1 to know the divers complexions and constitutions2 secondly1 the diseases2 and1 lastly1 the cures2 so in medicining of the mind1--after knowledge of the divers characters of men's natures1 it followeth1 in order1 to know the diseases and infirmities of the mind1 which are no other than the perturbations and distempers of the affections4' ,and we shall find1 under the head of the medicining of the body1 some things on the subject of medicine in general1 which could be better said there than here1 because the wrath of professional dignitaries1--the eye of the 'basilisk1' was not perhaps quite so terrible in that quarter then1 as it was in some others4 ,for though 'the ,doctors' in that department1 did manage1 in the dark ages1 to possess themselves of certain weapons of their own1 which are said to have proved1 on the whole1 sufficiently formidable1 they were not1 as it happened1 armed by the ,state as the others then were2 and it was usually discretionary with the patient to avail himself1 or not1 of their drugs1 and receipts1 and surgeries2 whereas1 in the diseased and suffering soul1 no such discretion was tolerated4 ,the drugs were indeed compounded by the ,state in person1 and the executive stood by1 axe in hand1 to see that they were taken1 accompanying them with such other remedies as the case might seem to require2 the most serious operations being constantly performed without ever taking 'the sense' of the patient4 ,so we must not be surprised to find that this author who writes under such liabilities ventures to bring out the pith of his trunk of sciences1--that which sciences have in common1--the doctrine of the nature of things1--what he calls 'prima philosophia1' when his learned sock is on--a little more strongly and fully in that branch of it1 with a glance this way1 with a distinct intimation that it is common to the two1 and applies here as well4 ,there1 too1 he complains of the ignorance of anatomy1 which is just the complaint he has been making here1 and that1 for want of it1 'they quarrel many times with the humours which are not in fault1 the fault being in the very frame and mechanic of the part1 which cannot be removed by medicine alterative1 but must be accommodated and palliated by diet and medicines familiar4' ,there1 too1 he reports the lack of medicinal history1 and gives directions for supplying it1 just such directions as he gives here1 but that which makes the astounding difference in the reading of these reports to-day1 is1 that the one has been accepted1 and the other has not2 nay1 that the one has been read1 and the other has not3 for how else can we account for the fact1 that men of learning1 in our time1 come out and tell us deliberately1 not merely that this man's place in history1 is the place of one who devoted his genius to the promotion of the personal convenience and bodily welfare of men1 but1 that it is the place of one who gave up the nobler nature1 deliberately1 on principle1 and after examination and reflection1 as a thing past help from science1 as a thing lying out of the range of philosophy8 ,how else comes it1 that the critic to-day tells us1 dares to tell us1 that this leader's word to the new ages of advancement is1 that there is no scientific advancement to be looked for here8--how else could he tell us1 with such vivid detail of illustration1 that this innovator and proposer of advancement1 never intended his ,novum ,organum to be applied to the cure of the moral diseases1 to the subduing of the ,,will and the ,,affections1--but thought1 because the old philosophy had failed1 there was no use in trying the new2--because the philosophy of words1 and preconceptions1 had failed1 the philosophy of observation and application1 the philosophy of ideas as they are in nature1 and not as they are in the mind of man merely1 the philosophy of laws1 must fail also2--because ,,argument had failed1 ,,art was hopeless2--because syllogisms1 based on popular1 unscientific notions were of no effect1 practical axioms based on the scientific knowledge of natural causes1 and on their specific developments1 were going to be of none effect also8 ,if the passages which are now under consideration1 had been so much as read1 how could a learned man1 in our time1 tell us that the author of the ',advancement of ,learning' had come with any such despairful word as that to us1--to tell us that the new science he was introducing upon this ,globe theatre1 the science of laws in nature1 offered to ,divinity and ,morality no aid1--no ministry1 no service in the cure of the mind8 ,and the reason why they have not been read1 the reason why this part of the ',advancement of ,learning1' which is the principal part of it in the intention of its author1 has been overlooked hitherto is1 that the ,art of ,tradition1 which is described1 here--the art of the ,tradition1 and delivery of knowledges which are foreign from opinions received1 was in the hand of its inventor1 and able to fulfil his pleasure4 ,after the knowledge of the divers characters of men's natures then1 the next article of this inquiry is the ,,diseases and ,,infirmities of the ,,mind1 which are no other than the perturbations and distempers of ,,the ,,affections4 ,for as the ancient politicians in popular estates were wont to compare the people to the sea1 and the orators to the winds1 because the sea would of itself be calm and quiet1 if the winds did not move and trouble it2 so the people would be peaceable and tractable1 if the seditious orators did not set them in working and agitation2 so it may be fitly said1 that the mind1 in the nature thereof1 would be temperate and stayed1 if the affections1 as winds1 did not put it into tumult and perturbation4 ,and here1 again1 ,i find1 strange as before1 that ,aristotle should have written divers volumes of ,ethics1 and never handled ,,the ,,affections1 which is the principal subject thereof2 and yet1 in his ,rhetorics1 where they are considered but collaterally1 and in a second degree1 as they may be moved by speech1 he findeth place for them1 and handleth them well for the quantity1 but where their true place is1 he permitteth them4 7,very much the method of procedure adopted by the philosopher who composes that criticism2 who also finds a place for the affections in passing1 where they are considered collaterally1 and in a second degree1 and for the quantity1 he handleth them well1 and who knows how to bring his ,rhetorics to bear on them1 as well as the politicians in popular estates did of old1 though for a different end2 but where their true place is1 he1 too1 permitteth them2 and1 in his ,novum ,organum1 he keeps so clear of them1 and permits them so fully1 that the critics tell us he never meant it should touch them47 ',for it is not his disputations about pleasure and pain that can satisfy this inquiry1 no more than he that should generally handle the nature of light can be said to handle the nature of colours2 for pleasure and pain are to the particular affections as light is to the particular colours4' ,is not this a man for particulars1 then8 ,and when he comes to the practical doctrine1--to the art--to the knowledge1 which is power1--will he not have particulars here1 as well as in those other arts which are based on them8 ,will he not have particulars here1 as well as in chemistry and natural philosophy1 and botany and mineralogy2 or1 when it comes to practice here1 will he be content1 after all1 with the old line of argument1 and elegant disquisition1 with the old generalities and subtleties of definition1 which required no collection of particulars1 which were independent of observation1 or for which the popular accidental observation sufficed8 ',better travels1 ,i suppose1 had the ,stoics taken in this argument1 as far as ,i can gather by that which we have at secondhand4 ,but yet it is like it was after their manner1 rather in subtlety of definitions1 which1 in a subject of this nature1 are but curiosities1 than in ,,active and ,,ample ,,descriptions ,,and ,,observations4 ,so1 likewise1 ,i find some particular writings of an elegant nature1 touching some of the affections2 as of anger1 of comfort upon adverse accidents1 of tenderness of countenance1 and others4' ,and such writings were not confined to the ancients4 ,some of us have seen elegant writings of this nature1 published under the name of the philosopher who composes this criticism1 and suggests the possibility of essays of a more lively and experimental kind1 and who seems to think that the treatment should be ample1 as well as active4 ',but the ,,poets and ,,writers of ,,history are the best ,doctors of this knowledge1 where we may find1 painted forth with great life1 how affections are kindled and incited1 and how pacified and refrained2'--certainly1 that is the kind of learning we want here3--'and how1 again1 contained from act and further degree'--very useful knowledge1 one would say1 and it is a pity it should not be 'diffused1' but it is not every poet who can be said to have it2--'how they disclose themselves--how they work--how they vary2'--this is the science of them clearly1 whoever has it2--'how they gather and fortify--how they are enwrapped one within another2'--yes1 there is one ,poet1 one ,doctor of this science1 in whom we can find that also2--'and how they do fight and encounter one with another1 and other like particularities4' ,we all know what ,poet it is1 to whose lively and ample descriptions of the affections and passions--to whose particularities--that description best applies1 and in what age of the world he lived2 but no one1 who has not first studied them as scientific exhibitions1 can begin to perceive the force--the exclusive force--of the reference4 ',amongst the which1 this last is of special use in ,,moral and ,,civil matters3 how1 ,i say1 to set affection against affection1 and to master one by another1 even as we used to hunt beast with beast1 and fly bird with bird1 which otherwise1 percase1 we could not so easily recover4' ,the ,poet has not only exhibited this with very voluminous and lively details1 but he1 too1 has concluded his precept2-- ',one fire burns out another's burning'-- ',one desperate grief cures with another's languish'-- ',take thou some new infection to thine eye1 ,and the rank poison of the old will die4' ,romeo and ,juliet4 ',as fire drives out fire1 so pity1 pity2 ,and pity to the general wrong of ,rome ,hath1 done this deed on ,csar4' ,julius ,csar4 for it is the larger form1 which is the worthier1 in that new department of mixed mathematics which this philosopher was cultivating4 ',one fire drives out one fire1 one nail one nail3 ,rights by rights fouler1 strength by strengths do fail4' ,coriolanus4 ,and for history of cases1 see the same author in ,hamlet and other plays4 ,this philosopher's prose not unfrequently contains the key of the poetic paraphrase2 and the true reading of the line1 which has occasioned so much perplexity to the critics1 may1 perhaps1 be suggested by this connection--'to set affection against affection1 and to master one by another1 even as we hunt beast with beast1 and fly bird with bird4' ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,morality4--,,alteration4 ,hast thou not learn'd me how ,to make perfumes8 distil8 preserve8 yea1 so1 ,that our great king himself doth woo me oft ,for my confections8 ,having thus far proceeded1 7,unless thou think'st me devilish17 is't not meet ,that ,i did amplify my judgment in ,other conclusions8 ,cymbeline4 ,thus far1 it is the science of ,man1 as he is1 that is propounded4 ,it is a scientific history of the ,mind and its diseases1 built up from particulars1 as other scientific histories are2 and having disposed1 in this general manner1 of that which must be dealt with by way of application1 those points of nature and fortune1 which he puts down as the basis and conditions to which all our ,,work is limited and tied1 we come now to that which ,,is within our power--to those points which we can deal with by way of ,,alteration1 and not of application merely2 and yet points which are operating perpetually on the human character1 changing the will and appetite1 and altering the conduct1 by laws not less sure than those which operate in the occult processes of nature1 and determine differences behind the scene1 or out of the range of our volition4 ,and if after having duly weighed the hints we have already received of the importance of the subject1 we do not any longer suffer ourselves to be put off the track1 or bewildered by the first rhetorical effect of the sentence in which these agencies are introduced to our attention1--if we look at that rapid series of words1 as something else than the points of a period1 if we stop long enough to recover from the confusion which a mere string of names1 a catalogue or table of contents1 crowded into single sentence1 will1 of necessity1 create1--if we stop long enough to see that each one of these words is a point in the table of a new science1 we shall perceive at once1 that after having made all this large allowance1 this new allowance for that which is without our power1 there is still a very1 very large margin of operation1 and discovery1 and experiment left2 that there is still a large scope of alteration left--alteration in man as he is4 ,for we shall find that these forces which are within our power1 are the very ones which are making1 and always have been making1 man what he is4 ,running our eye along this table of forces and supplies1 with that understanding of its uses1 we shall perceive at once1 that we have the most ample material here1 if it were but scientifically handled2 untried1 inexhaustible means and appliances for raising man to the height of his pattern and original1 to the stature of a perfect man4 ,it is not the material of this regimen of growth and advancement1 it is not the ,materia ,medica that is wanting1--it is the science of it4 ,it is the natural history of these forces1 with the precepts scientifically concluded on them1 that is wanting4 ,the appliances are here2 the scientific application of them remains to be made1 and until these have been tried1 it is too early to pronounce on the case2 until these have been tried1 just as other precepts of the new science have been1 it is too soon to say that that science of nature1--that knowledge of laws--that foreknowledge of effects1 which operates so remedially in all other departments of the human life1 is without application1 is of no efficiency here2 until these have been tried it is too soon to say that the science of nature is not what the man who brought it in on this ,globe theatre declared it to be1 the handmaid of ,divinity1 the intelligent handmaid and minister of religion1 to whose discretion in the economy of ,providence1 much1 much has evidently been left4 ,and it was no assumption in this man to claim1 as he did claim1 a divine and providential authority for this procedure4 ,and those who intelligently fulfil their parts in this great enterprise for man's relief1 and the ,creator's glory1 have just as clear a right to say1 as those of old who fulfilled with such means and lights1 and inspirations as their time gave them1 their part in the plan of the human advancement1 'it is ,god who worketh in us4' ',now come we to those points which are within our command1 and have force and operation upon the mind1 to affect the will and appetite1 and to alter manners3 wherein they ought to have handled ,,custom1 ,,exercise1 ,,habit1 ,,education1 ,,example1 ,,imitation1 ,,emulation1 ,,company1 ,,friends1 ,,praise1 ,,reproof1 ,,exhortation1 ,,fame1 ,,laws1 ,,books1 ,,studies3 these1 as they have determinate use in moralities1 from these the mind ,,suffereth2 and of these are such receipts and regiments compounded and described1 as may serve to recover or preserve the health and good estate of the mind1 as far as pertaineth to human medicine2 of which number we will insist upon some one or two1 as an example of the rest1 because it were too long to prosecute all4' ,but the careful reader perceives in that which follows1 that the treatment of this so vital subject1 though all that the author has to say upon it here1 is condensed into these brief paragraphs1 is not by any means so miscellaneous1 as this introduction and 'the first cogitation' on it1 might1 perhaps1 have prepared him to find it4 ,to be permitted to handle these forces openly1 in the form of literary report1 and recommendation1 would1 no doubt1 have seemed to this inventor of sciences1 in his day no small privilege4 ,but there was another kind of experiment in them which he aspired to4 ,he wished to take these forces in hand more directly1 and compound recipes1 with them1 and other 'regiments' and cures4 ,for by nature and carefullest study he was a ,doctor in this degree and kind--and a man thus fitted1 inevitably seeks his sphere4 ,very unlearned in this science of human nature which he has left us1--much wanting in analysis must he be1 who can find in the persistent determination of such a man to possess himself of places of trust and authority1 only the vulgar desire for courtly distinction1 and eagerness for the paraphernalia of office4 ,this man was not wanting in any of the common natural sentiments2 the private and particular nature was large in him1 and that good to which he gives the preference in his comparison of those exclusive aims and enjoyments1 is 'the good which is active1 and not that which is passive'2 both as it tends to secure that individual perpetuity which is the especial craving of men thus specially endowed1 and on account of 'that affection for variety and proceeding' which is also common to men1 and specially developed in such men1--an affection which the goods of the passive nature are not able to satisfy4 ',but in enterprises1 pursuits and purposes of life1 there is much variety whereof men are sensible with pleasure in their inceptions1 progressions1 recoils1 re-integration1 approaches and attainings to their ends4' ,and he gives us a long insight into his own particular nature and history in that sentence4 ,he is careful to distinguish this kind of good from the good of society1 'though in some cases it hath an incident to it4 ,for that gigantine state of mind which possesseth the troublers of the world1 such as was ,lucius ,sylla1 and infinite other in smaller model1 who would have all men happy or unhappy1 as they were their friends or enemies1 and would give form to the world according to their own humours1 which is the true theomachy1 pretendeth and aspireth to active good though it recedeth farthest from that good of society1 which we have determined to be the greater4' ,in no troubler or benefactor of the world1 on the largest scale1 in no theomachist of any age1 whether intelligent and benevolent1 or demoniacal and evil1 had this nature which he here defines so clearly1 ever been more largely incorporated1 or more effectively armed4 ,but in him this tendency to personal aggrandisement was overlooked1 and subordinated by the larger nature1--by the intelligence which includes the whole1 and is able to weigh the part with it1 and by the sentiments which enforce or anticipate intelligent decision4 ,both these facts must be taken into the account1 if we would read his history fairly4 ,for he composed for himself a plan of living1 in which this naturally intense desire for an individual perpetuity and renown1 and this love of action and enterprise for its own sake1 was sternly subordinated to the noblest ends of living1 to the largest good of his kind1 to the divine and eternal law of duty1 to the relief of man's estate and the ,creator's glory4 ,and without making any claim on his behalf1 which it would be unworthy to make for one to whom the truth was dearer than the opinions of men2 it may be asserted1 that whatever errors of judgment or passion1 we may find1 or think we find in him1 these ends were with him predominant1 and shaped his course4 ,he was not naturally a man of letters1 but a man of action1 intensely impelled to action1 and it was because he was forbidden to fulfil his enterprise in person1 because he had to write letters of direction to those to whom he was compelled to entrust it1 because he had to write letters to the future1 and leave himself and his will in letters1 that letters became1 in his hands1 practical4 ,he1 too1 knew what it was to be compelled 'to unpack his heart in words' when deeds should have expressed it4 ,but even words are forbidden him here4 ,after all the pains he has taken to show us what the deficiency is which he is reporting here1 and what the art and science which he is proposing1 he can only put down a few paragraphs on the subject1 casually1 as it were1 in passing4 ,of all these forces which have operation on the mind1 and with which scientific appliances for the human mind should be compounded1 he can only 'insist upon some one or two as an example of the rest4' ,that was all that a writer1 who was at the same time a public man1 could venture on1--a writer who had once been under violent political suspicion1 and was still eagerly watched1 and especially by one class of public functionaries1 who seemed to feel1 that with all his deference to their claims1 there was something there not quite friendly to them1 this was all that he could undertake to insist upon 'in that place4' ,but a writer who had the advantage of being already defunct--a writer whose estate on the earth was then already done1 and who was in no kind of danger of losing either his head or his place1 could of course manage this part of the subject differently4 ,he would not find it too long to prosecute all1 perhaps4 ,and if he had at the same time the advantage of a foreign name and seignorie1 he could come out in ,england at this very crisis with the freest exhibitions of the points which are here only indicated4 ,he could even put them down openly in his table of contents1 every one of them1 and make them the titles of his chapters4 ,there was a work published in ,england1 in that age1 in which these forces1 of which only the catalogue is inserted here1 these forces which are in our power1 which we can alter1 forces from which the mind suffereth1 which have operation upon the mind to affect the will and appetite1 are directly dealt with in the most subtle and artistic manner1 in the form of literary essay2 and in the bolder chapters1 the author's observations and criticisms are clearly put down2 his scientific suggestions of alterations and new compounds1 his scientific doctrine of careful alterations1 his scientific doctrine of surgery1 and adaptation of regimen1 and cure to different ages1 and differing social conditions1 are all promiscuously filed in1 and the ,english public swallows it without any difficulty at all1 and perceives nothing disagreeable or dangerous in it4 ,this work contains1 also1 some of those other parts of the new science which have just been reported as wanting1 parts which are said by the inventor of this science1 to have a great ministry to policy1 as well as morality1 and the natural history of the creature1 which it is here proposed to reform1 is brought out without any regard whatever to considerations which would inevitably affect a moralist1 looking at the subject from any less earnest and practical--from any less elevated point of view4 ,of course1 it was perfectly competent for a ,gascon whose gasconading was understood to be without any motive beyond that of vanity and egotism1 and without any incidence to effects1 to say1 in the way of mere foolery1 many things which an ,english statesman could not then so well endorse4 ,and in case his personality were called in question1 there was the mountain to retreat to1 and the saint of the mount1 in whose behalf the goose is annually sacrificed by the ,english people1 the saint under whose shield and name the great ,english philosopher sleeps4 ,in fact1 this personage is not so limited in his quarters as the proper name might seem to imply4 ,one does not have to go to the south of ,france to find him4 ,but it is certainly remarkable1 that a work in ,natural ,history1 composed by the inventors of the science of observation1 and the first in the field1 containing their observations in that part of the field too1 in which the deficiency appeared to them most important1 should have been able to pass so long under so thin a disguise1 under this merest gauze of egotism1 unchallenged4 ,these essaies1 however1 have not been without result4 ,they have been operating incessantly1 ever since1 directly upon the leading minds1 and indirectly upon the minds of men in general1 7for many who had never read the book1 have all their lives felt its influence71 and tending gradually to the clearing up of the human intelligence in 'the practice part of life' in general1 and to the development of a common sense on the topics here handled1 much more creditable to the species than anything that the author could find stirring in his age4 ,when the works which the propounders of the ,great ,instauration took pains to get composed by way of filling up their plan of it1 a little1 corn to be collected and bound1 this one will have to find its place among them4 ,but here1 at home1 in his own historical name and figure1 in his own person1 instead of conducting his magnificent scientific experiments on that scale which the genius of his activity1 and the largeness of his good will1 would have prescribed to him1 instead of founding his ,house of ,solomon as he would have founded it1 7as that proximity to the throne1 when it was the throne of an absolute monarch might have enabled him to found it1 if the monarch he found there had been1 indeed1 what he claimed to be1 a lover of learning71 instead of such large help and countenance as that of the king1 to whom this great proposition was addressed1 the philosopher of that time could not even venture on a literary essay in this field under that protection2 it was as much as he could do1 it was as much as his favor with the king was worth1 to slip in here1 in this conspicuous place1 where it would be sure to be found1 sooner or later1 the index of his essaies4 ',it would be too long1' he says1 'to inquire here into the operation of all these social forces that are making men1 that are doing more to make them what they are1 than nature herself is doing1' for1 'know thou1' the ,poet of this ,philosophy says1 'know thou ,,men ,,are as the ,,time ,,is4' ,he has included here1 in these points which he would have scientifically handled1 that which makes times1 that which can be altered1 that which ,advancements of ,learning1 however1 set on foot at first1 are sure in the end to alter4 ',we will insist upon some one or two as an example of the rest4' ,and we find that the points he resumes to speak of here1 are1 indeed1 points of primary consequence2 social forces that do indeed need a scientific control1 effects reported1 and precepts concluded4 ,custom and ,habit1 ,books and ,studies1 and then a kind of culture1 which he says1 'seemeth to be more accurate and elaborate than the rest1' which we find1 upon examination1 to be a strictly religious culture1 and lastly the method to which he gives the preference1 as the most compendious and summary in its formative or reforming influence1 'the electing and propounding unto a man's self good and virtuous ends of his life1 such as may be in a reasonable sort within his compass to attain4' ,he says enough under these heads to show the difficulty of writing on a subject where the science has been reported wanting1 while the ',art and ,practice' is prescribed4 ,he lays much stress on ,,custom and ,,habit1 and gives some few precepts for its management1 'made out of the pith and heart of sciences1' but he speaks briefly1 and chiefly for the purpose of indicating the value he attaches to this point1 for he concludes his precepts and observations on it1 thus3 ',many other axioms there are1 touching the managing of exercise and custom1 which being so conducted1-- scientifically conducted--do prove1 indeed ,,another ,,nature' 'almost1 can change the stamp of nature1'--is ,hamlet's word on this point2 'but being governed by chance1 doth commonly prove but ,,an ,,ape of nature1 and bringeth forth that which is lame and counterfeit4' ,for not less than that is the difference between the scientific administration of these things1 from which the mind suffereth1 and the blind1 hap-hazard one4 ,but in proceeding to the next point on which he ventures to offer some suggestions1 that of ,,books and ,,studies1 we shall do well to take with us that general doctrine of cure1 founded upon the nature of things1 which he produces under the head of the cure of the body1 with a distinct allusion to its proper application here4 ,and it is well to observe how exactly the tone of the criticism in this department1 chimes in with that of the criticism already reported here4 ',in the consideration of the cures of diseases1 ,i find a deficiency in the receipts of propriety respecting the particular cures of diseases2 for the physicians have frustrated the fruit of tradition1 and experience1 by their magistralities in adding and taking out1 and changing quid pro quo in their receipts at their pleasure1 ,,commanding ,,so ,,over ,,the ,,medicine1 as the medicine cannot command over the disease3' that is a piece of criticism which appears to belong to the general subject of cure2 and here is one which he himself stops to apply to a different branch of it4 ',but1 lest ,i grow more particular than is agreeable1 either to my intention or proportion1 ,i will conclude this part with the note of one deficiency more1 which seemeth to me of ,,greatest consequence1 which is1 that the prescripts in use are too ,,compendious ,,to ,,attain ,,their ,,end2 for1 to my understanding1 it is a vain and flattering opinion to think any medicine can be so sovereign1 or so happy1 as that the receipt or use of it can work any great effect upon the body of man3 it were a strange speech1 which spoken1 or spoken oft1 should reclaim a man from a vice to which he were by nature subject2 it is order1 pursuit1 sequence1 and interchange of application ,,which ,,is ,,mighty ,,in ,,nature1' 7and it is power we are inquiring for here7 'which1 although it requires more exact knowledge in prescribing1 and more precise obedience in observing1 yet it is recompensed with the magnitude of effects4' ,possessed now of his general theory of cure1 we shall better understand his particular suggestions in regard to these medicines and alteratives of the mind and manners1 which are here under consideration4 ',so if we should handle ,,books and ,,studies1' he continues1 having handled custom and habit a little and their powers1 in that profoundly suggestive manner1 'so if we should handle books and studies1 and what influence and operation they have upon manners1 are there not divers precepts of great caution and direction8' ,a question to be asked4 ,and he goes on to make some further enquiries and suggestions which have considerably more in them than meets the ear4 ,they appear to involve the intimation that many of our books on moral philosophy1 come to us from the youthful and poetic ages of the world1 ages in which sentiment and spontaneous conviction supplied the place of learning2 for the accumulations of ages of experiment and conclusion1 tend to maturity and sobriety of judgment in the race1 as do the corresponding accumulations in the individual experience and memory4 ',and the reason why books' 7which are adapted to the popular belief in these early and unlearned ages7 'are of so little effect towards honesty of life1 is that they are not read and revolved--revolved--as they should be1 by men in mature years4' ,but unlearned people are always beginners4 ,and it is dangerous to put them upon the task1 or to leave them to the task of remodelling their beliefs and adapting them to the advancing stages of human development4 ,he1 too1 thinks it is easier to overthrow the old opinions1 than it is to discriminate that which is to be conserved in them4 ,the hints here are of the most profoundly cautious kind--as they have need to be--but they point to the danger which attends the advancement of learning when rashly and unwisely conducted1 and the danger of introducing opinions which are in advance of the popular culture2 dangers of which the history of former times furnished eminent examples and warnings then2 warnings which have since been repeated in modern instances4 ,he proposes that books shall be tried by their effects on manners4 ,if they fail to produce ,,honesty ,,of ,,life1 and if certain particular forms of truth which were once effective to that end1 in the course of a popular advancement1 or change of any kind1 have lost that virtue1 let them be examined2 let the translation of them be scientifically accomplished1 so that the main truth be not lost in the process1 so that men be not compelled by fearful experience to retrace their steps in search of it1 even1 perhaps1 to the resuming of the old1 dead form again1 with all its cumbrous inefficacies2 for the lack of a leadership which should have been able to discriminate for them1 and forestall this empirical procedure4 ,speaking of books of ,moral science in general1 and their adaptation to different ages1 he says--',did not one of the fathers1 in great indignation1 call ,,poesy vinum demonum1 because it increaseth temptations1 perturbations1 and vain opinions8 ,is not the opinion of ,aristotle worthy to be regarded1 wherein he saith1 ,that young men are no fit auditors of moral philosophy1 because they are not settled from the boiling heat of their affections1 nor attempered with time and experience8' ,and our ,poet1 we may remark in passing1 seems to have been struck with that same observation2 for by a happy coincidence1 he appears to have it in his commonplace book too1 and he has not only made a note of it1 as this one has1 but has taken the trouble to translate it into verse4 ,he does1 indeed1 go a little out of his way in time1 to introduce it2 but he is a poet who is fond of an anachronism1 when it happens to serve his purpose-- ',paris and ,troilus1 you have both said well2 ,and on the cause and question now in hand ,have glozed2 but1 superficially1 not much ,unlike young men whom ,aristotle thought ,unfit to hear moral philosophy4' ,the question is1 then1 as to the adaptations of forms1 of moral instruction to different ages of the human development4 ,for when a decided want of 'honesty of life' shows itself1 in any very general manner1 under the fullest operation of any given doctrine which is the received one1 it is time for men of learning to begin to look about them a little2 and it is a time when directions so cautious as these should not by any means be despised by those on whom the responsibility of direction1 here1 is in any way devolved4 ',and doth it not hereof come1 that those excellent books and discourses of the ancient writers1 whereby they have persuaded unto virtue most effectually1 by representing her in state and majesty1 and popular opinions against virtue in their parasites' coats1 fit to be scorned and derided1 are of so little effect towards honesty of life-- ,polonius4--,honest1 my lord8 ,hamlet4--,ay1 honest4 '--because they are not read and revolved by men1 in their mature and settled years1 but confined almost to boys and beginners8 ,but is it not true1 also1 that much less young men are fit auditors of matters of policy till they have been thoroughly seasoned in religion and morality1 lest their judgments be corrupted1 and made apt to think that there are no true differences of things1 but according to utility and fortune4' ,by putting in here two or three of those 'elegant sentences' which the author has taken out from their connections in his discourses1 and strung together1 by way of making more perceptible points and stronger impressions with them1 according to that theory of his in regard to aphorisms already quoted1 we shall better understand this passage1 for the connection in which it is introduced here tends somewhat to involve and obscure the meaning4 ',in removing superstitions1' he tells us1 then1 in this so pointed manner1 'care should be had the good be not taken away with the bad1 which commonly is done when the people is the physician4' ',things will have their first or second agitation4' ,prima ,philosophia--pith and heart of sciences3 the author of this aphorism is sound and grounded4 ',if they be not tossed on the waves of counsel1 they will be tossed on the waves of fortune4' ,that last 'tossing' requires a second cogitation4 ,there might have been a more direct way of expressing it2 but this author prefers similes in such cases1 he tells us4 ,but here is more on the same subject4 ',it were good that men in their ,,renovations follow the example of time itself1 which1 indeed1 innovateth greatly1 but quietly1 and by degrees scarce to be perceived2' and ',discretion in speech is more than eloquence4' ,these are the sentiments and opinions of that man of science1 whose works we are now opening1 not caring under what particular name or form we may find them4 ,one or two of these observations do not sound at all like prescience now2 but at the time when they were given out as precepts of direction1 it required that acquaintance with the nature of things in general which is derived from a large and studious observation of particulars1 to put them into a form so oracular4 ,but this general suggestion with regard to our books of moral philosophy1 and their adaptation to the largest effect on the will and appetite under the given conditions of time--conditions which involve the instruction of masses of men1 in whom affection predominates-- men in whom judgment is not yet matured--men not attempered with the time and experience of ages1 by means of those preservations of it which the traditions of learning make2 beside this general suggestion in regard to these so potent instrumentalities in manners1 he has another to make1 one in which this general proposition to substitute learning for preconception in practical matters1--at least1 as far as may be1 comes out again in the form of criticism1 and of a most specially significant kind4 ,it is a point which he touches lightly here2 but one which he touches again and again in other parts of this work1 and one which he resumes at large in his practical ethics4 ',again1 is there not a caution likewise to be given of the doctrines of moralities themselves1 some kinds of them1 lest they make men too precise1 arrogant1 incompatible1 as ,cicero saith of ,cato1 in ,marco ,catone3 ,haec bona quae videmus divina et egregia ipsius scitote esse propria3 quae nonnunquam requirimus1 ea sunt omnia non a natura1 sed a magistro8' ,and after glancing at the specific subject of remedial agencies which are within the scope of our revision and renovation1 under some other heads1 concluding with that which is of all others the most compendious and summary1 and again the most noble and effectual to the reducing of the mind unto virtue and good estate1 he concludes this whole part1 this part in which the points and outlines of the new science--that radical human science which he has dared to report deficient1 come out with such masterly grasp and precision1--he concludes this whole part in the words which follow1--words which it will take the author's own doctrine of interpretation to open4 ,for this is one of those passages which he commends to the second cogitation of the reader1 and he knew if 'the times that were nearer' were not able to read it1 'the times that were farther off' would find it clear enough4 ',therefore ,i do conclude this part of ,moral ,knowledge concerning the culture and regiment of the ,mind2 wherein if any man1 considering the facts thereof which ,i have enumerated1 do judge that my labour is to ,,collect ,,into ,,an ,,art ,,or ,,science1 that which hath been pretermitted by others1 as matters of common sense and experience1 he judgeth well4' ,the practised eye will detect on the surface here1 some marks of that style which this author recommends in such cases3 especially where such strong pre-occupations exist2 already we perceive that this is one of those sentences which is addressed to the skill of the interpreter2 in which1 by means of a careful selection and collocation of words1 two or more meanings are conveyed under one form of expression4 ,and it may not be amiss to remember here1 that this is a style1 according to the author's own description of it elsewhere1 in which the more involved and enigmatical passages sometimes admit of several readings1 each having its own pertinence and value1 according to the mental condition of the reader2 and that it is a style in which even the delicate1 collateral sounds1 that are distinctly included in this art of tradition1 must come in sometimes in the more critical places1 in aid of the interpretation4 ',but what if it be an harangue whereon his life depends8' l4--,if any man considering the parts thereof1 which ,i have enumerated1 do judge that ,,my ,,labour ,,is to collect into an ,,art or ,,science that which hath been ,,preter-,,mitted by others1 he judgeth well4 #b4--;,if any man do judge that my labour is to collect into an ,,art or ,,science that which hath been pretermitted by others ,,as ,,matters ,,of ,,common ,,sense and ,,experience1 he judgeth well4 #c4--;,if any man considering the ,,parts ,,thereof ,,which ,i ,,have ,,enumerated1 do judge that my labor is to collect into an ,,art or ,,science1 that which hath been pretermitted by ,,others1 as matters of common sense and experience1 he judgeth well4 ,but if there be any doubt1 about the more critical of these meanings1 let us read on1 and we shall find the criticism of this great and greatest proposition1 the proposition to substitute learning for preconception1 in the main department of human practice1 brought out with all the emphasis and significance which becomes the close of so great a period in sciences1 and not without a little flowering of that rhetoric1 in which beauty is the incident1 and discretion is more than eloquence4 ',but as ,philocrates sported with ,demosthenes you may not marvel1 ,athenians1 that ,demosthenes and ,i do differ1 for he drinketh water1 and ,i drink wine4 ,and like as we read of an ancient parable of the two gates of sleep-- ,sunt geminae somni portae1 quarum altera fertur ,cornea1 qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris3 ,altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto1 ,sed falsa ad coelum mittunt insomnia manes4 ',so if we put on sobriety and attention we shall find it a sure maxim in knowledge1 that the more pleasant liquor of wine is the more vaporous1 and the braver gate of ivory sendeth forth the falser dreams4' ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,method ,,of ,,conveying ,,the ,,wisdom ,,of ,,the ,,moderns ,it is a basilisk unto mine eyes1-- ,kills me to look on't1 ,this fierce abridgment ,hath to it circumstantial branches1 which ,distinction should be rich in4 ,cymbeline4 ,this whole subject is introduced here in its natural and inevitable connection with that special form of ,delivery and ,tradition which it required4 ,for we find that connection indicated here1 where the matter of the tradition1 and that part of it which specially requires this form is treated1 and we find the form itself specified here incidentally1 but not less unmistakeably1 that it is in that part of the work where the ,art of ,tradition is the primary subject4 ,in bestowing on 'the parts' of this science1 which the propounder of it is here enumerating--that consideration which the concluding paragraph invites to them1 we find1 not only the fields clearly marked out1 in which he is labouring to collect into an art and science1 that which has hitherto been conducted without art or science1 and left to common sense and experience1 the fields in which these goodly observations grow1 of which men have hitherto been content to gather a poesy to carry in their hands1--7observations which he will bring home to his confectionery1 in such new and amazing prodigality and selection71 but we find also the very form which these new collections1 with the new precepts concluded on them1 would naturally take1 and that it is one in which these new parts of the new science and its art1 which he is labouring to constitute1 might very well come out1 at such a time1 without being recognised as philosophy at all1--might even be brought out by other men without science1 as matters of common sense and experience2 though the world would have to concede1 and the longer the study went on1 the more it would be inclined to concede1 that the common sense and experience was upon the whole somewhat uncommon1 and some who perceived its reaches1 without finding that it was art or science1 would even be inclined to call it preternatural4 ,and when he tells us1 that the first step in the ,new ,science is the dissection of character1 and the production and exhibition of certain scientifically constructed portraits1 by means of which this may be effected1 portraits which shall represent in their type-form by means of 'illustrious instances1' the several characters and tempers of men's natures and dispositions 'that the secret disposition of each particular man may be laid open1 and from a knowledge of the whole1 the precepts concerning the cures of the mind may be more rightly concluded1'--surely here1 to a man of learning1 the form1--the form in which these artistically composed diagrams will be found1 is not doubtfully indicated4 ,and when1 at the next step1 we come to the history of 'the affections1' and are told distinctly that here philosophy1 the philosophy of practice1 must needs descend from the abstraction1 and generalities of the ancient morality1 for those observations and experiments which it is the legitimate business of the poet to conduct1 though the poet1 in conducting these observations and experiments1 has hitherto been wanting in the rigor which science requires1 when we are told that philosophy must inevitably enter here1 that department of learning1 of which the true poet is 'the doctor1'--surely here at least1 we know where we are4 ,certainly it is not the fault of the author of the ,great ,instauration if we do not know what department of learning the collections of the new learning which he claims to have made will be found in--if found at all1 must be found in4 ,it is not his fault if we do not know in what department to look for the applications of the ,novum ,organum to those 'noblest subjects' on which he preferred to try its powers1 he tells us4 ,here at least--the ,index to these missing books--is clear enough4 ,but in his treatment of ,poetry1 as one of the three grand departments of ,human ,learning1 for not less noble than that is the place he openly assigns to it1 though that open and primary treatment of it1 is superficially brief1 he contrives to insert in it1 his deliberate1 scientific preference of it1 as a means of effective scientific exhibition1 to either of the two graver parts1 which he has associated with it--to history on the one hand1 as corresponding to the faculty of memory1 and to philosophy or mere abstract statement on the other1 as corresponding to the faculty of ,reason2 for it is that great radical department of learning1 which is referred to the ,imagination1 that constitutes in this distribution of learning the third grand division of it4 ,he shows us here1 in a few words1 under different points and heads1 what masterly facilities1 what indispensable1 incomparable powers it has for that purpose4 ,there is a form of it1 'which is as ,a ,,visible ,,history1 and is an image of actions as if they were present1 as history is1 of actions that are past4' ,there is a form of it which is applied only to express some special purpose or conceit1 which was used of old by philosophers to express any point of reason more sharp and subtle than the vulgar1 and1 nevertheless1 now and at all times these allusive parabolical poems do retain much life and vigour because--note it1--note that because1--that two-fold because1 because ,,reason ,,cannot be so ,,sensible1 nor ,,examples ,,so ,,fit4 ,and he adds1 also1 'there remains another use of this poesy1 opposite to the one just mentioned1 for that use tendeth to demonstrate and illustrate that which is taught or delivered2 and this other to retire and obscure it3 that is1 when the secrets and mysteries of religion1 policy or philosophy are involved in fables and parables4' ,but under the cover of introducing the ',wisdom of the ,ancients1' and the form in which that was conveyed1 he explains more at large the conditions which this kind of exhibition best meets2 he claims it as a proper form of learning1 and tells us outright1 that the ,new ,science must be conveyed in it4 ,he has left us here1 all prepared to our hands1 precisely the argument which the subject now under consideration requires4 ',upon deliberate consideration1 my judgment is1 that a concealed instruction and allegory1 was originally intended in many of the ancient fables2 observing that some fables discover a great and evident similitude1 relation1 and connection with the things they signify1 as well in the structure of the fable1 as in the propriety of the names whereby the persons or actors are characterised1 insomuch that no one could positively deny a sense and meaning to be from the first intended and purposely shadowed out in them'2 and he mentions some instances of this kind2 and the first is a very explanatory one1 tending to throw light upon the proceedings of men whose rebellions1 so far as political action is concerned1 have been successfully repressed4 ,and he takes occasion to introduce this particular fable repeatedly in similar connections4 ',for who can hear that ,fame1 after the giants were destroyed1 sprung up as their posthumous sister1 and not apply it to the clamour of parties1 and the seditious rumours which commonly fly about upon the quelling of insurrections4 ,or who1 upon hearing that memorable expedition of the gods against the giants1 when the braying of ,silenus' ass greatly contributed in putting the giants to flight1 does not clearly conceive that this directly points to the monstrous enterprises of rebellious subjects1 which are frequently disappointed and frustrated by vain fears and empty rumours4 ,nor is it wonder if sometimes a piece of history or other things are introduced by way of ornament1 or if the times of the action are confounded1' the very likeliest thing in the world to happen2 things are often 'forced in time' as he has given us to understand in complimenting a king's book where the person was absent but not the occasion1 'or if part of one fable be tacked to another1 for all this must necessarily happen1 as the fables were the invention of men who lived in different ages1 and had different views1 some of them being ancient1 others more modern1 some having an eye to natural philosophy1 others to morality and civil policy4' ,this appears to be just the kind of criticism we happen to be in need of in conducting our present inquiry1 and the passage which follows is not less to the purpose4 ,for1 having given some other reasons for this opinion he has expressed in regard to the concealed doctrine of the ancients1 he concludes in this manner3 ',but if any one shall1 notwithstanding this1 contend that allegories are always adventitious1 and no way native or genuinely contained in them1 we might here leave him undisturbed in the gravity of that judgment1 though we cannot but think it somewhat dull and phlegmatic1 and1 if it were worth the trouble1 proceed to another kind of argument4' ,and1 apparently1 the argument he proceeds to1 is worth some trouble1 since he takes pains to bring it out so cautiously1 under so many different heads1 with such iteration and fulness1 taking care to insert it so many times in his work on the ,advancement of ,learning1 and here producing it again in his ,introduction to the ,wisdom of the ,ancients1 accompanied with a distinct assurance that it is not the wisdom of the ancients he is concerning himself about1 and their necessities and helps and instruments2 though if any one persists in thinking that it is1 he is not disposed to disturb him in the gravity of that judgment4 ,he honestly thinks that they had indeed such intentions as those that he describes2 but that is a question for the curious1 and he has other work on hand2 he happens to be one1 whose views of learning and its uses1 do not keep him long on questions of mere curiosity4 ,it is with the ,moderns1 and not with the ,ancients that he has to deal2 it is the present and the future1 and not the past that he 'breaks his sleeps' for4 ,whether the ,ancients used those fables for purposes of innovation1 and gradual encroachment on error or not1 here is a ,modern1 he tells us1 who for one1 cannot dispense with them in his teaching4 ,for having disposed of his graver readers--those of the dull and phlegmatic kind--in the preceding paragraph1 and not thinking it worth exactly that kind of trouble it would have cost then to make himself more explicit for the sake of reaching their apprehension1 he proceeds to the following argument1 which is not wanting in clearness for 'those who happen to be of his ear4' ',men have proposed to answer two different and contrary ends by the use of ,parables1 for parables serve as well to instruct and illustrate1 as to wrap up and envelope3' and what is more1 they serve at once that double purpose 'so that for the present we drop the concealed use1 and suppose the ancient fables to be vague undeterminate things formed for amusement1 still the other use must remain1 and can never be given up4 ,and every man of any learning must readily allow that ,,this ,,method of ,,instruction is grave1 sober1 exceedingly useful1 and sometimes necessary in the sciences1 as it opens an easy and familiar passage to the human understanding1 ,,in ,,all ,,new ,,discoveries that are abstruse and out of the road of vulgar opinion4 ,hence1 in the first ages1 when such inventions and conclusions of the human reason as are now trite and common1 were rare and little known1 all things abounded with fables1 parables1 similes1 comparisons1 allusions1 which were not intended to conceal1 but to inform and teach1 whilst the minds of men continued rude and unpractised in matters of subtlety and speculation1 and even impatient1 and in a manner incapable of receiving such things as did not directly fall under and strike the senses4' ,and those ages were not gone by1 it seems1 for these are the very men of whom ,hamlet speaks1 'who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise4' ',for as hieroglyphics were in use before writings1 so were parables in use before argument4 ,and even to this day1 if any man would let ,,new ,,light ,,in upon the human understanding1 who was it that proposed to do that8 and conquer prejudices without raising animosities1 ,,opposition1 or ,,disturbance--who was it that proposed to do that precisely--he must still--note it--he must still go in the same path1 and have recourse to the like method4' ,where are they then8 ,search and see4 ,where are they8--,the lost ,fables of the ,new ,philosophy8 ',to conclude1 the knowledge of the earlier ages was either great or happy2 great1 if by design they made use of tropes and figures2 happy1 if whilst they had other views they afforded matter and occasion to such noble contemplations4 ,let either be the case1 our pains perhaps will not be misemployed1 whether we illustrate ,,antiquity or hear ,,things ,,themselves4 ,but he complains of those who have attempted such interpretations hitherto1 that 'being unskilled in nature1 and their learning no more than that of common-place1 they have applied the sense of the parables to certain general and vulgar matters1 without reaching to their real purport1 genuine interpretation and full depth2' certainly it would not be that kind of criticism1 then1 which would be able to bring out the subtleties of the new learning from those popular embodiments1 which he tells us it will have to take1 in order to make some impression1 at least1 on the common understanding4 ',settle that question1 then1 in regard to the old ,fables as you will1 our pains will not perhaps be misemployed1 whether we illustrate antiquity or things themselves1' and to that he adds1 'for myself1 therefore1 ,i expect to appear ,,new in ,,these ,,common ,,things1 because1 leaving untouched such as are sufficiently plain and open1 ,i shall drive only those that are either deep or rich4' ',for myself8'--,i8--',i expect to appear new in these common things4' ,but elsewhere1 where he lays out the argument of them1 by the side of that 'resplendent and lustrous mass of matter1' those heroical descriptions of virtue1 duty1 and felicity1 that others have got glory from1 it is some ,poet we are given to understand that is going to be found new in them4 ,there1 the argument is all--all--poetic1 and it is a theme for one who1 if he know how to handle it1 need not be afraid to put in his modest claim1 with those who sung of old1 the wrath of heroes1 and their arms4 ,any one who does not perceive that the passages here quoted were designed to introduce more than 'the wisdom of the ancients'1 the reader who is disposed to conclude after a careful perusal of these reiterated statements1 in regard to the form in which doctrines differing from received opinions must be delivered1 taken in connexion1 too1 with that draught of the new science of the human culture and its parts and points1 which has just been produced here1--the reader who concludes that this is1 after all1 a science that was able to dispense with this method of appeal to the senses and the imagination2 that it was not obliged to have recourse to that path2--that the ,,new ,,learning1 'the ,,new ,,discovery1' had here no fables1 no particular topics1 and methods of tradition2 that it contented itself with abstractions and generalities1 with 'the husks and shells of sciences1'--such an one ought1 undoubtedly1 to be left undisturbed in that opinion4 ,he belongs precisely to that class of persons which this author himself deliberately proposed to leave to such conclusions4 ,he is one whom this philosopher himself would not take any trouble at all to enlighten on such points4 ,the other reading1 with all its gravity1 was designed for him4 ,the time for such an one to adopt the reading here produced1 will be1 when 'those who are incapable of receiving such things as do not directly fall under and strike the senses1' have1 at last1 got hold of it2 when 'the groundlings1 who1 for the most part are capable of nothing but dumb show and noise1' have had their ears split with it1 it will be time enough for him4 ,this ,wisdom of the ,moderns1 then1 to resume with those to whom the appeal is made1 this new learning which the ,wise ,man and ,innovator of the ,modern ,ages tells us must be clothed in fable1 and adorned with verse1 this learning that must be made to fall under and strike the senses2 this dumb show of science1 that is but show to him who cannot yet take the player's own version of what it means2 this illustrated tradition1 this beautiful tradition of the ,new ,science of ,human ,nature1--where is it8 ,this historical collection1 this gallery that was to contain scientific draughts and portraitures of the human character1 that should exhaust its varieties1--where is it8 ,these new ,georgics of the mind whose argument is here1--where are they8 ,this new ,virgil who might promise himself such glory1--such new glory in the singing of them1--where is he8 ,did he make so deep a summer in his verse1 that the track of the precept was lost in it8 ,were the flowers1 and the fruit1 so thick1 there2 was the reed so sweet that the argument of that great husbandry could no point1--could leave no furrow in it8 ',where souls do couch1 on flowers1 we'll hand in hand1 ,and with our sprightly port make the ghosts gaze3 ,dido and her ,aeneas shall want troops1 ,and all the haunt be ours4' ',the neglect of our times1' says this author1 in proposing this great argument1 this new argument1 of the application of ,,science to the ,culture and ,cure of the ,mind1 'the neglect of our times1 wherein few men do hold any consultations touching the reformation of their lives1 may make this part seem superfluous4 ,as ,seneca excellently saith1 ,de partibus vitae quisquae deliberat1 de summa nemo4' ,and is that1 after all1--is that the trouble still8 ,is it1 that that characteristic of ,elizabeth's time--that same thing which ,seneca complained of in ,nero's1--is it that that is not yet obsolete8 ,is that the reason1 this so magnificent part1 this radical part of the new discovery of the ,modern ,ages1 is still held 'superfluous8' ',de partibus vitae quisquae deliberat1 de summa nemo4' ',now that we have spoken1 and spoken for so many ages1 of this fruit of life1 it remaineth to speak of the husbandry thereunto4' ,that is the scientific proposition which has waited now two hundred and fifty years1 for a scientific audience4 ,the health of the soul1 the scientific promotion of it1 the ,,fruit ,,of ,,life1 and the observations of its husbandry4 ',and if it be said1' he continues1 anticipating the first inconsiderate objection1 'if it be said that the cure of mens' minds belongeth to sacred divinity1 it is most true2 but yet1 moral philosophy may be preferred unto her1 as a wise servant and humble handmaid4 ,for as the ,psalm saith1 that the eyes of the handmaid look perpetually towards the mistress1 and yet1 no doubt1 many things are left to the discretion of the handmaid1 to discern of the mistress' will2 so ought moral philosophy to give a constant attention to the doctrines of divinity1 and yet so as it may yield of herself1 within due limits1 many sound and profitable directions4' ,for the times that were 'far off' when that proposition was made1 it is brought out anew and reopened4 ,oh1 people of the ages of arts and sciences that are called by this man's name1 shall we have the fruits of his new doctrine of ,,knowledge1 brought to our relief in all other fields1 and reject it in this1 which he himself laid out1 and claimed as its only worthy field8 ,instructed now in the validity of its claims1 by its 'magnitude of effects' in every department of the human practice to which it has yet been applied1 shall we permit the department of it1 on which his labour was expended1 to escape that application8 ,shall we suffer that wild barbaric tract of the human life which the will and affections of man create1--that tract which he seized1--which it was his labour to collect into an art or science1 to lie unreclaimed still8 ,oh1 ,man of the new ages of science1 will you have the new fore-knowledge1 the magical command of effects1 which the scientific inquiry into causes as they are actual in nature1 puts into our hands1 in every other practice1 in every other culture and cure1--will you have the rule of this knowledge imposed upon your fields1 and orchards1 and gardens1 to assist weak nature in her 'conservations' and 'advancements' in these1--to teach her to bring forth here the latent ideals1 towards which she struggles and vainly yearns1 and can only point to1 and wait for1 till science accepts her hints2--will you have the ,georgics of this new ,virgil to load your table with its magic clusters2--will you take the ,novum ,organum to pile your plate with its ideal advancements on spontaneous nature and her perfections2--will you have the rule of that ,organum applied in its exactest rigors1 to all the physical oppositions of your life1 to minister to your physical safety1 and comfort1 and luxury1 and never relax your exactions from it1 till the last conceivable degree of these has been secured2 and in this department of art and science1--this1 in which the sum of our good and evil is contained1--in a mere oversight of it1 in a disgraceful indifference and carelessness about it1 be content to accept1 without criticism1 the machinery of the past--instrumentalities that the unlearned ages of the world have left to us1--arts whose precepts were concluded ages ere we knew that knowledge is power4 ,shall we be content to accept as a science any longer1 a science that leaves human life and its actualities and particulars1 unsearched1 uncollected1 unreduced to scientific nomenclature and axiom8 ,shall we be content any longer with a knowledge that is power1--shall we boast ourselves any longer of a scientific art that leaves human nature1--that makes over human nature to the tampering of an unwatched1 unchecked empiricism1 that leaves our own souls it may be1 and the souls in which ours are garnered up1 all wild and hidden1 and gnarled within with nature's crudities and spontaneities1 or choked and bitter with artificial1 but unscientific1 unartistic repression8 ,will you have of that divinely appointed and beautiful 'handmaid1' that was brought in on to this ,globe ,theatre1 with that upward look1--with eyes turned to that celestial sovereignty for her direction1 with the sum of good in her intention1 with the universal doctrine of practice in her programme1 with the relief 'of man's estate and the ,creator's glory' put down in her role1--with her new song--with her song of man's nature and life as it is1 on her lips--will you have of her1 only the minister to your physical luxuries and baser wants8 ,be it so3 but in the name of that truth which is able to survive ages of misunderstanding and detraction1 in the name of that honor which is armed with arts of self-delivery and tradition1 that will enable it to live again1 'though all the earth o'erwhelm it to men's eyes1' while this ,book of the ,advancemement of ,learning stands1 do not charge on this man henceforth1 that election4 ,the times of that ignorance in which it could be thus accredited1 are past2 for the leader of this ,advancement is already unfolding his tradition1 and opening his books2 and he bids us debase his name no longer1 into a name for these sordid fatuities4 ,the ,leader of ages that are yet to be1--ages whose nobler advancements1 whose rational and scientific advancements to the dignity and perfection of the human form1 it was given to him and to his company to plan and initiate1--he declines to be held any longer responsible for the blind1 demoniacal1 irrational spirit1 that would seize on his great instrument of science1 and wrest it from its nobler object and intent1 and debase it into the mere tool of the senses2 the tool of a materialism more base and sordid than any that the world has ever known2 more sordid1 a thousand-fold1 than the materialism of ages1 when there was yet a god in the wood and the stone1 when there was yet a god in the brick and the mortar4 ,this 'broken science' that has no end of ends1 this godless science1 this railway learning that travels with restless1 ever quickening speed1 no whither1--these dead1 rattling 'branches' and slivers of arts and sciences1 these modern arts and sciences1 hacked and cut away from that tree of sciences1 from which they sprang1 whereon they grew1 are his no longer4 ,he declines to be held any longer responsible for a materialism that shelters itself under the name of philosophy1 and identifies his own name with it4 ,call it science1 if you will1 though science be the name for unity and comprehension1 and the spirit of life1 the spirit of the largest whole2 call it philosophy if you will1 if you think philosophy is capable of being severed from that common trunk1 in which this philosopher found its pith and heart1--call it science1--call it philosophy1--but call it not1 he says1--call it not henceforth ',baconian4' ,for his labor is to collect into an art or science the doctrine of human life4 ,he1 too1 has propounded that problem1--he has translated into the modern speech1 that problem1 which the inspired ,leader of men1 of old propounded4 ',what is a man profited if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul2 or what can a man give in exchange for his soul8' ,he1 too1 has recognized that ideal type of human excellence1 which the ,great ,teacher of old revealed and exemplified2 he has found scientifically1--he has found in the universal law1--that divine dogma1 which was taught of old by ,one who spake as having authority--,one who also had looked on nature with a loving and observant eye1 and found in its source1 the ,inspirer of his doctrine4 ,in his study of that old book of divinity which he calls the book of ,god's ,power this ,modern ,innovator has found the scientific version of that inspired command ',be ye therefore perfect4' ,this new science of morality1 which is 'moral knowledge1' is able to recognise the inspiration and divinity of that received platform and exemplar of good1 and pours in on it the light of a universal illustration4 ,and in his new scientific policy1 in his scientific doctrine of success1 in his doctrine of the particular and private good1 when he brings out at last the rule which shall secure it from all the blows of fortune1 what is it but that same old ',primum qurite' which he produces1--clothing it with the authority and severe exaction of a scientific rule in art1--that same ',primum qurite' which was published of old as a doctrine of faith only4 ',but let men rather build1' he says1 'upon that foundation1 which is as a corner-stone of divinity and philosophy1 wherein they join close2 namely1 that same ',primum qurite4' ,for divinity saith1 ',seek first the kingdom of ,god1 and all other things shall be added to you'2 and philosophy saith1 ',primum qurite bona animi ctera aut aderunt1 aut non oberunt4' ,and who will now undertake to say that it is1 indeed1 written in the ,book of ,god1--in the ,book of the ,providential ,design1 and ,creative ,law1 or that it is written in the ,revelation of a divine good will to men2 that those who cultivate and cure the soul--who have a divine appointment to the office of its cure--shall thereby be qualified to ignore its actual laws1 or that they shall find in the scientific investigation of its actual history1 or in this new--so new1 this so wondrous and beautiful science1 which is here laid out in all its parts and points on the basis of a universal science of practice1--no 'ministry' to their end8 ,who shall say that the ,regimen of the mind1 that its ,education and healthful culture1 as well as its cure1 shall be able to accept of no instrumentalities from the advancement of learning8 ,who shall say that this department of the human life--this alone1 is going to be held back to the past1 with bonds and cramps of iron1 while all else is advancing2 that this is going to be held forever as a place where the old ,aristotelian logic1 which we have driven out of every other field1 can keep its hold unchallenged still1--as a place for the metaphysics of the school-men1 the empty conceits1 the old exploded inanities of the ,dark ,ages1 to breed and nestle in undisturbed8 ,who shall claim that this department is the only one1 which that gift1 that is the last gift of ,creation and ,providence to man is forbidden to enter8 ,surely it is the authorised doctrine of a supernatural aid1 that it is never brought in to sanction indolence and the neglect of means and instruments already in our power2 and in that book of these new ages in which the doctrine of a successful human practice was promulgated1 is it not written that in no department of the human want1 'can those noble effects1 which ,god hath set forth to be bought as the price of labour1 be obtained as the price of a few easy and slothful observances8' ,and who that looks on the world as it is at this hour1 with all our boasted aids and instrumentalities1--who that hears that cry of sorrow which goes up from it day and night1--who that looks at these masses of men as they are1--who that dares to look at all this vice and ignorance and suffering which no instrumentality1 mighty to relieve1 has yet reached1 shall think to put back1--as if we had no need of it1--this great gift of light and healing1--this gift of power1 which the scientific ages are bringing in2 this gift which the ages of 'anticipation1' the ages of inspiration and spontaneous affirmation1 could only divinely--diviningly--foresee and promise2--this gift which the knowledge of the creative laws1 the historic laws1 the laws of kind1 as they are actual in the human nature and the human life1 puts into our hands8 ,who shall think himself competent to oppose this benefaction8 ,alas for such an one6 let us take up a lamentation for him4 ,he has stayed too long4 ,the constitution of things1 the universal laws of being1 and the ,providence of this world are against him4 ,the track of the advancing ages goes over him4 ,he is at variance with that which was and shall be4 ,the world's wheel goes over him4 ,and whosoever falls on that stone shall be broken1 but on whomsoever it falls it shall grind him to powder4 ,it is by means of the scientific ,art of ,delivery and ,tradition1 that this doctrine of the scientific ,culture and ,cure of the ,mind1 which is the doctrine of the scientific ages1 has been made over to us in the abstract2 and it is by means of the rule of interpretation1 which this ,art of ,delivery prescribes1 it is by means of the secret of an ,illustrated ,tradition1 or ,poetic ,tradition of this science1 that we are now enabled to unlock at last those magnificent collections in it--those inexhaustible treasures and mines of it--which the ,discoverer1 in spite of the time1 has contrived to leave us1 in that form of ,fable and ,parable in which the advancing truth has always been left1--in that form of ,poesy in which the highest truth has1 from of old1 been uttered4 ,for over all this ground lay extended1 then1 in watchful strength all safe and unespied1 the basilisk of whom the ,fable goes1 if he sees you first1 you die for it1--but if ,,you ,,see ,,him ,,first1 ,,he ,,dies4 ,and this is the ,bishop who fought with a mace1 because he would kill his enemy and not wound him4 ,,book ,,ii4 ,,elizabethan ',,secrets ,,of ,,morality ,,and ,,policy'2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,fables ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,learning4 ,reason cannot be so sensible1 nor examples so fit4 ,advancement of ,learning4 ,,introductory4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,design4 ,the object of this ,volume is merely to open as a study1 and a study of primary consequence1 those great ,works of the ,modern ,learning which have passed among us hitherto1 for lack of the historical and scientific key to them1 as ,works of ,amusement1 merely4 ,but even in that superficial acquaintance which we have had with them in that relation1 they have1 all the time1 been subtly operating upon the minds in contact with them1 and perpetually fulfilling the first intention of their ,inventor4 ',for1' says the great ,innovator of the ,modern ,ages1--the author of the ,novum ,organum1 and of the ,advancement of ,learning1--in claiming this department of ,letters as the necessary and proper instrumentality of a new science1--of a science at least1 'foreign to opinions received1'--as he claims elsewhere that it is1 under all conditions1 the inevitable essential form of this science in particular4 ',men have proposed to answer two different and contrary ends by the use of parables1 for they serve as well to instruct and illustrate as to wrap up and envelope1 so that1 though for the present1 we drop the concealed use1 and suppose them to be vague undeterminate things1 formed for ,,amusement merely1 still the other use remains4 ',and every man of any learning must readily concede1' he says1 'the value of that use of them as a method of popular instruction1 grave1 sober1 exceedingly useful1 and sometimes necessary in the sciences1 as it opens an easy and familiar passage to the human understandings in all new discoveries1 that are abstruse and out of the road of vulgar opinion4 ,they were used of old by philosophers to express any point of reason more sharp and subtle than the vulgar1 and nevertheless now1 and at all times1 these allusive parabolical forms retain much life and vigor1 because reason cannot be so sensible nor examples so fit4' ,that philosophic use of them was to inform and teach1 whilst the minds of men continued rude and unpractised in matters of subtilty and speculation1 and even impatient and in a manner incapable of receiving anything that did not directly fall under and strike the senses4 ',and1 even to this day1 if any man would let new light in upon the human understanding1 and conquer prejudices without raising animosities1 opposition1 or disturbance1 he must still go in the same path and have recourse to the like method4' ,that is the use which the ,history and ,fables of the ,new ,philosophy have already had with us4 ,we have been feeding without knowing it1 on the 'principal and supreme sciences'--the ',prima ,philosophia' and its noblest branches4 ,we have been taking the application of the ,inductive ,philosophy to the principal concerns of our human life1 and to the phenomena of of the human nature itself1 as mere sport and pastime2 though the precepts concluded1 the practical axioms inclosed with it have already forced their way into our learning1 for all our learning is1 even now1 inlaid and glittering with those 'dispersed directions4' ,we have profited by this use of them4 ,it has not been pastime merely with us4 ,we have not spent our time in vain on this first stage of an ,advancing ,learning1 a learning that will not cease to advance until it has invaded all our empiricisms1 and conquered all our practice2 a learning that will recompence the diligence1 the exactitude1 the severity of observance which it will require here also 7when it comes to put in its claim here1 as ,learning and not ,amusement merely71 with that same magnitude of effects that1 in other departments1 has already justified the name which its ,inventor gave it--a ,learning which will give us here1 also1 in return for the severity of observance it will require1 what no ceremonial1 however exacting can give us1 that control of effects1 with which1 even in its humblest departments1 it has already fulfilled1 in the eyes of all the world1 the prophecy which its ,inventors uttered when they called it the ,,new ,,magic4 ,that first use of the ,histories and ,fables of the ,modern ,learning1 we have had already2 and it is not yet exhausted4 ,but in that rapid development of a common intelligence1 to which the new science of practice has itself so largely contributed1 even in its lower and limited developments1 we come now to that other and so important use of these ,fables1 which the philosophic ,innovator proposed to drop for the time1 in his argument--that use of them1 in which they serve 'to wrap up and conceal' for the time1 or to limit to the few1 who are able to receive them1 those new discoveries which are as yet too far in advance of the common beliefs and opinions of men1 and too far above the mental habits and capacities of the masses of men1 to be safely or profitably communicated to the many in the abstract4 ,but in order to arrive at this second and nobler use of them1 it will be necessary to bestow on them a very different kind of study from any that we have naturally thought it worth while to spend on them1 so long as we regarded them as works of pastime merely2 and especially while that insuperable obstacle to any adequate examination of them1 which the received history of the works themselves created1 was still operating on the criticism4 ,the truths which these ,parabolic and ,allusive ,poems wrap up and conceal1 have been safely concealed hitherto1 because they are not those common-place truths which we usually look for as the point and moral of a tale which is supposed to have a moral or politic intention1--truths which we are understood to be in possession of beforehand1 while the parable or instance is only designed to impress the sensibility with them anew1 and to reach the will that would not take them from the reason1 by means of the senses or the imagination4 ,it is not that spontaneous1 intuitive knowledge1 or those conventional opinions1 those unanalysed popular beliefs1 which we usually expect to find without any trouble at all1 on the very surface of any work that has morality for its object1 it is not any such coarse1 lazy performance as that1 that we need trouble ourselves to look for here4 ,this higher intention in these works 'their real import1 genuine interpretation1 and full depth1' has not yet been found1 because the science which is wrapped in them1 though it is the principal science in the plan of the ,advancement of ,learning1 has hitherto escaped our notice1 and because of the exceeding subtlety of it1--because the truths thus conveyed or concealed are new1 and recondite1 and out of the way of any casual observation1--because in this scientific collection of the phenomena of the human life1 designed to serve as the basis of new social arts and rules of practice1 the author has had occasion to go behind the vague1 popular1 unscientific terms which serve well enough for purposes of discourse1 and mere oratory1 to those principles which are actual and historical1 those simple radical forms and differences on which the doctrine of power and practice must be based4 ,it is pastime no longer4 ,it is a study1 the most patient1 the most profoundly earnest to which these works now invite us4 ,let those who will1 stay in the playground still1 and make such sport and pastime of it there1 as they may2 and let those who feel the need of inductive rules here also1--here on the ground which this pastime covers--let those who perceive that we have as yet1 set our feet only on the threshold of the ,great ,instauration1 find here with diligent research1 the ascent to the axioms of practice1--that ascent which the author of the science of practice in general1 made it his labour to hew out here1 for he undertook 'to collect here into an art or science1 that which had been pretermitted by others as matters of common sense and experience4' ,it does not consist with the design of the present work to track that draught of a new science of morality and policy1 that 'table' of an inductive science of human nature1 and human life1 which the plan of the ,advancement of ,learning contains1 with all the lettering of its compartments put down1 into these systematic scientific collections1 which the ,fables of the ,modern ,learning1--which these magnificent ,parabolical ,poems have been able hitherto to wrap up and conceal4 ,this work is merely introductory1 and the design of it is to remove that primary obstacle to the diligent study of these works1 which the present theory of them contains2 since that concealment of their true intention and history1 which was inevitable at the time1 no longer serves the author's purpose1 and now that the times are ripe for the learning which they contain1 only serves indeed to hinder it4 ,and the illustrations which are here produced1 are produced with reference to that object1 and are limited strictly to the unfolding of those 'secrets of policy1' which are the necessary introduction to that which follows4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,missing ,,books ,,of ,,the ,,great ,,instauration2 ,,or1 ,,philosophy ,,itself4 ,did it never occur to the student of the ,novum ,organum that the constant application of that ',new ,machine' by the inventor of it himself1 to one particular class of subjects1 so constant as to produce on the mind of the careless reader the common impression1 that it was intended to be applied to that class only1 and that the relief of the human estate1 in that one department of the human want1 constituted its whole design3 did it never occur to the curious inquirer1 or to the active experimenter in this new rule of learning1 that this apparently so rigorous limitation of its applications in the hands of its author is--under all the circumstances--a thing worthy of being inquired into8 ,considering who the author of it is1 and that it is on the face of it1 a new method of dealing with facts in general1 a new method of obtaining axioms of practice from history in general1 and not a specific method of obtaining them from that particular department of history from which his instances are taken2 and1 considering1 too1 that the author was himself aware of the whole sweep of its applications1 and that he has taken pains to include in his description of its powers1 the assertion1--the distinct1 deliberate assertion--that it is capable of being applied as efficiently1 to those nobler departments of the human need1 which are marked out for it in the ,great ,instauration--those very departments in which he was known himself to be so deeply interested1 and in which he had been all his life such a diligent explorer and experimenter4 ,did it never occur to the scholar1 to inquire why he did not apply it1 then1 himself to those very subjects1 instead of keeping so stedfastly to the physical forces in his illustration of its powers8 ,and has any one ever read the plan of this man's works8 ,has any one seen the scheme of that great enterprise1 for which he was the responsible person in his own time--that scheme which he wrote out1 and put in among these published acknowledged works of his1 which he dared to produce in his own name1 to show what parts of his 'labor1'--what part of chief consequence was not thus produced8 ,has any one seen that plan of a new system of ,universal ,science1 which was published in the reign of ,james the ,first1 under the patronage of that monarch8 ,and if it has been seen1 what is the reason there has been no enquiry made for those works1 in which the author openly proposes to apply his new organum in person to these very subjects2 and that1 too1 when he takes pains to tell us1 in reference to that undertaking1 that he is not a vain promiser4 ,there is a pretence of supplying that new kind of history1 which the new method of discovery and invention requires as the first step towards its conclusions1 which is put down as the ,,third ,,part of the ,instauration1 though the natural history which is produced for that purpose is very far from fulfilling the description and promise of that division4 ,but where is the ,,fourth part of the ,great ,instauration8 ,has anybody seen the ,,fourth part8 ,where is that so important part for which all that precedes it is a preparation1 or to which it is subsidiary8 ,where is that part which consists of ,,examples1 that are nothing but a particular application of the ,,second2 that is1 the ,novum ,organum1--'and to subjects of the noblest kind8' ,where is 'that part of our work which enters upon ,,philosophy ,,itself1' instead of dealing any longer1 or professing to deal1 with ,,the ,,method merely of finding that which man's relief requires1 or instead of exhibiting that method any longer in the abstract8 ,where are the works in which he undertakes to show it in operation1 with its new 'grappling hooks' on the matter of the human life--applied by the inventor himself to 'the noblest subjects8' ,surely that would be a sight to see4 ,what is the reason that our editors do not produce these so important works in their editions8 ,what is the reason that our critics do not include them in their criticism8 ,what is the reason that our scholars do not quote them8 ,instead of stopping with that mere report of the condition of learning and its deficiences1 and that outline of what is to be done1 which makes the ,,first ,,part or ,introduction to this work2 or stopping with the description of the new method1 or the ,novum ,organum1 which makes the ,,second2 why don't they go on to the 'new philosophy itself1' and show us that as well1--the very object of all this preparation8 ,when he describes in the ,,second part his method of finding true terms1 or rather the method of his school1 when he describes this new method of finding 'ideas1' ideas as they are in nature1 powers1 causes1 the elements of history1 or forms1 as he more commonly calls them1 when he describes this new method of deducing axioms1 axioms that are ready for practice1 he does1 indeed1 give us instances2 but it so happens1 that the instances are all of one kind there4 ,they are the physical powers that supply his examples in that part4 ,in describing this method merely1 he produces what he calls his ,tables of ,invention1 or ,tables of ,,review ,,of ,,instances2 but where is that part in which he tells us we shall find these same tables again1 with 'the nobler subjects' on them8 ,he produces them for careful scrutiny in his second part2 and he makes no small parade in bringing them in4 ,he shews them up very industriously1 and is very particular to direct the admiring attention of the reader to their adaptation as means to an end4 ,but certainly there is nothing in that specimen of what can be done with them which he contents himself with there1 that would lead any one to infer that the power of this invention1 which is the novelty of it1 was going to be a dangerous thing to society1 or1 indeed1 that they were not the most harmless things in the world4 ,it is the true cause of ,,heat1 and the infallible means of producing that under the greatest variety of conditions1 which he appears to be trying to arrive at there4 ,but what harm can there be in that1 or in any other discovery of that kind4 ,and there is no real impression made on any one's mind by that book1 that there is any other kind of invention or discovery intended in the practical applications of this method8 ,the very free1 but of course not pedantic1 use of the new terminology of a new school in philosophy1 in which this author indulges--a terminology of a somewhat figurative and poetic kind1 one cannot but observe1 for a philosopher of so strictly a logical turn of mind1 one whose thoughts were running on abstractions so entirely1 to construct2 his continued preference for these new scholastic terms1 and his inflexible adherence to a most profoundly erudite mode of expression whenever he approaches 'the part operative' of his work1 is indeed calculated to awe and keep at a distance minds not yet prepared to grapple formally with those 'nobler subjects' to which allusion is made in another place4 ,king ,james was a man of some erudition himself2 but he declared frankly that for his part he could not understand this book2 and it was not strange that he could not1 for the author did not intend that he should4 ,the philosopher drops a hint in passing1 however1 that all which is essential in this method1 might perhaps be retained without quite so much formality and fuss in the use of it1 and that the proposed result might be arrived at by means of these same tables1 without any use of technical language at all1 under other circumstances4 ,the results which have since been obtained by the use of this method in that department of philosophy to which it is specially applied in the ,novum ,organum1 give to the inquirer into the causes of the physical phenomena now1 some advantages which no invention could supply them4 ,that was what the founders of this philosophy expected and predicted4 ,they left this department to their school4 ,the author of the ,novum ,organum orders and initiates this inquiry2 but the basis of the induction in this department is as yet wanting2 and the collections and experiments here require combinations of skill and labour which they cannot at once command4 ,they will do what they can here too1 in their small way1 just to make a beginning2 but they do not lay much stress upon any thing they can accomplish with the use of their own method in this field4 ,it serves1 however1 a very convenient purpose with them2 neither do they at all underrate its intrinsic importance4 ,but the man who has studiously created for himself a social position which enables him to assume openly1 and even ostentatiously1 the position of an innovator--an innovator in the world of letters1 an advancer of--learning--is compelled to introduce his innovation with the complaint that he finds the mind of the world so stupified1 so bewildered with evil1 and so under the influence of dogmas1 that the first thing to be done is to get so much as a thought admitted of the possibility of a better state of things4 ',the present system of philosophy1' he says1 'cherishes in its bosom certain positions or dogmas which it will be found1 are calculated to produce a full conviction that no difficult1 commanding1 and powerful operation on nature ought to be anticipated1 through the means of art4' ,and1 therefore1 after criticising the theory and practice of the world as he finds it1 reporting as well as he can1--though he can find no words1 he says1 in which to do justice to his feeling in regard to it--the deficiencies in its learning1 he devotes a considerable portion of the description of his new method to the grounds of 'hope' which he derives from this philosophic survey1 and that that hope is not a hope of a better state of things in respect to the physical wants of man merely1 that it is not a hope of a renovation in the arts which minister to those wants exclusively1 any very careful reader of the first book of the ,novum ,organum will be apt on the whole to infer4 ,but the statements here are very general1 and he refers us to another place for particulars4 ',let us then speak of hope' he says1 'especially as we are not vain promisers1 nor are willing to enforce or ensnare men's judgments2 but would rather lead them willingly forward4 ,and although we shall employ the most cogent means of enforcing hope when we bring them ,,to ,,particulars1 and especially those which are digested and arranged in our ,tables of ,invention1 the subject partly of the ,,second1 but--principally--mark it1 principally of the ,,fourth part of the ,instauration1 which are1 indeed1 rather the very objects of our hopes than hope itself4' ,does he dare to tell us1 in this very connection1 that he is not a vain promiser1 when no such ,,part as that to which he refers us here is to be found anywhere among his writings--when this principal part of his promise remains unfulfilled4 ',the ,,fourth part of the ,instauration1' he says again in his formal description of it1 'enters upon philosophy itself1 furnishing examples of inquiry and investigation1 according to our own method1 in certain subjects of the noblest kind1 but greatly differing from each other1 that a specimen may be had of every sort4 ,by these examples1 we mean not illustrations of rules and precepts1' ,he will show the facts in such order1 in such scientific1 select1 methodical arrangements1 that rules and precepts will be forced from them2 for he will show them1 on the tables of invention1 and rules and precepts are the vintage that flows from the illustrious instances--the prerogative instances--the ripe1 large1 cleared1 selected clusters of facts1 the subtle prepared history which the tables of invention collect4 ,the definition of the simple original elements of history1 the pure definition is the first vintage from these2 but 'that which in speculative philosophy corresponds to the cause1 in practical philosophy becomes the rule' and the axiom of practice1 ready for use1 is the final result4 'but perfect models1 which will exemplify the ,,second ,,part of this work1 and represent1 as it were1 to the eye the whole progress of the mind1 and the continued structure and order of invention in ,,the ,,more ,,chosen ,,subjects'--note it1 in the more chosen subjects2 but this is not at all--'after the same manner as globes and machines facilitate the more abstruse and subtle demonstrations in mathematics4' ,but in another place he tells us1 that the poetic form of demonstration is the form to which it is necessary to have recourse on these subjects1 especially when we come to these more abstruse and subtle demonstrations1 as it opens an easy and familiar passage to the human understanding in all new discoveries1 that are abstruse and out of the road of vulgar opinion2 and that at the time he was writing out this plan of his works1 any one1 who would let in new light on the human understanding1 and conquer prejudices1 without raising animosity1 opposition1 or disturbance1 had no choice--must go in that same path1 or none4 ,where are those diagrams8 ,and what does he mean1 when he tells us in this connection that he is not a vain promiser8 ,where are those particular cases1 in which this method of investigation is applied to the noblest subjects8 ,where are the diagrams1 in which the order of the investigation is represented1 as it were1 to the eye1 which serve the same purpose1 'that globes and machines serve in the more abstruse and subtle demonstrations in mathematics8' ,we are all acquainted with one poem1 at least1 published about that time1 in which some very abstruse and subtle investigations appear to be in progress1 not without the use of diagrams1 and very lively ones too2 but one in which the intention of the poet appears to be to the last degree 'enigmatical1' inasmuch as it has engaged the attention of the most philosophical minds ever since1 and inasmuch as the most able critics have never been able to comprehend that intention fully in their criticism4 ,and it is bound up with many others1 in which the subjects are not less carefully chosen1 and in which the method of inquiry is the same2 in which that same method that is exhibited in the ',novum ,organum' in the abstract1 or in its application to the investigation of the physical phenomena1 is everywhere illustrated in the most chosen subjects--in subjects of the noblest kind4 ,this volume1 and another which has been mentioned here1 contain the ,,third and ,,fourth ,,parts of the ,great ,instauration1 whether this man who describes them here1 and who forgot1 it would seem1 to fulfil his promise in reference to them1 be aware of it or not4 ,that is the part of the ,great ,instauration that we want now1 and we are fairly entitled to it1 because these are not 'the next ages1' or 'the times which were nearer1' and which this author seldom speaks of without betraying his clear foresight of the political and social convulsions that were then at hand4 ,these are the times1 which were farther off1 to which he appeals from those nearer ages1 and to which he expressly dedicates the opening of his designs4 ,now1 what is it that we have to find8 ,what is it that is missing out of this philosophy8 ,nothing less than the 'principal' part of it4 ,all that is good for anything in it1 according to the author's own estimate4 ,the rest serves merely 'to pass the time1' or it is good as it serves to prepare the way for this4 ,what is it that we have to look for8 ,the ',novum ,organum1' that severe1 rigorous method of scientific inquiry1 applied to the more chosen subjects in the reigns of ,queen ,elizabeth and ,james ,i4 ,tables of ,review of ,instances1 and all that ,logic which is brought out in the doctrine of the ,,prerogative ,,instances1 whereby the mind of man is prepared for its encounter with fact in general1 brought down to particulars1 and applied to the noblest subjects1 and to every sort of subject which the philosophic mind of that age chose to apply it to4 ,that is what we want to find4 ',the prerogative instances' in 'the more chosen subjects4' ,the whole field which that philosophy chose for its field1 and called the noblest1 the principal1 the chosen1 the more chosen one4 ,every part of it reduced to scientific inquiry1 put under the rule of the ',novum ,organum'2 that is what we want to find4 ,we know that no such thing could possibly be found in the acknowledged writings of this author4 ,nothing answering to that description1 composed by a statesman and a philosopher1 with an avowed intention in his writing--an intention to effect changes1 too1 in the actual condition of men1 and 'to suborn practice and actual life1' no such work by such an author could by any means have been got through the press then4 ,no one who studies the subject will think of looking for that ,,fourth ,,part of the ,instauration among the author's acknowledged writings4 ,does he give us any hint as to where we are to look for it8 ,is there any intimation as to the particular form of writing in which we are to find it8 for find it we must and shall1 because he is not a vain promiser4 ,the subject itself determines the form1 he says2 and the fact that the whole ground of the discovery is ground already necessarily comprehended in the preconceptions of the many--that it is ground covered all over with the traditions and rude theories of unlearned ages1 this fact1 also1 imperiously determines the method of the inculcation4 ,who that knows what the so-called ,baconian method of learning really is1 will need to be told that the principal books of it will be--books of ,,instances and ,,particulars1 ,,specimens--living ones1 and that these will occupy the prominent place in the book2 and that the conclusions and precepts will come in as abstractions from these1 drawn freshly and on the spot from particulars1 and1 therefore1 ready for use1 'knowing the way to particulars again8' ,who would ever expect to find the principal books of this learning--the books in which it enters upon philosophy itself1 and undertakes to leave a specimen of its own method in the noblest subjects in its own chosen field--who would ever expect to find these books1 books of abstractions1 books of precepts1 with instances or examples brought in1 to illustrate or make them good8 ,for this is not a point of method merely1 but a point of substance1 as he takes pains to tell us4 ,and who that has ever once read his own account of the method in which he proposes to win the human mind from its preconceptions1 instead of undertaking to overcome it with ,logic and sharp disputations1--who that knows what place he gives to ,rhetoric1 what place he gives to the ,imagination in his scheme of innovation1 will expect to find these books1 books of a dry didactic learning8 ,does the student know how many times1 in how many forms1 under how many different heads1 he perseveringly inserts the bold assurance1 that the form of poesy and enigmatic allusive writing is the only form in which the higher applications of his discovery can be made to any purpose in that age8 ,who would expect to find this part in any professedly scientific work1 when he tells us expressly1 ',reason cannot be so sensible1 nor examples so fit1' as the examples which his scientific terminology includes in the department of ,poesy8 ,all the old historical wisdom was in that form1 he says2 all the first philosophy was poetical2 all the old divinity came in history and parable2 and even to this day1 he who would let in new light upon the human understanding1 without raising opposition or disturbance1 must still go in the same path1 and have recourse to the like method4 ,he was an innovator2 he was not an agitator4 ,and he claims that mark of a divine presence in his work1 that its benefactions come1 without noise or perturbation1 in aura leni4 ,of innovations1 there has been none in history like that which he propounded1 but neither would he strive nor cry4 ,there was no voice in the streets1 there was no red ensign lifted1 there was no clarion-swell1 or roll of the conqueror's drum to signal to the world that entrance4 ,he1 too1 claims a divine authority for his innovation1 and he declares it to be of ,god4 ,it is the providential order of the world's history which is revealed in it2 it is the fulfilment of ancient prophecy which this new chief1 laden with new gifts for men1 openly announces4 ',let us begin from ,god1' he says1 when he begins to open his ground of hope1 after he has exposed the wretched condition of men as he finds them1 without any scientific knowledge of the laws and institutes of the universe they inhabit1 engaged in a perpetual and mad collision with them2 ',let us begin from ,god1 and show that our pursuit1 from its exceeding goodness1 clearly proceeds from ,him1 the ,author of ,,good and ,father of ,,light4 ,now1 in all divine works1 the smallest beginnings lead assuredly to some results2 and the rule in spiritual matters1 that the ,kingdom of ,god cometh without observation1 is also found to be true in every great work of ,,providence1 so that everything glides in quietly1 without confusion or noise2 and the matter is achieved before men even think of perceiving that it is commenced4' ',men1' he tells us1 'men should imitate ,nature1 who innovateth greatly but quietly1 and by degrees scarce to be perceived1' who will not dispense with the old form till the new one is finished and in its place4 ,what is that we want to find8 ,we want to find the new method of scientific inquiry applied to the questions in which men are most deeply interested--questions which were then imperiously and instantly urged on the thoughtful mind4 ,we want to see it applied to ,,politics in the reign of ,james the ,first4 ,we want to see it applied to the open questions of another department of inquiry1--certainly not any less important1--in that reign1 and in the reign which preceded it4 ,we want to see the facts sifted through those scientific tables of review1 from which the true form of ,,sovereignty1 the legitimate sovereignty1 is to be inducted1 and the scientific axioms of government with it4 ,we want to see the science of observation and experiment1 the science of nature in general1 applied to the cure of the common-weal in the reign of ,james the ,first1 and to that particular crisis in its disease1 in which it appeared to the observers to be at its last gasp2 and that1 too1 by the principal doctors in that profession1--men of the very largest experience in it1 who felt obliged to pursue their work conscientiously1 whether the patient objected or not4 ,but are there any such books as these8 ,certainly4 ,you have the author's own word for it4 ',some may raise this question1' he says1 'this question rather than objection'--it is better that it should come in the form of a question1 than in the form of an objection1 as it would have come1 if there had been no room to 'raise the question'--'whether we talk of perfecting natural philosophy' using the term here in its usual limited sense1 'whether we talk of perfecting natural philosophy alone1 according to our method1 or1 the other sciences--such as1 ,,ethics1 ,,logic1 ,,politics4' ,that is the question 'raised4' ',we certainly intend to comprehend them ,,all4' ,that is the author's answer to it4 ',and as common logic which regulates matters by syllogism1 is applied1 not only to natural1 but to every other science1 so our inductive method likewise comprehends them ,,all4' ,with such iteration will he think fit to give us this point4 ,it is put in here for those 'who raise the question'--the question 'rather than objection4' ,the other sort are taken care of in other places4 ',for1' he continues1 'we form a history and tables of invention1 for anger1 fear1 shame1 and the like2 and also for examples in civil life' that was to be the principal part of the science when he laid out the plan of it in the advancement of learning 'and the mental operations of memory1 composition1 division1 judgment1 and the rest2 as well as for heat and cold1 light and vegetation1 and the like4' ,that is the plan of the new science1 as the author sketches it for the benefit of those who raise questions rather than objections4 ,that is its comprehension precisely1 whenever he undertakes to mark out its limits for the satisfaction of this class of readers4 ,but this is that same ,,fourth ,,part to which he refers us in the other places for the application of his method to those nobler subjects1 those more chosen subjects2 and that is just the part of his science which appears to be wanting4 ,how happens it8 ,did he get so occupied with the question of heat and cold1 light and vegetation1 and the like1 that after all he forgot this part with its nobler applications8 ,how could that be1 when he tells us expressly1 that they are the more chosen subjects of his inquiry4 ,this part which he speaks of here1 is the missing part of his philosophy1 unquestionably4 ,these are the books of it which have been missing hitherto2 but in that ,providential order of events to which he refers himself1 the time has come for them to be inquired for2 and this inquiry is itself a part of that movement1 in which the smallest beginnings lead assuredly to some result4 ,for1 'let us begin from ,god1' he says1 'and show that our pursuit1 from its exceeding goodness1 clearly proceeds from ,him1 the ,author of ,,good1 and not of misery2 the ,father of ,,light1 and not of darkness4' ,of course1 it was impossible to get out any scientific doctrine of the human society1 without coming at once in collision with that doctrine of the divinity of arbitrary power which the monarchs of ,england were then openly sustaining4 ,who needs to be told1 that he who would handle that argument scientifically1 then1 without military weapons1 as this inquirer would1 must indeed 'pray in aid of similes4' ,and yet a very searching and critical inquiry into the claims of that institution1 which the new philosophy found in possession of the human welfare1 and asserting a divine right to it as a thing of private property and legitimate family inheritance1--such a criticism was1 in fact1 inevitably involved in that inquiry into the principles of a human subjection which appeared to this philosopher to belong properly to the more chosen subjects of a scientific investigation4 ,and notwithstanding the delicacy of the subjects1 and the extremely critical nature of the investigation1 when it came to touch those particulars1 with which the personal observations and experiments of the founders of this new school in philosophy had tended to enrich their collections in this department1--'and the aim is better1' says the principal spokesman of this school1 who quietly proposes to introduce this method into politics1 'the aim is better when the mark is alive2' notwithstanding the difficulties which appeared to lie then in the way of such an investigation1 the means of conducting it to the entire satisfaction1 and1 indeed1 to the large entertainment of the persons chiefly concerned1 were not wanting4 ,for this was one of those 'secrets of policy1' which have always required the aid of fable1 and the idea of dramatising the fable for the sake of reaching in some sort those who are incapable of receiving any thing 'which does not directly fall under1 and strike the senses1' as the philosopher has it2 those who are capable of nothing but 'dumb shows and noise1' as ,hamlet has it2 this idea1 though certainly a very happy1 was not with these men an original one4 ,men1 whose relations to the state were not so different as the difference in the forms of government would perhaps lead us to suppose1--men of the gravest learning and enriched with the choicest accomplishments of their time1 had adopted that same method of influencing public opinion1 some two thousand years earlier1 and even as long before as that1 there were 'secrets of morality and policy1' to which this form of writing appeared to offer the most fitting veil4 ,whether 'the new' philosopher1--whether 'the new magician' of this time1 was1 in fact1 in possession of any art which enabled him to handle without diffidence or scruple the great political question which was then already the question of the time2 whether ',,the ,,crown'--that double crown of military conquest and priestly usurpation1 which was the one estate of the realm at that crisis in ,english history1 did1 among other things in some way1 come under the edges of that new analysis which was severing all here then1 and get divided clearly with 'the mind1 that divine fire1'--whether any such thing as that occurred here then1 the reader of the following pages will be able to judge4 ,the careful reader of the extracts they contain1 taken from a work of practical philosophy which made its appearance about those days1 will certainly have no difficulty at all in deciding that question4 ,for1 first of all1 it is necessary to find that political key to the ,elizabethan art of delivery1 which unlocks the great works of the ,elizabethan philosophy1 and that is the necessity which determines the selection of the ,plays that are produced in this volume4 ,they are brought in to illustrate the fact already stated1 and already demonstrated1 the fact which is the subject of this volume1 the fact that the new practical philosophy of the modern ages1 which has its beginning here1 was not limited1 in the plan of its founders1 to 'natural philosophy' and 'the part operative' of that1--the fact that it comprehended1 as its principal department1 the department in which its 'noblest subjects' lay1 and in which its most vital innovations were included1 a field of enquiry which could not then be entered without the aid of fable and parable1 and one which required not then only1 'but now1 and at all times1' the aid of a vivid poetic illustration2 they are brought in to illustrate the fact already demonstrated from other sources1 the fact that the new philosophy was the work of men able to fulfil their work under such conditions1 able to work1 if not for the times that were nearer1 for the times that were further off2 men who thought it little so they could fulfil and perfect their work and make their account of it to the ,work-master1 to robe another with their glory2 men who could relinquish the noblest works of the human genius1 that they might save them from the mortal stabs of an age of darkness1 that they might make them over unharmed in their boundless freedom1 in their unstained perfection1 to the farthest ages of the advancement of learning1--that they might 'teach them how to live and look fresh' still1 ',when tyrants' crests1 and tombs of brass are spent4' ,that is the one fact1 the indestructible fact1 which this book is to demonstrate4 ,,part ,i4 ,,lear',s ,,philosopher ',thou'dst shun a bear2 ,but if thy way lay towards the raging sea1 ,thou'dst meet the bear i' the mouth4' ,,chapter ,i4 ,,philosophy ,,in ,,the ,,palace4 ',i think the king is but a man1 as ,i am4'--,king ,henry4 ',they told me ,i was everything4'--,lear4 ,,of course1 it was not possible that the prerogative should be openly dealt with at such a time1 questioned1 discussed1 scientifically examined1 in the very presence of royalty itself1 except by persons endowed with extraordinary privileges and immunities1 persons1 indeed1 of quite irresponsible authority1 whose right to do and say what they pleased1 ,elizabeth herself1 though they should enter upon a critical analysis of the divine rights of kings to her face1 and deliberately lay bare the defects in that title which she was then attempting to maintain1 must needs notwithstanding1 concede and respect4 ,and such persons1 as it happened1 were not wanting in the retinue of that sovereignty which was working in disguise here then1 and laying the foundations of that throne in the thoughts of men1 which would replace old principalities and powers1 and not political dominions merely4 ,to the creative genius which waited on the philosophic mind of that age1 making up in the splendour of its gifts for the poverty of its exterior conditions1 such persons1--persons of any amount or variety of capacity which the necessary question of its play might require1 were not wanting3--'came with a thought4' ,of course1 poor ,bolingbroke1 fevered with the weight of his ill-got crown1 and passing a sleepless night in spite of its supposed exemptions1 unable to command on his state-bed1 with all his royal means and appliances1 the luxury that the wet sea boy in the storm enjoys1--and the poet appears1 to have had some experience of this mortal ill1 which inclines him to put it down among those which ought to be excluded from a state of supreme earthly felicity1--the poor guilty disgusted usurper1 discovering that this so blessed 'invention' was not included in the prerogative he had seized1 under the exasperation of the circumstances1 might surely be allowed to mutter to himself1 in the solitude of his own bed-chamber1 a few general reflections on the subject1 and1 indeed1 disable his own position to any extent1 without expecting to be called to an account for it1 by any future son or daughter of his usurping lineage4 ,that extraordinary1 but when one came to look at it1 quite incontestable fact1 that nature in her sovereignty1 imperial still1 refused to recognize this artificial difference in men1 but still went on her way in all things1 as if 'the golden standard' were not there1 classing the monarch with his 'poorest subject2'--the fact that this charmed 'round of sovereignty1' did not after all secure the least exemption from the common individual human frailty1 and helplessness1--this would1 of course1 strike the usurper who had purchased the crown at such an expense1 as a fact in natural history worth communicating1 if it were only for the benefit of future princes1 who might be disposed to embark in a similar undertaking4 ,here1 of course1 the moral was proper1 and obvious enough2 or close at hand1 and ready to be produced1 in case any serious inquiry should be made for it2 though the poet might seem1 perhaps1 to a severely critical mind1 disposed to pursue his philosophical inquiry a little too curiously into the awful secrets of majesty1 retired within itself1 and pondering its own position2--openly searching what ,lord ,bacon reverently tells us1 the ,scriptures pronounce to be inscrutable1 namely1 the hearts of kings1 and audaciously laying bare those private passages1 those confessions1 and misgivings1 and frailties1 for which policy and reverence prescribe concealment1 and which are supposed in the play1 indeed1 to be shrouded from the profane and vulgar eye1 a circumstance which1 of course1 was expected to modify the impression4 ,so1 too1 that profoundly philosophical suspicion1 that a rose1 or a violet1 did actually smell1 to a person occupying this sublime position1 very much as it did to another2 a suspicion which1 in the mouth of a common man1 would have been literally sufficient to 'make a star-chamber matter of'2 and all that thorough-going analysis of the trick and pageant of majesty which follows it1 would1 of course1 come only as a graceful concession1 from the mouth of that genuine piece of royalty1 who contrives to hide so much of the poet's own 'sovereignty of nature1' under the mantle of his free and princely humours1 the brave and gentle hero of ,agincourt4 ',though ,i speak it to you1' he says1 talking in the disguise of a 'private1' ',i think the ,king is but a man as ,i am1 the violet smells to him as it doth to me2 all his senses1 have but human conditions4 ,his ceremonies laid by1 in his nakedness1 he appears but a man2 and though his affections are higher mounted than ours1 yet1 when they stoop1 they stoop with the like wing4 ,when he sees reason of fears1 as we do1 his fears1 out of doubt1 be of the same relish as ours are'2 and in the same scene1 thus the royal philosopher versifies1 and soliloquises on the same delicate question4 ',and what have kings that privates have not1 too1 save ceremony1--save general ceremony8 ,and what art thou1 thou idol ceremony8--,what is thy soul of adoration8' ,a grave question1 for a man of an inquiring habit of mind1 in those times3 let us see how a ,poet can answer it4 ',art thou aught else but place1 degree and form1 ,creating awe and fear in other men8 ,wherein1 thou art less happy1 being feared1 ,than they in fearing8 ,again and again this man has told us1 and on his oath1 that he cherished no evil intentions1 no thought of harm to the king2 and those who know what criticisms on the state1 as it was then1 he had authorised1 and what changes in it he was certainly meditating and preparing the way for1 have charged him with falsehood and perjury on that account2 but this is what he means4 ,he thinks that wretched victim of that most irrational and monstrous state of things1 on whose head the crown of an arbitrary rule is placed1 with all its responsibilities1 in his infinite unfitness for them1 is1 in fact1 the one whose case most of all requires relief4 ,he is the one1 in this theory1 who suffers from this unnatural state of things1 not less1 but more1 than his meanest subject4 ',thou art less happy being feared1 than they in fearing4' ,what drink'st thou oft instead of homage sweet ,but poison'd flattery8 ,o6 be sick1 great greatness1 ,and bid thy ceremony give thee cure4 ,thinkest thou the fiery fever will go out ,with titles blown from adulation8 ,will it give place to flexure and low bending8 ,interesting physiological questions6 ,and though the author1 for reasons of his own1 has seen fit to put them in blank verse here1 it is not because he does not understand1 as we shall see elsewhere1 that they are questions of a truly scientific character1 which require to be put in prose in his time--questions of vital consequence to all men4 ,the effect of 'poisoned flattery1' and 'titles blown from adulation' on the minds1 of those to whose single will and caprice the whole welfare of the state1 and all the gravest questions for this life and the next1 were then entrusted1 naturally appeared to the philosophical mind1 perseveringly addicted to inquiries1 in which the practical interests of men were involved1 a question of gravest moment4 ,but here it is the physical difference which accompanies this so immense human distinction1 which he appears to be in quest of2 it is the control over nature with which these 'farcical titles' invest their possessor1 that he appears to be now pertinaciously bent upon ascertaining4 ,for we shall find1 as we pursue the subject1 that this is not an accidental point here1 a casual incident of the character1 or of the plot1 a thing which belongs to the play1 and not to the author2 but that this is a poet who is somehow perpetually haunted with the impression that those who assume a divine right to control1 and dispose of their fellow-men1 ought to exhibit some sign of their authority2 some superior abilities2 some magical control2 some light and power that other men have not4 ,how he came by any such notions1 the critic of his works is1 of course1 not bound to show2 but that which meets him at the first reading is the fact1 the incontestable fact1 that the ,poet of ,shakspere's stage1 be he who he may1 is a poet whose mind is in some way deeply occupied with this question2 that it is a poet who is infected1 and1 indeed1 perfectly possessed1 with the idea1 that the true human leadership ought to consist in the ability to extend the empire of man over nature1--in the ability to unite and control men1 and lead them in battalions against those common evils which infest the human conditions1--not fevers only but 'worser' evils1 and harder to be cured1 and to the conquest of those supernal blessings which the human race have always been vainly crying for4 ',i am a king that find thee1' he says4 ,and having this inveterate notion of a true human regality to begin with1 he is naturally the more curious and prying in regard to the claims of the one which he finds in possession2 and when by the mystery of his profession and art1 he contrives to get the cloak of that factitious royalty about him1 he asks questions under its cover which another man would not think of putting4 ',canst thou1' he continues1 walking up and down the stage in ,king ,hal's mantle1 inquiring narrowly into its virtues and taking advantage of that occasion to ascertain the limits of the prerogative--that very dubious question then1-- ',canst thou when thou command'st the beggar's knee1 ,command the health of it8'-- ,no8 what mockery of power is it then8 ,but1 this in connection with the preceding inquiry in regard to the effect of titles on the progress of a fever1 or the amenability of its paroxysm1 to flexure and low bending1 might have seemed perhaps in the mouth of a subject to savour somewhat of irony2 it might have sounded too much like a taunt upon the royal helplessness under cover of a serious philosophical inquiry1 or it might have betrayed in such an one a disposition to pursue scientific inquiries farther than was perhaps expedient4 ,but thus it is1 that ,,the ,,king can dare to pursue the subject1 answering his own questions4 ',no1 thou proud dream ,that playst so subtly with a king's repose2 ,i am a king that find thee2 and ,i know ',tis not the ,,the ,,balm1 ,,the ,,sceptre1 and ,,the ,,ball1 ,,the ,,sword1 ,,the ,,mace1 ,,the ,,crown ,,imperial1 ,the inter-tissued ,,robe of gold and pearl1 ,the ,,farced ,,title-- ,what is that8--,mark it3--the farced ,,title6--,a bold word1 one would say1 even with a king to authorise it4 ',the farced ,,title running 'fore the king1 ,,the ,,throne he sits on1 nor the tide of ,,pomp ,that beats upon the high shore of this world1 ,no1 not all these1 thrice gorgeous ,,ceremony1 ,not all these laid in ,,bed ,,majestical1 ,can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave ,who1 with a body filled1 and vacant mind1 ,gets him to rest crammed with distressful bread1 ,never sees horrid night1 the child of hell1 ,but like a lackey from the rise to set ,sweats in the eye of ,phoebus2 and all night ,sleeps in ,elysium4 ,yes1 there we have him1 at last4 ,there he is exactly4 ,that is the scientific picture of him1 'poor man1' as this poet calls him elsewhere4 ,what malice could a philosophic poet bear him8 ,that is the monarchy that men were 'sanctifying themselves with1' and 'turning up the white of the eye to1' then4 ,that is the figure that it makes when it comes to be laid in its state-bed1 upon the scientific table of review1 not in the formal manner of 'the second part' of this philosophy1 but in that other manner which the author of the ,novum ,organum1 speaks of so frequently1 as the one to be used in applying it to subjects of this nature4 ,that is the anatomy of him1 which 'our method of inquiry and investigation1' brings out without much trouble 'when we come to particulars4' ',truly we were in good hands1' as the other one says1 who finds it more convenient1 for his part1 to discourse on these points1 from a distance4 ,that is the figure the usurping monarch's pretensions make at the first blush1 in the collections from which 'the vintage' of the true sovereignty1 and the scientific principles of governments are to be expressed1 when the true monarchy1 the legitimate1 'one only man power1' is the thing inquired for4 ,this one goes to 'the negative' side apparently4 ,a wretched fellow that cannot so much as 'sleep o' nights1' that lies there on the stage in the play of ,henry the ,fourth1 in the sight of all the people1 with ,,the ,,crown on his very pillow1 by way 'facilitating the demonstration1' pining for the ',elysium' at his meanest subject1--that the poor slave1 'crammed with distressful bread1' commands2 crying for the luxury that the wet seaboy1 on his high and giddy couch enjoys2--and from whose note-book came that image1 dashed with the ocean spray1--who saw that seaboy sleeping in that storm8 ,but1 as for this ,,king1 it is the king which the scientific history brings out2 whereas1 in the other sort of history that was in use then1 lie is hardly distinguishable at all from those ,mexican kings who undertook to keep the heavenly bodies in their places1 and1 at the same time1 to cause all things to be borne by the earth which were requisite for the comfort and convenience of man2 a peculiarity of those sovereigns1 of which the ,man on the ,mountains1 whose study is so well situated for observations of that sort1 makes such a pleasant note4 ,but whatever other view we may take of it1 this1 it must be conceded1 is a tolerably comprehensive exhibition1 in the general1 of the mere pageant of royalty1 and a pretty free mode of handling it2 but it is at the same time a privileged and entirely safe one4 ,for the liberty of this great ,prince to repeat to himself1 in the course of a solitary stroll through his own camp at midnight1 when nobody is supposed to be within hearing1 certain philosophical conclusions which he was understood to have arrived at in the course of his own regal experience1 could hardly be called in question4 ,and as to that most extraordinary conversation in which1 by means of his disguise on this occasion1 he becomes a participator1 if the ,prince himself were too generous to avail himself of it to the harm of the speakers1 it would ill become any one else to take exceptions at it4 ,and yet it is a conversation in which a party of common soldiers are permitted to 'speak their minds freely' for once1 though 'the blank verse has to halt for it1' on questions which would be considered at present questions of 'gravity4' ,it is a dialogue in which these men are allowed to discuss one of the most important institutions of their time from an ethical point of view1 in a tone as free as the president of a ,peace ,society could use to-day in discussing the same topic1 intermingling their remarks with criticisms on the government1 and personal allusions to the king himself1 which would seem to be more in accordance with the manners of the nineteenth century1 than with those of the ,poet's time4 ,but then these wicked and treasonous grumblings being fortunately encountered on the spot1 and corrected by the king himself in his own august person1 would only serve for edification in the end2 if1 indeed1 that appeal to the national pride which would conclude the matter1 and the glory of that great day which was even then breaking in the ,east1 should leave room for any reflections upon it4 ,for it was none other than the field of ,agincourt that was subjected to this philosophic inquiry4 ,it was the lustre of that immortal victory which was to ,england then1 what ,waterloo and the victories of ,nelson are now1 that was thus chemically treated beforehand4 ,under the cover of that renowned triumph1 it was1 that these soldiers could venture to search so deeply the question of war in general2 it was in the person of its imperial hero1 that the statesman could venture to touch so boldly1 an institution which gave to one man1 by his own confession no better or wiser than his neighbours1 the power to involve nations in such horrors4 ,but let us join the king in his stroll1 and hear for ourselves1 what it is that these soldiers are discussing1 by the camp-fires of ,agincourt2--what it is that this first voice from the ranks has to say for itself4 ,the king has just encountered by the way a poetical sentinel1 who1 not satisfied with the watchword--'a friend1'-- requests the disguised prince 'to discuss to him1 and answer1 whether he is an officer1 or base1 common1 and popular1' when the king lights on this little group1 and the discussion which ,pistol had solicited1 apparently on his own behalf1 actually takes place1 for the benefit of the ,poet's audience1 and the answer to these inquiries comes out in due order4 ,court4 ,brother ,john ,bates1 is not that the morning which breaks yonder8 ,bates4 ,i think it be1 but we have no great cause to desire the approach of day4 ,will4 ,we see yonder the beginning of the day1 but ,i think we shall never see the end of it4 ,who goes there8 ,king ,henry4 ,a friend4 ,will4 ,under what captain serve you8 ,king4 ,under ,sir ,thomas ,erpingham4 ,will4 ,a good old commander1 and a most kind gentleman3 ,i pray you1 what thinks he of our estate8 ,king4 ,even as men wrecked upon a sand1 that look to be washed off the next tide4 ,bates4 ,he hath not told his thought to the king8 ,king4 ,no2 nor it is not meet that he should2 for though ,i speak it to you1 ,i think the king is but a man as ,i am4 ,and it is here that he proceeds to make that important disclosure above quoted1 that all his senses have but human conditions1 and that all his affections1 though higher mounted1 stoop with the like wing2 and therefore no man should in reason possess him with any appearance of fear1 lest he1 by showing it1 'should dishearten his army4' ,bates4 ,he may show what outward courage he will2 but1 ,i believe1 as cold a night as 'tis1 he could wish himself in the ,thames1 up to the neck2 and so ,i would he were1 and ,i by him1 at all adventures1 so we were quit here4 ,king4 ,by my troth1 ,i will speak my conscience of the king4 ,i think he would not wish himself anywhere but where he is4 ,bates4 ,then would he were here alone2 so should he be sure to be ransomed1 and a many poor men's lives saved4 ,king4 ,i dare say you love him not so ill as to wish him here alone2 howsoever you speak this to feel other men's minds2 ,methinks ,i could not die anywhere so contented as in the king's company2 his cause being just1 and his quarrel honorable4 ,will4 ,that's more than we know4 ,bates4 ,ay1 or more than we should seek after2 for we know enough1 if we know we are the king's subjects2 if his cause be wrong1 our obedience to the king wipes the crime of it out of us4 ,will4 ,but if the cause be not good1 the king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make2 when all those legs and arms and heads chopped off in a battle shall join together at the latter day1 and cry all--,we died at such a place2 some swearing1 some crying for a surgeon1 some upon their wives left poor behind them2 some upon the debts they owe2 some upon their children rawly left4 ,i am afeared that few die well1 that die in battle2 for how can they charitably dispose of anything when blood is their argument8 ,now if these men do not die well1 it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it2 whom to disobey were against all proportion of subjection4 ,king4 ,so1 if a son that is by his father sent about merchandise1 do sinfully miscarry upon the sea1 the imputation of his wickedness1 by your rule1 should be imposed upon his father that sent him3 or if a servant1 under his master's command1 transporting a sum of money1 be assailed by robbers1 and die in many irreconciled iniquities1 you may call the business of the master the author of the servant's damnation4--,but this is not so4444 ,there is no king1 be his cause never so spotless1 if it come to the arbitrament of swords1 can try it out with all unspotted soldiers4 ,but the king pursues this question of the royal responsibility until he arrives at the conclusion that every subject's ,,duty is ,,the ,,king',s1 ,,but ,,every ,,subject',s ,,soul ,,is ,,his ,,own1 until he shows1 indeed1 that there is but one ultimate sovereignty2 one to which the king and his subjects are alike amenable1 which pursues them everywhere1 with its demands and reckonings1--from whose violated laws there is no escape4 ,will4 ',tis certain1 every man that dies ill1 the ill is upon his own head--no unimportant point in the theology or ethics of that time--,,the ,,king is not to answer for it4 ,bates4 ,i do not desire the king should answer for me1 and yet ,i determine to fight lustily for him4 ,king4 ,i1 myself1 heard the king say1 he would not be ransomed4 ,will4 ,ay1 he said so1 to make us fight cheerfully2 but when our throats are cut1 he may be ransomed and we ne'er the wiser4 ,king4 ,if ,i live to see it1 ,i will never trust his word after4 ,will4 ,mass1 you'll pay him then6 ,that's a perilous shot out of an elder gun1 that a poor and private displeasure can do against a monarch4 ,you may as well go about to turn the sun to ice1 with fanning in his face with a peacock's feather4 ,and1 indeed1 thus and not any less absurd and monstrous1 appeared the idea of subjecting the king to any effect from the subject's displeasure1 or the idea of calling him to account--this one1 helpless1 frail1 private man1 as he has just been conceded by the king himself to be1 for any amount of fraud or dishonesty to the nation1 for any breach of trust or honour4 ,for his relation to the mass and the source of this fearful irresponsible power was not understood then4 ,the soldier states it well4 ,one might1 indeed1 as well go about to turn the sun to ice1 with fanning in his face with a peacock's feather4 ',you'll never trust his word after1' the soldier continues4 ',come1 'tis a foolish saying4' ',your reproof is something too round1' is the king's reply4 ,it is indeed round4 ,it is one of those round replies that this poet is so fond of1 and the king himself becomes 'the private' of it1 when once the centre of this play is found1 and the sweep of its circumference is taken4 ,for the sovereignty of law1 the kingship of the universal law in whomsoever it speaks1 awful with ,god's power1 armed with his pains and penalties is the scientific sovereignty2 and in the scientific diagrams the passions1 'the poor and private passions1' and the arbitrary will1 in whomsoever they speak1 no matter what symbols of sovereignty they have contrived to usurp1 make no better figure in their struggles with that law1 than that same which the poet's vivid imagination and intense perception of incompatibilities1 has seized on here4 ,the king struggles vainly against the might of the universal nature4 ,it is but the shot out of an 'elder gun2' he might as well 'go about to turn the sun to ice with fanning in his face with a peacock's feather4' ',i should be angry with you1' continues the king1 after noticing the roundness of that reply1 ',i should be angry with you1 if the time were convenient4' ,but as to the poet who composes these dialogues1 of course he does not know whether the time is convenient or not2--he has never reflected upon any of those grave questions which are here so seriously discussed4 ,they are not questions in which he can be supposed to have taken any interest4 ,of course he does not know or care what it is that these men are talking about4 ,it is only for the sake of an artistic effect1 to pass away the night1 and to deepen for his hero the gloom which was to serve as the foil and sullen ground of his great victory1 that his interlocutors are permitted to go on in this manner4 ,it is easy to see1 however1 what extraordinary capabilities this particular form of writing offered to one who had any purpose1 or to an author1 who wished on any account1 to 'infold' somewhat his meaning2--that was the term used then in reference to this style of writing4 ,for certainly1 many things dangerous in themselves could be shuffled in under cover of an artistic effect1 which would not strike at the time1 amid the agitations1 and the skilful checks1 and counteractions1 of the scene1 even the quick ear of despotism itself4 ,and thus ,king ,lear--that impersonation of absolutism--the very embodiment of pure will and tyranny in their most frantic form1 taken out all at once from that hot bath of flatteries to which he had been so long accustomed1 that his whole self-consciousness had become saturated1 tinctured in the grain with them1 and he believed himself to be1 within and without1 indestructibly1 essentially1--'ay1 every inch ,a ,,king2' with speeches on his supremacy copied1 well nigh verbatim1 from those which ,elizabeth's courtiers habitually addressed to her1 still ringing in his ears1 hurled out into a single-handed contest with the elements1 stripped of all his 'social and artificial lendings1' the poor1 bare1 unaccommodated1 individual man1 this living subject of the poet's artistic treatment1--this 'ruined ,majesty' anatomized alive1 taken to pieces literally before our eyes1 pursued1 hunted down scientifically1 and robbed in detail of all 'the additions of a king'--must1 of course1 be expected to evince in some way his sense of it2 'for soul and body1' this poet tells us1 'rive not more in parting than greatness going off4' ,once conceive the possibility of presenting the action1 the dumb show1 of this piece upon the stage at that time1 7there have been times since when it could not be done71 and the dialogue1 with its illimitable freedoms1 follows without any difficulty4 ,for the surprise of the monarch at the discoveries which this new state of things forces upon him1--the speeches he makes1 with all the levelling of their philosophy1 with all the unsurpassable boldness of their political criticism1 are too natural and proper to the circumstances1 to excite any surprise or question4 ,indeed1 a king1 who1 nurtured in the flatteries of the palace1 was unlearned enough in the nature of things1 to suppose that the name of a king was anything but a shadow when the power which had sustained its prerogative was withdrawn1--a king who thought that he could still be a king1 and maintain 'his state' and 'his hundred knights1' and their prerogatives1 and all his old arbitrary1 despotic humours1 with their inevitable encroachment on the will and humours1 and on the welfare of others1 merely on grounds of respect and affection1 or on grounds of duty1 when not merely the care of 'the state1' but the revenues and power of it had been devolved on others--such a one appeared1 indeed1 to the poet1 to be engaging in an experiment very similar to the one which he found in progress in his time1 in that old1 decayed1 riotous form of military government1 which had chosen the moment of its utter dependence on the popular will and respect1 as the fitting one for its final suppression of the national liberties4 ,it was an experiment which was1 of course1 modified in the play by some diverting and strongly pronounced differences1 or it would not have been possible to produce it then2 but it was still the experiment of the unarmed prerogative1 that the old popular tale of the ancient king of ,britain offered to the poet's hands1 and that was an experiment which he was willing to see traced to its natural conclusion on paper at least2 while in the subsequent development of the plot1 the presence of an insulted trampled outcast majesty on the stage1 furnishes a cover of which the poet is continually availing himself1 for putting the case of that other outraged sovereignty1 whose cause under one form or another1 under all disguises1 he is always pleading4 ,and in the poet's hands1 the debased and outcast king1 becomes the impersonation of a debased and violated state1 that had given all to its daughters1--the victim of a tyranny not less absolute1 the victim1 too1 of a blindness and fatuity on its own part1 not less monstrous1 but not1 not--that is the poet's word--not yet irretrievable4 ',thou shalt find ,i will resume that shape1 which thou dost think ,i have cast off for ever2 thou shalt1 ,i warrant thee4' ',do you mark that1 my lord8' ,but the question of that prerogative1 which has consumed1 in the poet's time1 all the faculties of government constitutes only a subordinate part of the action of that great play1 into which it is here incorporated2 a play which comprehends in its new philosophical reaches1 in its new and before-unimagined subtilties of analysis1 the most radical questions of a practical human science2 questions which the practical reason of these modern ages at the moment of its awakening1 found itself already compelled to grapple with1 and master4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,unaccommodated ,,man4 ',consider him well4--,three of us are sophisticated4' ,for this is the grand ,,social tragedy4 ,it is the tragedy of an unlearned human society2 it is the tragedy of a civilization in which grammar1 and the relations of sounds and abstract notions to each other have sufficed to absorb the attention of the learned1--a civilization in which the parts of speech1 and their relations1 have been deeply considered1 but one in which the social elements1 the parts of life1 and their unions1 and their prosody1 have been left to spontaneity1 and empiricism1 and all kinds of rude1 arbitrary1 idiomatical conjunctions1 and fortuitous rules2 a civilization in which the learning of ',,words' is put down by the reporter--invented-- and the learning of ',,things'--omitted4 ,and in a movement which was designed to bring the human reason to bear scientifically and artistically upon those questions in which the deepest human interests are involved1 the wrong and misery of that social state to which the ,new ,machine1 with its new combination of sense and reason1 must be applied1 had to be fully and elaborately brought out and exhibited4 ,and there was but one language in which the impersonated human misery and wrong1--the speaker for countless hearts1 tortured and broken on the rude machinery of unlearned social customs1 and lawless social forces1 could speak2 there was but one tongue in which it could tell its story4 ,for this is the place where science becomes inevitably poetical4 ,that same science which fills our cabinets and herbariums1 and chambers of natural history1 with mute stones and shells and plants and dead birds and insects--that same science that fills our scientific volumes with coloured pictures true as life itself1 and letter-press of prose description--that same science that anatomises the physical frame with microscopic nicety1--in the hand of its master1 found in the soul1 that which had most need of science2 and his 'illustrated book' of it1 the book of his experiments in it1 comes to us filled with his yet living1 'ever living' subjects1 and resounding with the tragedy of their complainings4 ,it requires but a little reading of that book to find1 that the author of it is a philosopher who is strongly disposed to ascertain the limits of that thing in nature1 which men call fortune1--that is1 in their week-day speech1--they have another name for it 'o' ,sundays4' ,he is greatly of the opinion1 that the combined and legitimate use of those faculties with which man is beneficently 'armed against diseases of the world1' would tend very much to limit those fortuities and accidents1 those wild blows1--those vicissitudes1 that men1 in their ignorance and indolent despair1 charge on ,fate or ascribe to ,providence1 while at the same time it would furnish the art of accommodating the human mind to that which is inevitable4 ,it is not fortune who is blind1 but man1 he says1--a creature endowed of nature for his place in nature1 endowed of ,god with a godlike faculty1 looking before and after--a creature who has eyes1 eyes adapted to his special necessities1 but one that will not use them4 ,acquaintance with law1 as it is actual in nature1 and inventions of arts based on that acquaintance1 appear to him to open a large field of relief to the human estate1 a large field of encroachment on that human misery1 which men have blindly and stupidly acquiesced in hitherto1 as necessity4 ,for this is the philosopher who borrows1 on another page1 an ancient fable to teach us that that is not the kind of submission which is pleasing to ,god--that that is not the kind of 'suffering' that will ever secure his favour4 ,he1 for one1 is going to search this social misery to the root1 with that same light which the ancient wise man tells us1 'is as the lamp of ,god1 wherewith ,he searcheth the inwardness of all secrets4' ,the weakness and ignorance and misery of the natural man1--the misery too of the artificial man as he is1--the misery of man in society1 when that society is cemented with arbitrary customs1 and unscientific social arts1 and when the instinctive spontaneous demoniacal forces of nature1 are at large in it2 the dependence of the social ,monad1 the constitutional specific human dependence1 on the specific human law1--the exquisite human liability to injury and wrong1 which are but the natural indications of those higher arts and excellencies1 those unborn pre-destined human arts and excellencies1 which man must struggle through his misery to reach2--that is the scientific notion which lies at the bottom of this grand ideal representation4 ,it is1 in a word1 the human social ,,need1 in all its circumference1 clearly sketched1 laid out1 scientifically1 as the basis of the human social ,,art4 ,it is the negation of that which man's conditions1 which the human conditions require2--it is the collection on the ,table of ,exclusion and ,rejection1 which must precede the practical affirmation4 ,king4 ,have you heard the argument8 ,is there no offence in it8 ,hamlet4 ,none in the world4 ,it's the image of a murder done in ,vienna4 ,in the poetic representation of that state of things which was to be redressed1 the central social figure must1 of course1 have its place4 ,for it is the ,poet1 the ,experimental ,poet1 unseen indeed1 deep buried in his fable1 his new movements all hidden under its old garb1 and deeper hidden still1 in the new splendours he puts on it--it is the ,poet--invisible but not the less truly1 he1--it is the ,scientific ,poet1 who comes upon the monarch in his palace at noonday1 and says1 ',my business is with thee1 ,o king4' ,it is he who comes upon the selfish arrogant old despot1 drunk with ,elizabethan flatteries1 stuffed with 'titles blown from adulation1' unmindful of the true ends of government1 reckless of the duties which that regal assumption of the common weal brings with it--it is the ,poet who comes upon this ,doctor of ,laws in the palace and prescribes to him a course of treatment which the royal patient himself1 when once it has taken effect1 is ready to issure from the hovel's mouth1 in the form of a general prescription and state ordinance4 ',take physic1 ,,pomp2 ,expose thyself to feel what wretches feel1 ,that thou may'st shake the superflux to them1 ,and show the heavens more just4 ,oh1 ,i have taken too little care of ,this6' ,it is that same ,poet who has already told us1 confidentially1 under cover of ,king ,hal's mantle1 that 'the king himself is but a man' and that 'all his senses have but human conditions and that his affections1 too1 though higher mounted when they stoop1 stoop with the like wing2 that his ceremonies laid by1 in his nakedness he appears but a man'2--it is that same ,poet1 and1 in carrying out the purpose of this play1 it has come in his way now to make good that statement4 ,for it was necessary to his purpose here1 to show that the ,state is composed throughout1 down to its most loathsome unimaginable depths of neglect and misery1 of individual men1 social units1 clothed of nature with the same faculties and essential human dignities and susceptibilities to good and evil1 and crowned of nature with the common sovereignty of reason1--down-trodden1 perhaps1 and wrung and trampled out of them1 but elected of nature to that dignity2 it was necessary to show this1 in order that the wisdom of the ,state which sacrifices to the senses of one individual man1 and the judgment that is narrowed by the one man's senses1 the weal of the whole1--in order that the wisdom of the ,state1 which puts at the mercy of the arbitrary will and passions of the one1 the weal of the many1 might be mathematically exhibited1--might be set down in figures and diagrams4 ,for this is that ,poet who represents this method of inquiry and investigation1 as it were1 to the eye4 ,this is that same ,poet1 too1 who surprises elsewhere a queen in her swooning passion of grief1 and bids her murmur to us her recovering confession4 ',no more1 but e'en a woman2 and commanded ,by such poor passion1 as the maid that milks1 ,and does the meanest chares4' ,so busy is he1 indeed1 in laying by this king's 'ceremonies' for him1 beginning with the first doubtful perception of a most faint neglect1--a falling off in the ceremonious affection due to majesty 'as well in the general dependents as in the duke himself and his daughter1'--so faint that the king dismisses it from his thought1 and charges it on his own jealousy till he is reminded of it by another1--beginning with that faint beginning1 and continuing the process not less delicately1 through all its swift dramatic gradations1--the direct abatement of the regal dignities1--the knightly train diminishing1--nay1 'fifty of his followers at a clap' torn from him1 his messenger put in the stocks1--and 'it is worse than murder1' the poor king cries in the anguish of his slaughtered dignity and affection1 'to do upon respect such violent outrage1'--so bent is the ,poet upon this analytic process2 so determined that this shaking out of a 'preconception1' shall be for once a thorough one1 so absorbed with the dignity of the scientific experiment1 that he seems bent at one moment on giving a literal finish to this process2 but the fool's scruples interfere with the philosophical humour of the king1 and the presence of ,mad ,tom in his blanket1 with the king's exposition1 suffices to complete the demonstration4 ,for not less lively than this1 is the preaching and illustration1 from that new rostrum which this ',doctor' has contrived to make himself master of4 ',his ceremonies laid by1 in his nakedness he appears but a man1' says ,king ,hal4 ',couldst thou save nothing8' says ,king ,lear to the ,bedlamite4 ',why thou wert better in thy grave than to answer with thy uncovered body this extremity of the skies4' ',is man1'--it is the king who generalises1 it is the king who introduces this levelling suggestion here in the abstract1 while the ,poet is content with the responsibility of the concrete exhibition--',is man no wore than this8 ,consider him well4 ,thou owest the worm no silk1 the beast no hide1 the cat no perfume3--,ha6 here's three of us are sophisticated4 ,thou art the thing itself4 ,,unaccommodated ,,man is no more but such a poor1 bare1 forked animal1 as thou art4 ,off1 off1 you lendings4' ,but 'the fool' is of the opinion that this scientific process of unwrapping the artificial majesty1 this philosophical undressing1 has already gone far enough4 ',pry'thee1 ,nuncle1 be contented1' he says1 'it is a naughty night to swim in4' ,for it is the great heath wrapped in one of those storms of wind and rain and thunder and lightning1 which this wizard only of all the children of men knows how to raise1 that he chooses for his physiological exhibition of majesty1 when the palace-door has been shut upon it1 and the last 'additions of a king' have been subtracted4 ,it is a night-- ',wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch1 ,the lion1 and the belly-pinched wolf ,keep their fur dry'-- into which he turns his royal patient 'unbonneted4' ,for the tyranny of wild nature in her elemental uproar must be added to the tyranny of the human wildness1 the cruelty of the elements must conspire1 like pernicious ministers1 with the cruelty of arbitrary ,,human will and passions1 the irrational1 ,,inhuman social forces must be joined by those other forces that make war upon us1 before the real purpose of this exhibition and the full depth and scientific comprehension of it can begin to appear4 ,it is in the tempest that ,lear finds occasion to give out the ,poet's text4 ,is man no more than this8 ,consider him well4 ,unaccommodated man in his struggle with nature4 ,man without social combinations1 man without arts to aid him in his battle with the elements1 or with arts that fence in his body1 and robe it1 it may be1 in delicate and gorgeous apparelling1 arts that roof his head with a princely dome it may be1 and add to his native dignity and forces1 the means and appliances of a material civilization1 but leave his nobler nature with its more living susceptibility to injury1 unsheathed1 at the mercy of the brute forces that unscientific civilizations1 with their coarse laws1 with their cobwebs of ,,wordy learning1 with their science of abstractions1 unmatched with the subtilty of ,,things1 are compelled to leave at large1 uncaught1 unentangled4 ,yes1 it is man in his relation to nature1 man in his dependence on artificial aid1 man in his two-fold dependence on art1 that this tempest1 this double tempest wakes and brings out1 for us to 'consider1'--to 'consider well'2--'the naked creature1' that were better in his grave than to answer with his uncovered body that extremity of the skies1 and by his side1 with his soul uncovered to a fiercer blast1 his royal brother with 'the tempest in his mind1 that doth from his senses take all feeling else1 save what beats there4' ,it is the personal weakness1 the moral and intellectual as well as the bodily frailty and limitation of faculty1 and liability to suffering and outrage1 the liability to wrong from treachery1 as well as violence1 which are 'the common' specific human conditions1 common to the ,king in his palace1 and ,tom o',bedlam in his hovel2 it is this exquisite human frailty and susceptibility1 still unprovided for1 that fills the play throughout1 and stands forth in these two1 impersonated2 it is that which fills all the play with the outcry of its anguish4 ,and thus it is1 that this poor king must needs be brought out into this wild uproar of nature1 and stripped of his last adventitious aid1 reduced to the authority and forces that nature gave him1 invaded to the skin1 and ready in his frenzy to second the poet's intent1 by yielding up the last thread of his adventitious and artistic defences4 ,all his artificial1 social personality already dissolved1 or yet in the agony of its dissolution1 all his natural social ties torn and bleeding within him1 there is yet another kind of trial for him1 as the elected and royal representative of the human conditions4 ,for the perpetual1 the universal interest of this experiment arises from the fact1 that it is not as the king merely1 dissolving like 'a mockery king of snow' that this illustrious form stands here1 to undergo this fierce analysis1 but as the representative1 'the conspicuous instance1' of that social name and figure1 which all men carry about with them1 and take to be a part of themselves1 that outward life1 in which men go beyond themselves1 by means of their affections1 and extend their identity1 incorporating into their very personality1 that floating1 contingent material which the wills and humours and opinions1 the prejudices and passions of others1 and the variable tide of this world's fortunes make--that social ,name and ,figure in which men may die many times1 ere the physical life is required of them1 in which all men must needs live if they will live in it at all1 at the mercy of these uncontrolled social eventualities4 ,the tragedy is complicated1 but it is only that same complication which the tragedy it stands for1 is always exhibiting4 ,the fact that this blow to his state is dealt to him by those to whom nature herself had so dearly and tenderly bound him1 nay1 with whom she had so hopelessly identified him1 is that which overwhelms the sufferer4 ,it is that which he seeks to understand in vain4 ,he wishes to reason upon it1 but his mind cannot master it2 under that it is that his brain gives way1--the first mental confusion begins there4 ,the blow to his state is a subordinate thing with him4 ,it only serves to measure the wrong that deals it4 ,the poet takes pains to clear this complication in the experiment4 ,it is the wound in the affections which untunes the jarring senses of 'this child-changed father4' ,it is that which invades his identity4 ',are you our daughter8 ,does anyone here know me8' ,that is the word with which he breaks the silence of that dumb amazement1 that paralysis of frozen wonder which ,goneril's first rude assault brings on him4 ',why1 this is not ,lear2 ,ha6 sure it is not so4 ,does any one here know me8 ,who is it that can tell me who ,i am8' ,but with all her cruelty1 he cannot shake her off4 ,he curses her2 but his curses do not sever the tie4 ',but yet thou art my flesh1 my blood1 my daughter4 ,or rather1 a disease that's in my flesh ,which ,i must needs call mine4 ,filial ingratitude6 ,is it not as this mouth should tear this hand ,for lifting food to it8' ,for that is the poet's conception of the extent of this social life and outgoing--that is the interior of that social whole1 in which the dissolution he represents here is proceeding1--and that is the kind of new phenomenon which the science of man1 when it takes him as he is1 not the abstract man of the schools1 not the logical man that the ,realists and the ,nominalists went to blows for1 but 'the thing itself1' exhibits4 ,as to that other 'man1'--the man of the old philosophy1--he was not 'worth the whistle1' this one thinks4 ',his bones were marrowless1 his blood was cold1 he had no speculation in those eyes that he did glare with4' ,the ,new ,philosopher will have no such skeletons in his system4 ,he is getting his general man out of particular cases1 building him up solid1 from a basis of natural history1 and1 as far as he goes1 there will be no question1 no two words about it1 as to whether he is or is not4 ',for ,i do take1' says the ,advancer of ,learning1 'the consideration in general1 and at large1 of ,human ,nature1 to be fit to be emancipated and made a knowledge by itself4' ,no wonder if some new aspects of these ordinary phenomena1 these 'common things1' as he calls them1 should come out1 when they too come to be subjected to a scientific inquiry1 and when the ,poet of this ,advancement1 this so subtle ,poet of it1 begins to explore them4 ,and as to this particular point which he puts down with so much care1 this point which poor ,lear is illustrating here1 viz4 'that our affections carry themselves beyond us1' as the sage of the ',mountain' expresses it1 this is the view the same ,poet gives of it1 in accounting for ,ophelia's madness4 ',nature is fine in love2 and where 'tis fine1 ,it sends some precious instance of itself1 ,after the thing it loves4' ',your old kind father1' continues ,lear1 searching to the quick the secrets of this 'broken-heartedness1' as people are content to call it1 this ill to which the human species is notoriously liable1 though philosophy had not thought it worth while before 'to find it out2' ',your old kind father1 whose frank heart gave all1-- ,o that way madness lies2 let me shun that1 ,no more of that4' ,and it is while he is still undergoing the last extreme of the suffering which the human wrong is capable of inflicting on the affections1 that he comes in the ,poet's hands to exhibit also the unexplored depth of that wrong1--that monstrous1 inhuman social error1 that perpetual outrage on nature in her human law1 which leaves the helpless human outcast to the rough discipline of nature1 which casts him out from the family of man1 from its common love and shelter1 and leaves him in his vices1 and helplessness1 and ignorance1 to contend alone with great nature and her unrelenting consequences4 ',to wilful men ,the injuries that they themselves procure1 ,must be their school-masters1'-- is the point which the philosophic ,regan makes1 as she bids them shut the door in her father's face2 but it is the common human relationship that the ,poet is intent on clearing1 while he notes the special relationship also2 he does not limit his humanities to the ties of blood1 or household sympathies1 or social gradations4 ,but ,regan's views on this point are seconded and sustained1 and there seems to be but one opinion on the subject among those who happen to have that castle in possession2 at least the timid owner of it does not feel himself in a position to make any forcible resistance to the orders which his illustrious guests1 who have 'taken from him the use of his own house1' have seen fit to issue in it4 ',shut up your doors1 7says ,cornwall71 ',shut up your doors1 my lord3 'tis a wild night4 ,my ,,regan ,,counsels well2 ,,come ,,out ,o' ,,the ,,storm4' ,and it is because this representation is artistic and dramatic1 and not simply historical1 and the ,poet must seek to condense1 and sum and exhibit in dramatic appreciable figures1 the unreckonable1 undefinable historical suffering of years1 aad lifetimes of this vain human struggle1--because1 too1 the wildest threats which nature in her terrors makes to man1 had to be incorporated in this great philosophic piece2 and because1 lastly1 the ,poet would have the madness of the human will and passion1 presented in its true scientific relations1 that this storm collects into itself such ideal sublimities1 and borrows from the human passion so many images of cruelty4 ,in all the mad anguish of that ruined greatness1 and wronged natural affection1 the ,poet1 relentless as fortune herself in her sternest moods1 intent on his experiment only1 will bring out his great victim1 and consign him to the wind and the rain1 and the lightning1 and the thunder1 and bid his senses undergo their 'horrible pleasure4' ,for the senses1 scorned as they had been in philosophy hitherto1 the senses in this philosophy1 have their report also1--their full1 honest report1 to make to us4 ,and the design of this piece1 as already stated in the general1 required in its execution1 not only that these two kinds of suffering1 these two grand departments of human need1 should be included and distinguished in it1 but that they should be brought together in this one man's experience1 so that a deliberate comparison can be instituted between them2 and the ,poet will bid the philosophic king1 the living 'subject' himself1 report the experiment1 and tell us plainly1 once for all1 whether the science of the physical ,arts only1 is the science which is wanting to man2 or whether arts--scientific arts--that take hold of the moral nature1 also1 and deal with that not less effectively1 can be dispensed with2 whether1 indeed1 man is in any condition to dispense with the ,science and the ,art which puts him into intelligent and harmonious relations with nature in general4 ,it was necessary to the purpose of the play to exhibit man's dependence on art1 by means of his senses and his sensibilities1 and his intellectual conditions1 and all his frailties and liabilities1-- his dependence on art1 based on the knowledge of natural laws1 universal laws1--constitutions1 which include the human4 ,it was necessary to exhibit the whole misery1 the last extreme of that social evil1 to which a creature so naturally frail and ignorant is liable1 under those coarse1 fortuitous1 inartistic1 unscientific social conglomerations1 which ignorant and barbarous ages build1 and under the tyranny of those wild1 barbaric social evils1 which our fine social institutions1 notwithstanding the universality of their terms1 and the transcendant nature of the forces which they are understood to have at their disposal1 for some fatal reason or other1 do not yet succeed in reducing4 ,it is1 indeed1 the whole ground of the ,scientific ,human ,art1 which is revealed here by the light of this great passion1 and that1 in this ,poet's opinion1 is none other than the ground of the human want1 and is as large and various as that4 ,and the careful reader of this play1--the patient searcher of its subtle lore1--the diligent collector of its thick-crowding philosophic points and flashing condensations of discovery1 will find that the need of arts1 is that which is set forth in it1 with all the power of its magnificent poetic embodiment1 and in the abstract as well1--the need of arts infinitely more noble and effective1 more nearly matched with the subtlety of nature1 and better able to entangle and subdue its oppositions1 than any of which mankind have yet been able to possess themselves1 or ever the true intention of nature in the human form can be realized1 or anything like a truly ,human ,constitution1 or ,common-,weal1 is possible4 ,but let us return to the comparison1 and collect the results of this experiment4--,for a time1 indeed1 raised by that storm of grief and indignation into a companionship with the wind and the rain1 and the lightning1 and the thunder1 the king 'strives in his little world of man1'--for that is the phrasing of the poetic report1 to out-scorn these elements4 ,nay1 we ourselves hear1 as the curtain rises on that ideal representative form of human suffering1 the wild intonation of that human defiance--mounting and singing above the thunder1 and drowning all the elemental crash with its articulation2 for this is an experiment which the philosopher will try in the presence of his audience1 and not report it merely4 ,with that anguish in his heart1 the crushed majesty1 the stricken old man1 the child-wounded father1 laughs at the pains of the senses2 the physical distress is welcome to him1 he is glad of it4 ,he does not care for anything that the unconscious1 soulless elements can do to him1 he calls to them from their heights1 and bids them do their worst4 ,or it is only as they conspire with that wilful human wrong1 and serve to bring home to him anew the depth of it1 by these tangible1 sensuous effects1--it is only by that means that they are able to wound him4 ',nor rain1 wind1 thunder1 fire1 are my daughters1' that is the argument4 ',i tax you not1 you elements1 with unkindness4' ,surely that is logical2 that is a distinction not without a difference1 and appreciable to the human mind1 as it is constituted1--surely that is a point worth putting in the arts and sciences4 ',i never gave you kingdoms1 called you children2 ,you owe me no subscription2 why1 then1 let fall ,your horrible pleasure8 ,here ,i stand your slave1 ,a poor1 infirm1 weak1 and despised old man2 ,but yet1 ,i call you servile ministers1 ,that have with two pernicious daughters joined ,your high1 engendered battles 'gainst a head ,so old and white as this4 ,o1 ,o1 'tis foul4' ,and in his calmer mood1 when the storm has done its work upon him1 and all the strength of his great passion is exhausted1--when his bodily powers are fast sinking under it1 and like the subtle ,hamlet's 'potent poison1' it begins at last to 'o'er-crow his spirit'--when he is faint with struggling with its fury1 wet to the skin with it1 and comfortless and shivering1 he still maintains through his chattering teeth the argument2 he will still defend his first position-- ',thou thinkst 'tis much that this contentious storm ,invades us to the skin2 so 'tis to thee1 ,but where the greater malady is fixed1 ,the lesser is scarce felt4' ',the tempest in my mind ,doth from my senses take all feeling else1 ,save what beats there4' ',in such a night ,to shut me out6 ,pour on1 ,i will endure4 ,in such a night as this4' ,and when the shelter he is at last forced to seek is found1 at the door his courage fails him2 and he shrinks back into the storm again1 because 'it will not give him leave to think on that which hurts him more4' ,so nicely does the ,poet balance these ills1 and report the swaying movement4 ,but it is a poet who does not take common-place opinions on this1 or on any other such subject4 ,he is one whose poetic work does not consist in illustrating these received opinions1 or in finding some novel and fine expression for them4 ,he is observing nature1 and undertaking to report it1 as it is1 not as it should be according to these preconceptions1 or according to the established poetic notions of the heroic requisitions4 ,but there is no stage that can exhibit his experiment here in its real significance1 excepting that one which he himself builds for us2 for it is the vast lonely heath1 and the ,man1 the pigmy man1 on it--and the ,,king1 the pigmy king1 on it2--it is all the wild roar of elemental nature1 and the tempest in that 'little world of man1' that have to measure their forces1 that have to be brought into continuous and persevering contest4 ,it is not ,gloster only1 who sees in that storm what 'makes him think that a man is but a worm4' ,doubtless1 it would have been more in accordance with the old poetic notions1 if this poor king had maintained his ground without any misgiving at all2 but it is a poet of a new order1 and not the old heroic one1 who has the conducting of this experiment2 and though his verse is not without certain sublimities of its own1 they have to consist with the report of the fact as it is1 to its most honest and unpoetic1 unheroic detail4 ,and notwithstanding all the poetry of that passionate defiance1 it is the physical storm that triumphs in the end4 ,the contest between that little world of man and the great outdoor world of nature was too unequal4 ,compelled at last to succumb1 yielding to 'the tyranny of the open night1 that is too rough for nature to endure--the night that frightens the very wanderers of the dark1 and makes them keep their caves1 while it reaches1 with its poetic combination of horrors1 that border line of the human conception which great ,nature's pencil1 in this ,poet's hand1 is always reaching and completing1-- ',man's nature cannot carry ,the affliction nor the fear4' --,unable to contend any longer with 'the fretful element'--unable to 'outscorn' any longer 'the to and fro conflicting wind and rain'--weary of struggling with 'the impetuous blasts1' that in their 'eyeless rage' and 'fury' care no more for age and reverence than his daughters do--that seize his white hairs1 and make nothing of them--'exposed to feel what wretches feel'--he finds at last1 with surprise1 that art--the wretch's art--that can make vile things precious4 ,no longer clamoring for 'the additions of a king1' but thankful for the basest means of shelter from the elements1 glad to avail himself of the rudest structure with which art 'accommodates' man to nature1 7for that is the word of this philosophy1 where it is first proposed7--glad to divide with his meanest subject that shelter which the outcast seeks on such a night--ready to creep with him1 under it1 side by side--'fain to hovel with swine and rogues forlorn1 in short and musty straw'--surely we have reached a point at last where the action of the piece itself--the mere 'dumb show' of it--becomes luminous1 and hardly needs the player's eloquence to tell us what it means4 ,surely this is a little like 'the language' of ,periander's message1 when he bid the messenger observe and report what he saw him do4 ,it is very important to note that ideas may be conveyed in this way as well as by words1 the author of the ,advancement of ,learning remarks1 in speaking of the tradition of the principal and supreme sciences4 ,he takes pains to notice1 also1 that a representation1 by means of these 'transient hieroglyphics1' is much more moving to the sensibilities1 and leaves a more vivid and durable impression on the memory1 than the most eloquent statement in mere words4 ',what is sensible always strikes the memory more strongly1 and sooner impresses itself1 than what is intellectual4 ,thus the memory of brutes is excited by sensible1 but not by intellectual things2' and thus1 also1 he proposes to impress that class which ,coriolanus speaks of1 'whose eyes are more learned than their ears1' to whom 'action is eloquence4' ,here we have the advantage of the combination1 for there is no part of the dumb show1 but has its word of scientific comment and interpretation4 ',art cold to the ,fool8 ,i am cold myself4 ,where is this ,,straw1 my fellow8 ,the art of our necessities is strange1 ,that can make vile things precious4 ,come1 your hovel4 ,come1 bring us to this hovel4' ,for this is what that wild tragic poetic resistance and defiance comes to--this is what the 'unaccommodated man' comes to1 though it is the highest person in the state1 stripped of his ceremonies and artificial appliances1 on whom the experiment is tried4 ',where is this straw1 my fellow8 ,art cold8 ,i am cold myself4 ,come1 your hovel4 ,come1 bring us to this hovel4' ,when that royal edict is obeyed1--when the wonders of the magician's art are put in requisition to fulfil it1--when the road from the palace to the hovel is laid open1--when the hovel1 where ,tom o' ,bedlam is nestling in the straw1 is produced on the stage1 and ,,the ,,king--,,the ,,king--stoops1 before all men's eyes1 to creep into its mouth1--surely we do not need 'a chorus to interpret for us'--we do not need to wait for the ,poet's own deferred exposition to seize the more obvious meanings4 ,surely1 one catches enough in passing1 in the dialogues and tableaux here1 to perceive that there is something going on in this play which is not all play1--something that will be earnest1 perhaps1 ere all is done1--something which 'the groundlings' were not expected to get1 perhaps1 in 'their sixe-penn'orth' of it at the first performance1--something which that witty and splendid company1 who made up the ,christmas party at ,whitehall1 on the occasion of its first exhibition there1 who sat there 'rustling in silk1' breathing perfumes1 glittering in wealth that the alchemy of the storm had not tried1 were not1 perhaps1 all informed of2 though there might have been one among them1 'a gentleman of blood and breeding1' who could have told them what it meant4 ',we construct1' says the person who describes this method of philosophic instruction1 speaking of the subtle prepared history which forces the inductions--'we construct tables and combinations of instances1 upon such a plan1 and in such order1 that the understanding may be enabled to act upon them4' ',they told me ,i was everything4' ,they told me ,i was everything1' says the poor king himself1 long afterwards1 when the storm has had its ultimate effect upon him4 ',to say ay and no to everything that ,i said6--,to say ay and no too ,,was ,,no ,,good ,,divinity4 ,they told me1 ,i had white hairs in my beard1 ere the black ones were there4 ,when the rain came to wet me once1 and the wind to make me chatter2 when the thunder would not peace at my bidding2 there ,i found them1 there ,i smelt them out4 ,go to1 they are not men of their words3 they told me ,i was everything2 'tis a lie2 ,i am not ague-proof4' ',i think the king is but a man1 as ,i am' says ,king ,hal1 ',all his senses have the like conditions2 and his affections1 though higher mounted1 when they stoop1 stoop with the like wing4' ,but at the door of that rude hut the ruined majesty pauses4 ,in vain his loving attendants1 whom1 for love's sake1 this ,poet will still have with him1 entreat him to enter4 ,storm-battered1 and wet1 and shivering as he is1 he shrinks back from the shelter he has bid them bring him to4 ,he will not 'in4' ,why8 ,is it because 'the tempest will not give him leave to ponder on things would hurt him more4' ,that is his excuse at first2 but another blast strikes him1 and he yields to 'the to and fro conflicting wind and rain1' and says-- ',but ,i'll go in4' ,yet still he pauses4 ,why8 ,because he has not told us why he is there2--because he is in the hands of the ,poet of the ,human ,kind1 the poet of 'those common things that our ordinary life consisteth of1' who will have of them an argument that shall shame that 'resplendent and lustrous mass of matter' that old philosophers and poets have chosen for theirs2--because the rare accident--the wild1 poetic1 unheard-of accident--which has brought a man1 old in luxuries1 clothed in soft raiment1 nurtured in king's houses1 into this rude1 unaided collision with nature2--the poetic impossibility1 which has brought the one man from the apex of the social structure down this giddy depth1 to this lowest social level2--the accident which has given the 'one man1' who has the divine disposal of the common weal1 this little casual experimental taste of the weal which his wisdom has been able to provide for the many--of the weal which a government so divinely ordered1 from its pinnacle of personal ease and luxury1 thinks sufficient and divine enough for the many1--this accident--this grand poetic accident--with all its exquisite poetic effects1 is1 in this poet's hands1 the means1 not the end4 ,this poor king's great tragedy1 the loss of his social position1 his broken-heartedness1 his outcast suffering1 with all the aggravations of this poetic descent1 and the force of its vivid contrasts--with all the luxurious impressions on the sensibilities which the ideal wonders of the rude old fable yield so easily in this ,poet's hands1--this rare accident1 and moving marvel of poetic calamity1--this 'one man's' tragedy is not the tragedy that this ,poet's soul is big with4 ,it is the tragedy of the ,many1 and not the ,one1--it is the tragedy that is the rule1 and not the exception1--it is the tragedy that is common1 and not that which is singular1 whose argument this ,poet has undertaken to manage4 ',come1 bring us to your hovel4' ,the royal command is obeyed2 and the house of that estate1 which has no need to borrow its title of plurality to establish the grandeur of its claim1 springs up at the ,new ,magician's word1 and stands before us on the scientific stage in its colossal1 portentous1 scientific grandeur2 and the king--the king--is at the door of it3 the ,monarch is at the door of the ,many4 ,for the scientific ,poet has had his eye on that structure1 and he will make of it a thing of wonder1 that shall rival old poets' fancy pieces1 and drive our entomologists and conchologists to despair1 and drive them off the stage with their curiosities and marvels4 ,there is no need of a ,poet's going to the supernatural for 'machinery1' this ,poet thinks1 while there's such machinery as this ready to his hands unemployed4 ',there's something in this more than natural1 if philosophy could find it out4' ,there's no need of going to the antique for his models2 for he is inventing the arts that will make of this an antiquity4 ,the ,monarch has found his meanest subject's shelter1 but at the door of it he is arrested--nailed with a nail fastened by the ,master of ,assemblies4 ,he has come down from that dizzy height1 on the ,poet's errand4 ,he is there to speak the ,poet's word1--to illustrate that grave abstract learning which the ,poet has put on another page1 with a note that1 as it stands there1 notwithstanding the learned airs it has1 it is not learning1 but 'the husk and shell' of it4 ,for this is the philosopher who puts it down as a primary ,article of ,science1 that governments should be based on a scientific acquaintance with 'the natures1 dispositions1 necessities and discontents of the people'2 and though in his book of the ,advancement of ,learning1 he suggests that these points 'ought to be1' considering the means of ascertaining them at the disposal of the government1 'considering the variety of its intelligences1 the wisdom of its observations1 and the height of the station where it keeps sentinel1 transparent as crystal1'--here he puts the case of a government that had not availed itself of those extraordinary means of ascertaining the truth at a distance1 and was therefore in the way of discovering much that was new1 in the course of an accidental personal descent into the lower and more inaccessible regions of the ,common ,weal it had ordered4 ,this is the crystal which proves after all the most transparent for him4 ,this is the help for weak eyes which becomes necessary sometimes1 in the absence of the scientific crystal1 which is its equivalent4 ,the ,monarch is at the hovel's door1 but he cannot enter4 ,why8 ,because he is in that school into which his own wise ,,regan1 that 'counsels' so 'well'--that ,regan who sat at his own council-table so long1 has turned him2 and it is a school in which the lessons must be learned 'by heart1' and there is no shelter for him from its pitiless beating in this ,poet's economy1 till that lesson he was sent there to learn has been learned2 and it was a ,monarch's lesson1 and at the ,hovel's door he must recite it4 ,he will not enter4 ,why8 ,because the great lesson of state has entered his soul3 with the sharpness of its illustration it has pierced him3 his spirit is dilated1 and moved and kindling with its grandeur3 he is thinking of 'the ,many1' he has forgotten 'the ,one1'--the many1 all whose senses have like conditions1 whose affections stoop with the like wing4 ,he will not enter1 because he thinks it unregal1 inhuman1 mean1 selfish to engross the luxury of the hovel's shelter1 and the warmth of the 'precious' straw1 while he knows that he has subjects still abroad with senses like his own1 capable of the like misery1 still exposed to its merciless cruelties4 ,it was the tenant of the castle1 it was the man in the house who said1 ',come1 let's be snug and cheery here4 ,shut up the door4 ,let's have a fire1 and a feast1 and a song1--or a psalm1 or a prayer1 as the case may be2 only let it be within--no matter which it is'3 ',shut up your doors1 my lord2 'tis a wild night1-- ,my ,regan counsels well2 come out o' the storm4' ,but here it is the houseless man1 who is thinking of his kindred1--his royal family1 for whom ,god has made him responsible1 out in this same storm unbonneted2 and in the tenderness of that sympathy1 in the searching delicacy of that feeling with which he scrutinizes now their case1 they seem to him less able than himself to resist its elemental 'tyranny4' ,for in that ideal revolution--in that exact turn of the wheel of fortune--in that experimental 'change of places1' which the ,poet recommends to those who occupy the upper ones in1 the social structure1 as a means of a more particular and practical acquaintance with the conditions of those for whom they legislate1 new views of the common natural human relations2 new views of the ends of social combinations are perpetually flashing on him2 for it is the fallen monarch himself1 the late owner and disposer of the ,common ,weal1 it is this strangely philosophic1 mysteriously philosophic1 king--philosophic as that ,alfred who was going to succeed him--it is the king who is chosen by the ,poet as the chief commentator and expounder of that new political and social doctrine which the action of this play is itself suggesting4 ,in that school of the tempest2 in that one night's personal experience of the misery that underlies the pompous social structure1 with all its stately splendours and divine pretensions2 in that ,new ,school of the ,experimental ,science1 the king has been taking lessons in the art of majesty4 ,the alchemy of it has robbed him of the external adjuncts and 'additions of a king1' but the sovereignty of ,,mercy1 the divine right of ,,pity1 the majesty of the ,,human ,,kindness1 the grandeur of the ,,common ,,weal1 'breathes through his lips' from the ,poet's heart 'like man new made4' ,kent4 ,good1 my lord1 enter here4 ,lear4 ,prythee1 go in thyself4 ,seek thine own ease4 4 4 4 4 ,but1 ,i'll go in4 ,in1 boy1--go first--,to the ,fool4 ,you1 houseless poverty'-- ,he knows the meaning of that phrase now4 ',nay get thee in4 ,i'll ,,pray1 and then ,i'll sleep4' ,fool goes in4 ',poor1 naked wretches1 wheresoe'er you are ,that bide the pelting of this pitiless storm1'-- ,there are no empty phrases in this prayer1 the critic of it may perceive3 it is a learned prayer2 the petitioner knows the meaning of each word in it3 the tempest is the book in which he studied it4 ',how shall your houseless heads and unfed sides1 ,your looped and windowed raggedness defend you ,from seasons such as these8 ,o1 ,i have taken ,too little care of ,,this4 ,hear1 hear4 ,take physic1 ,,pomp2 ,hear4 ,expose thyself to feel what wretches feel1 ,that thou mayest shake the superflux to them1 ,and show the ,,heavens more just4' ,that is his prayer4 ,to minds accustomed to the ceremonial a religious worship1 'with court holy water in a dry house' only1 or to those who have never undertaken to compose a prayer for the king and all the royal family at the hovel's mouth1 and in such immediate proximity to animals of a different species1 it will not perhaps seem a very pious one4 ,but considering that it was understood to have been composed during the heathen ages of this realm1 and before ,christianity had got itself so comfortably established as a principle of government and social regulations1 perhaps it was as good a prayer for a penitent king to go to sleep on1 as could well be invented4 ,certainly the spirit of ,christianity1 as it appeared in the life of its ,founder1 at least1 seems to be1 by a poetic anachronism incorporated in it4 ,but it is never the custom of this author to leave the diligent student of his performances in any doubt whatever as to his meaning4 ,it is a rule1 that everything in the play shall speak and reverberate his purpose4 ,he prolongs and repeats his burthens1 till the whole action echoes with them1 till 'the groves1 the fountains1 every region near1 seem all one mutual cry4' ,he has indeed the ,teacher's trick of repetition1 but then he is 'so rare a wondered teacher1' so rich in magical resources1 that he does not often find it necessary to weary the sense with sameness4 ,he is prodigal in variety4 ,it is a ,proteus repetition4 ,but his charge to his ,ariel in getting up his ,masques1 always is1-- ',bring a corollary1 ,rather than want a spirit4' ,nay1 it would be dangerous1 not wearisome merely1 to make the text of this living commentary continuous1 or to bring too near together 'those short and pithy sentences' wherein the action unwinds and fashions into its immortal groups4 ,and the curtain must fall and rise again1 ere the outcast duke1--his eyes gouged out by tyranny1 turned forth to smell his way to ,dover1--can dare to echo1 word by word1 the thoughts of the outcast king4 ,led by one whose qualification for leadership is1 that he is ',madman and ,beggar1 too1'--for as ,gloster explains it to us1 explaining also at the same time much else that the scenic language of the play1 the dumb show1 the transitory hieroglyphic of it presents1 and all the criticism of it1 '',t ,,is ,,the ,,time',s ,,plague ,,when ,,madmen ,,lead ,,the ,,blind'-- groping with such leadership his way to ,dover--'smelling it out'--thus it is that his secret understanding with the king1 in that mad and wondrous philosophical humour of his1 betrays itself4 ,gloster4 ,here1 take this purse to ,tom o',bedlam1 thou whom the heaven's plagues ,have humbled to all strokes3 that ,i am wretched ,makes thee the happier3--,heavens1 deal so still6 ,let the superfluous and lust-dieted man ,that slaves your ordinance1 that will not ,,see ,because he doth not ,,feel1 feel your power quickly2 ,so distribution should undo excess1 ,and each man have enough4 ,lear4 ,o ,i have taken ,too little care of this4 ,take physic1 ,pomp2 ,expose thyself to ,,feel what wretches ,,feel1 ,that thou may'st shake the superflux to them1 ,and show the ,heavens more just4 ,truly1 these men would seem to have been taking lessons in the same school4 ,but it is very seldom that two men in real life1 of equal learning on any topic1 coincide so exactly in their trains of thought1 and in the niceties of their expression in discussing it4 ,the emphasis is deep1 indeed1 when this author graves his meaning with such a repetition4 ,but ,regan's stern school-master is abroad in this play1 enforcing the philosophic subtleties1 bringing home to the senses the neglected lessons of nature2 full of errands to 'wilful men1' charged with coarse lessons to those who will learn through the senses only great ,nature's lore--that 'slave ,heaven's ordinance--that will not ,,see1 because they do not ,,feel4' ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,king ,,and ,,the ,,beggar4 ,armado4 ,is there not a ballad1 boy1 of the ,king and the ,beggar8 ,moth4 ,the world was very guilty of such a ballad some three ages since3 but1 ,i think1 now 'tis not to be found2 or1 if it were1 it would neither serve for the writing1 nor for the tune4 ,armado4 ,i will have the subject newly writ over1 that ,i may example my digression by some mighty precedent4 ,love's ,labour's ,lost4 ,but the king's philosophical studies are not yet completed2 for he is in the hands of one who does not rely on general statements for his effects2 one who is pertinaciously bent on exploring those subterranean social depths1 that the king's prayer has just glanced at--who is determined to lay bare to the utmost1 to carry the torch of his new science into the lowest recess of that wild1 nameless mass of human neglect and misery1 which the regal sympathy has embraced for him in the general2 though not1 indeed1 without some niceties of detail1 which shew that the eye of a true human pity has collected the terms in which he expresses it4 ,that vast1 immeasurable mass of social misery1 which has no learned speech1 no tragic dialect--no1 or 'it would bear such an emphasis1' that 'its phrase of sorrow might conjure the wandering stars1 and bid them stand like wonder-wounded hearers'--that misery which must get a king's robe about it1 ere1 in the ,poet's time1 it could have an audience1 must needs be produced here1 ere all this play was played1 in its own native and proper shape and costume1 daring as the attempt might seem4 ,the author is not satisfied with the picturesque details of that misery which he has already given us1 with its 'looped and windowed raggedness1' its 'houseless head1' its 'unfed sides'2 it must be yet more palpably presented4 ,it must be embodied and dramatically developed2 it must be exhibited with its proper moral and intellectual accompaniments1 too1 before the philosophic requisitions of this design can be fulfilled4 ,to the lowest deeps of the lowest depths of the unfathomed social misery of that time1 the new philosopher1 the ,poet of the ,advancement of ,learning1 will himself descend2 and drag up to the eye of day1--undeterred by any scruple of poetic sensibility1--in his own unborrowed habiliments1 with all the badges of his position in the state upon him1 the creature he has selected as one of the representatives of the social state as he finds it2--the creature he has selected as the representative of those loathsome1 unpenetrated masses of human life1 which the unscientific social state must needs generate4 ,for the design of this play1 in its exhibition of the true human need1 in its new and large exhibition of the ground which the ,arts of a true and rational human civilization must cover1 could not but include the defects of that1 which passed for civilization then4 ,it involved necessarily1 indeed1 the most searching and relentless criticisms of the existing institutions of that time4 ,that cry of social misery which pervades it1 in which the natural1 and social1 and artificial evils are still discriminated through all the most tragic bursts of passion--in which the true social need1 in all its comprehension1 is uttered--that wild cry of human anguish1 prolonged1 and repeated1 and reverberated as it is--is all one outcry upon the social wisdom of the ,poet's time4 ,it constitutes one continuous dramatic expression and embodiment of that so deeply-rooted opinion which the ,new ,philosopher is known to have entertained1 in regard to the practical knowledge of mankind as he found it2 his opinion of the real advances towards the true human ends which had been made in his time2 an opinion which he has1 indeed1 taken occasion to express elsewhere with some distinctness1 considering the conditions which hampered the expression of his philosophical conclusions2 but it is one which could hardly have been produced from the philosophic chair in his time1 or from the bench1 or at the council-table1 in such terms as we find him launching out into here1 without any fear or scruple4 ,for those who persuade themselves that it was any part of this player's intention to bring out1 for the amusement of his audiences1 an historical exhibition of the ,life and ,times of that ancient ,celtic king of ,britain1 whose legendary name and chronicle he has appropriated so effectively1 will be prevented by that view of the subject from ever attaining the least inkling of the matter here4 ,for this ,magician has quite other work in hand4 ,he does not put his girdles round the earth1 and enforce and harass with toil his delicate spirits1--he does not get out his book and staff1 and put on his ,enchanter's robe1 for any such kind of effect as that4 ,for this is not any antiquary at all1 but the true ,prospero2 and when a little more light has been brought into his cell1 his garments will be found to be1 like the disguised ,edgar's--',persian4' ,it is not enough1 then1 in the wild revolutionary sweep of this play1 to bring out the monarch from his palace1 and set him down at the hovel's door4 ,it is not enough to open it1 and shew us1 by the light of ,cordelia's pity--that sunshine and rain at once--the 'swine' in that human dwelling1 and 'the short and musty-straw' there4 ,for the poet himself will enter it1 and drag out its living human tenant into the day of his immortal verse4 ,he will set him up for all ages1 on his great stage1 side by side with his great brother4 ,he will put the feet of these two men on one platform1 and measure their stature--for all their senses have the like conditions1 as we have heard already2 and he will make the king himself own the ,,kindred1 and interpret for him4 ,for this group must needs be completed 'to the eye'2 these two extremes in the social scale must meet and literally embrace each other1 before this ,teacher's doctrine of ',,man'--'man as distinguished from other species'--can be artistically exhibited4 ,for it is this picture of the unaccommodated man--'unaccommodated' still1 with all his empiric arts1 with all his wordy philosophy--it is this picture of man 'as he is1' in the misery of his ,,ignorance1 in his blind struggle with his law of ,,kind1 which is his law of ',,being1'-- unreconciled to his place in the universal order1 where he must live or have no life--for the beast1 obedient to his law1 rejects from his kinds the degenerate man--it is this vivid1 condensed1 scientific exhibition1 this scientific collection of the fact of man as he is1 in his empiric struggle with the law which universal nature enforces1 and will enforce on him with all her pains and penalties till he learns it--it is this 'negation' which brings out the true doctrine of man and human society in this method of inquiry4 ,for the scientific method begins with negations and exclusions1 and concludes only after every species of rejection2 the other1 the common method1 which begins with ',,affirmation1' is the one that has failed in practice1 the one which has brought about just this state of things which science is undertaking to reform4 ,but this levelling1 which the man of the new science1 with his new apparatus1 with his 'globe and his machines1' contrives to exhibit here with so much 'facility1' is a scientific one1 designed to answer a scientific purpose merely4 ,the experimenter1 in this case1 is one who looks with scientific forebodings1 and not with hope only1 on those storms of violent political revolution that were hanging then on the world's horizon1 and threatening to repeat this process1 threatening to overwhelm in their wild crash1 all the ancient social structures--threatening 'to lay all flat'6 ,that is not the kind of change he meditates4 ,his is the subtle1 all-penetrating ,radicalism of the ,new ,science1 which imitates the noiseless processes of ,nature in its change and ,re-formation4 ,there is a wild gibberish heard in the straw4 ,the fool shrieks1 ',nuncle1 come not in here1' and out rushes ',tom o ,bedlam'--the naked creature1 as ,gloster calls him--with his 'elf locks1' his 'blanketed loins1' his 'begrimed face1' with his shattered wits1 his madness1 real or assumed--there he stands4 ,we know1 indeed1 in this instance1 that there is gentle1 nay1 noble blood1 there1 under that horrid guise4 ,it is the heir of a dukedom1 we are told1 but an out-cast one1 who has found himself compelled1 for the sake of prolonging life1 to assume that shape1 as other wretches were in the ,poet's time for that same purpose1--men who had lost their dukedoms1 too1 as it would seem1 such as they were1 in some way1 and their human relationships1 too4 ,but notwithstanding this alleviating circumstance which enables the audience to endure the exhibition in this instance1 it serves not the less effectually in the ,poet's hand1 as ',,the ,,conspicuous ,,instance' of that lowest human condition which this grand ,social ,tragedy must needs include in its delineations4 ,here are some of the prose ,english descriptions of this creature1 which we find already included in the commentaries on this tragedy2 and which shew that the ,poet has not exaggerated his portrait1 and that it is not by way of celebrating any ,anglo-,saxon or ,norman triumph over the barbarisms of the joint reigns of ,,regan and ,,goneril1 that he is produced here4 ',i remember1 before the civil wars1 ,tom o' ,bedlams went about begging1' ,aubrey says4 ,randle ,holme1 in his ',academy of ,arms and ,blazon1' includes them in his descriptions1 as a class of vagabonds 'feigning themselves mad4' ',the ,bedlam is in the same garb1 with a long staff1' etc41 'but his cloathing is more fantastic and ridiculous2 for being a madman1 he is madly decked and dressed all over with rubans1 feathers1 cuttings of cloth1 and what not1 to make him seem a madman1 when he is no other than a dissembling knave4' ,in the ,bellman of ,london1 #afdj1 there is another description of him--',he sweares he hath been in ,bedlam1 and will talk frantickely of purpose2 you see pinnes stuck in sundry places of his naked flesh1 especially in his armes1 which paine he gladly puts himselfe to2 calls himself by the name of ,poore ,tom2 and coming near anybody1 cries out1 ',poor ,tom's a cold4' ,of these ,abraham men1 some be exceeding merry1 and doe nothing but sing songs1 fashioned out of their own braines2 some will dance2 others will doe nothing but either laugh or weepe2 others are dogged1 and so sullen1 both in looke and speech1 that spying but a small company in a house1 they bluntly and boldly enter1 compelling the servants1 through fear1 to them what they demand4' ,this seems very wicked1 very depraved1 on the part of these persons1 especially the sticking of pins in their bare arms2 but even our young dukeling ,edgar says-- ',while ,i may scape1 ,i will preserve myself3 and am bethought ,to take the basest and most poorest shape1 ,that ever penury1 in contempt of ,,man1 ,brought near to beast3 my face ,i'll grime with filth2 ,blanket my loins2 elf all my hair in knots2 ,and with presented nakedness outface ,the winds1 and persecutions of the sky4 ,the country gives me ,,proof and ,,precedent ,of ,bedlam beggars1 who1 with roaring voices1 ,strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms1 ,pins1 wooden pricks1 nails1 sprigs of rosemary2 ,and with this horrible object1 from low farms1 ,poor pelting villages1 sheep-cotes and mills1 ,sometime with lunatic bans1 sometime with prayers1 ,enforce their charity4--',poor ,turlygood6' 'poor ,tom6' ,thats something yet1 ,edgar ,i nothing am4 ,but the poet is not contented with the minuteness of this description4 ,this character appears to have taken his eye as completely as it takes ,king ,lear's1 the moment that he gets a glimpse of him2 and the poet betrays throughout that same philosophical interest in the study1 which the monarch expresses so boldly2 for beside the dramatic exhibition1 and the philosophical review of him1 which ,king ,lear institutes1 here is an autographical sketch of him1 and of his mode of living-- ',what are you there8 ,your names8' cries ,gloster1 when he comes to the heath1 with his torch1 to seek out the king and his party2 whereupon ,tom1 thinking that an occasion has now arrived for defining his social outline1 takes it upon him to answer1 for his part-- ',poor ,tom2 that eats the swimming frog1 the toad1 the tadpole1 the wall-newt1 and the water-newt2 that in the fury of his heart1 when the foul fiend rages1 swallows the old rat1 and the ditch-dog2 drinks the green mantle of the standing pool2 who is whipped from tything to tything' this is an ,anglo-,saxon institution one sees2 'and stocked1 punished1 and imprisoned2 who hath had three suits to his back' fallen fortunes here1 too 'six shirts to his body1 horse to ride1 and weapon to wear4' ,the ,jesuits had been1 then1 recently and notoriously at work in ,england1 endeavouring professedly to cast out 'the fiend' from many possessed persons2 and it appeared1 to this great practical philosopher1 that this creature he has fetched up here from the subterranean social abysses of his time1 presented a very fitting subject for the operations of practitioners professing any miraculous or superior influence over the demons that infest human nature1 or those that have power over human fortunes4 ,he has brought him out here thus distinctly1 for the purpose of inquiring whether there is any exorcism which can meet his case1 or that of the great human multitude1 that no man can number1 of whose penury and vice he stands here as the elected1 pre-eminent1 royal representative4 ,in that survey and report of human affairs1 which this author felt himself called upon to make1 the case of this poor creature had attracted his attention1 and appeared to him to require looking to2 and1 accordingly1 he has made a note of it4 ,he is admirably seconded in his views on this subject1 by the king himself1 who1 in that fine philosophic humour which his madness and his misery have served to develop in him1 stands ready to lend himself to the boldest and most delicate philosophical inquiries4 ,for the point to be noted here1--and it is one of no ordinary importance1--is1 that this mad humour for philosophical investigation1 which has seized so strangely the royal mind1 does not appear to be at all in the vein of that old-fashioned philosophy1 which had been rattling its abstractions in the face of the collective human misery for so many ages4 ,for the helplessness of the human creature in his struggle with the elements1 and those conditions of his nature which put him so hopelessly at the mercy of his own kind and kindred1 seem to suggest to the royal sufferer1 who has the advantage of a fresh experience to stimulate his apprehension1 that there ought to be some relief for the human condition from this source1 that is1 from ,,philosophy2 and his inquiries and discoveries are all stamped with the unmistakeable impress of that fire new philosophy1 which was not yet out of the mint elsewhere--which was yet undergoing the formative process in the mind of its great inventor2--that philosophy1 which we are told elsewhere 'has for its principal object1 to make nature subservient to the wants and state of ,man'2--and which concerns itself for that purpose with ideas as they exist in nature1 as causes1 and not as they exist in the mind of man as words merely4 ,if there had been1 indeed1 any intention of paying a marked compliment to the philosophy which still held all the mind of the world in its grasp1 at that great moment in history1 in which ,tom o' ,bedlam makes his first appearance on any stage1 it is not likely that that sage would have been just the person appointed to hold the office of ,philosopher in ,chief1 and ,councillor extraordinary to his ,majesty4 ,the selection is indeed made on the part of the king1 in perfect good faith1 whatever the ,poet's intent may be2 for from the moment that this creature makes his appearance1 he has no eyes or ears for anything else4 ,and he will not be parted from him4 ,for this startling juxtaposition was not intended by the ,poet to fulfil its effect as a mere passing tableau vivant4 ,the relation must be dramatically developed2 that astounding juxtaposition must be prolonged1 in spite of the horror of the spectators1 and the disgust and rude displeasure of the king's attendants4 ,they seek in vain to part these two men4 ,the king refuses to stir without him4 ',he will still keep with his philosopher4' ,he has a vague idea that his regal administration stands in need of some assistance1 and that philosophy ought to be able to give it1 and that the ,bedlamite is in some way connected with the subject1 but confused as the association is1 it is a pertinacious one2 and1 in spite of their disgust the king's friends are obliged to take this wretch with them4 ,for ,gloster does not know1 after all1 it is 'his own flesh and blood' he sees there4 ,he cannot even recognize the common kindred in that guise1 as the king does1 when he philosophises on his condition4 ,and the rough aristocratic contempt and indifference which is manifested by the king's party1 as a matter of course1 for this poor human victim of wrong and misfortune1 is made to contrast with their boundless sympathy and tenderness for the king1 while the poet aiming at broader relationships1 finds the mantle of his humanity wide enough for them1 both4 ,as for the king1--startled in the midst of those new views of human wretchedness which his own sufferings have occasioned1 and while those desires to remedy it1 with which his penitence is accompanied1 are still on his lip1 by this wild apparition and embodiment of his thought1 in that new accession of his mental disorder1 which the presence of this object seems to occasion1 that confounding of proximate conceptions1 which leads him to regard this man as a source of new light on human affairs1 is one of those exquisite physiological exhibitions of which only this scientific artist is capable4 ,and1 in fact1 it must be confessed1 that this 'learned ,theban' himself1 notwithstanding the unexpected dignity of his promotion1 does not appear to be altogether wanting in a taste1 at least1 for that new kind of philosophical investigation1 which seems to be looked for at his hands4 ,the king's inquiries appear to fall in remarkably with the previous train of his pursuits4 ,in the course of his experiments1 he seems himself to have struck upon that new philosophic proceeding1 which has been called 'putting philosophy upon the right road again4' ,only the philosophic domain which that new road in philosophy leads to1 appears to be very considerably broader1 as ',tom' takes it1 than that very vivid1 but narrow limitation of its fields1 which ,mr4 ,macaulay has set down in our time1 would make it4 ,indeed1 this 'philosopher1' that ,lear so much inclines to1 appears to have included in his investigations the two extremes of the new science of practice4 ,he has sounded it apparently 'from its lowest note to the top of its key4' ',what is your study8' says the king to him1 eyeing him curiously1 and apparently struck with the practical result--anxious to have a word with him in private1 but obliged to conduct the examination on the stage4 ',how to prevent ,,the ,,fiend1' is ,tom's reply4 ',how to prevent the fiend and to kill vermin4' ,this is the ,poet who says elsewhere1 'that without good nature1 men are themselves but a nobler kind of vermin4' ,one cannot but observe1 however1 that ,poor ,tom's researches in this quite new field of a practical philosophy1 do not appear to have been followed up since his time with any very marked success4 ,one of these departments of 'his study' has indeed been seized1 and is now occupied by whole troops of modern philosophers2 but their inquiries1 though very interesting and doubtlessly useful1 do not appear to exhibit that direct and palpable bearing on practice1 to which ,tom's programme so severely inclines4 ,for he is one who would make 'the art and practic part of life1 the mistress to his theoric4' ,and as to that other mysterious object of his inquiries1 ,mr4 ,macaulay is not the only person who appears to think1 that that does not come within the range of anything human4 ,many of our scholars are still of the opinion that1 'court holy water' is the best application in the world for him2 and the fact that he does not appear to get 'prevented' with it2 it is a fact which of course has nothing to do with the logical result4 ,for our philosophers are still determined to reason it 'thus and thus1' without taking into account the circumstance1 that 'the sequent effect' with which 'nature finds itself scourged1' is not touched by their reasons4 ,king ,lear's own inquiries seem also to include with great distinctness1 the two great branches of the new philosophical inquiry4 ,his mind is indeed very eagerly bent on the pursuit of causes4 ,and though in the paroxysms of his mental disorder1 he is apt to confound them occasionally1 this very confusion1 as it is managed1 only serves to develop the breadth of the philosophic conception beneath it4 ',he hath no daughters1 ,sir4' ',death1 traitor6 ,nothing could have subdued nature to such a lowness1 but--his ,,unkind daughters4' ,it is1 of course1 his own new and terrible experience which points the inquiry1 and though the physical causes are not omitted in it1 it is not strange that the moral should predominate1 and that his mind should seem to be very curiously occupied in tracking the ethical phenomena to their sources 'in nature4' ,in the midst of the uproar of the ,tempest1 he does indeed begin with the physical investigation4 ,he puts to his 'learned ,theban' the question1 which no learned ,theban had then ever suspected of lying within the range of the scholar's investigations--that question which has been put to some purpose since--',what is the cause of thunder8' ,but his philosophic inquiry does not stop there1--where all the new philosophy has stopped ever since1 and where some of our scholars declare it was meant to stop1 notwithstanding the plainest declarations of its inventor to the contrary--with the investigation of physical causes4 ,for1 after all1 it is 'the tempest in his mind' that most concerns him4 ,his philosopher1 his practical philosopher1 must be able to explore the conditions of that1 and find the conductors for its lightnings4 ',for where the greater malady is fixed1 the lesser is scarce felt4' ',nor rain1 wind1 thunder1 fire1 are his daughters4' ,after all1 it is ,regan's heart that appears to him to be the trouble--it is that which must first be laid on the table2 and as soon as he decides to have a philosopher among 'his hundred1' he gives orders to that effect4 ',then let them anatomise ,regan2 see what breeds about her heart3 ,is there any ,,cause ,,in ,,nature that makes these hard hearts8' ,a very fair subject for philosophical inquiry1 one would say2 and1 on the whole1 as profitable and interesting a one1 perhaps1 as some of those that engage the attention of our men of learning so profoundly at present4 ,in these days of enlightened scientific procedure1 one would hardly undertake the smallest practical affair with the aid of any such vague general notions or traditional accounts of the properties to be dealt with1 as those which our learned ,thebans appear to find all-sufficient for their practices1 in that particular department which ,lear seems inclined to open here as a field for scientific exploration4 ,and it is perfectly clear that the author1 whoever he may be1 is very much of ,lear's mind on this point1 for he does not depend upon ,lear alone to suggest his views upon it4 ,there is never a person of this drama that does not do it4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,use ,,of ,,eyes4 ',all that follow their noses are led by their eyes1 but--blind men4' ,the ,play is all strewn throughout1 and tinctured in the grain1 with the finest natural philosophy1 of that new and very subtle and peculiar kind1 which belongs to the earlier stages of the physical inquiry1 and while it was still in the hands of its original inventors4 ,even in physics1 there are views here which have not been developed any further since this author's time4 ,it is not merely in the direct discourse on questions of physical science1 as in the physician's report of the resources of his art1 or in ,cordelia's invocation to 'all the blessed secrets--the unpublished virtues of the earth1' that the track of the new physiological science1 which this work embodies1 may be seen4 ,it runs through it all2 it betrays itself at every turn4 ,but the subtle and occult relations of the moral and physical are noted here1 as we do not find them noted elsewhere1 in less practical theories of nature4 ,that there is something in the design of this play which requires an elaborate and systematic exhibition of the 'special' human relationships1 natural and artificial1 political1 social1 and domestic1 almost any reading of it would show4 ,and that this design involves1 also1 a systematic exhibition of the social consequences arising from the violation of the natural laws or duties of these relationships1 and that this violation is everywhere systematically aggravated1--carried to its last conceivable extreme1 so that all the play is filled with the uproar of one continued outrage on humanity2 this is not less evident for the ,poet is not content with the material which his chronicle offered him1 already invented to his hands for this purpose1 but he has deliberately tacked to it1 and intricately connected with it throughout1 another plot1 bearing on the surface of it1 and in the most prominent statements1 the author's intention in this respect2 which tends not only in the most unequivocal manner to repeat and corroborate the impressions which the story of ,lear produces1 but to widen the dramatic exhibition1 so as to make it capable of conveying the whole breadth of the philosophic conception4 ,for it is the scientific doctrine of ,,man that is taught here2 and that is1 that man must be human in all his relations1 or 'cease to be4' ,it is the violation of the ,,essential humanity4 ,it is a ,,degeneracy which is exhibited here1 and the ',,sequent ,,effects' which belong naturally to the violation of a law that has the force of the universe to sustain it4 ,and it is not by accident that the story of the illegitimate ,edmund begins the piece2 it is not for nothing that we are compelled to stop to hear that1 before even ,lear and his daughters can make their entrance4 ,the whole story of the base and base-born one1 who makes what he calls nature--the rude1 brutal1 spontaneous nature--his goddess and his law1 and ignores the human distinction2 this part was needed in order to supply the deficiences in the social diagrams which the original plot presented2 and1 indeed1 the whole story of the ,duke of ,gloster1 which is from first to last a clear ,elizabethan invention1 and of which this of ,edmund is but a part1 was not less essential for the same purpose4 ,neither does one need to go very far beneath the surface1 to perceive a new and extraordinary treatment of the ethical principle in this play throughout2 one which the new1 artistic1 practical 'stand-point' here taken naturally suggested1 but one which could have proceeded only from the inmost heart of the new philosophy4 ,it is just the kind of treatment which the proposal to introduce the ,inductive method of inquiry into this department of the human practice inevitably involved4 ,a disposition to go behind the ethical phenomena1 to pursue the investigation to its scientific conclusion1 a refusal to accept the facts which1 to the unscientific observation1 appear to be the ultimate ones--a refusal to accept the coarse1 vague1 spontaneous notions of the dark ages1 as the solution of these so essential phenomena1 is everywhere betraying and declaring itself4 ,cordelia's agonised invocation and summons to the unpublished forces of nature1 to be aidant and remediate to the good man's distress1 is continually echoed by the poet1 but with a broader application4 ,it is not the bodily malady and infirmity only--it is not that kind of madness1 only with which the poor king is afflicted in the later stages of the play1 which appears to him to need scientific treatment--it is not for the cure of these alone that he would open his ,prospero book1 'nature's infinite book of secresy1' as he calls it in ,mark ,antony--'the true magic1' as he calls it elsewhere--the book of the unpublished laws--the scientific book of ',,kinds'--the book of 'the historic laws'--'the book of ,god's power4' ,all the interior phenomena which attend the violation of duty are strictly omitted here4 ,that psychological exhibition of it belongs to other plays2 and the ,poet has left us1 as we all know1 no room to suspect the tenderness of his moral sensibility1 or the depth of his acquaintance with these subjective phenomena4 ,the social consequences of the violation of duty in all the human relationships1 the consequence to others1 and the social reaction1 limits the exhibition here4 ,the object on which our sympathies are chiefly concentrated is1 as he himself is made to inform us-- ',one more sinned against1 than sinning4' ',oh1 these eclipses do portend these divisions1' says the base-born ,edmund1 sneeringly4 ',fa sol la mi1' he continues1 producing that particular conjunction of sounds which was forbidden by the ancient musicians1 on account of its unnatural discord4 ,the monkish writers on music call it diabolical4 ,it is at the conclusion of a very long and elaborate discussion on this question1 that he treats us to this prohibited piece of harmony2 and a discussion in which ,gloster refers to the influence of the planets1 this unnaturalness in all the human relations--this universal jangle--'this ruinous disorder1 that hunts men disquietly to their graves4' ,but the 'base' ,edmund is disposed to acquit the celestial influences of the evil charged on them4 ,he does not believe in men being-- ',fools1 by heavenly compulsion2 knaves and thieves1 by spherical predominance2 drunkards1 liars1 and adulterers1 by an enforced obedience of planetary influence2 and all that they are evil in1 by a divine thrusting on4' ,he has another method of accounting for what he himself is4 ,he does not think it necessary to go quite so far1 to find the origin of his own base1 lawless1 inhuman1 unconscionable dispositions4 ,but the inquiries1 which are handled so boldly in the soliloquies of ,edmund1 are started again and again elsewhere2 and the recurrence is too emphatic1 to leave any room to doubt that the author's intention in the play is concerned in it2 and that this question of 'the several dispositions and characters of men1' and the inquiry as to whether there be 'any causes in nature' of these degenerate tendencies1 which he is at such pains to exhibit1 is1 for some reason or other1 a very important point with him4 ,that which in contemplative philosophy corresponds to the cause1 in practical philosophy becomes the rule1 the founder of it tells us4 ,but the play cannot be studied effectually without taking into account the fact1 that the author avails himself of the date of his chronicle to represent that stage of human development in which the mysterious forces of nature were still blindly deified2 and1 therefore1 the religious invocations with which the play abounds1 are not1 in the modern sense of the term1 prayers1 but only vague1 poetic appeals to the unknown1 unexplored powers in nature1 which we call second causes4 ,and when1 as yet1 there was no room for science in the narrow premature theories which men found imposed on them--when the new movement of human thought was still hampered by the narrowness of 'preconceived opinions1' the poet was glad to take shelter under the date of his legend now and then1 here1 as in ,macbeth and other poems1 for the sake of a little more freedom in this respect4 ,he is very far from condemning 'presuppositions' and 'anticipations' but only wishes them kept in their proper places1 because to bring them into the region of fact and induction1 and so to falsify the actual condition of things--to undertake to face down the powers of nature with them1 is a merely mistaken mode of proceeding2 because these powers are powers which do not yield to the human beliefs1 and the practical doctrine must have respect to them4 ,the great battle of that age--the battle of the second causes1 which the new philosophers were compelled to fight in behalf of humanity at the peril of their lives--the battle which they fought in the open field with ,aristotle and ,plato--fills all this magnificent poetry with its reverberations4 ,it must be confessed1 that those terrible appeals to the heavens1 into which ,king ,lear launches out in his anguish now and then1 are anything but pious2 but the boldness which shocks our modern sensibilities becomes less offensive1 if we take into account the fact that they are not made to the object of our present religious worship1 but are mere vague appeals1 and questioning addresses to the unknown1 unexplored causes in nature--the powers which lie behind the historical phenomena4 ,for that divine ,ideal of ,human ,nature to which 'our large temples1 crowded with the shows of peace1' are built now1 had not yet appeared at the date of this history1 in that form in which we now worship it1 with its triumphant assurance that it came forth from the heart of ,god1 and declared ,him4 ,paul had not yet preached his sermon at ,athens1 in the age of this supposed ,king of ,britain2 and though the author was indeed painting his own age1 and not that1 it so happened that there was such a heathenish and inhuman1 and1 as he intimates1 indeed1 quite 'fiendish' and diabolical state of things to represent here then1 that this discrepancy was not so shocking as it might have been if he had found a divine religion in full operation here4 ',if it be you1' says ,lear1 falling back upon the theory1 which ,edmund has already discarded1 of a divine thrusting on-- ',if it be you that stir these daughters' hearts ,against their father1 fool me not so much ,to bear it tamely2 touch me with noble anger4' ,and here is an echo of the 'spherical predominance' which ,gloster goes into so elaborately in the outset1 confessing1 much to the amusement of his graceless offspring1 that he is disposed to think1 after all1 there may be something in it4 ',for1' he says1 'though the wisdom of nature the spontaneous wisdom can ,,reason ,,it thus and thus1 yet nature finds itself scourged by ,,the ,,sequent ,,effect2' and he is talking under the dictation of a philosopher who1 though he ridicules the pretensions of astrology in the next breath1 lays it down as a principle in the scientific ,art1 as a chief point in the science of ,practice and ,relief1 that the sequent effects1 with which nature finds itself scourged1 are a better guide to the causes which the practical remedy must comprehend1 than anything which the wisdom of nature can undertake to reason out beforehand1 without any respect to the sequent effect--'thus1 and--thus4' ,but here is the confirmation of ,gloster's view of the subject1 which the sound-minded ,kent1 who is not at all metaphysical1 finds himself provoked to utter2 and though this is in the ,fourth ,act1 and ,gloster's opinions are advanced in the ,first1 the passages do1 notwithstanding1 'look towards each other4' ',it is the stars4 ,the stars above us govern our conditions1 ,else one self mate and mate could not beget ,such different issues4' ,of course1 it is not the astrological theory of the constitutional original differences in the human dispositions which the honest ,kent is made to advocate here1 literally and in earnest4 ,it is rather the absence of any known cause1 and the necessity of supposing one in a case where this difference is so obtrusive and violent1 which he expresses2 the stars being the natural resort of men in such circumstances1 and when other solutions fail2 though ,poor ,tom appears to be in possession of a much more orthodox theory for the peculiar disorders in his moral constitution3 but1 at the same time1 it must be conceded that it is one which does not appear to have led1 in his case1 to any such felicitous practical results as the supposed origin of it might have seemed to promise4 ,for1 indeed1 this point of natural differences in the human dispositions1 though1 of course1 quite overlooked in the moral regimen which is based on a priori knowledge1 and is able to dispense with science1 and ride over the actual laws2 this point of difference-- not in the dispositions of individuals only1 but the differences which manifest themselves under the varying conditions of age and bodily health1 of climate1 or other physical differences in the same individual1 as well as under the varying moral conditions of differing social and political positions and relations2 this so essential point1 overlooked as it is in the ordinary practice1 has seized the clear eye of this great scientific practitioner1 this ,master of ,arts1 and he is making a radical point of it in his new speculation2 he is making collections on it1 and he will make a main point of it in 'the part operative' of his ,new ,science1 when he comes to make out the outline of it elsewhere1 referring us distinctly to this place for his collections in it1 for his collections on this point1 as well as on others not less radical4 ,lear himself1 in his madness1 appears1 as we have seen already1 much disposed to speculate upon this same particular question1 which ,gloster and ,edmund and ,kent have already indicated as 'a necessary question of the play'2 namely1 the question as to 'the causes in nature' of the phenomena which the social condition of man exhibits2 that is1 the causes of that degeneracy1 that violation of the essential human law to which all the evil is tracked here2 and it is the scientific doctrine1 that the nature of a thing cannot be successfully studied in itself alone4 ,it is not in water or in air only1 or in any other single substance1 that we find the nature of oxygen1 or hydrogen1 or any other of those principles in nature1 which the application of this method to another department evolves from things which present themselves to the unscientific experience as most dissimilar4 ',it is the greatest proof of want of skill to investigate the nature of any object in itself alone2 for the same nature which seems concealed and hidden in some instances1 is manifest and almost palpable in others2 and1 in general1 those very things which are considered as secret1 are manifest and common in other objects1 but will never be clearly seen if the experiments and conclusions of men be directed to themselves alone'3 for it is a part of this doctrine1 that man is not omitted in the order of nature--that the term ,,human ,,nature is not a misnomer4 ,the doctrine of this ,play is1 that those same powers which are at work in man's life1 are at work without it also2 that they are powers which belong1 in their highest form1 to the nature of things in general2 and that man himself1 with all his special distinctions1 is under the law of that universal constitution4 ,the scientific remedy for the state of things which this play exhibits is the knowledge of 'causes in nature1' which must be found here1 as in the other case1 by scientific investigation--the spontaneous method leading to no better result here than in the other case4 ,under cover of the excitements of this play1 this inquiry is boldly opened1 and the track of the new science is clearly marked in it4 ,poor ,lear is1 indeed1 compelled to leave the practical improvement of his hints for another2 and when it comes to the open question of the remedy for this state of things1 which is the term of the inquiry1 when he undertakes to put his absolute power in motion for the avowed purpose of effecting an improvement here1 he appears indeed disposed to treat the subject in the most savage and despairing manner--that is1 on his own account2 but the vein of the scientific inquiry still runs unbroken through all this burst of passion4 ,for in his scorn for that failure in human nature and human life of which society1 as he finds it1 stands convicted--that failure to establish the distinctive law of the human kind--that failure from which he is suffering so deeply--and in his struggle to express that disgust1 he proposes1 as an improvement on the state of things he finds1 a law which shall obliterate that human distinction2 though certainly that is anything but the ,poet's remedy2 and the poor king himself does not appear to be in earnest1 for the moral disgust in which the distinctive sentiment of the nobler nature1 and the knowledge of human good and evil betrays itself1 breaks forth in floods of passion that overflow all the bounds of articulation before he can make an end of it4 ,but the radical nature of this question of natural causes1 which the practical theory of the social arts must comprehend1 is already indicated in this play1 in the very beginning of the action4 ,this author is everywhere bent on graving the scientific distinction between those instinctive affections in which men degenerate1 and tend to the rank of lower natures1 and the noble natural1 distinctively human affections2 and when1 in the first scene1 the king betrays the selfishness of that fond preference for his younger daughter1--tender1 and paternal1 and deep as it was1--and the depth of those hopes he was resting on her kind care and nursery1 by the very height of that frenzied paroxysm of rage and disappointment1 which her unflattering and1 as it seems to him1 her unloving reply1 creates2--when that 'small fault1 which showed1' he tells us1 'so ugly' in her whom 'he loved most'--which turned1 in a moment1 all the sweetness of his love for her 'to gall1 and like an engine1 wrenched his nature from its firm place'2--these are the terms in which he undertakes to annul the natural tie1 and disown her-- ,lear4 ,so young1 and so untender8 ,cordelia4 ,so young1 my lord1 and true4 ,lear4 ,let it be so4--,thy truth then be thy dower3 ,for1 by the sacred radiance of the sun2 ,the mysteries of ,hecate1 and the night2 ,by all the operations of the orbs1 ,from whom we do exist1 and cease to be1 ,here ,i disclaim all my paternal care1 ,propinquity and property of blood1 ,and as a stranger to my heart and me ,hold thee1 from this1 for ever4 ,the barbarous ,scythian1 ,or he that makes his generation messes ,to gorge his appetite1 shall to my bosom ,be as well neighboured1 pitied1 and relieved1 ,as thou1 my sometime daughter4 ,and when ',this even-handed justice ,commends the ingredients of his poisoned chalice ,to his own lips'-- when his 'dog-hearted daughters' have returned to his own bosom the cruel edge of that unnatural wrong which he has impiously dared to summon nature herself--violated nature--to witness1 this is the greeting which the unnatural ,goneril receives1 on her return to her husband1 when she complains to him of her welcome-- ,goneril4 ,i have been worth the whistle4 ,albany4 ,o ,goneril6 ,you are not worth the dust which the rude wind ,blows in your face4--,i fear your disposition3 ,that nature1 which contemns ,,its ,,origin1 ,,cannot ,,be ,,bordered ,,certain ,,in ,,itself2 ,she that herself will sliver and disbranch ,from her ,,material ,,sap1 ,,perforce ,,must ,,wither1 ,and come to deadly use4 ,prima ,philosophia4 ,axioms which are not limited to the particular parts of sciences1 but 'such as are more common1 and of a higher stage4' ,goneril4 ,no more2 the text is foolish4 ,albany4 ,tigers1 not daughters1-- ,you have practised on yourself--you have destroyed in yourself the nobler1 fairer nature which the law of human kind--the law of human duty and affection--would have given you4 ,not ,,daughters1--,tigers4 ',a father1 and a gracious aged man1 ,whose reverence the head-lugged bear would lick1 ,most barbarous1 most ,,degenerate6'-- degenerate--that is the point--most degenerate-- 'have you madded4 ,if that the heavens do not their visible spirits ,send quickly down1 to tame these vile offences ',twill come1 ,,humanity must perforce prey on itself1 ,like monsters of the deep4' the land refuses a parallel4 ,and it is the scientific distinction between man and the brute creation--it is the law of nature in the human kind1 which the ,poet is getting out scientifically here1 in the face of that terrific failure and degeneration in the kind--which he paints so vividly1 for the purpose of inquiring whether there is not1 perhaps1 after all1 some more potent provisioning and arming of man for his place in nature1 than this state of things would lead one to suppose--whether there are not1 perhaps1 some more efficacious 'humanities' than those mild ones which appear to operate so lamely on this barbaric1 degenerate thing4 ',milk-liver'd man6' replies ,goneril1 speaking not on her own behalf only1 for the words have a double significance2 and the ,poet glances through them at that sufferance with which the state of things he has just noted was endured-- ',milk-livered man1 ,that bear'st a cheek for blows1 a ,,head for ,,wrongs2 ,who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning ,thine honour from thy sufferance2 that not know'st1 ,,fools do those villains pity1 who are punished ,before they have done their mischief4 ,where's thy drum8 ,france spreads his banners in our noiseless land2 ,with plumed helm thy slayer begins threats2 ,whilst thou1 a ,moral ,fool1 sit'st still1 and cry'st1 ,alack6 why does he so8' ,this is found to be an appeal of the ,poet's own when all is done1 and one that goes far into the necessary questions of the play4 ,but ,albany1 in his rejoinder1 returns to the idea of the lost1 degenerate1 dissolute ,humanity again4 ,he has talked of tigers1 and head-lugged bears 7and it was necessary to combine the proverbial sensitiveness of that animal to that particular mode of treatment1 with the natural amiability of his disposition in general1 in order to do justice to the ,poet's conception here72--he has called upon 'the monsters of the deep1' and quoted the laws of their societies1 in illustration of the state of things to which the unscientific human combination appears to him to be visibly tending4 ,but this human degeneracy and deformity1 which the action of the play exhibits in diagrams--the descent to the lower nature from the higher2 the voluntary descent2 the voluntary blindness and narrowness2 the rejection of the distinctive human law--of ,,virtue and ,,duty1 as reason and conscience interpret it--appears to the scientific mind to require yet other terms and comparisons4 ,these conceits and comparisons1 drawn from the habits of innocent1 though not to man agreeable1 animals1 who have no law but blind instinct1 do not suffice to convey the ,poet's idea of this human failing2 and1 accordingly1 he instructs this gentle and noble man1 whom this criticism best becomes1 to complete this view of the subject1 in his attempt to express the disgust with which this inhuman1 this more than brutal conduct1 in his high-born1 and gorgeously-robed1 and delicately-featured spouse1 inspires him-- ',see thyself1 devil6'-- nay1 he corrects himself-- ,proper deformity ,,de-,,formity seems not in the fiend ,so horrid1 as in woman4 ,goneril4 ,o vain fool6 ,albany4 ,thou changed and self-covered thing4 ,for shame1 ,be-monster not thy feature4 ,were it my ,,fitness'-- for here it is the human1 and not the instinctive element--not 'the blood' element that rules-- ',were it my ,,fitness ,to let these hands obey my blood1 ,they are apt enough to dislocate and tear ,thy flesh and bones1' ,rather tiger-like impulses for so mild a gentleman to own to2 but the process which he confesses his hands are already inclined to undertake1 is not half so cruel as the one which this woman has practised on herself while she was meditating only wrong to another1 and pursuing her 'horrible pleasure' at the expense of madness and death to another2 not half so cruel and injurious1 for in that act she has trampled down1 and torn1 and dislocated1 she has slaughtered in cold blood1 the divine1 angelic form of womanhood--that form of worth and celestial aspiration which great nature stamped upon her1 and gave to her for her law in nature1 her type1 her essence1 her ,,original4 ,she has desecrated1 not that common form of humanity only which the common human sentiment of reason1 which the human sentiment of duty is everywhere struggling to fulfil1 but that lovelier soul of humanity--that softer1 subtler1 more gracious1 more celestial1 more commanding spirit of it1 which the form of womanhood in its integrity must carry with it--which the form of womanhood will carry with it1 if it be not counterfeit or degenerate1 gone down into a lower range1 'be-monstered'--'a changed and self-covered thing4' ,that is the ,poet's reading4 ',howe'er1' the ,duke of ,albany concludes1 after that struggle with his hands he speaks of--chivalrously refusing to let them obey that impulse of 'blood1' as a gentleman in such circumstances1 under any amount of provocation1 should--true to himself1 true to his manliness and to his gentle breeding1 though his wife is false to hers1 and 'false to her nature'-- ',howe'er thou art a1 fiend1 ,a woman's shape doth shield thee4 ,goneril4 ,marry6 ,,your ,,manhood ,,now4' ,this is indeed a discourse in which the reader must have 'the text1' or ever he can begin to catch the meaning of those philosophic points with which this orator1 who talks so 'pressly1' studs his lines4 ,for the passage which ,goneril dismisses with such scorn is indeed the text1 or it will be1 when the word which her commentary on it contains has been added to it3 for it is 'the foolishness' of struggling with great ,nature1 and her ,,law of ,,kinds--it is the folly of ignorance1 the stupidity of living without respect to nature and its sequent effects1 as well as its preformed decree-- 7',perforce must wither1 ,and come to deadly use'--7 which this discourse is intended to illustrate4 ,and one who has once tracked the dramatic development of this text1 through all this moving exhibition of human society1 and its violated rule in nature1 will be at no loss to conjecture out of what ',new' book it comes1 if indeed that book has ever been opened to him4 ,the whole subject is treated here scientifically--that is1 from without4 ,the generalizations of the higher stages of philosophy--the axioms of a universal philosophy--with all the force of their universality1 must be brought to bear upon it1 through all its developments4 ,the universal historical laws1 in that modification of them which the speciality of the human kind creates1 must be impartially set forth here4 ,the law of ,,duty1 as the ,,natural ,,law of human society2 the law of humanity1 as the law1 nay1 ,,the ,,form1 of the ,,human kind1 stamped on it with the ,creator's stamp1 that order from the universal law of kinds that gives to all life its ,,special bounds1 its 'border in itself'--that form so essential1 that there is no humanity or kind-ness where that is not--that law which we hear so much of1 in its narrower aspects1 under various names1 in all men's speech1 is produced here1 in its broader relations1 as the necessary basis of a scientific social art4 ,and it is this author's deliberate opinion as a ,naturalist1 it is the opinion of this ,school in ,natural ,science1 from which this work proceeds1 that those who undertake to compose human societies1 large or small1 whether in families1 or states1 or empires1 without recognising this principle--those who undertake to compose ,,unions1 human unions and societies1 on any other principle--will have a diabolical jangle of it when all is done4 ,for this law of unity1 which is written on the soul of man1 this law of ,,conscience within1 is written without also2 and to erase it within is to get the lesson from without in that universal and downright speech and language which the axioms of nature are taught in--it is to get it in that fearful school in which nature repeats the doctrine of her violated law1 for those who are not able to solve and comprehend the science of it as it is written--written beforehand--in the natural law and constitutions of the human soul4 ',that nature which1 contemns its ,,origin ,cannot be bordered certain in itself4' ,these are the mysteries of day and night1 that ,lear1 in his ignorance1 vainly invokes1 the operations of the orbs from whom we do exist and cease to be4 ',she that herself will sliver and disbranch ,from her material sap1 perforce must wither1 ,and come to deadly use4' ',the text is--,,foolish4' ,the teacher who takes it upon himself to get out this text from the text-book of ,universal ,laws1 for the purpose of conducting it to its practical application in human affairs1 for the purpose of suggesting the true remedy for those great human wants which he exhibits here1 is not one of those ',milk-livered men1' those ,moral ,fools1 that ,goneril delicately alludes to1 who bear a cheek for blows1 a head for wrongs2 who have not in their brows an eye discerning their honour from their sufferance2 who think it enough to sit still under the murderous blows of what they call misfortune1 fate1 ,providence1 when it is their own im-providence2 who think it is enough to sit still1 and cry1 ,alack6 without inquiring what it is that makes that lack2 without ever putting the question in earnest1 ',why does he so8' ,his ,play is all full of the practical application of the text1 the application of it which ,gloster sums up in a word-- '',t is the ,time's plague when ,,madmen lead ,,the ,,blind4' ',i will preach to thee4 ,mark me3 says ,lear ,when we are born1 we cry that we are come ,to this great stage of ,,fools4 ,mark me6' ,the whole ,play is one magnificent intimation1 on the part of the ,poet1 that eyes are made to see with2 and that there is no so natural and legitimate use of them as that which human affairs were crying for1 through all their lengths and breadths1 in his time4 ,it is that eye which is one of the distinctive features of the human kind2 that eye which looks before and after1 which extends human vision so far beyond individual sensuous experience1 which is able to converge the light of universal truth upon particular experience1 which is able to bring the infallible guidance of universal axioms into all the particulars of human conduct--that is the eye which he finds wanting in human affairs4 ,the play is pointing everywhere with the ,poet's scorn of ',blind ,men1' 'who will not see because they do not feel1'--who wait for the blows of 'fortune1' to teach them the lesson of ,nature's laws--who wait to be scourged1 or dashed to pieces with 'the sequent effect1' instead of making use of their faculty of reason to ascend to causes1 and so 'to trammel up the consequence4' ,it is that same combination of human faculties1 that same combination of sense and reason1 which the ,novum ,organum provides for2 it is that same scorn of abstract wordy speculation1 on the one hand1 and blind experimental groping1 on the other1 that is everywhere suggested here4 ,but with the aid of the persons of the ,drama1 and their suggestions1 the new philosophy is carried into departments which it would have cost the ,author of the ,novum ,organum and the ,advancement of ,learning his head to look into4 ,he might as well have proposed to impeach the ,government in ,parliament outright1 as to offer to advance his ,novum ,organum into these fields2 fields which it enters safely enough under the cover of a spontaneous1 inspired1 dramatic philosophy1 though it is a philosophy which overflows continually with those practical axioms1 those aphorisms1 which the ,author of the ,advancement of ,learning assures us 'are made of the pith and heart of sciences'2 and that 'no man can write who is not sound and grounded4' ,but then1 if they are only written in 'with a goose-pen1' they pass well enough for unconscious1 unmeaning1 spontaneous felicities4 ',canst thou tell why one's nose stands in the middle of his face8' says the ,fool1 in the ,first ,act1 by way of entertaining his master1 when the poor king's want of foresight and 'prudence' begins to tell on his affairs a little4 ',canst thou tell why one's nose stands in the middle of his face8' ',no4' ',why1 to keep his eyes on either side of it1 that what a man cannot smell out he may spy into4' ,fool4 ,canst tell how an oyster makes his shell8' ,lear4 ,no4 ,fool4 ,nor ,i neither2 but ,i can tell why a snail has a house4 ,lear4 ,why8 ,fool4 ,why1 to put his head in2 not to give it away to his daughters1 and leave his horns without a case4 ,lear4 444 ,be my horses ready8 ,fool4 ,thy asses are gone about 'em4 ,the reason why the seven stars are no more than seven1 is a pretty reason4 ,lear4 ,because they are not eight8 ,fool4 ,yes1 indeed3 ,thou wouldest make a good--fool4 ,he cannot tell how an oyster makes his shell1 but the nose has not stood in the middle of his face for nothing4 ,there has been some prying on either side of it1 apparently2 and he has pried to such good purpose1 that some of the prime secrets of the new philosophy appear to have turned up in his researches4 ',to take it again perforce1' mutters the king4 ',if thou wert my fool1 ,nuncle1 ,i'd have thee beaten for being ,,old before thy time4' ,this is a wit 'of the self-same colour' with that one who discovered that the times from which the world's practical wisdom was inherited1 were the times when the world was young4 ',they told me ,i had white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there6' ',i'd have thee beaten for being old before thy time4'--',how's that8'--',thou shouldst not have been ,,old before thou hadst been ,,wise4' ,and it is in the ,second ,act that poor ,kent1 in his misfortunes1 furnishes occasion for another avowal on the part of this same learned critic1 of a preference for a practical philosophy1 though borrowed from the lower species4 ,he comes upon the object of his criticism as he sits in the stocks1 because he could not adopt the style of his time with sufficient earnestness1 though he does make an attempt 'to go out of his dialect1' but was not more happy in it than some other men of his politics were1 in the ,poet's time4 ',sir1 in good sooth1 in sincere verity1 ,under the allowance of your grand aspect1 ,whose influence1 like the wreath of radiant fire ,on flickering ,phebus' front-- ,cornwall4 ',what mean'st by this8' ,kent4 ',to go out of my dialect1 which you discommend so much4 ,halting in his blank verse for the explanation3--,it is from that seat1 to which the plainness of this man1 with the official dignities of his time1 has conducted him1 that he puts the inquiry to that keen observer1 whose observations in natural history have just been quoted1-- ,kent4 ,how chances that the king comes with so small a train8 ,fool4 ,an thou had'st been set in the stocks for that question1 thou1 had'st well deserved it4 ,kent4 ,why1 fool8 ,fool4 ,we'll set thee to school to an ant1 to teach thee there is no labouring in the winter4 ,all that follow their noses are led by their eyes1 but--,,blind ,,men4 ,kent4 ,where learned'st thou that1 fool8 ,fool4 ,not in the stocks1 fool4 ,not from being punished with the sequent effect2 not in consequence of an improvidence1 that an ant might have taught me to avoid4 ',i have no way1 and therefore want no eyes1' says another duke1 who is also the victim of that 'absolute' authority which is abroad in this play4 ',i stumbled when ,i saw1' and this is his prayer4 ,let the superfluous and lust-dieted man ,that slaves your ordinance2 that will not ,,see ,because he doth not ,,feel1 feel your power quickly4 ',thou seest how this world goes1' says the outcast king1 meeting this poor outcast duke1 just after his eyes had been taken out of his head1 by the persons then occupying the chief offices in the state4 ',thou seest how this world goes4' ',i ,,see it ,,feelingly1' is the duke's reply4 ,lear4 ,what6 art mad8 ,a man may see how this world goes with no eyes4 ,look with thine ears4 ,and his account of how it goes is--as we shall see--one that requires to be looked at with ears1 for it contains1 what one calls elsewhere in this play1--ear-kissing arguments4--',get thee glass eyes1' he says1 in conclusion1 'and like a scurvy politician pretend to ,,see1 the things thou dost not4' ,and that was not the kind of politician1 and that was not the kind of political eye-sight1 to which this statesman1 and seer1 proposed to leave the times1 that his legacy should fall on1 whatever he might be compelled to tolerate in his own4 ',upon the crown o' the cliff4 ,what thing was that ,which parted from you8' ',a poor unfortunate beggar4' ,softly4 ',as ,i stood here ,,below1 methought his eyes ,were two full moons2 he had a thousand noses4 ,horns welked and waved1 like the enridged sea4' ',now1 ,sir1 what are you8' says the poor outcast duke to his true son1 when in disguise he offers to attend him4 ',a most poor man1' is the reply1 'made lame by fortune's blows2 who1 by the ,,art of ,,known ,,and ,,feeling ,,sorrows1 am pregnant to good ,,pity4 ,give me your hand1 ,i'll lead you to some ,,biding4 ,bear free and patient thoughts1' is his whisper to him4 ,surely this is a poet that has got an inkling1 in some way1 of the new idea of an experimental philosophy1--of a combination of the human faculties of sense and reason in some organum2 one1 too1 whose eye passes lightly over the architectonic gifts of univalves and bivalves1 and entomological developments of skill and forethought1 intent on that great chrysalis1 which has never been able to publish yet its ,creator's glory4 ,here is a naturalist who would not think it enough to combine reason with experiment1 in wind1 and rain1 and fire1 and thunder1 who would not think it enough to bring all the unpublished virtues of the earth1 to the relief of the bodily human maladies4 ,it is the ,poet1 who says elsewhere1 ',can'st thou not minister to a mind diseased8 ,no8 ,throw physic to the dogs1 ,i'll none of it4' ,it is the poet who says1 ',nor wind1 rain1 fire1 thunder1 are my daughters4' ',nothing could have brought him to such a lowness in nature1 but his un-kind daughters4' ,it is the naturalist who says1 ',then let ,regan's heart be anatomized1 and see what it is that breeds about it4 ,is there any cause in ,,nature that makes these hard hearts8' ,in short1 this play is from the hand of one who thinks that the human affairs are of a kind to require scientific investigation1 scientific foresight and conduct4 ,he is much of ,lear's opinion on many points1 and evidently judges that there would be no harm in getting a philosopher enrolled among the king's hundred4 ,not a logician1 not a metaphysician1 according to the common acceptance of these terms2 not merely a natural philosopher1 in the low and limited sense of that term1 in which we use it2 but a man of science--one who is able1 by some method or other1 to ascend to the actual principles of things1 and so to base his remedies for the social evils1 on the forms which are forms1 which have efficacy in nature as such1 instead of basing them on certain chimeras1 or so-called logical conclusions of the human mind--conclusions which the logic of nature contradicts-- conclusions to which the universal consent of things is wanting4 ,nature1 in the sense in which ,edmund uses that term1 is not this poet's goddess1 or his ,,law2 though he regards 'the plague of ,,custom' and 'the curiosity of nations1' and all their fantastic and arbitrary sway in human affairs1 with an eye quite as critical--though he looks at 'that old ,antic1 the law1' as he expresses it elsewhere1 with an eye quite as severe1 on the world's behalf1 as that which ,edmund turns on it1 on his own2 he is very far from contending for the freedom of that savage1 selfish1 unreclaimed1 spontaneous nature1--that lawless nature1 to which the natural son of ,gloster claims 'his services are due4' ,the poet teaches that the true and successful ,social ,art is1 and must be scientific4 ,that it must be based on the science of nature in general1 and on the science of human nature in particular1 on a science that recognizes the double nature in man1 that takes in1 its heights as well as its depths1 and its depths as well as its heights1 that sounds it 'from its lowest note to the top of its key2' but it is one thing to quarrel with the unscientific1 imperfect social arts1 and it is another to prefer nature in man without arts4 ,the picture of 'the ,unaccommodated ,man1' which forms so prominent a part of the representation here1--'the thing itself1' stripped of its social lendings1 or setting at nought the social restraints1 is not by any means an attractive one1 as this philosopher does it for us4 ,the scientific artist is no better pleased1 than the king is with this kind of 'nature4' ,it is the imperfection of the civilization which still generates1 or leaves unchecked these savage evils1 that he exposes4 ,but it is impossible1 that the true social arts should be smelt out1 or stumbled on1 by accident1 or arrived at by any kind of empirical groping2 just as impossible as it is1 on the other hand1 that 'the wisdom of nature1' by throwing itself on its own internal resources1 and reasoning it 'thus and thus1' without taking into account the actual forces1 should be able to invent them4 ,those forces which enter into all the plot of our human life1 unworthy of philosophic note as they had seemed hitherto1 those terrific1 unmeasured strengths1 against which the human kind are continually dashing themselves in their blind experiments1--those engines on which the human heart is racked1 'and stretched out so long1'--those rocky structures on which its choicest treasures are so wildly wrecked1 these natural forces1--no matter what artificial combinations of them may have been accomplished1--'the causes in nature1' of the phenomena of human life1 appeared to this philosopher a very fitting subject for philosophy1 and one quite too important in its relation to human well-being and the ,arts that promote it1 to be left to mere blundering experiment2 quite too subtle to be reached by any kind of empirical groping1 quite too subtle to be entangled with the conclusions of the philosophy which he found in vogue in his time1 whose social efficacies and gifts in exorcisms1 he has taken leave to connect in some way1 with the appearance of ,tom o' ,bedlam in his history2 a philosophy which had built up its system in defiant scorn of the nature of things2 as if 'by reasoning it thus and thus1' without any respect to the actual conditions1 it could undertake to bridle the might of nature1 and put a hook in the nose of her oppositions4 ,it did not seem to this philosopher well1 that men who have eyes--eyes that are great nature's gift to them1--her gift to them in chief1--eyes that were meant to see with1 should go on in this groping1 star-gazing1 fatally-stumbling fashion any longer4 ,lear4 ,to the ,bedlamite4 ,i do not like the fashion of your garments4 ,you will say that they are--,persian3--but let them be ,,altered4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,statesman',s ,,note-,,book--,,and ,,the ,,play4 ,brutus4 ,how ,i have thought of this1 and of these times1 ,i shall recount hereafter4 ,hamlet4 ,the ,play's the thing4 ,brutus4 ,tell us the manner of it1 gentle ,casca4 ,casca4 ,i can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it4 ,posthumus4 ',shall's have a ,play of this4-- ,the fact that the design of this play1 whatever it may be1 is one deep enough to go down to that place in the social system which ,tom o' ,bedlam was then peacefully occupying1--thinking of anything else in the world but a social revolution on his behalf--to bring him up for observation2 and that it is high enough to go up to that apex of the social structure on which the crown was then fastened1 to fetch down the impersonated state itself1 for an examination not less curious and critical2 the fact1 too1 that it was subtle enough to penetrate the retirement of the domestic life1 and bring out its innermost passages for scientific criticism2--the fact that the relation of the ,parent to the ,child1 and that of the ,child to the ,parent1 the relation of ,husband and ,wife1 and ,sister and ,brother1 and ,master and ,servant1 of ,peasant and ,lord1 nay1 the transient relation of ,guest and ,host1 have each their place and part here1 and the question of their duty marked not less clearly1 than that prominent relation of the ,king and his ,subjects2--the fact that these relations come in from the first1 along with the political1 and demand a hearing1 and divide throughout the stage with them2 the fact of the mere range of this social criticism1 as it appears on the surface of the play1 in these so prominent points1--is enough to show already1 that it is a ,radical of no ordinary kind1 who is at work behind this drop-scene4 ,it was evident1 at a glance1 that this so extensive bill of grievances was not one which any immediate or violent political revolution1 or any social reformation which was then in contemplation1 would be able to meet2 and that very circumstance gave to the whole essay its profoundly quiet1 conservative air4 ,it passed only for one of those common outcries on the ills of human life1 which men in general are expected1 or permitted to make1 according to their several abilities2 one of those ',alacks6'--'why does he so'8 which1 by relieving the mind of the complainant1 tend to keep things quiet on the whole4 ,this ,poet1 whoever he was1 was making rather more ado about it than usual1 apparently3 but ,poets are useful for that very purpose2 they express other men's emotions for them1 in a higher key than they could manage it themselves4 ,it was the breadth then1--the philosophic comprehension of this great philosophic design1 which made it possible for the ,poet to introduce into it1 and exhibit in it1 so glaringly1 those evils of his time that were crying out to ,heaven then1 for redress1 and could not wait for philosophic revolutions and reformations4 ,tom o' ,bedlam1 strictly speaking1 does appear1 indeed1 to have been one of those ,elizabethan institutions which were modified or annulled1 in the course of the political changes that so soon followed this exhibition of his case4 ',tom' himself1 in his own proper person1 appears to have been left--by accident or otherwise--on the other side of the ,revolutionary gulf4 ',i remember1' says ,aubrey1 'before the civil wars1 ,tom o' ,bedlams went about begging1' etc4--but one cannot help remarking that a very numerous family connection of the collateral branches of his house--bearing1 on the whole1 a sufficiently striking family resemblance to this illustrious subject of the ,poet's pencil1--appear to have got safely over all the political and social gulfs that intervene between our time and that4 ,and1 as to some of those other social evils which are exhibited here in their ideal proportions1 they are not1 perhaps1 so entirely among the former things which have passed away with our reformations1 that we should have to go to ,aubrey's note book to find out what the ,poet means4 ,as to some of these1 at least1 it will not be necessary to hunt up an antiquary1 who can remember whether any such thing ever was really in existence here1 'before the civil wars4' ,and1 notwithstanding all our advancements in ,natural ,science1 and in the ,arts which attend these advancements2 notwithstanding the strong recommendations of the inventors of this ,science1--,regan's heart1 and that which breeds about it1 appear1 by a singular oversight1 to have escaped1 hitherto1 any truly scientific inquiry2 and the arts for improving it do not appear1 after all1 to have been very materially advanced since the time when this order was issued4 ,but notwithstanding that the subject of this piece appears to be so general1--notwithstanding the fact1 that the social evils which are here represented include1 apparently1 the universal human conditions1 and include evils which are still understood to be inherent in the nature of man1 and1 irreclaimable1 or not1 at least a subject for ,art1--and notwithstanding the fact that this exhibition professes to borrow all its local hues and exaggerations from the barbaric times of the ,ancient ,britons--it is not very difficult to perceive that it does1 in fact1 involve a local exhibition of a different kind2 and that1 under the cover of that great revolution in the human estate1 which the philosophic mind was then meditating1--so broad1 that none could perceive its project1--another revolution1--that revolution which was then so near at hand1 was clearly outlined2 and that this revolution1 too1 is1 after all1 one towards which this ,poet appears to 'incline1' in a manner which would not have seemed1 perhaps1 altogether consistent with his position and assumptions elsewhere1 if these could have been produced here against him2 and in a manner1 perhaps1 somewhat more decided than the general philosophic tone1 and the spirit of those large and peaceful designs to which he was chiefly devoted1 might have led us to anticipate4 ,this ,play was evidently written at a time when the conviction that the state of things which it represents could not endure much longer1 had taken deep hold of the ,poet's mind2 at a time when those evils had attained a height so unendurable--when that evil which lay at the heart of the commonweal1 poisoning all the social relations with its infection1 had grown so fearful1 that it might well seem1 even to the scientific mind1 to require the fierce 'drug' of the political revolution1--so fearful as to make1 even to such a mind1 the rude surgery of the civil wars at last welcome4 ,for1 indeed1 it cannot be denied that the state of things which this ,play represents1 is that with which the author's own experience was conversant2 and that all the terrible tragic satire of it1 points--not to that age in the history of ,britain in which the ,druids were still responsible for the national culture1--not to that time when the ,celtic ,triads1 clothed with the sanctities of an unknown past1 still made the standard works and authorities in learning1 beyond which there was no going1--not to the time when the national morality was still mystically produced at ,stonehenge1 in those national colleges1 from whose mysterious rites the awful sanctities of the oak and the mistletoe drove back in confusion the sacrilegious inquirer1--not to that time1 but to the ,elizabethan4 ,that instinctive groping and stumbling in all human affairs1 that pursuit of human ends without any science of the natures to be superinduced1 and without any science of the natures that were to be subjected1--those eyes of moonshine speculation1 those glass eyes with which the scurvy politician affects to see the things he does not--those thousand noses that serve for eyes1 and horns welked and waved like the enridged sea1 and all the wild misery of that unlearned fortuitous human living1 that waits to be scourged with the sequent effect1 and knows not how to ascend to the cause--colossally exaggerated as it seems here--heightened everywhere1 as if the ,poet had put forth his whole power1 and strained his imagination1 and availed himself of his utmost poetic license1 to give it1 through all its details1 its last conceivable hue of violence1 its pure ideal shape1 is1 after all1 but a copy an historical sketch4 ,the ignorance1 the stupidity1 'the blindness1' that this author paints1 was his own ',time's plague'2 'the madness' that 'led it1' was the madness of which he was himself a mute and manacled spectator4 ,by some singular oversight or caprice of tyranny1 or on account of some fastidious scruple of the imagination perhaps1 it does not appear1 indeed1 to have been the fashion1 either in the reigns of the ,tudors or the ,stuarts1 to pluck out the living human eye as ,gloster's eyes were plucked out2 and that of itself would have furnished a reason why this poor duke should have been compelled to submit to that particular operation1 instead of presenting himself to have his ears cut off in a sober1 decent1 civilized1 ,christian manner2 or to have them grubbed out1 if it happened that the operation had been once performed already2 or to have his hand cut off1 or his head1 with his eyes in it2 or to be roasted alive some noon-day in the public square1 eyes and all1 as many an honest gentleman was expected to present himself in those times1 without making any particular demur or fuss about it4 ,these were operations that ,englishmen of every rank and profession1 soldiers1 scholars1 poets1 philosophers1 lawyers1 physicians1 and grave and reverend divines1 were called on to undergo in those times1 and for that identical offence of which the ,duke of ,gloster stood convicted1 opposition to the will of a lawless usurping tyranny1--to its merest caprice of vanity or humour1 perhaps1--or on grounds slighter still1 on bare suspicion of a disposition to oppose it4 ,but then that1 of course1 was a thing of custom2 so much so1 that the victims themselves often took it in good part1 and submitted to it as a divine institution1 part of a sacred legacy1 handed down to them1 as it was understood1 from their more enlightened ancestors4 ,now1 if the ,poet1 in pursuance of his more general philosophic intention1 which involved a moving representation of the helplessness of the ,social ,monad--that bodily as well as moral susceptibility and fragility1 which leaves him open to all kinds of personal injury1 not from the elements and from animals of other species merely or chiefly1 but chiefly from his own kind1--if the ,poet1 in the course of this exhibition1 had caused poor ,gloster to be held down in his chair on the stage1 for the purpose of having his ears pared off1 what kind of sensation could he hope to produce with that on the sensibility of an audience1 who might have understood without a commentator an allusion to 'the tribulation of ,tower ,hill'--spectators accustomed to witness performances so much more thrilling1 and on a stage where the ,play was in earnest4 ,and as to that second operation before referred to1 which might have answered the poetic purpose1 perhaps2 who knows whether that may not have been a refinement in civilization peculiar to the reign of that amiable and handsome ,christian ,prince1 who was still a minor when this ,play was first brought out at ,whitehall8 for it was in his reign that that memorable instance of it occurred1 which the subsequent events connected with it chanced to make so notorious4 ,it was a learned and very conscientious lawyer1 in the reign of ,charles the ,first1 whose criticism upon some of the fashionable amusements of the day1 which certain members of the royal family were known to be fond of1 occasioned the suggestion of this mode of satisfying the outraged ,majesty of the ,state1 when the prying eye of ,government discovered1 or thought it did1 remains enough of those previously-condemned appendages on this author's person1 to furnish material for a second operation4 ',methinks ,mr4 ,prynne hath ears6' does not1 after all1 sound so very different from--'going to pluck out ,gloster's other eye1' as that the governments under which these two speeches are reported1 need to be distinguished1 on that account only1 by any such essential difference as that which is supposed to exist between the human and divine4 ,both these operations appear1 indeed to the unprejudiced human mind1 to savour somewhat of the diabolical--or of the ,dark ,ages1 rather1 and of the ,prince of ,darkness4 ,and1 indeed1 that 'fiend' which haunts the ,play--which the monster1 with his moonshine eyes1 appeared to have a vague idea of--seems to have been as busy here1 in this department1 as he was in bringing about poor ,tom's distresses4 ,but in that steady persevering exhibition of the liabilities of individual human nature1 the ,,common liabilities which throw it upon the ,,common1 the distinctive law of humanity for its ,,weal--in that continuous picture of the suffering and ignominy1 and mutilation to which it is liable1 moral and intellectual1 as well as physical1 where that law of humanity is not yet scientifically developed and scientifically sustained--the ,poet does not always go quite so far to find his details4 ,it is not from the ,celtic ,regan's time that he brings out those ancient implements of state authority into which the feet of the poor ,duke of ,kent1 travelling on the king's errands1 are ignominiously thrust2 while the ,poet1 under cover of the ,fool's jests1 shows prettily their relation to the human dignity4 ,but then it is a ,duke on whom this indignity is practised2 for it is to be remarked1 in passing1 that though this ,poet is evidently bent on making his exhibition a thorough one1 though he is determined not to leave out anything of importance in his diagrams1 he does not appear inclined to soil his fingers by meddling with the lower orders1 or to countenance any innovation in his art in that respect4 ,whenever he has occasion to introduce persons of this class into his pieces1 they come in and go out1 and perform their part in his scene1 very much as they do elsewhere in his time4 ,even when his ,players come in1 they do not speak many words on their own behalf4 ,they stand civilly1 and answer questions1 and take their orders1 and fulfil them4 ,that is all that is looked for at their hands4 ,for this is not a ,poet who has ever given any one occasion in his own time1 to distinguish him as the ,poet of the ,people4 ,it is always from the highest social point of observation that he takes those views of the lower ranks1 which he has occasion to introduce into his ,plays1 from the mobs of 'greasy citizens' to the details of the sheep-shearing feast2 and even in ,eastcheap he keeps it still4 ,there never was a more aristocratic poet apparently1 and though the very basest form of outcast misery 'that ever penury in contempt of man brought near to beast1' though the basest and most ignoble and pitiful human liabilities1 are every where included in his plan2 he will have nothing but the rich blood of dukes and kings to take him through with it--he will have nothing lower and less illustrious than these to play his parts for him4 ,it is a king to whom 'the ,farm ,house1' where both fire and food are waiting1 becomes a royal luxury on his return from the ,hovel's door1 brought in chattering out of the tempest1 in that pitiful stage of human want1 which had made him ready to share with ,tom o' ,bedlam1 nay1 with the swine1 their rude comforts4 ',art cold8 ,i am cold myself4 ,where is this straw1 my fellow4 ,your hovel3--come bring us to your hovel4' ,it is a king who gets an ague in the storm1 who finds the tyranny of the night too rough for nature to endure2 it is a king on whose desolate outcast head1 destitution and social wrongs accumulate their results1 till his wits begin to turn1 till his mind is shattered1 and he comes on to the stage at last1 a poor bedlamite4 ,nay1 ',tom' himself1 is a duke's son1 we are told2 though that circumstance does not hinder him from giving1 with much frankness and scientific accuracy1 the particulars of those personal pursuits1 and tastes1 and habits1 incidental to that particular station in life to which it has pleased ,providence to call him4 ,and so by means of that poetic order1 which is the ,providence of this piece1 and that design which 'tunes the harmony of it1' it is a duke on whom that low correction1 'such as basest and most contemned wretches are punished with1' is exhibited1 in spite of his indignant protest4 ,kent4 ,call not your stocks for me4 ,i serve the king1 ,on whose employment ,i was sent to you4 ,you shall do small respect1 show too bold malice ,against the grace and person of my master1 ,stocking his messenger4 ,cornwall4 ,fetch forth the stocks4 ,as ,i have life and honour1 there shall he sit till noon4' ,regan4 ,till noon1--till night my lord1 and all night too4 ,in vain the prudent and loyal ,gloster remonstrates --,the king must take it ill ,that he1 so slightly valued in his messenger1 ,should have him thus restrained4 ,cornwall4 ,i'll answer that4 ,regan4 ,put in his legs4 ,but then it must be confessed that the poet was not without some kind of precedent for this bold dramatic proceeding4 ,he had1 indeed1 by means of the culture and diligent use of that gift of forethought1 with which nature had so largely endowed him1 been enabled thus far to keep his own person free from any such tangible encumbrance1 though the 'lameness' with which fortune had afflicted him personally1 is always his personal grievance2 but he had seen in his own time1 ancient men and reverend1--men who claimed to be the ministers of heaven1 and travelling on its errands1 arrested1 and subjected to this ludicrous indignity3 he had seen this open stop1 this palpable1 corporeal1 unfigurative arrest put upon the activity of scholars and thinkers in his time1 conscientious men1 between whose master and the state1 there was a growing quarrel then1 a quarrel that these proceedings were not likely to pacify4 ,from noon till night1 they1 too1 had sat thus1 and all night too1 they had endured that shameful lodging4 ',when a man is over lusty at legs1' says the ,fool1 who arrives in time to put in an observation or two on this topic1 and who seems disposed to look at it from a critical point of view1 concluding with the practical improvement of the subject1 already quoted--',when a man is over lusty at legs'--7when his will1 or his higher intelligence1 perhaps1 is allowed to govern them too freely17 'he wears wooden nether stocks1' or 'cruel garters1' as he calls them again1 by way of bestowing on this institution of his ancestors as much variety of poetic imagery as the subject will admit of4 ',horses are tied by the head1 dogs and bears by the neck1 monkeys by the loins1 and men by the legs'2 and having ransacked his memory to such good purpose1 and produced such a pile of learned precedents1 he appears disposed to rest the case with these2 for it is a part of the play to get man into his place in the scale of nature1 and to draw the line between him and the brutes1 if there be any such thing possible2 and the ,fool seems to be particularly inclined to assist the author in this process1 though when we last heard of him he was1 indeed1 proposing to send the principal man of his time 'to school to an ant1' to improve his sagacity2 intimating1 also1 that another department of natural science1 even conchology itself1 might furnish him with some rather more prudent and fortunate suggestions than those which his own brain had appeared to generate2 and it is to be remarked1 that in his views on this point1 as on some others of importance1 he has the happiness to agree remarkably with that illustrious yoke-fellow of his in philosophy1 who was just then turning his attention to the 'practic part of life' and its 'theoric1' and who indulges himself in some satires on this point not any less severe1 though his pleasantries are somewhat more covert4 ,but the philosopher on this occasion1 having produced such a variety of precedents from natural history1 appears to be satisfied with the propriety and justice of the proceeding1 inasmuch as beasts and men seem to be treated with impartial consideration in it2 and though a certain distinction of form appears to obtain according to the species1 the main fact is throughout identical4 ',then comes the time1' he says1 in winding up that knotted skein of prophecy1 which he leaves for ,merlin to disentangle1 for 'he lives before his time1' as he takes that opportunity to tell us-- ',then comes the time1 who lives to see't1 ,that going shall be used with feet4' ,yes1 it is a duke who is put in the stocks2 it is a duke's son plays the bedlamite2 it is a king who finds the hovel's shelter 'precious'2 and it is a queen--it is a king's wife1 and a daughter of kings--who is hanged2 nay more1 it is ,cordelia--it is ,cordelia1 and none other1 whom this inexorable ,poet1 primed with mischief1 bent on outrage1 determined to turn out the heart of his time1 and show1 in the selectest form1 the inmost lining of its lurking humanities--it is ,cordelia whom he will hang--,and we forgive him still1 and bear with him in all these assaults on our taste--in all these thick-coming blows on our outraged sensibilities2 we forgive him when at last the poetic design flashes on us1--when we come to understand the providence of this piece1 at least1--when we come to see at last that there is a meaning in it all1 a meaning deep to justify even this procedure4 ',we are not the first who1 with the best meaning1 have incurred the worst1' says the captive queen herself2 nor was she the last of that good company1 as the ,poet himself might have testified2-- ,upon such sacrifices the gods themselves throw incense4 ,we forgive the ,poet here1 as we forgive him in all these other pitiful and revolting exhibitions1 because we know that he who would undertake the time's cure--he who would undertake the relief of the human estate in any age1 must probe its evil--must reach1 no matter what it costs1 its deadliest hollow4 ,and in that age1 there was no voice which could afford to lack 'the courtier's glib and oily art4' ',hanging was the word' then1 for the qualities of which this princess was the impersonation1 or almost the impersonation1 so predominant were they in her poetic constitution4 ,there was no voice1 gentle and low enough1 to speak outright such truth as hers2 and 'banishment' and 'the stocks' would have been only too mild a remedy for 'the plainness' to which ,kent declares1 even to the teeth of majesty1 'honour's bound1 when majesty stoops to folly4' ,the kind1 considerate ,gloster1 with all his loyalty to the powers which are able to show the divine right of possession1 and with all his disposition to conform to the times1 is greatly distressed and perplexed with the outrages which are perpetrated1 as it were1 under his own immediate sanction and authority4 ,he has a hard struggle to reconcile his duty as the subject of a state which he is not prepared to overthrow1 with his humane impulses and designs4 ,he goes pattering about for a time1 remonstrating1 and apologizing1 and trying 'to smooth down1' and 'hush up1' and mollify1 and keep peace between the offending parties4 ,he stands between the blunt1 straightforward manliness of the honest ,kent on the one hand1 and the sycophantic servility and self-abnegation1 which knows no will but the master's1 as represented by the ,steward1 on the other4 ',i am sorry for thee1' he says to ,kent1 after having sought in vain to prevent this outrage from being perpetrated in his own court-- ',i am sorry for thee1 friend3 tis the duke's pleasure1 ,whose disposition all the world well knows1 ,will not be rubbed or stopped'-- as he found to his cost1 poor man1 when he came to have his own eyes gouged out by it4 ,he 'saw it feelingly' then1 as he remarked himself4 ',i'll entreat for thee1' he continues1 in his conversation with the disguised duke in the stocks4 ',the duke's to blame in this4 ',twill be ill taken4' ,and when the king1 on his arrival1 kept waiting in the court1 in his agony of indignation and grief1 is told that ,regan and ,cornwall are 'sick1' 'they are weary1' 'they have travelled hard to-night1' denounces these subterfuges1 and bids ,gloster fetch him a better answer1 this is the worthy man's reply to him-- ',my dear lord1 ,you know the fiery quality of the duke1 ,how unremovable and fixed he is ,in his own course4' ,but ,lear1 who has never had any but a subjective acquaintance hitherto with reasons of that kind1 does not appear able to understand them from this point of view-- ,lear4 ,vengeance6 plague6 death6 confusion6 ,fiery8--what quality8 ,why ,gloster1 ,gloster1 ,i'd speak with the ,duke of ,cornwall and his wife4 ,gloster4 ,well1 my good lord1 ,i have informed them so4 ,lear4 ,informed them8 ,dost thou understand me8 ,gloster4 ,ay1 my good lord4 ,but though ,gloster is not yet ready to break with tyranny1 it is not difficult to see which way he secretly inclines2 and though he still manages his impulses cautiously1 and contrives to succour the oppressed king by stealth1 his courage rises with the emergency1 and grows bold with provocation4 ,for he is himself one of the finer and finest proofs of the times which the ,poet represents2 one1 however1 which he keeps back a little1 for the study of those who look at his work most carefully4 ,this man stands here in the general1 indeed1 as the representative of a class of men who do not belong exclusively to this particular time--men who do not stand ready1 as ,kent and his class do1 to fly in the face of tyranny at the first provocation2 they are not the kind of men who 'make mouths1' as ,hamlet says1 'at the invisible event2'--they are the kind who know beforehand that to break with the powers that are1 single-handed1 is to sit on the stage and have your eyes gouged out1 or to undergo some process of mutilation and disfigurement1 not the less painful and oppressive1 by this ,poet's own showing1 because it does not happen1 perhaps1 to be a physical one1 and not the less calculated1 on that account1 to impair one's usefulness to one's species1 it may be4 ,but besides that more general bearing of the representation1 the part and disposition of ,gloster afford us from time to time1 glimpses of persons and things which connect the representation more directly with the particular point here noted4 ,men who found themselves compelled to occupy a not less equivocal position in the state1 look through it a little now and then2 and here1 as in other parts of the play1 it only wants the right key to bring out suppressed historical passages1 and a finer history generally1 than the chronicles of the times were able to take up4 ',alack1 alack1 ,edmund1' says ,gloster to his natural son1 making him the confidant of his nobler nature1 putting what was then the perilous secret of his humanity1 into the dangerous keeping of the base-born one--for this is the ,poet's own interpretation of his plot2 though ,lear is allowed to intimate on his behalf1 that the loves and relations which are recognised and good in courts of justice1 are not always secured by that sanction from similar misfortune2 that they are not secured by that from those penalties which great ,nature herself awards in those courts in which her institutes are vindicated4 ',alack1 alack1 ,edmund1 ,i like not ,,this ,,unnatural ,,dealing6 ,when ,i desired their leave that ,i might pity him1 they took from me the use of mine own house1 and charged me on pain of their perpetual displeasure1 neither to speak of him1 entreat for him1 nor in any way to sustain him4' ,edmund4 ,most savage and unnatural4 ,gloster4 ,go to1 say you nothing4 ,and say you nothing1 my contemporary reader1 if you perceive that this is one of those passages ,i have spoken of elsewhere1 which carries with it another application besides that which ,i put it to4 ',there is division between the dukes--and a worse matter than that3 ,i have received a letter this night1--'tis dangerous to be spoken2--,i have locked the letter in my closet3 these injuries the king now bears1 will be revenged at home' softly--say you nothing4 ',there is part of a power already footed3 we must incline to the king4 ,i will seek him and privily relieve him4 ,go you and maintain talk with the duke1 that my charity be not of him perceived4 ,if he ask for me1 ,i am ill1 and gone to bed4 ,if ,i die for it1--as no less is threatened me1--the king1 my old master--,,must ,,be ,,relieved4 ,there is some strange thing toward1 ,edmund4 ,pray you be careful4' ,even ,edmund himself professes to be not altogether without some experience of the perplexity which the claims of apparently clashing duties1 and relations in such a time creates1 though he seems to have found an easy method of disposing of these questions4 ,nature is his goddess and his law 7that is1 as he uses the term1 the baser nature1 the degenerate1 which is not nature for man1 which is unnatural for the human kind71 and in his own 'rat'-like fashion1 'he bites the holy cords atwain4' ',how1 my lord1' he says1 in the act of betraying his father's secret to the ,duke of ,cornwall1 in the hope of 'drawing to himself what his father loses'--'how ,i may be censured that ,,nature1 thus gives way to ,,loyalty1 something fears me to think of4' ,and again1 ',i will persevere in my course of loyalty1 though the conflict be sore between that and my blood4' ',know thou this1' he says afterwards1 to the officer whom he employs to hang ,cordelia1 ',,that ,,men ,,are ,,as ,,the ,,time ,,is4 ,thy great employment will not bear question4 ,about it1 ,i say1 instantly1 and carry it so as ,i have set it down4' ',i cannot draw a cart1 nor eat dried oats1' is the officer's reply1 who appears to be also in the poet's secret1 and ready to aid his intention of carrying out the distinction between the human kind and the brute1 ',i cannot draw a cart1 nor eat dried oats2--if it be ,,man',s ,,work ,i will do it4' ,but it is the steward's part1 as deliberately explained by ,kent himself1 which furnishes in detail the ideal antagonism of that which ,kent sustains in the piece2 for beside those active demonstrations of his disgust1 which the poetic order tolerates in him1 though some of the powers within appear to take such violent offence at it1 besides these tangible demonstrations1 and that elaborate criticism1 which the poet puts into his mouth1 in which the steward is openly treated as the representative of a class1 who seem to the poet apparently1 to require some treatment in his time1 ,kent himself is made to notice distinctly this literally striking opposition4 ',no contraries hold more antipathy than ,i1 and such a knave1' he says to ,cornwall1 by way of explaining his apparently gratuitous attack upon the steward4 ,no one1 indeed1 who reads the play with any care1 can doubt the poet's intention to incorporate into it1 for some reason or other1 and to bring out by the strongest conceivable contrasts1 his study of loyalty and service1 and especially of regal counsel1 and his criticism of it1 as it stood in his time in its most approved patterns4 ',such smiling rouges as these' 7'that bite the holy cords atwain'74 ',smooth every passion ,that in the nature of their lord rebels2 ,bring oil to fire1 snow to their colder moods2 ,revenge1 affirm1 and turn their halcyon beaks ,with every gale and vary of their masters1 ,as knowing nought like dogs but--following4' ,such ruses as this would not1 of course1 be wanting in such a time as that in which this piece was planned1 if ,edmund's word was1 indeed1 the true one4 ',know thou this1 men are as the time is4' ,and even amidst the excitement and rough outrage of that scene--in which ,gloster's trial is so summarily conducted1 even in that so rude scene--the relation between the guest and his host1 and the relation of the slave to his owner1 is delicately and studiously touched1 and the human claim in both is boldly advanced1 in the face of an absolute authority1 and age and personal dignity put in their claims also1 and demand1 even at such a moment1 their full rights of reverence4 ,re-enter servants with ,,gloster4 ,regan4 ,ingrateful fox6 'tis he4 ,cornwall4 ,bind fast his corky arms4 ,gloster4 ,what mean your graces8--,good my friends1 consider4 ,you are my guests3 do me no foul play1 friends4 ,cornwall4 ,bind him1 ,i say4 ,regan4 ,hard1 hard3--,o filthy traitor6 ,gloster4 ,unmerciful lady as you are1 ,i am none4 ,cornwall4 ,to this chair bind him3--,villain1 thou shalt find--,,regan plucks his beard4 ,gloster4 ,by the ,,kind gods for these are the gods1 whose ',commission' is sitting here'tis most ignobly done1 ,to pluck me by the beard4 ,regan4 ,so white1 and such a traitor6 ,gloster4 ,naughty lady1 ,these hairs1 which thou dost ravish from my chin1 ,will quicken and accuse thee4 ,i am your host3 ,with robber hands1 my hospitable favours ,you should not ruffle thus4 ,tied to the stake1 questioned and cross-questioned1 and insulted1 finally1 beyond even his faculty of endurance1 he breaks forth1 at last1 in strains of indignation that overleap all arbitrary and conventional bounds1 that are only the more terrible for having been so long suppressed4 ,kent himself1 when he 'came between the dragon and his wrath1' was not so fierce4 ,cornwall4 ,where hast thou sent the king8 ,gloster4 ,to ,dover4 ,regan4 ,wherefore ,to ,dover1 was't thou not charged at peril8-- ,cornwall4 ,wherefore to ,dover8 ,let him first answer that4 ,regan4 ,wherefore to ,dover8 ,gloster4 ,because ,i would not see thy cruel nails ,pluck out his poor old eyes1 nor thy fierce sister ,in his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs4 444 ,regan4 ,one side will mock another2 the other too4 ,cornwall4 ,if you 'see vengeance4' ,servant4 ,hold your hand1 my lord3 ,i have served you ever since ,i was a child2 ,but better service have ,i never done you1 ,than now to bid you hold4 ,regan4 ,how now1 you dog8 ,servant4 ,if you did wear a beard upon your chin1 ,i'd shake it on this quarrel3 ,what do you mean8 ,arbitrary power called to an account1 requested to explain itself4 ,cornwall4 ,my villain6 ,regan4 ,a ,,peasant stand up thus8 ,thus too1 indeed1 in that rude scene above referred to1 in which the king finds his messenger in the stocks1 and ,regan's door1 too1 shut against him1 the same ground of criticism had already been revealed1 the same delicacy and rigour in the exactions had already betrayed the depth of the poetic design1 and the real comprehension of that law1 whose violations are depicted here1 the scientific law1 the scientific sovereignty1 the law of universal nature2 commanding1 in the human1 that specific human excellence1 for the degenerate movement is in violation of nature1 that is not nature but her profanation and undoing4 ,this is one of those passages1 however1 which admit1 as the modern reader will more easily observe than the contemporary of the ,poet was likely to of a second reading4 ,goneril4 ,why might not you1 my lord1 receive attendance ,from those that she calls servants1 or from mine8 99 99 99 99 99 ,what need you five-and-twenty1 ten1 or five1 ,to follow in a house1 where twice so many ,have a command to tend you8 ,regan4 ,what need one8 ,lear4 ,o reason not the need3 our basest beggars ,are in the poorest things superfluous4 ,poor ,tom must have his 'rubans4' ,allow not ,,nature more than ,,nature needs1 ,,man',s ,,life were cheap as ,,beasts and that's not nature ,thou art a lady2 ,if only to go warm were gorgeous1 ,why1 nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st1 ,which scarcely keeps thee warm4--,but1 for ,,true ,,need1 ,you heavens1 give me ,,that patience4--,patience ,i need4 ,it is1 indeed1 the doctrine of the 'true need' that is lurking here1 and all that puts man into his true place and relations in the creative order1 whether of submission or control is included in it4 ,it is the doctrine of the natural human need1 and the natural ground and limits of the arts1 for which nature has endowed man beforehand1 with a faculty and a sentiment corresponding in grandeur to his need1--large as he is little1 noble as he is mean1 powerful as he is helpless1 felicitous as he is wretched2 the faculty and the sentiment whereby the want of man becomes the measure of his wealth and grandeur1--whereby his conscious lowness becomes the means of his ascent to his ideal type in nature1 and to the scientific perfection of his form4 ,and this whole social picture1--rude1 savage as it is1--savage as it shews when its sharp outline falls on that fair ideal ground of criticism which the doctrine of a scientific civilization creates1--is but the ,poet's report of the progress of human development as it stood in his time1 and of the gain that it had made on savage instinct then4 ,it is his report of the social institutions of his time1 as he found them on his map of human advancement4 ,it is his report of the wild social misery that was crying underneath them1 with its burthen of new advancements4 ,it is the ,poet's ,apology for his new doctrine of human living1 which he is going to publish1 and leave on the earth1 for 'the times that are far off4' ,it is the negative1 which is the first step towards that affirmation1 which he is going to establish on the earth for ever1 or so long as the species1 whose law he has found1 endures on it4 ,down to its most revolting1 most atrocious detail1 it is still the ,elizabethan civility that is painted here4 ,even ,goneril's unscrupulous mode of disposing of her rival sister1 though that was the kind of murder which was then regarded with the profoundest disgust and horror--7the queen in ,cymbeline expresses that vivid sentiment1 when she says3 ',if ,pisanio have given his mistress that confection which ,i gave him for a cordial1 she is served as ,i would serve a rat'7--even as to that we all know what a king's favourite felt himself competent to undertake then2 and1 if the clearest intimations of such men as ,bacon1 and ,coke1 and ,raleigh1 on such a question1 are of any worth1 the household of ,james the ,first was not without a parallel even for that performance1 if not when this play was written1 when it was published4 ,it is all one picture of social ignorance1 and misery1 and frantic misrule4 ,it is a faithful exhibition of the degree of personal security which a man of honourable sentiments1 and humane and noble intentions1 could promise himself in such a time4 ,it shows what chance there was of any man being permitted to sustain an honourable and intelligent part in the world1 in an age in which all the radical social arts were yet wanting1 in which the rude institutions of an ignorant past spontaneously built up1 without any science of the natural laws1 were vainly seeking to curb and quench the ,incarnate soul of new ages1--the spirit of a scientific human advancement2 and1 when all the common welfare was still openly intrusted to the unchecked caprice and passion of one selfish1 pitiful1 narrow1 low-minded man4 ,to appreciate fully the incidental and immediate political application of the piece1 however1 it is necessary to observe that notwithstanding that studious exhibition of lawless and outrageous power1 which it involves1 it is1 after all1 we are given to understand1 by a quiet intimation here and there1 a limited monarchy which is put upon the stage here4 ,it is a constitutional government1 very much in the ,elizabethan stage of development1 as it would seem1 which these arbitrary rulers affect to be administering4 ,it is a government which professes to be one of law1 under which the atrocities of this piece are sheltered4 ,and one may even note1 in passing1 that that high ,judicial ,court1 in which poor ,lear undertakes to get his cause tried1 appears to have1 somehow1 an extremely modern air1 considering what age of the ,british history it was1 in which it was supposed to be constituted1 and considering that one of the wigs appointed to that ,bench had to leave his speech behind him for ,merlin to make1 in consequence of living before his time3 at all events it is already tinctured with some of the more notorious ,elizabethan vices--vices which our ,poet1 not content with this exposition1 contrived to get exposed in another manner1 and to some purpose1 ere all was done4 ,lear4 ,it shall be done1 ,i will arraign them straight6 ,come1 sit thou here1 most learned ,justice4 ,to the ,,bedlamite4 ,thou1 sapient ,sir1 sit here4 ,to the ,,fool4 ,and again1-- ,i'll see their trial first4 ,bring in the evidence4 ,thou robed ,,man of ,,justice take thy place4 ,to ,,tom ,o',,bedlam4 ,and thou1 his yoke fellow of ,,equity bench by his side4 ,to the ,,fool4 ,you are of 'the ,commission'--sit you too4 ,to ,,kent4 ,truly it was a bold wit that could undertake to constitute that bench on the stage1 and fill it with those speaking forms1--speaking to the eye the unmistakeable significance1 for these judges1 two of them1 happened to be on the spot in full costume1--and as to the third1 he was of 'the commission4' ',sit you1 too4' ,truly it was a bold instructor that could undertake 'to facilitate' the demonstration of 'the more chosen subjects1' with the aid of diagrams of this kind4 ,arms6 ,arms6 ,sword1 fire6 ,,corruption ,,in ,,the ,,place6 ,false justicer1 why hast thou let her scape8 ,the tongues of these ancient sovereigns of ,britain1 'tang' throughout with ,elizabethan 'arguments of state1' and even ,goneril1 in her somewhat severe proceedings against her father1 justifies her course in a very grave and excellent speech1 enriched with the choicest phrases of that particular order of state eloquence1 in which majesty stoops graciously to a recognition of the subject nation2--a speech from which we gather that the 'tender of a wholesome weal' is1 on the whole1 the thing which she has at heart most deeply1 and though the proceeding in question is a painful one to her feelings1 a state necessity appears to prescribe it1 or at least1 render it 'discreet4' ,even in ,gloster's case1 though the process to which he is subjected1 is1 confessedly1 an extemporaneous one1 it appears from the ,duke of ,cornwall's statement1 that it was only the form which was wanting to make it legal4 ,thus he apologizes for it4-- ,though well we may not pass upon his life ,without the form of justice1 yet our power ,shall do a courtesy to our wrath1 which men ,may blame1 but not control4 ,goneril1 however1 grows bolder at the last1 and says outright1 ',say if ,i do1 the laws are mine ,,not ,,thine4' ,but it is the law which is thine and mine1 it is the law which is for ,tom o' ,bedlam and for thee1 that great nature speaking at last through her interpreter1 and explaining all this wild scene1 will have vindicated4 ,most ,,monstrous1 exclaims her illustrious consort2 but at the close of the play1 where so much of the meaning sometimes comes out in a word1 he himself concedes that the government which has just devolved upon him is an absolute monarchy4 ',for us1' he says1 ',,we ,,will ,,resign1 during the life of this old ,majesty1 ,,our ,,absolute ,,power4' ,so that there seems to have been1 in fact1--in the minds1 too1 of persons who ought1 one would say1 to have been best informed on this subject1--just that vague1 uncertain1 contradictory view of this important question1 which appears to have obtained in the ,english state1 during the period in which the material of this poetic criticism was getting slowly accumulated4 ,but of course this play1 so full of the consequences of arbitrary power1 so full of ,elizabethan politics1 with its 'ear-kissing arguments1' could not well end1 till that word1 too1 had been spoken outright2 and1 in the ,duke of ,albany's resignation1 it slips in at last so quietly1 so properly1 that no one perceives that it is not there by accident4 ,this1 then1 is what the play contains2 but those that follow the story and the superficial plot only1 must1 of course1 lose track of the interior identities4 ,it does not occur to these that the ,poet is occupied with principles1 and that the change of persons does not1 in the least1 confound his pursuit of them4 ,the fact that tyranny is in one act1 or in one scene1 represented by ,lear1 and in the next by his daughters2--the fact that the king and the father is in one act the tyrant1 and in another1 the victim of tyranny1 is quite enough to confound the criticism to which a work of mere amusement is subjected2 for it serves to disguise the philosophic purport1 by dividing it on the surface3 and the dangerous passages are all opposed and neutralised1 for those who look at it only as a piece of dramatized1 poetic history4 ,for this is a philosopher who prefers to handle his principles in their natural1 historical combinations1 in those modified unions of opposites1 those complex wholes1 which nature so stedfastly inclines to1 instead of exhibiting them scientifically bottled up and labelled1 in a state of fierce chemical abstraction4 ,his characters are not like the characters in the old ',moralities1' which he found on the stage when he first began to turn his attention to it1 mere impersonations of certain vague1 loose1 popular notions4 ,those sickly1 meagre forms would not answer his purpose4 ,it was necessary that the actors in the ,new ,moralities he was getting up so quietly1 should have some speculation in their eyes1 some blood in their veins1 a kind of blood that had never got manufactured in the ,poet's laboratory till then4 ,his characters1 no matter how strong the predominating trait1 though 'the conspicuous instance' of it be selected1 have all the rich quality1 the tempered and subtle power of nature's own compositions4 ,the expectation1 the interest1 the surprise of life and history1 waits1 with its charm on all their speech and doing4 ,the whole play tells1 indeed1 its own story1 and scarcely needs interpreting1 when once the spectator has gained the true dramatic stand-point2 when once he understands that there is a teacher here1--a new one1--one who will not undertake to work with the instrumentalities that his time offered to him1 who begins by rejecting the abstractions which lie at the foundation of all the learning of his time1 which are not scientific1 but vague1 loose1 popular notions1 that have been collected without art1 or scientific rule of rejection1 and are1 therefore1 inefficacious in nature1 and unavailable for 'the art and practic part of life2' a teacher who will build up his philosophy anew1 from the beginning1 a teacher who will begin with history and particulars1 who will abstract his definitions from nature1 and have powers of them1 and not words only1 and make them the basis of his science and the material and instrument of his reform4 ',i will teach you differences1' says ,kent to the steward1 alluding on the part of his author1 for he does not profess to be metaphysical himself to another kind of distinction1 than that which obtained in the schools2 and accompanying the remark1 on his own part1 with some practical demonstrations1 which did not appear to be taken in good part at all by the person he was at such pains to instruct in his doctrine of distinctions4 ,the reader who has once gained this clue1 the clue which the question of design and authorship involves1 will find this play1 as he will find1 indeed1 all this author's plays1 overflowing every where with the scientific statement1--the finest abstract statement of that which the action1 with its moving1 storming1 laughing1 weeping1 praying diagrams1 sets forth in the concrete4 ,but he who has not yet gained this point1--the critic who looks at it from the point of observation which the traditionary theory of its origin and intent creates1 is not in a position to notice the philosophic expositions of its purport1 with which the action is all inwoven4 ,no1--though the whole structure of the piece should manifestly hang on them1 though the whole flow of the dialogue should make one tissue of them1 though every interstice of the play should be filled with them1 though the fool's jest1 and the ,bedlamite's gibberish1 should point and flash with them at every turn2--though the wildest incoherence of madness1 real or assumed1 to its most dubious hummings1--its snatches of old ballads1 and inarticulate mockings of the blast1 should be strung and woven with them2 though the storm itself1 with its wild accompaniment1 and demoniacal frenzies1 should articulate its response to them2--keeping open tune without1 to that human uproar2 and howling symphonies1 to the unconquered demoniacal forces of human life1--for it is the ,poet who writes in 'the storm continues1'--'the storm continues1'--'the storm continues2'--though even ,edmund's diabolical 'fa1 sol1 lah1 mi1' should dissolve into harmony with them1 while ,tom's five fiends echo it from afar1 and 'mop and mow' their responses1 down to the one that 'since possesses chambermaids2' nobody that takes the play theory1 and makes a matter of faith of it merely2 nobody that is willing to shut his eyes and open his mouth1 and swallow the whole upon trust1 as a miracle simply1 is going to see anything in all this1 or take any exceptions at it4 ,certainly1 at the time when it was written1 it was not the kind of learning and the kind of philosophy that the world was used to4 ,nobody had ever heard of such a thing4 ,the memory of man could not go far enough to produce any parallel to it in letters4 ,it was manifest that this was nature1 the living nature1 the thing itself4 ,none could perceive the tint of the school on its robust creations2 no eye could detect in its sturdy compositions the stuff that books were made of2 and it required no effort of faith1 therefore1 to believe that it was not that4 ,it was easy enough to believe1 and men were glad1 on the whole1 to believe that it was not that--that it was not learning or philosophy--but something just as far from that1 as completely its opposite1 as could well be conceived of4 ,how could men suspect1 as yet1 that this was the new scholasticism1 the ,new ,philosophy8 ,was it strange that they should mistake it for rude nature herself1 in her unschooled1 spontaneous strength1 when it had not yet publicly transpired that something had come at last upon the stage of human development1 which was stooping to nature and learning of her1 and stealing her secret1 and unwinding the clue to the heart of her mystery8 ,how could men know that this was the subtlest philosophy1 the ripest scholasticism1 the last proof of all human learning1 when it was still a secret that the school of nature and her laws1 that the school of natural history and natural philosophy1 too1 through all its lengths and breadths and depths1 was open2 and that 'the schools'--the schools of old chimeras and notions--the schools where the jangle of the monkish abstractions and the 'fifes and the trumpets of the ,greeks' were sounding--were going to get shut up with it4 ,how should they know that the teacher of the ,new ,philosophy was ,poet also--must be1 by that same anointing1 a singer1 mighty as the sons of song who brought their harmonies of old into the savage earth--a singer able to sing down antiquities with his new gift1 able to sing in new eras8 ,but these have no clue as yet to track him with3 they cannot collect or thread his thick-showered meanings4 ,he does not care through how many mouths he draws the lines of his philosophic purpose4 ,he does not care from what long distances his meanings look towards each other4 ,but these interpreters are not aware of that4 ,they have not been informed of that particular4 ,on the contrary1 they have been put wholly off their guard4 ,their heads have been turned1 deliberately1 in just the opposite direction4 ,they have no faintest hint beforehand of the depths in which the philosophic unities of the piece are hidden3 it is not strange1 therefore1 that these unities should escape their notice1 and that they should take it for granted that there are none in it4 ,it is not the mere play-reader who is ever going to see them4 ,it will take the philosophic student1 with all his clues1 to master them4 ,it will take the student of the ,new ,school and the ,new ,ages1 with the torch of ,natural ,science in his hand1 to track them to their centre4 ,here1 too1 as elsewhere1 it is the king himself on whom the bolder political expositions are thrust4 ,but it is not his royalty only that has need to be put in requisition here1 to bring out successfully all that was working then in this ,poet's mind and heart1 and which had to come out in some way4 ,it was something more than royalty that was required to protect this philosopher in those astounding freedoms of speech in which he indulges himself here1 without any apparent scruple or misgiving4 ,the combination of distresses1 indeed1 which the old ballad accumulates on the poor king's head1 offers from the first a large poetic license1 of which the man of art--or 'prudence1' as he calls it--avails himself somewhat liberally4 ,with those daughters in the foreground always1 and the parental grief so wild and loud--with that deeper1 deadlier1 infinitely more cruel private social wrong interwoven with all the political representation1 and overpowering it everywhere1 as if that inner social evil were1 after all1 foremost in the ,poet's thought--as if that were the thing which seemed crying to him for redress more than all the rest--if1 indeed1 any thought of 'giving losses their remedies' could cross a ,player's dream1 when1 in the way of his profession1 'the enormous state' came in to fill his scene1 and open its subterranean depths1 and let out its secrets1 and drown the stage with its elemental horror2--with his daughters in the foreground1 and all that magnificent accompaniment of the elemental war without--with all nature in that terrific uproar1 and the ,fool and the ,madman to create a diversion1 and his friends all about him to hush up and make the best of everything--with that great storm of pathos that the ,magician is bringing down for him--with the stage all in tears1 by their own confession1 and the audience sobbing their responses--what the poor king might say between his chattering teeth was not going to be very critically treated2 and the ,poet knew it4 ,it was the king1 in such circumstances1 who could undertake the philosophical expositions of the action2 and in his wildest bursts of grief he has to manage them1 in his wildest bursts of grief he has to keep to them4 ,but it is not until long afterwards1 when the storm1 and all the misery of that night1 has had its ultimate effect--its chronic effect--upon him1 that the ,poet ventures to produce1 under cover of the sensation which the presence of a mad king on the stage creates1 precisely that exposition of the scene which has been1 here1 insisted on4 ',they flattered me like a dog2 they told me ,i had white hairs in my beard1 ere the black ones were there4 ,to say ,ay and ,no to everything ,i said6--,ay and ,no too was no good ,,divinity4 ,when the rain came to wet me once1 and the wind made me chatter2 when the thunder would not peace at my bidding1--there ,i found them1 there ,i smelt them out4 ,go to1 they are not men of their words4 ,they told me ,i was everything3 'tis a lie4 ,i am not ague-proof4' ,gloster4 ,the trick of that voice ,i do well remember3 ,is't not ,,the ,,king8 ,lear4 ,ay1 every inch a ,king3 ,when ,i do stare1 see1 how the subject quakes4 ,but it is a subject he has conjured up from his brain that is quaking under his regal stare4 ,and it is the impersonation of ,god's authority1 it is the divine right to rule men at its pleasure1 with or without laws1 as it sees fit1 that stands there1 tricked out like ,tom o',bedlam1 with ,a ,,crown of noisome weeds on its head1 arguing the question of the day1 taking up for the divine right1 defining its own position3-- ,is't not the king8 ,ay every inch a king3 ,when ,i do stare1 see how the subject quakes4 ,see2 yes1 see4 ,for that is what he stands there for1 or that you may see what it is at whose stare the subject quakes4 ,he is there to 'represent to the eye1' because impressions on the senses are more effective than abstract statements1 the divine right and sovereignty1 the majesty of the ,,common-weal1 the rule that protects each helpless individual member of it with the strength of all1 the rule awful with great nature's sanction1 enforced with her dire pains and penalties4 ,he is there that you may see whether that is it1 or not2 that one poor wretch1 that thing of pity1 which has no power to protect itself1 in whom the law itself1 the sovereignty of reason1 is dethroned4 ,that was1 what all men thought it was1 when this play was written2 for the madness of arbitrary power1 the impersonated will and passion1 was the state then4 ,that is the spontaneous affirmation of rude ages1 on this noblest subject1--this chosen subject of the new philosophy1--which stands there now to facilitate the demonstration1 'as globes and machines do the more subtle demonstrations in mathematics4' ,it is the 'affirmation' which the ,poet finds pre-occupying this question2 but this is the table of review that he stands on1 and this ',instance' has been subjected to the philosophical tests1 and that is the reason that all those dazzling externals of majesty1 which make that ',,idol ,,ceremony' are wanting here2 that is the reason that his crown has turned to weeds4 ,this is the popular affirmative the ,poet is dealing with2 but it stands on the scientific ',table of ,review1' and the result of this inquiry is1 that it goes to 'the table of ,,negations4' ,and the negative table of science in these questions is ,tragedy1 the ,world's ,tragedy4 ',is't not the king8' ',ay1 every inch--a ,king4 ,when ,i do stare1 see how the subject quakes4' ,but the voice within overpowers him1 and the axioms that are the vintage of science1 the inductions which are the result of that experiment1 are forced from his lips4 ',to say ay and no to everything that ,i--that ,i--said6 ,to say ay and no too1 was no ,,good ,,divinity4 ,they told me that ,i was everything4 ',t ,,is ,a ,,lie4 ,i am not ague proof4' ',t is ,a ,,lie'--that is1 what is called in other places a 'negative4' ,in this systematic exposure of 'the particular and private nature' in the human kind1 and those ,,special susceptibilities and liabilities which qualify its relationships2 in this scientific exhibition of its special liability to suffering from the violation of the higher law of those relationships--its special liability to injury1 moral1 mental1 and physical--a liability from which the very one who usurps the place of that law has himself no exemption in this exhibition1-- which requires that the king himself should represent that liability in chief--it was not to be expected that this particular ill1 this ill in which the human wrong in its extreme capes is so wont to exhibit its consummations1 should be omitted4 ,in this exhibition1 which was designed to be scientifically inclusive1 it would have been a fault to omit it4 ,but that the ,poet should have dared to think of exhibiting it dramatically in this instance1 and that1 too1 in its most hopeless form--that he should have dared to think of exhibiting the personality which was then 'the state' to the eye of 'the subject' labouring under that personal disability1 in the very act1 too1 of boasting of its kingly terrors--this only goes to show what large prerogatives1 what boundless freedoms and immunities1 the resources of this particular department of art could be made to yield1 when it fell into the hands of the new ,masters of ,arts1 when it came to be selected by the ,art-king himself as his instrument4 ,but we are prepared for this spectacle1 and with the ,poet's wonted skill2 for it is ,cordelia1 her heart bursting with its stormy passion of filial love and grief1 that1 ,,rebel-,,like1 seeks to be ,,queen o'er her1 though she queens it still1 and 'the smiles on her ripe lips seem not to know what tears are in her eyes1' for she has had her hour with her subject grief1 and 'dealt with it alone1'--it is this child of truth and duty1 this true ,queen1 this impersonated sovereignty1 whom her ,poet crowns with his choicest graces1 on whom he devolves the task of prefacing this so critical1 and1 one might think1 perhaps1 perilous exhibition4 ,but her description does not disguise the matter1 or palliate its extremity4 ',why1 he was met even now1 ,mad as the vexed sea1 singing aloud2' ,crowned--4 ',crowned with rank fumiter1 and furrow weeds1 ,with hardocks1 hemlock1 nettles1 cuckow flowers1 ,darnel1 and all the idle weeds that grow ,in our sustaining corn4' ,that is the crown2 and a very extraordinary symbol of sovereignty it is1 one cannot help thinking1 for the divine right to get on its head by any accident just then4 ,surely that symbol of power is getting somewhat rudely handled here1 in the course of the movements which the 'necessary questions of this ,play' involve1 as the critical mind might begin to think4 ,in the botanical analysis of that then so dazzling1 and potent1 and compelling instrument in human affairs1 a very careful observer might perhaps take notice that the decidedly hurtful and noxious influences in nature appear to have a prominent place2 and1 for the rest1 that the qualities of wildness and idleness1 and encroaching good-for-nothingness1 appear to be the common and predominating elements4 ,it is when the ,tragedy reaches its height that this crown comes out4 ,a hundred men are sent out to pursue this majesty2 not now to wait on him in idle ceremony1 and to give him the 'addition of a king'2 but--to catch him--to search every acre in the high-grown field1 and bring him in4 ,he has evaded his pursuers3 he comes on to the stage full of self-congratulation and royal glee1 chuckling over his prerogative3-- ',no2 they cannot touch me for ,,coining4 ,i am the king himself4' ',o thou side-piercing sight6' ,collateral meaning4 ',nature's above ,art in that respect4' ',so o'er that art which you say adds to nature1 is an art that ,nature makes4' ',there's your press money4 ,that fellow handles his bow like a crow-keeper3 draw me a clothier's yard4--,look1 look1 a mouse6 ,peace1 peace2 this piece of toasted cheese will do't4--,there's my gauntlet2 ,i'll prove it on a giant4' ,but the messengers1 who were sent out for him1 are on his track4 ,enter a ,gentleman1 with ,attendants4 ,gent4 ,o here he is1 lay hand upon him4 ,sir1 ,your most dear daughter-- ,lear4 ,no rescue8 ,what1 a prisoner8 ,i am even ,the natural fool of fortune6 ,use me well2 ,you shall have ransom4 ,let me have a surgeon1 ,i am cut to the brains4 ,gent4 ,you shall have anything4 ,lear4 ,no seconds8 ,all myself8 ,gent4 ,good ,sir1-- ,lear4 ,i will die bravely1 like a bridegroom3 ,what8 ,i will be jovial4 ,come1 come2 ,i am a king1 ,my masters2 know you that8 ,gent4 ,you are1 a royal one1 and we obey you4 ,lear4 ,then there's life in it4 ,nay1 an you get it1 you shall get it by running4 ,sa1 sa1 sa1 sa4 ,exit1 running2 ,attendants ,,follow4 ',transient hieroglyphic4' ,gent4 ,a sight most pitiful in the meanest wretch2 ,past speaking of1 in ,a ,,king6 not past exhibiting1 it seems1 however4 ,but1 of course1 there was nothing that a king1 whose mind was in such a state1 could not be permitted to say with impunity2 and it is in this very scene that the ,poet puts into his mouth the boldest of those philosophical suggestions which the first attempt to find a theory for the art and practical part of life1 gave birth to3 he skilfully reserves for this scene some of the most startling of those social criticisms which the action this play is everywhere throwing out4 ,for it is in this scene1 that the outcast king encounters the victim of tyranny1 whose eyes have been plucked out1 and who has been turned out to beggary1 as the penalty of having come athwart that disposition in 'the duke1' that 'all the world well knows will not be rubbed or stopped'2--it is in this scene that ,lear finds him smelling his way to ,dover1 for that is the name in the play--the play name--for the place towards which men's hopes appear to be turning2 and that conversation as to how the world goes1 to which allusion has been already made1 comes off1 without appearing to suggest to any mind1 that it is other than accidental on the part of the ,poet1 or that the action of the play might possibly be connected with it6 ,for notwithstanding this great stress1 which he lays everywhere on forethought and a deliberative rational intelligent procedure1 as the distinctive human mark1--the characteristic feature of a man1--the poor poet himself1 does not appear to have gained much credit hitherto for the possession of this human quality4-- ,lear4 ,thou seest how this world goes8 ,gloster4 ,i see it feelingly4 ,lear4 ,what1 art mad8-- have you not the use of your reason1 then8 ,can you not see with that8 ,that is the kind of sight we talk of here4 ,it's the want of that which makes these falls4 ,we have eyes with which to foresee effects1--eyes which outgo all the senses with their range of observation1 with their range of certainty and foresight4 ',what1 art mad8 ,a man may see how this world goes with no eyes4 ,look with thine--ears3 see how yon justice rails upon yon simple thief4 ,hark1 in thine ear3 ,change places1 and1 handy-dandy1 which is the justice1 and which is ,,the ,,thief8' ,searching social questions1 as before4 ',thou robed man of justice 7to the ,bedlamite71 take thy place2 and thou1 his yoke-fellow of equity 7to the ,fool71 bench by his side4 ,thou1 sapient sir1 sit here4' ,so that it would seem1 perhaps1 as if wisdom1 as well as honesty1 might be wanting there--the searching subtle wisdom1 that is matched in subtlety1 with nature's forces1 that sees true differences1 and effects true reformations4 ',change places4 ,hark1 in thine ear4' ,truly this is a player who knows how to suit the word to the action1 and the action to the word2 for there has been a revolution going on in this play which has made as complete a social overturning--which has shaken kings1 and dukes1 and lordlings out of their 'places1' as completely as some later revolutions have done4 ',change places6' ,with one duke in the stocks1 and another wandering blind in the streets--with a dukeling1 in the form of mad ,tom1 to lead him1 with a king in a hovel1 calling for the straw1 and a queen hung by the neck till she is dead--with mad ,tom on the bench1 and the ,fool1 with his cap and bells1 at his side--with ,tom at the council-table1 and occupying the position of chief favourite and adviser to the king1 and a distinct proposal now that the thief and the justice shall change places on the spot--with the inquiry as to which is the justice1 and which is the thief1 openly started--one would almost fancy that the subject had been exhausted here1 or would be1 if these indications should be followed up4 ,what is it in the way of social alterations which the player's imagination could conceive of1 which his scruples have prevented him from suggesting here8 ,but the mad king goes on with those new and unheard-of political and social suggestions1 which his madness appears to have had the effect of inspiring in him-- ,lear4 ,thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar8 ,gloster4 ,ay1 sir4 ,lear4 ,and the creature run from the cur8 ,there might'st thou behold the great image of ,,authority3 a dog's obeyed in office4 ,through tattered robes small vices do appear2 ,robes1 and furred gowns1 hide all4 ,robes1--robes1 and furred gowns6 ,plate sin with gold1 ,and the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks2 ,arm it with rags1 a pigmy's straw doth pierce it4 ,but that was before ,tom got his seat on the bench--that was before ,tom got his place at the council-table4 ',none does offend1--none--' unless you will begin your reform at the beginning1 and hunt down the great rogues as well as the little ones2 or1 rather1 unless you will go to the source of the evil1 and take away the evils1 of which these crimes1 that you are awarding penalties to1 are the result1 let it all alone1 ,i say4 ,let's have no more legislation1 and no more of this ,,justice1 this ,,equity1 that takes the vices which come through the tattered robes1 and leaves the great thief in his purple untouched4 ,let us have no more of this mockery4 ,let us be impartial in our justice1 at least4 ',none does offend4 ,i say none4 ,i'll able 'em4' ,i'll show you the way4 ,soft4 ,hark1 in thine ear4 ',take that of me1 my friend1 who have the power ,,to ,,seal ,,the ,,accuser',s ,,lips4' ,soft1 in thine ear4-- ',get thee glass eyes1 ,and like a scurvy politician1 seem ,to see the things thou dost not4--,now1 now1 now1 ,,now4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i know thee well enough4 ,thy name is--,gloster4 ,thou must be patient2 we came crying hither4 ,thou know'st the first time that we smell the air ,we wawl and cry4 ,i will preach to thee2 mark me4 ,gloster4 ,alack1 alack1 the day6 ,lear4 ,when we are born1 we cry that we are come ,to this great stage of--,fools4 ,mark me1 for ,i preach to thee--of ,fools4 ,i am even the natural fool of fortune4 --',o matter and impertinency1 mixed ,reason in madness4'-- --is the ,poet's concluding comment on this regal boldness1 a safe and saving explanation2 'for to define true madness1' as ,polonius says1 'what is it but to be nothing else but mad4' ,if the 'all licensed fool1' as ,goneril peevishly calls him1 under cover of his assumed imbecility1 could carry his traditional privilege to such dangerous extremes1 and carp and philosophize1 and fling his bitter jests about at his pleasure1 surely downright madness might claim to be invested with a privilege as large4 ,but madness1 when conjoined with royalty1 makes a double privilege1 one which this ,poet finds1 however1 at times1 none too large for his purposes4 ,thus1 ,hamlet1 when his mind is once in a questionable state1 can be permitted to make1 with impunity1 profane suggestions as to certain possible royal progresses1 and the changes to which the dust of a ,csar might be liable1 without being reminded out of the play1 that to follow out these suggestions 'would be' indeed1 'to consider too curiously1' and that most extraordinary humour of his enables him also to relieve his mind of many other suggestions1 'which reason and sanity1' in his time1 could not have been 'so prosperously delivered of4' ,for what is it that men can set up as a test of sanity in any age1 but their own common beliefs and sentiments4 ,and what surer proof of the king's madness1--what more pathetic indication of its midsummer height could be given1 than those startling propositions which the poet here puts into his mouth1 so opposed to the opinions and sentiments1 not of kings only1 but of the world at large2 what madder thing could a poet think of than those political axioms which he introduces under cover of these suggestions1--which would lay the axe at the root of the common beliefs and sentiments on which the social structure then rested4 ,how could he better show that this poor king's wits had1 indeed1 'turned2' how could he better prove that he was1 indeed1 past praying for1 than by putting into his mouth those bitter satires on the state1 those satires on the 'one only man' power itself1--those wild revolutionary proposals1 'hark6 in thine ear1--change places4 ,softly1 in thine ear1-- which is the ,,justice1 and which is ,,the ,,thief8' ',take that of me who have the power to seal the accuser's lips4 ,none does offend4 ,i say none4 ,i'll able 'em4 ,look when ,i stare1 see how the subject quakes4' ,these laws have failed1 you see4 ,they shelter the most frightful depths of wrong4 ,that ,bench has failed1 you see2 and that ,chair1 with all its adjunct divinity4 ,come here and look down with me from this pinnacle1 into these abysses4 ,look at that wretch there1 in the form of man4 ,fetch him up in his blanket1 and set him at the ,council ,table with his elf locks and begrimed visage and inhuman gibberish4 ,perhaps1 he will be able to make some suggestion there2 and those five fiends that are talking in him at once1 would like1 perhaps1 to have a hearing there4 ,make him 'one of your hundred4' ,you are of 'the commission1' let him bench with you4 ,nay1 change places1 let him try your cause1 and tell us which is the justice1 which is the thief1 which is the sapient ,sir1 and which is the ,bedlamite4 ,surely1 the man who authorizes these suggestions must be1 indeed1 'far gone1' whether he be 'a king or a yeoman4' ,and mad indeed he is4 ,writhing under the insufficiency and incompetency of these pretentious1 but1 in fact1 ignorant and usurping institutions1 his heart of hearts racked and crushed with their failure1 the victim of this social empiricism1 cries out in his anguish1 under that safe disguise of the ,robes that hide all3 ',take these away at least1--that will be something gained4 ,let us have no more of this mockery4 ,none does offend--none--,i say none4' ,let us go back to the innocent instinctive brutish state1 and have done with this vain disastrous struggle of nature after the human form1 and its dignity1 and perfection4 ,let us talk no more of law and justice and humanity and ,,divinity forsooth1 divinity and the celestial graces1 that divinity which is the end and perfection of the human form4--,is not womanhood itself1 and the ,angel of it fallen--degenerate8--,that is the humour of it4--,that is the meaning of the savage edicts1 in which this human victim of the inhuman state1 the subject of a social state which has failed in some way of the human end1 undertakes to utter through the king's lips1 his sense of the failure4 ,for the ,poet at whose command he speaks1 is the true scientific historian of nature and art1 and the rude and struggling advances of the human nature towards its ideal type1 though they fall never so short1 are none of them omitted in his note-book4 ,he knows better than any other1 what gain the imperfect civilization he searches and satirizes and lays bare here1 has made1 with all its imperfections1 on the spontaneities and aids of the individual1 unaccommodated man3 he knows all the value of the accumulations of ages2 he is the very philosopher who has put forth all his wisdom to guard the state from the shock of those convulsions1 that to his prescient eye1 were threatening then to lay all flat4 ',o let him pass6' is the ,poet's word1 when the loving friends seek to detain a little longer1 the soul on whom this cruel time has done its work1--its elected sufferer4 ',o let him pass6 he hates him ,that would upon the rack of this tough world1 ,stretch him out longer4' ,tired with all these1 he cries in his own behalf4 ',tired with all these1 for restful death ,i cry4 ,thou seest how this world goes4 ,i see it feelingly4' ,albany4 ,the weight of this sad time we must obey1 ,speak ,,what ,,we ,,feel1 not what we ought to say1 ,the oldest hath borne most3 we that are young ,shall never see so much1 nor live so long4 ,it needs but a point1 a point which the ,poet could not well put in1--one of those points which he speaks of elsewhere so significantly1 to make the unmeaning line with which this great social ,tragedy concludes1 a sufficiently fitting conclusion to it2 considering1 at least1 the pressure under which it was written2 and the author has himself called our attention to that1 as we see1 even in this little jingle of rhymes1 put in apparently1 only for professional purposes1 and merely to get the curtain down decently4 ,it is a point1 which it takes the key of the play--,lord ,bacon's key1 of ',times1' to put in4 ,it wants but a comma1 but then it must be a comma in the right place1 to make ,english of it4 ,plain ,english1 unvarnished ,english1 but poetic in its fact1 as any prophecy that ,merlin was to make4 ',the oldest hath borne most1 we that are young ,shall never see so much1 nor live so long4' ,there were boys 'in ,england then a-bed2' nay1 some of them might have been present that day1 for aught we know1 on which one of the ,managers of the ,surrey ,theatre1 the owner of the wardrobe and stage-properties1 and himself an actor1 brought out with appropriate decorations and dresses1 for the benefit of his audience on the ,bankside1 this little ebullition of his genius2--there were boys present then1 perhaps1 whose names would become immortal with the fulfilment of that prophecy2--there was one at ,whitehall1 when it was brought out there1 whose name would be for ever linked with it4 ',we that are young1--the oldest hath borne most4 ,we that are young shall never see so much' ,i see it feelingly1 ',shall never see so much1 nor live so long4' ,so4 ,but there were evils included in that tragic picture1 which those who were young then1 would not outlive2 evils which the times that were near with their coarse1 fierce remedies1 would not heal2 evils which the ,seer and ,leader of the ,times that were far off1 would himself make over to their cure2--evils in whose cure the ,discoverer of the science of ,nature1 and the inventor of the ,new ,magic which is the part operative of it1 expected to be called upon for an opinion1 when the time for that extension of his science1 'crushed together and infolded within itself in these books of ,nature's learning1' should fully come4 ,nothing almost sees ,,miracles but ,,misery1 says poor ,kent1 in the stocks1 waiting for the 'beacon' of the morning1 by whose comfortable beams1 he might peruse his letter4 ',i know1' he says1 '',tis from ,cordelia1 ,who hath most fortunately been informed ,of my obscured course1 and shall find time ,from this enormous state--seeking--,,to ,,give ,,losses ,,their ,,remedies4' ,there is no attempt to demonstrate that the work here proposed as a study1 worthy the attention of the philosophical student1 is not1 notwithstanding a ,poem1 and a ,poet's gift1 not to his contemporaries only1 but to his kind4 ,what is claimed is1 indeed1 that it is a ,poem which1 with all its overpowering theatrical effects1 does1 in fact1 reserve its true poetic wealth1 for those who will find the springs of its inmost philosophic purport4 ,there is no attempt to show that this play belongs to the category of scientific works1 according to our present limitation of the term1 or that there could be found any niche for it1 on those lower platforms and compartments of the new science of nature1 which our modern works of natural science occupy4 ,it was inevitably a ,poem4 ,there was the essence of all ,tragedy in the purely scientific exhibition1 which the purpose of it required4 ,the intention of the ,poet to exhibit the radical idea of his plot impressively1 so as to reach the popular mind through its appeal to the sensibilities1 involved1 of course1 the finest series of conjunctions of artistic effects1 the most exquisite characterization1 the boldest grouping1 the most startling and determined contrasts1 which the whole range of his art could furnish4 ,but that which is only the incident of a genuine poetic inspiration1 the effect upon the senses1 which its higher appeals are sure to involve1 becomes with those delighting in1 and capable of appreciating1 that sensuous effect merely1 its sufficient and only end1 and even a doctrine of criticism based on this inversion will not be wanting4 ,but the difficulty of unlocking the great ,elizabethan poems with any such theory of ,art1 arises from the fact that it is not the theory of ,art1 which the great ,elizabethan ,poets adopted1 and whether we approve of theirs or not1 we must take it1 such as it was1 for our torch in this exploration4 ,as to that spontaneity1 that seizure1 that ,platonic divination1 that poetic 'fury1' which our prose philosopher scans in so many places so curiously1 which he defines so carefully and strictly1 so broadly too1 as the poetic condition that thing which he appears to admire so much1 as having something a little demoniacal in it withal1 that same 'fine' thing which the ,poet himself speaks of by a term not any less questionable1--as to this poetic inspiration1 it is not necessary to claim that it is a thing with which this ,poet1 the ,poet of a new era1 the ,poet1 the deliverer of an ,inductive ,learning1 has had himself1 personally1 no acquaintance4 ,he knows what it is4 ,but it is a ,poet who is1 first of all1 a man1 and he takes his humanity with him into all things4 ,the essential human principle is that which he takes to be the law and limit of the human constitution4 ,he is perfectly satisfied with 'the measure of a man1' and he gives the preference deliberately1 and on principle to the sober and rational state in the human mind4 ,all the elements which enter into the human composition1 all the states1 normal or otherwise1 to which it is liable1 have passed under his review1 and this is his conclusion2 and none born of woman1 ever had a better chance to look at them1 for all is alike heightened in him1--heightened to the ideal boundary of nature1 in the human form2 but that which seems to be heightened1 most of all1 that in which he stands preeminent and singular in the natural history of man1 would seem to be the proportion of this heightening4 ,it is what we have all recognized it to be1 ,nature's largest1 most prodigal demonstration of her capacities in the human form1 but it is1 at the same time1 her most excellent and exquisite balance of composition--her most subdued and tempered work4 ,and the reason is1 that he is not a particular and private man1 and the deficiencies and personalities of those from whom he is abstracted1 are studiously1 and by method1 kept out of him4 ,for this is the ',will' not of one man only2 it is the scientific abstract of a philosophic union4 ,it is a will that has a rule in art as well as nature4 ,certainly he is the very coolest ,poet2 and the fullest of this common earth and its affairs1 of any sage that has ever showed his head upon it1 in prose or metre4 ,the sturdiness with which he makes good his position1 as an inhabitant1 for the time being1 of this terrestrial ball1 and1 by the ordinance of ,god1 subject to its laws1 and liable to its pains and penalties1 is a thing which appears1 to the careful reviewer of it1 on the whole1 the most novel and striking feature of this demonstration4 ,he objects1 on principle1 to seizures and possessions of all kinds4 ,he refuses to be taken off his feet by any kind of solicitation4 ,he is a man who is never ashamed to have a reason1--one that he can produce1 and make intelligible to common people1 for his most exquisite proceedings2 that is1 if he chooses3 but1 'if reasons were plentiful as blackberries1' he is not the man to give them on 'compulsion4' ,his ideas of the common mind1 his notion of the common human intelligence1 or capacity for intelligence1 appears to be somewhat different from that of the other philosophers4 ,the common sense--the common form--is that which he is always seeking and identifying under all the differences4 ,it is that which he is bringing out and clothing with the 'inter-tissued robe' and all the glories which he has stripped from the extant majesty4 ',robes and furred gowns hide all' no longer4 ,he is not a bard who is careful at all about keeping his singing robes about him4 ,he can doff them and work like a 'navvy' when he sees reason4 ,he is very fond of coming out with good1 sober1 solid prose1 in the heart of his poetry4 ,he can rave upon occasion as well as another4 ,spontaneities of all kinds have scope and verge enough in his plot2 but he always keeps an eye out1 and they speak no more than is set down for them4 ,his ,pythoness foams at the mouth too1 sometimes1 and appears to have it all her own way1 perhaps2 but he knows what she is about1 and there is never a word in the oracle that has not undergone his revision4 ,he knows that ,plato tells us 'it is in vain for a sober man to knock at the floor of the ,muses'2 but he is one who has discovered1 scientifically1 the human law2 and he is ready to make it good1 on all sides1 against all comers4 ,and1 though the ,muses knocked at his door1 as they never had at any other1 they could never carry him away with them4 ,they found1 for once1 a sober man within1 one who is not afraid to tell them1 to their teeth1 ',judgment holds in me1 always1 a magisterial seat2'--and1 with all their celestial graces and pretensions1 he fetters them1 and drags them up to that tribunal4 ,he superintends all his inspirations4 ,there never was a ,poet in whom the poetic spontaneities were so absolutely under control and mastery2 and there never was one in whose nature all the spontaneous force and faculty of genius showed itself in such tumultuous fulness1 ready to issue1 at a word1 in such inexhaustible varieties of creative energy4 ,of all the spirits that tend on mortal thoughts there is none to match this so delicate and gorgeous ,ariel of his1--this creature that he keeps to put his girdles round the earth for him1 that comes at a thought1 and brings in such dainty banquets1 such brave pageants in the earth or in the air2 there is none other that knows so well the spells 'to make this place ,paradise4' ,but1 for all that1 he is the merest tool1--the veriest drudge and slave4 ,the magician's collar is always on his neck2 in his airiest sweeps he takes his chain with him4 ,caliban himself is not more sternly watched and tutored2 and all the gorgeous masque has its predetermined order1 its severe economy of grace2 through all the slightest minuti of its detail1 runs the inflexible purpose1 the rational human purpose1 the common human sense1 the common human aim4 ,yes1 it is a ,play2 but it is the play of a mind sobered with all human learning4 ,yes1 it is spontaneous2 but it is the spontaneity of a heart laden with human sorrow1 oppressed with the burthen of the common weal4 ,yes1 indeed1 it is a ,poet's work2 but it is the work of one who consciously and deliberately recognizes1 in all the variety of his gifts1 in all his natural and acquired power1 under all the disabilities of his position1 the one1 paramount1 human law1 and essential obligation4 ,of ',art1' as anything whatever1 but an instrumentality1 thoroughly subdued1 and subordinated to that end1 of ,art as anything in itself1 with an independent tribunal1 and law with an ethic and ritual of its own1 this inventor of the one ,art1 that has for its end the relief of the human estate and the ,creator's glory1 knows nothing4 ,of any such idolatry and magnifying of the creature1 of any such worship of the gold of the temple to the desecration of that which sanctifieth the gold1 this ,art-,king in all his purple1 this priest and ,high ,pontiff of its inner mysteries knows--will know--nothing4 ,yes1 it is play2 but it is not child's play1 nor an idiot's play1 nor the play of a 'jigging' ,bacchanal1 who comes out on this grave1 human scene1 to insult our sober1 human sense1 with his mad humour1 making a ,belshazzar's feast or an ,antonian revel of it2 a creature who shows himself to our common human sense without any human aim or purpose1 ransacking all the life of man1 exploring all worlds1 pursuing the human thought to its last verge1 and questioning1 as with the cry of all the race1 the infinities beyond1 diving to the lowest depths of human life and human nature1 and bringing up and publishing1 the before unspoken depths of human wrong and sorrow1 wringing from the hearts of those that died and made no sign1 their death-buried secrets1 articulating everywhere that which before had no word--and all for an artistic effect1 for an hour's entertainment1 for the luxury of a harmonized impression1 or for the mere ostentation of his frolic1 to feed his gamesome humour1 to make us stare at his unconsciousness1 to show what gems he can crush in his idle cup for a draught of pleasure1 or in pure caprice and wantonness1 confounding all our notions of sense1 and manliness1 and human duty and respect1 with the boundless wealth and waste of his gigantic fooleries4 ,it is play1 but let us thank ,god it is no such play as that2 let our common human nature rejoice that it has not been thus outraged in its chief and chosen one1 that it has not been thus disgraced with the boundless human worthlessness of the creature on whom its choicest gifts were lavished4 ,it is play1 indeed2 but it is no such ,monster1 with his idiotic stare of unconsciousness1 that the opening of it will reveal to us4 ,let us all thank ,god1 and take heart again1 and try to revive those notions of human dignity and common human sense which this story sets at nought1 and see if we cannot heal that great jar in our abused natures which this chimera of the nineteenth century makes in it--this night-mare of modern criticism which lies with its dead weight on all our higher art and learning--this creature that came in on us unawares1 when the interpretation of the ,plays had outgrown the ,play-tradition1 when 'the ,play' had outgrown 'the ,player4' ,it is a play in which the manliest of human voices is heard sounding throughout the order of it2 it is a play stuffed to its fool's gibe1 with the soberest1 deepest1 maturest human sense2 and 'the tears of it1' as we who have tested it know1 'the tears of it are wet4' ,it is a play where the choicest seats1 the seats in which those who see it all must sit1 are 'reserved2' and there is a price to be paid for these3 'children and fools' will continue to have theirs for nothing4 ,for after so many generations of players had come and gone1 there had come at last on this human stage--on 'this great stage of fools1' as the ,poet calls it--this stage filled with 'the natural fools of fortune1' having eyes1 but seeing not--there had come to it at last a ,,man1 one who was--take him for all in all--that2 one who thought it--for a man1 enough to be truly that--one who thought he was fulfilling his part in the universal order1 in seeking to be modestly and truly that2 one1 too1 who thought it was time that the human part on the stage of this ,globe ,theatre should begin to be reverently studied by man himself1 and scientifically and religiously ordered and determined through all its detail4 ,for it is the movement of the new time that makes this ,play1 and all these ,plays3 it is the spirit of the newly-beginning ages of human advancement which makes the inspiration of them2 the beginning ages of a rational1 instructed--and not blind1 or instinctive1 or demoniacal--human conduct4 ,it is such play and pastime as the prophetic spirit and leadership of those new ages could find time and heart to make and leave to them1 on that height of vision which it was given to it to occupy4 ,for an age in human advancement was at last reached1 on whose utmost summits men could begin to perceive that tradition1 and eyes of moonshine speculation1 and a thousand noses1 and horns welked and waved like the enridged sea1 when they came to be jumbled together in one 'monster1' did not appear to answer the purpose of human combination1 or the purpose of human life on earth2 appeared1 indeed to be still far1 'far wide' of the end which human society is everywhere blindly pushing and groping for1 en masse4 ,there was a point of observation from which this fortuitous social conjunction did not appear to the critical eye or ear to be making just that kind of play and music which human nature--singularly enough1 considering what kind of conditions it lights on--is constitutionally inclined to expect and demand2 not that1 or indeed any perceptible approximation to a paradisaical state of things4 ,there was1 indeed1 a point of view--one which commanded not the political mysteries of the time only1 but the household secrets of it1 and the deeper secrets of the solitary heart of man1 one which commanded alike the palace and the hovel1 to their blackest recesses--there was a point of view from which these social agencies appeared to be making then1 in fact1 whether one looked with eyes or ears1 a mere diabolical jangle1 and 'fa1 sol1 la1 mi'1 of it1 a demoniacal storm music2 and from that height of observation all ruinous disorders could be seen coming out1 and driving men to vice and despair1 urging them to self-destruction even1 and hunting them disquietly to their graves4 ',nothing almost sees miracles but misery2' and this was the ,age in which the ,new ,magic was invented4 ,it was the age in which that grand discovery was made1 which the ,fool undertakes to palm off here as the fruit of his own single invention2 and1 indeed1 it was found that the application of it to certain departments of human affairs was more successfully managed by this gentleman in his motley1 than by some of his brother philosophers who attempted it4 ,it was the age in which the questions which are inserted here so safely in the ,fool's catechism1 began to be started secretly in the philosophic chamber4 ,it was the age in which the identical answers which the cap and bells are made responsible for here1 were written down1 but with other applications1 in graver authorities4 ,it is the philosophical discovery of the time1 which the ,fool is undertaking to translate into the vernacular1 when he puts the question1 ',canst thou tell why one's nose stands in the middle of his face8' ,and we have all the ,novum ,organum in what he calls1 in another place1 'the boorish1' when he answers it2 and all the choicest gems of 'the part operative' of the new learning have been rattling from his rattle in everybody's path1 ever since he published his digests of that doctrine3 ',canst thou tell why one's nose stands in the middle of his face8' ',no4' ',why1 to keep his eyes on either side of it1 that what he cannot smell out he may spy into4' ,and 'all that follow their noses are led by their eyes1 but--blind men4' ,and 'the reason why the seven stars are seven1 is because they are not eight2' and the king who makes that answer 'would have made a good--fool1' for it's 'a very pretty reason4' ,and neither times nor men should be 'old before their time'2 neither times nor men should be revered1 or clothed with authority or command in human affairs1 'till they are wise4' ',thou sapient sir1 sit here4' ,and it is a mistake for a leader of men to think that he 'has white hairs in his beard1 before the black ones are there4' ,and 'ants1' and 'snails1' and 'oysters1' are wiser than men in their arts1 and practices1 and pursuits of ends4 ,it was the age in which it was perceived that 'to say ay and no to everything' that a madman says1 'is no good divinity1' and that it is 'the time's plague when ,madmen lead the ,blind2' and that1 instead of good men sitting still1 like 'moral fools1' and crying out on wrong and mischief1 ',alack1 why does it so8' it would be wiser1 and more pious1 too1 to make use of the faculty of learning1 with which the ,creator has armed ,man1 'against diseases of the world1' to ascend to the cause1 and punish that--punish that1 'ere it has done its mischief4' ,it was the age in which it was discovered that 'the sequent effect1 with which nature finds itself scourged1' is not in the least touched by any kind of reasoning 'thus and thus1' except that kind which proceeds first by negatives1 that kind which proceeds by a method so severe that it contrives to exclude everything but the 'the cause in nature' from its affirmation1 which 'in practical philosophy becomes the rule'--that is1 the critical method1--which is for men1 as distinguished from the spontaneous affirmation1 which is for gods4 ,it is the beginning of these yet beginning ,modern ,ages1 the ages of a practical learning1 and scientific relief to the human estate1 which this ,pastime marks with its blazoned1 illuminated initial4 ,it is the opening of the era in which a common human sense is developed1 and directed to the common-weal1 which this ,pastime celebrates2 the opening of the ages in which1 ere all is done1 the politicians who expect mankind to entrust to them their destinies1 will have to find something better than 'glass eyes' to guide them with2 in which it will be no longer competent for those to whom mankind entrusts its dearest interests to go on in their old stupid1 conceited1 heady courses1 their old1 blind1 ignorant courses1--stumbling1 and staggering1 and groping about1 and smelling their way with their own narrow and selfish instincts1 when it is the common-weal they have taken on their shoulders2--running foul of the nature of things--quarrelling with eternal necessities1 and crying out1 when the wreck is made1 ',alack6 why does it so8' ,this ,play1 and all these plays1 were meant to be pastime for ages in which state reasons must needs be something else than 'the pleasure' of certain individuals1 'whose disposition1 all the world well knows1 will not be rubbed or stopped2' or 'the quality1' 'fiery' or otherwise1 of this or that person1 no matter 'how unremoveable and fixed' he may be 'in his own course4' ,it was to the 'far off times2' and not to the 'near1' it was to the advanced ages of the ,advancement of ,learning1 that this ,play was dedicated by its ,author4 ,for it was the spirit of the modern ages that inspired it4 ,it was the new ,prometheus who planned it2 the more aspiring ,titan1 who would bring down in his ,new ,organum a new and more radiant gift2 it was the ,benefactor and ,foreseer1 who would advance the rude kind to new and more enviable approximations to the celestial summits4 ,he knew there would come a time1 in the inevitable advancements of that new era of scientific 'prudence' and forethought which it was given to him to initiate1 when all this sober historic exhibition1 with its fearful historic earnest1 would read1 indeed1 like some old fable of the rude barbaric past--some ,player's play1 bent on a feast of horrors--some ,poet's impossibility4 ,and that--was the ,play1--that was the ,plot4 ,he knew that there would come a time when all this tragic mirth--sporting with the edged tools of tyranny--playing around the edge of the great axe itself--would be indeed safe play2 when his ,fool could open his budget1 and unroll his bitter jests--crushed together and infolded within themselves so long--and have a world to smile with him1 and not the few who could unfold them only4 ,and that--that was 'the humour of it4' ,yes1 with all their philosophy1 these plays are ,plays and ,poems still4 ,there's no spoiling the 'tragical mirth' in them4 ,but we are told1 on the most excellent contemporaneous authority--on the authority of one who was in the inmost heart of all this ,poet's secrets--that 'as we often judge of the greater by the less1 so the very pastimes of great men give an honourable idea to the clear-sighted of ,,the ,,source ,,from ,,which ,,they ,,spring4' ,,part ,,ii4 ,,julius ,,caesar2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,empirical ,,treatment ,,in ,,diseases ,,of ,,the ,,common-,,weal ,,explained4 ,good does not necessarily succeed evil2 another evil may succeed1 and a worse1 as it happened with ,caesar's killers1 who brought the republic to such a pass that they had reason to repent their meddling with it4444 ,it must be examined in what condition ,,the ,,assailant is4--,michael de ,montaigne4 ,citizen4 ,i fear there will a worse one come in his place4 ,cassius4 ,he were no lion1 were not ,romans hinds4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,death ,,of ,,tyranny2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,question ,,of ,,the ,,prerogative4 ,casca4 ',tis ,caesar that you mean3 ,is it not1 ,cassius8 ,cassius4 ,let it be ,,who ,,it is1 for ,romans now ,have thewes and limbs like to their ancestors4 ,we all stand up against the spirit of ,caesar4 ,julius ,caesar4 ,yes1 when that ,royal ,injunction1 which rested alike upon the ,play-house1 the ,press1 the ,pulpit1 and ,parliament itself1 was still throttling everywhere the free voice of the nation--when a single individual could still assume to himself1 or to herself1 the exclusive privilege of deliberating on all those questions which men are most concerned in--questions which involve all their welfare1 for this life and the life to come1 certainly 'the ,play1 the ,play was the thing4' ,it was a vehicle of expression which offered incalculable facilities for evading these restrictions4 ,it was the only one then invented which offered then any facilities whatever for the discussion of that question in particular--which was already for that age the question4 ,and to the genius of that age1 with its new historical1 experimental1 practical1 determination--with its transcendant poetic power1 nothing could be easier than to get possession of this instrument1 and to exhaust its capabilities4 ,for instance1 if a ,roman ,play were to be brought out at all1--and with that mania for classical subjects which then prevailed1 what could be more natural8--how could one object to that which1 by the supposition1 was involved in it8 ,and what but the most boundless freedoms and audacities1 on this very question1 could one look for here8 ,what1 by the supposition1 could it be but one mine of poetic treason8 ,if ,brutus and ,cassius were to be allowed to come upon the stage1 and discuss their views of government1 deliberately and confidentially1 in the presence of an ,english audience1 certainly no one could ask to hear from their lips the political doctrine then predominant in ,england4 ,it would have been a flat anachronism1 to request them to keep an eye upon the ,tower in their remarks1 inasmuch as all the world knew that the corner-stone of that ancient and venerable institution had only then just been laid by the same distinguished individual whom these patriots were about to call to an account for his military usurpation of a constitutional government at home4 ,and yet1 one less versed than the author in the mystery of theatrical effects1 and their combinations--one who did not know fully what kind of criticism a mere ,play1 composed by a professional play-wright1 in the way of his profession1 for the entertainment of the spectators1 and for the sake of the pecuniary result1 was likely to meet with2--or one who did not know what kind of criticism a work1 addressed so strongly to the imagination and the feelings in any form1 is likely to meet with1 might have fancied beforehand that the author was venturing upon a somewhat delicate experiment1 in producing a play like this upon the ,english stage at such a crisis4 ,one would have said beforehand1 that 'there were things in this comedy of ,julius ,caesar that would never please4' ,it is difficult1 indeed1 to understand how such a ,play as this could ever have been produced in the presence of either of those two monarchs who occupied the ,english throne at that crisis in its history1 already secretly conscious that its foundations were moving1 and ferociously on guard over their prerogative4 ,and1 indeed1 unless a little of that same sagacity1 which was employed so successfully in reducing the play of ,pyramus and ,thisbe to the tragical capacities of ,duke ,theseus' court1 had been put in requisition here1 instead of that dead historical silence1 which the world complains of so much1 we might have been treated to some very lively historical details in this case1 corresponding to other details which the literary history of the time exhibits1 in the case of authors who came out in an evil hour in their own names1 with precisely the same doctrines1 which are taught here word for word1 with impunity2 and the question as to whether this ,literary ,shadow1 this ,name1 this ,veiled ,prophet in the ,world of ,letters1 ever had any flesh and blood belonging to him anywhere1 7and from the tenor of his works1 one might almost fancy sometimes that that might have been the case71 this question would have come down to us experimentally and historically settled4 ,for most unmistakeably1 the claws of the young ,british lion are here1 under these old ,roman togas2 and it became the 'masters' to consider with themselves1 for there is1 indeed1 'no more fearful wild fowl living' than your lion in such circumstances2 and if he should happen to forget his part in any case1 and 'roar too loud1' it would to a dead certainty 'hang them all4' ,but it was only the faint-hearted tailor who proposed to 'leave out the killing part4' ,pyramus sets aside this cowardly proposition4 ,he has named the obstacles to be encountered only for the sake of magnifying the fertility of his invention in overcoming them4 ,he has a device to make all even4 ',write me a prologue1' he says1 'and let the prologue seem to say1 we will do no harm with our swords2 and for the more assurance1 tell them that ,i1 ,pyramus1 am not ,pyramus1 but ,bottom1 the ,weaver2 that will put them out of fear4' ,and as to the lion1 there must not only be 'another prologue1 to tell that he is not a lion1' but 'you must name his name1 and half his face must be seen through the lion's neck1 and he himself must speak through1 saying thus1 or to the same defect1 ,ladies1 or fair ladies1 my life for yours4 ,if you think ,i come hither as a lion1 it were pity of my life4' ,to such devices1 in good earnest1 were those compelled to resort who ventured upon the ticklish experiment of presenting heroic entertainments for king's palaces1 where 'hanging was the word' in case of a fright2 but1 with a genius like this behind the scenes1 so fertile in invention1 so various in gifts1 who could aggravate his voice so effectually1 giving you one moment the pitch of 'the sucking dove1' or 'roaring you like any nightingale1' and the next1 'the ,hercle's vein1'--with a genius who knew how to play1 not 'the tyrant's part only1' but 'the lover's1 which is more condoling1' and whose suggestion that the audience should look to their eyes in that case1 was by no means a superfluous one2 with a genius who had all passions at his command1 who could drown1 at his pleasure1 the sharp critic's eye1 or blind it with showers of pity1 or 'make it water with the merriest tears1 that the passion of loud laughter ever shed1' with such resources1 prince's edicts could be laughed to scorn4 ,it was vain to forbid such an one1 to meddle with anything that was1 or had been1 or could be4 ,but does any one say--',to what purpose1' if the end were concealed so effectually8 ,and does any one suppose1 because no faintest suspicion of the true purpose of this play1 and of all these plays1 has from that hour to this1 apparently ever crossed the ,english mind1 at home or abroad1 though no suspicion of the existence of any purpose in them beyond that of putting the author in easy circumstances1 appears as yet to have occurred to any one1--does any one suppose that this play1 and all these plays1 have on that account1 failed of their purpose2 and that they have not been all this time1 steadily accomplishing it8 ,who will undertake to estimate1 for instance1 the philosophical1 educational influence of this single ,play1 on every boy who has spouted extracts from it1 from the author's time to ours1 from the palaces of ,england1 to the log school-house in the back-woods of ,america8 ,but suppose now1 instead of being the aimless1 spontaneous1 miraculous product of a stupid1 'rude mechanical' bent on producing something which should please the eye1 and flatter the prejudices of royalty1 and perfectly ignorant of the nature of that which he had produced2--suppose that instead of appearing as the work of ,starveling1 and ,snout1 and ,nick ,bottom1 the ,weaver1 or any person of that grade and calibre1 that this play had appeared at the time1 as the work of an ,english scholar1 as most assuredly it was1 profoundly versed in the history of states in general1 as well as in the history of the ,english state in particular1 profoundly versed in the history of nature in general1 as well as in the history of human nature in particular4 ,suppose1 for instance1 it had appeared as the work of an ,english statesman1 already suspected of liberal opinions1 but stedfastly bent for some reason or other1 on advancement at court1 with his eye still intently fixed1 however secretly1 on those insidious changes that were then in progress in the state1 who knew perfectly well what crisis that ship of state was steering for2 query1 whether some of the passages here quoted would have tended to that 'advancement' he 'lacked4' ,suppose that instead of ,julius ,caesar1 'looking through the lion's neck1' and gracefully rejecting the offered prostrations1 it had been the ,english courtier1 condemned to these degrading personal submissions1 who 'roared you out1' on his own account1 after this fashion4 ,imagine a good sturdy ,english audience returning the sentiment1 thundering their applause at this and other passages here quoted1 in the presence of a ,tudor or a ,stuart4 ,one might safely conclude1 even if the date had not been otherwise settled1 that anything so offensive as this never was produced in the presence of ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,king ,james might be flattered into swallowing even such treasonable stuff as this2 but in her time1 the poor lion was compelled to aggravate his voice after another fashion4 ,nothing much above the sucking-dove pitch1 could be ventured on when her quick ears were present4 ,he 'roared you' indeed1 all through her part of the ,elizabethan time2 but it was like any nightingale4 ,the clash and clang of these ,roman ,plays were for the less sensitive and more learned ,stuart4 ,metellus ,cimber4 ,most high1 most mighty1 ,and most puissant ,caesar2 ,metellus ,cimber throws before thy seat ,an humble heart3--,kneeling4 ,caesar4 ,i must prevent thee1 ,cimber4 ,these couchings and these lowly courtesies3 ,might fire the blood of ordinary men2 ,,and ,,turn ,,pre-,,ordinance1 and ,,first ,,decree1 ,,into ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,children4 ,be not fond ,to think that ,,caesar bears such ,,rebel blood1 ,that will be thawed from the true quality1 ,with that which melteth ,,fools4 787 ,i mean1 sweet words1 ,low1 crooked curtsies1 and base spaniel fawning4 ,thy brother by decree is banished2 ,if thou dost bend1 and pray1 and fawn for him1 ,i spurn thee like a cur1 out of my way4 ,know ,,caesar ,,doth ,,not ,,wrong4 ,to appreciate this1 one must recall not merely the humiliating personal prostrations which the ceremonial of the ,english ,court required then1 but that base prostration of truth and duty and honour1 under the feet of vanity and will and passion1 which they symbolized4 ,thus far ,caesar1 but the subject's views on this point1 as here set forth1 are scarcely less explicit1 but then it is a ,roman subject who speaks1 and the ,roman costume and features1 look savingly through the lion's neck4 ,one of the radical technicalities of that new philosophy of the human nature which permeates all this historical exhibition1 comes in here1 however2 and it is one which must be mastered before any of these plays can be really read4 ,the radical point in the new philosophy1 as it applies to the human nature in particular1 is the pivot on which all turns here1--here as elsewhere in the writings of this school1--the distinction of 'the double self1' the distinction between the particular and private nature1 with its unenlightened instincts of passion1 humour1 will1 caprice1--that self which is changeful1 at war with itself1 self-inconsistent1 and1 therefore1 truly1 no ,,self1--since the true self is the principle of identity and immutability1--the distinction between that 'private' nature when it is developed instinctively as 'selfishness1' and that rational immutable self which is constitutionally present though latent1 in all men1 and one in them all2 that noble special human form which embraces and reconciles in its intention1 the private good with the good of that worthier whole whereof we are individually parts and members2 'this is the distinction on which all turns here4' ,for this philosophy refuses1 on philosophical grounds1 to accept this low1 instinctive private nature1 in any dressing up of accidental power as the god of its idolatry1 in place of that 'divine or angelical nature1 which is the perfection of the human form1' and the true sovereignty4 ,obedience to that nature1--'the approach to1 or assumption of1' that makes1 in this philosophy1 the end of the human endeavour1 'and the error and false imitation of that good1 is that which is the tempest of the human life4' ,but let us hear the passionate ,cassius1 who is full of individualities himself1 and ready to tyrannize with them1 but somehow1 as it would seem1 not fond of submitting to the 'single self' in others4 ',well1 honour is the subject of my story4-- ,i can not tell what you1 and other men1 ,think of this life2 but for my single self1 ,i had as lief not ,,be1 as live to be ,in awe of such a thing as ,i myself4 ,i was born free as ,caesar2 so were you4 ,we both have fed as well3 and we can both ,endure the winter's cold as well as he4'-- ,and the proof of this personal equality is then given2 and it is precisely the one which ,lear produces1 ',when the wind made me chatter1 there ,i found them1--there ,i smelt them out4'-- ',for once upon a raw and gusty day1 ,the troubled ,tiber chafing with her shores1 etc4 99 99 99 99 99 --,caesar cried1 ,help me1 ,cassius1 or ,i sink4 --,and this man ,is now become a god1 and ,cassius is ,a wretched creature1 and must bend his body1 ,if ,caesar carelessly but nod on him4 ,he had a fever when he was in ,spain1 ,and when the fit was on him--,i did mark ,how he did shake3 'tis true1 this god did shake4' ,this was a pretty fellow to have about a king's privacy taking notes of this sort on his tablets4 ,among 'those saw and forms and pressures past1 which youth and observatior copied there1' all that part reserved for ,caesar and his history1 appears to have escaped the sponge in some way4 ',they told me ,i was every thing1 'tis a lie6 ,i am not ague proof4'--,lear4 ,his coward lips did from their colour fly4 ',and that same eye whose bend doth awe the world1 ,did lose his lustre6--,julius ,caesar4 '--,when ,i do stare see how the subject quakes4--',lear4 ,i did hear him groan3 ,aye1 and that tongue of his that bade the ,romans ,mark him1 and write his speeches in their books4 ,alas6 it cried1 ',give me some drink1 ,titinius1' ,as a sick girl4 ,ye gods1 it doth amaze me1 ,a man of such a feeble temper should ,so get the start of the majestic world1 ,and bear the palm alone4 ,brutus4 ,another general shout6 ,i do believe that these applauses are ,for some new honours that are heap'd on ,caesar4 ,cassius4 ,why man1 he doth bestride the narrow world1 ,like a ,colossus3 and we petty men ,walk under his huge legs2 and peep about ,to find ourselves ,,dishonourable ,,graves4 ,men1 at some time1 are masters of their fates1 ,the fault1 dear ,brutus1 ,,is ,,not in our ,,stars1 ,but in ourselves that we are underlings4 ,brutus and ,caesar3 ,what should be in that ,caesar8 99 99 99 99 99 ,now in the names of all the gods at once1 ,upon what meat doth this our ,caesar feed ,that he is grown so great8 ,,age1 thou art shamed3 ,rome1 thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods6 ,when went there by an age1 since the great flood1 ,but it was famed with more than with ,one man8 ,when could they say1 till now1 that talked of ,rome1 ,that her wide walls encompass'd but ,one man8 ,now is it ,home indeed1 and room enough1 ,when there is in it but one only man4 ,when there is in it 7truly7 but ,one only1--,,man4 ,o6 you and ,i have heard our fathers say1 ,there was a ,brutus once1 that would have brook'd ,the eternal devil to keep his state in ,rome1 ,as easily as a king4 ,brutus4 ,what you have said1 ,i will consider2--what you have to say ,i will with patience hear3 and find a time ,both meet to hear1 and answer such high things4 ,till then1 my noble friend1 ,,chew ,,upon ,,this2-- ,brutus had rather be a villager1 ,than to repute himself a ,,son of ,,rome4 ,under these hard conditions1 as this time ,is like to lay upon us4 ,chew upon this4 ,cassius4 ,i am glad that my weak words ,have struck but thus much show of fire from ,brutus4 ,re-enter ,caesar and his train4 ,brutus4 ,the games are done1 and ,caesar is returning4 ,cassius4 ,as they pass by1 pluck ,casca by the sleeve2 ,and he will1 after his sour fashion1 tell you ,what hath proceeded worthy note to-day4 ,brutus4 ,i will do so3--,but look you1 ,cassius1 ,the angry spot doth glow on ,caesar's brow4 ,and all the rest look like a chidden train3 ,calphurnia's cheek is pale2 and ,cicero ,looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes1 ,as we have seen him in the ,capitol1 ,being crossed in conference by some senators4 ,cassius4 ,casca will tell us what the matter is4 ,caesar4 ,antonius4 ,antony4 ,caesar4 ,caesar4 ,let me have men about me that are fat2 ,sleek-headed men1 and such as sleep o' nights3 ,yond' ,cassius has a lean and hungry look4 ,he thinks too much3 such men are dangerous4 ,antony4 ,fear him not1 ,caesar2 he's not dangerous3 ,he is a noble ,roman1 and well given4 ,caesar4 ,would he were fatter3--,but ,i fear him not2 ,yet if my name were liable to fear1 ,i do not know the man ,i should avoid ,so soon as that spare ,cassius4 ,he reads much3 ,he is a great observer1 and he looks ,quite through the deeds of men3 he loves no plays1 ,as thou dost ,antony2 he hears no music3 ,seldom he smiles2 and smiles in such a sort1 ,as if he mocked himself1 and scorned his spirit ,that could be moved to smile at any thing4 ,such men as he are never at heart's ease1 ,whiles they behold a greater than themselves2 ,and therefore are they very dangerous1 ,i rather tell thee what is to be feared1 ,than what ,i fear1 ,,for ,,always ,i ,,am ,,caesar4 ,come on my right hand1 for this ear is deaf1 ,and tell me truly what thou think'st of him4 ,exeunt ,caesar and his train4 ,casca stays behind4 ,casca4 ,you pulled me by the cloak3 would you speak with me8 ,brutus4 ,ay1 ,casca1 tell us what hath chanced to-day1 ,that ,caesar looks so sad4 ,casca4 ,why you were with him4 ,were you not8 ,brutus4 ,i should not then ask ,casca what hath chanced4 ,casca4 ,why there was a crown offered him3 and1 being offered1 he put it by with the back of his hand1 thus2 and then the people fell a shouting4 ,brutus4 ,what was the second noise for8 ,casca4 ,why for that too4 ,brutus4 ,they shouted thrice4 ,what was the last cry for8 ,casca4 ,why for that too4 ,brutus4 ,was the crown offered him thrice8 ,casca4 ,ay marry was't4 ,and he put it by thrice1 every time gentler than the other2 and at every putting by1 mine honest neighbours shouted4 ,cassius4 ,who offered him the crown8 ,casca4 ,why1 ,antony4 ,brutus4 ,tell us the manner of it1 gentle ,casca4 ,casca4 ,i can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it4 ,it was mere foolery4 ,i did not mark it4 ,i saw ,mark ,antony offer him a crown2 yet 't was not a crown2--neither 't was one of these coronets2--and1 as ,i told you1 he put it by once2 but1 for all that1 to my thinking1 he would fain have had it4 ,then he offered it to him again2 then he put it by again3 but1 to my thinking1 he was very both to lay his fingers off it4 ,and then he offered it the third time2 he put it the third time by2 and still1 as he refused it1 the rabblement hooted1 and clapped their chapped hands1 and threw up their sweaty night caps1 and uttered such a deal of stinking breath1 because ,caesar refused the crown1 that it had almost choked ,caesar2 for he swooned and fell down at it3 and1 for mine own part1 ,i durst not laugh1 for fear of opening my lips and receiving the bad air4 ,cassius4 ,but soft1 ,i pray you3 ,,what8 ,,did ,,caesar ,,swoon8 ,casca4 ,he fell down in the market-place1 and foamed at mouth1 and was speechless4 ,brutus4 ',tis very like2 he hath the falling sickness4 ,cassius4 ,no1 ,caesar hath it not2 but you1 and ,i1 ,and honest ,casca1 we have the falling sickness4 ,casca4 ,i know not what you mean by that3 but ,i am sure1 ,caesar fell down4 ,if the tag-rag people did not clap him and hiss him1 according as he pleased and displeased them1 as they use to do the ,players in the theatre1 ,i am no true man4 ,brutus4 ,what said he1 when he came unto himself4 ,casca4 ,marry1 before he fell down1 when he perceived the common herd was glad when he refused the crown1 he plucked me ope his doublet1 and offered them his throat to cut4--,an ,i had been a man of any occupation1 if ,i would not have taken him at a word2 ,i would ,i might go to hell among the rogues3 and so he fell4 ,when he came to himself again1 he said1 if he had done or said anything amiss1 he desired their worships to think it was his infirmity4 ,three or four wenches1 where ,i stood1 cried1 ',alas1 good soul6'--and forgave him with all their hearts3 ,but there's no heed to be taken of them2 if ,caesar had stabbed their mothers1 they would have done no less4 ,brutus4 ,and after that1 he came thus sad away8 ,casca4 ,ay4 ,cassius4 ,did ,cicero say anything8 ,casca4 ,ay1 he spoke ,greek4 ,cassius4 ,to what effect8 ,casca4 ,nay1 an ,i tell you that1 ,i'll ne'er look you i' the face again4 ,but those that understood him1 smiled at one another1 and shook their heads3 but for mine own part1 it was ,greek to me4 ,i could tell you more news1 too3 ,marullus and ,flavius1 for pulling scarfs off ,caesar's images1 are put to silence4 ,fare you well4 ,there was more foolery yet1 if ,i could remember it4 ,brutus says of ,casca1 when he is gone1 ',he was quick mettle when he went to school'2 and ,cassius replies1 ',so he is now--however he puts on this tardy form4 ,this rudeness is a sauce to his good wit1 which gives men stomach to digest his words with better appetite4' ',and so it is1' ,brutus returns2--and so it is1 indeed1 as any one may perceive1 who will take the pains to bestow upon these passages the attention which the author's own criticism bespeaks for them4 ,to the ear of such an one1 the roar of the blank verse of ,cassius is still here1 subdued1 indeed1 but continued1 through all the humour of this comic prose4 ,but it is ,brutus who must lend to the ,poet the sanction of his name and popularity1 when he would strike home at last to the heart of his subject4 ,brutus1 however1 is not yet fully won3 and1 in order to secure him1 ,cassius will this night throw in at his window1 'in several hands--as if they came from several citizens--writings1 in which1 ,,obscurely1 ,,caesar',s ,,ambition ,,shall ,,be ,,glanced ,,at4' ,and1 ',after this1' he says1-- ',let ,caesar seat him sure1 ,for we will shake him1 or worse days endure4' ,but in the interval1 that night of wild tragic splendour must come1 with its thunder-bolts and showers of fire1 and unnatural horror4 ,for these elements have a true part to perform here1 as in ,lear and other plays2 they come in1 not merely as subsidiary to the 'artistic effect'--not merely because their wild ,titanic play forms an imposing harmonious accompaniment to the play of the human passions and their 'wildness'--but as a grand scientific exhibition of the element which the ,poet is pursuing under all its ,protean forms--as a most palpable and effective exhibition to the sense of that identical thing against which he has raised his eternal standard of revolt1 refusing to own1 under any name1 its mastery4 ,but one can hear1 in that wild lurid night1 in the streets of ,rome1 amid the cross blue lightnings1 what could not have been whispered in the streets of ,england then1 or spoken in the ear in closets4 ,cicero4 ,encountering ,casca in the street1 with his sword drawn4 ,good-even1 ,casca2 brought you ,caesar home8 ,why are you breathless8 and why stare you so8 ,casca4 ,are you not moved1 when all the sway of earth ,shakes like a thing unfirm8 ,o ,cicero1 ,i have seen tempests1 when the scolding winds ,have rived the knotty oaks2 and ,i have seen ,the ambitious ocean swell1 and rage and foam1 ,to be exalted with the threatening clouds2 ,but never till to-night1 never till now1 ,did ,i go through a tempest dropping fire4 ,either there is a civil strife in heaven2 ,or else the world1 too saucy with the gods1 ,incenses them to send destruction4 ,but the night has had other spectacles1 it seems1 which1 to his eye1 appeared to have some relation to the coming struggle2 in answer to ,cicero's ',why1 saw you anything more wonderful8' ,thus he describes them4 ',a common slave1--you know him1 well by sight1 ,held up his left hand1 which did flame and burn ,like twenty torches join'd4 ,against the ,capitol ,i met a lion1 ,who glared upon me1 and went surly by4' ,and he had seen1 'drawn on a head1' ',a hundred ghastly women1 ,transformed with their fears2 who swore they saw ,men1 all in fire1 walk up and down the streets4 ,and1 yesterday1 the bird of night did sit1 ,even at noon-day1 upon the market-place1 ,hooting1 and shrieking4' ,an ominous circumstance1--that last4 ,a portent sure as fate4 ,when such things begin to appear1 'men need not go to heaven to predict imminent changes4' ,cicero concedes that 'it is indeed a strange disposed time8' and inserts the statement that 'men may construe things after their fashion1 clean from the purpose of the things themselves4' ,but this is too disturbed a sky for him to walk in1 so exit ,cicero1 and enter one of another kind of mettle1 who thinks 'the night a very pleasant one to honest men2' who boasts that he has been walking about the streets 'unbraced1 baring his bosom to the thunder stone1' and playing with 'the cross blue lightning2' and when ,casca reproves him for this temerity1 he replies1 ',you are dull1 ,casca1 and those sparks of life ,that should be in a ,roman1 you do want1 ,or else you use not4' ,for as to these extraordinary phenomena in nature1 he says1 ',if you would consider the true cause ,why all these things change1 from their ordinance1 ,their natures and fore-formed faculties1 ,to monstrous quality2 why1 you shall find1 ,that heaven hath infused them with these spirits1 ,to make them instruments of fear1 and warning1 ,unto some ,,monstrous ,,state4 ,now could ,i1 ,casca1 ,name to thee a man most like this dreadful night2 ,that thunders1 lightens1 opens graves1 and roars ,as doth the lion in the ,capitol3 ,a man no mightier than thyself1 or me1 ,in personal action2 yet prodigious grown1 ,and fearful1 as these strange eruptions are4 ,casca4 ',tis ,caesar that you mean3 ,is it not1 ,cassius8 ,cassius4 ,,let ,,it ,,be ,,who ,,it is3 for ,romans now ,have thewes and limbs like to their ancestors2 ,but1 woe the while6 our fathers' minds are dead1 ,and we are govern'd with our mothers' spirits2 ,our yoke and sufferance shows us womanish4 ,casca4 ,indeed1 they say1 the senators to-morrow ,mean to establish ,caesar as a king4 ,and he shall wear his crown by sea1 and land1 ,in every place1 save here in ,italy4 ,cassius4 ,i know where ,i will wear this dagger then2 ,cassius from bondage will deliver ,cassius3 ,therein1 ye gods1 you make the weak most strong2 ,therein1 ye gods1 you tyrants do defeat3 ,nor ,,stony ,,tower1 nor walls of beaten brass1 ,nor airless dungeon1 nor strong links of iron1 ,can be retentive to the strength of spirit4 ,if ,i know this1 know all the world besides1 ,that part of tyranny1 that ,i do bear1 ,i can shake off at pleasure4 ,casca4 ,so can ,i2 ,so every bondman in his own hand bears ,the power to cancel his captivity4 ,cassius4 ,and why should ,caesar be a tyrant then8 ,poor man6 ,i know1 he would not be a wolf1 ,but that he sees the ,romans are but sheep ,he were no lion1 were not ,romans hinds4 ,those that with haste will make a mighty fire1 ,begin it with weak straws3 ,what trash is ,rome1 ,what rubbish1 and what offal1 when it serves for the base matter to illuminate ,so vile a thing as ,caesar8 ,but1 ,o grief6 ,where hast thou led me8 ,i perhaps1 speak this ,,before ,a ,,willing ,,bondman3 ,but ,i am arm'd ,and dangers are to me indifferent4 ,casca4 ,you speak to ,casca2 and to such a man1 ,that is no fleering tell-tale4 ,hold my hand3 ,be factious for redress of all these griefs3 ,and ,i will set this foot of mine as far1 ,as who goes farthest4 ,cassius4 ,there's a bargain made4 ,this is sufficiently explicit1 an unprejudiced listener would be inclined to say--indeed1 it is difficult to conceive how any more positively instructive exhibition of the subject1 could well have been made4 ,certainly no one can deny that this fact of the personal helplessness1 the physical weakness of those in whom this arbitrary power over the liberties and lives of others is vested1 seems for some reason or other to have taken strong possession of the ,poet's imagination4 ,for how else1 otherwise should he reproduce it so often1 so elaborately under such a variety of forms8--with such a stedfastness and pertinacity of purpose8 ,the fact that the power which makes these personalities so 'prodigious1' so 'monstrous1' overshadowing the world1 'shaming the ,age' with their 'colossal' individualities1 no matter what new light1 what new gifts of healing for its ills1 that age has been endowed with1 levelling all to their will1 contracting all to the limit of their stinted nature1 making of all its glories but 'rubbish1 offal to illuminate their vileness1'--the fact that the power which enables creatures like these1 to convulse nations with their whims1 and deluge them with blood1 at their pleasure1--which puts the lives and liberties of the noblest1 always most obnoxious to them1 under their heel--the fact that this power resides after all1 not in these persons themselves1--that they are utterly helpless1 pitiful1 contemptible1 in themselves2 but that it exists in the 'thewes and limbs' of those who are content to be absorbed in their personality1 who are content to make muscles for them1 in those who are content to he mere machines for the 'only one man's' will and passion to operate with1--the fact that this so fearful power lies all in the consent of those who suffer from it1 is the fact which this ,poet wishes to be permitted to communicate1 and which he will communicate in one form or another1 to those whom it concerns to know it4 ,it is a fact1 which he is not content merely to state1 however1 in so many words1 and so have done with it4 ,he will impress it on the imagination with all kinds of vivid representation4 ,he will exhaust the splendours of his ,art in uttering it4 ,he will leave a statement on this subject1 profoundly philosophical1 but one that all the world will be able to comprehend eventually1 one that the world will never be able to unlearn4 ,the single individual helplessness of the man whom the multitude1 in this case1 were ready to arm with unlimited power over their own welfare--that physical weakness1 already so strenuously insisted on by ,cassius1 at last attains its climax in the representation1 when1 in the midst of his haughtiest display of will and personal authority1 stricken by the hands of the men he scorned1 by the hand of one 'he had just spurned like a cur out of his path1' he falls at the foot of ,pompey's statue--or1 rather1 'when at the base of ,pompey's statue he lies along'--amid all the noise1 and tumult1 and rushing action of the scene that follows--through all its protracted arrangements1 its speeches1 and ceremonials--not unmarked1 indeed1--the centre of all eyes1--but1 mute1 motionless1 a thing of pity1 ',a ,,piece ,,of ,,bleeding ,,earth4' ,that helpless cry in the ,tiber1 ',save me1 ,cassius1 or ,i sink6'--that feeble cry from the sick man's bed in ,spain1 ',give me some drink1 ,titinius6'--and all that pitiful display of weakness1 moral and physical1 at the would-be coronation1 which ,casca's report conveys so unsparingly--the falling down in the street speechless1 which ,cassius emphasises with his scornful ',what8 did ,,caesar ,,swoon8'--all this makes but a part of the exhibition1 which the lamentations of ,mark ,antony complete3-- ',o mighty ,caesar1 dost thou lie so low8 ,are all thy conquests1 glories1 triumphs1 spoils1 ,shrunk to this little measure8' ,this8 and 'the eye' of the spectator1 more learned than 'his ear1' follows the speaker's eye1 and measures it4 ',fare thee well4 ,but yesterday the word of ,caesar might ,have stood against the world3 now lies he there4 ,and none so poor1 to do him reverence4' ,the ,poet's tone breaks through ,mark ,antony's2 the ,poet's finger points1 'now lies he there'--there6 ,that form which 'lies there1' with its mute eloquence speaking this ,poet's word1 is what he calls 'a ,transient ,hieroglyphic1' which makes1 he says1 'a deeper impression on minds of a certain order1 than the language of arbitrary signs2' and his 'delivery' on the most important questions will be found1 upon examination1 to derive its principal emphasis from a running text in this hand4 ',for1 in such business1' he says1 'action is eloquence1 and the eyes of the ignorant more learned than the ears4' ,or1 as he puts it in another place3 ',what is sensible always strikes the memory more strongly1 and sooner impresses itself1 than what is intellectual4 ,thus the memory of brutes is excited by sensible1 but not by intellectual things4 ,and therefore it is easier to retain the image of a sportsman hunting1 than of the corresponding notion of invention--of an apothecary ranging his boxes1 than of the corresponding notion of disposition--of an orator making a speech1 than of the term ,eloquence--or a boy repeating verses1 than the term ,memory--or of ,a ,,player acting his part1 than the corresponding notion of--,,action4' ,so1 also1 ',tom o' ,bedlam' was a better word for 'houseless misery1' than all the king's prayer1 good as it was1 about 'houseless heads1 and unfed sides1' in general1 and 'looped1 and windowed raggedness4' ',we construct1' says this author1 in another place--rejecting the ordinary history as not suitable for scientific purposes1 because it is 'varied1 and diffusive1 and confounds and disturbs the understanding1 unless it be fixed and exhibited in due order'--we construct 'tables and combinations of instances1 upon such a plan and in such order1 that the understanding be enabled to act upon them4' ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,caesar',s ,,spirit4 ,i'll meet thee at ,phillippi4 ,in ,julius ,caesar1 the most splendid and magnanimous representative of arbitrary power is selected--'the foremost man of all the world1'--even by the concession of those who condemn him to death2 so that here it is the mere abstract question as to the expediency and propriety of permitting any one man to impose his individual will on the nation4 ,whatever personalities are involved in the question here--with ,brutus1 at least--tend to bias the decision in his favour4 ,for so he tells us1 as with agitated step he walks his orchard on that wild night which succeeds his conference with ,cassius1 revolving his part1 and reading1 by the light of the exhalations whizzing in the air1 the papers that have been found thrown in at his study window4 ',it must be by his death3 and1 for my part1 ,i know no personal cause to spurn at him1 ,,but ,,for ,,the ,,general4 ,he would be crown'd3-- ,how that might change his nature1 there's the question4 ,it is the bright day that brings forth the adder2 ,and that craves wary walking4 ,crown him8 ,that2-- ,and then1 ,i grant1 we put a sting in him1 ,that at his will he may do danger with4 ,the abuse of greatness is1 when it disjoins ,remorse from power3 ,and1 to speak truth of ,caesar1 ,i have not known when his affections sway'd ,more than his reason4 ,but 't is a common proof1 ,that lowliness is young ambition's ladder1 ,whereto the climber upward turns his face3 ,but when he once attains the utmost round1 ,he then unto the ladder turns his back1 ,looks in the clouds1 scorning the base degrees ,by which he did ascend3 ,so ,caesar may2 ,then1 lest he may1 ,,prevent4 ,and1 since the quarrel1 ,will bear no colour for the thing he is1 ,fashion it thus2 that what he is1 augmented1 ,would run to these1 and these extremities3 ,and therefore think him as a serpent's egg1 ,which1 hatch'd1 would1 ,,as ,,his ,,kind1 grow mischievous2 ,,and ,,kill ,,him ,,in ,,the ,,shell4' ,pretty sentiments these1 to set before a king already engaged in so critical a contest with his subjects2 pleasant entertainment1 one would say1 for the representative of a monarchy that had contrived to wake the sleeping ,brutus in its dominions1--that was preparing1 even then1 for its own death-struggle on this very question1 which this ,brutus searches to its core so untenderly4 ',have you heard the argument8' says the 'bloat king' in ,hamlet4 ',is there no offence in it8' ,now1 let the reader suppose1 for one instant1 that this work had been produced from the outset openly1 for what any reader of common sense will perceive it to be1 with all its fire1 an elaborate1 scholarly composition1 the product of the profoundest philosophic invention1 the fruit of the ripest scholarship of the age2--let him suppose1 for argument's sake1 that it had been produced for what it is1 the work of a scholar1 and a statesman1 and a courtier1--a statesman already jealously watched1 or already1 perhaps1 in deadly collision with this very power he is defining here so largely1 and tracking to its ultimate scientific comprehensions2--and then let the reader imagine1 if he can1 ,elizabeth or ,james1 but especially ,elizabeth1 listening entranced to such passages as the one last quoted1 with an audience disposed to make points of some of the 'choice ,italian' lines in it4 ,does not all the world know that scholars1 men of reverence1 men of world-wide renown1 men of every accomplishment1 were tortured1 and mutilated1 and hung1 and beheaded1 in both these two reigns1 for writings wherein ,caesar's ambition was infinitely more obscurely hinted at--writings unspeakably less offensive to majesty than this8 ,but1 then1 a ,play was a ,play1 and old ,romans would be ,romans2 there was1 notoriously1 no royal way of managing them2 and if kings would have tragical mirth out of them1 they must take their treason in good part1 and make themselves as merry with it as they could4 ,the poor ,poet was1 of course1 no more responsible for these men than ,chaucer was for his pilgrims4 ,he but reported them4 ,and besides1 in that broad1 many-sided view of the subject which the author's evolution of it from the root involves1--in that pursuit of tyranny in essence through all its disguises1--other exhibitions of it were involved1 which might seem1 to the careless eye1 purposely designed to counteract the effect of the views above quoted4 ,the fact that mere arbitrary will1 that the individual humour and bias1 is incapable of furnishing a rule of action anywhere1--the fact that mere will1 or blind passion1 whether in the ,one1 or the ,few1 or the ,many1 should have no part1 above all1 in the business of the ,,state1--should lend no colour or bias to its administration1--the fact that 'the general good1' 'the common weal1' which is justice1 and reason1 and humanity1--the ',,one ,,only ,,man1'--should1 in some way1 under some form or other1 get to the head of that and rule1 this is all which the ,poet will contend for4 ,but1 alas1 ,,how8 ,the unspeakable difficulties in the way of the solution of this problem1--the difficulties which the radical bias in the individual human nature1 even under its noblest forms1 creates1--the difficulties which the ignorance1 and stupidity1 and passion of the multitude created then1 and still create1 appear here without any mitigation4 ,they are studiously brought out in their boldest colours4 ,there's no attempt to shade them down4 ,they make1 indeed1 the ,,tragedy4 ,and it is this general impartial treatment of his subjects which makes this author's writings1 with all their boldness1 generally1 so safe2 for it seems to leave him without any bias for any person or any party--without any opinion on any topic2 for his truth embraces and resolves all partial views1 and is as broad as nature's own4 ,and how could he better neutralise the effect of these patriotic speeches1 and prove his loyalty in the face of them1 than to show as he does1 most vigorously and effectively1 that these patriots themselves1 so rebellious to tyranny1 so opposed to the one-man power in others1 so determined to die1 rather than submit to the imposition of the humours of any man1 instead of law and justice1--were themselves but men1 and were as full of will and humours1 and as ready to tyrannise with them1 too1 upon occasion1 as ,caesar himself2 and were no more fit to be trusted with absolute power than he was1 nor1 in fact1 half so fit4 ,caesar does1 indeed1 send word to the senate--',the cause is in ,,my ,,will1 ,i will not come2 7,that is enough1' he says1 'to satisfy the senate4'7 ,and while the conspirators are exchanging glances1 and the daggers are stealing from their sheaths1 he offers the strength of his decree1 the immutability 'of his absolute shall1' to the suppliant for his brother's pardon4 ,but then ,portia gives us to understand1 that she1 too1 has her private troubles2--that even that excellent man1 ,brutus1 is not without his moods in his domestic administrations1--for on one occasion1 when he treats her to 'ungentle looks1' and 'stamps his foot1' and angrily gesticulates her out of his presence1 she makes good her retreat1 thinking 'it was but the effect of humour1 which1' she says1 'sometime hath his hour with every man'2 and1 good and patriotic as ,brutus truly is1 ,cassius perceives1 upon experiment1 that after all he too is but a man1 and1 with a particular and private nature1 as well as a larger one 'which is the worthier1' and not unassailable through that 'single ,i myself'3 he1 too1 may be 'thawed from the true quality with that which melteth fools1'--with words that flatter 'his particular4' ,in his conference with him1 ,cassius addresses himself skilfully to this weakness2--he poises the name of ,caesar with that of ,brutus1 and1 at the last1 he clinches his patriotic appeal1 with an appeal to his personal sentiment1 of baffled1 mortified emulation2 for those writings1 thrown in at his window1 purporting to come from several citizens1 'all tended to the great opinion that ,rome held of his name2' and1 alas6 the ,poet will not tell us that this did not unconsciously wake1 in that pure mind1 the feather's-weight that was perhaps needed to turn the scale4 ,and the very children know1 by heart1 what a time there was between these two men afterwards1 these men that had 'struck the foremost man of all the world1' and had congratulated themselves that it was not murder1 and that they were not villains1 because it was for justice4 ,precious disclosures we have in this scene4 ,it is this very ,cassius1 this patriot1 who had as lief not ,,be as submit to injustice2 who brings his avaricious humour1 'his itching palm1' into the state1 and 'sells and marts his offices for gold1 to undeservers4' ,brutus does indeed come down upon him with a most unlimited burst of patriotic indignation1 which looks1 at first1 like a mere frenzy of honest disgust at wrong in the abstract1 in spite of the partiality of friendship2 but1 when ,cassius charges him1 afterwards1 with exaggerating his friend's infirmities1 he says1 frankly1 ',i did not1 till you practised them on ,,me4' ,and we find1 as the dialogue proceeds1 that it is indeed a personal matter with him3 ,cassius has refused him gold to pay his legions with4 ,and see1 now1 what kind of taunt it is1 that ,brutus throws in this same patriot's face after it had been proclaimed1 by his order1 through the streets of ,rome1 that ,tyranny 'is dead'3 after ,cassius had shouted through his own lungs4 ',some to the common pulpits1 and cry out ,,liberty1 ,,freedom1 ,,enfranchisement4' 7,enfranchisement87 ,it would have been strange1 indeed1 if in so general and philosophical a view of the question1 that sacred1 domestic institution1 which1 through all this sublime frenzy for equal rights1 maintained itself so peacefully under the patriot's roof1 had escaped without a touch4 ,brutus says3-- ',hear me1 for ,i will speak4 ,must ,i give way and room to your rash choler8 ,shall ,i be frighted when a madman stares8' ',look when ,i stare1 see how the subject quakes4' ,this sounds1 already1 as if ,tyranny were not quite dead4 ',cassius4 ,o ye gods1 ye gods1 must ,i endure all this6 ,brutus4 ,all this8 ay more3 ,fret till your proud heart break2 ,go1 show ,,your ,,slaves how choleric you are1 ,and bid ,,your ,,bondmen tremble4 ,must ,i budge8 ,must ,i observe you8 ,must ,i stand and crouch ,under your testy humour8 ,by the gods1 ,you shall digest the venom of your spleen ,though it do split you4' ,so it was a mistake1 then1 it seems2 and1 notwithstanding that shout of triumph1 and that bloody flourishing of knives1 ,tyranny was not dead4 ,but one cannot help thinking that that shout must have sounded rather strangely in an ,english theatre just then1 and that it was a somewhat delicate experiment to give ,brutus his pulpit on the stage1 to harangue the people from4 ,but the author knew what he was doing4 ,that cold1 stilted harangue1 that logical chopping on the side of freedom1 was not going to set fire to any one's blood2 and was not there ,mark ,antony that plain1 blunt man1 coming directly after ,brutus1--'with his eyes as red as fire with weeping1' with 'the mantle1' of the military hero1 the popular favourite1 in his hand1 with his glowing oratory1 with his sweet words1 and his skilful appeal to the passions of the people1 under his plain1 blunt professions1--to wipe out every trace of ,brutus's reasons1 and lead them whither he would2 and would not the moral of it all be1 that with such ,a ,,people1--with such a power as that1 behind the state1 there was no use in killing ,caesars--that ,tyranny could not die4 ',i fear there will a worse one come in his place4' ,but this is ,rome in her decline1 that the artist touches here so boldly4 ,but what now1 if old ,rome herself1--plebeian ,rome1 in the deadliest onset of her struggle against tyranny1 ,rome lashed into fury and conscious strength1 rising from under the hard heel of her oppressors2 what if ,rome1 in the act of creating her ,tribunes2 or1 if ,rome1 with her ,tribunes at her head1 wresting from her oppressors a constitutional establishment of popular rights1--what if this could be exhibited1 by permission2 what bounds as to the freedom of the discussion would it be possible to establish afterwards8 ,there had been no ,national ,latin ,tragedy1 ,frederic ,schlegel suggests1--because no ,latin ,dramatist could venture to do this very thing2 but of course ,caesar or ,coriolanus on the ,tiber was one thing1 and ,caesar or ,coriolanus on the ,thames was another2 and an ,english author might be allowed1 then1 to say of the one1 with impunity1 what it would certainly have cost him his good right hand1 or his ears1 or his head1 to say of the other1--what it did cost the ,founder of this school in philosophy his head1 to be suspected of saying of the other4 ,nevertheless1 the great question between an arbitrary and a constitutional government1 the principle of a government which vests the whole power of the state in the uncontrolled will of a single individual member of it2 the whole history and philosophy of a military government1 from its origin in the heroic ages1--from the crowning of the military hero on the battle field in the moment of victory1 to the final consummation of its conquest of the liberty of the subject1 could be as clearly set forth under the one form as the other2 not without some startling specialities in the filling up1 too1 with a tone in the details now and then1 to say the least1 not exclusively antique1 for this was a mode of treating classical subjects in that age1 too common to attract attention4 ,and thus1 whole plays could be written out and out1 on this very subject4 ,take1 for instance1 but these two1 ,coriolanus and ,julius ,caesar1--plays in which1 by a skilful distribution of the argument and the action1 with a skilful interchange of parts now and then1--the boldest passages being put alternately into the mouths of the ,tribunes and ,patricians1--that great question1 which was so soon to become the outspoken question of the nation and the age1 could already be discussed in all its vexed and complicated relations1 in all its aspects and bearings1 as deliberately as it could be to-day2 exactly as it was1 in fact1 discussed not long afterwards in swarms of ,english pamphlets1 in harangues from ,english pulpits1 in ,english parliaments and on ,english battle-fields1--exactly as it was discussed when that 'lofty ,roman scene' came 'to be acted over' here1 with the cold-blooded prosaic formalities of an ,english judicature4 ,,coriolanus ,,the ,,question ,,of ,,the ,,consulship2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,scientific ,,cure ,,of ,,the ,,common-,,weal ,,propounded4 ',well1 march we on ,to give obedience where 'tis truly owed3 ,meet we the medicine of the sickly weal1 ,and with him1 pour we in our country's purge ,each drop of us4 ,or so much as it needs ,to dew the sovereign ,flower1 and drown the weeds'--,macbeth4 ',have you heard the argument8' ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,elizabethan ,,heroism4 ',mildly is the word4' ',in a better hour1 ,let what is meet be said it must be meet1 ,and throw their power in the dust4' ,it is the ,military ,chieftain of ancient ,rome who pronounces here the words in which the argument of the ,elizabethan revolutionist is so tersely comprehended4 ,it is the representative of an heroic aristocracy1 not one of ancient privilege merely1 not one armed with parchments only1 claiming descent from heroes2 but the yet living leaders of the rabble people to military conquest1 and the only leaders who are understood to be able to marshal from their ranks an effective force for military defence4 ,but this is not all4 ,the scope of the poetic design requires here1 under the sheath which this dramatic exhibition of an ancient aristocracy offers it1 the impersonation of another and more sovereign difference in men2 and this poet has ends to serve1 to which a mere historical accuracy in the reproduction of this ancient struggle of state-factions1 in an extinct ,european common-wealth1 is of little consequence2 though he is not wanting in that either1 or indifferent to it1 when occasion serves4 ,from the speeches inserted here and there1 we find that this is at the same time an aristocracy of learning which is put upon the stage here1 that it is an aristocracy of statesmanship and civil ability1 that it is composed of the select men of the state1 and not its elect only2 that it is the true and natural head of the healthful body politic1 and not 'the horn of the monster' only4 ,this is the aristocracy which appears to be in session in the background of this piece at least1 and we are not without some occasional glimpses of their proceedings1 and this is the element of the poetic combination which comes out in the dialogue1 whenever the necessary question of the play requires it4 ,for it is the collision between the civil interests and the interests which the unlearned heroic ages enthrone1 that is coming off here4 ,it is the collision between the government which uneducated masses of men create and confirm1 and recreate in any age1 and the government which the enlightened man 'in a better hour' demands1 which the common sense and sentiment of man1 as distinguished from the brute1 demands1 whether in the one1 or the few1 or the many4--,this is the struggle which is getting into form and order here1--here first4 ,these are the parties to it1 and in the reign of the last of the ,tudors and the first of the ,stuarts1 they must be content to fight it out on any stage which their time can afford to lease to them for that performance1 without being over scrupulous as to the names of the actors1 or the historical correctness of the costumes1 and other particulars2 not minding a little shuffling in the parts1 now and then1 if it suits their poet's convenience1 who has no conscience at all on such points1 and who is of the opinion that this is the very stage which an action of such gravity ought to be exhibited on1 in the first place2 and that a very careful and critical rehearsal of it here1 ought to precede the performance elsewhere2 though a contrary opinion was not then without its advocates4 ,it is as the mouth-piece of this intellectual faction in the state1 while it is as yet an aristocracy1 contending with the physical force of it1 struggling for the mastery of it with its numerical majority2 it is the ,man in the state1 the new ,,man struggling with the chief which a popular ignorance has endowed with dominion over him2 it is the ,,hero who contends for the majesty of reason and the kingdom of the mind1 it is the new speaker1 the new1 and now at last1 commanding speaker for that law1 which was old when this myth was named1 which was not of yesterday when ,antigone quoted it1 who speaks now from this ,roman's lips1 these words of doom1--the reflection on the 'times deceased1' the prophecy of 'things not yet come to life1' the word of new ages4 ',in ,a ,,rebellion1 ,when what's not ,,meet1 but what must be1 was law1 ,,then ,,were ,,they ,,chosen3 in a better hour ,let what is meet be said it must be meet1 ,and throw their power in the dust4' ,not in the old1 sombre1 ,etruscan streets of ancient ,rome1 not where the ,roman market-place1 joined the ,capitoline hill and began to ascend it1 crossed the road from ,palatinus thither1 and began to obstruct it1 not in the courts and colonnades of the primeval hill of palaces1 were the terms of this proposal found4 ,and not from the old logician's chair1 was the sweep of their comprehension made2 not in any ancient school of rhetoric or logic were they cast and locked in that conjunction4 ,it was another kind of weapon that the old ,roman ,jove had to take in hand1 when amid the din of the ,roman forum1 he awoke at last from his bronze and marble1 to his empirical struggle1 his unlearned1 experimental struggle with the wolf and her nursling1 with his own baptized1 red-robed1 usurping ,mars4 ,it was not with any such subtlety as this1 that the struggle of state forces which1 under one name or another1 sooner or later1 in the ,european states is sure to come1 had hitherto been conducted4 ,and not from the lips of the haughty patrician chief1 rising from the dust of ages at the spell of genius1 to encounter his old plebeian vanquishers1 and fight his long-lost battles o'er again1 at a showman's bidding1 for a showman's greed--to be stung anew into patrician scorn--to repeat those rattling volleys of the old martial ,latin wrath1 'in states unborn' and 'accents then unknown1' for an hour's idle entertainment1 for 'a six-pen'orth or shilling's worth' of gaping amusement to a playhouse throng1 not--,,not from any such source came that utterance4 ,it came from the council-table of a sovereignty that was plotting here in secret then the empire that the sun shall not set on2 whose beginning only1 we have seen4 ,it came from the secret chamber of a new union and society of men1--a union based on a new and1 for the first time1 scientific acquaintance with the nature that is in men1 with the sovereignty that is in all men4 ,it was the ,poet of this society who put those words together--the ,poet who has heard all its pros and cons1 who reports them all1 and gives to them all their exact weight in the new balance of his decisions4 ,among other things1 it was understood in this association1 that the power1 which was at that time supreme in ,england1 was in fact1 though not in name1 a popular power1--a power1 at least1 sustained only by the popular will1 though men had not1 indeed1 as yet1 begun to perceive that momentous circumstance1--a power which1 being 'but the horn and noise o' the monster1' was able to oppose its 'absolute shall' to the embodied wisdom of the state1--not to its ancient immemorial government only1 but to 'its chartered liberties in the body of the weal1' and 'to a graver bench than ever frowned in ,greece'2 and the ,poet has put on his record of debates on those 'questions of gravity1' that were agitating then this secret ,chamber of ,peers1 a distinct demand on the part of this ancient leadership1--the leadership of 'the honoured number1' the honourable and right honourable few1 that this mass of ignorance1 and stupidity1 and blind custom1 and incapacity for rule1--this combination of mere instinctive force1 which the physical majority in unlearned times constitutes1 which supplies1 in its want1 and ignorance1 and passivity1 and in its passionate admiration of heroism and love of leadership1 the ready material of tyranny1 shall be annihilated1 and cease to have any leadership or voice in the state2 and this demand is put by the ,poet into the mouth of one who cannot see from his point of observation--with his ineffable contempt for the people--what the ,poet sees from his1 that the demand1 as he puts it1 is simply 'the impossible4' ,for this is a question in the mixed mathematics1 and 'the greater part carries it4' ,that instinctive1 unintelligent force in the state--that blind volcanic force--which foolish states dare to keep pent up within them1 is that which the philosopher's eye is intent on also2 he1 too1 has marked this as the primary source of mischief1--he1 too1 is at war with it1--he1 too1 would annihilate it2 but he has his own mode of warfare for it2 he thinks it must be done with ,apollo's own darts1 if it be done when 'tis done1 and not with the military chieftain's weapon4 ,this work is one in which the question of heroism and nobility is scientifically treated1 and in the most rigid manner1 'by line and level1' and through that representative form in which the historical pretence of it is tried1--through that scientific negation1 with its merely instinctive1 vulgar1 unlearned ambition--with its monstrous 'outstretching' on the one hand1 and its dwarfish limitations on the other1--through all that finely drawn1 historic picture of that which claims the human subjection1 the clear scientific lines of the true ideal type are visible1--the outline of the true nobility and government is visible1--towering above that detected insufficiency1 into the perfection of the human form1--into the heaven of the true divineness1--into the chair of the perpetual dictatorship1--into the consulship whose year revolves not1 whose year is the state4 ,neither is this true affirmation here in the form of a scientific abstraction merely4 ,it is not here in the general merely4 ',the ,instance1' the particular impersonation of nobility and heroism1 which this play exhibits1 is1 indeed1 the false heroism and nobility4 ,it is the hitherto uncriticised1 and1 therefore1 uncorrected1 popular affirmation on this subject which is embodied here1 and this turns out to be1 as usual1 the clearest scientific negative that could be invented4 ,but in the design1 and in all the labour of this piece1--in the steadfast purpose that is always working out that definition1 with its so exquisite1 but thankless1 unowned1 unrecognised toil1 graving it and pointing it with its pen of diamond in the rock for ever1 approving itself 'to the ,workmaster' only1--in this incessant design1--in this veiled1 mysterious authorship1--an historical approximation to the true type of magnanimity and heroism is always present4 ,but there is more in it than this4 ,it is the old popular notion of heroism which fills the foreground2 but the ,elizabethan heroism is always lurking behind it1 watching its moment1 ready to seize it2 and under that cover1 it contrives to advance and pronounce many words1 which1 in its own name and form1 it could not then have been so prosperously delivered of4 ,under the disguise of that historical impersonation--under the mask of that old ,roman hero1 other1 quite other1 heroic forms--historic forms--not less illustrious1 not less memorable1 from time to time steal in2 and ere we know it1 the suppressed ,elizabethan men are on the stage1 and the ,theatre is1 indeed1 the ,globe2 and it is shaking and flashing with the iron heel and the thunder of their leadership2 and the thrones of oppression are downfalling2 and the ages that seemed 'far off1' the ages that were nigh1 are there--are there as they are here4 ,the historical position of the men who could entertain the views which this ,play embodies1 in the age in which it was written--the whole position of the men in whom this idea of nobility and government was already struggling to become historical--flashes out from that obscure back-ground into the most vivid historical representation1 when once the light--'the great light' which 'the times give to true interpretations'--has been brought to bear upon it4 ,and it does so happen1 that that is the light which we are particularly directed to hold up to this particular play1 and1 what is more1 to this particular point in it4 ',so our virtues1' says the old ,volscian captain1 ,tullus ,aufidius1 lamenting the limitations of his historical position1 and apologizing for the figure he makes in history-- ',so our virtues ,lie in the interpretation of ,,the ,,times4' ',,the ,,times1 in many cases1 give great light to true interpretations1' says the other1 speaking of books1 and the method of reading them2 but this one applies that suggestion particularly to lives4 ',and power1 unto itself most commendable1 ,hath not a tomb so evident as a hair ,to extol what it hath done4' ,the spirit of the ,elizabethan heroism is indeed here1 and under the cover of this old ,roman story2 and under cover of those so marked differences in the positions which suffice to detain the unstudious eye1 through the medium of that which is common under those differences1 the history of the ,elizabethan heroism is here also4 ,the spirit of it is here1 not in that subtler nature only--that yet1 perhaps1 subtler1 calmer1 stronger nature1 in which 'blood and judgment were so well co-mingled'--so well1 in such new degree and proportion1 that their balance made a new force1 a new generative force1 in history--not in that one only1 the one in whom this new historic form is visible and palpable already1 but in the haughtier and more unbending historic attitude1 at least1 of his great 'co-mate and brother in exile4' ,it is here in the form of the great military chieftain of that new heroic line1 who found himself1 with all his strategy1 involved in a single-handed contest with the state and its whole physical strength1 in his contest with that personal power in whose single arm1 in whose miserable finger-joints1 the state and all its force then lay4 ,under that old1 threadbare1 martial cloak1--under the safe disguise of martial tyranny in 'the few1'--whenever the business of the play requires it1 whenever 'his cue comes1' he is there4 ,under that old1 rusty ,roman helmet1 his smothered speech1 his 'speech of fire1' his passionate speech1 'forbid so long1' drops thick and fast1 drops unquenched at last1 and glows for ever4 ,it is the headless ,banquo--'the blood-boltered ,banquo'--that stalks through that shadowy background all unharmed2 his ,fleance lives1 and in him ',nature's copy is eterne4' ,his house of kings1 with gold-bound brows1 and sceptres in their hands1 with two-fold balls and sceptres in their hands--are here filling the stage1 and claiming it to the crack of doom2 and now he 'smiles1' he smiles upon his baffled foe1 'and points at them for ,,his4' ,the whole difficulty of this great ,elizabethan position1 and the moral of it1 is most carefully and elaborately exhibited here4 ,no plea at the bar was ever more finely and eloquently laboured4 ,it was for the bar of 'foreign nations and future ages' that this defence was prepared3 the speaker who speaks so 'pressly1' is the lawyer2 and there is nothing left unsaid at last4 ,but it is not exhibited in words merely4 ,it is acted4 ,it is brought out dramatically4 ,it is presented to the eye as well as to the ear4 ,the impossibility of any other mode of proceeding under those conditions is not demonstrated in this instance by a diagram1 drawn on a piece of paper1 and handed about among the jury2 it is not an exact drawing of the street1 and the house1 and the corner where the difficulty occurred1 with the number of yards and feet put down in ink or pencil marks2 it is something much more lively and tangible than that which we have here1 under pardon of this old ,roman myth4 ,for the story1 as to this element of it1 is indeed not new4 ,the story of the struggle of the few with the many1 of the one with the many1 of the one with 'the many-headed1' is indeed an old one4 ,back into the days of demi-gods and gods it takes us4 ,it is the story of the celestial ,titan1 with his benefactions for men1 and force and strength1 with art to aid them--reluctant art--compelled to serve their ends1 enringing his limbs1 and driving hard the stakes4 ,here1 indeed1 in the ,fable1 in the proper hero of it1 it is the struggle of the 'partliness' of pride and selfish ambition1 lifting itself up in the place of ,god1 and arraying itself against the common-weal1 as well as the common-will2 but the physical relation of the one to the many1 the position of the individual who differs from his time on radical questions1 the relative strength of the parties to this war1 and the weapons and the mode of warfare inevitably prescribed to the minority under such conditions--all this is carefully brought out from the speciality of this instance1 and presented in its most general form2 and the application of the result to the position of the man who contends for the common-weal1 against the selfish will1 and passion1 and narrowness1 and short-sightedness of the multitude1 is distinctly made4 ,yes1 the ,elizabethan part is here2 that all-unappreciated and odious part1 which the great men of the ,elizabethan time found forced upon them2 that most odious part of all1 which1 the greatest of his time found forced upon him as the condition of his greatness4 ,it is here already1 negatively defined1 in this passionate defiance1 which rings out at last in the ,roman street1 when the hero's pride bursts through his resolve1 when he breaks down at last in his studied part1 and all considerations of policy1 all regard to that which was dearer to him than 'his single mould1' is given to the winds in the tempest of his wrath1 and he stands at bay1 and confronts alone 'the beast with many heads4' ,it is thus that he measures the man he contends with1 the antagonist who is but 'the horn and noise of the monster'3-- ',thou injurious ,,tribune6 ,within thine eyes sat twenty thousand deaths1 ,in thy hands clenched as many millions1 in ,thy lying tongue both numbers1 ,i would say1 ,thou liest1 unto thee1 with voice as free ,as ,i do pray the gods4' ,but there was a heroism of a finer strain than that at work in ,england then1 imitating the graces of the gods to better purpose2 a heroism which must fight a harder field than that1 which must fight its own great battles through alone1 without acclamations1 without spectators2 which must come off victorious1 and never count its 'cicatrices1' or claim 'the war's garland4' ,if we would know the secret of those struggles1 those hard conflicts that were going on here then1 in whose results all the future ages of mankind were concerned1 we must penetrate with this ,poet the secret of the ,roman patrician's house2 we must listen1 through that thin poetic barrier1 to the great chief himself1 the chief of the unborn age of a new civilization--the leader1 and hero1 and conqueror of the ages of ,peace--as he enters and paces his own hall1 with the angry fire in his eyes1 and utters there the words for which there is no utterance without--as he listens there anew to the argument of that for which he lives1 and seeks to reconcile himself anew to that baseness which his time demands of him4 ,we must seek1 here1 not the part of him only who endured long and much1 but was1 at last1 provoked into a premature boldness1 and involved in a fatal collision with the state1 but that of him who endured to the end1 who played his life-long part without self-betrayal4 ,we must seek1 here1 not the part of the great martial chieftain only1 but the part of that heroic chief and leader of men and ages1 who discovered1 in the sixteenth century1 when the chivalry of the sword was still exalting its standard of honour as supreme1 when the law of the sword was still the world's law1 that brute instinct was not the true valour1 that there was a better part of it than instinct1 though he knows and confesses1--though he is the first to discover1 that instinct is a great matter4 ,we must seek1 here1 the words1 the very words of that part which we shall find acted elsewhere1--the part of the chief who was determined1 for his part1 'to live and fight another day1' who was not willing to spend himself in such conflicts as those in which he saw his most illustrious contemporaries perish at his side1 on his right hand and on his left1 in the reign of the ,tudor1 and in the reign of the ,stuart4 ,and he has not been at all sparing of his hints on this subject over his own name1 for those who have leisure to take them4 ',the moral of this fable is1' he says1 commenting in a certain place1 on the wisdom of the ,ancients1 'that men should not be confident of themselves1 and imagine that a discovery of their excellences will always render them acceptable4 ,for this can only succeed according to the nature and manners of the person they court or solicit1 who1 if he be a man not of the same gifts and endowments1 but altogether of a haughty and insolent behaviour--7here represented by the person of ,juno7--they must entirely drop the character that carries the least show of worth or gracefulness2 if they proceed upon any other footing it is downright folly4 ,nor is it sufficient to act the deformity of obsequiousness1 unless they really change themselves1 and become abject and contemptible in their persons4' ,this was a time when abject and contemptible persons could do what others could not do4 ,large enterprises1 new developments of art and science1 the most radical social innovations1 were undertaken and managed1 and very successfully1 too1 in that age1 by persons of that description1 though not without frequent glances on their part1 at that little1 apparently somewhat contradictory circumstance1 in their history4 ,but the fables in which the wisdom of the ,moderns1 and the secrets of their sages are lodged1 are the fables we are unlocking here4 ,let us listen to these 'secrets of policy' for ourselves1 and not take them on trust any longer4 ,a room in ,coriolanus's house4 ,enter ,coriolanus and ,patricians4 ,cor4 ,let them pull all about mine ears1 present me ,death on the wheel1 or at wild horses' heels1 ,or pile ten hills on the ,tarpeian rock ,that the precipitation might down stretch ,below the beam of sight1 yet will ,i still ,be thus to them4 ,under certain conditions that is heroism1 no doubt4 ,first ,patrician4 ,you do the nobler4 ,for the question is of ,,nobility4 ,cor4 ,i muse my mother ,does not approve me further4 ,i talk of you4 ,to ,volumnia4 ,why did you wish me milder8 ,would you have me ,false to my nature8 ,rather say ,i play ,the man ,i am4 ,vol4 ,o sir1 sir1 sir1 ,i would have had you put your power well on ,before you had worn it out4 ,lesser had been ,the thwarting of your dispositions1 if ,you had not show'd them how you were disposed1 ,ere they lacked power to cross you4 99 99 99 99 99 ,enter ,menenius and ,senators4 ,men4 ,come1 come1 you have been too rough ,something too rough2 ,you must return1 and mend it4 #a ,sen4 ,there's no remedy1 ,unless1 by not so doing1 our good city ,cleave in the midst and perish4 ,vol4 ,pray be counselled3 ,i have a heart as little apt as yours ,but yet a brain hear that leads my use of anger ,to better vantage4 ,men4 ,well said1 noble woman2 ,before he should thus stoop to the herd1 but that ,the ,,violent ,,pit ,o' ,,the ,,time1 craves it as ,,physic ,for the ,,whole ,,state1 ,i would put mine armour on1 ,which ,i can scarcely bear4 ,it is the diseased common-weal whose case this ,doctor is undertaking4 ,that is our subject4 ,cor4 ,what must ,i do8 ,men4 ,return to the ,tribunes4 ,cor4 ,well1 ,what then8 what then8 ,men4 ,repent what you have spoke4 ,cor4 ,for them8 ,i can not do it to the gods3 ,must ,i then do't to them8 ,vol4 ,you are too absolute2 ,though therein you can never be too noble ,but when extremities speak4 ,i have heard you say1 ,,honor and ,,policy hear like unsevered friends ,i' the war do grow together3 ,grant that1 and tell me4 ,in peace1 what each of them by the other loses ,that they combine not there8 ,cor4 ,tush2 tush6 ,men4 ,a good demand4 ,vol4 ,if it be honor1 in your wars1 to seem ,the same you are not1 7which ,,for ,,your ,,best ,,ends ,you adopt your policy71 how is it less1 or worse ,that it shall hold companionship in peace ,with honor1 as in war2 since that to both ,it stands in like request8 ,cor4 ,why force you this8 ,truly4 ,vol4 ,because that now1 ,,it ,,lies ,,on ,,you to speak ,to the people1 not by your own instruction1 ,nor by the matter which your heart prompts you to1 ,but with such words that are but rated in ,your tongue though but bastards and syllables ,of no allowance1 to your bosom's truth4 ,now this no more dishonors you at all1 ,than to take in a town with gentle words1 ,which else would put you to your fortune1 and ,,the ,,hazard of ,,much ,,blood4--,hear4 ,i would dissemble with my nature1 where ,my fortune and my friends at stake required ,i should do so in honor4 ,i am in this2 ,your wife1 your son1 these senators1 the nobles1 ,and you will rather show our general lowts ,how you can frown1 than spend a fawn upon them4 ,for the inheritance of their loves1 and safe-guard ,of what that want might ruin hear ,,noble lady6 ,come go with us4 ,speak fair3 you may salve so1 ,it is the diseased common-weal we talk of still4 ,you may salve so1 ,not what is dangerous present1 but the loss ,of what is past4 ,that was this ,doctor's method1 who was a ,doctor of ,laws as well as ,medicine1 and very skilful in medicines 'palliative' as well as 'alterative4' ,vol4 ,i pry'thee now1 my son1 ,go to them with this bonnet in thy hand1 ,and thus far having stretched it 7here be with them71 ,thy knee bussing the stones1 for in such business ,action is eloquence1 and the eyes of the ignorant ,more learned than the ears--waving thy head1 ,which often thus1 correcting thy stout heart1 ,now humble as the ripest mulberry ,that will not hold the handling3 or say to them3 ,thou art their soldier1 and being bred in broils1 ,hast not the soft way1 which thou dost confess ,were fit for thee to use1 as they to claim1 ,in asking their good loves2 but thou wilt frame ,thyself forsooth hereafter theirs1 so far ,as thou hast power and person4 ,pry'thee now ,go and be ruled3 although ,i know thou hadst rather ,follow thine enemy in a fiery gulf ,than flatter him in a bower4 ,here is ,cominius4 ,enter ,cominius4 ,com4 ,i have been i' the market-place1 and1 sir1 'tis fit ,you make ,,strong ,,party1 or defend yourself ,by ,,calmness1 or by ,,absence4 ,,all's in anger4 ,men4 ,only fair speech4 ,i think 'twill serve1 if he ,can thereto frame his spirit4 ,vol4 ,he must1 and will4 ,pry'thee now say you will and go about it4 ,cor4 ,must ,i go show them my unbarbed sconce8 ,must ,i ,with my base tongue1 give to my noble heart ,a lie that it must bear8 ,well1 ,i will do't3 ,yet were there but this single plot to lose1 ,this mould of ,marcius1 they1 to dust should grind it1 ,and throw it against the wind2--to the market-place2 ,you have put me now to such a part1 which never ,i shall discharge to the life4 ,com4 ,come1 come1 we'll prompt you4 ,vol4 ,i pry'thee now1 sweet son1 as thou hast said1 ,my praises made thee first a soldier --,volumnia--1 so ,to have my praise for this1 perform a part ,than hast not done before4 ,cor4 ,well1 ,i must do't4 ,away my disposition1 and possess me ,some harlot's spirit6 ,my throat of war be turned1 ,which quired with my drum into a pipe6 ,small as an eunuch's or the virgin voice ,that babies lulls asleep6 ,the smiles of knaves ,tent in my cheeks2 and school-boy's tears take up ,the glasses of my sight6 ,a beggar's tongue ,make motion through my lips2 and my arm'd knees ,who bowed but in my stirrup1 bend like his ,that hath received an alms4 ,i will not do't1 ,lest ,i surcease to honor mine own truth1 ,and by my body's action teach my mind ,a most inherent baseness4 ,vol4 ,at thy choice1 then2 ,to beg of thee1 it is my more dishonor ,than thou of them4 ,come all to ruin2 let ,thy mother rather feel thy pride1 than fear ,thy dangerous stoutness1 for ,i mock at death ,with as big a heart as thou4 ,do as thou list4 ,thy valiantness was mine1 thou suck'dst it from me1 ,but owe thy pride thyself4 ,cor4 ,pray be content4 ,mother ,i am going to the market place1 ,chide me no more4 ,i'll mountebank their loves1 ,cog their hearts from them1 and come back beloved ,of all the trades in ,rome4--,that he will-- ,look ,i am going4 ,commend me to my wife4 ,i'll return ,consul --,that he will-- ,or never trust to what my tongue can do1 ,i' the way of flattery further4 ,vol4 ,do your will4 ,exit4 ,com4 ,away1 the tribunes do attend you3 arm yourself ,to answer mildly2 for they are prepared ,with accusations as ,i hear more strong ,than are upon you yet4 ,cor4 ,the word is mildly3 ,pray you let us go1 ,let them accuse me by invention1 ,i ,will answer in mine honor4 ,men4 ,ay1 but mildly4 ,cor4 ,well1 mildly be it then1 mildly4 ,the ,forum4 ,enter ,coriolanus and his party4 ,tribune4 ,well1 here he comes4 ,men4 ,calmly1 ,i do beseech you4 ,cor4 ,ay1 as an ostler1 that for the poorest piece ,will bear the knave by the volume4 ,the honoured gods ,keep ,rome in safety1 and the ,,chairs of justice ,supplied with ,,worthy ,,men2 plant ,,love among us4 ,throng ,,our ,,large ,,temples with the shows of ,,peace1 ,and ,,not our ,,streets with ,,war4 ,sen4 ,,amen6 ,,amen6 ,men4 ,a ,,noble wish4 ,thus far the ,poet3 but the mask through which he speaks is wanted for other purposes1 for these occasional auto-biographical glimpses are but the side play of the great historical exhibition which is in progress here1 and are introduced in entire subordination to its requisitions4 ,it is1 indeed1 an old story into which all this ,elizabethan history is crowded4 ,that mimic scene in which the great historic instances in the science of human nature and human life were brought out with such scientific accuracy1 and with such matchless artistic power and splendour1 was1 in fact1 what the ,poet himself1 who ought to know1 tells us it is2 with so much emphasis1--not merely the mirror of nature in general1 but the daguerreotype of the then yet living age1 the plate which was able to give to the very body of it1 its form and pressure4 ,that is what it was4 ,and what is more1 it was the only ,mirror1 the only ,spectator1 the only ,times1 in which the times could get reflected and deliberated on then1 with any degree of freedom and vivacity4 ,and yet there were minds here in ,england then1 as acute1 as reflective1 as able to lead the popular mind as those that compose our leaders and reviews today4 ,there was a mind here then1 reflecting not 'ages past' only1 but one that had taken its knowledge of the past from the present1 that found 'in all men's lives1' a history figuring the nature of the times deceased2 prophetic also3 and this was the mind of the one who writes 'spirits are not finely touched but to fine issues4' ,they had to take old stories1--these sly1 ambitious aspirants to power1 who were not disposed to give up their natural right to dictate1 for the lack of an organ1 or because they found the proper insignia of their office usurped3 it was necessary that they should take old stories1 or invent new ones1 'to make those slights upon the banks of ,thames1 that so did take' not ',eliza and our ,james' only1 but that people of whom ',eliza and our ,james' were only 'the outstretched shadows1' 'the monster1' of whose 'noise' these sovereigns1 as the author of this play took it1 were 'but the horn4' ,they had to take old stories of one kind and another1 as they happened to find them1 and vamp them up to suit their purposes2 stories1 old or new1 they did not much care which4 ,old and memorable ones1 so memorable that the world herself with her great faculty of oblivion1 could not forget them1 but carried them in her mind from age to age1--stories so memorable that all men knew them by heart1--so the author could find one to his purpose1--were best for some things1--for many things2 but for others new ones must be invented2 and certainly there would be no difficulty as to that1 for lack of gifts at least1 in the mind whence these old ones were coming out so freshly1 in the gloss of their new-coined immortality4 ,it is1 indeed1 an old story that we have here1 a story of that ancient ,rome1 whose 'just1 free and flourishing state1' the author of this new science of policy confesses himself1--under his universal name1--so childishly enamoured of1 that he interests himself in it to a degree of passion1 though he 'neither loves it in its birth or its decline1'--under its kings or its emperors4--,it is a story of ,republican ,rome1 and the difference1 the radical difference1 between the civil magistracy which represented the ,roman people1 and that unconstitutional popular power which the popular tyranny creates1 is by no means omitted in the exposition4 ,that difference1 indeed1 is that which makes the representation possible2 it is brought out and insisted on1 'they choose their officers2' it is a difference which is made much of1 for it contains one of the radical points in the poetic intention4 ,but without going into the argument1 the large and comprehensive argument1 of this most rich and grave and splendid composition1 crowded from the first line of it to the last1 with the results of a political learning which has no match in letters1 which had none then1 which has none now2 no1 or the world would be in another case than it is1 for it is a political learning which has its roots in the new philosophy1 it is grounded in the philosophy of the nature of things1 it is radical as the ,prima ,philosophia1--without attempting to exhaust the meaning of a work embodying through all its unsurpassed vigor and vivacity of poetic representation1 the new philosophic statesman's ripest lore1 the patient fruits of 'observation strange1'--without going into his argument of the whole1 the reader who merely wishes to see for himself1 at a glance1 in a word1 as a matter of curiosity merely2 whether the view here given of the political sagacity and prescience of the ,elizabethan ,man of ,letters1 is in the least chargeable with exaggeration1 has only to look at the context of that revolutionary speech and proposal1 that revolutionary burst of eloquence which has been here claimed as a proper historical issue of the age of ,elizabeth4 ,he will not have to read very far to satisfy himself as to that4 ,it will be necessary1 indeed1 for that purpose1 that he should have eyes in his head1 eyes not purely idiotic1 but with the ordinary amount of human speculation in them1 and1 moreover1 it will be necessary that he should use them1--as eyes are ordinarily used in such cases1--nothing more4 ,but unfortunately this is just the kind of scrutiny which nobody has been able to bestow on this work hitherto1 on account of those historical obstructions with which1 at the time it was written1 it was found necessary to guard such discussions1 discussions running into such delicate questions in a manner so essentially incomparably free4 ,for1 in fact1 there is no plainer piece of ,english extant1 when one comes to look at it4 ,all that has been claimed in the ,historical part of this work1 not published in this volume may be found here without any research1 on the mere surface of the dialogue4 ,looking at it never so obliquely1 with never so small a fraction of an eye1 one cannot help seeing it4 ,the reader who would possess himself of the utmost meaning of these passages1 one who would comprehend their farthest reaches1 must indeed be content to wait until he can carry with him into all the parts that knowledge of the authors general intention in this work1 which only a most thorough and careful study of it will yield4 ,it is1 indeed1 a work in which the whole question of government is seized at its source--one in which the whole difficulty of it is grappled with unflinching courage and veracity4 ,it is a work in which that question of classes in the state1 which lies on the surface of it1 is treated in a general1 and not exclusive manner2 or1 where the treatment is narrowed and pointed1 as it is throughout in the running commentary1 it is narrowed and pointed to the question of the then yet living age1 and to those momentous developments of it which1 'in their weak beginnings1' the philosophic eye had detected1 and not to a state of things which had to cease before the first ,punic war could be begun4 ,the question of classes1 and their respective claims in governments1 is indeed incidentally treated here1 but in this author's own distinctive manner1 which is one that is sure to take out1 always--even in his lightest1 most sportive handling--the heart of his subject1 so as to leave little else but gleanings to the author who follows in that track hereafter4 ,for this is one of those unsurpassably daring productions of the ,elizabethan ,muse1 which1 after long experiment1 encouraged by that protracted immunity from suspicion1 and stimulated by the hurrying on of the great crisis1 it threw out at last in the face and eyes of tyranny1 ,things which are but intimated in the earlier plays-- political allusions1 which are brought out there amid crackling volleys of conceits1 under cover of a battery of quips and jests-- political doctrines1 which lie there wrapped in thickest involutions of philosophic subtleties1 are all unlocked and open here on the surface3 he that runs may take them if he will4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,criticism ,,of ,,the ,,martial ,,government4 ',would you proceed especially against ,caius ,,marcius8' ',against him ,,first3 ,he's a very dog to ,,the ,,commonalty4' ,in this exhibition of the social orders to which human society instinctively tends1 and that so-called state into which human combinations in barbaric ages rudely settles1 the principle of the combination--the principle of gradation1 and subjection1 and permanence--is called in question1 and exposed as a purely instinctive principle1 as1 in fact1 only a principle of revolution disguised2 and a higher one1 the distinctively human element1 the principle of ,,kind1 is now1 for the first time1 demanded on scientific grounds1 as the essential principle of any permanent human combination--as the natural principle1 the only one which the science of nature can recognise as a principle of ,,state4 ,it is the ,,peace principle which this great scientific war-hater and captain of the ages of peace is in search of1 with his new organum2 though he is philosopher enough to know that1 in diseased states1 wars are nature's own rude remedies1 her barbarous surgery1 for evils yet more unendurable4 ,he has found himself chosen a justice of the peace--the world's peace2 and it is the principle of permanence1 of law and subjection--in a word1 it is the principle of state1 as opposed to revolution and dissolution--which he is judging of in behalf of his kind4 ,and he makes a business of it4 ,he goes about in his own fashion4 ,he gets up this great war-piece on purpose to find it4 ,he has got a state on his stage1 which is ceasing to be a state at the moment in which he shows it to us2 a state which has the war principle--the principle of conquest within no longer working in it insidiously as government1 but developed as war2 for it has just overstepped the endurable point in its mastery4 ,it is a revolution that is coming off when the curtain rises4 ,for the government has been gnawing the ,roman common-weal at home1 with those same teeth it ravened the ,volscians with abroad1 till it has reached the vitals at last1 and the common-weal has betaken itself to the ,volscian's weapons3--the people have risen4 ,they are all out when the play begins on an armed hunt for their rat-like1 gnawing1 corn-consuming rulers4 ,they are determined to 'kill them1' and have 'corn at their own price4' ',if the wars eat us not1 they will1' is the word2 'and there's all ,,the ,,love they bear us4' ',rome and her rats are at the point of battle1' cries the ,poet4 ,the one side shall have bale1 is his prophecy4 ',without good nature1' he says elsewhere1 using the term good in its scientific sense1 'men are only a ,,nobler kind of ,,vermin'2 and he makes a most unsparing application of this principle in his criticisms4 ,many a splendid historical figure is made to show its teeth1 and rat-like mien and propensities1 through all the splendour of its disguises1 merely by the application of his simple philosophical tests4 ,for the question1 as he puts it1 is the question between animal instinct1 between mere appetite1 and reason2 and the question incidentally arises in the course of the exhibition1 whether the common-weal1 when it comes to anything like common-sense1 is going to stand being gnawed in this way1 for the benefit of any individual1 or clique1 or party4 ,for the ground on which the classes or estates1 and their respective claims to the government1 are tried here1 is the ground of the common-weal2 and the question as to the fitness of any existing class in the state for an exclusive1 unlimited control of the welfare of the whole1 is more than suggested4 ,that which stops short of the weal of the whole for its end1 is that which is under criticism here2 and whether it exist in 'the one1' or 'the few1' or 'the many1'--and these are the terms that are employed here1--whether it exist in the civil magistracy1 sustained by a popular submission1 or in the power of the victorious military chief1 at the head of his still extant and resistless armament1 it is necessarily rejected as a principle of sovereignty and permanence1 in this purely scientific view of the human conditions of it4 ,it is a question which this author handles with a thorough impartiality1 in all his political treatises1 let them come in what name and form they will1 with more or less clearness1 indeed1 as the circumstances seem to dictate4 ,but nowhere is the whole history of the military government1 collected from the obscurity of the past1 and brought out with such inflexible design--with such vividness and strength of historic exhibition1 as it is here4 ,it is traced to its beginnings in the distinctions which nature herself creates1--those physical1 and moral1 and intellectual distinctions1 with which she crowns1 in her happier moods1 the large resplendent brows of her born kings and masters4 ,it is traced from its origin in the crowning of the victorious chief on the field of battle1 to the moment in which the sword of military conquest is turned back on the conquerors by the chief into whose hands they gave it2 and the sword of conquest abroad becomes1 at home1 the sword of state4 ,nay1 this ,play goes farther1 and embraces the contingency of a foreign rule--one1 too1 in which the conqueror takes his surname from the conquest2 it brings home 'the enemy of the whole state1' as a king1 in triumph to the capital1 whose streets he has filled with mourning2 and though the author does not tell us in this case1 at he does in another1 that the nation was awed 'with an offertory of standards' in the temple1 and that 'orisons and ,te ,deums were again sung1'--the victor 'not meaning that the people should forget too soon that he came in by battle'--points1 not much short of that1 in the way of speciality1 are not wanting4 ,more than one conqueror1 indeed1 looks out from this old chieftain's ,roman casque4 ',there is a little touch of ,harry in the scene'2 and though the author goes out of his way to tell us that 'he must by no means say his hero is covetous1' it will not be the ,elizabethan ,philosopher's fault1 if we do not know which ,harry it is that says-- ,if you have writ your annals true1'tis there1 ,that like an eagle in a dove-cote1 ,i ,flutter'd your ,volsces in ,corioli3 ,alone1 ,i did it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,auf4 ,read it1 noble lords2 ,but tell the traitor1 in the highest degree ,he hath abused your powers4 ,cor4 ,traitor6--,how now8 ,auf4 ,ay1 traitor1 ,marcius4 ,cor4 ,marcius6 ,auf4 ,,ay1 ,marcius1 ,caius ,marcius2 ,dost thou think ,i'll grace thee with ,,that ,,robbery1 thy ,,stolen ,,name ,,coriolanus in ,,corioli8'--the conqueror in the conquest4 ,never1 indeed1 was 'the garland of war1' whether glistening freshly on the hero's brow on the fresh battle-field1 or whether glittering1 transmuted into civic gold and gems1 on the brow of his hereditary successor1 subjected to such a searching process before1 as that with which the ,poet1 under cover of an aristocrat's pretensions1 and especially under cover of his pretensions to an elective magistracy1 can venture to test it4 ,this hero1 who 'speaks of the people as if he were a god to punish1 and not a man of their infirmity1' is on trial for that pretension from the first scene of this ,play to the last4 ,the author has1 indeed1 his own views of the fickle1 ignorant1 foolish multitude1--such views as any one1 who had occasion to experiment on it personally1 in the age of ,elizabeth1 would not lack the means of acquiring2 and amidst those ebullitions of wrath1 which he pours from his haughty hero's lips1 one hears at times a tone that sounds a little like some other things from the same source1 as if the author had himself1 in some way1 been brought to look at the subject from a point of observation1 not altogether unlike that from which his hero speaks2 or as if he might1 at least1 have known how to sympathise with the haughty and unbending nature1 that had been brought into such deadly collision with it4 ,but in the dramatic representation1 though it is far from being a flattering one1 we listen in vain for any echo of this sentiment4 ,in its rich and kindly humour there is no sneer1 no satire4 ,it is the loving eye of nature's own great pupil--it is the kindly human eye1 that comes near enough to point those jests1 and paint so truly2 there is a great human heart here in the scene embracing the lowly4 ,it was the heart that was putting forth then its silent but resistless energies into the ages of the human advancement1 to take up the despised and rejected masses of men from their misery1 and make of them truly one kind and kindred4 ,and though he has had1 indeed1 his own private experiences with the multitude1 and the passions are1 as he intimates--at least as strong in him as in another1 he has his own view1 also1 of the common pitifulness and weakness of the human conditions2 and he has a view which is1 in his time1 all his own1 of the instrumentalities that are needed to reach that level of human nature1 and to lift men up from the mire of these conditions1 from the wrong and wretchedness into which1 in their unaided1 unartistic1 unlearned struggle with nature1--within and without1--the kind are fallen4 ,and so strong in him is the sense of this pitifulness1 that it predominates over the sharpness of his genius1 and throws the divinest mists and veils of compassion over the harsh1 scientific realities he is constrained to lay bare4 ,and1 in fact1 it takes this monstrous pretence1 and claim to human leadership1 which he finds passing unquestioned in his time1 to bring him out on this point fairly4 ,the statesmanship of the man who undertakes to make his own petty personality the measure of a world1 who would make1 not that reason which is in us all1 and embraces the world1 and which is not personal1--not that conscience which is the sensibility to reason1 and is as broad and impartial as that--which goes with the reason1 and embraces1 like that1 without bias1 the common weal1--but that which is particular1 and private1 and limited to the individual1--his senses1--his passions1 his private affections1--his mere caprice1--his mere will2 the motive of the public action2--the statesmanship of the man who dares to offer these to an insulted world1 as reasons of state2 who claims a divine prerogative to make his single will good against reason2 who claims a divine right to make his private interest outweigh the weal of the whole2 who asks men to obliterate1 in their judgment1 its essential principle1 that which makes them men1 the eternal principle of the whole2--this is the phenomenon which provokes at last1 in this author1 the philosophic ire4 ,the moment this thing shows itself on his stage1 he puts his pity to sleep4 ,he will show up1 at last1 without any mercy1 in a purely scientific manner1 as we see more clearly elsewhere1 the common pitifulness of the human conditions1 in the person of him who claims exemption from them1--who speaks of the people as if he were a god to punish1 and not a man of their infirmity4 ',there is formed in every thing a double nature'2--this author1 who is the philosopher of nature1 tells us on another page1--'there is formed in every thing a double nature ,,of ,,good1 the one as everything is a total or substantive in itself1 the other as it is a part or member of a greater body2 whereof the latter is in degree the greater and the worthier1 because it tends to the conservation of a more general form4 ,therefore we see the iron in particular sympathy moving to the loadstone2 but yet1 if it exceed a certain quantity1 it forsakes the affection to the loadstone1 and1 like a good patriot1 moves to the earth4 ,this double nature of good is ,,much ,,more 7hear7--much more ,,engraven on ,,man1 if he de,,generate not--7decline not from the law of his kind--for that more is ,,special7 unto whom the conservation of ,,duty to the ,,public ought to be much more precious than the conservation of life and being1 according to that memorable speech of ,pompey ,,the ,,great1 the truly great1 for this is the question of greatness1 when ,,being ,,in ,,commission ,,of ,,purveyance ,,for ,a ,,famine ,,at ,,rome1 and being dissuaded1 with great vehemency and instance1 by his friends about him1 that he should not hazard himself to sea in an extremity of weather1 answered1 ',necesse est ut eam1 non ut vivam4' ,but we happen to have set out here1 in our play1 at the very beginning of it1 the specific case alluded to1 in this general exhibition of the radical human law1 viz41 the case of a famine in ,rome1 which we shall find differently treated1 in this instance1 by the person who aspires to 'the helm o' the state4' ,when the question is of the true nobility and greatness1 of the true statesmanship1 of the personal fitness of an individual to assume the care of the public welfare1 the question1 of course1 as to this double nature1 comes in4 ,we wish to know--if any thing is going to depend upon his single will in the matter1 we must know1 which of these two natures is ,,sovereign in himself1--which good he supremely affects1--that of his senses1 passions1 and private affections1 that good which ends in his private and particular nature1--a good which has its due place in this system1 and is not unnaturally mortified and depressed1 as it is in less scientific ones1--or that good of the whole1 which is each man's highest good2--whether he is1 in fact1 a man1 or whether1 in the absence of that perfection of the human form1 which should be the end of science and government1 he approximates at all1--or undertakes to approximate at all1 to the true human type2--whether he be1 indeed1 a man1 in the higher sense of that word1 or whether he ranks in the scale of nature1 as 'only a nobler kind of vermin1' a man1 a noble man1 a man with a divine ideal and ambition1 degenerate into that4 ,when it is a candidate for the chief magistracy1 a candidate for the supreme power in the state1 who is on his trial1 of course that question as to the balance between the public and private affections1 which1 those who know how to trace this author's hand1 know he is so fond of trying elsewhere1 is sure to come up4 ,the question is1 as to whether there is any affection in this claimant for power1 so large and so noble1 that it can embrace heartily the common weal1 and take that to be its good4 ,the trial will be a sharp one4 ,the trial of human greatness which is magnanimity1 must needs be4 ,the question is1 as to whether this is a nature capable of pursuing that end for its own sake1 without respect to its pivate and merely selfish recompence2 whether it is one which has any such means of egress from its particular self1 any such means of coming out of its private and exclusive motivity1 that it can persevere in its care of the ,common ,weal1 through good and through ill report1 through personal wrong and ingratitude1--abandoning its private claim1 and ascending by that conquest to the divineness4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,insurrection',s ,,arguing4 ',what is granted them8' ',five ,tribunes to defend their vulgar wisdoms4' ',the rabble should have first unroofed the city1 ,ere so prevailed with me4' ,the common people themselves have some inkling of this4 ,this ,roman who has established his claim to rule ,romans at home1 by killing ,volscians abroad1 appears to their simple apprehension1 at the moment1 at least1 when they find themselves suffering the gnawings of hunger through his legislation1 to have established but a questionable claim to their submission4 ,and before ever he shows his head on the stage1 this question1 which is the question of the play1 is already started4 ,for it is the people who are permitted to come on first of all and explain their wants1 and discuss the military hero's qualifications for rule in that relation1 and that1 too1 in a not altogether foolish manner4 ,for though the author knows how to do justice to the simplicity of their politics1 he knows how to do justice also to that practical determination and straightforwardness and largeness of sense1 which even in the common sense of uneducated masses1 is already struggling a little to declare itself4 ,they have one great piece of political learning which their lordly legislators lack1 and for lack of sense and comprehension cannot have4 ,they are learned in the doctrine of their own political and social want2 they are full of the most accurate and vivid impressions on that subject4 ,their notions of it are altogether different from those vague general abstract conceptions of it1 which the brains of their refined lordly rulers stoop to admit4 ,the terms which that legislation deals with1 are one thing in the patrician's vocabulary1 and another and quite different thing in the plebeian's2 hunger means one thing in the 'patrician's vocabulary1' and another and very different thing in the plebeian's4 ,they know1 too1 'that meat was made for mouths1' and 'that the gods sent not corn for the rich men only4' ,they are under the impression that there ought to be bread for them by some means or other1 when the storehouses that their toil has filled are overflowing1 and though they are not clear as to the process which should accomplish this result1 they have come to the conclusion that there must be some error somewhere in the legislation of those learned few1 to whom they have resigned the task of governing them4 ,they are strongly of opinion that there must be some mistake in the calculations by which those venerable wise men and fathers1 do so infallibly contrive to sweep the results of the poor man's toil and privation into their own garners1--calculations which enable the legislator to enjoy in lordly ease and splendour1 the sight of the plebeian's misery1 which enable him to lavish on his idlest whims1 to give to his dogs that which would save lifetimes of unreckoned human misery4 ,these are their views1 and when the play begins1 they have resolved themselves into a committee of the whole1 and are out on a commission of inquiry and administrative reform1 armed with bats and clubs and other weapons1--such as came first to hand1 intending to make short work of it4 ,this is their peace budget1 and as to war1 they have some rude notions on that subject1 too2--some dim impression that nature intended them for some other ends than to be sold in the shambles1 as the purchase of some lordly chieftain's title4 ,there's an incipient statesmanship struggling there in that rude mass1 though it does not as yet get fairly expressed4 ,it will take the tribuneship and the refinements of the aristocratic leisure1 to make the rude wisdom of want and toil eloquent4 ,but it has found a tribune at last1 who will be able to speak for it1 through one mouth or another1 scientifically and to the purpose too1 ere all is done4 ',before we proceed any further1 hear me speak1' he cries1 through the ,roman leader's lips2 for his ,rome1 too1 if it be not yet 'at the point of battle1' is drifting towards it rapidly1 as he sees well enough when this speech begins4 ,but let us take the ,play as we find it4 ,take the first scene of it4 ,the stage is filled with the people1--not with their representatives1 --but with the people themselves1 in their own persons1 in the act of taking the government into their own hands4 ,they are hurrying sternly and silently through the city streets4 ,there has been no practising of 'goose step1' to teach them that movement4 ,they are armed with clubs1 staves and other weapons1 peace weapons1 but there is an edge in them now1 fine enough for their purpose4 ,the word of the play is the word that arrests that movement4 ,the voice of the leader rings out1--it is a ,,halt that is ordered4 ',,before ,,we ,,proceed ,,any ,,further1 ,,hear ,,me ,,speak1' cries one from the mass4 ',speak6 speak6' is the reply4 ,they are ready to hear reason4 ,they want a speaker4 ,they want a voice1 though never so rude1 to put their stern inarticulate purpose 'into some frame4' ',you are all resolved rather ,,to ,,die than ,,to ,,famish1' continues the first speaker4 ,yes1 that is it precisely2 he has spoken the word4 ',,resolved6 ,,resolved6' is the common response2 for the revolutionary point is touched here4 ',,first1 you know1 ,caius ,marcius is ,,chief ,,enemy to the people'--a rude grasp at causes4 ,this captain will establish a common intelligence in his company before they proceed any further2 that their acting may be one1 and to purpose4 ,for there is no command but that here4 ,cit4 ,we know't1 we know't4 ,first ,cit4 ,let us kill him1 and we'll have corn at our own price4 ,is't a verdict8 ,cit4 ,no more talking on't4 ,let it bone done3 away1 away4 ',one word1 good citizens1' cries another1 'who thinks that the thing will bear1 perhaps1 a little further discussion4 ,and this is the hint for the first speaker to produce his cause more fully4 ',,good ,,citizens1' is the word he takes up4 ,we are accounted ,,poor ,,citizens2 the patricians ,,good4' ,that is the way the account stands1 then4 ',what ,,authority surfeits on would relieve us4 ,if they would yield us but the superfluity while it were wholesome1 we might guess they relieved us humanely2 but they think we are too dear4' ,they love us as we are too well4 ,they want poor people to reflect their riches4 ,it takes plebeians to make patricians2 it takes our valleys to make their heights4 ',the leanness that afflicts us1 the object of our misery1 is as an inventory to particularize their abundance4 ,our sufferance is a gain to them4--,let us revenge this with our pikes1 ere we become rakes3 for the gods know1 ,i speak this in hunger for bread1 and not in thirst for revenge4 ,second ,cit4 ,would you proceed especially against ,caius ,marcius8 ,first ,cit4 ,against him first2--he's a very dog to the commonalty4 ,second ,cit4 ,consider you what services he has done for his country8 ,that is one of the things which are about to be 'considered4' ,first ,cit4 ,very well1 and could be content to give him good report for'it1 but that he pays himself with being proud4 ,second ,cit4 ,nay1 but speak not maliciously4 ,first ,cit4 ,i say unto you1 what he hath done famously1 he did it to that end3 though soft-conscienced men can be content to say it was for ,,his ,,country1 he did it to please his mother1 and to be partly proud2 which he is1 even to the altitude of his virtue4 ,second ,cit4 ,what he cannot help ,,in ,,his ,,nature1 you account a vice in him4 ,you must in no way say he is covetous4 ,first ,cit4 ,if ,i must not1 ,i need not be barren of accusations2 he hath faults with surplus to tire in repetition4 ,shouts within4 ,what shouts are these8 ,the other side o' the city is risen4 ,why stay we prating here8 ,to the ,capitol6 ,cit4 ,come1 come4 ,first ,cit4 ,soft2 who comes here8 ,enter ,menenius ,agrippa4 ,second ,cit4 ,worthy ,menenius ,agrippa1 one that hath always loved the people4 ,first ,cit4 ,he's one honest enough --honest--a great word in the ,shakspere philosophy2 would all the rest were so4 ,that is a good prayer when it comes to be understood4 ,men4 ,what work's1 my countrymen1 in hand8 ,where go you1 ,with bats and clubs8 ,the matter8 ,speak1 ,i pray you4 ,first ,cit4 ,our business is not unknown to ,,the ,,senate ,hear2 they have had inkling this fortnight what we intend to do1 which now we'll show 'em in deeds4 ,they say1 poor suitors have strong breaths2 they shall know we have strong arms1 too4 ,men4 ,why1 masters1 my good friends1 mine honest neighbours1 ,will you undo yourselves8 ,first ,cit4 ,we cannot1 sir2 we are undone already4 ,revolution4 ,men4 ,i tell you1 friends1 most charitable care ,have the patricians of you4 ,for your ,,wants1--,your suffering in this dearth1 you may as well ,strike at the heavens with your staves1 as lift them ,against the ,roman ,state1 whose course will on ,the way it takes1 cracking ten thousand curbs ,of more strong link asunder1 than can ever ,appear in your impediment4 ,for the dearth1 ,the gods1 not the patricians1 make it2 and ,your knees to them1 not arms1 must help4 ,this sounds very pious1 but it is not the piety of the new school4 ,the doctrine of submission and suffering is indeed taught in it1 and scientifically reinforced2 but then it is the patient suffering of the harm 'which is not within our power' which is commendable1 according to its tenets1 and 'a wise and industrious suffering' of it1 too4 ,it is a wise 'accommodating of the nature of man to those points of nature and fortune which we cannot control1' that is pleasing to ,god1 according to this creed4 ,alack6 ,you are transported by calamity1 ,thither where more attends you2 and you slander ,the helms o' the state1 who care for you like fathers1 ,when you curse them as enemies4 ,first ,cit4 ,,care ,,for us6 ,true1 ,,indeed6 ,they ne'er cared for us yet4 ,,suffer us ,,to ,,famish1 and their store-houses ,,crammed ,,with ,,grain6 ,make edicts for usury1 to support usurers6 ,repeal daily any ,,wholesome ,,act established against the rich1 and provide more piercing statutes daily to chain up and restrain the poor6 ,if the ,,wars eat us not up1 ,,they ,,will2 and there's all the love they bear us4 ,menenius attempts to counteract these impressions2 but his story and his arguments appear to have some applications which he is not aware of1 and are much more to the purpose of the party in arms than they are to his own4 ,for it is a story in which the natural subordination of the parts to the whole in the fabric of human society is illustrated by that natural instance and symbol of unity and organization which the single human form itself present2 and that condition of the state which has just been exhibited--one in which the body at large is dying of inanition that a part of it may surfeit--is a condition which1 in the light of this story1 appears to need help of some kind1 certainly4 ,but the platform is now ready4 ,it is the hero's entrance for which we are preparing4 ,it is on the ground of this sullen want that the author will exhibit him and his dazzling military virtues4 ,it is as the doctor of this diseased common-weal that he brings him in with his sword2 ',enter ,,caius ,,marcius4' and that idea--the idea of the diseased commonwealth1 which ,menenius has already set forth--that notion of parts and partiality1 and dissonance and dissolution1 which is a radical idea in the play1 and runs into its minutest points of phraseology1 breaks out at once in his rough speech4 ,men4 ,hail1 noble ,marcius6 ,mar4 ,thanks4 ,what's the matter1 you dissentious rogues1 ,that rubbing the poor itch of your opinion1 ,make yourselves scabs4 ,it is the common-weal that must be made whole and comely4 ,,opinion6 your opinion4 ,first ,cit4 ,we have ever your good word4 ,mar4 ,in that will give good words to thee1 will flatter ,beneath abhorring4--,what would you have1 you curs1 ,that like nor peace1 nor war8 the one affrights you1 ,the other makes you proud4 ,he that trusts you1 ,where he should find you lions1 finds you hares4 ,where foxes1 geese6 ,you are no surer1 no ,than is the coal of fire upon the ice1 ,or hail-stone in the sun4 ,your virtue is1 ,to make him worthy whose offence subdues him1 ,and curse that justice did it4 ,who deserves greatness ,deserves your hate3 and your affections are ,a sick man's appetite1 who desires most that ,which would increase his evil4 ,he that depends ,upon your favours1 swims with fins of lead1 ,and hews down oaks with rushes4 ,hang ye6 ,trust ye8 ,with every minute you do change a mind2 ,this is not the principle of state1 whether in the many or the one4 ,and call him noble1 that was now your hate1 ,him vile1 that was your garland4 ,what's the matter1 ,that in these several places of the city ,you cry against the noble senate1 who1 ,under the gods1 keep you in awe1 which else ,would feed on one another8--,what's their seeking8 ,men4 ,for corn at their own rates2 whereof1 they say1 ,the city is well stor'd4 ,mar4 ,,hang ',,em6 ,,they ,,say8 ,,they',,ll ,,sit ,,by ,,the ,,fire1 and ,,presume to ,,know ,,what',s ,,done ,i' ,,the ,,capitol3 who's like to rise1 ,who thrives1 and who declines3 side factions1 and give out ,conjectural marriages2 making parties strong1 ,and feebling such as stand not in their liking1 ,below their cobbled shoes4 ,they say1 there's grain enough8 ,would the nobility lay aside their ruth1 ,and let me use my sword1 ,i'd make a quarry ,with thousands of these quartered slaves1 ,,as ,,high ,as ,i could prick my lance4 ,the altitude of his virtue2--the measure of his greatness4 ,that is the tableau of the first scene1 in the first act of the play of the cure of the ,common-weal and the ,consulship4 ,men4 ,nay1 these are almost thoroughly persuaded2 ,for though abundantly they lack discretion1 ,yet are they passing cowardly4 ,but ,i beseech you1 ,what says the other troop8 ,mar4 ,they are dissolved3 ,hang 'em6 ,footnote ,they said1 they were an hungry2 sigh'd forth proverbs2-- ,that hunger broke stone walls2 that1 dogs must eat2 ,that meat was made for mouths2 ,,that ,,the ,,gods ,,sent ,,not ,,corn ,,for ,,the ,,rich ,,men ,,only3--,with these shreds ,they vented their complainings2 which being answer'd1 ,and a petition granted them1 a strange one1 7,to break the heart of generosity1 ,and make bold power look pale17 they threw their caps ,as they would hang them on the horns o'the moon1 ,shouting their emulation4 ,footnote3 ',the ,history of ,henry ,,vii41' produced in the ,historical ,part of this work1 but omitted here1 contains the key to these readings4 ,men4 ,what is granted them4 ,mar4 ,five tribunes to defend their vulgar wisdoms1 ,of their own choice3 ,one's ,junius ,brutus1 ,sicinius ,velutus1 and ,i know not--',sdeath6 ,the rabble should have first unroof'd the city2 ,ere so prevail'd with me2 it will in time ,win upon ,,power1 and throw forth greater themes ,for ,,insurrection',s arguing4 ,yes1 surely it will4 ,it cannot fail of it4 ,men4 ,this is strange4 ,mar4 ,go1 get you home1 you fragments6 fragments4 ,enter a ,messenger4 ,mes4 ,where's ,caius ,marcius8 ,mar4 ,here2 ,what's the matter8 ,mes4 ,the news is1 ,sir1 the ,volces are in arms4 ,mar4 ,i am glad on't2 then we shall have means to vent ,our musty superfluity3--,see1 our best elders4 ,the procession from the ,capitol is entering with two of the new officers of the commonwealth1 and the two chief men of the army1 with other senators4 ,first ,sen4 ,marcius1 'tis true1 that you have lately told us2 ,the ,volsces are in arms4 ,mar4 ,they have a leader1 ,tullus ,aufidius1 that will put you to't4 ,i sin in envying his nobility3 ,and were ,i anything but what ,i am1 ,i would wish me only he4 ,com4 ,you have fought together4 ,mar4 ,were half to half the world by the ears1 and he ,upon my party1 ,i'd revolt1 to make ,only my wars with him ,hear1 hear4 ,he is a lion4 ,that ,i am proud to hunt4 ,first ,sen4 ,then1 ,,worthy ,marcius1 ,attend upon ,cominius to these wars4 ,it is the relation of the spirit of military conquest1 the relation of the military hero1 and his government1 to the true human need1 which is subjected to criticism here2 a criticism which is necessarily an after-thought in the natural order of the human development4 ,the transition 'from the casque to the cushion1' that so easy step in the heroic ages1 whether it be 'an entrance by conquest1' foreign or otherwise1 or whether the chieftain's own followers bring him home in triumph1 and the people1 whose battle he has won1 conduct him to their chair of state1 in either case1 that transition appears1 to this author's eye1 worth going back1 and looking into a little1 in an age so advanced in civilization1 as the one in which he finds himself4 ,for though he is1 as any one who will take any pains to inquire1 may easily satisfy himself1--the master in chief of the new science of nature1--and the deepest in its secrets of any1 his views on that subject appear to be somewhat broader1 his aspirations altogether of another kind1 from those1 to which his school have since limited themselves4 ,he does not content himself with pinning butterflies and hunting down beetles2 his scientific curiosity is not satisfied with classifying ferns and lichens1 and ascertaining the proper historical position of pudding-stone and sand-stone1 and in settling the difference between them and their neighbours4 ,nature is always1 in all her varieties wonderful1 and all 'her infinite book of secrecy1' that book which all the world had overlooked till he came1 was to his eye1 from the first1 a book of spells1 of magic lore1 a ,prospero book of enchantments4 ,he would get the key to her cipher1 he would find the lost alphabet of her unknown tongue2 there is no page of her composing in which he would scorn to seek it--none which he would scorn to read with it3 but then he has1 notwithstanding1 some choice in his studies4 ,he is of the opinion that some subjects are nobler than others1 and that those which concern specially the human kind1 have a special claim to their regard1 and the secret of those combinations which result in the varieties of shell-fish1 and other similar orders of being1 do not exclusively1 or chiefly1 engage his attention4 ,there is another natural curiosity1 which strikes the eye of the founder of the ,science of ,nature1 as quite the most curious and wonderful thing going1 so far1 at least1 as his observation has extended1 though he is willing to make1 as he takes pains to state1 philosophical allowance for the partiality of species in determining this judgment1 and is perfectly willing to concede1 that if any particular species of shell-fish1 for instance1 were to undertake a science of things in general1 that particular species would1 no doubt1 occupy the principal place in that system2 especially if arts1 tending to the improvement and elevation of it1 were necessarily based on this larger specific knowledge4 ,men1 and their proceedings and organisms1 men1 and their habits and modes of combining1 did appear to the eye of this scientific observer quite as well worth observing and noting1 also1 as bees and beavers1 for instance1 and their societies2 and1 accordingly1 he made some observations himself1 and notes1 too1 in this particular department of his general science4 ,for1 as he tells us elsewhere1 he did not wish to map out the large fields of the science of observation in general1 and exhibit to the world1 in bare description1 the method of it1 without leaving some specimens of his own1 of what might be done with it1 in proper hands1 under favourable circumstances1 selecting for his experiments the principal and noblest subjects--those of the most immediate human concern4 ,and he has not only very carefully laboured a few of these2 but he has taken extraordinary pains to preserve them to us in their proper scientific form1 with just as little of the ligature of the time on them as it was possible to leave4 ,it is no kind of beetle or butterfly1 then1 that this philosopher comes down upon here from the heights of his universal science--his science of the nature of things in general1 but that great ,spenserian monstrosity1--that diseased product of nature1 which individual human nature1 in spite of its natural pettiness and helplessness1 under certain favourable conditions of absorption and accretion1 may be made to yield4 ,it is that dragon of lawless power which was overspreading1 in his time1 all the common human affairs1 and infolding in its gaudy1 baleful wings all the life of men1--it is that which takes from the first the speculative eye of this new speculator1--this founder of the science of things1 and not of words instead of them4 ,here is a man of science1 a born naturalist1 who understands that this phenomenon lies in his department1 and takes it to be his business1 among other things1 to examine it4 ,it was1 indeed1 a formidable phenomenon1 as it presented itself to his apprehension2 and his own words are always the best1 when one knows how to read them-- ',he sits in state1 like a thing made for ,alexander4' ',when he walks1 he moves like an engine1 and the ground shrinks before his treading4' ',he talks like a knell1 his hum is a battery2 what he bids be done1 is finished at his bidding4 ,he wants nothing of a god but eternity1 and a heaven to throne in4' ',yes1' is the answer2 'yes1 mercy1 if you paint him truly4' ',i paint him in character4' ',is it possible that so short a time can alter the conditions of a man8' inquires the speculator upon this phenomenon1 and then comes the reply--',there's a differency between a grub and a butterfly1 yet your butterfly was a grub4 ,this ,marcius is grown from ,,man ,,to ,,dragon2 he has wings1 he is more than a creeping thing4' ,this is ,coriolanus at the head of his army2 but in ,julius ,caesar1 it is nature in the wildness of the tempest--it is a night of unnatural horrors1 that is brought in by the ,poet to illustrate the enormity of the evil he deals with1 and its unnatural character--'to serve as instrument of fear and warning unto some ,,monstrous ,,state4' ',now could ,i1 ,casca1 ,name to thee a man most like this dreadful night2 ,that thunders1 lightens1 opens graves1 and roars ,as doth the lion in the ,capitol3 ,a man no mightier than thyself1 or me1 ,in personal action1 yet prodigious grown1 ,and fearful1 as these strange eruptions are4 ,casca4 ,tis ,caesar that you mean3 ,is it not1 ,cassius8 ,i paint him in character4 ,cassius4 ,let it be--,,who ,,it ,,is3 ,for ,romans now ,have thewes and limbs like to their ancestors4' ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,political ,,retrospect4 ',i think he'll be to ,rome ,as is the osprey to the fish1 who takes it ,by sovereignty of nature4' ,,flower ,,of ,,warriors ,the poet finds1 indeed1 this monstrosity full-blown in his time4 ,he finds it 'in the civil streets1' 'talking plain cannon'1 'humming batteries' in the most unmistakeable manner1 with no particular account of its origin to give1 without1 indeed1 appearing to recollect exactly how it came there1 retaining only a general impression1 that a descent from the celestial regions had1 in some way1 been effected during some undated period of human history1 under circumstances which the memory of man was not expected to be able to recall in detail1 and a certificate to that effect1 divinely subscribed1 was understood to be included among its properties1 though it does not appear to have been1 on the face of it1 so absolutely conclusive as to render a little logical demonstration1 on the part of royalty itself1 superfluous4 ,it was not very far from this time1 that a very able and loyal servant of the crown undertook1 openly1 to assist the royal memory on this delicate point2 and1 though the details of that historical representation1 and the manner of it1 are1 of course1 quite different from those of the ,play1 it will be found1 upon careful examination1 not so dissimilar in purport as the exterior would have seemed to imply4 ,the philosopher does not feel called upon1 in either case1 to begin by contradicting flatly1 in so many words1 the theory which he finds the received one on that point4 ,even the poet1 with all his freedom1 is compelled to go to work after another fashion4 ',and thus do we1 of wisdom1 and of reach1 ,with windlasses1 and with ,,assays of ,,bias1 ,by indirections find directions out4' ,he has his own way of creating an historical retrospect4 ,no one need know that it is a retrospect2 no one will know it1 perhaps1 who has not taken the author's clue elsewhere4 ,the crisis is already reached when the play begins4 ,the collision between the civil want and the military government is at its height4 ,it is a revolution on which the curtain rises4 ,it is a city street filled with dark1 angry swarms of men1 who have come forth to seek out this government1 in the person of its chief1 who stop only to conduct their summary trial of it1 and then hurry on to execute their verdict4 ,but the poet arrests this revolution4 ,before we proceed any further1 ',hear me speak1' he cries1 through the lips of the plebeian leader4 ,the man of science demands a hearing1 before this movement proceed any further4 ,he has a longer story to tell than that with which ,menenius ,agrippa appeases his ,romans4 ,there is a cry of war in the streets4 ,the obscure background of that portentous scene opens1 and the long vista of the heroic ages1 with all its pomp and stormy splendours1 scene upon scene1 grows luminous behind it4 ,the foreground is the same4 ,the arrested mutineers stand there still1 with the frown knit in their angry brows1 with the weapons of their civil warfare in their hands2 there is no stage direction for a change of costume1 and none perceives that they have grown older as they stand1 and that the shadow of the elder time is on them4 ,but the manager of this stage is one who knows that the elder time of history is the childhood of his kind4 ,there is a cry of war in that ancient street4 ,the enemy of the infant state is in arms4 ,the people rush forth to conflict with the leader of armies at their head4 ,but this time1 for the first time in the history of literature1 the philosopher goes with him4 ,the philosopher1 hitherto1 has been otherwise occupied4 ,he has been too busy with his fierce war of words2 he has had too much to do with his abstract generals1 his logical majors and minors1 to get them in squadrons and right forms of war1 to have any eye for such vulgar solidarities4 ',all men are mortal4 ,peter and ,john are men4 ,therefore ,peter and ,john are mortal1' he concludes2 but that is his nearest and most vivacious approach to historical particulars1 and his cell is broad enough to contain all that he needs for his processes and ends4 ,he finds enough and to spare1 ready prepared to his hands1 in the casual1 rude1 unscientific observations and spontaneous distinctions of the vulgar4 ,his generalizations are obtained from their hasty abstractions4 ,it has never occurred to him1 till now1 that he must begin with criticising these terms2 that he must begin by making a new and scientific terminology1 which shall correspond to terms in nature1 and not be air-lines merely2--that he must take pains to collect them himself1 from severest scrutiny of particulars1 before ever he can arrive at 'the notions of nature1' the universal notions1 which differ from the spontaneous specific notions of men1 and their chimeras2 before ever he can put man into his true relations with nature1 before ever he can teach him to speak the word which she responds to1--the words of her dictionary--the word which is power4 ,this is1 in fact1 the first time that the philosopher has undertaken to go abroad4 ,it is the first time he has ever been in the army4 ,softly1 invisibly1 he goes4 ,there is nothing to show that he is there4 ,as modestly1 as unnoticed1 as the ,times 'own correspondent1' amid all the clang and tumult1 the pomp and circumstance of glorious war1 he goes4 ,but he is there notwithstanding4 ,there is no breath of scholasticism1 no perfume of the cell1 that the most vigorous and robust can perceive1 in his battle4 ,the scene unwinds with all its fierce reality1 undimmed by the pale cast of thought3 the shout is as wild1 the din as fearful1 the martial fury rises1 as if the old heroic poet had it still in hand4 ,but it is not the poet's voice that you hear1 bursting forth into those rhythmical ecstasies of heroic passion1--unless that faint tone of exaggeration1--that slight prolonging of it1 be his4 ,that mad joy in human blood1 that wolfish glare1 that lights the hero's eye1 gets no reflection in his3 those fiendish boasts are not from his lips4 ,through all the frenzy of that demoniacal scene1 he is still himself1 with all his human sense about him4 ,through all the crowded incidents of that day of blood--into which he condenses1 with dramatic license1 the siege and assault of the city1 the conquest and plunder of it1 and the conflict in the open field1--he is keeping watch on his hero4 ,he is eyeing him1 and sketching him1 as critically as if he were indeed an entomological or botanical specimen4 ,he is making a specimen of him1 for scientific purposes1--not 'a preservation1'--he does not think much of dried specimens in science4 ,he proposes to dismiss the logical ,peter and ,john1 and the logical man himself1 that abstract notion which the metaphysicians have been at loggerheads about so long4 ,it is the true heroism1--it is the sovereign flower which he is in search of4 ,this specimen that he is taking here will1 indeed1 go by the board4 ,he is taking him on his negative table4 ,but for that purpose1--in order to get him on his 'table of rejections1' it is necessary to take him alive4 ,the question is of government1 of supreme power1 and universal suffrage1 of the abnegation of reason1 of the annihilation of judgment1 in behalf of a superiority which has been understood1 heretofore1 to admit of no question4 ,the question is of awe and reverence1 and worship1 and submission4 ,the ,poet has to put his sacrilegious hand through the dust that lies on antique time1 through the sanctity of prescription and time-honoured usage1 through 'mountainous error' 'too highly heaped for truth to overpeer1' in order to make this point in his scientific table4 ,and he wishes to blazon it a little4 ,he will pin up this old exploded hero--this legacy of barbaric ages1 to the ages of human advancement--in all his actualities1 in all the heroic splendours of his original1 without 'diminishing one dowle that's in his plume4' ,but this retrospect has not yet reached its limit4 ,it is not enough to go back1 in the unravelling of this business1 to the full-grown hero on the field of victory4 ',for that which1 in speculative philosophy1 corresponds to the cause in practical philosophy becomes the rule2' and it is the ,cure of the ,common ,weal1 which the poet is proposing1 and having determined to proceed specially against ,caius ,marcius1 or against him first1 he undertakes now to 'delve him to the root4' ,we are already on the battle field2 but before ever a stroke is struck there1 before he will attempt to show us the instinct of the warrior in his game1--'he is a lion that ,i am proud to hunt1'--when all is ready and just as the hunt is going to begin1 he steals softly back to ,rome2 he unlocks the hero's private dwelling1 he lays open to us the secrets of that domestic hearth1 the secrets of that nursery in which his hero had had his training2 he shows us the breasts from which he drew that martial fire2 he produces the woman alive who sent him to that field4 ,act #a1 ,scene #c4 ,an apartment in the martial chieftain's house2 two women1 'on two low stools1 sewing4' ',there is where your throne begins1 whatever it be4' ,in that exquisite relief which the natural graces of youth and womanhood provide for it1 in the young1 gentle1 feminine wife1 desolate in her husband's absence1 starting at the rumour of news from the camp1 and driving back from her appalled conception1 the images which her mother-in-law's fearful speech suggests to her1--in that so beautiful relief1 comes out the picture of the ,roman matron1 the woman in whom the martial instincts have been educated and the gentler ones repressed1 by the common sentiments of her age and nation1 the woman in whom the common standard of virtue1 the conventional virtue of her time1 has annihilated the wife and the mother4 ,virgilia4 ,had he died in the business1 madam1 what then8 ,volumnia4 ,then his good report should have been my son1 ,i therein would have found issue4 ,it is the multiplied force of a common instinct in the nation1 it is the pride of conquest in a whole people1 erected into the place of virtue and usurping all its sanctity1 which has entered this woman's nature and reformed its yielding principles4 ,it is the ,martial ,spirit that has subdued her1 for she is virtuous and religious4 ,it is her people's god to whom she has borne her son1 and in his temple she has reared him4 ,but the poet is not satisfied with all this4 ,it is not enough to introduce us to the hero's mother and permit us to listen to her confidential account of his birth and training4 ,he will produce the little ,coriolanus himself--,coriolanus in germ--he will show us the rudiments of those instincts1 which his unscientific education has stimulated into such monstrous 'o'ergrowth' 7but not enlightened71 so that the hero on the battle-field who is winning there the oaken crown1 which he will transmit if he can to his posterity1 is only1 after all1 a boy overgrown1--a boy with his boyishness unnaturally prolonged by his culture1--the impersonation of the childishness of a childish time1--the crowned impersonation of the instinct which is ,,sovereign in an age of instinct4 ,he shows us the drum and the sword in the nursery1 and the boy who would rather look at the military parade than his schoolmaster2--he shows us the little viperous egg of a hero torturing and tearing the butterfly1 with his 'confirmed countenance1 in one of his father's moods4' ,surely we have reached 'the grub' at last1 'the creeping thing' that will have one day imperial armies in its wings4 ,and we return from this little excursion to the field again1 in time for the battle2 and when we see the tiger in the man let loose there1 and the boy's father comes out in one of his own moods1 that we may note it the better2 we begin to observe where we are in the human history1 and what age of the ,advancement of ,learning it is that this poet is driving at so stedfastly1 and trying to get dated2 and whether it is indeed one from which the advancing ages of ,learning can accept the bourne of the human wisdom1 the limit of that advance4 ',and to speak truly and that after all is the best way of speaking ,antiquitas seculi juventus mundi4' ',those times are the ancient times1 when the world is ancient and not those we account ancient by a computation backward from ourselves4'--,advancement of ,learning4 ,but that was put down in a book in which we have only general statements1 very wise indeed1 and both new and true1 most exactly true1 but not ready for practice1 as the author stops to tell us1 and it is practice he is aiming at4 ,that is from a book in which we have only 'the husks and shells of sciences1 all the kernel being forced out1' as the author informs us1 'by the torture and press of the method4' ,but it was a method which saved them1 notwithstanding4 ,this is the book that contains the 'nuts1' and this is the kernel that goes in that particular shell or a corner of it1 ',antiquitas seculi juventus mundi4' ,there1 on the spot1 he shows us the process by which a king1--an historic king1--is made4 ,he detects and brings out and blazons1 the moment in which the inequality of fortune begins1 in the division of the spoils of victory4 ,his hero is not1 as he takes pains to tell us1 covetous1--unless it be a sin to covet honour1 if it be1 he is the most offending soul alive2--it is because he is not mercenary1 that his soldiers will enrich him4 ,the poet shows us where the throne begins1 and the machinery of that engine which the earth shrinks from when it moves4 ,on his stage1 it is the moment in which1 the soldiers raise their victorious leader from his feet1 and carry him in triumph above them4 ,we are there at the ceremony1 for this is selected1 illuminated history2 this1 too1 is what he calls 'visible history1' but amid all those martial acclamations and plaudits1 the philosopher contrives to get in a word4 ',he that has effected his good will1 has o'ertaken my act4' ,from the field he tracks his hero to the chair of state4 ,first we have the news of the victory in the city1 and its effect3-- ',i'll report it ,where senators shall mingle tears with smiles2 ,where great patricians shall attend1 and shrug2 ,i' the end admire2 where ladies shall be frighted1 ,and1 gladly quaked1 hear more2 where the dull tribunes1 ,that1 with the fusty plebeians1 hate thine honours1 ,shall say against their hearts1 ,we thank the gods ,our ,rome hath such a soldier4' ,then we have the hero's return--the conqueror's reception2 first in the city whose battle he has won1 and afterwards his reception in the city he has conquered4 ,here is the latter3-- ',your native town you entered like a post1 ,and had no welcomes home2 but he returns1 ,splitting the air with noises4 ,and patient fools1 ,whose children he hath slain1 their base throats tear ,,with ,,giving ,,him ,,glory4' ',a goodly city is this ,antium6 ,city1 ',tis ,i that made thy widows2 many an heir ,of these fair edifices1 'fore my wars ,have ,i heard groan and droop4 ,then know me not1 ,lest that thy wives with spits1 and boys with stones1 ,in puny battle slay me4' --know me not--lest--' ',let us kill him1 and we will have corn1 at our own price4' ,but the ,poet does not forget that it is the proof of the military virtue1 as well as the history of the military power1 that he has undertaken2 'the touch of its nobility1' as he himself words it4 ,he is trying it by his own exact scientific standard2 he is putting the test to it which the new philosophy1 which is the philosophy of nature1 authorises4 ,for1 in truth1 this philosopher1 this civilian1 is a little jealous of this simple virtue of valour1 which he finds in his time1 as in the barbaric ages1 still in such esteem1 as 'the chiefest virtue1 and that which most dignifies the haver4' ,he is of opinion1 that there may be some other profession1 beside that of the sword1 worth an honest man's attention2 that1 if the world were more enlightened1 there would be another kind of glory1 that would make 'the garland of war' shrivel4 ,he thinks that ,jupiter1 and not ,mars1 should reign supreme3 that there is another kind of distinction and leadership1 better worth the public esteem1 better deserving the popular gratitude and reverence4 ,and when he has once taken an analysis of this kind in hand1 he is not going to permit any scruples of delicacy to impair the operation4 ,he will invade that graceful modesty in the hero1 who shrinks from hearing his exploits narrated4 ,he will analyse that blush1 and show us chemically what its hue is made of4 ,he will bring out those retiring honours from the haze and mist which the vague1 unanalytic1 popular notions1 have gathered about them4 ,tucked up in scarlet1 braided with gold1 under its forest of feathers1 through all its pomp and blazonry1 through all its drums2 and trumpets1 and clarions1 undaunted by the popular cry1 undaunted by that so potent word of 'patriotism' which guards it from invasion1 he will search it out4 ,for this purpose he will go a little nearer to it than is the heroic poet's wont4 ,when the city is wild with the news of this great victory1 and the streets are swarming at the tidings of the hero's approach1 he will take his stand with the family party1 and beckon us to a place where we can listen to what is going on there1 though the heroics and the blank verse must halt for it4 ,the glee and fluster might appear to a cool spectator a little undignified2 but then we are understood to be1 like ,menenius1 old friends of the family1 and too much carried away with the excitement of the moment to be very critical4 ,volumnia4 ,honourable ,menenius1 my boy1 ,marcius1 approaches4 ,for the love of ,juno1 let's go4 ,men4 ,ha6 ,marcius coming home6 ,vol4 ,ay1 worthy ,menenius1 and with most prosperous approbation4 ,men4 ,take my cap1 ,jupiter1 and ,i thank thee4 ,hoo6 ,marcius coming home8 ,two ,ladies4 ,nay1 't is true4 ,vol4 ,look6 ,here's a letter from him2 the state hath another1 his wife another1 and ,i think there's one at home for you4 ,men4 ,i will make my very house reel to night3--,a letter for me8 ,the ,wife4 ,yes1 certainly1 there a letter for you2 ,i saw it4 ,men4 ,a letter for me6 ,it gives me an estate of seven years' health2 in which time ,i will make a lip at the physician 444 ,is he not wounded8 ,he was wont to come home wounded4 ,the ,wife4 ,oh1 no1 no1 no6 ,the ,mother4 ,oh1 he is wounded4 ,i thank the gods for 't4 ,men4 ,so do ,i1 too1 if it be not too much3--,brings a victory in his pocket3 ,the wounds become him4 ,vol4 ,on's brow1 ,menenius3 he comes the third time home with the oaken garland4 ,men4444 ,is the senate possessed of this8 ,vol4 ,good ladies1 let's go6 ,yes1 yes1 yes3 the senate has letters from the general1 wherein he gives my son the whole name of the war4 ,valeria4 ,in truth1 there's wondrous things spoke of him4 ,men4 ,wondrous1 ay1 ,i warrant you444 ,vir4 ,the gods grant them true6 ,vol4 ,true8 ,pow wow6 ,men4 ,true8 ,i'll be sworn they are true4 ,where's he wounded8 ,to the ,tribunes1 who come forward4 ,marcius is coming home3 he has--more cause to be--,,proud4--,where is he wounded8 ,vol4 ,i' the shoulder1 and i' the left arm3 ,there will be large cicatrices to shew the people1 when he shall stand ,,for ,,his ,,place4 ,he received in the repulse of ,tarquin seven hurts i' the body4 ,men4 ,one in the neck1 and two in the thigh1--there's nine that ,i know4 ,vol4 ,he had1 before this last expedition1 twenty-five wounds upon him4 ,men4 ,now it's twenty-seven3 every gash was an enemy's grave4 ,of course there is no satire intended here at all4 ,this is a ,poet who does not know what he is about4 ,but now we come to the blank verse again2 for at this moment the shout that announces the hero's entrance is heard2 and1 mingling with it1 the martial tones of victory4 shout and flourish4 ,hark6 the trumpets6 ,vol4 ,these are the ushers of ,marcius3 before him ,he carries noise2 behind him he leaves tears4 ,death1 that dark spirit1 in's nervy arm doth lie2 ,which being advanced1 declines1 and then men die4 ,then comes the imposing military pageant4 ,a sennet4 ,trumpets sound1 and enter the hero1 'crowned' with his oaken garland1 sustained by the generals on either hand1 with the victorious soldiers1 and a herald proclaiming before him his victory4 ,herald4 ,know1 ,rome1 that all alone ,marcius did fight ,within ,corioli's gates3 where he hath won ,with fame1 a name to ,caius ,marcius2 these ,in honour follows ,coriolanus3 ,welcome to ,rome1 renowned ,coriolanus6 ,but while ,rome is listening to this great story1 and the people are shouting his name1 the demi-god catches sight of his mother and of his wife2 and full of private duty and affection1 he forgets his state1 his garland stoops1 the conqueror is on his knee1 in filial submission4 ,the woman had said truly1 'my boy ,marcius is coming home4' ,and when he greets the weeping ,virgilia1 who cannot speak but with her tears1 these are the words with which he measures that private joy-- ,would'st thou have laughed1 had ,i come coffin'd home1 ,that weep'st to see me triumph8 ,ah1 my dear1 ,such eyes the widows in ,corioli wear1 ,and mothers that lack sons4 ,no2 these are the ,poet's words1 rather--'such eyes4' ,such eyes4 ,it was the ,poet who could look through the barriers--those hitherto impervious barriers of an enemy's town1 and see in it1 at that moment1 eyes as beautiful--eyes that had been 'dove's eyes1' too1 to those who had loved them1 wet with other tears1--mothers that loved their sons1 and 'lacked them'2 it was the ,poet to whose human sense those hard hostile walls dissolved and cleared away1 till he could see the ,volscian wives clasping their loves1 as they 'came coffined home'2 it was the ,poet who dared to stain the joy and triumph of that fond meeting1 the glory and pride of that triumphal entry1 with those human thoughts2 it was he who heard above the roll of the drum1 and the swell of the clarions and trumpets1 and the shout of the rejoicing multitude above the herald's voice--the groans of mortal anguish in the field1 the cries of human sorrow in the city1 the shrieks of mothers that lacked sons1 the greetings of wives whose loves 'came coffined home4' ,and he does not mind aggravating the intense selfishness1 and narrowness1 and stolidity of these private passions and affections of the individual to a truly unnatural and diabolical intensity1 by charging on poor ,volumnia and ,marcius his own reminiscences2 as if they could have dared to heighten their joy at that moment by counting its cost--as if they could have looked in the face--as if they could have comprehended1 in its actual dimensions1 the theme of their vulgar1 narrow1 unlearned exultation4 ,but this is a trick this author is much given to1 we shall find1 when we come to study him carefully4 ,he is not scrupulous on such points4 ,he has a tolerable sense of the fitness of things1 too4 ,his dramatic conscience is as nice as another man's2 but he is always ready to sin against it1 when he sees reason4 ,he is much like his own ,mr4 ,slender in one respect1 'he will do anything in reason'2 and his theory of the ,chief ,end of ,man appears to differ essentially from the one which our modern ,doctors of ',art' propound incidentally in their criticisms4 ,it is the mother who cries1 when she catches the swell of the trumpets that announce her son's approach--',these are the ushers of ,marcius4 ,before him he carries noise4' ,it is the ,poet who adds1 sotto voce1 'behind him he leaves ,,tears4' ',you are three1' says ,menenius1 after some further prolongation of these private demonstrations1 addressing himself to the three victorious generals-- ,you are three1 ,that ,rome should dote on3 yet1 by the faith of men1 ,we have some old crab-trees here at home1 that will not ,be grafted to your relish4 ,yet ,,welcome1 ,,warriors3 ,we call a nettle but a nettle2 and ,the faults of fools1 but folly4 ,but the herald is driving on the crowd2 and considering how very public the occasion is1 and how very1 very private and personal all this chat is1 it does appear to have stopped the way long enough4 ,thus hurried1 the hero gives hastily a hand 'to ,,his ,,wife and ,,mother' stage direction1 but stops to say a word or two more1 which has the merit of being at least to the ,,poet',s purpose1 though the common-weal may appear to be lost sight of in the ,,hero',s a little2 and that delicacy and reserve of manner1 that modesty of nature1 which is the characteristic of this ,poet's art1 serves here1 as elsewhere1 to disguise the internal continuities of the poetic design4 ,the careless eye will not track it in these finer touches4 ',where some stretched-mouth rascal' would have roared you out his prescribed moral1 'outscolding ,termagant' with it1 the ,poet1 who is the poet of truth1 and who would have such fellows 'whipped' out of the sacred places of ,art1 with a large or small cord1 as the case may be1 is content to bring in his 'delicate burdens1' or to keep sight of them1 at least1 with some such reference to them as this-- ',ere in our own house ,i do shade my head1 ,the good patricians must be visited2 ,from whom ,i have received not only greetings ,but with them change of honours'--change4 ,that is his visit to the state-house which he is speaking of4 ,it is the ,capitol which is put down in his plan of the city on his way to his own house4 ',the state has a letter from him1 and his wife another2 and ,i think there is one for you1 too4' ,volumnia understands that delicate intimation as to the change of honours1 and in return1 takes occasion to express to him1 on the spot1 her views about the consulship1 and the use to which the new cicatrices are to be converted4 ,coriolanus replies to this in words that admit1 as this ,poet's words often do1 of a double construction2 for the ,poet is1 indeed1 lurking under all this4 ,he is always present1 and he often slips in a word for himself1 when his characters are busy1 and thinking of their own parts only4 ,he is very apt to make use of occasions for emphasis1 to put in one word for his speakers1 and two for himself4 ,it is irregular1 but he does not stand much upon precedents2 it was the only way he had of writing his life then-- ',know1 good mother1 ,i had rather be their servant in my way1 ,than sway with them in theirs4 ,cominius4 ,on1 to ,,the ,,capitol4' ,flourish ,cornets4 ,exeunt in state1 as before4 ,the ,tribunes remain4 ,and when the great pageant has moved on 'in state1 as before'--when the shouts of the people1 and the triumphal swell and din1 have died away1 this is the manner in which our two tribunes look at each other4 ,they know their voices would not make so much as a ripple1 at that moment1 in the tide of that great sea of popular ignorance1 which it is their business to sway1--the tide which is setting all one way then1 in one of its monstrous swells1 and bearing every living thing with it1--the tide which is taking the military hero ',on to ,,the ,,capitol4' ,but though they cannot then oppose it1 they can note it4 ,and it is thus that they register that popular confirmation at home1 of the soldier's vote on the field4 ,it is a picture of the hero's return1 good for all ages in its living outline1 composed in that 'charactery' which lays the past and future open4 ,it is a picture good for the ,roman hero's entry2 'and were now the general of our gracious empress1 as in good time he may1 from ,ireland coming1 bringing rebellion broached on his sword'--would it1 or would it not1 suit him8 ,it is a picture of the hero's return1 good for all ages in its main feature1 for all the ages1 at least of a brutish popular ignorance1 of a merely instinctive human growth and formation2 but it is a picture taken from the life1--caught1--detained with the secret of that palette1 whose secret none has yet found1 and the detail is all1 not ,roman1 but1 ,elizabethan4 ,those 'variable complexions1' that one sees1 'smothering the stalls1 bulks1 windows1 filling the leads1' and roofs1 even to the 'ridges1' all agreeing in one expression1 are ,elizabethan4 ,it is an ,elizabethan crowd that we have got into1 in some way1 and it is worth noting if it were only for that4 ,there goes 'the seld shown flamen1 puffing his way to win a vulgar station1' here is a 'veiled dame' who lets us see that 'war of white and damask in her nicely gawded cheeks1' a moment2--look at that 'kitchen malkin1' peering over the wall there with 'her richest lockram' 'pinned on her reechy neck1' eyeing the hero as he passes2 and look at this poor baby here1 this ,elizabethan baby1 saved1 conserved alive1 crying himself 'into a rapture' while his 'prattling nurse' has ears and eyes for the hero only1 as 'she chats him4' ,look at them all1 for every creature you see here1 from 'the seld shown flamen' to the 'kitchen malkin1' belongs soul and body to 'our gracious ,empress1' and ,essex and ,raleigh are still winning their garlands of the war1--that is when the scene is taken1 but not when it was put in its place and framed in this composition2 for their game was up ere then4 ,england preferred old heroes and their claims to new ones4 ',i fear there will a worse come in his place1' was the cautious instinct4 ,bru4 ,all tongues speak of him1 and the bleared sights ,are spectacled to see him3 ,your prattling nurse ,into a rapture lets her baby cry1 ,while she chats him3 the kitchin malkin pins ,her richest lockram 'bout her reechy neck4 ,clambering the walls to eye him3 stalls1 bulks1 windows1 ,are smother'd up1 leads fill'd1 and ridges horsed ,with variable complexions2 all agreeing ,in earnestness to see him3 seld-shown flamens ,do press among the popular throng1 and puff ,to win a vulgar station3 our veil'd dames ,commit the war of white and damask1 in ,their nicely-gawded cheeks to the wanton spoil ,of ,phoebus' burning kisses3 such a pother1 ,as if that whatsoever god1 who leads him1 ,were slyly crept into his human powers1 ,and gave him graceful posture4 ,sic4 ,on the sudden1 ,i warrant him consul4 ,bru4 ,then our office may1 ,during his power1 go sleep4 ,sic4 ,he cannot temperately transport his honours 4444 but will ,lose that he hath won4 ,cru4 ,in that there's comfort4 ,sic4 ,doubt not1 the commoners1 for whom we stand1-- ,while they resolve upon the measures to be taken1 which we shall note elsewhere1 a messenger enters4 ,bru4 ,what's the matter8 ,mess4 ,you are sent for to the ,capitol4 ',tis thought1 ,that ,marcius shall be consul3 ,i have seen ,the dumb men throng to see him1 and the blind ,to hear him speak3 ,the matrons flung their gloves1 ,ladies and maids the scarfs and handkerchiefs1 ,upon him as he passed3 the nobles bended1 ,as to ,jove's statue2 and the commons made ,a shower1 and thunder1 with their caps1 and shouts3 ,i never saw the like4 ,bru4 ,lets to the ,capitol2 ,and carry with us ears and eyes for ,,the ,,time1 ,but hearts for the ,,event4 ,and let us to the ,capitol also1 and hear the civic claim of the oaken garland1 the military claim to dispose of the common-weal1 as set forth by one who is himself a general 'commander-in-chief' of ,rome's armies1 and see whether or no the ,poet's own doubtful cheer on the battle-field has any echo in this place4 ,com4 ,it is held1 ,that valour is the chiefest virtue1 and ,most dignifies the haver3 ,,if ,,it ,,be1 ,the man ,i speak of cannot in the world ,be singly counterpois'd4 ,if it be8 ,and he goes on to tell a story which fits1 in all its points1 a great hero1 a true chieftain1 brave as heroes of old romance1 who lived when this was written1 concluding thus-- ,com4 ,he stopped the fliers2 ,and1 by his rare example1 made the coward ,turn terror into sport3 as waves before ,a vessel under sail1 ,,so ,,men ,,obey',d1 ,and fell below his stem3 his sword1 7death's stamp47 ,where it did mark1 it took2 from face to foot ,he was a thing of blood1 whose every motion ,was timed with dying cries3 alone he enter'd ,the mortal gate o'the city1 which he painted ,with shunless destiny1 aidless came off1 ,and with a sudden re-enforcement struck ,corioli1 like a planet3 now1 ,,all',s ,,his3 ,when by and by the din of war 'gan pierce ,his ready sense3 then straight his doubled spirit ,re-quicken'd what in flesh was fatigate1 ,and to the battle came he2 where he did ,run reeking o'er the lives of men1 as if ',twere a perpetual spoil3 and till we call'd ,both field and city ours1 he never stood ,to ease his breast with panting4 ,men4 ,,worthy ,,man6 ,first ,sen4 ,he cannot but with measure fit the honours ,which we devise him4 ,one more quality1 however1 his pleader insists on1 as additional proof of this 'fitness' for though it is a negative one1 its opposite had not been reckoned among the kingly virtues1 and the poet takes some pains to bring that opposite quality into relief1 throughout1 by this negative4 ,com4 ,our spoils he kicked at2 ,and look'd upon things precious1 as they were ,the common muck o' the world4 ,men4 ,,he',s ,,right ,,noble2 ,let him be call'd for4 ,first ,sen4 ,call for ,coriolanus4 ,off4 ,he doth appear4 ,at the opening of this scene1 two officers appeared on the stage1 'laying cushions1' for this is one of those specimens of the new method of investigation applied to the noblest subjects1 'which represents1 as it were1 to the eye1 the whole order of the invention1' and into the ,capitol stalks now the casque1 for this is that 'step from the casque to the cushion' which the ,poet is considering in the abstract2 but it does not suit his purpose to treat of it in these abstract terms merely1 because 'reason cannot be so sensible4' ,this1 too1 is one of those grand historic moments which this new1 select1 prepared history must represent to the eye in all its momentous historic splendour1 for this is the kind of popular instruction which reproduces the past1 which represents the historic event1 not in perspective1 but as present4 ,and this is the 'business1' and this is the play in which we are told 'action is eloquence1 and the eyes of the ignorant more learned than the ears4' ,the seats of state are prepared for him4 ',call ,coriolanus1' is the senate's word4 ,the conqueror's step is heard4 ',he does appear4' ,men4 ,the senate1 ,coriolanus1 are well pleased ,to make thee consul4 ,cor4 ,i do owe them still ,my life1 and services4 ,men4 ,,it ,,then ,,remains1 ,,that ,,you ,,do ,,speak ,,to ,,the ,,people4 ,cor4 ,i do beseech you1 ,let me overleap that custom4 ,sic4 ,sir1 the people ,must have their voices2 neither will they bate ,one jot of their ceremony4 ,men4 ,put them not to't3--his friendly adviser says4 ,pray you1 go fit you to the custom2 and ,take to you1 as your predecessors have1 ,your honour1 with your form4 ,cor4 ,it is a part ,that ,i shall blush in acting1 and might well ,be taken from the people4 ,bru4 ,mark you that6 ,cor4 ,to brag unto them1--,thus ,i did1 and thus2-- ,show them the unaching scars which ,i should hide1 ,as if ,i had received them for the hire ,of their breath only4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,popular ,,election4 ',the greater part carries it4 ,if he would but incline to the people1 ,there never was a worthier man4' ,and yet1 after all1 that is what he wants for them1 and must have or he is nothing2 for as the ,poet tells us elsewhere1 'our monarchs and our outstretched heroes are but the beggar's shadows4' ,the difficulty is1 that he wishes to take his 'hire' in some more quiet way1 without being rudely reminded of the nature of the transaction4 ,but the ,poet's toils are about him4 ,the man of science has caught the hero1 the king in germ2 the dragon wings are not yet spread4 ,he wishes to exhibit the embryo monarch in this particular stage of his development1 and the scientific process proceeds with as little regard to the victim's wishes1 as if he were indeed that humble product of nature to which the ,poet likens him4 ',there's a differency between a grub and a butterfly2 yet your butterfly was a grub4' ,just on that step between 'the casque and the cushion1' the philosopher arrests him4 ,for this history denotes1 as we have seen1 a foregone conclusion4 ,the scholar has privately anatomized in his study the dragon's wings1 and this theatrical synthesis is designed to be an instructive one4 ,he wishes to show1 in a palpable form1 what is and what is not1 essential to the mechanism of that greatness which1 though it presents itself to the eye in the contemptible physique1 and moral infirmity and pettiness of the human individual1 is yet clothed with powers so monstrous1 so real1 so terrific1 that all men are afflicted with them2--this thing in which 'the conditions of a man are so altered1' this thing which 'has grown from man to dragon1 which is more than a creeping thing4' ,he will show that after all it is nothing in the world but the popular power itself1 the power of the people instinctively1 unscientifically and unartistically exercised4 ,the ,poet has analysed that so potent name by which men call it1 and he will show upon his stage1 by that same method which his followers have made familiar to us1 in other departments of investigation1 the elements of its power4 ,he will let us see how it was those despised 'mechanics1' those 'poor citizens1' with their strong arms and voices1 who were throwing themselves1--in their enthusiasm1--en-masse into that engine1 and only asking to be welded in it2 that would have made of this citizen a thing so terrific4 ,he will show how1 after all1 it was the despised commons who were making of that citizen a king1 of that soldier a monarch1--who were changing with the alchemy of the 'shower and thunder they made with their caps and voices1' his oak leaves and acorns1 into gold and jewels4 ,he will show it on the platform of a state1 where that vote is formally and constitutionally given1 and not in a state where it is only a virtual and tacit one4 ,he will show it in detail4 ,he will cause the multitude to be represented1 and pass by twos and threes across his stage1 and compel the haughty chief1 the would be ruler1 to beg of them1 individually1 their suffrages1 and show them his claim1--such as it is1 the 'unaching scars that he should hide4' ,it is to this ,poet's purpose to exhibit that despised element in the state1 which the popular submission creates1 that unnoticed element of the common suffrage which looks so smooth on its surface1 which seems to the haughty chief so little worth his notice1 when it goes his way and bears him on its crest4 ,but the experimenter will undertake to show what it is by ruffling it1 by instigating this chief to put himself in the madness of his private affections1 in the frenzy of his pride1 into open opposition with it4 ,he will show us what it is by playing with it4 ,he will wake it from its unvisited depths1 and bid his hero strive with it4 ,he will show what that popular consent1 or the consent of 'the commons' amounts to1 in the king-making process1 by omitting it or by withdrawing it1 before it is too late to withdraw it2--according to the now well-known rules of that new art of scientific investigation1 which was then getting worked out and cleared1 from this author's own methods of investigation4 ,for it was because this faculty was in him1 so unlike what it was in others1 that he was able to write that science of it1 by which other men1 stepping into his armour1 have been able to achieve so much4 ,he will show how those dragon teeth and claws1 that were just getting the steel into them1 which would have armed that single will against the whole1 and its weal1 crumble for the lack of it2 he will show us the new-fledged wings1 with all their fresh gauds1 collapsing and dissolving with that popular withdrawal4 ,he will continue the process1 till there is nothing left of all that gorgeous state pageant1 which came in with the flourish of trumpets and the voice of the herald long and loud1 and the echoing thunder of the commons1 but a poor grub of a man1 in his native conditions1 a private citizen1 denied even the common privilege of citizenship1--with only his wife and his mother and a friend or two1 to cling to him1--turned out of the city gates1 to seek his fortune4 ,but that is the moment in which the ,poet ventures to bring out a little more fully1 in the form of positive statement1 that latent affirmation1 that definition of the true nobility which underlies all the play and glistens through it in many a fine1 but hitherto1 unnoticed point2 that affirmation which all these negatives conclude in1 that latent idea of the true personal greatness and its essential relation to the common-weal and the state1 which is the predominant idea of the play1 which shapes all the criticism and points all the satire of it4 ,it is there that the true hero speaks out for a moment from the lips of that old military heroism1 of a greatness which does not cease when the wings of state drop off from it1 of an honour that takes no stain though all the human voices join to sully it1--the dignity that rises and soars and gains the point of immutability1 when all the world would have it under foot4 ,but in that nobility men need training1--scientific training4 ,the instinctive1 unartistic human growth1 or the empirical unscientific arts of culture1 give but a vulgar counterfeit of it1 or at best a poor1 sickly1 distorted1 convulsive1 unsatisfactory type of it1 for 'being gentle1 wounded1'--7and it is gentility and nobility and the true aristocracy that we speak of here17--'craves a ,,noble ,,cunning2' so the old military chieftain tells us4 ,it is a cunning which his author does not put him upon practising personally4 ,practically he represents another school of heroes4 ,it is the word of that higher heroism in which he was himself wanting1 it is the criticism on his own part1 it is the affirmation which all this grand historic negative is always pointing to1 which the author borrows his lips to utter4 ,the result in this case1 the overthrow of the military hero on his way to the chair of state1 is occasioned by the premature arrogance to which his passionate nature impels him4 ,for his fiery disposition refuses to obey the decision of his will1 and overleaps in its passion1 all the barriers of that policy which his calmer moments had prescribed4 ,the result is occasioned by his open display of his contempt for the people1 before he had as yet mastered the organizations which would make that display1 in an unenlightened age1 perhaps1 a safe one4 ,this point of time is much insisted on1 and emphasized4 ',let them pull all about mine ears1' cries the hero1 as he enters his own house1 after his first encounter with the multitude in their wrath4 ',let them pull all about mine ears1 present me ,death on the wheel1 or at wild horses' heels1 ,or pile ten hills on the ,tarpeian rock ,that the precipitation might down stretch ,below the beam of sight1 yet will ,i still-- ,be ,,thus to them4' ,for that is the sublime conclusion of these heroics4 ',you do the nobler1' responds the ,coryphus of that chorus of patricians who accompany him home1 and who ought1 of course1 to be judges of nobility4 ,but there is another approbation wanted4 ,volumnia is there2 but she listens in silence4 ',i muse1' he continues-- ',i muse my mother ,does not approve me further--who was wont ,to call them woollen vassals1 things created ,to buy and sell with groats2 to show bare heads ,in congregations1 to ,,yawn1 be ,,still1 ,,and ,,wonder1 ,when one but of my ordinance stood up ,to speak of ,,peace or ,,war4 ,i talk of you to ,volumnia4 ,why did you wish me milder8 ,would you have me ,false to my nature8 ,softly ,either say ,i play ,the man ,i am4 ,vol4 ,o sir1 sir1 sir1 ,i would have had you put your power well on1 ,ere you had worn it out4 ,cor4 ,let go4 ,vol4 ,lesser had been ,the thwarting of your dispositions1 ,,if ,you had not shown them how you were disposed ,ere they lacked power to cross you4 ,cor4 ,let them ,,hang6 ,vol4 ,ay1 and ,,burn too6 ,for that was the 'disposition' which these ,commons1 if they had waited but a little longer1 might have 'lacked power to cross4' ,that was the disposition they had thwarted4 ,but then it is necessary to our purpose1 as it was to the author's1 to notice that the collision in this case is a forced one4 ,it grows by plot4 ,the people are put up to it4 ,for there are men in that commonwealth who are competent to instruct the ,commons in the doctrine of the common weal1 and who are carefully and perseveringly applying themselves to that task2 though they are men who know how to bide their time1 and they will wait till the soaring insolence of the hero is brought into open collision with that enlightened popular will4 ,they will wait till the military hero's quarrel with the commonwealth breaks out anew4 ,for they know that it lies in the nature of things1 and cannot but occur4 ,the clat of his victory1 and the military pride of the nation1 films it over for a time2 but the quarrel is a radical one1 and cannot be healed4 ,for this chief of soldiers1 and would-be head and ruler of the state knows no commonwealth4 ,his soul is not large enough to admit of that conception4 ,the walls of ignorance1 that he shuts himself up in1 darken and narrow his world to the sphere of his own microcosm1-- and1 therefore1 there is a natural war between the world and him4 ,the state of universal subjection1 on the part of others1 to his single exclusive passions and affections1 the state in which the whole is sacrificed to the part1 is the only state that will satisfy him4 ,that is the peace he is disposed to conquer2 that is the consummation with which he would stay2 that is his notion of state4 ,when that consummation is attained1 or when such an approximation to it as he judges to be within his reach1 is attained1 then1 and not till then1 he is for conservation2--revolution then is sin2 but1 till then he will have change and overturning--he will fill the earth with rapine1 and fire1 and slaughter4 ,but this is just the peace and war principle1 which this man1 who proposes a durable and solid peace1 and the true state1 a state constructed with reference to true definitions and axioms1--this is the peace and war principle which the man of science1 on scientific grounds1 objects to4 ',he likes nor peace nor war' on those terms4 ,the conclusions he has framed from those solid premises which he finds in the nature of things1 makes him the leader of the opposition in both cases4 ,in one way or another he will make war on that peace2 he will kindle the revolutionary fires against that conservation4 ,in one way or another1 in one age or another1 he will silence that war with all its pomp and circumstance1 with all the din of its fifes1 and drums1 and trumpets4 ,he will make over to the ignominy of ignorant and barbaric ages1--'for we call a nettle but a nettle1' he will turn into a forgotten pageant of the rude1 early1 instinctive ages1 the yet brutal ages of an undeveloped humanity1 that triumphant reception at home1 of the ,conqueror of ,foreign ,states4 ,he will undermine1 in all the states1 the ethics and religion of brute force1 till men shall grow sick1 at last1 of the old1 rusty1 bygone trumpery of its insignia1 and say1 ',take away those baubles4' ,but the hero that we deal with here1 is but the pure negation of that heroism which his author conceives of1 aspires to1 and will have1 historical1 which he defines as the pattern of man's nature in all men4 ,this one knows no common-wealth2 the wealth that is wealth in his eyes1 is all his own2 the weal that he conceives of1 is the weal that is warm at his own heart only4 ,at best he can go out of his particular only as far as the limits of his own hearthstone1 or the limits of his clique or caste4 ,and in his selfish passion1 when that demands it1 he will sacrifice the nearest to him4 ,as to the ,commons1 they are 'but things to buy and sell with groats1' a herd1 a mass1 a machine1 to be informed with his single will1 to be subordinated to his single wishes2 in peace enduring the gnawings of hunger1 that the garners their toil has filled may overflow for him1--enduring the badges of a degradation which blots out the essential humanity in them1 to feed his pride2--in war offered up in droves1 to win the garland of the war for him4 ,that is the old hero's commonwealth4 ,his small brain1 his brutish head1 could conceive no other4 ,the ages in which he ruled the world with his instincts1 with his fox-like cunning1 with his wolfish fury1 with his dog-like ravening1--those brute ages could know no other4 ,but it is the sturdy ,european race that the hero has to deal with here2 and though1 in the moment of victory1 it is ready always to chain itself to the conqueror's car1 and1 in the exultation of conquest1 and love for the conqueror1 fastens on itself1 with joy1 the fetters of ages1 this quarrel is always breaking out in it anew3 it does not like being governed with the edge of the sword2--it is not fond of martial law as a permanent institution4 ,two very sagacious tribunes these old ,romans happen to have on hand in this emergency3 birds considerably too old to be caught with this chaff of victory and military virtue1 which puts the populace into such a frenzy1 and very learnedly they talk on this subject1 with a slight tendency to anachronisms in their mode of expression1 in language which sounds a little1 at times1 as if they might have had access to some more recent documents1 than the archives of mythical ,rome could just then furnish to them4 ,but the reader should judge for himself of the correctness of this criticism4 ,refusing to join in the military procession on its way to the ,capitol1 and stopping in the street for a little conference on the subject1 when it has gone by1 after that vivid complaint of the universal prostration to the military hero already quoted1 the conference proceeds thus3-- ,sic4 ,on the sudden1 ,i warrant him consul4 ,bru4 ,then our office may1 ,during his power1 go sleep4 ,sic4 ,he cannot temperately transport his honours ,from where he should begin1 and end2 but will ,lose those that he hath won4 ,bru4 ,in that there's comfort4 ,sic4 ,doubt not1 the commoners1 for whom we stand4 ,but they1 upon their ancient malice1 will ,forget1 with the least cause1 these his new honours2 ,which that he'll give them1 make as little question ,as he is proud to do't4 ,bru4 ,i heard him swear1 ,were he to stand for consul1 never would he ,appear i'the market-place1 nor on him put ,the napless vesture of humility2 ,nor1 showing 7as the manner is7 his wounds ,to the people1 beg their stinking breaths4 ,sic4 ',tis right4 ,bru4 ,it was his word3 ,o1 he would miss it1 rather ,than carry it1 but by the suit o'the gentry to him1 ,and the desire of the nobles4 ,sic4 ,i wish no better1 ,than have him hold that purpose1 and to put it ,in execution4 ,bru4 ',tis most like he will4 ,sic4 ,it shall be to him then1 as our good wills ,a sure destruction4 ,bru4 ,so it must fall out ,to him1 or our authorities4 ,for an end1 ,we must suggest the people1 in what hatred ,he still hath held them2 that to his power he would ,have made them mules1 silenced their pleaders1 and ,,dispropertied ,,their ,,freedoms3 --note the expression-- holding them1 ,,in ,,human ,,action ,,and ,,capacity1 ,of no more soul nor fitness for ,,the ,,world ,than ,,camels in their war2 who have their provand ,only for bearing burdens1 and sore blows ,for sinking under them4 ,sic4 ,this as you say1 suggested ,at some time1 when his soaring insolence ,shall teach the people 7which time shall not want7 ,if he be put upon't2 and that's as easy ,as to set dogs on sheep2 will be ,,his ,,fire ,to ,,kindle ,,their ,,dry ,,stubble2 ,,and ,,their ,,blaze ,,shall ,,darken ,,him ,,for ,,ever4 ,there is a history in all men's lives1 ,figuring the nature of the times deceased1 ,the which observed a man may prophesy1 ,with a near aim of the main chance of things1 ,as yet not come to life1 which in their seeds ,and weak beginnings1 lie intreasured3 ,such things become the hatch and brood of time4--,henry ,,iv4 ,coriolanus1 elected by the ,senate to the consulship1 proposes1 in his arrogance1 as we have already seen1 to dispense with the usual form1 which he understands to be a form merely1 of asking the consent of the people1 and exhibiting to them his claim to their suffrages4 ,the tribunes have sternly withstood this proposition1 and will hear of 'no jot' of encroachment upon the dignity and state of the ,commons4 ,after the flourish with which the election in the ,senate ,chamber concludes1 and the withdrawal of the ,senate1 again they stop to discuss1 confidentially1 'the situation4' ,bru4 ,you see how he intends to use the people4 ,sic4 ,may they perceive his intent2 he will require them ,as if he did contemn what they requested ,should be in their power to give4 ,bru4 ,come1 we'll inform them ,of our proceedings here3 on the market-place ,i know they do attend us4 ,and to the market-place we go2 for it is there that the people are collecting in throngs2 no bats or clubs in their hands now1 but still full of their passion of gratitude and admiration for the hero's patriotic achievements1 against the common foe2 and1 under the influence of that sentiment1 wrought to its highest pitch by that action and reaction which is the incident of the common sentiment in 'the greater congregations1' or 'extensive wholes1' eager to sanction with their 'approbation1' the appointment of the ,senate1 though the graver sort appear to be1 even then1 haunted with some unpleasant reminiscences1 and not without an occasional misgiving as to the wisdom of the proceeding4 ,there is a little tone of the former meeting lurking here still4 ,first ,cit4 ,once1 if he do require our voices1 we ought not to deny him4 ,second ,cit4 ,we may1 ,sir1 if we will4 ,third ,cit4 ,we have power in ourselves to do it1 but it is a power that we have no power to do4 ,ingratitude is monstrous3 and for the multitude to be ungrateful1 were to make a monster of the multitude1-- ,there are scientific points here4 ,this term 'monstrosity' is one of the radical terms in the science of nature2 but1 like many others1 it is used in the popular sense1 while the sweep and exactitude of the scientific definition1 or 'form' is introduced into it4 --of the which1 we1 being members1 should bring ourselves to be monstrous members4 ,first ,cit4 ,and to make us no better thought of1 a little help will serve3 for once1 when we stood up about the corn1 he himself stuck not to call us the many-headed multitude4 ,third ,cit4 ,we have been called so of many2 not that our heads are some brown1 some black1 some auburn1 some bald1 but that our wits are so diversely coloured3 and truly ,i think1 if ,,all our wits were to issue out of ,,one skull1 they would fly east1 west1 north1 south2 and their consent of one direct way should be at once to ,,all the points o'the compass4 ,an enigma2 but the sphinx could propound no better one4 ,truly this man has had good teaching4 ,he knows how to translate the old priestly ,etruscan into the vernacular4 ,second ,cit4 ,think you so8 ,which way1 do you judge1 my wit would fly8 ,third ,cit4 ,nay1 your wit will not so soon out as another man's ,,will1 'tis strongly wedged up in a block-head3 but if it were at liberty 444 ,second ,cit4 ,you are never without your tricks3--444 ,third ,cit4 ,are you all resolved to give your voices8 ,but that's no matter4 ,the greater part carries it4 ,i say1 if he would incline to the people1 there was never a worthier man4 ,enter ,coriolanus and ,menenius4 ,here he comes1 and in the gown of humility2 mark his behaviour4 ,we are not to stay all together1 but to come by him where he stands1 by ones1 by twos1 and by threes4 ,he's to make his requests by particulars3 wherein every one of us has a single honour1 in giving him our own voices with our own tongues3 therefore ,,follow ,,me1 and ,i',,ll ,,direct ,,you ,,how ,,you ,,shall ,,go ,,by ,,him4 ,the voice of the true leader is lurking here1 and all through these scenes the 'double' meanings are thickly sown4 ,all4 ,content1 content6 ,men4 ,o ,sir1 you are not right3 have you not known ,the worthiest men have done it8 ,cor4 ,what must ,i say8-- ,i pray1 ,sir8--,plague upon't6 ,i cannot bring ,my tongue to such a pace3--,look1 ,sir1--my wounds2-- ,i got them in my country's service1 when ,some certain of your brethren roar'd1 and ran ,from the noise of ,,our ,,own ,,drums4 ,men4 ,o me1 the gods6 ,you must not speak of that2 you must desire them ,to think upon you4 ,cor4 ,think upon me8 ,hang 'em6 ,i would they would forget me1 like the virtues ,which our divines lose by them4 ,men4 ,you'll mar all2 ,i'll leave you3 ,pray you1 speak to them1 ,i pray you1 ,in wholesome manner4 ,and now1 instead of being thronged with a mob of citizens--instructed how they are to go by him with the honor of their single voices they enter 'by twos' and 'threes4' ,enter two ,citizens4 ,cor4 ,bid them wash their faces1 ,and keep their teeth clean4--,so1 here comes a brace1 ,you know the cause1 ,sir1 of my standing here4 ,first ,cit4 ,we do1 ,sir2 tell us what hath brought you to't1 ,cor4 ,mine own desert4--,the would-be consul answers4 ,second ,cit4 ,your own desert8 ,cor4 ,ay1 not ,mine own desire4 ,his own desert has brought him to the consulship2 his own desire would have omitted the conciliation of the people1 and the deference to their will1 that with all his desert somehow he seems to find expected from him4 ,first ,cit4 ,how6 not your own desire6 ,cor4 ,no1 ,sir4 ',twas never my desire yet1 ,to trouble the poor with begging4 ,he desires what the poor have to give him however2 but he desires to take it1 without begging4 ,but it is the heart of the true hero that speaks in earnest through that mockery1 and the reference is to a state of things towards which the whole criticism of the play is steadfastly pointed1 a state in which sovereigns were reluctantly compelled to beg from the poor1 what they would rather have taken without their leave1 or1 at least1 a state in which the form of this begging was still maintained1 though there lacked but little to make it a form only1 a state of things in which a country gentleman might be called on to sell 'his brass pans' without being supplied1 on the part of the ,state1 with what might appear1 to him1 any respectable reason for it1 putting his life in peril1 and coming off1 with a hair's-breadth escape1 of all his future usefulness1 if he were bold enough to question the proceeding2 a state of things in which a poor law-reader might feel himself called upon to buy a gown for a lady1 whose gowns were none of the cheapest1 at a time when the state of his finances might render it extremely inconvenient to do so4 ,but to return to the ,roman citizen1 for the play is written by one who knows that the human nature is what it is in all ages1 or1 at least1 until it is improved with better arts of culture than the world has yet tried on it4 ,first ,cit4 ,you must think1 if we give you anything1 ,we hope to gain by you4 ,cor4 ,well then1 ,i pray1 ,,your ,,price ,o',,the ,,consulship8 ,first ,cit4 ,the price is1 ,sir1 to ask it kindly4 ,cor4 ,kindly8 ,sir1 ,i pray let me ha't3 ,i have wounds to show you1 ,which shall be yours in private4--,your good voice1 ,sir2 ,what say you8 ,second ,cit4 ,you shall have it1 worthy ,sir4 ,cor4 ,a match1 ,sir3 ,there is in all two worthy voices begg'd3-- ,i have your alms2 adieu4 ,first ,cit4 ,but this is something odd4 ,second ,cit4 ,an 'twere to give again1--,but 'tis no matter4 ,exeunt two ,citizens4 ,enter two other ,citizens4 ,cor4 ,pray you now1 if it may stand with the tune of your voices1 that ,i may be consul1 ,i have here the customary gown4 ,third ,cit4 ,you have deserved nobly of your country1 and you have not deserved nobly4 ,cor4 ,your enigma8 ,third ,cit4 ,you have been a scourge to her enemies1 you have been a rod to her friends2 you have not ,,indeed1 loved the ,,common ,,people4 ,cor4 ,you should account me the more virtuous1 that ,i have not been common in my love4 ,i will1 ,sir1 flatter my sworn brother the people1 to earn a dearer estimation of them2 'tis a condition they account ,,gentle3 and since the wisdom of their choice is rather to have my hat than my heart1 ,i will practise the insinuating nod1 and be off to them most counterfeitly2 that is1 ,sir1 ,i will counterfeit the bewitchment of some popular man1 and give it bountifully to the desirers4 ,therefore1 beseech you1 ,i may be consul4 ,fourth ,cit4 ,we hope to find you our friend2 and therefore give you our voices heartily4 ,third ,cit4 ,you have received many wounds for your country4 ,cor4 ,i will not seal your knowledge with showing them4 ,i will make much of your voices1 and so trouble you no further4 ,both ,cit4 ,the gods give you joy1 ,sir1 heartily6 ,exeunt4 ,cor4 ,most sweet voices6-- ,better it is to die1 better to starve1 444,rather than fool it so1 ,let the high office and the honour go ,to one that would do thus4--,i am half through2 ,the one part suffer'd1 the other will ,i do4 ,enter three other ,citizens4 ,here come more voices1-- ,your ,voices3 for your voices ,i have fought3 ,watch'd for your voices2 for your voices1 bear ,of wounds two dozen odd2 battles thrice six1 ,i have seen and heard of2 for your voices1 ,done many things1 some less1 some more3 your voices3 ,indeed1 ,i would be consul4 ,fifth ,cit4 ,he has done nobly1 and cannot go without any honest man's voice4 ,sixth ,cit4 ,therefore let him be consul3 ,the gods give him joy1 and make him good friend to the people4 ,all4 ,amen1 ,amen4-- ,god save thee1 noble consul6 ,exeunt ,citizens4 ,cor4 ,,worthy ,,voices6 ,re-enter ,menenius1 with the tribunes ,brutus1 and ,sicinius4 ,men4 ,you have stood your limitation2 and the tribunes ,endue you with the people's voice3 ,remains1 ,that in the official marks invested1 you ,anon do meet the senate4 ,cor4 ,is this done8 ,sic4 ,the custom of request you have discharged3 ,the people do admit you2 and are summon'd ,to meet anon1 upon your approbation4 ,cor4 ,where8 ,at the senate-house8 ,sic4 ,there ,coriolanus4 ,cor4 ,may ,i change these garments8 ,sic4 ,you may1 ,sir4 ,cor4 ,that ,i'll straight do1 and knowing myself again1 ,repair to the senate house4 ,men4 ,i'll keep you company4--,will you along4 ,bru4 ,we stay here for the people4 ,sic4 ,fare you well4 ,exeunt ,coriolanus and ,menenius4 ,he has it now2 and by his looks1 methinks1 ',tis warm at his heart4 ,bru4 ,with a proud heart he wore ,his humble weeds3 ,will you dismiss the people8 ,this is the popular election3 but the afterthought1 the review1 the critical review1 is that which must follow1 for this is not the same people we had on the stage when the play began4 ,they are the same in person1 perhaps2 but it is no longer a mob1 armed with clubs1 clamouring for bread1 rushing forth to kill their chiefs1 and have corn at their own price4 ,it is a people conscious of their political power and dignity1 an organised people2 it is a people with a constituted head1 capable of instructing them in the doctrine of political duties and rights4 ,it is the tribune now who conducts this review of the ,military ,hero's civil claims4 ,it is the careful1 learned ,tribune who initiates1 from the heights of his civil wisdom1 this great1 popular veto1 this deliberate 'rejection' of the popular affirmation4 ,for this is what is called1 elsewhere1 'a negative instance4' ,re-enter ,citizens4 ,sic4 ,how now1 my masters8 ,,have ,,you ,,chose ,,this ,,man8 ,first ,cit4 ,he has our voices1 ,sir4 ,bru4 ,we pray the gods he may deserve your loves4 ,second ,cit4 ,amen1 ,sir3 ,to my poor unworthy notice1 ,he mocked us when he begg'd our voices4 ,third ,cit4 ,certainly ,he flouted us downright4 ,first ,cit4 ,no1 'tis his kind of speech2 he did not mock us4 ,second ,cit4 ,not one amongst us save yourself1 but says1 ,he used us scornfully3 he should have show'd us ,his marks of merit1 wounds received for his country4 ,sic4 ,why1 so he did1 ,i am sure4 ,cit4 ,no2 no man saw 'em4 ,several speak4 ,third ,cit4 ,he said he had wounds which he could show in private2 ,and with his hat1 thus waving it in scorn1 ',i would be consul1' says he1' ,,aged ,,custom1 ,,but ,,by ,,your ,,voices1 ,,will ,,not ,,so ,,permit ,,me2 ,your voices ,,therefore3' ,when we granted that1 ,here was1--',i thank you for your voices1--thank you1-- ,your most sweet voices3--now you have left your voices1 ,i have no further with you3'--,was not this mockery8 ,sic4 ,why1 either1 were you ignorant to see't8 ,or1 seeing it1 of such childish friendliness ,to yield your voices8 ,bru4 ,could you not have told him ,as you were lesson'd--when he had no power1 ,but was a petty servant to the state1 ,he was your enemy2 ever spake against ,your ,,liberties1 and the ,,charters that you bear ,i' ,,the ,,body of the ,,weal3 and now arriving ,a place of potency1 and sway o' the state1 ,if he should still malignantly remain ,fast foe to the plebeii1 your voices might ,be ,,curses to ,,yourselves4 ,sic4 ,thus to have said ,as you were fore-advised1 had touched his spirit1 ,and tried his inclination2 from him plucked1 ,either his gracious promise1 which you might1 ,as cause had called you up1 have ,,held ,,him ,,to2 ,or else it would have galled his surly nature1 ,which easily endures1 not article ,tying him to aught2--so putting him to rage1 ,you should have ta'en advantage of his choler1 ,and so left him unelected4 ,somewhat sagacious instructions for these old ,roman statesmen to give1 and not so very unlike those which ,english ,commons found occasion to put in execution not long after4 ,bru4 ,did you perceive he did solicit you in free contempt1 ,when he did need your loves2 and do you think ,that his contempt shall not be bruising to you1 ,when1 he hath power to crush8 ,why had your bodies ,no heart among you1 or had you tongues ,to cry against ,,the ,,rectorship of--judgment8 ,sic4 ,have you ,ere now1 deny'd the asker1 and now again1 ,on him that did not ask1 but mock1 with a pretence of asking1 bestow ,your sued for tongues8 ,third ,cit4 ,,he',s ,,not ,,confirmed1 we may deny him ,,yet4 ,second ,cit4 ,and will deny him3 ,i'll have five hundred voices of that sound4 ,first ,cit4 ,i1 twice five hundred1 and their friends to piece 'em4 ,bru4 ,get you hence instantly1 and tell those friends1 ,they have chose a consul that will from them ,take their liberties1 ,,make ,,them ,,of ,,no ,,more ,,voice ,,than ,,dogs1 that are as often ,,beat for barking1 ,as ,,kept ,,to ,,do ,,so4 ,sic4 ,let them assemble1 ,and on a safer judgment1 ,,all ,,revoke ,your ,,ignorant ,,election4 ,bru4 ,lay ,a fault on us1 your tribunes2 that ,,we ,,laboured ,,no ,,impediment ,,between1 but that you must ,cast your election on him4 ,sic4 ,say1 you chose him ,more after our commandment1 than as guided ,by your own true affections1 and that your minds1 ,pre-occupied with what you rather must do1 ,than what you should1 made you against the grain ,to voice him consul3 lay the fault on us4 ,bru4 ,ay1 ,,spare us ,,not4 ,say ,,we ,,read ,,lectures ,,to ,,you1 ,how youngly he began to serve his country1 ,how long continued1 and what stock he springs of2 ,the noble house o' the ,marcians1 from whence came1 ,that ,ancus ,martius1 ,numa's daughter's son1 ,who1 after great ,hostilius1 here was king3 ,of the same house ,publius and ,quintus were1 ,that our best water brought by conduits hither2 ,and ,censoriuus1 darling of the people1 ,and nobly named so1 being censor twice1 ,was his great ancestor4 ,of course this man has never meddled with the classics at all4 ,his reading and writing comes by nature4 ,sic4 ,one thus descended1 ,that hath beside well in his person wrought1 ,to be set high in place1 we did commend ,to your remembrances2 but you have found1 ,scaling his present bearing with his past1 ,that he's your fixed enemy1 and ,,revoke ,your sudden approbation4 ,bru44 ,say you ne'er had done't1-- ,harp on that still1--but by our putting on1 ,and presently when you have drawn your number1 ,repair to the ,capitol4 ,citizens4 ,several speak4 ,we will so4 ,almost all ,repent in their election4 ,exeunt ,citizens4 ,bru4 ,let them go on4 ,this mutiny were better put in hazard1 ,than stay1 past doubt1 for greater2 ,if1 as his nature is1 he fall in rage ,with their refusal1 both observe and answer ,the vantage of his anger4 ,sic4 ,to the ,capitol3 ,come1 we'll be there before the stream o' the people1 ,and this shall seem1 as partly'tis1 their own ,which ,,we ,,have ,,goaded ,,onward4 ,see the ,play of ,henry the ,seventh1 ,founder of the ,elizabethan ,tyranny1 by the same author4 ,we have witnessed the popular election on the scientific boards3 we have seen1 now1 in all its scientific detail1 the civil confirmation of the soldier's vote on the battle-field3 we have seen it in the senate-chamber and in the market-place1 and we saw it in 'the smothered stalls1 and bulks1 and windows1' and on 'the leads and ridges'3 we have seen and heard it1 not in the shower and thunder that the commons made with their caps and voices only1 but in the scarfs1 and gloves1 and handkerchiefs1 which 'the ladies1 and maids1 and matrons threw4' ,we have seen each single contribution to this great public act put in by the ,poet's selected representative of classes4 ',the kitchen malkin1 with her richest lockram pinned on her neck1 clambering the wall to eye him1' spake for hers2 'the seld-shown flamen1 puffing his way to win a vulgar station1' was hastening to record the vote of his2 'the veiled dame1 exposing the war of white and damask in her nicely-gawded cheeks to the spoil of ,phebus' burning kisses1' was a tribune1 too1 in this ,poet's distribution of the tribes1 and spake out for the veiled dames2 'the prattling nurse' who will give her baby that is 'crying itself into a rapture there1 while she chats him' her reminiscence of this scene by and by1 was there to give the nurses' approbation4 ,for this is the vote which the great ,tribune has to sum up and count1 when he comes to review at last1 'in a better hour1' these spontaneous public acts--these momentous acts that seal up the future1 and bind the unborn generations of the advancing kind with the cramp of their fetters4 ,not less careful than this is the analysis when he undertakes to track to its historic source one of those practical axioms1 one of those received beliefs1 which he finds determining the human conduct1 limiting the human history1 moulding the characters of men1 determining beforehand what they shall be4 ,this is the process when he undertakes1 to get one of these rude1 instinctive1 spontaneous affirmations--one of those idols of the market or of the ,tribe--reviewed and criticised by the heads of the ,tribe1 at least1 'in a better hour1'--criticised and rejected4 ',proceeding by negatives and exclusion first'3 this is the form in which this ,tribune puts on record his scientific veto of that 'ignorant election4' ,and in this so carefully selected and condensed combination of historical spectacles--in this so new1 this so magnificently illustrated political history--there is another historic moment to be brought out now2 and in this same form of 'visible history1' one not less important than those already exhibited4 ,in the scene that follows1 we have1 in the ,poet's arrangement1 the great historic spectacle of a people ',,revoking ,,their ,,ignorant ,,election1' under the instigation and guidance of those same remarkable leaders1 whose voice had been wanting 7as they are careful to inform us7 till then in the business of the state2 leaders who contrive at last to inform the people1 in plain terms1 that they 'are at point to lose their liberties1' that ',marcius will have all from them1' and who apologise for their conduct afterwards by saying1 that 'he affected one sole throne1 without assistance'2 for the time had come when the ,tribune could repeat the ,poet's whisper1 ',the one side shall have bale4' ,this so critical spectacle is boldly brought out and exhibited here in all its actual historical detail4 ,it is produced by one who is able to include in his dramatic programme the whole sweep of its eventualities1 the whole range of its particulars1 because he has made himself acquainted with the forces1 he has ascended1 by scientifically inclusive definition1 to the 'powers' that are to be 'operant' in it2 and he who has that 'charactery' of nature1 may indeed 'lay the future open4' ,we talk of prophecy2 but there is nothing in literature to compare at all with this great specimen of the prophecy of ,induction4 ,there is nothing to compare with it in its grasp of particulars1 in its comprehension and historic accuracy of detail4 ,but this great speech1 which he entreats for leave to make before that revolutionary movement1 which in its weak beginnings in his time lay intreasured1 should proceed any further--this preliminary speech1 with its so vivid political illustration1 is not yet finished4 ,the true doctrine of an instructed scientific election and government1 that 'vintage' of politics--that vintage of scientific definitions and axioms which he is getting out of this new kind of history--that new vintage of the higher1 subtler fact1 which this fine selected1 adapted history1 will be made to yield1 is not yet expressed4 ,the fault with the popular and instinctive mode of inquiry is1 he tells us1 that it begins with affirmation--but that is the method for gods1 and not men--men must begin with negations2 they must have tables of review of instances1 tables of negation1 tables of rejection2 and divide nature1 not with fire1 but with the mind1 that divine fire4 ',if the mind attempt this affirmation from the first1' he says1 'which it always will when left to itself there will spring up phantoms1 mere theories1 and ill-defined notions1 with axioms requiring daily correction4 ,these will be better or worse1 according to the power and strength of the understanding which creates them4 ,but it is only for ,god to recognise forms affirmatively1 at the first glance of contemplation2 men can only proceed first by negatives1 and then to conclude with affirmatives1 after every species of rejection4' ,and though he himself appears to be profoundly absorbed with the nature of ,,heat1 at the moment in which he first produces these new scientific instruments1 which he calls tables of review1 and explains their 'facilities1' he tells us plainly1 that they are adapted to other subjects1 and that those affirmations which are most essential to the welfare of man1 will in due time come off from them1 practical axioms on matters of universal and incessant practical concern1 that will not want daily correction1 that will not want revolutionary correction1 to fit them to the exigency4 ,the question here is not of 'heat1' but of ,,sovereignty2 it is the question of the consulship1 regarded from the ground of the tribuneship4 ,it is not ,coriolanus that this tribune is spending so much breath on4 ,the instincts1 which unanalytic1 barbaric ages1 enthrone and mistake for greatness and nobility1 are tried and rejected here2 and the business of the play is1 to get them excluded from the chair of state4 ,the philosopher will have those instincts which men1 in their 'particular and private natures1' share with the lower orders of animals1 searched out1 and put in their place in human affairs1 which is not1 as he takes it1 ,,the ,,head--the head of the ,,common-weal4 ,it is not ,coriolanus2 the author has no spite at all against him--he is partial to him1 rather2 it is not ,coriolanus but the instincts that are on trial here1 and the man--the so-called man--of instinct1 who has no principle of state and sovereignty1 no principle of true manliness and nobility in his soul2 and the trial is not yet completed4 ,the author would be glad to have that revolution which he has inserted in the heart of this play deferred1 if that were possible1 though he knows that it is not2 he thinks it would be a saving of trouble if it could be deferred until some true and scientifically prepared notions1 some practical axioms1 which would not need in their turn fierce historical correction--revolutionary correction--could be imparted to the common mind4 ,but we must follow him in this process of division and exclusion a little further1 before we come in our plot to the revolution4 ,that revolution which he foresees as imminent and inevitable1 he has put on paper here3 but there is another lurking within1 for which we are not yet ripe4 ,this locked-up tribune will have to get abroad2 he will have to get his limits enlarged1 and find his way into some new departments1 before ever that can begin4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,the ,,scientific ,,method ,,in ,,politics4 ',if any man think philosophy and universality to be idle studies1 he doth not consider that all professions are from thence served and supplied4' ,advancement of ,learning4 ',we leave room on every subject for the human or optative part2 for it is a part of science to make judicious inquiries and wishes4' ,novum ,organum4 ,as to the method of this new kind of philosophical inquiry1 which is brought to bear here so stedfastly upon the most delicate questions1 at a time when the ,play-house was expressly forbidden by a ,royal ,ordinance1 on pain of dissolution1 to touch them--in an age1 too1 when ,parliaments were lectured1 and brow-beaten1 and rudely sent home1 for contumaciously persisting in meddling with questions of state--in an age in which prelates were shrilly interrupted in the pulpit1 in the midst of their finest and gravest ,sunday discourse1 and told1 in the presence of their congregations1 to hold their tongues and mind their own business1 if they chanced to touch upon 'questions of church1' on a day when the ,head of the ,church herself1 in her own sacred person1 in her largest ruff1 and 'rustling' in her last silk1 happened to be in her pew2--as to the method of the philosophical investigations which were conducted under such critical conditions1 of course there was no harm in displaying that in the abstract1 as a method merely4 ,as a method of philosophical inquiry1 there was no harm in presenting it in a tolerably lucid and brilliant manner1 accompanying the exhibition with careful1 and apparently specific1 directions as to the application of it to indifferent subjects4 ,there was no harm1 indeed1 in blazoning this method a little1 and in soliciting the attention of the public1 and the attention of mankind in general1 to it in a somewhat extraordinary manner1 not without some considerable blowing of trumpets4 ,as a method of philosophical inquiry1 merely1 what earthly harm could it do8 ,surely there was no more innocent thing in nature than 'your philosophy1' then1 so far as any overt acts were concerned2 it certainly was the last thing in the world that a king or a queen need trouble their heads about then4 ,who cared what methods the philosophers were taking1 or whether this was a new one or an old one1 so that the men of letters could understand it8 ,the modern ,solomon was fain to confess that1 for his part1 he could not--that it was beyond his depth2 whereas the history of ,henry the ,seventh1 by the same author1 appeared to him extremely clear and lively1 and quite within his range1 and to that he gave his own personal approbation4 ,the other work1 however1 as it was making so much noise in the world1 and promising to go down to posterity1 would serve to adorn his reign1 and make it illustrious in future ages4 ,there was no harm in this philosopher's setting forth his method then1 and giving very minute and strict directions in regard to its applications to 'certain subjects4' ,as to what the ,author of it did with it himself--that1 of course1 was another thing1 and nobody's business but his own just then1 as it happened4 ,so totally was the world off its guard at the moment of this great and greatest innovation in its practice--so totally unaccustomed were men then to look for anything like power in the quarter from which this seemed to be proceeding--so impossible was it for this single book to remove that previous impression--that the ,author of the ,novum ,organum could even venture to intersperse these directions1 with regard to its specific and particular applications1 with pointed and not infrequent allusions to the comprehensive nature--the essentially comprehensive nature--of 'the ,machine' whose application to these certain instances he is at such pains to specify2 he could1 indeed1 produce it with a continuous side-long glance at this so portentous quality of it4 ,nay1 he could go farther than that1 and venture to assert openly1 over his own name1 and leave on record for the benefit of posterity1 the assertion that this new method of inquiry does apply1 directly and primarily1 to those questions in which the human race are primarily concerned2 that it strikes at once to the heart of those questions1 and was invented to that end4 ,such a certificate and warranty of the ,new ,machine was put up by the hands of the ,inventor on the face of it1 when he dedicated it to the human use--when he appealed in its behalf from the criticism of the times that were near1 to those that were far off4 ,nay1 he takes pains to tell us2 he tells us in that same moment1 what one who studies the ,,novum ,,organum with the key of ',times' does not need to be told--can see for himself--that in his description of the method he has already contrived to make the application1 the universal practical application4 ,in his ,,prerogative ,,instances1 the mind of man is brought out already from its ,,specific narrowness1 from its own abstract logical conceits and arrogant prenotions1 into that collision with fact--the broader fact1 the universal fact--and subjected to that discipline from it which is the intention of this logic4 ,it is a 'machine' which is meant to serve to ,man as a ',new' ,mind--the scientific mind1 which is in harmony with nature--a mind informed and enlarged with the universal laws1 the laws of ,,kinds1 instead of the spontaneous uninstructed mind1 instead of the narrow specific mind of a barbaric race1 filled with its own preposterous prenotions and vain conceits1 and at war with universal nature2 boldly pursuing its deadly feud with that1 priding itself on it1 making a virtue of it4 ,it is a machine in which those human faculties which are the gifts of ,god to man1 as the instruments of his welfare1 are for the first time scientifically conjoined4 ,it is a ,machine in which the senses1 those hitherto despised instruments in philosophy1 by means of a scientific rule and oversight1 and with the aid of scientific instruments1 are made available for philosophic purposes4 ,it is a ,machine in which that organization whereby the universal nature impresses itself on us--reports itself to us--striking its incessant telegraphs on us1 whether we read them or not1 is for the first time brought to the philosopher's aid2 and it is a ,machine1 also1 by which speculation1 that hitherto despised instrument in practice1 is for the first time1 brought to the aid of the man of practice4 ,it is doubly ',new'3 it is a ,machine in which speculation becomes practical--it is a ,machine in which practice becomes scientific4 ,fool4 ,canst thou tell why a man's nose stands in the middle of his face8 ,lear4 ,no4 ,fool4 ,why1 to keep his eyes on either side of it1 that what he cannot smell out1 he may spy into4 ,in ',,the ,,prerogative ,,instances1' the universal matter of fact is already taken up and disposed of in grand masses1 under these headships and chief cases1 not in a miscellaneous1 but scientific manner4 ,the ,nature of ,things is all there2 for this is a ,logic which bows the mind of man to the law of the universal nature1 and informs and enlarges it with that4 ,it is not a ,logic merely in the old sense of that term4 ,the old ,logic1 and the cobwebs of metaphysics that grew out of it1 are the things which this ,machine is going to puff away1 with the mere whiff and wind of its inroads into nature1 and disperse for ever4 ,it is not a logic merely as logic has hitherto been limited1 but a philosophy4 ,a logic in which the general 'notions of nature' which are causes1 powers1 simple powers1 elemental powers1 true differences1 are substituted for those spontaneous1 rude1 uncorrected1 specific notions1--pre-notions of men1 which have in that form1 as they stand thus1 no correlative in nature1 and are therefore impotent--not true terms and forms1 but air-words1 air-lines1 merely4 ,it is a logic which includes the ,mind of ,,nature1 and her laws2 and not one which is limited to the mind of ,man1 and so fitted to its incapacity as to nurse him in his natural ignorance1 to educate him in his born foolery and conceit1 to teach him to ignore by rule1 and set at nought the infinite mystery of nature4 ,the universal history1 all of it that the mind of man is constituted to grasp1 is here in the general1 under these ,,prerogative ,,instances1 in the luminous order of the ,inventor of this science1 blazing throughout with his genius1 and the mind that has abolished its prenotions1 and renounced its rude1 instinctive1 barbaric tendencies1 and has taken this scientific ,organum instead2 has armed itself with the ,nature of ,things1 and is prepared to grapple with all specifications and particulars4 ,the author tells us plainly1 that those seemingly pedantic arrangements with which he is compelled to perplex his subject in this great work of his1 the work in which he openly introduces ,,his ,,innovation1--as that--will fall off by and by1 when there is no longer any need of them4 ,they are but the natural guards with which great ,nature1 working in the instinct of the philosophic genius1 protects her choicest growth1--the husk of that grain which must have times1 and a time to grow in1--the bark which the sap must stop to build1 ere its delicate works within are safe4 ,they are like the sheaths with which she hides through frost and wind and shower1 until their hour has come1 her vernal patterns1 her secret toils1 her magic cunning1 her struggling aspirations1 her glorious successes1 her celestial triumphs4 ,in the midst of this studious fog of scholasticism1 this complicated network of superficial divisions1 the man of humour1 who is always not far off and ready to assist in the priestly ministrations as he sees occasion1 gently directs our attention to those more simple and natural divisions of the subject1 and those more immediately practical terms1 which it might be possible to use1 under certain circumstances1 in speaking of the same subjects1 into which1 however1 these are easily resolvable1 as soon as the right point of observation is taken4 ,through all this haze1 he contrives to show us confidentially1 the outline of those grand natural divisions1 which he has already clearly produced--under their scholastic names1 indeed1--in his book of the ,advancement of ,learning2 but which he cannot so openly continue1 in a work produced professedly1 as a practical instrument fit for application to immediate use1 and where the true application is constantly entering the vitals of subjects too delicate to be openly glanced at then4 ,but he gives us to understand1 however1 that he has made the application of this method to practice1 in a much more specific1 detailed manner1 in another place1 that he has brought it down from those more general forms of the ,novum ,organum1 into 'the nobler' departments1 'the more chosen' departments of that universal field of human practice1 which the ,novum ,organum takes up in its great outline1 and boldly and clearly claims in the general1 though when it comes to specific applications and particulars1 it does so stedfastly strike1 or appear to strike1 into that one track of practice1 which was the only one left open to it then1--which it keeps still as rigidly as if it had no other4 ,he has brought it out1 he tells us1 from that trunk of 'universality1' and carried it with his own hand into the minutest points and fibres of particulars1 those points and fibres1 those living articulations in which the grand natural divisions he indicates here1 naturally terminate2 the divisions which the philosopher who 'makes the ,art and ,practic part of life1 the mistress to his ,theoric1' must of course follow4 ,he tells us that he has applied it to ,,particular ,,arts1 to those departments of the human experience and practice in which the need of a rule is most felt1 and where things have been suffered to go on hitherto1 in a specially miscellaneous manner1 and that his axioms of practice in these departments have been so scientifically constructed from particulars1 that he thinks they will be apt to know their way to particulars again2--that their specifications are at the same time so comprehensive and so minute1 that he considers them fit for immediate use1 or at least so far forth fitted1 as to require but little skill on the part of the practitioner1 to insure them against failure in practice4 ,the process being1 of course1 in this application to the exigencies of practice1 necessarily disentangled from those technicalities and relics of the old wordy scholasticism in which he was compelled to incase and seal up his meanings1 in his professedly scientific works1 and especially in his professedly practical scientific work4 ,but these so important applications of his philosophy to practice1 of which he issues so fair a prospectus1 though he frequently refers to them1 could not then be published4 ,the time had not come1 and personally1 he was obliged to leave1 before it came4 ,he was careful1 however1 to make the best provision which could be made1 under such circumstances1 for the carrying out of his intentions2 for he left a will4 ,these works of practice could not then be published2 and if they could have been1 there was no public then ready for them4 ,they could not be published2 but there was nothing to hinder their being put under cover4 ,there was no difficulty to a man of skill in packing them up in a portable form1 under lids and covers of one sort and another1 so unexceptionable1 that all the world could carry them about1 for a century or two1 and not perceive that there was any harm in them4 ,very curiously wrought covers they might be too1 with some taste of the wonders of mine art pressing through1 a little here and there4 ,they might be put under a very gorgeous and attractive cover in one case1 and under a very odd and fantastic one in another2 but in such a manner as to command1 in both cases1 the admiration and wonder of men1 so as to pique perpetually their curiosity and provoke inquiry1 until the time had come and the key was found4 ',some may raise this question1' he says1 talking as he does sometimes in the historical plural of his philosophic chair1--'this question1 rather than objection1'--it was much to be preferred in that form certainly--'whether we talk of perfecting ,,natural ,,philosophy alone1 according to our method1 or the other sciences such as--,,ethics1 ,,logic1 ,,politics4' ,a pretty question to raise just then1 truly1 though this philosopher sees fit to take it so demurely4 ',whether we talk of perfecting politics with our method1' ,elizabethan politics1--and not politics only1 but whether we talk of perfecting 'ethics' with it also1 and 'logic1--common logic1' which last is as much in need of perfecting as anything1 and the beginning of perfecting of that is the reform in the others4 ',we certainly intend1'--the emphasis here is on the word 'certainly1' though the reader who has not the key of the times may not perceive it2 ',we certainly intend to comprehend them ,,all4' ,for this is the author whose words are most of them emphatic4 ,we must read his sentences more than once to get all the emphasis4 ,we certainly ,,intend to comprehend them all4 ',we are not vain promisers1' he says1 emphasizing that word in another place1 and putting this intention into the shape of a promise4 ,and as common logic which regulates matters by syllogism is applied1 not only to natural1 but to every other science1 so our inductive method likewise1 comprehends them all4--,again--he thinks this bears repeating1 repeating in this connection1 for now he is measuring the claims of this new method1 this new logic1 with the claims of that which he finds in possession1 regulating matters by syllogism1 not producing a very logical result1 however3 ',for we form a history1 and tables of invention1 for ,,anger1 ,,fear1 ,,shame1 and the like1' that is--we form a history and tables of invention for the passions or affections1 'and also for ,,examples ,,in ,,civil ,,life1 and the ,,mental ,,operations 444 as well as for ,,heat1 ,,cold1 ,,light1 ,,vegetation and ,,the ,,like1' and he directs us to the ,fourth ,part of the ,instauration1 which he reserves for his noblest and more chosen subjects for the confirmation of this assertion4 ',but since our method of interpretation1 after preparing and arranging a history1 does not content itself with examining the opinions and desires of ,,the ,,mind--hear--like common logic1 but also inspects ,,the ,,nature of ,,things1 we so regulate the mind that it may be enabled to apply itself1 in every respect1 correctly to that nature4' ,our examples in this part of the work1 which is but a small and preparatory part of it1 are limited1 as you will observe1 to heat1 cold1 light1 vegetation1 and the like2 but this is the explanation of the general intention1 which will enable you to disregard that circumstance in your reading of it4--,those examples will serve their purpose with the minds that they detain4 ,they are preparatory1 and greatly useful1 if you read this new logic from the height of this explanation1 you will have a mind1 formed by that process1 able to apply itself1 in every respect1 correctly to the subjects omitted here by name1 but so clearly claimed1 not as the proper subjects only1 but as the actual subjects of the new investigation4 ,but lest you should not understand this explanation1 he continues--',on this account we deliver necessary and various precepts in our doctrine of interpretation1 so that we may apply1 in some measure1 to the method of discovering the quality and condition of the subject matter of investigation4' ,and this is the apology for omitting here1 or seeming to omit1 such sciences as ,ethics1 ,politics1 and that science which is alluded to under the name of ,common ,logic4 ,this is1 indeed1 a very instructive paragraph1 though it is a gratuitous one for the scholar who has found leisure to read this work with the aid of that doctrine of interpretation referred to1 especially if he is already familiar with its particular applications to the noble subjects just specified4 ,among the prerogative instances--'suggestive instances' are included--'such as suggest or point out that which is advantageous to mankind2 for bare power and knowledge in themselves exalt1 rather than enrich1 human nature4 ,we shall have a better opportunity of discovering these1 when we treat of the application to practice4 ,,besides1 in the ,,work of ,,interpretation1 we ,,leave ,,room ,,on ,,every ,,subject for the human or optative part2 ,,for ,,it is ,a ,,part ,,of ,,science1 to make ,,judicious ,,inquiries and ,,wishes4' ',the generally useful instances4 ,they are such as relate to various points1 and frequently occur1 sparing by that means considerable labour and new trials4 ,the proper place for speaking of instruments1 and contrivances1 will be that in which we speak of application to practice1 and the method of ,,experiment4 ,all that has hitherto been ascertained and made use of1 ,,will ,,be ,,applied in the ,,particular ,,history of ,,each ,,art4' ,we certainly intend to include them ,,all1 such as ,ethics1 ,politics1 and ,common ,logic4 ',we have now1 therefore1 exhibited the species1 or simple elements of the motions1 tendencies1 and active powers1 which are most universal in nature2 and no small portion of ,,natural1 that is1 ,,universal ,,science1 has been sketched out4 ,we do not1 however1 deny that ,,other ,,instances can1 perhaps1 be added' 7he has confined himself chiefly to the physical agencies under this head1 with a sidelong glance at others1 now and then71 'and our divisions changed to some more natural order of things hear1 and also reduced to a less number hear1 in which respect we do not allude to any abstract classification1 as if one were to say1'--and he quotes here1 in this apparently disparaging manner1 his own grand1 new-coined classification1 which he has drawn out with his new method from the heart of nature1 and applied to the human1--which he had to go into the universal nature to find1 that very classification which he has exhibited abstractly in his ,advancement of ,learning--abstractly1 and1 therefore1 without coming into any dangerous contact with any one's preconceptions1--'as if one were to say1 that bodies desire the preservation1 exaltation1 propagation1 or fruition of their natures2 or1 that motion tends to the preservation and benefit1 either of the ,,universe1 as in the case of the motions of resistance and connection--those two universal motions and tendencies--or of ,,extensive ,,wholes1 as in the case of those of the greater congregation4' ,these are phrases which look innocent enough2 there is no offensive approximation to particulars here1 apparently2 what harm can there be in the philosophy of 'extensive wholes1' and 'larger congregations'8 ,nobody can call that meddling with 'church and state4' ,surely one may speak of the nature of things in general1 under such general terms as these1 without being suspected of an intention to innovate4 ',have you heard the argument8' says the king to ,hamlet4 ',is there no offence in it8' ',none in the world4' ,but the philosopher goes on1 and does come occasionally1 even here1 to words which begin to sound at little suspicious in such connexions1 or would1 if one did not know how general the intention must be in this application of them4 ,they are abstract terms1 and1 of course1 nobody need see that they are a different kind of abstraction from the old ones1 that the grappling-hook on all particulars has been abstracted in them4 ,suppose one were to say1 then1 to resume1 'that motion tends to the preservation and benefit1 either of the universe1 as in the case of the motions of resistance and connection1 or of extensive wholes1 as in the case of the motions of the greater congregation-- what are these motions1 then8--,,revolution and ,,abhorrence of ,,change1 or of particular forms1 as in the case of the others4' ,this looks a little like growing towards a point4 ,we are apt to consider these motions in certain specific forms1 as they appear in those extensive wholes and larger congregations1 which it is not necessary to name more particularly in this connection1 though they are terms of a 'suggestive' character1 to borrow the author's own expression1 and belong properly to subjects which this author has just included in his system4 ,but this is none other than his own philosophy which he seems to be criticising1 and rating1 and rejecting here so scornfully2 but if we go on a little further1 we shall find what the criticism amounts to1 and that it is only the limitation of it to the general statement--that it is the abstract form of it1 which he complains of4 ,he wishes to direct our attention to the fact1 that he does not consider it good for anything in that general form in which he has put it in his ,book of ,learning4 ,this is the deficiency which he is always pointing out in that work1 because this is the deficiency which it has been his chief labour to supply4 ,till that defect1 that grand defect which his philosophy exhibits1 as it stands in his books of abstract science1 is supplied--that defect to which1 even in these works themselves1 he is always directing our attention--he cannot1 without self-contradiction1 propound his philosophy to the world as a practical one1 good for human relief4 ,in order that it should accomplish the ends to which it is addressed1 it is not enough1 he tells us in so many words1 to exhibit it in the abstract1 in general terms1 for these are but 'the husks and shells of sciences4' ,it must be brought down and applied to those artistic reformations which afflicted1 oppressed human nature demands--to those artistic constructions to which human nature spontaneously1 instinctively tends1 and empirically struggles to achieve4 ',for although1' he continues1'such remarks--those last quoted--be just1 unless they terminate in ,,matter ,,and ,,construction1 according to the ,,true ,,definitions1 they are ,,speculative1 and of ,,little ,,use4' ,but in the ,novum ,organum1 those more natural divisions are reduced to a form in which it ,,is possible to commence practice with them at once1 in certain departments1 where there is no objection to innovation1--where the proposal for the relief of the human estate is met without opposition1--where the new scientific achievements in the conquest of nature are met with a universal1 unanimous human plaudit and gratulation4 ',in the meantime1' he continues1 after condemning those abstract terms1 and declaring1 that unless they terminate in matter and construction1 according to true definitions1 they are speculative1 and of little use--',in the meantime1 our classification will suffice1 and be of much use in the consideration of the ,,predominance of ,,powers1 and examining the ,,wrestling ,,instances1 which constitute our ,,present ,,subject4' ,the subject that was present then4 ,the question4 ,so that the ,novum ,organum presents itself to us1 in these passages1 only as a preparation and arming of the mind for a closer dealing with the nature of things1 in particular instances1 which are not there instanced1--for those more critical ',,wrestling ,,instances' which the scientific re-constructions1 according to true definitions1 in the higher departments of human want will constitute1--those wrestling instances1 which will naturally arise whenever the philosophy which concerns itself experimentally with the question of the predominance of powers--the philosophy which includes in its programme the practical application of the principles of revolution and abhorrence of change1 in 'greater congregations' and 'extensive wholes1' as well as the principles of motion in 'particular forms'--shall come to be applied to its nobler1 to its noblest subjects4 ,that is the philosophy which dismisses its technicalities1 which finds such words as these when the question of the predominance of powers1 and the question of revolution and abhorrence of change in the greater congregations and extensive wholes1 comes to be practically handled4 ,this is the way we philosophise 'when we come to particulars4' ',in a rebellion1 ,when what's not meet1 but what must be1 was law1 ,then were they chosen4 ,in a better hour1 ,let what is meet be said it must be meet1 ,and throw their power in the dust4' ,that is what we should call1 in a general way1 'the motion of revolution' in our book of abstractions2 this is the moment in which it predominates over 'the abhorrence of change1' if not in the extensive whole--if not in the whole of the greater congregation1 in that part of it for whom this one speaks2 and this is the critical moment which the man of science makes so much of1--brings out so scientifically1 so elaborately in this experiment4 ,but this is a part of science which he is mainly familiar with4 ,here is a place1 for instance1 where the motion of particular forms is skilfully brought to the aid of that larger motion4 ,here we have an experiment in which these petty motives come in to aid the revolutionary movement in the minds of the leaders of it1 and with their feather's weight turn the scale1 when the abhorrence of change is too nicely balanced with its antagonistic force for a predominance of powers without it4 ',but for my single self1 ,i had as lief not be1 as live to be ,in awe of such a thing as ,i myself4 ,i was born free as ,caesar2 so were you4 99 99 99 99 99 ,why man1 he doth bestride the narrow world ,like a ,colossus2 and we1 petty men1 ,walk under his huge legs1 and peep about ,to find ourselves dishonorable graves4 ,the fault1 dear ,brutus1 is not in our stars1 ,but in ourselves1 that we are underlings4 ,brutus and ,caesar4 ,what should be in that ,caesar8 ,why should that name be sounded more than yours8 ,conjure with them2 ,brutus will start a spirit as soon as ,caesar4 ,now in the name of all the gods at once1 ,upon what meat doth this our ,,caesar feed1 ,that he is grown so great8 ,,age1 thou art shamed3 ,rome1 thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods4 ,when went there by an ,,age1 since the great flood1 ,but it was famed with more than with ,,one ,,man8 ,when could they say1 till now1 that talked of ,rome1 ,that her wide walls encompassed but ,one ,man8 ,now is it ,rome indeed1 and room enough1 ,when there is in it but ,one ,only ,man4 99 99 99 99 99 ,what you would work me to1 ,i have some aim2 ,how ,i have thought of this1 and of these times1 ,i shall recount hereafter4 ,now could ,i1 ,casca1 ,name to thee a man most like this dreadful night2 ,that thunders1 lightens1 opens graves1 and roars ,as doth the lion in the ,capitol1 ,a man no mightier than thyself1 or me1 ,in ,,personal ,,action2 yet prodigious grown1 ,and fearful as these strange eruptions are4' '',t is ,caesar that you mean3 ,is it not1 ,cassius8' ',let it be--,,who ,,it is3 for ,romans now ,have thewes and limbs like to their ancestors4 99 99 99 99 99 ,poor man1 ,i know he would not be a wolf1 ,but that he sees the ,romans are but sheep4 ,he were no lion1 were not ,romans hinds4 ,those that with haste will make a mighty fire1 ,begin it with--,,weak ,,straws4 ,what trash is--,rome ,what rubbish1 and what offal1 when it serves for the base matter to illuminate ,so vile a thing as--,caesar4 ,but-- ,i perhaps speak this ,before a willing bondman4 ,and here is another case where the question of the predominance of powers arises4 ,in this instance1 it is the question of ,british freedom that comes up2 and the tribute--not the tax--that a ,caesar--the first ,caesar himself1 had exacted1 is refused 'in a better hour1' by a people kindling with ancestral recollections1 throwing themselves upon their ancient rights1 and 'the natural bravery of their isle1' and ready to re-assert their ancient liberties4 ,the ,ambassador of ,augustus makes his master's complaint at the ,british ,court4 ,the answer of the ,state runs thus1 king1 queen and prince taking part in it1 as the ,poet's convenience seems to require4 ',this tribute1' complains the ,roman2 'by thee1 lately1 is left untendered4' ,queen4 ,and1 to kill the marvel1 ,shall be so ever4 ,prince ,cloten4 ,there be many ,caesars1 ,ere such another ,julius4 ,britain is ,a world by itself2 and we will nothing pay1 ,for wearing our own noses4 ,general principles4 ,queen4 ,that opportunity ,which then they had to take from us1 to resume ,we have again4 ,remember1 sir1 my liege1 ,it is the people who are represented here by ,cymbeline4 ,the kings your ancestors2 together with ,the natural bravery of your isle2 which stands ,as ,neptune's park1 ribbed and paled in ,with rocks unscaleable1 and roaring waters2 ,with sands1 that will not bear your enemies' boats1 ,but suck them up to the top-mast4 99 99 99 99 99 ,cloten4 ,come1 there's no more tribute to be paid3 ,our kingdom is stronger than it was at that time2 and1 as ,i said1 there is no more such ,caesars3 other of them may have crooked noses2 but1 to owe such straight arms1 none4 ,cymbeline4 ,son1 let your mother end4 ,cloten4 ,we have yet many among us can gripe as hard as ,cassibelan3 ,i do not say1 ,i am one2 but ,i have a hand4--,why tribute8 ,why should we pay tribute8 ,if ,caesar can hide the sun from us with a blanket1 or put the moon in his pocket1 we will pay him tribute for light2 else1 ,sir1 no more tribute1 pray you now4 ,cymbeline4 ,you must know1 ,till the injurious ,romans did extort ,this tribute from us1 we were free3 ,caesar's ambition 4444 against all colour1 here ,did put the yoke upon us2 which to shake off1 ,becomes a warlike people1 whom we reckon ,ourselves to be4 ,we do say then to ,caesar1 ,our ancestor was that ,mulmutius1 which ,ordained ,,our ,,laws1 whose use ,,the ,,sword ,,of ,,caesar ,hath too much mangled2 whose ,,repair and ,,franchise1 ,shall1 by the power we hold1 be our good deed4 ,mulmutius made our laws1 ,who was the first of ,,britain which did put ,his brows within a golden crown1 and called ,himself a ,,king4 ,that is the tune when the ,caesar comes this way1 to a people who have such an ancestor to refer to2 no matter what costume he comes in4 ,this is ,caesar in ,britain2 and though ,prince ,cloten appears to incline naturally to prose1 as the medium best adapted to the expression of his views1 the blank verse of ,cymbeline is as good as that of ,brutus and ,cassius1 and seems to run in their vein very much4 ,it is in some such terms as these that we handle those universal motions on whose balance the welfare of the world depends--'the motions of resistance and connection1' as the ,elizabethan philosopher1 with a broader grasp than the ,newtonian1 calls them--when we come to the diagrams which represent particulars4 ,this is the kind of language which this author adopts when he comes to the modifications of those motions which are incident to extensive wholes in the case of the greater congregations2 that is1 'revolution' and 'abhorrence of change1' and to those which belong to particular forms also4 ,for it is the science of life2 and when the universal science touches the human life1 it will have nothing less vivacious than this4 ,it will have the particular of life here also4 ,it will not have abstract revolutionists1 any more than it will have abstract butterflies1 or bivalves1 or univalves4 ,this is the kind of 'loud' talk that one is apt to hear in this man's school2 and the clash and clang that this very play now under review is full of1 is just the noise that is sure to come out of his laboratory1 whenever he gets upon one of these experiments in 'extensive wholes1' which he is so fond of trying4 ,it is the noise that one always hears on his stage1 whenever the question of 'particular forms' and predominance of powers comes to be put experimentally1 at least1 in this class of 'wrestling instances4' ,for we have here a form of composition in which that more simple and natural order above referred to is adopted--where those clear scientific classifications1 which this author himself plainly exhibits in another scientific work1 though he disguises them in the ,novum ,organum1 are again brought out1 no longer in the abstract1 but grappling the matter2 where1 instead of the scientific technicalities just quoted--instead of those abstract terms1 such as 'extensive wholes1' 'greater congregation1' 'fruition of their natures1' and the like--we have terms not less scientific1 the equivalents of these1 but more living--words ringing with the detail of life in its scientific condensations--reddening with the glow1 or whitening with the calm1 of its ideal intensities--pursuing it everywhere--everywhere1 to the last height of its poetic fervors and exaltations4 ,and it is because this so vivid popular science has its issue from this 'source'--it is because it proceeds from this scientific centre1 on the scientific radii1 through all the divergencies and refrangibilities of the universal beam--it is because all this inexhaustible multiplicity and variety of particulars is threaded with the fibre of the universal science--it is because all these thick-flowering imaginations1 these 'mellow hangings1' are hung upon the stems and branches that unite in the trunk of the prima philosophia--it is because of this that men find it so prophetic1 so inclusive1 so magical2 this is the reason they find all in it4 ',i have either told1 or designed to tell1 all1' says the expositor of these plays4 ',what ,i cannot speak1 ,i point out with my finger4' ,for all the building of this genius is a building on that scientific ground-plan he has left us2 and that is a plan which includes all the human field4 ,it is the plan of the ,great ,instauration4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,volumnia ,,and ,,her ,,boy4 ',my boy ,marcius approaches4' ',why should ,i war without the walls of ,troy1 ,that find such cruel battle here within8 ,each ,trojan that is master of his heart1 ,let him to field4' ,is not the ground which ,machiavel wisely and largely discourseth concerning governments1 that the way to establish and preserve them1 is to reduce them ad principia2 a rule in religion and nature1 as well as in civil administration8 ,again4 ,was not the ,persian magic a reduction or correspondence of the principles and architectures of nature to the rules and policy of governments8'--',questions to be asked4'--,advancement of ,learning4 ,it is by means of this popular rejection of the ,hero's claims1 which the tribunes succeed in procuring1 that the ,poet is enabled to complete his exhibition and test of the virtue which he finds in his time 'chiefest among men1 and that which most dignifies the haver'2 the virtue which he finds in his time rewarded with patents of nobility1 with patrician trust1 with priestly authority1 with immortal fame1 and thrones and dominions1 with the disposal of the human welfare1 and the entail of it to the crack of doom--no matter what 'goslings' the law of entail may devolve it on4 ,he makes use of this incident to complete that separation he is effecting in the hitherto unanalysed1 ill-defined1 popular notions1 and received and unquestioned axioms of practice--that separation of the instinctive military heroism1 and the principle of the so-called heroic greatness1 from the true principles of heroism and nobility1 the true principle of subjection and sovereignty in the individual human nature and in the common-weal4 ,that martial virtue has been under criticism and suspicion torn the beginning of this action4 ,it was shown from the first--from that ground and point of observation which the sufferings of the diseased common-weal made for it--in no favourable light4 ,it was branded in the first scene1 in the person of its ,hero1 as 'a dog to the commonalty4' ,it is one of the wretched 'commons' who invents1 in his distress1 that title for it2 but the ,poet himself exhibits it1 not descriptively only1 but dramatically1 as something more brutish than that--eating the poor man's corn that the gods have sent him1 and gnawing his vitals1 devouring him soul and body1 'tooth and fell4' ,it was shown up from the first as an instinct that men share with 'rats'4 ,it was brought out from the first1 and exhibited with its teeth in the heart of the common-weal4 ,the ,play begins with a cross-questioning in the civil streets1 of that sentiment which the hasty affirmations of men enthrone4 ,it was brought out from the first--it came tramping on in the first act1 in the first scene--with its sneer at the commons' distress1 longing to make 'a quarry of the quartered slaves1 as high' as the plumed hero of it 'could prick his lance'2 and that1 too1 because they rebelled at famine1 as slaves will do sometimes1 when the common notion of hunger is permitted to instruct them in the principle of new unions2 when that so impressive1 and urgent1 and unappeasable teacher comes down to them from the ,capitol1 and is permitted by their rulers to induct them experimentally into the doctrine of 'extensive wholes1' and 'larger congregations1' and 'the predominance of powers4' ,and it so happened1 that the threat above quoted was precisely the threat which the founder of the reigning house had been able to carry into effect here a hundred years before1 in putting down an insurrection of that kind1 as this author chanced to be the man to know4 ,but the cry of the enemy is heard without2 and this same principle1 which shows itself in such questionable proofs of love at home1 becomes with the change of circumstances--patriotism4 ,but the ,poet does not lose sight of its identity under this change4 ,this love1 that looks so like hatred in the ,roman streets1 that sniffs there so haughtily at questions about corn1 and the price of 'coals1' and the price of labour1 while it loves ,rome so madly at the ,volscian gates--this love1 that sneers at the hunger and misery of the commons at home1 while it makes such frantic demonstrations against the common enemy abroad1 appears to him to be a very questionable kind of love1 to say the least of it4 ,in that fine1 conspicuous specimen of this quality1 which the hero of his story offers him--this quality which the hostilities of nations deify--he undertakes to sift it a little4 ,while in the name of that virtue which has at least the merit of comprehending and conserving a larger unity1 a more extensive whole1 than the limit of one's own personality1 'it runs reeking o'er the lives of men1 as 'twere a perpetual spoil'2 while under cover of that name which in barbaric ages limits human virtue1 and puts down upon the map the outline of it--the bound which human greatness and virtue is required to come out to2 while in the name of country it shows itself 'from face to foot a thing of blood1 whose every motion is timed with dying cries1' undaunted by the tragic sublimities of the scene1 this ,poet confronts it1 and boldly identifies it as that same principle of state and nobility which he has already exhibited at home4 ,that sanguinary passion which the heat of conflict provokes is but the incident2 it is the principle of acquisition1 it is the natural principle of absorption1 it is the instinct that nature is full of1 that nature is alive with2 but the one that she is at war with1 too--at war with in the parts--one that she is forever opposed to1 and conquering in the members1 with her mathematical axioms--with her law of the whole1 of 'the worthier whole1' of 'the greater congregation'2 it is that principle of acquisition which it is the business of the state to set bounds to in the human constitution--which gets branded with other names1 very vulgar ones1 too1 when the faculty of grasp and absorption is smaller4 ,that1 and none other1 is the principle which predominates1 and is set at large here4 ,the leashed 'dog' of the commonalty at home1 is let slip here in the conquered town4 ,the teeth that preyed on the ,roman weal there1 have elongated and grown wolfish on the ,volscian fields4 ,the consummation of the captor's deeds in the captured city--those matchless deeds of valor--the consummation for ,coriolanus in ,corioli1 for 'the conqueror in the conquest1' is--',,now ,,all',s ,,his4' ,and the story of the battle without is--',he never stopped to ease his breast with panting1 till he could call both field and city--,,ours4' ,the ,poet sets down nought in malice1 but he will have the secret of this ,,love1 he will have the heart out of it--this love that stops so short with geographic limits1--that changes with the crossing of a line into a demon from the lowest pit4 ,but it is a fair and noble specimen1 it is a highly-qualified1 'illustrious instance1' of this instinctive heroic virtue1 he has seized on here1 and made ready now for his experiment2 and even when he brings him in1 reeking from the fresh battlefield1 with the blood undried on his brow1 rejoicing in his harvest1 even amid the horrors of the conquered town1 this ,poet1 with his own ineffable and matchless grace of moderation1 will have us pause and listen while his ,coriolanus1 ere he will take food or wine in his ,corioli1 gives orders that the ,volscian who was kind to him personally--the poor man at whose house he lay--shall be saved1 when he is so weary with slaying ,volscians that 'his very memory is tired1' and he cannot speak his poor friend's name4 ,he tracks this conqueror home again1 and he watches him more sharply than ever--this man1 whose new name is borrowed from his taken town4 ,,coriolanus of ,,corioli4 ,marcius1 plain ,caius ,marcius1 now no more4 ,he will think it treason--even in the conquered city he will resent it--if any presume to call him by that petty name henceforth1 or forget for a breathing space to include in his identity the town--the town1 that in its sacked and plundered streets1 and dying cries--that1 with that 'painting' which he took from it so lavishly1 though he scorned the soldiers who took 'spoons'--has clothed him with his purple honours3 those honours which this ,poet will not let him wear any longer1 tracked in the misty outline of the past1 or in the misty complexity of the unanalysed conceptions of the vulgar1 the fatal unscientific opinion of the many-headed many2 that old coat of arms1 which the man of science will trace now anew 7and not here only7 with his new historic pencil1 which he will fill now anew--not here only--which he will fill on another page also1 'approaching his particular more near'--with all its fresh1 recent historic detail1 with all its hideous1 barbaric detail4 ,he is jealous1--this new ,poet of his kind1--he is jealous of this love that makes such work in ,volscian homes1 in ,volscian mother's sons1 under this name1 'that men sanctify1 and turn up the white of the eyes to4' ,he flings out suspicions on the way home1 that it is even narrower than it claims to be3 he is in the city before it2 he contrives to jet a jar into the sound of the trumpets that announce its triumphant entry2 he has thrown over all the glory of its entering pageant1 the suspicion that it is base and mercenary1 that it is base and avaricious1 though it puts nothing in its pocket1 but takes its hire on its brows4 ,menenius4 ,brings a victory in his pocket4 ,volumnia4 ,on's brows ,menenius4 ,he surprises the mother counting up the cicatrices4 ,he arrests the cavalcade on its way to the ,capitol1 and bids us note1 in those private whispers of family confidence1 how the ,camp and the ,capitol stand in this hero's chart1 put down on the road to 'our own house4' ,nay1 he will bring out the haughty chieftain in person1 and show him on his stage1 standing in his 'wolfish gown1' showing the scars that he should hide1 and asking1 like a mendicant1 for his hire4 ,and though he does it proudly enough1 and as if he did not care for this return1 though he sets down his own services1 and expects the people to set them down1 to a disinterested love for his country1 it is to this ,poet's purpose to show that he was mistaken as to that4 ,it is to his purpose to show that these two so different things which he finds confounded under one name and notion in the popular understanding here1 and1 what is worst of all1 in the practical understanding of the populace1 are two1 and not one4 ,that the mark of the primal differences1 the original differences1 the difference of things1 the simplicity of nature herself divides them1 makes two of them1 two1--not one4 ,he has caught one of those rude1 vulgar notions here1 which he speaks of elsewhere so often1 those notions which make such mischief in the human life1 and he is severely separating it--he is separating the martial virtue--from the true heroism1 'with the mind1 that divine fire4' ,he is separating this kind of heroism from that cover under which it insinuates itself into governments1 with which it makes its most bewildering claim to the popular approbation4 ,he is bound to show that the true love of the common-weal1 that principle which recognises and embraces the weal of others as its own1 that principle which enters into and constitutes each man's own noblest life1 is a thing of another growth and essence1 a thing which needs a different culture from any that the ,roman ,volumnia could give it1 a culture which unalytic1 barbaric ages--wanting in all the scientific arts--could not give it4 ,he will show1 in a conspicuous instance1 what that kind of patriotism amounts to1 in the man who aspires to 'the helm o' the ,state1' while there is yet no state within himself1 while the mere instincts of the lower nature have1 in their turn1 the sway and sovereignty in him4 ,he will show what that patriotism amounts to in one so schooled1 when the hire it asks so disdainfully is withheld4 ,and he will bring out this point too1 as he brings out all the rest1 in that large1 scenic1 theatric1 illuminated lettering1 which this popular design requires1 and which his myth furnishes him1 ready to his hand4 ,he will have his 'transient hieroglyphics1' his tableaux vivants1 his 'dumb-shows' to aid him here also1 because this1 too1 is for the spectators--this1 too1 is for the audience whose eyes are more learned than their ears4 ,it is a natural hero1 one who achieves his greatness1 and not one who is merely born great1 whom the ,poet deals with here4 ',he has that in his face which men love--authority4' ',as waves before a vessel under sail1 so men obey him and fall below his stern4' ,the ,romans have stripped off his wings and turned him out of the city gates1 but the heroic instinct of greatness and generalship is not thus defeated4 ,he carries with him that which will collect new armies1 and make him their victorious leader4 ,availing himself of the pride and hostility of nations1 he is sure of a captaincy4 ,his occupation is not gone so long as the unscientific ages last4 ,the principle of his heroism and nobility has only been developed in new force by this opposition4 ,he will have a new degree2 he will purchase a new patent of it2 he will forge himself a new and better name1 for 'the patricians are called good citizens4' ,he will forget ,corioli2 ,coriolanus now no more1 he will conquer ,rome1 and incorporate that henceforth in his name4 ,he will make himself great1 not by the grandeur of a true citizenship and membership of the larger whole1 in his private subjection to it1--not by emerging from his particular into the self that comprehends the whole2 he will make himself great by subduing the whole to his particular1 the greater to the less1 the whole to the part4 ,he will triumph over the ,common-weal1 and bind his brow with a new garland4 ,that is his magnanimity4 ,he will take it from without1 if they will not let him have it within4 ,he will turn against that country1 which he loved so dearly1 that same edge which the ,volscian hearts have felt so long4 ',there's some among you have beheld me fighting1' he says4 ',come1 try upon yourselves what you have seen me8' ,he is only that same narrow1 petty1 pitiful private man he always was1 in the city1 and in the field1 at the head of the ,roman legions1 and in the legislator's chair1 when1 to right his single wrong1 or because the people would not let him have all from them1 he comes upon the stage at last with ,volscian steel1 and sits down1 ,captain of the ,volscian armies1 at ,rome's gates4 ',this morning1' says ,menenius1 after the reprieve1 'this morning for ten thousand of your throats1 ,i'd not have given a doit4' ,but this is only the same 'good citizen' we saw in the first scene1 who longed to make a quarry of thousands of the quartered slaves1 as high as he could prick his lance6 ,that was 'the altitude of his virtue' then4 ,it is the same citizenship with its conditions altered4 ,so well and thoroughly has the philosopher done his work throughout--so completely has he filled the ,roman story with his 'richer and bolder meanings1' that when the old1 familiar scene1 which makes the denouement of the ,roman myth1 comes out at last in the representation1 it comes as the crowning point of this ,poet's own invention4 ,it is but the felicitous artistic consummation of the piece1 when this hero1 in his conflicting passions and instincts1 gives at last1 to one private affection and impulse1 the ,state he would have sacrificed to another2 when he gives to his boy's prattling inanities1 to his wife's silence1 to the moisture in her eyes1 to a shade less on her cheek1 to the loss of a line there1 to his mother's scolding eloquence1 and her imperious commands1 the great city of the gods1 the city he would have offered up1 with all its sanctities1 with all its household shrines and solemn temples1 as one reeking1 smoking holocaust1 to his wounded honour4 ,that is the principle of the citizenship that was 'accounted ,,good' when this play began1 when this play was written4 ',he was a kind of nothing1 titleless1-- ,till he had forged himself a name i' the fire ,of burning ,rome4' ,that is his modest answer to the military friend who entreats him to spare the city4 ',though soft-conscienced men may be content to say it was for his country1 he did it to please his mother1 and to be partly proud4' ,surely that starving citizen who found himself at the beginning of this play1 'as lean as a rake' with this hero's legislation1 and in danger of more fatal evils1 was not so very wide of the truth1 after all1 in his surmise as to the principles of the heroic statesmanship and warfare1 when he ventured thus early on that suggestion4 ,the ,state banished him1 as an enemy1 and he came back with a ,volscian army to make good that verdict4 ,but his sword without was not more cruel than his law had been within4 ,it was not starving only that he had voted for4 ',let them hang1' ay--7ay7 'and ,,burn ,,too1' was 'the disposition' they had 'thwarted'1--measuring 'the quarry of the quartered slaves1' which it would make1 'would the nobility but lay aside their ruth4' ,that was the disposition1 that was the ignorance1 the blind1 brutish1 demon ignorance1 that 'in good time' they had thwarted4 ,they had ruled it out and banished it from their city on pain of death1 forever2 they had turned it out in its single impotence1 and it came back 'armed2' for this was one of rude nature's monarchs1 and outstretched heroes4 ,yet is he conquered and defeated4 ,the enemy which has made war without so long1 which has put ,corioli and ,rome in such confusion1 has its warfare within also1 and it is there that the hero is beaten and slain4 ,for there is no state or fixed sovereignty in his soul4 ,both sides of the city rise at once2 there is a fearful battle1 and the red-eyed ,mars is dethroned4 ,the end which he has pursued at such a cost is within his reach at last2 but he cannot grasp it4 ,the city lies there before him1 and his dragon wings encircle it2 there is steel enough in the claws and teeth now1 but he cannot take it4 ,for there is no law and no justice of the peace1 and no general within to put down the conflict of changeful1 warring selfs1 to suppress the mutiny of mutually opposing1 mutually annihilating selfish dictates4 ,in vain he seeks to make his will immutable2 for the single passion has its hour1 this 'would-do' changes4 ,with the impression the passion changes1 and the purpose that is passionate must alter with it1 unless pure obstinacy remain in its place1 and fulfil the annulled dictate4 ,for such purpose1 one person of the scientific drama tells us--one who had had some dramatic experience in it1-- 'is but the slave to memory1 ,of violent birth1 and poor validity1 ,which now1 like fruit unripe1 stick on the tree1 ,but fall unshaken when they mellow be4 ,what to ourselves in passion we propose1 ,the passion ending doth the purpose lose4' ,that is ,hamlet's verbal account of it1 when he undertakes to reduce his philosophy to rhyme1 and gets the player to insert some sixteen of his lines quietly into the court performance3 that is his verbal account of it2 but his action1 too1 speaks louder and more eloquently than his words4 ,the principle of identity and the true self is wanting in this so-called self-ishness4 ,for the true principle of self is the peace principle1 the principle of state within and without4 ',to thine own self be true1 ,and it must follow as the night the day1 ,thou canst not then be false to any man' ,that is the doctrine1 the scientific doctrine4 ,but it is not the passionate1 but thoughtful ,hamlet1 shrinking from blood1 with his resolution sicklied o'er with the pale cast of conscientious thought2 it is not the humane1 conscience-fettered ,hamlet1 but the man who aspires to make his single humours the law of the universal world1 in whom the poet will show now this want of state and sovereignty4 ,he steels himself against ,cominius2 he steels himself against ,menenius4 ',he sits in gold1' ,cominius reports1 'his eye red as 'twould burn ,rome'--a small flambeau the poet thinks for so large a city4 ',he no more remembers his mother than an eight year old horse1' is the poor old ,menenius querulous account of him1 when with a cracked heart he returns and reports how the conditions of a man are altered in him3 but while he is making that already-quoted report of this superhuman growth and assumption of a divine authority and honour in the ,military ,chieftain1 the ,poet is quietly starting a little piece of philosophical machinery that will shake out that imperial pageant1 and show the slave that is hidden under it1 for it is no man at all1 but1 in very deed1 a slave1 as ,hamlet calls it1 'passion's slave1' 'a pipe for fortune's finger to sound what stop she please4' ,for that state1--that command--depends on that which 'changes1'-- fortuities1 impressions1 nay1 it has the principle of revolution within it4 ,it is its nature to change4 ,the single passion cannot engross the large1 many-passioned1 complex nature1 so rich and various in motivity1 so large and comprehensive in its surveys--the single passion seeks in vain to subdue it to its single end4 ,that reigning passion must give way when it is spent1 or sooner if its master come4 ,you cannot make it look to-day as it looked yesterday2 you cannot make it look when its rival affection enters as it looked when it reigned alone4 ,an hour ago1 the hue of resolution on its cheek glowed immortal red4 ,it was strong enough to defy ,god and all his creatures2 it would annul all worlds but that one which it was god of4 ,this is the speech of it on the lips of the actor who comes in to interpret to us the thinker's inaction1 the thinker's irresolution1 for 'it is conscience that makes cowards of us all4' ,here is a man who is resolute enough4 ,his will is not 'puzzled4' ,his thoughts1 his scruples will not divide and destroy his purpose4 ,here is ,,the ,,unity which precedes ,,action4 ,this man is going to be revenged for his father4 ',what would you undertake to do8' ',to cut his throat i' the church4' ',to hell allegiance1 vows to the blackest devil4 ,conscience and grace to the profoundest pit4 ,i dare damnation4 ,to this point ,i stand ,that both the worlds ,i give to negligence1 ,let come what comes1 only ,i'll be revenged ,most thoroughly for my father4' ,only4 ,that is your passionate speech1 your speech of fire4 ,that was what the principle of vindictiveness said when it was you1 when it mastered you1 and called itself by your name4 ,ay1 it has many names1 and many lips2 but it is always one4 ,that was what it said an hour ago2 and now it is shrunk away you know not where1 you cannot rally it1 and you are there confounded1 self-abandoned1 self-annulled1 a forgery1 belying the identity which your visible form--which your human form1 was made to promise1--a slave1--a pipe for fortune's finger4 ,this is the kind of action which is criticised in the scientific drama1 and 'rejected'2 and the conclusion after these reviews and rejections1 'after every species of rejection1'--the affirmation is1 that there is but one principle that is human1 and that is ,,good yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever2 and whose is true to that is true1 in the human form1 to the self which was1 and will be4 ,he cannot then be false to his yesterday1 or tomorrow2 he cannot then be false to himself2 he cannot then be false to any man2 for that is the self that is one in us all--that is the self of reason and conscience1 not passion4 ,but as for this affection that is tried here now1 that the diagram of this scene exhibits so tangibly1 'as it were1 to the eye1'--this poor and private passion1 that sits here1 with its imperial crown on its head1 in the place of ,god1 but lacking ,his 'mercy1'--this passion of the petty man1 that has made itself so hugely visible with its monstrous outstretching1 that lies stretched out and glittering on these hills1 with its dragon coils unwound1 with its deadly fangs--those little fangs1 that crush our private hearts1 and torture and rend our daily lives--exposed in this great solar microscope1 striking the common-weal1--as for this petty1 usurping passion1 there is a spectacle approaching that will undo it4 ,out of that great city there comes a little group of forms1 which yesterday this hero 'could not stay to pick out of that pile which had offended him1' that was his word1--which yesterday he would have burnt in it without a scruple4 ,towards the great ,volscian army that beleaguers ,rome it comes--towards the pavilion where the ,volscian captain sits in gold1 with his wings outspread1 it shapes its course4 ,to other eyes1 it is but a group of ,roman ladies1 two or three1 clad in mourning1 with their attendants1 and a prattling child with them2 but1 with the first glance at it from afar1 the great chieftain trembles1 and begins to clasp his armour4 ,he could think of them and doom them1 in his over-mastering passion of revenge1 with its heroic infinity of mastery triumphant in him1--he could think of them and doom them2 but the impressions of the senses are more vivid1 and the passions wait on them4 ,as that group draws nearer1 one sees1 by the light of this ,poet's painting1 a fair young matron1 with subdued mien and modest graces1 and an elder one1 leading a wilful boy1 with a 'confirmed countenance1' pattering by her side2 just such a group as one might see anywhere in the lordly streets of ,palatinus1--much such a one as one might find anywhere under those thousand-doomed plebeian roofs4 ,but to this usurping 'private1' to this man of passion and affection1 and not reason--this man of private and particular motives only1 and blind partial aims1 it is more potent than ,rome and all her claims2 it outweighs ,rome and all her weal--'it is worth of senators and patricians a city full1 of tribunes and plebeians a sea and land full'--it outweighs all the ,volscians1 and their trust in him4 ,his reasons of state begin to falter1 and change their aspects1 as that little party draws nearer2 and he finds himself within its magnetic sphere4 ,for this is the pattern-man1 for the man of mere impression and instinct4 ,he is full of feeling within his sphere1 though it is a sphere which does not embrace plebeians1--which crushes ,volscians with clarions1 and drums1 and trumpets1 and poets' voices to utter its exultations4 ,within that private sphere1 his sensibilities are exquisite and poetic in their depth and delicacy4 ,he is not wanting in the finer impulses1 in the nobler affections of the particular and private nature4 ,he is not a base1 brutal man4 ,even in his martial conquests1 he will not take 'leaden spoons4' ,his soul is with a divine ambition fired to have all4 ,it is instinct1 but it is the instinct of the human2 it is 'conservation with advancement' that he is blindly pursuing1 for this is a generous nature4 ,he knows the heights that reason lends to instinct in the human kind1 and the infinities that affection borrows from it4 ,and the ,poet himself has large and gentle views of 'this particular1' scientific views of it1 scientific recognitions of its laws1 such as no philosophic school was ever before able to pronounce4 ,even here1 on this sad and tragic ground of a subdued and debased common-weal1 he will not cramp its utterance--he will give it leave to speak1 in all its tenderness and beauty1 in its own sweet native dialect1 all its poetic wildness1 its mad verities1 its sober impossibilities1 even at the moment in which he asks in statesmanship for the rational motive1 undrenched in humours and affections--for the motive of the weal that is common1 and not for the motive of that which is private and exclusive4 ,in vain the hero struggles with his yielding passion1 and seeks to retain it4 ,in vain he struggles with a sentiment which he himself describes as 'a gosling's instinct1' and seeks to subdue it4 ,in vain he rallies his pride1 and says1 ',let it be virtuous to be obstinate'2 and determines to stand 'as if a man were author of himself1 and knew no other kin4' ,his mother kneels4 ,it is but a frail1 aged woman kneeling to the victorious chieftain of the ,volscian hosts2 but to him it is 'as if ,olympus to a mole-hill stooped in supplication4' ,his boy looks at him with an eye in which great ,nature speaks1 and says1 ',deny not'2 he sees the tears in the dove's eyes of the beloved1 he hears her dewy voice2 we hear it1 too1 through the ,poet's art1 in the words she speaks2 and he forgets his part4 ,we reach the 'grub' once more4 ,the dragon wings of armies melt from him4 ,he is his young boy's father--he is his fair young wife's beloved4 ',o a kiss1 long as my exile1 sweet as my revenge4' ,there's no decision yet4 ,the scales are even now4 ,but there is another there1 waiting to be saluted1 and he himself is but a boy--his own mother's boy again1 at her feet4 ,it is she that schools and lessons him2 it is she that conquers him4 ,it was 'her boy1' after all--it was her boy still1 that was 'coming home4' ,well might ,menenius say-- ',this ,volumnia is worth of consuls1 senators1 patricians1 ,a city full2 of tribunes such as you1 ,a sea and land full4' ,but let us take the philosophic report of this experiment as we find it2 for on the carefullest study1 when once it is put in its connections1 when once we 'have heard the argument1' we shall not find anything in it to spare4 ,but we must not forget that this is still 'the election1' the ignorant election of the common-weal which is under criticism1 and though this election has been revoked in the play already1 and this is a banished man we are trying here1 there was a play in progress when this play was played1 in which that revocation was yet to come off2 and this ,poet was anxious that the subject should be considered first from the most comprehensive grounds1 so that the principle of 'the election' need never again be called in question1 so that the revolution should end in the state1 and not in the principle of revolution4 ',my wife comes foremost2 then the honoured mould ,wherein this trunk was framed1 and in her hand ,the grand-child to her blood4 ,but1 out1 affection6 ,all bond and privilege of nature1 break6 ,let it be virtuous to be obstinate4-- ,what is that curtsey worth8 or those doves' eyes1 ,which can make gods forsworn8 ',he speaks of the people as if he were a god to punish1 and not a man of infirmity4' ',i melt1 and am not ,of ,,stronger ,,earth than others4--,my mother bows2 ,as if ,olympus to a molehill should ,in supplication nod3 and my young boy ,hath an aspect of intercession1 which ,great ,nature cries1 ',deny not6'--,let the ,volsces ,plough ,rome1 and harrow ,italy2 ,i'll never ,be such a ,,gosling to obey ,,instinct2 but stand1 ,as if a ,,man were author of himself1 ,and knew no other kin4 ,these eyes are not the same ,i wore in ,rome4 ,vir4 ,the sorrow that delivers us thus changed1 ,makes you think so4 ,the objects are altered1 not the eyes4 ,we are changed4 ,but it is with sorrow4 ,she bids him note that alteration1 and puts upon it the blame of his loss of love4 ,but that is just the kind of battery he is not provided for4 ,his resolution wavers4 ,that unrelenting warrior1 that fierce revengeful man is gone already1 and forgot to leave his part--the words he was to speak are wanting4 ,cor4 ,like a dull actor now1 ,i have forgot my part1 and ,i am out1 ,even to a full disgrace4 ,best of my flesh1 ,forgive my tyranny2 but do not say1 ,for that1 ,forgive our ,romans4--,o1 a kiss ,long as my exile1 sweet as my revenge6 ,now by the jealous queen of heaven1 that kiss ,i carried from thee1 dear2 and my true lip ,hath virgin'd it e'er since4--,you gods6 ,i prate1 ,and the most noble mother of the world ,leave unsaluted3 ,sink1 my knee1 t'the earth2 ,kneels4 ,of the deep duty more impression show ,than that of common sons4 ,vol4 ,o1 stand up bless'd6 ,whilst1 with no softer cushion than the flint1 ,i kneel before thee2 and unproperly ,show duty1 as mistaken-- ,note it--'as mistaken1' for this is the kind of learning described elsewhere1 which differs from received opinions1 and must1 therefore1 pray in aid of similes4 --and improperly ,show ,,duty1 as mistaken all the while ,between the child and parent4 ,and the prostrate form of that which should command1 is represented in the kneeling mother4 ,the ,poet himself points us to this hieroglyphic4 ,it is the common-weal that kneels in her person1 and the rebel interprets for us4 ,it is the violated law that stoops for pardon4 ,cor4 ,what is this8 ,your knees to me8 to your corrected son8 ,then let the pebbles on the hungry beach ,fillip the stars2 then let the mutinous winds ,strike the proud cedars 'gainst the fiery sun2 ,murdering impossibility1 to make ,what cannot be1 slight work4 ,vol4 ,thou art my warrior2 ,i holp to frame thee4 ,but it is not of the little ,marcius only1 the hero--the ,roman hero in germ--that she speaks--there is more than her ,roman part here1 when she adds-- ,vol4 ,this is a poor epitome of yours1 ,which by the interpretation of full time ,may show1 like all1 yourself4 ,and hear now what benediction the true hero can dare to utter1 what prayer the true hero can dare to pray1 through this faltering1 fluctuating1 martial hero's lips1 when1 'that whatsoever god who led him' is failing him1 and the flaws of impulse are swaying him to and fro1 and darkening him for ever4 ,cor4 ',the god of soldiers ,with the consent of ,,supreme ,,jove1'--the ,capitolian1 the god of state--'inform ,thy thoughts with ,,nobleness2'--inform thy thoughts4 'that thou may'st prove ,the shame unvulnerable1 and stick i'the wars ,like a great sea-mark1 standing every flaw1 ,and saving those that eye thee4' ,but this hero's conclusion for himself1 and his impulsive nature is-- ',not of a woman's tenderness to be1 ,requires nor child1 nor woman's face to see4 ,i have sat too long4' ,but the mother will not let him go1 and her stormy eloquence completes the conquest which that dumb rhetoric had before well nigh achieved4 ,yes1 ,menenius was right in his induction4 ,his abstraction and brief summing up of 'this ,volumnia' and her history1 is the true one4 ,she is very potent in the business of the state1 whether you take her in her first literal acceptation1 as the representative mother1 or whether you take her in that symbolical and allusive comprehension1 to which the emphasis on the name is not unfrequently made to point1 as 'the nurse and mother of all humanities1' the instructor of the state1 the former of its nobility1 who in-forms their thoughts with nobleness1 such nobleness1 and such notions of it as they have1 and who fits them for the place they are to occupy in the body of the common-weal4 ,menenius has not exaggerated in his exposition the relative importance of this figure among those which the dumb-show of this play exhibits4 ,among the 'transient hieroglyphics' which the diseased common-weal produces on the scientific stage1 when the question of its ,,cure is the question of the ,play--in that great crowd of forms1 in that moving1 portentous1 stormy pageant of senators1 and consuls1 and tribunes1 and plebeians1 whose great acts fill the scene--there are none more significant than these two1 whom we saw at first 'seated on two low stools1 sewing'2 these two of the wife and mother--the commanding mother1 and the 'gracious silence4' ',this ,volumnia'--yes1 let her school him1 for it is from her school that he has come3 let her conquer him1 for she is the conserver of this harm4 ,it is she who makes of it a tradition4 ,to its utmost bound of consequences1 she is the mother of it1 and accountable to ,god and man for its growth and continuance4 ,consuls1 and senators1 and patricians1 and tribunes1 such as we have1 are powerless without her1 are powerless against her4 ,the state begins with her2 but1 instead of it1 she has bred and nursed the destroyer of the state4 ,let her conquer him1 though her life-blood must flow for it now4 ,this play is the ,cure of the ,common-weal1 the convulsed and dying ,common-weal2 and whether the assault be from within or without1 this woman must undo her work4 ,the tribunes have sent for her now3 she must go forth without shrinking1 and slay her son4 ,she was the true mother2 she trained him for the common-weal1 she would have made a patrician of him1 but that craved a noble cunning2 she was not instructed in it2 she must pay the penalty of her ignorance--the penalty of her traditions--and slay him now4 ,there is no help for it1 for she has made with her traditions a thing that no common-weal can bear4 ,woe for this ,volumnia6 ,woe for the common-weal whose chiefs she has reared1 whose great men and ',,good ,,citizens' she has made6 ,woe for her6 ,woe for the common-weal1 for her boy approaches6 ,the land is groaning and shaken2 the faces of men gather blackness2 the clashing of arms is heard in the streets1 blood is flowing1 the towns are blazing4 ,great ,rome will soon be sacked with ,romans1 for her boy is coming home2 the child of her instinct1 the son of her ignorance1 the son of her ,,religion1 is coming home4 ',o mother1 mother6 ,what hast thou done84444 ,o my mother1 mother6 ,o1 ,you have won a happy victory to ,rome1-- ,but for your son--' ,alas for him1 and his gentle blood1 and noble breeding1 and his patrician greatness6 ,woe for the unlearned mother's son1 who has made him great with such a training1 that ,rome's weal and his1 ,rome's greatness and his1 must needs contend together--that ',rome's happy victory' must needs be the blaze that shall darken him for ever6 ,yet he storms again1 with something like his old patrician fierceness2 and yet not that1 the tone is altered2 he is humbler and tamer than he was1 and he says himself1 ',it is the first time that ever ,i have learned to scold'2 but he is stung1 even to boasting of his old heroic deeds1 when ,aufidius taunts him with his un-martial1 un-divine infirmity1 and brings home to him in very words1 at last1 the ,poet's suppressed verdict1 the ,poet's deferred sentence1 ,,guilty6--of what8 ,he is but ,a ,,boy1 his nurse's boy1 and he undertook the state6 ,he is but ,a ,,slave1 and he was caught climbing to the imperial chair1 and putting on the purple4 ,he is but 'a dog to the commonalty1' and he was sitting in the place of ,god4 ,aufidius owns1 indeed1 to his own susceptibility to these particular and private affections4 ,when ,coriolanus turns to him after that appeal from ,volumnia has had its effect1 and asks3-- ',now1 good ,aufidius1 ,were you in my stead1 say1 would you have heard ,a mother less1 or granted less1 ,aufidius8' ,he answers1 guardedly1 ',i was moved withal4' ,but the philosopher has his word there1 too1 as well as the ,poet1 slipped in under the ,poet's1 covertly1 ',i was moved with-all4' ,it is the ,play of the ,common-weal4 ,and what should the single private man1 the man of exclusive affections and changeful humours1 do with the weal of the whole8 ,in his noblest conditions1 what business has he in the state8 and who shall vote to give him the out-stretched wings and claws of ,volscian armies1 that he may say of ,rome1 all's mine1 and give it to his wife or mother8 ,who shall follow in his train1 to plough ,rome and harrow ,italy1 who lays himself and all his forces at his mother's feet1 and turns back at her word8 ,aufidius4 ,you lords and ,,heads of the ,,state1 perfidiously ,has he betrayed your business1 and given up ,for certain drops of salt1 your city ,rome-- ,i say1 your city--to his wife and mother3 ,breaking his oath and resolution like ,a twist of rotten silk2 never admitting ,counsel of the war1 but at his nurse's tears ,he whined and roar'd away your victory1 ,that pages blushed at him1 and men of heart ,looked wondering at each other4 ,there is a look which has come down to us4 ,that is ,elizabethan4 ,that is the suppressed ,elizabethan4 ,cor4 ,hear'st thou1 ,mars8 ,auf4 ,name not the god thou ,boy of tears4 ,cor4 ,ha6 ,auf4 ,no ,,more4 ,you are no more4 ,cor4 ,measureless liar1 thou hast made my heart ,too great for what contains it4 ,boy8 ,o ,slave6 4444 ,boy8 ,false hound6 ,these are the names that are flying about here1 now that the martial chiefs are criticising each other3 it is no matter which side they go4 ',boy8 ,o slave6 444 ,boy8 ,false hound6 ',he is a very dog to the commonalty4' ,alone ,i did it4 ,,boy8 ,but it is ,volumnia herself who searches to the quick the principle of this boyish sovereignty1 in her satire on the undivine passion she wishes to unseat4 ,it is thus that she upbraids the hero with his unmanly1 ungracious1 ignoble purpose3-- ',speak to me1 son4 ,thou hast affected the fine strains of ,,honour1 ,to imitate the graces of the gods2 ,to tear with thunder the wide cheeks o' the air1 ,and yet to charge thy sulphur with a bolt ,that should but rive an oak4 ,why dost not speak8 ,think'st thou it honourable for a ,,noble ,,man ,still to remember wrongs8 ,for that is the height of the scientific affirmation also2 the other was1 in scientific language1 its 'anticipation4' ,he wants nothing of a god but an eternity1 and a heaven to throne in 7slight deficiences in a god already74 ',yes1 mercy1 if you paint him truly4' ',i paint him in character4' ,,nobility1 ,,honour1 ,,manliness1 ,,heroism1 ,,good ,,citizenship1 ,,freedom1 ,,divinity1 ,,patriotism4 ,we are getting a number of definitions here1 vague popular terms1 scientifically fixed1 scientifically cleared1 destined to waver1 and be confused and mixed with other and fatally different things in the popular apprehension no more--when once this science is unfolded for that whole people for whom it was delivered--no more for ever4 ,there is no open dramatic embodiment in this play of the true ideal nobility1 and manliness1 and honour1 and divinity4 ,this is the false affirmation which is put upon the stage here1 to be tried1 and examined1 and rejected4 ,for it is to this ,poet's purpose to show--and very much to his purpose to show1 sometimes--what is not the true affirmation4 ,his method is critical1 but his rejection contains the true definition4 ,the whole play is contrived to shape it here2 all hands combine to frame it4 ,volscians and ,romans conspire to pronounce it2 the world is against this 'one man' and his part-liness1 though he be indeed 'every man4' ,he himself has been compelled to pronounce it2 for the speaker for the whole is the speaker in each of us1 and pronounces his sentences on ourselves with our own lips4 ',being gentle wounded craves a noble cunning1' is the word of the noble1 who comes back with a ,volscian army to exhibit upon the stage this grand hieroglyphic1 this grand dramatic negative of that nobility4 ,but it is from the lips of the mother1 brought into this deadly antagonism with the manliness she has trained1 compelled now to echo that popular rejection1 that the ,poet can venture to speak out1 at last1 from the depths of his true heroism4 ,it is this ,volumnia who strikes now to the heart of the play with her satire on this affectation of the graces of the gods1--this assumption of nobility1 and manliness1 and the fine strains of honour1--in one who is led only by the blind demon gods1 'that keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads1'--in one who is bounded and shut in after all to the range of his own poor petty private passions1 shut up to a poverty of soul which forbids those assumptions1 limited to a nature in which those strictly human terms can be only affectations1 one who concentrates all his glorious special human gifts on the pursuit of ends for which the lower natures are also furnished4 ,honour1 forsooth6 the fine strains of honour1 and the graces of the gods4 ,look at that ,volscian army there4 ',to tear with thunder the wide cheeks o' the air1 ,and yet to charge thy sulphur with a bolt ,that should but rive an oak4 ,why dost not speak8' ,he can not4 ,there is no speech for that4 ,it does not bear review4 ',why dost not speak8 ,think'st thou it honourable for a noble man ,still to remember wrongs8' ',let it be virtuous to be obstinate1' let there be no better principle of that identity which we insist on in men1 that firmness which we call manliness1 and the cherished wrong is honour4 ,it is but an interrogative point1 but the height of our affirmation is taken with it4 ,it is a figure of speech and intensifies the affirmative with its irony4 ',this a consul8 ,no4' ',no more1 but e'en a woman1 and ,,commanded ,by such poor passion as the maid that milks1 ,and does the meanest chares4' ,,queen4 ',give me that man that is not passion's slave4 ,since my dear soul was mistress of her choice1 ,and could of men distinguish her election1 ,she hath seal'd thee for herself3 for thou hast been ,as one1 in suffering all1 that suffers nothing4 ,but the man who rates so highly 'this single mould of ,marcius1' and the wounded name of it1 that he will forge another for it 'i' the fire of burning ,rome1' who will hurt the world to ease the rankling of his single wrong1 who will plough ,rome and harrow ,italy to cool the fever of his thirst for vengeance2 this is not the man1 this is not the hero1 this is not ,,the ,,god1 that the scientific review accepts4 ,whoso has put him in the chair of state on earth1 or in heaven1 must 'revoke that ignorant election4' ,whatever our 'perfect example in civil life' may be1 and we are1 perhaps1 not likely to get it openly in the form of an historic 'composition' on this author's stage1 whatever name and shape it may take when it comes1 this evidently is not it4 ,this ,caius ,marcius is dismissed for the present from this ,poet's boards4 ,this curule chair that stands here empty yet1 for aught that we can see1 and this crown of 'olives of endless age1' is not for him4 ',would you proceed especially against ,caius ,marcius8 ,against him first4 ',we proceed first by negatives1 and conclude after every species of rejection4' ,on the surface of this play1 lies everywhere the question of the ,common-,weal1 in its relation to the good that is private and particular1 scientifically reviewed1 as a question in proportion1--as the question of the whole against the part1--of the greater against the less1--nay1 as the question of that which is against that which is not4 ,for it is a treatment which throws in passing1 the shadow of the old metaphysical suspicion and scepticism on that chaotic unaxiomatical condition of things which the scientific eye discovers here1 for the new philosophy with all its new comprehension of the actual1 with all its new convergency on practice1 is careful to inform us that it observes1 notwithstanding the old distinction between 'being and becoming4' ,this is an ,,ideal philosophy also1 though the notions of nature are more respected in it1 than the spontaneous unconsidered notions of men4 ,it is the largeness of the objective whole1 the historic whole and the faculty in man of comprehending it1 and the sense of relation and obligation to it1 as the highest historic law1--the formal1 the essential law of kind in him1 it is the breadth of reason1 it is the circumference of conscience1 it is the grandeur of duty which this author arrays here scientifically against that oblivion and ignoring of the whole1 that forgetfulness of the world1 and the universal tie which the ignorance of the unaided sense and the narrowness of passion and private affection create1 whether in the one1 or the few1 or the many4 ,it is the ,weal of the whole against the will of the part1 no matter where the limit of that partiality1 or 'partliness1' as the 'poor citizen' calls it1 is fixed whether it be the selfishness of the single self1 or whether the household tie enlarges its range1 whether it be the partiality of class or faction1 or the partiality of kindred or race1 or the partiality of geographic limits1 the question of the play1 the question of the whole1 of the worthier whole1 is still pursued with scientific exaction4 ,it is the conflict with axioms which is represented here1 and not with wordy axioms only1 not with abstractions good for the human mind only1 in its abstract self-sustained speculations1 but with historical axioms1 axioms which the universal nature knows1 laws which have had the consent of things since this nature began1 laws which passed long ago the universal commons4 ,it is the false unscientific state which is at war1 not with abstract speculation merely1 but with the nature of things and the received logic of the universe1 which this man of a practical science wishes to call attention to4 ,it is the crowning and enthroning of that which is private and particular1 it is the anointing of passion and instinct1 it is the arming of the absolute--the demon--will2 it is the putting into the hands of the ignorant part the sceptre of the whole1 which strikes the scientific ,reviewer as the thing to be noted here4 ,and by way of proceeding by negatives first1 he undertakes to convey to others the impression which this state of things makes upon his own mind1 as pointedly as may be1 consistently with those general intentions which determine his proceedings and the conditions which limit them1 and he is by no means timid in availing himself of the capabilities of his story to that end4 ,the true spectacle of the play1--the principal hieroglyphic of it1--the one in which this hieroglyphic criticism approaches the metaphysical intention most nearly1 is one that requires interpretation4 ,it does not report itself to the eye at once4 ,the showman stops to tell us before he produces it1 that it is a symbol1--that this is one of the places where he 'prays in aid of similes1'--that this is a specimen of what he calls elsewhere 'allusive' writing4 ,the true spectacle of the play1--the grand hieroglyphic of it1--is that view of the city1 and the woman in the foreground kneeling for it1 'to her son1 her corrected son1' begging for pardon of her corrected rebel--hanging for life on the chance of his changeful moods and passions4 ,it is ,rome that lies stretched out there upon her hills1 in all her visible greatness and claims to reverence2 it is ,rome with her ,capitolian crown1 forth from which the ,roman matron steps1 and with no softer cushion than the flint1 in the dust at the rebel's feet1 kneels 'to show'--as she tells us--to show as clearly as the conditions of the exhibition allow it to be exhibited1 ,,duty as mistaken1--'as mistaken1'--all the while between the child and parent4 ,it is ,jupiter that stoops2 it is ,olympus doing obeisance to the mole-hill2 it is the divineness of the universal law--the formal law in man--that is prostrate and suppliant in her person2 and the ,poet exhausts even his own powers of expression1 and grows inarticulate at last1 in seeking to convey his sense of this ineffable1 impossible1 historical pretension4 ,it is as 'if ,olympus to a mole-hill should in supplication nod2 it is as if the pebbles on the hungry beach should fillip the stars2 as if the mutinous winds should strike the proud cedars against the fiery sun1 murdering impossibility1 to make what can not be1 slight work1'--what can not be4 ,that was the spectacle of the play1 and that was the world's spectacle when the play was written4 ,nay1 worse2 a thousandfold more wild and pitiful1 and confounding to the intellect1 and revolting to its sensibilities1 was the spectacle that the ,state offered then to the philosophic eye4 ,the ,poet has all understated his great case4 ,he has taken the pattern-man in the private affections1 the noble man of mere instinct and passion1 and put him in the chair of state2--the man whom nature herself had chosen and anointed1 and crowned with kingly graces4 ',as waves before a vessel under sail ,so men obeyed him1 and fell below his stern1' ',if he would but incline to the people1 there never was a worthier man4' ,not to the natural private affections and instincts1 touched with the nobility of human sense1--not to the loyalty of the husband1--not to the filial reverence and duty of the son1 true to that private and personal relationship at least2 not to the gentleness of the patrician1 true to that private patricianship also1 must ,england owe her weal--such weal as she could beg and wheedle from her lord and ruler then4 ,not from the conquering hero with his fresh oakleaf on his brow1 and the command of the god who led him in his speech and action1--and not from his lineal successor merely1 must ,england beg her welfare then4 ,it was not the venerable mother1 or the gentle wife1 with her dove's eyes able to make gods of earth forsworn1 who could say then1 ',the laws of ,england are at my commandment4' ,crimes that the historic pen can only point to1--not record1--low1 illiterate1 brutish stupidities1 mad-cap folly1 and wanton extravagancies and caprices1 in their ideal impersonations--these were the gods that ,england1 in the majesty of her ,state1 in the sovereignty of her chartered weal1 must abase herself to then4 ,to the vices of tyranny1 to low companions and their companions1 and their kindred1 the ,state must cringe and kneel then4 ,to these1--men who meddled with affairs of ,state1--who took1 even at such a time1 the ,state to be their business1--must address themselves2 for these were the councils in which ,england's peace and war were settled then1 and the ,tribune could enter them only in disguise4 ,his veto could not get spoken outright1 it could only be pronounced in under-tones and circumlocutions4 ,not with noble1 eloquent1 human appeals1 could the soul of power be reached and conquered then--the soul of him 'within whose eyes sat twenty thousand deaths1' the man of the thirty legions1 to whom this argument must be dedicated4 ',ducking observances1' basest flatteries1 sycophancies past the power of man to utter1 personal humiliations1 and prostrations that seemed to teach 'the mind a most inherent baseness1' these were the weapons1--the required weapons of the statesman's warfare then4 ,from these 'dogs of the commonalty' men who were indeed 'noble1' whose 'fame' did indeed 'fold in the orb o' the world1' must take then1 as a purchase or a gift1 deliverance from physical restraint1 and life itself4 ,these were the days when ,england's victories were 'blubbered and whined away1' in such a sort1 that 'pages blushed at it1 and men of heart looked wondering at each other4' ,and1 when science began first to turn her eye on history1 and propose to herself the relief of the human estate1 as her end1 and the scientific arts as her means1 this was the spectacle she found herself expected to endure2 this was the state of things she found herself called upon to sanction and conserve4 ,she could not immediately reform it--she must produce first her doctrine of 'true forms1' her scientific definitions and precepts based on them1 and her doctrine of constructions4 ,she could not openly condemn it2 but she could criticise and reject it by means of that method which is 'sometimes necessary in the sciences1' and to which 'those who would let in new light upon the human mind must have recourse4' ,she could seize the grand hieroglyphic of the heroic past1 and make it 'point with its finger' that which was unspeakable1--her scorn of it4 ,she could borrow the freedom of the old ,roman lips1 to repronounce1 in her own new dialect1--not their anticipation of her veto only1 but her eternal affirmation1--the word of her consulship1 the rule of her nobility1--the nobility of being1--being in the human1--the nobility of manliness1--the divinity of ,state1 the true doctrine of it2--and1 to speak truly1 ',antiquitas seculi1 juventus mundi4' ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,metaphysical ,,aid4 ',i do not like the fashion of your garments4 ,you will say they are ,persian attire2 but let them be changed4'-- ,the ,king to ,tom o' ,bedlam4 ',would you proceed especially against ,caius ,marcius8 ,against him first4' ,it is the cure of the ,common-weal which this author has undertaken1 for he found himself pre-elected to the care of the people and to the world's tribuneship4 ,but he handles his subject in the natural1 historical order1 in the chronological order1--and not here only1 but in that play of which this is a part1--of which this is the play within the ,play1--in that grand1 historical proceeding on the world's theatre1 which it was given to the author of this play to institute4 ,he begins with the physical wants of men4 ,the hunger1 and cold1 and weariness1 and all the physical suffering and destitution of that human condition which is the condition of the many1 has arrested his human eye1 with its dumb1 patient eloquence1 and it is that which makes the starting point of his revolution4 ,he translates its mute language1 he anticipates its word4 ,he is setting in movement operations that are intended to make 'coals cheap'2 he proposes to have corn at his own price4 ,he has so much confidence in what his tongue can do in the way of flattery1 that he expects to come back beloved of all the trades in ,rome4 ,he will 'cog their hearts from them1' and get elected consul yet1 with all their voices4 ',scribbling seems to be the sign of a disordered age1' says the philosopher1 who finds so much occasion for the use of that art about these days4 ',it seems as if it were the season for vain things when the hurtful oppress us2 in a time when doing ill is common1 to do nothing but what signifies nothing is a kind of commendation4 ',tis my comfort that ,i shall be one of the last that are called in question2 and1 whilst the greater offenders are calling to account1 ,i shall have leisure to amend2 for it would be unreasonable to punish the less troublesome1 whilst we are infested with the greater4 ,as the physician said to one who presented him his finger to dress1 and who1 he perceived1 had an ulcer in his lungs1 ,friend1 said he1 it is not now time to concern yourself about your fingers-ends4 ,and yet--and yet--,i saw1 some years ago1 a person whose name and memory ,i have in very great esteem1 in the very height of our great disorders1 when there was neither law nor justice put in execution1 nor magistrate that performed his office--no more than there is now--publish1 ,i know not what pitiful reformations1 about clothes1 cookery1 and law chicanery4 ,these are amusements wherewith to feed a people that are ill-used1 to show that they are not totally forgotten4' ,that is the account of it4 ,that is the history of this innovation1 beginning with books1 proposing pitiful reformations in clothes1 and cookery1 and law chicanery4 ,that would serve to show an ill-used people that there was some care for them stirring1 some tribuneship at work already4 ',what ,i say of physic generally1 may serve ,,as ,,an ,,example ,,of ,,all ,,other ,,sciences1' says this same scribbler1 under his scribbling cognomen4 ',we certainly intend to comprehend them all1' says the graver authority1 'such as ,ethics1 ,politics1 and ,logic4' ,that is1 where we are exactly in this so entertaining performance1 which was also designed for the benefit of an ill-used people2 for this candidate for the chief magistracy is the ,aedile also1 and while he stands for his place these spectacles will continue4 ,it is that physical suffering of 'the poor citizens' that he begins with here4 ,it is the question of the price of corn with which he opens his argument4 ,the dumb and patient people are on his stage already2 dumb and patient no longer1 but clamoring against the surfeiting and wild wanton waste of the few2 clamoring for their share in ,god's common gifts to men1 and refusing to take any longer the portion which a diseased state puts down for them4 ,but he tells us from the outset1 that this claim will be prosecuted in such a manner as to 'throw forth greater themes for insurrection's arguing4' ,though all the wretched poor were clothed and fed with imperial treasure1 with imperial luxury and splendour--though all the arts which are based on the knowledge of physical causes should be put in requisition to relieve their need--though the scientific discoveries and inventions which are pouring in upon human life from that field of scientific inquiry which our men of science have already cultivated their golden harvests1 should reach at last poor ,tom himself--though that scientific movement now in progress should proceed till it has reached the humblest of our human kin1 and surrounded him with all the goods of the private and particular nature1 with the sensuous luxuries and artistic elegancies and refinements of the lordliest home--that good which is the distinctive human good1 that good which is the constitutional human end1 that good1 that formal and essential good1 which it is the end of this philosophy to bring to man1 would not necessarily be realised4 ,for that1 and nothing short of that1 the 'advancement' of the species to that which it is blindly reaching for1 painfully groping for--its form in nature1 its ideal perfection--the advancement of it to something more noble than the nobility of a nobler kind of vermin--a state which involves another kind of individual growth and greatness1 one which involves a different1 a distinctively 'human principle' and tie of congregation1 is that which makes the ultimate intention of this philosophy4 ,the organization of that large1 complex1 difficult form in nature1 in which the many are united in 'the greater congregation'2 that more extensive whole1 of which the units are each1 not simple forms1 but the complicated1 most highly complex1 and not yet subdued complexity1 which the individual form of man in itself constitutes2 this so difficult result of nature's combinations and her laws of combination1 labouring1 struggling towards its consummation1 but disordered1 threatened1 convulsed1 asking aid of art1 is the subject2 the cure of it1 the cure and healthful regimen of it1 the problem4 ,and it is a born doctor who has taken it in hand this time2 one of your natural geniuses1 with an inward vocation for the art of healing1 instructed of nature beforehand in that mystery and profession1 and appointed of her to that ministry4 ,wherever you find him1 under whatever disguise1 you will find that his mind is running on the structure of bodies1 the means of their conservation and growth1 and the remedies for their disorders1 and decays1 and antagonisms1 without and within4 ,he has a most extraordinary and incurable natural bent and determination towards medicine and cures in general2 he is always inquiring into the anatomy of things and the qualities of drugs1 analysing them and mixing them1 finding the art of their compounds1 and modifying them to suit his purposes1 or inventing new ones2 for1 like ,aristotle1 to whom he refers for a precedent1 he wishes 'to have a hand in everything4' ,but he is not a quack4 ,he has no respect for the old authoritative prescriptions1 if they fail in practice1 whether they come in ,galen's name1 or another's2 but he is just as severe upon 'the empiricutics1' on the other hand1 and he objects to 'a horse-drench' for the human constitution in the greater congregation1 as much as he does in that distinctively complex delicate structure which the single individual human frame in itself constitutes4 ,menenius speaking of the letter which ,volumnia has told him of1 and putting in a word on this ,doctor's behalf1 for it is not very much to the purpose on his own says1 ',it gives me an estate of seven years' health1 during which time ,i will make a lip at the physician4' ,a lip--a lip--and 'what a deal of scorn looks beautiful on it1' when once you get to see it4 ,but this is the play of 'conservation with advancement4' ,it is the cure and preservation of the common-weal1 to which all lines are tending1 to which all points and parentheses are pointing2 and thus he continues3 ',the most sovereign prescription in ,galen is but empiricutic1 and to this preservative of no better report than a horse-drench4' ,so we shall find1 when we come to try it--this preservative1--this conservation4 ,this ,doctor has a great opinion of nature4 ,he thinks that 'the physician must rely on her powers for his cures in the last resort1 and be able to make prescriptions of them1 instead of making them out of his own pre-conceits1 if he would not have of his cure a conceit also4' ,his opinion is1 that 'nature is made better by no mean1 but she herself hath made that mean2'-- ',so o'er that art ,which you say adds to nature1 is an art ,that nature makes444 444,this is an art ,which does mend nature1 change it rather3 but ,the art itself is nature4' ,that is the ,poet's view1 but the ,philosopher is of the same opinion4 ',man while operating can only apply or withdraw natural bodies1 nature internally performs the rest4' ,those who become practically versed in nature are the mechanic1 the mathematician1 the alchemist1 and the magician1 but all1 as matters now stand with faint efforts and meagre success4'444 ',the syllogism forces assent and not things4' ',the subtlety of nature is far beyond that of sense or of the understanding4 ,the syllogism consists of propositions1 these of words1 words are the signs of notions1 notions represent things4 ,if our notions are fantastical1 the whole structure falls to the ground2 but they are for the most part improperly abstracted and deduced from things4' ,there is the whole of it2 there it is in a nut-shell4 ,as we are very apt to find it in this method of delivery by aphorisms2 there is the shell of it at least4 ,and considering 'the torture and press of the method1' and the instruments of torture then in use for correcting the press1 on these precise questions1 there is as much of the kernel1 perhaps1 as could reasonably be looked for1 in those particular aphorisms2 and 'aphorisms representing a knowledge broken1 do invite men to inquire further2' so this writer of them tells us4 ,with all his reliance on nature then1 and with all his scorn of the impracticable and arrogant conceits of learning as he finds it1 and of the quackeries that are practised in its name1 this is no empiric4 ,he will not approach that large1 complex1 elaborate combination of nature1 that laboured fruit of time1--her most subtle and efficacious agent1 so prolific in results that amaze and confound our art1 --he will not approach this great structure with all its unperceived interior adaptations1--with so much of nature's own work in it1 --hehas too much respect for her own 'cunning hand1' to approach it without learning1--to undertake its cure with blind ignorant experiments4 ,he will not go to work in the dark on this structure1 with drug or surgery4 ,this is going to be a scientific cure4 ',before we proceed any further1 hear me speak4' ,he will inquire beforehand the nature of this particular structure that he proposes to meddle with1 and get its normal state defined at the outset4 ,but that will take him into the question of structures in general1 as they appear in nature1 and the intention of nature in them4 ,he will have a comparative anatomy to help him4 ,this analysis will not stop with the social unit1 he will analyze him4 ,it will not stop with him4 ,it will comprehend the principles of all combinations4 ,he will not stop in his analysis of this complexity till he comes to that which precedes all combination1 and survives it--the original simplicity of nature4 ,he will come to this cure armed with the universal 'simples2' he will have all the original powers of nature1 'which are not many1' in his hands1 to begin with2 and he will have more than that4 ,he will have the doctrine of their combinations1 not in man only1 but in all the kinds2--those despised kinds1 that claim such close relationship-- such wondrous relationship with man2 and he will not go to the primitive instinctive nature only for his knowledge on this point4 ,he will inquire of art1--the empiric art1--and rude accident1 what latent efficacies they have detected in her1 what churlish secrets of hers they have wrung from her4 ,you will find the gardener's and the farmer's reports1 and not the physician's and the surgeon's only1 inserted in his books of policy and ethics4 ,the 'nettles' theory of the rights of private life1 and his policy of foreign relationships1 appears to this learned politician to strengthen his case a little1 and the pertinacious refusal of the 'old crab trees' to lend their organizations1 such as they are1 to the fructification of a bud of nobler kind1 is quoted with respect as a decision of nature in another court1 on this same question1 which is one of the questions here4 ,for the principle of conservation as well as the other principles of the human conduct1 appears to this philosopher to require a larger treatment than our men of learning have given it hitherto4 ,and this is the man of science who takes so much pains to acknowledge his preference for 'good compositions'--who thinks so much of good natural compositions and their virtues1 who is always expressing or betraying his respect for the happy combinations1 the sound results1 the luxuriant and beautiful varieties with which nature herself illustrates the secret of her fertility1 and publishes her own great volume of examples in the ,arts4 ,first it is the knowledge of the simple forms into which all the variety of nature is convertible1 the definitions which account for all--that which is always the same in all the difference1 that which is always permanent in all the change2 first it is the doctrine of 'those simple original forms1 or differences of things1 which like the alphabet are not many1 the degrees and co-ordinations whereof make all this variety1' and then it is the doctrine of their combinations1--the combinations which nature has herself accomplished1 those which the arts have accomplished1 and those which are possible1 which have not been accomplished1--those which the universal nature working in the human1 working in each1 from the platform of the human1 from that height in her ascending scale of species1 dictates now1 demands1--divinely orders1--divinely instructs us in4 ,this1 and nothing short of this1--this so radical knowledge1 reaching from the summit of the human complexity1 to the primaeval depths of nature1--to the simplicity of the nature that is one in all1--to the indissoluble laws of being1--the laws of being in the species1--the law with which the specific law is convertible1--the law which cannot be broken in the species1 which involves loss of species1--loss of being in the species1--this so large and rich and various knowledge1 comprehending all the varieties of nature in its fields1 putting all nature under contribution for its results1 this--this is the knowledge with which the man of science approaches now1 this grand particular4 ,the reader who begins to examine for himself1 for the first time1 in the original books of it1 this great system of the ,modern ,science1 impressed with the received notions in regard to its scope and intentions1 will be1 perhaps1 not a little surprised and puzzled1 to find that the thing which is1 of all others1 most strenuously insisted on by this author1 in his own person1 next to the worthlessness of the conceits which have no correspondence with things1 is the fact that the knowledge of the physical causes is altogether inadequate to that relief of the condition of man1 which he finds to be the immediate end of science2 and that it is a system of metaphysics1 a new metaphysics1 which he is everywhere propounding to that end1--openly1 and with all the latent force of his new rhetoric4 ,it is 'metaphysical aid' that he offers us2 it is magic1 but1 'magic lawful as eating'2 it is a priestly aid that he offers us1 the aid of one who has penetrated to the inner sanctuary of the law1--the priest of nature1 newly instructed in her mind and will1 who comes forth from his long communing with her1 with her own 'great seal' in his hands--with the rod of her enchantments1 that old magicians desired to pluck from her1 and did not--with the gift of the new and nobler miracles of science as the witness of his anointing--with the reading of ',god's book of power'--with the alphabet of its mystery1 as the proof of his ordaining--with the key of it1 hid from the foundation of the world until now4 ,the first difference between this metaphysics1 and all the metaphysics that ever went before it or came after it1 is1 that it is practical4 ,it carries in its hand1 gathered into the simplicity of the causes that are not many1 the secret of all motivity1 the secret of all practice4 ,it tells you so2 over and over again1 in so many words1 it dares to tell you so4 ,it opens that closed palm a little1 and shows you what is there2 it bids you look on while it stirs those lines but a little1 and new ages have begun4 ,it is a practical metaphysics1 and the first word of its speech is to forbid abstractions--your abstractions4 ,it sets out from that which is 'constant1 eternal1 and universal'2 but from that which is 'constant1 eternal1 and universal in nature4' ,it sets out from that which is fixed2 but it is from the fixed and constant causes3 'forms' not 'ideas4' ,the simplicity which it seeks is the simplicity into which the historical phenomena are resolvable2 the terms which it seeks are the terms which do not come within the range of the unscientific experience2 they are the unknown terms of the unlearned2 they are the causes 'which1 like the alphabet1 are not many'2 they are the terms which the understanding knows1 which the reason grasps1 and comprehends in its unity2 but they are the convertible terms of all the multiplicity and variety of the senses1 they are the convertible terms--the practically convertible terms of the known--practically --that is the difference4 ,in that pyramid of knowledges which the science of things constitutes2 in that converging ascent to the original simplicity and identity of nature1 beginning at that broad science which makes its base--the science of ,natural ,history--beginning with the basis of the historical complexity and difference2 in that pyramid of science1 that new and solid pyramid1 which the ,inductive science--which the inquiry into causes that are operant in nature builds1 this author will not stop1 either on that broad field of the universal history of nature1 which is the base of it1 or on that first stage of the ascent which the platform of 'the physical causes' makes4 ,the causes which lie next to our experience--the causes1 which are variable and many1 do not satisfy him4 ,he gains that platform1 and looks about him4 ,he finds that even a diligent inquiry and observation there would result in many new inventions beneficial to men2 but the knowledge of these causes 'takes men in narrow and restrained paths'2 he wants for the founding of his rule of art the cause which1 under all conditions1 secures the result1 which gives the widest possible command of means4 ,he refuses to accept of the physical causes as the bourne of his philosophy1 in theory or practice4 ,he looks with a great human scorn on all the possible arts and solutions which lie on that platform1 when the proposal is to stop his philosophy of speculation and practice there4 ,it is not for the scientific arts1 which that field of observation yields1 that he begs leave to revive and re-integrate the misapplied and abused name of natural magic1 which1 in the true sense1 is but natural wisdom1 or ',,prudence4' ,he can hardly stop to indicate the results which the culture of that field does yield for the relief of the human estate4 ,his eye is uplifted to that new platform of a solid metaphysics1 an historical metaphysics1 which the inductive method builds4 ,his eye is intent always on that higher stage of knowledge where that which is common to the sciences is found4 ,he takes the other in passing only4 ,beginning with the basis of a new observation and history of nature1 he will found a new metaphysics--an objective metaphysics--the metaphysics of induction4 ,his logic is but a preparation for that4 ,he is going to collect1 by his inductive method1 from all nature1 from all species1 the principles that are in all things2 and he is going to build1 on the basis of those inducted principles1--on the sure basis of that which is constant1 and eternal1 and universal in nature1 the sure foundations of his universal practice2 for1 like common logic1 the inductive method comprehends 'all4' ,that same simplicity1 which the abstract speculations of men aspire to1 and create1 it aspires to and attains1 by the rough roads1 by the laboured stages of observation and experiment4 ,he is1 indeed1 compelled to involve his phraseology here in a most studious haze of scholasticism4 ,perspicuity is by no means the quality of style most in request1 when we come to these higher stages of sciences4 ,impenetrable mists1 clouds1 and darkness1 impenetrable to any but the eye that seeks also the whole1 involve the heaven-piercing peak of this new height of learning1 this new summit of a scientific divinity1 frowning off--warding off1 as with the sword of the cherubim1 the unbidden invaders of this new ,olympus1 where sit the gods1 restored again1--the simple powers of nature1 recovered from the ,greek abstractions1--not 'the idols'--not the impersonated abstractions1 the false images of the mind of man--not the logical forms of those spontaneous abstractions1 emptied of their poetic content--but the strong gods that make our history1 that compose our epics1 that conspire for our tragedies1 whether we own them and build altars to them or not4 ,this is that summit of the prima philosophia where the axioms that command all are found--where the observations that are common to the sciences1 and the precepts that are based on these1 grow4 ,this is that height where the same footsteps of nature1 treading in different substances or matters1 lost in the difference below1 are all cleared and identified4 ,this is the height of the forms of the understanding1 of the unity of the reason2 not as it is in man only1 but as it is in all matters or substances4 ,he does not care to tell us1--he could not well tell us1 in popular language1 what the true name of that height of learning is3 he could not well name without circumlocution1 that height which a scientific abstraction makes1--an abstraction that attains simplicity without destroying the concrete reality1 an abstraction that attains as its result only a higher history1--a new and more intelligible reading of it1--a solution of it--that which is fixed and constant and accounts for it1--an abstraction whose apex of unity is the highest1 the universal history1 that which accounts for all1--the equivalent1--the scientific equivalent of it4 ,but whatever it be1 it is something that is going to take the place of the unscientific abstractions1 both in theory and practice2 it is something that is going to supplant ultimately the vain indolent speculation1 the inert because unscientific speculation1 that seeks to bind the human life in the misery of an enforced and sanctioned ignorance1 sealing up with its dogmas to an eternal collision with the universal laws of ,god and nature1--laws that no dogma or conceit can alter1--all the unreckoned generations of the life of man4 ,whatever it be1 it is going to strike with its primeval rock1 through all the air palace of the vain conceits of men2--it is going straight up1 through that old conglomeration of dogmas1 that the ages of the human ignorance have built and left to us4 ,the unity to which all things in nature1 inspired with her universal instinct tend1--the unity of which the mind and heart of man in its sympathy with the universal whole is but an expression1 that unity of its own which the mind is always seeking to impart to the diversities which the unreconciled experience offers it1 which it must have in its objective reality1 which it will make for itself if it cannot find it1 which it does make in ignorant ages1 by falling back upon its own form and ignoring the historic reality1--which it builds up without any solid objective basis1 by ignoring the nature of things1 or founds on one-sided partial views of their nature1 that unity is going to have its place in the new learning also--but it is going to be henceforth the unity of knowledge--not of dogmas1 not of belief merely1 for knowledge1 and not belief merely1--knowledge1 and not opinion1 is power4 ,that man is not the only creature in nature1 was the discovery of this philosophy4 ,the founders of it observed that there were a number of species1 which appeared to be maintaining a certain sort of existence of their own1 without being dependent for it on the movements within the human brain4 ,to abate the arrogance of the species1--to show the absurdity and ignorance of the attempt to constitute the universe beforehand within that little sphere1 the human skull1 ignoring the reports of the intelligencers from the universal whole1 with which great nature has herself supplied us1--to correct the arrogance and specific bias of the human learning1--was the first attempt of the new logic4 ,it is the house of the ,universal ,father that we dwell in1 and it has 'many mansions1' and 'man is not the best lodged in it4' ,noble1 indeed1 is his form in nature1 inspired with the spirit of the universal whole1 able in his littleness to comprehend and embrace the whole1 made in the image of the universal ,primal ,cause1 whose voice for us is human2 but there are other dialects of the divine also1--there are nobler creatures lodged with us1 placed above us2 with larger gifts1 with their ten talents ruling over our cities4 ,there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard4 ,their line is gone out through all the earth also1 and their words unto the end of the world2 and the poor beetle that we tread on1 and the daisy and the lily in all its glory1 and the sparrows that are going 'two for a farthing1' come in for their place also in this philosophy--the philosophy of science--the philosophy of the kinds1 the philosophy of the nature that is one in them1--the metaphysics of history4 ',although there exists nothing ,,in ,,nature except individual bodies1 exhibiting distinct individual effects1 according to individual ,,laws1 yet in each branch of ,,learning that very ,,law1--its investigation1 discovery and development--are the foundation both of theory and practice2 this law1 therefore1 and its parallel in each science1 is what we understand by the term1 ,,form4' ,that is a sentence to crack the heads of the old abstractionists4 ,before that can be read1 the new logic will have to be put in requisition2 the idols of the tribe will have to be dismissed first4 ,the inveterate and 'pernicious habit of abstraction1'--that so pernicious habit of the men of learning must be overawed first4 ',there exists nothing in nature except individual bodies1 exhibiting distinct individual effects1 according to individual laws4' ,the concrete is very carefully guarded there against that 'pernicious habit'2 it is saved at the expense of the human species1 at the expense of its arrogance4 ,nobody need undertake to abstract those laws1 whatever they may be1 for this master has turned his key on them4 ,they are in their proper place2 they are in the things themselves1 and cannot be taken out of them4 ,the utmost that you can do is to attain to a scientific knowledge of them1 one that exactly corresponds with them4 ,that correspondence is the point in the new metaphysics1 and in the new logic2--that was what was wanting in the old4 ',the investigation1 discovery1 and development of this law1 in every branch of learning1 are the foundation both of theory and practice4 ,this law1 therefore1 and its parallel in each science1 is what we understand by the term ,,form4' ,the distinction is very carefully made between the 'cause in nature1' and that which corresponds to it1 in the human mind1 the parallel to it in the sciences2 for the notions of men and the notions of nature are extremely apt to differ when the mind is left to form its notions without any scientific rule or instrument2 and these ill-made abstractions1 which do not correspond with the cause in nature1 are of no efficacy in the arts1 for nature takes no notice of them whatever4 ,there is one term in use here which represents at the same time the cause in nature1 and that which corresponds to it in the mind of man--the parallel to it in the sciences4 ,when these exactly correspond1 one term suffices4 ,the term ',,form' is preferred for that purpose in this school4 ,the term which was applied to the abstractions of the old philosophy1 with a little modification1 is made to signalise the difference between the old and the new4 ,the ',,ideas' of the old philosophy1 the hasty abstractions of it1 are 'the idols' of the new--the false deceiving images--which must be destroyed ere that which is fixed and constant in nature can establish its own parallels in our learning4 ',too untimely a departure1 and too remote a recess from particulars1' is the cause briefly assigned in this criticism for this want of correspondence hitherto4 ',but it is manifest that ,plato1 in his opinion of ideas1 as one that had a wit of elevation situate as upon a cliff1 did descry that forms were the true object of knowledge1 but lost the real fruit of that opinion by considering of forms as absolutely abstracted from matter1 and not confined and determined by matter4' ',lost the fruit of that opinion'--this is the author who talks so 'pressly4' ,two thousand years of human history are summed up in that so brief chronicle4 ,two thousand years of barren science1 of wordy speculation1 of vain theory2 two thousand years of blind1 empirical1 unsuccessful groping in all the fields of human practice4 ',and so1' he continues1 concluding that summary criticism with a little further development of the subject1 'and so1 turning his opinion upon theology1 wherewith all his natural philosophy is infected4' ,natural philosophy infected with 'opinion1'--no matter whose opinion it is1 or under what name it comes to us1 whatever else it is good for1 is not good for practice4 ,and this is the philosophy which includes both theory and practice4 ',that which in speculative philosophy corresponds to the cause1 in practical philosophy becomes the rule4' ,but that which distinguishes this from all others is1 that it is the philosophy of ',,hope'2 and that is the name for it in both its fields1 in speculation and practice4 ,the black intolerable wall1 which those who stopped us on the lower platform of this pyramid of true knowledge brought us up with so soon--that blank wall with which the inquiry for the physical causes in nature limits and insults our speculation--has no place here1 no place at all on this higher ground of science1 which the knowledge of true forms creates--this true ground of the understanding1 the understanding of nature1 and the universal reason of things4 ',he who is acquainted with forms1 comprehends the unity of nature in substances apparently most distinct from each other4' ,neither is that base and sordid limit1 with which the philosophy of physical causes shuts in the scientific arts and their power for human relief1 found here4 ,for this is the prima philosophia1 where the universal axioms1 the axioms that command all1 are found3 and the precepts of the universal practice are formed on them4 ',even the philosopher himself--openly speaking from this summit--will venture to intimate briefly to men of understanding' the comprehension of its base1 and the field of practice which it commands4 ',is not the ground1' he inquires1 modestly1 'is not the ground which ,machiavel wisely and largely discourseth concerning governments1 that the way to establish and preserve them is to reduce them ad principia1 a rule in religion and nature1 as well as in civil administration8' ,there is the 'administrative reform' that will not need reforming1 that waits for the science of forms and constructions4 ,but he proceeds3 ',was not the ,persian magic' and that is the term which he proposes to restore for 'the part operative' of this knowledge of forms1 'was not the ,persian magic a reduction or correspondence of the principles and architecture of nature to the rules and policy of governments8' ,there is no harm1 of course1 in that timid inquiry2 but the student of the ,zenda-vesta will be able to get1 perhaps1 some intimation of the designs that are lurking here1 and will understand the revived and reintegrated sense with which the term magic is employed to indicate the part operative of this new ground of science4 ',neither are these only similitudes1' he adds1 after extending these significant inquiries into other departments of practice1 and demonstrating that this is the universality from which all other professions are nourished3 ',neither are these only similitudes1 as men of narrow observation may conceive them to be1 but the same footsteps of nature1 treading or printing upon several subjects or matters4' ',it must1 however1 be observed1 that this method of operating' which considers nature as ,,simple1 though in a concrete body ',i the first of any1 by my universal being4' ,michael de ,montaigne4 'sets out from what is constant1 eternal1 and universal in nature2 and opens such broad paths to human power1 as the thought of man can in the present state of things scarcely comprehend or figure to itself1' ,yes1 it is the ,philosophy of ,hope4 ,the perfection of the human form1 the limit of the human want1 is the limit of its practice2 the limit of the human inquiry and demand is the limit of its speculation4 ,the control of effects which this higher knowledge of nature offers us--this knowledge of what she is beforehand--the practical certainty which this interior acquaintance with her1 this acquaintance that identifies her under all the variety of her manifestations1 is able to command--that comprehensive command of results which the knowledge of the true causes involves--the causes which are always present in all effects1 which are constant under all fluctuations1 the same under all the difference--the 'power' of this knowledge1 its power to relieve human suffering1 is that which the discoverer of it insists on most in propounding it to men2 but the mind in which that 'wonder'--that is1 'the seed of knowledge'--brought forth this plant1 was not one to overlook or make light of that want in the human soul1 which only knowledge can appease--that love which leads it to the truth1 not for the sake of a secondary good1 but because it is her life4 ',although there is a most intimate connection1 and almost an identity between the ways of human power and human knowledge1 yet on account of the pernicious and inveterate habit of dwelling upon abstractions1 it is by far the safest method to commence and build up sciences from those foundations which bear a relation to the practical division1 and to let them mark out and limit the theoretical4' ,something like that the ,poet must have been thinking of1 when he spoke of making 'the art and practic part of life1 the mistress to its theoric2'--'let that mark out and limit the theoretical4' ,that inveterate and pernicious habit1 which makes this course the safest one1 is one that he speaks of in the ,advancement of ,learning1 as that which has been of 'such ill desert towards learning1' as 'to reduce it to certain empty and barren generalities1 the mere husks and shells of sciences1' good for nothing at the very best1 unless they serve to guide us to the kernels that have been forced out of them1 by the torture and press of the method1--the mere outlines and skeletons of knowledges1 'that do but offer knowledge to scorn of practical men1 and are no more aiding to practice1' as the author of this universal skeleton confesses1 'than an ,ortelius's universal map is1 to direct the way between ,london and ,york4' ,the way to steer clear of those empty and barren generalities1 which do but offer learning to the scorn of the men of practice is1 he says1 to begin on the practical side1 and that is just what we are doing here now in this question of the consulship1--that so practical and immediately urgent question which was1 threatening then to drive out every other from the human consideration4 ,if learning had anything to offer on that subject1 which would not excite the scorn of practical men1 then certainly was the time to produce it4 ,we begin on the practical side here1 and as to theory1 we are rigidly limited to that which the question of the play requires1--the practical question marks it out1--we have just as much as is required for the solution of that1 and not so much as a 'jot' more4 ,but mark the expression3--'it is by far the safest method to commence and build up sciences'--the particular sciences1--the branches of science--from those foundations which bear a relation to the practical division4 ,we begin with a great practical question1 and though the treatise is in a form which seems to offer it for amusement1 rather than instruction1 it has at least this advantage1 that it does not offer it in the suspicious form of a theory1 or in the distasteful form of a learned treatise1--a tissue of barren and empty generalities4 ,the scorn of practical men is avoided1 if it were only by its want of pretension2 and the fact that it does not offer itself as a guide to practice1 but rather insinuates itself into that position4 ,we begin with the practical question1 with its most sharply practical details1 we begin with particulars1 but that which is to be noted is1 'the foundations' of the universal philosophy are under our feet to begin with4 ,at the first step we are on the platform of the prima philosophia2 the last conclusions of the inductive science1 the knowledge of the nature of things1 is the ground1--the solid continuity--that we proceed on4 ,that is the ground on which we build this practice4 ,that is the trunk from which this branch of sciences is continued3--that trunk of universality which we are forbidden henceforth to scorn1 because all the professions are nourished from it4 ,that universality which the men of practice scorn no more1 since they have tasted of its proofs1 since they have reached that single bough of it1 which stooped so low1 to bring its magic clusters within their reach4 ,fed with their own chosen delights1 with the proof of the divinity of science1 on their sensuous lips1 they cry1 ',thou hast kept the good wine until now4' ,clasping on the magic robes for which they have not toiled or spun1 sitting down by companies1--not of fifties1--not of hundreds1--not of thousands--sitting down by myriads1 to this great feast1 that the man of science spreads for them1 in whose eye1 the eye of a divine pity looked forth again1 and saw them faint and weary still1 and without a shepherd1--sitting down to this feast1 for which there is no sweat or blood on their brows1 revived1 rejoicing1 gazing on the bewildering basketfuls that are pouring in1 they cry1 answering after so long a time1 for their part ,pilate's question3 ,this1 so far as it goes at least1 this is truth4 ,and the rod of that enchantment was plucked here4 ,it is but a branch from this same trunk--this trunk of 'universality1' which the men of practice will scorn no more1 when once they reach the multitudinous boughs of this great tree of miracles1 where the nobler fruits1 the more chosen fruits of the new science1 are hidden still4 ,continued from that 'trunk1' heavy with its juices1 stoops now this branch2 its golden 'hangings' mellowed1--time mellowed1--ready to fall unshaken4 ,built on that 'foundation1' rises now this fair structure1 the doctrine of the state4 ,that knowledge of nature in general1 that interior knowledge of her1 that loving insight1 which is not baffled with her most foreign aspects2 but detects her1 and speaks her word1 as from within1 in all1 is that which meets us here1 that which meets us at the threshold4 ,our guide is veiled1 but his raiment is priestly4 ,it is great nature's stole that he wears2 he will alter our--,persian4 ,we are walking on the pavements of ,art2 but it is ,nature's temple still2 it is her 'pyramid1' and we are within1 and the light from the apex is kindling all2 and the dust 'that the rude wind blows in our face1' and 'the poor beetle that we tread on1' and the poor 'madman and beggar too1' are glorious in it1 and of our 'kin4' ,those universal forms which the book of science in the abstract has laid bare already1 are running through all2 the cord of them is visible in all the detail4 ,their foot-prints1 which have been tracked to the height where nature is one1 are seen for the first time cleared1 uncovered here1 in all the difference4 ,this many-voiced speech1 that sounds so deep from every point1 deep as from the heart of nature1 is not the ventriloquist's artifice1 is not a poor showman's trick4 ,it is great nature's voice--her own2 and the magician who has untied her spell1 who knows the cipher of 'the one in all' the priest who has unlocked her inmost shrine1 and plucked out the heart of her mystery--is 'the ,interpreter4' ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,the ,,cure--,,plan ,,of ,,innovation--,,new ,,definitions4 ',swear by thy double self ,and that's an oath of credit4' ',having thus far proceeded 444 ,is it not meet ,that ,i did amplify my judgment in ,other conclusions8' ,it is the trunk of the prima philosophia then which puts forth these new and wondrous boughs1 into all the fields of human speculation and practice1 filling all our outdoor1 penetrating all our indoor life1 with their beauty and fragrance2 overhanging every roof1 stooping to every door1 with their rich curtains and clusters of ornament and delight1 with their ripe underhanging clusters of axioms of practice--brought down to particulars1 ready for use--with their dispersed directions overhanging every path1--with their aphorisms made out of the pith and heart of sciences1 'representing a broken knowledge1 and1 therefore1 inviting the men of speculation to inquire farther4' ,it is from this trunk of a scientific universality1 of a useful1 practical1 always-at-hand1 all-inclusive1 historical universality1 to which the tracking of the principles1 operant in history1 to their simple forms and 'causes in nature1' conducts the scientific experimenter1--it is from this primal living trunk and heart of sciences1 to which the new method of learning conducts us1 that this great branch of scientific practice comes1 which this drama with its 'transitory shows' has brought safely down to us2--this two-fold branch of ethics and politics1 which come to us--conjoined--as ethics and politics came in other systems then not scientific1--making in their junction1 and through all their divergencies1 'the forbidden questions' of science4 ,the science of this essentially conjoined doctrine is that which makes1 in this case1 the novelty4 ',the nature which is formed in everything1' and not in man only1 and the faculty1 in man1 of comprehending that wider nature1 is that which makes the higher ground1 from which a science of his own specific nature1 and the explanation of its phenomenon1 is possible to man4 ,except from this height of a common nature1 there is no such thing as a scientific explanation of these phenomena possible4 ,and this explanation is what the specific nature in man1 with its speculative grasp of a larger whole--with its speculative grasp of a universal whole1--with its instinctive moral reach and comprehension corresponding to that1--constitutionally demands and 'anticipates4' ,and the knowledge of this nature which is formed in everything1 and not in man only1 is the beginning1 not of a speculative science of the human nature merely1--it is the beginning1--it is the indispensable foundation of the arts in which a successful artistic advancement of that nature1 or an artistic cure or culture of it is propounded4 ,the fact that the 'human nature' is1 indeed1 what it is called1 a 'nature1' the fact that the human species is a species1--the fact that the human kind is but a kind1 neighboured with many others from which it is isolated by its native walls of ignorance1--neighboured with many others1 more or less known1 known and unknown1 more or less kind-ly1 more or less hostile1--species1 kinds1 whose dialects of the universal laws1 man has not found1--the fact that the universal1 historic principles are operant in all the specific modifications of human nature1 and control and determine them1 the fact that the human life admits of a scientific analysis1 and that its phenomena require to be traced to their true forms1--this is the fact which is the key to the new philosophy1--the key which unlocks it1--the key to the part speculative1 and the part operative of it4 ,and this is the secret of the difference between this philosophy and all other systems and theories of man's life on earth that had been before it1 or that have come after it4 ,for this new and so solid height of natural philosophy1--solid1--historical1--from its base in the divergency of natural history1 to its utmost peak of unity1--this scientific height of a common nature1 whose summit is 'prima philosophia1' with its new universal terms and axioms1--this height from which man1 as a species1 is also overlooked1 and his spontaneous notions and theories criticised1 subjected to that same criticism with which history itself is always flying in the face of them1--from which the specific bias in them is everywhere detected1--this new 'pyramid' of knowledge is the one on whose rock-hewn terraces the conflict of views1 the clash of man's opinions shall not sound3 this is the system which has had1 and shall have1 no rival4 ,and this is the key to this philosophy1 not where it touches human nature only1 but everywhere where it substitutes for abstract human notions--specific human notions that are powerless in the arts1 or narrow observations that are restrained and uncertain in the rules of practice they produce1--powers1 true forms1 original agencies in nature1 universal powers1 sure as nature herself1 and her universal form4 ,to abase the specific human arrogance1 to overthrow 'the idols of the tribe1' is the ultimate condition of this learning4 ,man as man1 is not a primal1 if he be an ultimate1 fact in nature4 ,nature is elder and greater than he1 and requires him to learn of her1 and makes little of his mere conceits and dogmas4 ,from the height of that new simplicity which this philosophy has gained--not as the elder philosophies had gained theirs1 by pure contemplation1 by hasty abstraction and retreat to the priori sources of knowledge and belief in man1--which it has gained1 too1 by a wider induction than the facts of the human nature can supply--with the torch of these universal principles cleared of their historic complexities1 with the torch of the nature that is formed in everything1 it enters here this great1 unenclosed field of human life and practice1 this ,spenserian wilderness1 where those old1 gnarled trunks1 and tangled boughs1 and wretched undergrowths of centuries1 stop the way1 where those old monsters1 which the action of this play exposes1 which this philosophy is bound to drag out to the day1 are hid4 ,the radical universal fact--the radical universal distinction of the double nature of ,,good which is formed in everything1 and not in man only1 and the two universal motions which correspond to that1 the one1 as everything1 is a total or substantive in itself1 with its corresponding motion2 for this is the principle of selfishness and war in nature--the principle which struggles everywhere towards decay and the dissolution of the larger wholes1 and not in man only1 though the foolish1 unscientific man1 who does not know how to track the phenomena of his own nature to their causes1--who has no bridge from the natural internal phenomena of his own consciousness into the continent of nature1 may think that it is1 and reason of it as if it were2--this double nature of good1 'the one1 as a thing1 is a total or substantive in itself1 the other as it is1 a part or member of a greater body1 whereof the latter is in degree the greater and the worthier1 as it tends to the conservation of a more general form'--this distinction1 which the philosopher of this school has laid down in his work on the scientific advancement of the human species1 with a recommendation that it should be strongly planted1 which he has planted there1 openly1 as the root of a new science of ethics and policy1 will be found at the heart of all this new history of the human nature2 but in this play of the true nobility1 and the scientific cure of the commonweal1 it is tracked openly to its most immediate1 obvious1 practical application4 ,in all these great 'illustrated' scientific works1 which this new school of learning1 with the genius of science for its master1 contrived to issue1 all the universally actual and active principles are tracked to their proper specific modifications in man1 and not to their development in his actual history merely2 and the distinctive essential law of the human kind--the law whereby man is man1 as distinguished from the baser kinds1 is brought up1 and worked out1 and unfolded in all its detail1 from the bosom of the universal law--is brought down from its barren height of isolation1 and planted in the universal rule of being1 in the universal law of kinds and essence4 ,this double nature of good1 as it is specifically developed in man1 not as humanity only1 for man is not limited to his kind in his intelligence1 or in his will1 or in his affections1--this double nature of good1 as it is developed in man1 with his contemplative1 and moral1 and religious grasp of a larger whole than his particular and private nature can comprehend--with his large discourse looking before and after1 on the one hand1 and his blind instincts1 and his narrow isolating senses on the other--with that distinctive human nature on the one hand1 whereby he does1 in some sort1 comprehend the world1 and not intellectually only--that nature whereby 'the world is set in his heart1' and not in his mind only--that nature which by the law of advancement to the perfection of his form1 he struggles to ascend to--that1 on the one hand1 and that whereby he is kindred with the lower natures on the other1 swayed by a gosling's instinct1 held down to the level of the pettiest1 basest kinds1 forbidden to ascend to his own distinctive excellence1 allied with species who have no such intelligent outgoing from particulars1 who cannot grasp the common1 whose sphere nature herself has narrowed and walled in1--these two universal natures of good1 and all the passion and affection which lie on that tempestuous border line where they blend in the human1 and fill the earth with the tragedy of their confusion1--this two-fold nature1 and its tragic blending1 and its true specific human development1 whereby man is man1 and not degenerate1 lies discriminated in all these plays1 tracked through all their wealth of observation1 through all their characterization1 through all their mirth1 through all their tempests of passion1 with a line so firm1 that only the instrument of the ,new ,science could have graven it4 ,of all the sciences1 ,policy is the most immersed in matter1 and the hardliest reduced to axiom'2 but setting out from that which is constant and universal in nature1 this philosopher is not afraid to undertake it2 and1 indeed1 that is what he is bent on2 for unless those universal1 historical principles1 which he has taken so much pains to exhibit to us clearly in their abstract form1 'terminate in matter and construction according to the true definitions1 they are speculative and of little use4' ,the termination of them in matter1 and the new construction according to true definitions1 is the business here4 ,this1 which is the hardliest reduced to axiom of any1 is that which lies collected on the ,inductive ,tables here1 cleared of all that interferes with the result2 and the axiom of practice1 which is the 'second vintage' of the ,new ,machine1 is expressed before our eyes4 ',for that which in speculative philosophy corresponds to the cause1 in practical philosophy becomes the rule4' ,he starts here1 with this grand advantage which no other political philosopher or reformer had ever had before2 he has the true definition in his hands to begin with2 not the specific and futile notions with which the human mind1 shut up within itself1 seeks to comprehend and predict and order all1 but the solid actual universals that the mind of man1 by the combination and scientific balance of its faculties1 is able to ascend to4 ,he has in his hands1 to begin with1 the causes that are universal and constant in nature1 with which all the historical phenomena are convertible1--the motives from which all movement proceeds1 the true original simple powers1--the unknown1 into which all the variety of the known is resolvable1 or rather the known into which all the variety of the unknown is resolvable2 the forms 'which are always present when the particular nature is present1 and universally attest that presence2 which are always absent when the particular nature is absent1 and universally attest that absence2 which always increase as the particular nature increases2 which always decrease as the particular nature decreases2' that is the kind of definitions which this philosopher will undertake his moral reform with2 that is the kind of idea which the ,english philosopher lays down for the basis of his politics4 ,nothing less solid than that will suit the turn of his genius1 either in speculation or practice4 ,he does full justice to the discoveries of the old ,greek philosophers1 whose speculation had controlled1 not the speculation only1 but all the practical doctrine of the world1 from their time to his4 ,he saw from what height of genius they achieved their command2 but that was two thousand years before1 and that was in the south east corner of ,europe2 and when the ,modern ,europe began to think for itself1 it was found that the ,greeks could not give the law any longer4 ,it was found that the ,english notions at least1 and the ,greek notions of things in general differed very materially--essentially--when they came to be put on paper4 ,when the 'representative men' of those two corners of ,europe1 and of those two so widely separated ages of the human advancement1 came to discourse together from their 'cliffs' and compare notes1 across that sea of lesser minds1 the most remarkable differences1 indeed1 began to be perceptible at once1 though the world has not yet begun to appreciate them4 ,it was a difference that was expected to tell on the common mind1 for a time1 principally in its 'effects4' ,everybody1 the learned and the unlearned1 understands now1 that after the modern survey was taken1 new practical directions were issued at once4 ,orders came down for an immediate suspension of those former rules of philosophy1 and the ship was laid on a new course4 ',plato1' says the new philosopher1 'as one that had a wit of elevation situate upon a cliff1 did descry that forms are the true object of knowledge1' that was his discovery1--'but lost the fruit of that opinion by'--shutting himself up1 in short1 in his own abstract contemplations1 in his little world of man1 and getting out his theory of the universe1 before hand1 from these2 instead of applying himself practically and modestly to the observation of that universe1 in which man's part is so humble4 ',vain man1' says our oldest ,poet1 'vain man would be wise1 who is born like a wild ass's colt4' ,but let us take a specimen of the manner in which the propounder of the ,new ,ideal ,philosophy 'comes to particulars1' with this quite new kind of ,,ideas1 and we shall find that they were designed to take in some of those things in heaven and earth that were omitted1 or not dreampt of in the others1--which were not included in the 'idols4' ,he tells us plainly that these are the ideas with which he is going to unravel the most delicate questions2 but he is willing to entertain his immediate audience1 and propitiate the world generally1 by trying them1 or rather giving orders to have them tried1 on other things first4 ,he does not pride himself very much on anything which he has done1 or is able to do in these departments of inquiry from which his instances are here taken1 and he says1 in this connection3--',we do not1 however1 deny that other instances can perhaps be added4' ,in order to arrive at his doctrine of practice in general1 he begins after the scientific method1 not with the study of any one kind of actions only1 he begins by collecting the rules of action in general4 ,by observation of species he seeks to ascend to the principles common to them4 ,and he comes to us with a carefully prepared scheme of the 'elementary motions1'--outlined1 and enriched with such observations as he and his school have been able to make under the disadvantages of that beginning4 ',the motions of bodies1' he observes1 'are compounded1 decomposed and combined1 no less than the bodies themselves1' and he directs the attention of the student1 who has his eye on practice1 with great emphasis1 to those instances which he calls 'instances of predominance1'--'instances which point out the predominance and submission of powers1 compared' not in abstract contemplation but in action1 'compared with each other1 and which1' not in books but in action1--'which is the more energetic and superior1 or more weak and inferior4' ',these elementary notions direct and are directed by each other1 according to their strength1--quantity1 excitement1 concussion1 or the assistance1 or impediments they meet with4 ,for instance1 some magnets support iron sixty times their own weight2 so far does the motion of lesser congregation predominate over the greater1 but if the weight be increased it yields4' ,we must observe1 that he is speaking here of 'the motions1 tendencies1 and active powers which are most universal in nature1' for the purpose of suggesting rules of practice which apply as widely2 though he keeps1 with the intimation above quoted1 principally to this class of instances4 ',a lever of a certain strength will raise a given weight1 and so far the notion of liberty predominates over that of the greater congregation2 but if the weight be greater1 the former motion yields4 ,a piece of leather1 stretched to a certain point1 does not break1 and so far the motion of continuity predominates' for it is the question of predominance1 and dominance1 and domineering1 and lordships1 and liberties1 of one kind and another1 that he is handling--'so far the motion of continuity predominates over that of tension2 but if the tension be greater1 the leather breaks1 and the motion of continuity yields4 ,a certain quantity of water flows through a chink1 and so far the motion of greater congregation predominates over that of continuity2 but if the chink be smaller1 it yields4 ,if a musket be charged with ball and powdered sulphur only1 and the fire be applied1 the ball is not discharged1 in which case the motion of greater congregation overcomes that of matter2 but when gunpowder is used1 the motion of matter in the sulphur predominates1 being assisted by that motion1 and the motion of avoidance in the nitre2 and so of the rest4' ,our more recent chemists would1 of course1 be inclined to criticise that explanation2 but1 in some respects1 it is better than theirs2 and it answers well enough the purpose for which it was introduced there1 and for which it is introduced here also4 ,for this is the initiative of the great inquiry into 'the ,,wrestling ,,instances1' and the 'instances of ,,predominance' in general1 'such as point out the predominance of powers1 compared with each other1 and which of them is the more energetic and ,,superior1 or more weak and ,,inferior'2 and though this class of instances is valued chiefly for its illustration of another in this system of learning1 where things are valued in proportion to their usefulness1 they are not sought for as similitudes merely2 they are produced by one who regards them as 'the same footsteps of nature1 treading in different substances1' and leaving the foot-print of universal axioms2 and this is a class of instances which he particularly recommends to inquiry4 ',for wrestling instances1 which show the predominance of powers1 and in what manner and proportion they predominate and yield1 must be searched for with active and industrious diligence4' ',the method and nature of this yielding' of this yielding--,,subjection is the question 'must also be diligently examined2 as1 for instance1 whether the motions' 'of liberty' 'completely cease1 or exert themselves1 but are constrained2 for in all bodies with which we are acquainted1 there is no real1 but an apparent rest1 either in the whole1 or in the parts4 ,this apparent rest is occasioned either by equilibrium' as in the case of ,hamlet1 as well as in that of some others whose acts were suspended1 and whose wills were arrested then1 by considerations not less comprehensive than his--'either by equilibrium1 or by the absolute predominance of motions4 ,by equilibrium1 as in the scales of the balance1 which rest if the weight be equal4 ,by predominance1 as in perforated jars1 in which the water rests1 and is prevented from falling by the predominance of the motion of ,,connection4' ',it is1 however1 to be observed 7as we have said before71 how far the yielding motions exert themselves4 ,for1 if a man be held stretched out on the ground against his ,,will1 with arms and legs bound down1 or otherwise confined'--as the ,duke of ,kent's were1 for instance--'and yet strive with all his power to get up1 the struggle is not the less1 though ineffectual4 ,the real state of the case' namely1 whether the yielding motion be1 as it were1 annihilated by the predominance1 or there be rather a continued1 though an invisible effort 'will perhaps appear in the ,,concurrence of ,,motions1 although it escape our notice in their conflict4' ,so delicately must philosophy needs be conveyed in a certain stage of a certain class of wrestling instances1 where a combination of powers hostile to science produces an 'absolute predominance' of powers1 and it is necessary that the yielding motion should at least appear to be 'as it were1 annihilated'2 though1 of course1 that need not hinder the invisible effort at all4 ',for on account of the rawness and unskilfulness of the hands through which they pass1' there is no difficulty in inserting such intimations as to the latitude of the axioms which these particular instances adduced here1 and 'others which might perhaps be added1' are expected to yield4 ,this is an instance of the freedom with which philosophical views on certain subjects are continually addressed in these times1 to that immediate audience of the few 'who will perhaps see farther into them than the common reader1' and to those who shall hereafter apply to the philosophy issued under such conditions--the conditions above described1 that key of ',times1' which the author of it has taken pains to leave for that purpose4 ,but the question of 'predominance1 which makes our present subject1' is not yet sufficiently indicated4 ,there are more and less powerful motives concerned in this wrestling instance1 as he goes on to demonstrate4 ',,the ,,rules of such instances of predominance as occur should be collected1 such as the following'--and the rule which he gives1 by way of a specimen of these rules1 is a very important one for a statesman to have1 and it is one which the philosopher has himself 'collected' from such instances as occurred--',the more general the desired advantage is1 the stronger will be the motive4 ,the motion of connection1 for instance1 which relates to the intercourse of the parts of the universe1 is more powerful than that of gravity1 which relates to the intercourse of dense bodies4 ,again2 the desire of a private good does not1 in general1 prevail against that of a public one1 except where the quantities are small' it is the general law he is propounding here2 and the exception1 the anomaly1 is that which he has to note2 'would that such were the case in civil matters4' ,but that application to 'civil matters1' which the statesman1 propounding in his own person this newly-collected knowledge of the actual historic forces1 as a new and immeasurable source of relief to the human estate1--that application1 which he could only make here in these side-long glances1 is made in the ,play without any difficulty at all4 ,these instances1 which he produces here in his professed work of science1 are produced as illustrations of the kind of inquiry which he is going to bring to bear1 with all the force and subtlety of his genius1 on the powers of nature1 as manifested in the individual human nature1 and in those unions and aggregations to which it tends--those larger wholes and greater congregations1 which parliaments1 and pulpits1 and play-houses1 and books1 were forbidden then1 on pain of death and torture and ignominy1 to meddle with4 ,here1 he tells us1 he finds it to the purpose to select 'suggestive instances1 such as point out that which is advantageous to mankind'2 'and it is a part of science to make judicious inquiries and wishes4' ,these instances1 which he produces here1 are searching2 but they are none too searching for his purpose4 ,they do not come any nearer to nature than those others which he is prepared to add to them4 ,the treatment is not any more radical and subtle here than it is in those instances in which 'he comes to particulars1' under the pretence of play and pastime1 in other departments1--those in which the judicious inquiry into the laws of the actual forces promises to yield rules 'the most generally useful to mankind4' ,this is the philosophy precisely which underlies all this ,play1--this ,play1 in which the great question1 not yet ready for the handling of the unlearned1 but ripe already for scientific treatment1--the question of the wrestling forces1--the question of the subjection and predominance of powers1--the question of the combination and opposition of forces in those arrested motions which make states1 is so boldly handled4 ,those arrested motions1 where the rest is only apparent1 not real--where the 'yielding' forces are only1 as it were1 annihilated1 whether by equilibrium of forces1 or an absolute predominance1 but biding their time1 ready to burst their bonds and renew their wrestling1 ready to show themselves1 not as 'subjects1' but predominators--not as states1 but revolutions4 ,the science 'that ends in matter and new constructions'--new construction1 'according to true definitions1' is what these citizens1 whom this ,poet has called up from their horizontal position by way of anticipation1 are already1 under his instructions1 boldly clamouring for4 ,constructions in which these very rules and axioms1 these scientific certainties1 are taken into the account1 are what these men1 whom this ,magician has set upon their feet here1 whose lips he has opened and whose arms he has unbound with the magic of his art1 are going to have before they lie down again1 or1 at least1 before they make a comfortable state for any one to trample on1 though they may1 perhaps1 for a time seem1 'as it were1 annihilated4' ,these true forms1 these real definitions1 this new kind of ideas1 these new motions1 new in philosophy1 new in human speech1 old in natures1--written in her book ere man was1--these universal1 elementary1 original motions1 which he is exhibiting here in the philosophic treatise1 under cover of a certain class of instances1 are the very ones which he is tracking here in the ,play1 into all the business of the state4 ,this is that same new thread which we saw there in the grave philosophic warp1 with here and there a little space filled in1 not with the most brilliant filling2 enough1 however1 to show that it was meant to be filled1 and1 to the careful eye1--how4 ,but here it is the more chosen substance2 and every point of this illustrious web is made of its involutions1--is a point of 'illustration4' ,yes1 here he is again4 ,here he is at last1 in that promised field of his labours1--that field of 'noblest subjects1' for the culture of which he will have all nature put under contribution2 here he is at large1 'making what work he pleases4' ,he who is content to talk from his chair of professional learning of 'pieces of leather1' and their unions1 and bid his pupil note and 'consider well' that mysterious1 unknown1 unexplored power in nature1 which holds their particles together1 in its wrestling with its opposite2 and where it ceases1 or seems to cease2 where that obstinate freedom and predominance is vanquished1 and by what rules and means2 he who finds in 'water1' arrested 'in perforated jars1' or 'flowing through a chink1' or resisting gravity1 if the chink be smaller1 or in the balanced 'scales1' with their apparent rest1 the wrestling forces of all nature1--the weaker enslaved1 but there1--not annihilated2 he who saw in the little magnet1 beckoning and holding those dense palpable masses1 or in the lever1 assisted by human hands1 vanquishing its mighty opposite1 things that old philosophies had not dreamt of1--reports of mysteries1--revelations for those who have the key1--words from that book of creative power1 words from that living ,word1 which he must study who would have his vision of ,god fulfilled1 who would make of his 'good news' something more than a ,poet's prophecy4 ,he who found in the peaceful nitre1 in the harmless sulphur1 in the saltpetre1 'villanous' not yet1 in the impotence of fire and sulphur1 combining in vain against the motion of the resisting ball1--not less real to his eye1 because not apparent1--or in the villanous compound itself1 while yet the spark is wanting1--'rules' for other 'wrestling instances1' for other combinations1 where the motion of inertia was also to be overcome2 requiring organized movements1 analyses1 and combinations of forces1 not less but more scientifically artistic1--rules for the enlargement of forces1 waiting but their spark1 then1 to demonstrate1 with more fearful explosions1 their expansibility1 threatening 'to lay all flat4' ,for here1 too1 the mystic1 unknown1 occult powers1 the unreported actualities1 are working still1 in obedience to their orders1 which they had not from man1 and taking no note of his4 ',for man1 as the interpreter of nature1 does1 and understands as much as his observations ,,on ,,the ,,order ,,of ,,things1 or ,,the ,,mind1 permits him1 and neither knows nor is capable of more4' ',man1 while operating1 can only apply or withdraw natural bodies4 ,,nature ,,internally ,,performs ,,the ,,rest'2 and 'the syllogism forces assent1 but not things4' ,great things this ,interpreter promises to man from these observations and interpretations1 which he and his company are ordering2 great things he promises from the application of this new method of learning to this department of man's want2 because those vague popular notions--those spontaneous but deep-rooted beliefs in man--those confused1 perplexed terms1 with which he seeks to articulate them1 and not those acts which make up his life only--are out of nature1 and all resolvable into higher terms1 and require to be returned into these before man can work with them to purpose4 ,great news for man he brings2 the powers which are working in the human life1 and not those which are working without it only1 are working in obedience to laws4 ,great things he promises1 because the facts of human life are determined by forces which admit of scientific definition1 and are capable of being reduced to axioms4 ,great things he promises1 for these distinctive phenomena of human life1 to their most artificial complication1 are all out of the universal nature1 and struggling already of themselves instinctively towards the scientific solution1 already 'anticipating' science1 and invoking her1 and waiting and watching for her coming4 ,good news the scientific reporter1 in his turn1 brings in also2 good news for the state1 good news for man2 confirmations of reports indited beforehand2 confirmations1 from the universal scriptures1 of the revelation of the divine in the human4 ,good news1 because that law of the greater whole1 which is the worthier--that law of the common-weal1 which is the human law--that law which in man is reason and conscience1 is in the nature of things1 and not in man only--nay1 not in man as yet1 but prefigured only--his ideal2 his true form--not in man1 who ',,is' not1 but 'becoming4' ,but in tracking these universal laws of being1 this constitution of things in general into the human constitution--in tracing these universal definitions into the specific terms of human life--the clearing up of the spontaneous notions and beliefs which the mind of man shut up to itself yields--the criticism on the terms which pre-occupy this ground is of course inevitable1 whether expressed or not1 and is indeed no unimportant part of the result4 ,for this is a philosophy in which even 'the most vulgar and casual opinions are something more than nothing in nature4' ,this ,play of the ,common-weal and its scientific cure1 in which the question of the true ,,nobility is so deeply inwrought throughout1 is indeed but the filling up of that sketch of the constitution of man which we find on another page--that constitution whereby man1 as man1 is part and member of a common-weal--that constitution whereby his relation to the common-weal is essential to the perfection of his individual nature1 and that highest good of it which is conservation with advancement--that constitution whereby the highest good of the particular and private nature1 that which bids defiance to the blows of fortune1 comprehends necessarily the good of the whole in its intention4 7',for neither can a man understand ,,virtue without relation to society1 nor ,,duty without an inward disposition4'7 ,and that is the reason that the question of 'the government of every man over himself1' and the predominance of powers1 and the wrestling of them in 'the little state of man'--the question as to which is 'nobler'--comes to be connected with the question of civil government so closely4 ,that is the reason that this doctrine of virtue and state comes to us conjoined2 that is the reason that we find this question of the consulship1 and the question of heroism and personal greatness1 the question of the true nobility1 forming so prominent a feature in the ,play of the ,common-weal1 inwoven throughout with the question of its cure4 ',constructions according to true definitions' make the end here4 ,the definition is1 of course1 the necessary preliminary to such constructions3 it does not in itself suffice4 ,mere science does not avail here4 ,scientific ,,arts1 scientific ,,institutions of regimen and culture and cure1 make the essential conditions of success in this enterprise4 ,but we want the light of 'the true definitions' to begin with4 ,there is no use in revolutions till we have it2 and as for empirical institutions1 mankind has seen the best of them2--we are perishing in their decay1 dying piecemeal1 going off into a race of ostriches1 or something of that nature--or threatened with becoming mere petrifactions1 mineral specimens of what we have been1 preserved1 perhaps1 to adorn the museums of some future species1 gifted with better faculties for maintaining itself4 ,it is time for a change of some sort1 for the worse or the better1 when we get habitually1 and by a social rule1 water for milk1 brickdust for chocolate1 silex for butter1 and minerals of one kind and another for bread2 when our drugs give the lie to science2 when mustard refuses to 'counter-irritate1' and sugar has ceased to be sweet1 and pepper1 to say nothing of 'ginger' is no longer 'hot in the mouth4' ,the question in speculative philosophy at present is-- ',why all these things change from their ordinance1 ,their natures1 and pre-formed faculties1 ,to monstrous quality4' --',there's something in this more than natural1 --if philosophy could find it out6 ,and what we want in practical philosophy when it comes to this1 is a new kind of enchantments1 with capacities large enough to swallow up these1 as the rod of ,moses swallowed up the rods of the ,egyptians4 ,that was a good test of authority2 and nothing short of that will answer our present purpose2 when not that which makes life desirable only1 but life itself is assailed1 and in so comprehensive a manner1 the revolutionary point of sufferance and stolidity is reached4 ,we cannot stay to reason it thus and thus with 'the garotte' about our throats3 the scientific enchantments will have to be tried now1 tried here also4 ,now that we have 'found out' oxygen and hydrogen1 and do not expect to alter their ways of proceeding by any epithets that we may apply to them1 or any kind of hocus-pocus that we may practise on them1 it is time to see what gen1 or genus it is1 that proceeds in these departments in so successful a manner1 and with so little regard to our exorcisms2 and the mere calling of names1 which indicate in a general way the unquestionable fact of a degeneracy1 is of no use1 for that has been thoroughly tried already4 ,the experiment in the 'common logic1' as ,lord ,bacon calls it1 has been a very long and patient one2 the historical result is1 that it forces assent1 and not things4 ,the question here is not of divinity1 as some might suppose4 ,there is no question about that4 ,nobody need be troubled about that4 ,it does not depend on this1 or that man's arguments1 happily4 ,the true divinity1 the true inspiration1 is of that which was and shall be4 ,its foundations are laid1--its perennial source is found1 not in the soul of man1 not in the constitution of the mind of man only1 but in the nature of things1 and in the universal laws of being4 ,the true divinity strikes its foundations to the universal granite2 it is built on 'that rock where philosophy and divinity join close2' and heaven and earth may pass1 but not that4 ,the question here is of logic4 ,the question is between ,lord ,bacon and ,aristotle1 and which of these two thrones and dominions in speculation and practice the moderns are disposed on the whole to give their suffrages to1 in this most vital department of human practice1 in this most vital common human concern and interest4 ,the question is of these demoniacal agencies that are at large now upon this planet--on both sides of it--going about with 'tickets of leave1' of one kind and another2 for the logic that we employ in this department still1 though it has been driven1 with hooting1 out of every other1 and the rude systems of metaphysics which it sustains1 do not take hold of these things4 ,they pay no attention to our present method of reasoning about them4 ,there is no objection to syllogisms1 as ,lord ,bacon concedes2--they are very useful in their proper place4 ,the difficulty is1 that the subtlety of nature in general1 as exhibited in that result which we call fact1 far surpasses the subtlety of nature1 when developed within that limited sphere1 which the mind of man makes2 and nature is much more than a match for him1 when he throws himself upon his own internal gifts of ratiocination1 and undertakes to dictate to the universe4 ,the difficulty is just this2--here we have it in a nut-shell1 as we are apt to get it in ,lord ,bacon's aphorisms4 ',the syllogism consists of propositions2 these of words4 ,words are the signs of notions3 notions represent things3' ,if these last then--'if our notions are fantastical1 the whole structure falls to the ground4 ,but they are they are1 for the most part1 improperly abstracted1 and deduced from things1' and that is the difficulty which this new method of learning1 propounded in connection with this so radical criticism of the old one1 undertakes to remedy4 ,for there are just two methods of learning1 as he goes on to tell us1 with increasing1 but cautious1 amplifications4 ,the false method lays down from the very outset some abstract and useless generalities1--the other1 gradually rises to those principles which are really the most common in nature4 ',axioms determined on in argument1 can never assist in the discovery of new effects1 for the subtlety of nature is vastly superior to that of argument4 ,but axioms properly and regularly abstracted from particulars1 easily point out and define ,,new ,,particulars1 and impart activity to the sciences4' ',we are wont to call that human reasoning which we apply to nature1 ,,the ,,anticipation ,,of ,,nature 7as being rash and premature71 and that which is properly deduced from ,,things1 ,,the ,,interpretation ,,of ,,nature4'--7,a radical distinction1 which it is the first business of the new machine of the mind to establish74 ',anticipations are sufficiently powerful in producing unanimity2 for if men were all to become even uniformly mad1 they might agree tolerably well with each other1' 7but not with nature2 there's the trouble2 that is the assent that is wanting74 ',in sciences founded upon opinions and dogmas1 it is right to make use of anticipations and logic1 if you wish to force assent1 and not things4' ,the difference1 then1 between the first hasty conceptions and rude theories of the nature of things1--the difference between the preconceptions which make the first steps of the human mind towards the attainment of truth1 and those conceptions and axioms which are properly abstracted from things1 and which correspond to their natures1 is the difference in which science begins4 ,and we shall find that the truths of science in this department of it1 which makes our present subject are quite as new1 quite as far out of the road of common opinion1 and quite as unattainable by the old method of learning1 as those truths with which science has already overpowered the popular notions and theories in those departments in which its powers have been already tested4 ,these rude natural products of the human understanding1 while it is yet undisciplined by the knowledge of nature in general1 which in their broadest range proceed from the human speciality1 and are therefore liable to an exterior criticism2 these first words and natural beliefs of men1 through all their range1 from the a priori conceptions of the schools1 down to the most narrow and vulgar preconceptions and prejudices of the unlearned1 the author of the ',novum ,organum1' and of the ',advancement of ,learning1' by a bold and dexterous sweep1 puts quietly into one category1 under the seemingly fanciful1--but1 considering the time1 none too fanciful1--designation of 'the ,idols'2--7he knew1 indeed1 that the original of the term would suggest to the scholar a more literal reading71--'the ,idols of the ,tribe1 of the ,den1 of the ,market1 and of the ,theatre1' as he sees reason--scientific1 as well as rhetorical reason1--for dividing and distinguishing them4 ,but under that common designation of images1 and false ones too1 he subjects them to a common criticism1 in behalf of that mighty hitherto unknown1 unsought1 universality1 which is all particulars--which is more universal than the notions of men1 and transcends the grasp of their beliefs and pre-judgments2--that universal fact which men are brought in contact with1 in all their doing1 and in all their suffering1 whether pleasurable or painful4 ,that universal1 actual fact1 whose science philosophy has hitherto set aside1 in favour of its own pre-notions1 as a thing not worth taking into the account1--that mystic1 occult1 unfathomed fact1 that is able to assert itself in the face of our most authoritative pre-notions1 whose science1 under the vulgar name of experience1 all the learning of the world had till then made over with a scorn ineffable to the cultivation of the unlearned4 ,under that despised name which the old philosophy had omitted in its chart1 the new perceived that the ground lay1 and made all sail thither4 ,we cannot expect to find then any of those old terms and definitions included in the trunk of the new system1 which is science4 ,none of those airy fruits that grow on the branches which those old roots of a false metaphysics must needs nurture1--none of those apples of ,sodom which these have mocked us with so long1 shall the true seeker find on these boughs4 ,the man of science does not1 indeed1 care to displace those terms in the popular dialect here1 any more than the chemist or the botanist will insist on reforming the ordinary speech of men with their truer language in the fields they occupy4 ,the new ,logician and ,metaphysician will himself1 indeed1 make use of these same terms1 with a hint to 'men of understanding1' perhaps1 as to the sense in which he uses them4 ,incorporated into a system of learning on which much human labour has been bestowed1 they may even serve some good practical purposes under certain conditions of social advancement4 ,and besides1 they are useful for adorning discourse1 and furnish abundance of rhetorical material4 ,above all1 they are invaluable to the scholastic controversialists1 and the new philosopher will not undertake to displace them in these fields4 ,he steadfastly refuses to come into any collision with them4 ,he leaves them to take their way without4 ,he makes them over to the vulgar1 and to those old-fashioned schools of logic and metaphysics1 whose endless web is spun out of them4 ,but when the question is of practice1 that is another thing4 ,it is the scientific word that is wanting here4 ,that is the word which in his school he will undertake to teach4 ,when it comes to practice1 professional practice1 like the botanist and the chemist1 he will make his own terms4 ,he has a machine expressly for that purpose1 by which new terms are framed and turned out in exact accordance with the nature of things4 ,he does not wish to quarrel with any one1 but in the way of his profession1 he will have none of those old confused terms thrust upon him4 ,he will examine them1 and analyze them2 and all1--all that is in them1--all1 and more1 will be in his2 but scientifically cleared1 'divided with the mind1 that divine fire1' and clothed with power4 ,and it is just as impossible that those changes for the human relief which the propounder of the ,new ,logic propounded as its chief end1 should ever be effected by means of the popular terms which our metaphysicians are still allowed to retain in the highest fields of professional practice1 as it would have been to effect those lesser reforms which this logic has already achieved1 if those old elementary terms1 earth1 fire1 air1 water1--terms which antiquity thought fine enough2 which passed the muster of the ancient schools without suspicion1 had never to this hour been analyzed4 ,it is just as easy to suppose that we could have had our magnetic telegraphs1 and daguerreotypes1 and our new ,materia ,medica1 and all the new inventions of modern science for man's relief1 if the terms which were simple terms in the vocabulary of ,aristotle and ,pliny1 had never been tested with the edge of the ,new ,machine1 and divided with its divine fire1 if they had not ceased to be in the schools at least elementary2 it is just as easy to suppose this1 as it is to suppose that the true and nobler ends of science can ever be attained1 so long as the powers that are actual in our human life1 which are still at large in all their blind instinctive demoniacal strength there1 which still go abroad free-footed1 unfettered of science there1 while we chain the lightning1 and send it on our errands1--so long as these still slip through the ring of our airy 'words1' still riot in the freedom of our large generalizations1 our sublime abstractions1-- so long as a mere human word-ology is suffered to remain here1 clogging all with its deadly impotence1--keeping out the true generalizations with their grappling-hooks on the particulars1 --the creative word of art which man learns from the creating wisdom1 --the word to which rude nature bows anew1--the word which is ,power4 ,but while the world is resounding with those new relations to the powers of nature which the science of nature has established in other fields1 in that department of it1 which its ,founder tells us is 'the end and term of ,natural ,science in the intention of man1' in that department of it to which his labor was directed2 we are still given over to the inventions of ,aristotle1 applied to those rude conceptions and theories of the nature of things which the unscientific ages have left to us4 ,here we have still the loose generalization1 the untested affirmation1 the arrogant pre-conception1 the dogmatic assumption4 ,here we have the mere phenomena of the human speciality put forward as science1 without any attempt to find their genera1--to trace them to that which is more known to nature1 so as to connect them practically with the diversity and opposition1 which the actual conditions of practice present4 ,we have not1 in short1 the scientific language here yet4 ,the vices and the virtues do not understand the names by which we call them1 and undertake to command them4 ,those are not the names in that 'infinite book of secrecy' which they were taught in4 ,they find a more potent order there4 ,and thus it is1 that the demons of human life go abroad here still1 impervious alike to our banning and our blessing4 ,the powers of nature which are included in the human nature1--the powers which in this specific form of them we are undertaking to manage with these vulgar generalizations1 tacked together with the ,aristotelian logic--these powers are no more amenable to any such treatment in this form1 than they are in those other forms1 in which we are learning to approach them with another vocabulary4 ,the forces which are developed in the human life will not answer to the names by which we call them here1 any more than the lightning would answer to the old ,magician's incantation1--any more than it would have come if the old ,logician had called it by his name1--which was just as good as the name--and no better1 than the name1 which the priest of ,baal gave it1--any more than it would have come1 if the old ,logician had undertaken to fetch it1 with the harness of his syllogism4 ,but when the new ,logician1 who was the new ,magician1 came1 with 'the part operative' of his speculation2 with his ',new ,machine1' with the rod of his new definition1 with the staff of his genera and species1--when the right name was found for it1 it heard1 it heard afar1 it heard in its heaven and came4 ,it came fast enough then4 ,it was 'asleep1' but it awaked4 ,it was 'taking a journey' but it came4 ,there was no affectation of the graces of the gods when the new interpreter and prophet of nature1 who belonged to the new order of ,interpreters1 sent up his little messenger1 without any pomp or ceremony1 or 'windy suspiration of forced breath1' and fetched it4 ,but that was an ,occidental philosopher1 one of the race who like to see effects of some kind1 when there is nothing in the field to forbid it4 ,that was one of the ,doctors who are called in this system ',interpreters of nature1' to distinguish them from those who 'rashly anticipate' it4 ,he did not make faces1 and cut himself with knives and lances1 after a prescribed manner1 and prophesy until evening1 though there was no voice1 nor any to answer1 nor any that regarded4 ,he knew that that god at least would not stop on his journey2 or if1 peradventure1 he slept1 would not be wakened by any such process4 ,and the farther the world proceeds on that 'new road' it is travelling at present1 the more the demand will be heard in this quarter1 for an adaptation of instrumentalities to the advanced1 and advancing ages of modern learning and civilization1 and to that more severe and exacting genius of the occidental races1 that keener and more subtle1 and practical genius1 from whose larger requisitions and powers this advancement proceeds4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,cure--,,plan ,,of ,,innovation--,,new ,,constructions4 ',unless these end in matter1 and constructions according to true definitions1 they are speculative1 and of little use4'--,novum ,organum4 ,difficult1 then1 as the problem of ,civil ,government appeared to the eye of the scientific philosopher1 and threatening and appalling as were those immediate aspects of it which it presented at that moment1 he does not despair of the ,state4 ,even on the verge of that momentous political and social crisis1 'though he does not need to go to heaven to predict great revolutions and imminent changes1' 'he thinks he sees ways to save us1' and he finds in his new science of ,man the ultimate solution of that problem4 ,that particular and private nature which is in all men1 let them re-name themselves by what names they will1 that particular and private nature which intends always the individual and private good1 has in itself 'an incident towards the good of society1' which it may use as means1--which it must use1 if highly successful1--as means to its end4 ,even in this1 when science has enlightened it1 and it is impelled by blind and unsuccessful instinct no longer1 the man of science finds a place where a pillar of the true state can be planted2 even here the scientific light lays bare1 in the actualities of the human constitution1 a foundation-stone1--a stone that does not crumble--a stone that does not roll1 which the state that shall stand must rest on4 ,even that 'active good1' which impels 'the troublers of the world1 such as was ,lucius ,sylla1 and infinite others in smaller model1'--that principle which impels the particular nature to leave its signature on other things1--on the state1 on the world1 if it can1--though it is its own end1 and though it is apt1 when armed with those singular powers for 'effecting its good will1' which are represented in the hero of this action1 to lead to results of the kind which this piece represents1--this is the principle in man which seeks an individual immortality1 and works of immortal worth for man are its natural and selectest means4 ,but that is not all4 ,the bettering of itself1 the perfection of its own form1 is1 by the constitution of things1 a force1 a motive1 an actual 'power in everything that moves4' ,this is one of the primal1 universal1 natural motions4 ,it is in the universal creative stamp of things2 and strong as that is1 the rock on which here1 too1 the hope of science rests--strong as that is1 the pillar of the state1 which here1 too1 it will rear4 ,for to man the highest 'passive good1' and this1 too1 is of the good which is 'private and particular1' is1 constitutionally1 that whereby 'the conscience of good intentions1 however succeeding1 is a more continual joy to his nature than all the provision--the most luxurious provision--which can be made for security and repose1--whereby the mere empirical experimenter in good will count it a higher felicity to fail in good and virtuous ends towards the public1 than to attain the most envied success limited to his particular4 ,thus1 even in these decried 'private' motives1 which actuate all men--these universal natural instincts1 which impel men yet more intensely1 by the concentration of the larger sensibility1 and the faculty of the nobler nature of their species1 to seek their own private good1--even in these forces1 which1 unenlightened and uncounterbalanced1 tend in man to war and social dissolution1 or 'monstrous' social combination1--even in these1 the scientific eye perceives the basis of new structures1 'constructions according to true definitions1' in which all the ends that nature in man grasps and aspires to1 shall be artistically comprehended and attained4 ,but this is only the beginning of the scientific politician's 'hope4' ,this is but a collateral aid1 an incidental assistance4 ,this is the place on his ground-plan for the buttresses of the pile he will rear4 ,there is an unborrowed foundation1 there is an internal support for the state in man4 ,for along with that particular and private nature of good1 there is another in all men2--there is another motive1 which respects and beholds the good of society1 not mediately1 but directly as its end1--which embraces in its intention 'the form of human nature1 whereof we are members and portions1 and not--not--our own proper1 individual form'2 and this is the good 'which is in degree the greater and the worthier1 because it tends to the conservation and advancement of a more general form4' ,and this1 also1 is an actual force in man1 proceeding from the universal nature of things and original in that1 not in him4 ,this1 also1 is in the primeval creative stamp of things2 and here1 also1 the science of the interpretation of nature finds in the constitution of man1 and in the nature of things1 the foundations of the true state ready to its hand2 and hewn1 all hewn and cut1 and joined with nature's own true and cunning hand ere man was1 the everlasting pillars of the common-weal4 ,but in man this law1 also1--this law chiefly1--has its special1 essentially special1 development4 ',it is much more impressed on man1 if he de-generate not4' ,great buildings have been reared on this foundation already2 great buildings1 old and time-honoured1 stand on it4 ,the history of human nature is glorious1 even in its degeneracy1 with the exhibition of this larger1 nobler form of humanity asserting itself1 triumphing over the intensities of the narrower motivity4 ,it is a species in which the organic law transcends the individual1 and embraces the kind2 it is a constitution of nature1 in which those who seek the good of the kind1 and subordinate the private nature to that1 are noble1 and chief4 ,it is a species in which the law of the common-weal is for ever present to the private nature1 as the law of its own being1 requiring1 under the pains and penalties of the universal laws of being1 subjection4 ,science cannot originate new forces in nature4 ',man1 while operating1 can only apply or withdraw natural forces4 ,nature1 internally1 performs the rest4' ,but here are the very forces that we want4 ,if man were1 indeed1 naturally and constitutionally1 that mere species of 'vermin' which1 under certain modes of culture1 with great facility he becomes1 there would be no use in spending words upon this subject4 ,science could not undertake the common-weal in that case4 ,if nature's word had been here dissolution1 isolation1 single intention in the parts and members of that body that science sought to frame1 what word of creative art could she pronounce1 what bonds of life could she find1 what breath of ,god could she boast1 that she should think to frame of such material the body politic1 the organic whole1 the living1 free1 harmonious1 triumphant common-weal4 ,but here are the very forces that we want1 blindly moving1 moving in the dark1 left to intuition and instinct1 where nature had provided reason1 and required science and scientific art4 ,that has not been tried4 ,and that is why this question of the state1 dark as it is1 portentous1 hopeless as its aspects are1 if we limit the survey to our present aids and instrumentalities1 is already1 to the eye of science1 kindling with the aurora of unimagined change1 advancements to the heights of man's felicity1 that shall dim the airy portraiture of poets' visions1 that shall outgo here1 too1 the world's young dreams with its scientific reality4 ,there has been no help from science in this field hitherto4 ,the proceeding of the world has been instinctive and empirical thus far1 in the attainment of the ends which the complex nature of man requires him to seek4 ,men have been driven1 and swayed hither and thither1 by these different and apparently contradictory aims1 without any science of the forces that actuated them4 ,those ends these forces will seek1--'it is their nature to1'--whether in man1 or in any other form in which they are incorporated4 ,there's no amount of declamation that is ever going to stop them4 ,the power that is in everything that moves1 the forces of universal nature are concerned in the acts that we deprecate and cry out upon4 ,it is the original constitution of things1 as it was settled in that ,house of ,commons1 to whose acts the memory of ,man runneth not1 that is concerned in these demonstrations2 and philosophy requires that whatever else we do1 we should avoid1 by all means1 coming into any collision with those statutes4 ',we must so order it1' says ,michael of the ,mountain1 quoting in this case from antiquity--'we must so order it1 as by no means to contend with universal nature4' ',to attempt to kick against natural necessity1' he says in his own name1 and in his own peculiar and more impressive method of philosophic instruction--'to attempt to kick against natural necessity1 is to represent the folly of ,ctesiphon1 who undertook to outkick his mule4' ,we must begin by distinguishing 'what is in our power1 and what not1' says the author of the ,advancement of ,learning1 applying that universal rule of practice to our present subject4 ,here1 then1 carefully reduced to their most comprehensive form1 traced to the height of universal nature1 and brought down to the specific nature in man--here1 as they lie on the ground of the common nature in man1 for the first time scientifically abstracted--are the powers which science has to begin with in this field4 ,the varieties in the species1 and the individual differences so remarkable in this kind1 are not in this place under consideration4 ,but here is the common nature in this kind1 which must make the basis of any permanent universal social constitution for it4 ,different races will require that their own constitutional differences shall be respected in their social constitutions2 and if they be not1 for the worse or for the better1 look for change4 ,but this is the universal platform that science is clearing here4 ,this is the ,,world that she is concerning herself with here1 in the person of that ,high ,priest of hers1 who1 also1 took that to be his business4 ,here are these powers in man1 then1 to begin with4 ,here is this universal natural predisposition in him1 not to subsist1 merely1 and maintain his form--which is nature's first law1 they tell us--but to 'better himself' in some way4 ,as ,hamlet expresses it1 'he lacks advancement'2 and advancement he will have1 or strive to have1 if not 'formal and essential1' then 'local4' ,he is instinctively impelled to it2 and in his ignorant attempt to compass that end which nature has prescribed to him1 the 'tempest of human life' arises4 ,the scientific plan will be1 not to quarrel with these universal forces1 and undertake to found society on their annihilation4 ,science will count that structure unsafe which is founded on the supposed annihilation of these forces in anything that moves4 ,the man of science knows1 that though by the predominance of powers1 or by the equilibrium of them1 they may be for a time1 'as it were1 annihilated1' they are in every creature2 and nature in the instincts1 though blind1 is cunning1 and finds ways and means of overcoming barriers1 and evading restrictions1 and inclines to indemnify herself when once she finds her way again4 ,instead of quarrelling with these forces1 the scientific plan1 having respect to the ,creating ,wisdom in the constitution of man1 overlooking them from that height1 will thankfully accept them1 and make much of them4 ,these are just the motive powers that science has need of2 she could not compose her structure without them1 which is only the perfecting of the structure which the great ,creating ,wisdom had already outlined and pre-ordered--not a machine1 but a living organic whole4 ,science takes this 'piece of work' as she finds him1 ready1 waiting for the hand of art--imperfect1 unfinished1 but with the proceeding of nature incorporated in him--with the creative1 advancing1 perfecting motion1 incorporated in him as his essence and law2--imperfect1 but with nature working within him for the rest1 urging him to self-perfection4 ,she takes him as she finds him1 a creature of instinct1 but with his large1 rich1 undeveloped1 yet already active nature of reason1 and conscience1 and religion1 already struggling for the mastery1 counterbalancing his narrower motivity1 holding in check1 with nobler intuitions1 the error of an instinct which errs in man1 because eyes were included in nature's definition of him1 as it was written beforehand in her book1 her universal book of types and orders--eyes1 and not instinct only--'that what he cannot smell out1 he may spy into4' ',o'er that art1 which you say adds to nature1 is an art that nature makes4' ,the want of this pre-ordered art is the want here still4 ,the war of the unenlightened instincts is raging here still4 ,that is where the difficulty lies4 ,that same patience of investigation with which science has pursued and found out nature elsewhere--that same intense1 indefatigable concentration of endeavour1 which has been rewarded with such 'magnitude of effects' in other fields--that same1 in a higher degree1 in more powerful combinations1 proportioned to the magnitude and common desirableness of the object1 is what is wanting here4 ,it is the instincts that are at fault here1--'the blind instincts1 that seeing reason' should 'guide4' ,that is where all the jar and confusion of this great storm begins1 that 'continues still1' and blasts our lives1 in spite of all the spells that we mumble over it1 and in spite of all the magic that all our magicians can bring to bear on it4 ',meagre success1' at least1 is still the word here4 ,no wonder that the storm continues1 under such conditions4 ,no wonder that the world is full of the uproar of this arrested work1 this violated intent of nature4 ,she will storm on till we hear her4 ,woe to those who put themselves in opposition to her1 who think to violate her intent and prosper6 ',the storm continues1' and it will continue1 pronounce on it what incantations we may1 so long as the elemental forces of all nature are meeting in our lives1 and dashing in blind elemental strength against each other1 and the brooding spirit of the social life1 the composing spirit of the larger whole1 cannot reconcile them1 because the voices that are filling the air with the discord of their controversy1 and out-toning the noise of this battle with theirs1 are crying in one key1 ',let there be darkness here'2 because the darkness of the ages of instinct and intuition is held back here1 cowering1 ashamed1 but forbidden to flee away2 because the night of human ignorance still covers all this battle-ground1 and hides the combatants4 ,science is the word here4 ,the ,man of the ,modern ,ages has spoken it1 'and now the times give it proof'2 the times in which the methods of earlier ages1 in the rapid advancement of learning in other fields1 are losing their vitalities1 and leaving us without those means of social combination1 without those social bonds which the rudest ages of instinct and intuition1 which the most barbaric peoples have been able to command4 ,the times give it proof1 fearful proof1 terrific proof1 when the noblest institutions of earlier ages are losing their power to conserve the larger whole2 when the conserving faith of earlier ages1 with its infinities of forces1 is fainting in its struggles1 and is not supported2 and men set at nought its divine realities1 because they have not been translated into their speech and language1 and think there is no such thing2 and under all the exterior splendours of a material civilization advanced by science1 society tends to internal decay1 and the primal war of atoms4 ,to meet the exigencies of a crisis like this1 it is not enough to call these powers that are actual in the human nature1 but which are not yet reconciled and reduced to their true and natural order--it is not enough at this age of the world1 at this stage of human advancement in other fields--to call these forces by some general names which include their oppositions1 and to require for want of skill that a part of them shall be annihilated2 it is not enough to express a strong disapprobation of the result as it is1 and to require1 in never-so-authoritative manner1 that it shall be otherwise4 ,no matter what names we may use to make that requisition in1 no matter under what pains and penalties we require it1 the result--whatever we may say to the contrary--the result does not follow4 ,that is not the way4 ,those who try it1 and who continue to try it in the face of no matter what failures1 may think it is2 but there is a voice mightier than theirs1 drowning all their speech1 telling us in thunder-tones1 that it is not2 with arguments that brutes might understand1 telling us that it is not6 ,it is1 indeed1 no small gain in the rude ages of warring instincts and intuitions1 when there is as yet no science to define them1 and compare them1 and pronounce from its calm height its eternal axioms here--when the world is a camp1 and hostilities are deified1 and mankind is in arms when all the moral terms are still wrapped in the confusion of the first outgoing of the perplexed1 unanalysed human motivity--it is no small gain to get the word of the nobler intuitions outspoken1 to get the word of the divine law of man's nature1 his essential law pronounced--even in rudest ages overawing1 commanding with its awful divinity the intenser motivity of the lesser nature--able to summon1 in rudest ages1 to its ideal heights1 those colossal heroic forms1 that cast their long shadows over the tracts of time1 to tell us what type it is that humanity aspires to4 ,it is no small gain to get these nobler intuitions outspoken in some voice that commands with its authority the world's ear1 or illustrated in some exemplar that arrests the world's eye1 and draws the human heart unto it4 ,it is no small advance in human history1 to get the divine authority of those nobler intuitions1 which1 in man1 anticipate speculation1 and their right to command the particular motives1 recognised in the common speech of men1 incorporated in their speculative belief1 incorporated in their books of learning1 and embalmed in institutions that keep the divine exemplar of the human form for ever in our eyes4 ,it is something4 ,the warring nations war on4 ,the world is in arms still4 ,the rude instincts are not stayed in their intent4 ,they pause1 it may be2 'but a roused passion sets them new a-work4' ,the speckled demons1 that the degenerate angelic nature breeds1 put on the new livery1 and go abroad in it rejoicing4 ,new rivers of blood1 new seas of carnage1 are opened in the new name of peace2 new engines of torture1 of fiendish wrong1 are invented in the new name of love4 ,but it is some gain4 ,there is a new rallying-place on the earth for those who seek truly the higher good2 at the foot of the new symbol they recognise each other1 they join hand in hand1 and the bands of those who wait and watch amid the earth's darkness for the promise1 cheer us with their songs4 ,truths out of the ,eternal ,book1 truths that all hearts lean on in their need1 are spoken4 ,words that shall never pass away1 sweet with the immortal hope and perennial joy of life1 are always in our ears4 ,the nations that have contributed to this result in any degree1 whether primarily or secondarily1 whether they be ,syrians or ,assyrians1 ,arabs or ,egyptians1 wandering or settled1 wild or tame2 whether they belong to the inferior unanalysing ,semitic races1 or whether they come of the more richly endowed1 but yet youthful1 ,indo-,european stock2 whether they be ,hebrews or ,persians1 ,greeks or ,romans1 will always have the world's gratitude4 ,those to whose intenser conceptions and bolder affirmations1 in the rude ages of instinct and spontaneous allegation1 it was given to pronounce and put on everlasting record1 these primal truths of inspiration1--truths whose divinity all true hearts respond to1 may be indeed by their natural intellectual characteristics1--if ,semitic must be--totally disqualified by ethnological laws1--hopelessly disqualified--so hopelessly that it is to lose all to put it on them--for the task of commanding1 in detail1 our modern civilization2--a civilization which has made1 already1 the rude ethics of these youthful races1 when it comes to details1 so palpably and grossly inapplicable1 that it is an offence to modern sensibility to name--to so much as name--decisions which stand unreversed1 without comment1 in our books of learning4 ,but that is no reason why we should not take1 and thankfully appropriate as the gift of ,god1 all that it was their part to contribute to the great plot of human advancement4 ,we cannot afford to dispense with any such gain4 ,the movement which respects the larger whole1 the divine intent incorporates it all4 ',japhet shall dwell in the tents of ,shem1' for they are world wide2 but woe to him if1 in his day1 he refuse to build the temple which1 in his day1 his ,god will also require of him4 ,woe to him1 if he think to put upon another age and race the tasks which his ,task-,master will require of him1--which1 with his many gifts1 with his chief gifts1 with his ten talents1 will surely be required of him4 ,more than his fathers' woe upon him--more than that old-world woe1 which he1 too1 remembers1 if he think to lean on ,asia1 the youthful ,asia1 when his own great world noon-day has come4 ',there was violence on the earth in those days1 and it repented the ,lord that he had made man on the earth4' ',twill come1' says our own poet1 prefacing his proposal for a scientific art in the attainment of the chief human ends1 and giving his illustrated reasons for it1-- ',twill come at this rate ,humanity must1 perforce1 prey on itself1 ,like monsters of the deep4 ,but what are these8--these new orders1--these new species of nature1 defying nature1 that we are generating with our arts here now8 ,what are these new varieties to which our kind is tending now8 ,look at this kind for instance4 ,what are these8 ,define them4 ,destroyers1 not of their own image in their fellow-man only1 not of the image of their kind only1--sacred by natural universal laws1--but of the chosen image of it1 the ideal of it1 the one in whom the natural love of their kind was by the law of nature concentred1--the wife and the mother1-- destroyed not as the wolf destroys its prey1 but with ferocity1 or with prolonged and studious harm1 that it required the human brain to plan and perpetrate4 ,look at this pale lengthening widening train of their victims4 ,we must look at it4 ,it will never go by till we do4 ,we shall have to look at it1 and consider it well2 it will lengthen1 it will widen till we do3--ghastly1 bruised1 bleeding1 trampled1-- trampled it may be1 with nailed1 booted heel1 mother and child together into one grave4 ,but these are common drunkard's wives2--we are inured to this catastrophe1 and do not think much of it4 ,but who are these1 whom the grave cannot hold2 that by ,god's edict break its bonds and come back1 making day hideous1 to tell us what the earth could not1 would not keep1--to tell us of that other band who died and made no sign8 ,but this is nothing4 ,here are more4 ,here are others4 ,what are these8 ,these are not spectres4 ,their cheeks are red enough4 ,what loathsome thing is this1 that we are bringing forth here now with the human face upon it1 in whom the heart of the universal nature has expired4 ,these are murderers1--count them--they are all murderers1 wholesale murderers1 perhaps1--but of what8 ,of their own helpless1 tender1 loving1 trusting little ones4 ,the wretched children of our time1--alone in wretchedness1--alone in the universe of nature1--who found1 where nature promised them a mother's love1 the knife1 or the more cruel agonizing drug of death4 ,was there any cause in nature for it8 ,yes4 ,they did it for the 'burial fee1' perhaps1 or for some other cause as good4 ,they had a reason for it4 ,let our naturalists throw their learning 'to the dogs1' and come this way1 and tell us what this means4 ,nay1 let them bring their books with them1 and example us with its meaning if they can4 ,let them tell us what 'depth' in which nature hides her failures1 or yet unperfected hideous germinations1--what formation in which she buries the kinds she repents that she has made upon the earth1 or what 'deep'--what ocean cave of 'monsters' we shall drag to find our kindred in these species4 ,let our wise men tell us whether there be1 or whether there ever was1 any such thing as this in nature before4 ,if 'such things are1' or have been in any other kind1 let them produce the instances1 and keep us in countenance and console us for our own4 ,let them look at that murderer too1 and interpret him for us4 ,for he too is waiting to be interpreted1 and he will wait till we understand his signs4 ,he is speaking mute nature's language to us2 we must get her key4 ,look at him as he stands there in the dark1 subordinating that faculty which comprehends the whole1 which recognises the divinity of his neighbour's right1 to his fiendish end3 preparing with the judgment of a man his little piece of machinery1 with which he will take1 as he would take a salmon1 or a rat1 his fellow-man4 ,look at him as he stands there now1 listening patiently for your steps1 waiting to strangle you as you go by him unarmed to-night1 confiding in your fellow-man2 waiting to drag you down from all the hopes and joys of life1 for the sake of the loose coin1 gold or silver1 which he thinks he may find about you1--perhaps4 ',how to ,,kill vermin and how to ,,prevent the fiend1' was ,tom's study4 ,how to dispatch in the most agreeable and successful manner1 creatures whose notions of good are constitutionally and diametrically opposed to the good of the larger whole1 who have no sensibility to that1 and no faculty whereby they perceive it to be the worthier2 that is no doubt one part of the problem4 ,the scientific question is1 whether this creature be really what it seems1 a new and more horrid kind of beast--a demoralization and deterioration of the human species into that4 ,if it be1 let our naturalists come to our aid here also1 and teach us how to hunt him down and despatch him1 with as much respect to the natural decencies which the fact of the external human form would seem still to exact from us1 as the circumstances will admit of4 ,is it the beast1 or is it 'the fiend8'--that is the question4 ,the fiend which tells us that the angelic or divine nature is there--there still--overborne1 trampled on1 'as it were1 annihilated1' but lighting that gleam of 'wickedness1'--making of it1 not instinct1 but crime4 ,ah6 we need not ask which it is4 ,this one has told his own story1 if we could but read it4 ,he has left--he is leaving all the time1 contributions1 richest contributions to our natural history of man1--that history which must make the basis of our arts of cure4 ,he was a wolf when you took him2 but in his cell you found something else in him--did you not8--something that troubled and appalled you1 with its kindred and likeness1 and its exaction on your sympathy4 ,when you hung him as you would not hang a dog2--when you put him to a death which you would think it indecent and inhuman to award to a creature of another species1 you did not find him that4 ,the law of the nobler nature lay in him as it were annihilated2 he thought there was no such thing2 but when nature's great voice was heard without also1 and those 'bloody instructions he had taught returned to him'2 when that voice of the people1 which was the voice of ,god to him1 echoed with its doom the voice within1 and 'sweet religion1' with its divine appeals--'a rhapsody of words' no longer1 came1 to second that great argument1--the blind instincts were overpowered in him1 the lesser usurping nature was dethroned1--the angelic nature arose1 and had her hour1 and shed parting gleams of glory on those fleeting days and nights2 and he came forth1 to die at last1 not dragged like a beast--with a manly step--with heroic grandeur1 vindicating the heroic type in nature1 of that form he wore1--vindicating the violated law1 accepting his doom1 bowing to its ignominy1 a man1 a member of society1--a reconciled and accepted member of the commonweal4 ,how to prevent the fiend8 is the question4 ,ah6 what unlettered forces are these1 unlearned still1 with all our learning1 that the dark1 unaided wrestling hour 'in the little state of man1' leaves at the head of affairs there1 seated in its chair of state1 crowned1 'predominant1' to speak the word of doom for us all4 ',he poisons him in the garden for his estate4' ',lights1 lights1 lights6' is the word here4 ,there is a cause in nature for these hard hearts1 but it is not in the constitution of man4 ,there is a cause2 it is nature herself1 crying out upon our learning1 asking to be--interpreted4 ,woe for the age whose universal learning is in forms that move and command no longer2 that move and bind no longer with fear1 or hope1 or love1 'the common people4' ,woe for the people who think that the everlasting truths of being--the eternal laws of science--are things for saints1 and schoolmasters1 and preachers only1--the people who carry about with them in secret1 for week-day purposes1 ,edmund's creed1 to whom nature is already 'their goddess1 and their law1' ere they know her or her law--ere the appointed teacher has instructed them in it1--ere they know what divinity she1 too1 holds to1--ere the interpreter has translated into her speech1 and evolved from her books1 the old truths which shall not--though their old 'garments' should 'be changed'--which shall not pass away4 ,woe for the nations in whom that greater part that carries it1 are godless1 or whose vows are paid in secret to ,edmund's goddess1--whose true faith is in appetite1--who have no secret laws imposed on that4 ',woe to the people who are in such a case1' no matter on which side of the ocean they may dwell1 in the old world1 or a new one2 no matter under what political constitutions4 ,no matter under what favourable external conditions1 the national development that has that hollow in it1 may proceed2 no matter under what glorious and before unimagined conditions of a healthful1 noble human development that development may proceed4 ,alas6 for such a people4 ,the rulers may cry ',peace6' but there is none4 ,and1 alas6 for the world in which such a power is growing up under new conditions1 and waxing strong1 and preparing for its leaps4 ,as a principle of social or political organisation1 there is no religion1--there never has been any1--so fatal as none4 ,that is a truth of which all history is an illustration4 ,it is one which has been illustrated in the history of modern states1 not less vividly than in the history of antiquity4 ,and it will continue to be illustrated1 on the same grand scale1 in those terrific evils which the dissolution1 or the dissoluteness of the larger whole creates1 whenever the appointed teachers of a nation1 the inductors of it into its highest learning1 lag behind the common mind in their interpretations1 and leave it to the people to construct their own rude 'tables of rejections'2 whenever the practical axioms1 which are the inevitable vintage of these undiscriminating and fatally false rejections1 are suffered to become history4 ',woe to the land when its king is a child'2 but thrice woe to it1 when its teacher is a child4 ,alas6 for the world1 when the pabulum of her youthful visions and anticipations of learning have become meat for men1 the prescribed provision for that nature in which man must live1 or 'cease to be1' amid the sober realities of western science4 ',thou shouldst not have been ,,old before thy time4' ',the glow-worm shows the matin to be near1 ,and 'gins to pale his ineffectual fire4' ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,cure--,,new ,,constructions--,,the ,,initiative4 ,pyramus4--',write me a prologue1 and let the prologue seem to say1 we will do no harm with our swords spears444 and for the more better assurance1 tell them that ,i1 ,pyramus1 am not ,pyramus1 but ,bottom the weaver4 ,this will put them out of fear4'--,shake-spear4 ',truth and reason are common to every one1 and are no more his who spoke them first1 than his who spoke them after4 ,who follows another follows nothing1 finds nothing1 seeks nothing4' ',authors have hitherto communicated themselves to the people by some particular and foreign mark4 ,i1 the first of any1 by my universal being4 ,every man carries with him the entire form of human condition4' ',and besides1 though ,i had a particular distinction by myself1 what can it distinguish when ,i am no more8 ,can it point out and favor inanity8' ',but will thy manes such a gift bestow ,as to make violets from thy ashes grow8' ,michael de ,montaigne4 ,hamlet4--',to thine own self be true1 ,and it doth follow as the night the day ,thou canst not then be false to any man4' ',to know a man well1 were to know him-self4' ,the complaint of the practical men against the philosophers who make such an outcry upon the uses and customs of the world as they find it1 that they do not undertake to give us anything better in the place of them2 or if they do1 with their terrible experiments they leave us worse than they find us1 does not apply in this case4 ,because this is science1 and not philosophy in the sense which that word still conveys1 when applied to subjects of this nature4 ,we all know that the scientific man is a safe and brilliant practitioner4 ,the most unspeculative men of practice have learned to prefer him and his arts to the best empiricism4 ,it is the philosophers we have had in this field1 with their rash anticipations1--with their unscientific pre-conceptions1--with a pre-conception1 instead of a fore-knowledge of the power they deal with1 commanding results which do not1--there is the point1--which do not follow4 ,let no one say that this reformer is one of those who expose our miserable condition1 without offering to improve it2 or that he is one of those who take away our gold and jewels with their tests1 and leave us no equivalent4 ,this is no destroyer4 ,he will help us to save all that we have4 ,he is guarding us from the error of those who would let it alone till the masses have taken the work in hand for themselves1 without science4 ',that is the way to lay all flat4' ,he is not one of those1 'who to make clean1 efface1 and who cure diseases by death4' ,to found so great a thing as the state anew2 to dissolve that so old and solid structure1 and undertake to recompose it as a whole on the spot1 is a piece of work which this chemist1 after a survey of his apparatus1 declines to take in2 though he fairly admits1 that if the question were of 'a new world1' and not 'a world already formed to certain customs1' science might have1 perhaps1 some important suggestions to make as to the original structure4 ,and yet for all that1 it is a scientific practice that is propounded here4 ,it is a scientific innovation and renovation1 that is propounded2 the greatest that was ever propounded1--total1 absolute1 but not sudden4 ,it is a remedy for the world as it is1 that this reformer is propounding4 ,new constructions according to true definitions1 scientific institutions1--institutions of culture and regimen and cure1 based on the recognition of the actual human constitution and laws1--based on an observation as diligent and subtle1 and precepts as severe as those which we apply to the culture of any other form in nature1--that is the proposition4 ',it were a strange speech which1 spoken or spoken oft1 should reclaim a man from a vice to which he is by nature subject4' ',folly is not to be cured by bare admonition4' ,this plan of culture and cure involves not the knowledge of that nature which is in all men only1 but a science1 enriched with most careful collections of all the specific varieties of that nature4 ,the fullest natural history of those forces that are operant in the hourly life of man1 the most profound and subtle observation of the facts of this history1 the most thoroughly scientific collection of them1 make the beginning of this enterprise4 ,the propounder of this cure will have to begin with the secret disposition of every man laid open1 and the possibilities of human character exhausted1 by means of a dissection of the entire form of that human nature1 which every man carries with him1 and a solar-microscopic exhibition of the several dispositions and tempers of men1 in grand ideal portraits1 conspicuous instances of them1 where the particular disposition and temper is 'predominant1' as in the characterisation of ,hamlet1 where it takes all the persons of the drama to exhibit characteristics which are more or less developed in all men4 ,those natural peculiarities of disposition that work so incessantly and potently in this human business1 those 'points of nature1' those predetermining forces of the human life1 must come under observation here1 and the whole nature of the passions also1 and a science of 'the will1' very different from that philosophy of it which our metaphysicians have entertained us with so long4 ,he will have all the light of science1 all the power of the new method brought to bear on this study4 ,and he will have a similar collection1 not less scientific1 of the history of the human fortunes and their necessary effects on character2 for these are the points that we must deal with 'by way of application1 and to these all our labour is limited and tied2 for we cannot fit a garment except we take a measure of the form we would fit it to4' ,nothing short of this can serve as the basis of a scientific system of human education4 ,but this is not all4 ,it is the human nobility and greatness that is the end1 and that 'craves1' as the noble who is found wanting in it tells us1 'a noble cunning4' ,it is no single instrumentality that makes the apparatus of this culture and cure4 ,skilful combinations of appliances based on the history of those forces which are within our power1 which 'we can deal with by way of alteration1' forces 'from which the mind suffereth1' which have operation on it1 so potent that 'they can almost change the stamp of nature1'--that they can make indeed1 'another nature1'--these are the engines1--this is the machinery which the scientific state will employ for its ends4 ,these are the engines1 this is the machinery that is going to take the place of that apparatus which the state1 as it is1 finds such need of4 ,this is the machinery to 'prevent the fiend1' which the scientific statesman is propounding4 ',i would we were all of ,,one ,,mind1 and one mind good' says our ,poet4 ',o there were desolation of gallowses and gaolers4 ,i speak against my present profit1' he adds1--he was speaking not as a judge or a lawyer1 but as a gaoler1 ',i speak against my present profit1 but my wish hath a preferment in it4' 7,a preferment87--,that is the solution propounded by science1 of the problem that is pressing on us1 and urging on us with such violent appeals1 its solution4 ',i would we were all of one mind1 and one mind good4 ,my wish hath a preferment in it4' ',folly is not to be cured by bare admonition4' ',it were a strange speech which1 spoken1 or spoken oft1 should cure a man of a vice to which he is by nature subject1'--subject--by nature4--,that is the ,philosopher4 ',what he cannot help in his nature you account a vice in him1' says the poor citizen1 putting in a word on the ,poet's behalf for ,coriolanus whose education1 whatever ,volumnia may think about it1 was not scientific1 or calculated to reduce that 'partliness1' that disorganizing social principle1 whose subsequent demonstrations gave her so much offence4 ,not admonition1 not preaching and scolding1 and not books only1 but institutions1 laws1 customs1 habit1 education in its more limited sense1 'association1 emulation1 praise1 blame1' all the agencies 'from which the mind suffereth1'-- which have power to change it1 in skilfully compounded recipes and regimen scientifically adapted to cases1 and not prescribed only1 but enforced1--these make the state machinery--these are the engines that are going to 'prevent the fiend1' and educate the 'one mind1'-- the one mind good1 which is the sovereign of the common-,,weal1--'my wish hath a preferment in it1'--the one only man who will make when he is crowned1 not ,rome1 but room enough for us all1--who will make when he is crowned such desolation of gallowses and gaolers4 ,these are the remedies for the diseases of the state1 when the scientific practitioner is called in at last1 and permitted to undertake his cure4 ,but he will not wait for that4 ,he will not wait to be asked4 ,he has no delicacy about pushing himself forward in this business4 ,the concentration of genius and science on it1 henceforth1--the gradual adaptation of all these grand remedial agencies to this common end1-- this end which all truly enlightened minds will conspire for1--find to be their own1--this is the plan2--this is the sober day-dream of the ,elizabethan ,reformer2 this is the plot of the ,elizabethan ,revolutionist4 ,this is the radicalism that he is setting on foot4 ,this is the cure of the state which he is undertaking4 ,we want to command effects1 and the way to do that is to find causes2 and we must find them according to the new method1 and not by reasoning it thus and thus1 for the result is just the same1 this philosopher observes1 as if we had not reasoned it thus and thus1 but some other way4 ,that is the difficulty with that method1 which is in use here at present1 which this philosopher calls 'common logic4' ,life goes on1 life as it is and was1 in the face of our reasonings2 but it goes on in the dark2 the phenomena are on the surface in the form of ,,effects1 and all our weal and woe is in them2 but the ,,causes are beneath unexplored4 ,they are able to give us certain impressions of their natures2 they strike us1 and blast us1 it may be1 by way of teaching us something of their powers2 but we do not know them2 they are within our own souls and lives1 and we do not know them2 not because they lie without the range of a scientific enquiry1 but because we will not apply to them the scientific method2 because the old method of 'preconception' here is still considered the true one4 ,the plan of this great scientific enterprise was one which embraced1 from the first1 the whole body of the common-weal4 ,it concerned itself immediately and directly with all the parts and members of the social state1 from the king on his throne to the beggar in his straw4 ,its aim was to disclose ultimately1 and educate in every member of society that entire and noble form of human nature which 'each man carries with him1' and whereby the individual man is naturally and constitutionally a member of the common-weal4 ,its proposition was to develop ultimately and educate--successfully educate--in each integer of the state1 the integral principle--the principle whereby in man the true conservation and integrity of the part--the virtue1 and felicity1 and perfection1 of the part1 tend to the weal of the whole--tend to perfect and advance the whole4 ',to thine own self be true1 ,and it doth follow as the night the day1 ,thou canst not then be false to any ,,man4' ',know thy-,,self4 ,know thy-self4' ,this enterprise was not the product of a single individual mind1 and it is important that this fact should be fully and unmistakeably enunciated here2 because the illustrious statesman1 and man of letters1 who assumed1 in his own name and person1 that part of it which could then be openly exhibited1 the one on whom the great task of perfecting and openly propounding the new method of learning was devolved1 is the one whose relation to this enterprise has been principally insisted on in this volume4 ,the history of this great philanthropic association--an association of genius1 a combination of chief minds1 from which the leadership and direction of the modern ages proceeds1 the history of this 'society1' as it was called1 when the term was still fresh in that special application2 at least1 when it was not yet qualified by its application to those very different kinds of voluntary individual combinations--'bodies of neighbourhood' within the larger whole1 to which that movement has given rise2 the history of this society1--this first ',shake-spear ,society'--much as it is to our purpose1 and much as it is to the particular purpose of this volume1 can only be incidentally treated here4 ,but as this work was originally prepared for publication in the ,,historical ,,key to the ,elizabethan ,tradition which formed the ,,first ,,book of it1 it was the part of that great ,political and ,military ,chief1 and not less illustrious ,man of ,letters1 who was recognised1 in his own time1 as the beginner of this movement and the founder of ,english philosophy1 which was chiefly developed4 ,and it is the history of that 'great unknown'--that great ,elizabethan unknown1 for whose designs there was needed then a veil of a closer texture--of a more cunning pattern than any which the exigencies of modern authorship tend to fabricate1 which must make the key to this tradition2--it is the history of that great unknown1 whose incognito was a closed vizor1--that it was death to open1--a vizor that did open once1 and--the sequel is in our history1 and will leave 'a brand' upon the page which that age makes in it1--'the age that did it1 and suffered it1 to the end of the world4' ,so says the ,poet of that age1 7',age1 thou are shamed4' ',and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves'74 ,it is the history of the ,tacitus who could not wait for a better ,caesar4 ,it is the history of the man who was sent to the block1 they tell us1 who are able to give us those little secret historic motives that do not get woven always into the larger story2 it is the history of the man who 7if his family understood it7 was sent to the block for the repetition1 in his own name1 of the words--the very words which he had written with his 'goose-pen1' as he calls it1 years before--which he had written under cover of the 'spear' that was 'shaken' in sport1 or that shook with fear1--under cover of 'the well turned and true filled lines in each of which he seems to shake a lance as brandished in the eyes of ,ignorance1' without suspicion--without challenge1 from the crowned ,ignorance1 or the ,monster that crowned it4 ,it is the history of this unknown1 obscure1 unhonoured ,father of the ,modern ,age that unlocks this tradition4 ,it is the secret friend and 'brother' of the author of the ,novum ,organum1 whose history unlocks this tradition4 ,and when shall the friendship of such 'a twain' gladden our earth again1 and build its 'eternal summer' in our common things8 ,when shall a 'marriage of true minds' so even be celebrated on the lips and in the lives of men again8 ,it is the friend and literary partner of our great recognised philosopher--his partner in his 'private and retired arts1' and in his cultivation of 'the principal and supreme sciences1' in whose history the key to this locked up learning is hidden4 ,it was an enterprise which originated in the ,court of ,queen ,elizabeth1 in that little company of wits1 and poets1 and philosophers1 which was the first-fruit of the new development of the national genius1 that followed the revival of the learning of antiquity in this island--the fruit which that old stock began manifestly to bud and blossom with1 about the beginning of the latter half of that ,queen's reign4 ,for it was the old northern genius1 under the influence1 not of the revival of the learning of antiquity only1 but of that accumulated influence which its previous revival on the ,continent brought with it here2 under the influence1 too1 of that insular nurture1 which began so soon to colour and insulate ,english history2--',britain is a world by itself1' says ,prince ,cloten1 'and we will nothing pay1' etc4--it was the old northern genius nurtured in the cradle of that 'bravery' which had written its page of fire in the ,roman ,caesar's story--which had arrested the old classic historian's pen1 and fired it with a poet's prophecy1 and taught him too how to pronounce from the old ,british hero's lip the burning speech of ,english freedom2--it was that which began to show itself here1 then1 in that new tongue1 which we call the ',elizabethan4' ,it was that which could not fit its words to its mouth as it had a mind to do under those conditions1 and was glad to know that 'the audience was deferred4' ,that was the thing which found itself so much embarrassed by the presence of 'a man of prodigious fortune at the table1' who had leave 'to change its arguments with a magisterial authority4' ,it was that which was expected to produce its speech to 'serve as the base matter to illuminate'--not the ,caesar--but the ,tudor--the ,tudor and the ,stuart3 the last of the ,tudors and the first of the ,stuarts4 ',,age1 thou art shamed4' ,it was the true indigenous product of the ,english nationality under that great stimulus1 which made that age2 and the practical determination of the ,english mind1 and the spirit of the ancient ,english liberties1 the recognition of the common dignity of that form of human nature which each man carries entire with him--the sentiment of a common human family and brotherhood1 which this race had brought with it from the forests of the ,north1 and which it had conserved through ages of oppression1 went at once into the new speculation1 and determined its practical bent1 and shaped this enterprise4 ,it was an enterprise which included in its plan of operations an immediate influence upon the popular mind--the most direct1 immediate1 and radically reforming influences which could be brought to bear1 under those conditions1 upon the habits and sentiments of the ignorant1 custom-bound masses of men2--those masses which are1 in all their ignorance and unfitness for rule1 as the philosopher of this age perceived1 'that greater part which carries it'--those wretched statesmen1 under whose rule we are all groaning4 ',questions about clothes1 and cookery1 and law chicanery1' are the questions with which the new movement begins to attract attention--a universally favourable attention--towards its beneficent purposes1 and to that new command of 'effects' which arms them4 ,but this is only 'to show an abused people that they are not wholly forgotten4' ,to improve the external condition of men1 to 'accommodate' man to those exterior natural forces1 of which he had been1 till then1 the 'slave1'--to minister to the need and add to the comforts of the king in his palace1 and ',tom' in his hovel1--this was the first scientific move4 ,this was a movement which required no concealment4 ,its far-reaching consequences1 its elevating power on the masses1 its educational power1 its revolutionary power1 did not lie within the range of any observation which the impersonated state was able to bring to bear at that time upon the ,new ,organum and its reaches4 ,but this was not the only scientifically educational agency which this great ,educational ,association was able to include1 even then1 in its scheme for the culture and instruction of the masses--for the culture and instruction of that common social unit1 which makes the masses and determines political predominance4 ,quite the most powerful instrumentality which it is possible to conceive of1 for purposes of direct effect in the way of intellectual and moral stimulus1 in that stage of a popular development1 was then already in process of preparation here2 the 'plant' of a wondrous and inestimable machinery of popular influence stood offering itself1 at that very moment1 to the politicians with whom this movement originated1 urging itself on their notice1 begging to be purchased1 soliciting their monopoly1 proposing itself to their designs4 ,a medium of direct communication between the philosophic mind1 in its more chosen and noblest field of research1 and the minds of those to whom the conventional signs of learning are not yet intelligible1--one in which the language of action and dumb show was1 by the condition of the representation1 predominant1--that language which is1 as this philosophy observed1 so much more powerful in its impression than words1--not on brutes only1 but on those 'whose eyes are more learned than their ears1'--a medium of communication which was one tissue of that 'mute' language1 whereby the direction1 'how to sustain a tyranny newly usurped1' was conveyed once1 stood prepared to their hands1 waiting the dictation of the message of these new ,chiefs and ,teachers1 who had taken their cue from ,machiavel in exhibiting the arts of government1 and who thought it well enough that the people should know how to preserve tyrannies newly usurped4 ,those 'amusements1' with which governments that are founded and sustained1 'by cutting off and keeping low the grandees and nobility' of a nation1 naturally seek to propitiate and divert the popular mind1--those amusements which the peoples who sustain tyrannies are apt to be fond of--'he loves no plays as thou dost1 ,antony1'--that 'pulpit1' from which the orator of ,caesar stole and swayed the hearts of the people with his sugared words2 and his dumb show of the stabs in ,caesar's mantle became1 in the hands of these new conspirators1 an engine which those old experimenters lacked1--an engine which the lean and wrinkled ,cassius1 with his much reading and 'observation strange' and dangerous1 looking through of the thoughts of men2 and the grave1 high-toned ,brutus1 with his logic and his stilted oratory1 could not1 on second thoughts1 afford to lack4 ,it was this which supplied the means of that 'volubility of application' which those ',sir ,oracles1' those 'grave sirs of note1' 'in observing their well-graced forms of speech1' it is intimated1 'might easily want4' ,by means of that 'first use of the parable1' whereby 7while for the present we drop 'the argument'7 it serves to illustrate1 and bring first under the notice of the senses1 the abstruser truths of a new learning1--truths which are as yet too far out of the road of common opinion to be conveyed in other forms1--these amusements became1 in the hands of the new ,teachers and ,wise ,men1 with whom the ,wisdom of the ,moderns had its beginning1 the means of an insidious1 but most 'grave and exceedingly useful1' popular instruction4 ,but the immediate influence on the common mind was not the influence to which this association trusted for the fulfilment of its great plan of social renovation and advancement4 ,that so aspiring social position1 and that not less commanding position in the world of letters1 built up with so much labour1 with such persistent purpose1 with a pertinacity which accepted of no defeat1--built up expressly to this end1--that position from which a new method of learning could be openly propounded1 in the face of the schools1 in the face of the ,universities1 in the face and eyes of all the ,doctors of ,learning then1 was1 in itself1 no unimportant part of the machinery which this political association was compelled to include in the plot of its far-reaching enterprise4 ,that trumpet-call which rang through ,europe1 which summoned the scholasticism and genius of the modern ages1 from the endless battles of the human dogmas and conceits1 into the field of true knowledge1--that summons which recalled1 and disciplined1 and gave the word of command to the genius of the modern ages1 that was already tumultuously rushing thither1--that call which was able to command the modern learning1 and impose on it1 for immediate use1 the ,new ,machine of ,learning1--that ,machine which1 even in its employment in the humblest departments of observation1 has already formed1 ere we know it1 the new mind1 which has disciplined and trained the modern intelligence1 and created insidiously new habits of judgment and belief1--created1 too1 a new stock of truths1 which are accepted as a part of the world's creed1 and from which the whole must needs be evolved in time1--this1 in itself1 was no small step towards securing the great ends of this enterprise4 ,it was a step which we are hardly in a position1 as yet1 to estimate4 ,we cannot see what it was till the nobler applications of this ,method begin to be made4 ,it has cost us something while we have waited for these4 ,the letter to ,sir ,henry ,savile1 on 'the ,helps to the ,intellectual ,powers1' which is referred to with so much more iteration and emphasis than anything which the surface of the letter exhibits would seem to bear1 in its brief hints1 points also this way1 though the effect of mental exercises1 by means of other instrumentalities1 on the habits of a larger class1 is also comprehended in it4 ,but the formation of new intellectual habits in men liberally educated1 appeared to promise1 ultimately1 those larger fruits in the advancement and culture of learning which1 in 'the hour-glass' of that first movement1 could be1 as yet1 only prophecy and anticipation4 ,the perfection of the ,human ,science1 then first propounded1 the filling up of 'the ,anticipations' of ,learning1 which the ,philosophy of ,science also included in its system1--not rash and premature1 however1 and not claiming the place of knowledge1 but kept apart in a place by themselves1--put down as anticipations1 not interpretations1--the filling up of this outline was what was expected as the ultimate result of this proceeding1 in the department of speculative philosophy4 ,but in that great practical enterprise of a social and political renovation--that enterprise of 'constructions' according to true definitions1 which this science fastens its eye on1 and never ceases to contemplate--it was not the immediate effect on the popular mind1 neither was it the gradual effect on the speculative habits of men of learning and men of intelligence in general1 that was chiefly relied on4 ,it was the secret tradition1 the living tradition of that intention2 it was the tradition whereby that association undertook to continue itself across whatever gulfs and chasms in social history 'the fortunes of our state' might make4 ,it was that second use of the fable1 which is 'to wrap up and conceal'2 it was that 'enigmatic' method1 which reserves the secrets of learning for those 'who by the aid of an instructor1 or by their own research1 are able to pierce the veil1' which was relied on for this result4 ,it was the power of that tradition1 its generative power1 its power to reproduce 'in a better hour' the mind and will of that 'company'--it was its power to develop and frame that identity which was the secret of this association1 and its new principle of ,,union--that identity of the 'one mind1 and one mind good1' which is the human principle of union--that identity which made a common name1 a common personality1 for those who worked together for that end1 and whose ,,will in it was 'one4' ,a name1 a personality1 a philosophic unity1 in whose great radiance we have basked so long--a name1 a personality whose secret lies heavy on all our learning--whose secret of power1 whose secret of inclusiveness and inexhaustible wealth of knowledge1 has paralysed all our criticism1 'made marble'--as ,milton himself confesses--'made marble with too much conceiving4' ',write me a prologue1 and let the prologue seem to say in dumb action1 we will do no harm with our swords4' ',they all flourish their swords4' ',there is but one mind in all these men1 and that is bent against ,caesar'--,julius ,caesar4 ',even so the race ,of ,,shake-,,spear's mind and manners brightly shines1 ,in his well turned and true filed--lines2 ,in each of which he seems to ,,shake a ,,lance1 ,as brandished at the eyes of--,ignorance1' ,we will do no harm1 with our--,,words it seems to say4--,prologue4 ,it was the power of the ,elizabethan ,art of ,tradition that was relied on here1 that 'living ,art'2 it was its power to reproduce this ,institution1 through whatever fatal eventualities the movement which these men were seeking then to anticipate1 and organize1 and control1 might involve2 and though the ,parent ,union should be overborne in those disastrous1 not unforeseen1 results--overborne and forgotten--and though other means employed for securing that end should fail4 ,it is to that posthumous effect that all the hope points here4 ,it is the ,leonatus ,posthumus who must fulfil this oracle4 ',now with the drops of this most balmy time ,my love looks fresh1 and death to me subscribes2 ,since1 spite of him1 ,i',,ll live in this poor rhyme1 ,while he insults o'er dull and speechless tribes2 ,and thou in this shall find thy monument1 ,when tyrants' crests and tombs of brass are spent4' ',not marble1 nor the gilded monuments ,elizabethan ,,age4 ,of ,princes shall outlive this power-ful rhyme4' ,this is our unconscious ,poet1 who does not know that his poems are worth printing1 or that they are going to get printed--who does not know or care whether they are or not4 ',but you shall shine more bright in these contents1 ,than unswept stone besmear'd with sluttish time4 ,when wasteful war shall statues overturn iconoclasm1 ,and broils civil war root out the work of masonry1 ,nor ,mars his sword1 nor war's quick fire shall burn ,the living record of your memory4' ,what is it1 then1 that this prophet is relying on8 ,is it a manuscript8 ,is it the recent invention of goose-quills which he is celebrating here with so much lyrical pomp1 in so many1 many lyrics8 ,here1 for instance3-- ',his beauty shall in these black lines be seen1 ,and they shall live1 and he in them still green4' ,and here-- ',o where1 alack6 ,shall time's best jewel from time's chest lie hid8 ,or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back8 ,or who his spoil of beauty can forbid8 ,o none1 unless this miracle this miracle have might1 that in black ink--' ,is this printer's ink8 ,or is it the ink of the prompter's book8 or the fading ink of those loose papers1 so soon to be 'yellowed with age1' scattered about no one knew where1 that some busy-body1 who had nothing else to do1 might perhaps take it into his head to save8 ',o none1 unless this miracle'--,,this ,,miracle1 the rejoicing scholar and man of letters1 who was not for an age1 but for all time1 cries--defying tyranny1 laughing at princes' edicts1 reaching into his own great assured futurity across the gulfs of civil war1 planting his feet upon that sure ground1 and singing songs of triumph over the spent tombs of brass and tyrants' crests2 like that orator who was to make an oration in public1 and found himself a little straitened in time to fit his words to his mouth as he had a mind to do1 when ,eros1 one of his slaves1 brought him word that the audience was deferred till the next day2 at which he was so ravished with joy1 that he enfranchised him4 ',this miracle4' ,he knows what miracles are1 for he has told us2 but none other knew what miracle this was that he is celebrating here with all this wealth of symphonies4 ',o none1 unless this miracle have might1 ,that in black ink my love may still shine bright4' ',my love1'--wait till you know what it is1 and do not think to know with the first or second reading of poems1 that are on the surface of them scholastic1 academic1 mystical1 obtrusively enigmatical4 ,perhaps1 after all1 it is that ,eros who was enfranchised1 emancipated4 ',but thy eternal summer shall not fade1 ,nor lose possession of that fair thou owest thou owes61 ,nor shall death brag thou wanderest in his shade1 ,when in eternal lines to time thou growest4 ,so long as men can breathe1 or eyes can see1 ,so long lives this1 and this gives life to--thee6 ,but here is our prophecy1 which we have undertaken to read with the aid of this collation3-- ',when wasteful war shall statues overturn1 ,and broils root out the work of masonry2 ,nor ,mars his sword1 nor war's quick fire shall burn ,the living record of your memory4 ',gainst death1 and all oblivious enmity1 ,shall ,,you pace forth4 ,your praise shall still find room1 ,even in the eyes collateral sounds of all posterity1 ,that wear this world out to the ending doom4 ,so1 till the ,,judgment that ,,yourself arise till then1 ,you live in this1 and dwell in lovers' eyes4' ,see the passages at the commencement of this chapter1 if there be any doubt as to this reading4 ',in lover's eyes4' ,leonatus ,posthumus4 ,shall's have a ,play of this8 ,thou scornful ,page1 ,there lie thy part4 ,to ,imogen disguised as ,fidele4 ,the consideration which qualified1 in the mind of the ,author of the ,advancement of ,learning1 the great difficulty which the question of civil government presented at that time1 is the key to this 'plot4' ,for men1 and not ',romans' only1 'are like sheep2' and if you can but get some few to go right1 the rest will follow4 ,that was the plan4 ,to create a better leadership of men1--to form a new order and union of men1--a new nobility of men1 acquainted with the doctrine of their own nature1 and in league for its advancement1 to seize the 'thoughts' of those whose law is the law of the larger activity1 and 'inform them with nobleness1'--was the plan4 ,for these the inner school was opened2 for these its ascending platforms were erected4 ,for these that 'closet' and 'cabinet1' where the 'simples' of the ,shake-spear philosophy are all locked and labelled1 was built4 ,for these that secret 'cabinet of the ,muses1' where the ,delphic motto is cut anew1 throws out its secret lures1--its gay1 many-coloured1 deceiving lures1--its secret labyrinthine clues1--for all lines in this building meet in that centre4 ,all clues here unwind to that4 ,for these--for the minds on whom the continuation of this enterprise was by will devolved1 the key to that cabinet--the historical key to its inmost compartment of philosophic mysteries1 was carefully laboured and left1--pointed to--pointed to with immortal gesticulations1 and left 7',what ,i cannot speak1 ,i point out with my finger'72 the key to that ',verulamian cabinet1' which we shall hear of when the fictitious correspondence in which the more secret history of this time was written1 comes to be opened4 ,that cabinet where the subtle argument that was inserted in the ,poem or the ,play1 but buried there in its gorgeous drapery1 is laid bare in prose as subtle 7',i here scatter it up and down indifferently for verse'72 where the new truth that was spoken in jest1 as well as in parables1 to those who were without1 is unfolded1--that truth which moved unseen amid the gambols of the masque1--preferring to raise questions rather than objections1--which stalked in1 without suspicion1 in 'the hobby-horse' of the clown1--which the laugh of the groundlings was so often in requisition to cover1--that 'to beguile the time looked like the time1'--that 'looked like the flower1 and was the serpent under it4' ,for these that secret place of confidential communication was provided1 where 'the argument' of all these ,plays is opened without respect to the 'offence in it1'--to its utmost reach of abstruseness and subtlety--in its utmost reach of departure from 'the road of common opinion1'--where the ,elizabethan secrets of ,morality1 and ,policy and ,religion1 which made the ,parables of the ,new ,doctrine1 are unrolled1 at last1 in all the new1 artistic glories of that 'wrapped up' intention4 ,this is the second use of the ,fable in which we resume that dropped argument1--dropped for that time1 while ,caesar still commanded his thirty legions2 and when the question1 ',how long to philosophise8' being started in the schools again1 the answer returned still was1 ',until our armies cease to be commanded by fools4' ,this is that second use of the ,fable where we find the moral of it at last1--that moral which our moralists have missed in it1--that moral which is not 'vulgar and common-place1' but abstruse1 and out of the road of common opinion1--that moral in which the ,moral ,science1 which is the ,wisdom of the ,moderns1 lurks4 ,it is to these that the ,wise ,man of our ages speaks 7for we have him1--we do not wait for him71 in the act of displaying a little1 and folding up for the future1 his plan of a ,scientific ,human ,culture2 it is to these that he speaks when he says1 with a little of that obscurity which 'he mortally hates1 and would avoid if he could'3 ',as ,philocrates sported with ,demosthenes1' you may not marvel1 ,athenians1 that ,demosthenes and ,i do differ1 for he drinketh water1 and ,i drink wine2 and like as we read of an ancient parable of the two gates of sleep '444 so if we put on sobriety and attention1 we shall find it a sure maxim in knowledge1 that the pleasant liquor of wine is the more vaporous1 and the braver gate of ivory sendeth forth the falser dreams4' ',i1' says ',michael1' who is also in favour of 'sobriety1' and critical upon excesses of all kinds1 ',i have ever observed1 that super-celestial theories and sub-terranean manners are in singular accordance4' ,and in his general proposal to lay open 'those parts of learning which lie fresh and waste1 and not improved and converted by the industry of man1 to the end that such a plot1 made and committed to memory1 may both minister light to any public designation1 and also serve to excite voluntary endeavours1' he says1 ',i do foresee that of those things which ,i shall enter and register as deficiencies and omissions1 many will conceive and censure that some of them are already done1 and extant1 others to be but curiosities and things of no great use' such as the question of style1 for instance1 and those 'particular' arts of tradition to which this remark is afterwards applied--and others to be of too great difficulty--and almost impossibility--to be compassed and effected2 but for the two first1 ,i refer myself to particulars2 for the last1--touching impossibility1--,i take it those things are to be held possible1 which may be done by some person1 though not by every one2 and which may be done by many1 though not by any one2 and which may be done in succession of ages1 though not within the hour-glass of one man's life2 and which may be done by public designation1 though not by private endeavour4 ,that was 'the plot'--that was the plan of the ,elizabethan ,innovation4 ,,the ,,enigma ,,of ,,leonatus ,,posthumus4 ',when as a lion's whelp shall1 to himself unknown1 without seeking find1 and be embraced by a piece of tender air2 and when from a stately cedar shall be lopped branches1 which1 being dead many years1 shall after revive1 be jointed to the old stock1 and freshly grow2 then shall ,posthumus end his miseries1 ,britain be fortunate1 and flourish in peace and plenty4' ,,the ,,verulamian ,,cabinet1 ,,and ,,its ,,workmanship4 ,here1 for instance1 is a specimen of the manner in which scholars who write about these times1 allude to the reserved parts of this philosophy1 and to those 'richer and bolder meanings1' which could not then be inserted in the acknowledged writings of so great a person4 ,this is a specimen of the manner in which a posthumous collection and reintegration of this philosophy1 and a posthumous emancipation of it1 is referred to1 by scholars who write from the ,continent somewhere about these days4 ,whether the date of the writing be a little earlier or a little later1--some fifty years or so1--it does not seem to make much difference as to the general intent and purport of it4 ,here is a scholar1 for instance1 whose main idea of life on this planet it appears to be1 to collect the philosophy1 and protect the posthumous fame of the ,lord ,bacon4 ,for this purpose1 he has established a literary intimacy1 quite the most remarkable one on record--at least1 between scholars of different and remote nationalities--between himself and two ,english gentlemen1 a ,mr4 ,smith1 and the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,rawley4 ,he writes from the ,hague but he appears to have acquired in some way a most extraordinary insight into this business4 ',though ,i thought that ,i had already sufficiently showed what veneration ,i had for the illustrious ,lord ,verulam1 yet ,i shall take such care for the future1 that it may not possibly be denied1 that ,i endeavoured most zealously to make this thing known to the learned world4 ,but neither shall this design of setting forth in one volume all the ,lord ,bacon's works1 proceed without consulting you'--,this letter is addressed to the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,rawley1 and is dated a number of years after ,lord ,bacon's death--'without consulting you1 and without inviting you to cast in your symbol1 worthy such an excellent edition3 that so the appetite of the reader'--,it was a time when symbols of various kinds--large and small--were much in use in the learned world--'that so the appetite of the reader1 provoked already by his published works1 may be further gratified by the pure novelty of so considerable an appendage4 ',for the ,french interpreter1 who patched together his things ,i know not whence1 and tacked that motley piece to him2 they shall not have place in this great collection4 ,but yet ,i hope to obtain your leave to publish a-part1 as an appendix to the ,natural ,history1--that exotic work1--gathered together from this and the other place 7of his lordship's writings71 that is the true account of it and by me translated into--,latin4 ',for seeing the genuine pieces of the ,lord ,bacon are already extant1 and in many hands1 it is necessary that the foreign reader be given to understand of what threads the texture of that book consists1 and how much of truth there is in that which that shameless person does1 in his preface to the reader1 so stupidly write of you4 ',my brother1 of blessed memory1 turned his words into ,latin1 in the ,first ,edition of the ,natural ,history1 having some suspicion of the fidelity of an unknown author4 ,i will1 in the ,second ,edition1 repeat them1 and with just severity animadvert upon them3 that they1 into whose hands that work comes1 may know it to be rather patched up of many distinct pieces2 how much soever the author bears himself upon the specious title of ,verulam4 ,unless1 perhaps1 ,i should particularly suggest in your name1 that these words were there inserted1 by way of caution2 and lest malignity and rashness should any way blemish the fame of so eminent a person4 ',if my fate would permit me to live according to my wishes1 ,i would fly over into ,england1 that ,i might behold whatsoever remaineth in your ,cabinet of the ,verulamian workmanship1 and at least make my eyes witnesses of it1 if the possession of the merchandise be yet denied to the public4 ,at present ,i will support the wishes of my impatient desire1 with hope of seeing1 one day1 those 7issues7 which being committed to faithful privacy1 wait the time till they may safely see the light1 and not be stifled in their birth4 ',i wish1 in the mean time1 ,i could have a sight of the copy of the ,epistle to ,sir ,henry ,savil1 concerning the ,helps of the ,intellectual ,powers3 for ,i am persuaded1 as to the other ,latin remains1 that ,i shall not obtain1for present use1 the removal of them from the place in which they now are4' ,extract of a letter from ,mr4 ,isaac ,gruter4 ,here is the beginning of it3-- ',,to ,,the ,,rev4 ,,wm4 ,,rawley1 ,d4,d4 ',isaac ,gruter wisheth much health4 ',reverend ,sir1--,it is not just to complain of the slowness of your answer1 seeing that the difficulty of the passage1 in the season in which you wrote1 which was towards winter1 might easily cause it to come no faster2 seeing likewise there is so much to be found in it which may gratify desire1 and perhaps so much the more1 the longer it was ere it came to my hands4 ,and although ,i had little to send back1 besides my thanks for the little ,index1 yet that seemed to me of such moment that ,i would no longer suppress them3 especially because ,i accounted it a crime to have suffered ,mr4 ,smith to have been without an answer3 ,mr4 ,smith1 my most kind friend1 and to whose care1 in my matters1 ,i owe all regard and affection1 yet without diminution of that 7part and that no small one neither7 in which ,dr4 ,rawley hath place4 ,so that the souls of us three1 so throughly agreeing1 may be aptly said to have united in a triga4' ,it is not necessary1 of course1 to deny the historical claims of the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,rawley1 who is sufficiently authenticated2 or even of ,mr4 ,smith himself1 who would no doubt be able to substantiate himself1 in case a particular inquiry were made for him2 and it would involve a serious departure from the method of invention usually employed in this association1 which did not deal with shadows when contemporary instrumentalities were in requisition1 if the solidarity of ,mr4 ,isaac ,gruter himself should admit of a moment's question4 ,the precautions of this secret1 but so powerful league1--the skill with which its instrumentalities were selected and adapted to its ends1 is characterised by that same matchless dramatic power1 which betrays 'the source from which it springs' even when it 'only plays at working4' ,but if any one is anxious to know who the third person of this triga really was1 or is1 a glance at the ,directory would enable such a one to arrive at a truer conclusion than the first reading of this letter would naturally suggest4 ,for this is none other than the person whom the principle of this triga1 and its enlightened sentiment and bond of union1 already symbolically comprehended1 whom it was intended to comprehend ultimately in all the multiplicity and variety of his historical manifestations1 though it involved a deliberate plan for reducing and suppressing his many-headedness1 and restoring him to the use of his one only mind4 ,for though the name of this person is often spelt in three letters1 and oftener in one1 it takes all the names in the ,directory to spell it in full4 ,for this is none other than the person that ',michael' refers to so often and with so much emphasis1 glancing always at his own private name1 and the singular largeness and comprehensiveness of his particular and private constitution4 ',all the world knows me in my book1 and my book in me4' ',i1 the first of any1 by my universal being4 ,every man carries with him the entire form of human condition4' ,but the name of ,mr4 ,isaac ,gruter was not less comprehensive1 and could be made to represent the whole triga in an emergency1 as well as another2 ',i take so great pleasure in being judged and known that it is almost indifferent to me in which of the two forms ,i am so' though that does not hinder him from inviting ,dr4 ,eawley to cast in his symbol1 which was 'so considerable an appendage4' ,for though the very smallest circle sometimes represents it1 it was none other than the symbol that gave name to the theatre in which the illustrated works of this school were first exhibited2 the theatre which hung out for its sign on the outer wall1 ',hercules and his load too4' ,at a time when 'conceits' and 'devices in letters1' when anagrams and monograms1 and charades1 and all kinds of 'racking of orthography' were so much in use1 not as curiosities merely1 but to avoid another kind of 'racking1' a cipher referred to in this philosophy as the 'wheel cipher1' which required the letters of the alphabet to be written in a circle to serve as a key to the reading1 supplies a clue to some of these symbols4 ,the first three letters of the alphabet representing the whole in the circle1 formed a character or symbol which was often made to stand as a 'token' for a proper name1 easily spelt in that way1 when phonography and anagrams were in such lively and constant use1--while it made1 at the same time1 a symbolical representation of the radical doctrine of the new school in philosophy1--a school then so new1 that its ',doctors' were compelled to 'pray in the aid of simile1' even in affixing their names to their own works1 in some cases4 ,and that same letter which was capable of representing in this secret language either the microcosm1 or 'the larger whole1' as the case required 7either with1 or without the eye or ,i in it1 sending rays to the circumference7 sufficed also to spell the name of the ,grand ,master of this lodge1--'who also was a man1 take him for all in all1'--the man who took two hemispheres for 'his symbol4' ,that was the so considerable appendage which his friend alludes to1--though 'the natural gaiety of disposition1' of which we have so much experience in other places1 and which the gravity of these pursuits happily does not cloud1 suggests a glance in passing at another signification1 which we find alluded to also in another place in ,mrs4 ,quickly's ',latin4' ,mere frivolities as these conceits and private and retired arts seem now1 the ,author of the ,advancement of ,learning tells us1 that to those who have spent their labours and studies in them1 they seem great matters1 referring particularly to that cipher in which it is possible to write omnia per omnia1 and stopping to fasten the key of it to his 'index' of 'the principal and supreme sciences1'--those sciences 'which being committed to faithful privacy1 wait the time when they may safely see the light1 and not be stifled in their birth4' ,new constructions1 according to true definitions1 was the plan1--this triga was the initiative4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,the ,,ignorant ,,election ,,revoked4--,a ,,wrestling ,,instance4 ',for as they were men of the best composition in the state of ,rome1 which1 either being consuls1 inclined to the people' ',if he would but incline to the people1 there never was a worthier man'1 'or being tribunes1 inclined to the senate1 so1 in the matter which we handle now doctrine of ,cure1 they be the best physicians which1 being learned1 incline to the traditions of experience2 or1 being empirics1 incline to the methods of learning4' ,advancement of ,learning4 ,but while the ,man of ,science was yet planning these vast scientific changes--vast1 but noiseless and beautiful as the movements of ,god in nature--there was another kind of revolution brewing4 ,all that time there was a cloud on his political horizon--'a huge one1 a black one'--slowly and steadfastly accumulating1 and rolling up from it1 which he had always an eye on4 ,he knew there was that in it which no scientific apparatus that could be put in operation then1 on so short a notice1 and when science was so feebly aided1 would be able to divert or conduct entirely4 ,he knew that so fearful a war-cloud would have to burst1 and get overblown1 before any chance for those peace operations1 those operations of a solid and lasting peace1 which he was bent on1 could be had--before any space on the earth could be found broad enough for his ,novum ,organum to get to work on1 before the central levers of it could begin to stir4 ,that revolution which 'was singing in the wind' then to his ear1 was one which would have to come first in the chronological order2 but it was easy enough to see that it was not going to be such a one1 in all respects1 as a man of his turn of genius would care to be out in with his works4 ,he knew well enough what there was in it4 ,he had not been so long in such sharp daily collision with the elements of it--he had not been so long trying conclusions with them under such delicate conditions1 conditions requiring so nice an observation--without arriving at some degree of assurance in regard to their main properties1 without attaining1 indeed1 to what he calls knowledge on that subject--knowledge as distinguished from opinion--so as to be able to predict 'with a near aim' the results of the possible combinations4 ,the conclusion of this observation was1 that the revolutionary movements then at hand were not1 on the whole1 likely to be conducted throughout on rigidly scientific principles4 ,the spectacle of a people violently 'revoking their ignorant election1' and empirically seeking to better their state under such leaders as such a movement was likely to throw up1 and that1 too1 when the old military government was still so strong in moral forces1 so sure of a faction in the state--of a faction of the best1 which would cleave the state to the centre1 which would resist with the zealot's fire unto blood and desperation the unholy innovation--that would stand on the last plank of the wrecked order1 and wade through seas of slaughter to restore it2 the prospect of untried political innovation1 under such circumstances1 did not present itself to this ,poet's imagination in a form so absolutely alluring1 as it might have done to a philosopher of a less rigidly inductive1 turn of mind4 ,his canvas1 with its magic draught of the coming event1 includes already some contingencies which the programme of the theoretical speculator in revolutions would have been far enough from including then1 when such movements were yet untried in modern history1 and the philosopher had to go back to mythical ,rome to borrow an historical frame of one that would contain his piece4 ,the conviction that the crash was1 perhaps1 inevitable1 that the overthrow of the existing usurpation1 and the restoration of the ,english subject to his rights1--a movement then already determined on1--would perhaps involve these so tragic consequences--the conviction that the revolution was at hand1 was the conviction with which he made his arrangements for the future4 ,but if any one would like to see now for himself what vigorous grasp of particulars this inductive science of state involves1 what a clear1 comprehensive1 and masterly basis of history it rests on1 and how totally unlike the philosophy of prenotions it is in this respect--if one would see what breadth of revolutionary surges this ,artist of the peace principles was able to span with his arches and sleepers1 what upheavings from the then unsounded depths of political contingencies1 what upliftings from the last depths of the revolutionary abysses1 this science of stability1 this science of the future ,,state1 is settled on1--such a one must explore this work yet further1 and be able to find and unroll in it that revolutionary picture which it contains--that scientific exhibition which the ,elizabethan statesman has contrived to fold in it of a state in which the elements are already cleaving and separating1 one in which the historical solidities are already in solution1 or struggling towards it--prematurely1 perhaps1 and in danger of being surprised and overtaken by new combinations1 not less oppressive and unscientific than the old4 ',unless philosophy can make a ,juliet1 ,displant a town1 reverse a prince's doom1 ,hang up philosophy'-- wrote this ,poet's fire of old4 ',canst thou not minister to a mind diseased8' it writes again4 ,no8 ',throw physic to the dogs1 ,i'll none of it4' ',see now what learning is1' says the practical-minded nurse1 quite dazzled and overawed with that exhibition of it which has just been brought within her reach1 and expressing1 in the readiest and largest terms which her vocabulary supplies to her1 her admiration of the practical bent of ,friar ,laurence's genius2 who seems to be doing his best to illustrate the idea which another student1 who was not a ,friar exactly1 was undertaking to demonstrate from his cell about that time--the idea of the possibility of converging a large and studious observation of nature in general1--and it is a very large and curious one which this ,friar betrays1--upon any of those ordinary questions of domestic life1 which are constantly recurring for private solution4 ,and though this knowledge might seem to be 'so variable as it falleth not under precept1' the prose philosopher is of the opinion that 'a universal insight1 and a wisdom of council and advice1 gathered by general observation of cases of like nature1' is available for the particular instances which occur in this department4 ,and the philosophic poet appears to be of his opinion2 for there is no end to the precepts which he inducts from this 'variable knowledge' when he gets it on his table of review1 in the form of natural history1 in 'prerogative cases' and 'illustrious instances1' cases cleared from their accidental and extraneous adjuncts--ideal cases4 ,and though this poor ,friar does not appear to have been very successful in this particular instance2 if we take into account the fact that 'the ,tragedy was the thing1' and that nothing but a tragedy would serve his purpose1 and that all his learning was converged on that effect2 if we take into account the fact that this is a scientific experiment1 and that the characters are sacrificed for the sake of the useful conclusions1 the success will not perhaps appear so questionable as to throw any discredit upon this new theory of the applicability of learning to questions of this nature4 ',unless philosophy can make a ,juliet4' ,but this is the philosophy that did that very thing1 and the one that made a ,hamlet also1 besides 'reversing a prince's doom'2 for this is the one that takes into account those very things in heaven and earth which ,horatio had omitted in his abstractions2 and this is the philosopher who speaks from his philosophic chair of 'men of good composition1' and who gives a recipe for composing them4 ',unless philosophy can make a ,juliet1' is ,romeo's word4 ',see now what learning is1' is the ,nurse's commentary2 for that same ,friar1 demure as he looks now under his hood1 talking of 'simples' and great nature's latent virtues1 is the one that will cog the nurse's hearts from them1 and come back beloved of all the trades in ,rome4 ,with his new art of 'composition' he will compose1 not ,juliets nor ,hamlets only2 mastering the radicals1 he will compose1 he will dissolve and recompose ultimately the greater congregation2 for the powers in nature are always one1 and they are not many4 ,let us see now1 then1 what it is1--this 'universal insight in the affairs of the world1' this 'wisdom of counsel and advice1 gathered from cases of a like nature1' with an observation that includes all natures1--let us see what this new wisdom of counsel is1 when it comes to be applied to this huge growth of the state1 this creature of the ages2 and in its great crisis of disorder--shaken1 convulsed-- wrapped in elemental horror1 and threatening to dissolve into its primal warring atoms4 ',doctor1 the ,thanes fly from me4' ',if thou couldst1 ,doctor1 cast ,the water of ,,my ,,land1 find her disease1 ,and purge it to a sound and pristine health1 ,i would applaud thee to the very echo1 ,that should applaud again4' ',what rhubarb1 senna1 or what purgative drug1 ,would scour these ,english hence8 ,hear'st thou of them8' ',cousins1 ,i hope the days are near at hand ,that chambers will be safe4' ,let us see1 then1 what it is that this man will have1 who criticises so severely the learning of other men1--who disposes so scornfully1 right and left1 of the physic and metaphysic of the schools as he finds them1--who daffs the learning of the world aside1 and bids it pass4 ,let us see what the learning is that is not 'words1' as ,hamlet says1 complaining of the reading in his book4 ,this part has been taken out from its dramatic connections1 and reserved for a separate exhibition1 on account of a certain new and peculiar value it has acquired since it was produced in those connections4 ,time has changed it 'into something rich and strange1'--,time has framed it1 and poured her illustration on it3 it is history now4 ,that flaming portent1 this aurora that fills the seer's heaven1 these fierce angry warriors1 that are fighting here upon the clouds1 'in ranks1 and squadrons1 and right forms of war1' are but the marvels of that science that lays the future open4 ',there is a history in all men's lives1 ,figuring the nature of the times deceased2 ,the which observed1 a man may prophesy1 ,with a near aim1 of the main chance of things ,as yet not come to life1 which1 in their seeds ,and weak beginnings1 lie intreasured4 ,such things become the hatch and brood of time4' ',one need not go to heaven to predict imminent changes and revolutions1' says that other philosopher1 who scribbles on this same subject about these days in such an entertaining manner1 and who brings so many 'buckets' from 'the headspring of sciences1' to water his plants in this field in particular4 ',that which most threatens us is a divulsion of the whole mass4' ,this part is produced here1 then1 as a specimen of that kind of prophecy which one does not need to go to heaven for4 ,and the careful reader will observe1 that notwithstanding the distinct disavowal of any supernatural gift on the part of this seer1 and this frank explanation of the mystery of his ,art1 the prophecy appears to compare not unfavourably with others which seem to come to us with higher claims4 ,a very useful and very remarkable kind of prophecy indeed1 this inductive prophecy appears to be2 and the question arises1 whether a kind1 endowed of ,god with a faculty of seeing1 which commands the future in so inclusive a manner1 and with so near and sufficient an aim for the most important practical purposes1 ought to be besieging ,heaven for a supernatural gift1 and questioning the ancient seers for some vague shadows of the coming event1 instead of putting this immediate endowment--this 'godlike' endowment--under culture4 ,there is another reason for reserving this part4 ,in the heat and turmoil of this great ,,act1 the ,muse of the ,inductive ,science drops her mask1 and she forgets to take it up again4 ,the hand that is put forth to draw 'the next ages' into the scene1 when the necessary question of the play requires it1 is bare4 ,it is the ,man of ,learning here everywhere1 without any disguise1--the man of the new learning1 openly applying his 'universal insight1' and 'wisdom of counsel and advice1 gathered by general observation of cases of like nature1' to this great question of ',policy1' which was then hurrying on1 with such portentous movement1 to its inevitable practical solution4 ,he who would see at last for himself1 then1 the trick of this ',magician1' when he 'brings the rabble to his place1' the reader who would know at last why it is that these old ,roman graves 'have waked their sleepers1 oped1 and let them forth1 by his so potent art'2 and why it is1 that at this great crisis in ,english history1 the noise of the old ,roman battle hurtles so fiercely in the ,english ear1 should read now--but read as a work of natural science in politics1 from the scientific statesman's hands1 deserves to be read--this great revolutionary scene1 which the ,poet1 for reasons of his own1 has buried in the heart of this ,play1 which he has subordinated with his own matchless skill to the general intention of it1 but which we1 for the sake of pursuing that general intention with the less interruption1 now that the storm appears to be 'overblown1' may safely reserve for the conclusion of our reading of this scientific history1 and criticism1 and rejection of the ,military ,usurpation of the ,,common-,,weal4 ,the reading of it is very simple4 ,one has only to observe that the ,poet avails himself of the dialogue here1 with even more than his usual freedom1 for the purpose of disposing of the bolder passages1 in the least objectionable manner1--interrupting the statement in critical points1 and emphasizing it1 by that interruption1 to the careful reader 'of the argument1' but to the spectator1 or to one who takes it as a dialogue merely1 neutralizing it by that dramatic opposition4 ,for the political criticism1 which is of the boldest1 passes safely enough1 by being merely broken1 and put into the mouths of opposing factions1 who are just upon the point of coming to blows upon the stage1 and cannot1 therefore1 be suspected of collusion4 ,for the popular magistracy1 as it represents the ignorance1 and stupidity1 and capricious tyranny of the multitude1 and their unfitness for rule1 is subjected to the criticism of the true consulship1 on the one hand1 while the military usurpation of the chair of state1 and the law of ,conquest1 is not less severely criticized by the true ,tribune--the ,tribune1 whose ,tribe is the ,kind--on the other2 and it was not necessary to produce1 in any more prominent manner1 just then1 the fact1 that both these offices and relations were combined in that tottering estate of the realm1--that 'old riotous form of military government1' which held then only by the virtual election of the stupidity and ignorance of the people1 and which1 this ,poet and his friends were about to put on its trial1 for its innovations in the government1 and suppressions of the ancient estates of this realm1--for its suppression of the dignities and privileges of the ,nobility1 and its suppression of the chartered dignities and rights of the ,commons4 ,scene4--,a ,street4 ,cornets4 ,enter ,,coriolanus with his two military friends1 who have shared with him the conduct of the ,volscian wars1 and have but just returned from their campaign1 ,,cominius and ,,titus ,,lartius1--and with them the old civilian ,,menenius1 who1 patrician as he is1 on account of his honesty1--a truly patrician virtue1--is in favour with the people4 ',he's an honest one4 ,would they were all so4' ,the military element predominates in this group of citizens1 and of course1 they are talking of the wars1--the foreign wars3 but the principle of inroad and aggression on the one hand1 and defence on the other1 the arts of subjugation1 and reconciliation1 the arts of ,,war and ,,government in their most general forms are always cleared and identified1 and tracked1 under the specifications of the scene4 ,cor4 ,tullus ,aufidius then had made ,,new ,,head4 ,lart4 ,he had1 my lord1 and that it was1 which caused ,our swifter ,,composition4 ,cor4 ,so then1 the ,volsces stand but as at first1 ,ready1 when time shall prompt them1 to make road ,upon us again4 ,com4 ,they ,volsces8 are worn1 lord consul1 so ,that we shall hardly in our ages see ,their banners wave again4 99 99 99 99 99 ,enter ,sicinius and ,brutus4 ,cor4 ,behold6 these are the tribunes of the people1 ,the tongues o' the common mouth4 ,i do despise them2 ,for they do prank them in authority1 ,against all noble sufferance4 ,sic4 ,pass no further4 ,cor4 ,ha6 what is that8 ,bru4 ,it will be dangerous to ,go on3 ,no further4 ,cor4 ,what makes this ,,change8 ,men4 ,the matter8 ,com4 ,hath he not passed the ,,nobles and the ,,commons8 ,bru4 ,cominius4--,no4 ,cor4 ,have ,i had children's voices8 ,yes4 ,sen4 ,tribunes1 give way3--he shall to the market-place4 ,bru4 ,the people are incensed against him4 ,sic4 ,stop4 ,or all will fall in broil4 ,cor4 ,are these your herd8 ,must these have voices that can yield them now1 ,and straight disclaim their tongues8 ,you1 being their mouths1 why rule you not their teeth8 ,have you not set them on8 ,men4 ,be calm1 be calm4 ,cor4 ,it is a purposed thing1 and grows by plot1 ,to curb the will of the nobility3-- ,suffer it1 and live with such as cannot rule1 ,nor ever will be ruled4 ,bru4 ,call't not a plot3 ,the people cry you mocked them2 and of late1 ,when corn was given them gratis1 you repined2 ,scandaled the suppliants for the people2 called them ,time-pleasers1 flatterers1 foes to nobleness4 ,cor4 ,why1 this was known before4 ,bru4 ,not to them all4 ,cor4 ,have you informed them since8 ,bru4 ,how6 ,i inform them8 ,cor4 ,you are like to do such business4 ,bru4 ,not unlike1 ,each way to better yours4 ,cor4 ,why then should ,i be consul8 ,by yon clouds1 ,let me deserve so ill as you1 and make me ,your fellow tribune4 ,sic4 ,you show too much of that1 ,for which the people stir3 ,if you will pass ,to where you are bound1 you must inquire your way1-- ,which you are out of1--with a gentler spirit2 ,or never be so noble as a consul1 ,nor yoke with him for tribune4 ,men4 ,let's be calm4 ,com4 ,the people are abused2--set on--this paltering ,becomes not ,rome3 nor has ,coriolanus ,deserved this so dishonoured rub1 laid falsely ,i' the plain way of his merit4 ,cor4 ,tell me of corn3 ,this was my speech1 and ,i will speak't again4 ,men4 ,not now1 not now4 ,first ,sen4 ,not in this heat1 sir1 now4 ,cor4 ,now1 as ,i live1 ,i will4--,my nobler friends ,i crave their pardons3-- ,for the mutable1 rank scented many1 let them ,regard me1 as ,i do not flatter1 and ,therein behold themselves3 ,i say again1 ,in soothing them1 we nourish 'gainst our senate1 ,the cockle of rebellion1 insolence1 sedition1 ,which we ourselves have ploughed for1 sowed and scattered1 ,by mingling them with us1 the honoured number4 ,who lack not virtue1 no1--nor power1 but that ,which they have given to--,,beggars4 ,men4 ,well1 no more4 ,first ,sen4 ,no more words1 we beseech you4 ,cor4 ,how1 no more3 ,as for my country1 ,i have shed my blood1 ,not fearing outward force1 so shall my lungs ,coin words till their decay against those meazels ,which we disdain1 should tetter us1 yet sought ,the very way to catch them4 ,bru4 ,you speak o' the people1 ,as if you were a god to punish1 not ,a man of their infirmity4 ,sic4 ',t were well ,we let the people know't4 ,men4 ,what1 what8 his choler4 ,cor4 ,choler6 ,were ,i as patient as the midnight sleep1 ,by ,jove1 't would be my mind4 ,sic4 ,it is a mind1 ,that shall remain a poison where it is1 ,not poison any further4 ,cor4 ,shall remain6 ,hear you this ,triton of the minnows8 mark you ,his absolute ,,shall8 ,com4 ',twas from the canon1 ,o good1 but most unwise patricians1 why ,you grave1 but reckless senators1 have you thus ,given ,hydra here to choose ,,an ,,officer1 ,that with his peremptory shall--being but ,the horn and noise o' the monster--wants not spirit ,to say1 he'll turn your current in a ditch1 ,and make your channel his8 ,if he have power1 ,then veil your ,,ignorance3--that let him have it4 --if none1 awake ,your dangerous ,,lenity4 ,mark it well1 for it is not1 as one may see who looks at it but a little1 it is not the lost ,roman weal and its danger that fires the passion of this speech4 ',look at this player whether he has not turned his colour1 and has tears in his eyes4' ',what's ,hecuba to him or he to ,hecuba1 that he should weep for her8 ,what would he do1 had he the motive and the cue for passion that ,i have4' --if none1 awake ,your dangerous lenity4 ,if you are learned1 ,be not as common fools2 if you are not-- ,what do you draw this foolish line for1 that separates you from the commons8 ,if you are not1 there's no nobility4 ,if you are not1 what business have you in these chairs of state8 --if you are not1 ,let them have cushions by you4 ,you are plebeians1 ,if they be senators2 and they are no less1 ,when both your voices blended1 the ,,greatest ,,taste ,most palates theirs4 ,they choose their magistrate2 ,and such a one as he1 who puts his shall1-- ,mark it1 his popular shall4 ,his popular shall1 against a graver bench ,than ever frown'd in ,greece6 ,by ,jove himself1 ,it makes the consuls base3 and my soul aches1 ,to know1 when two authorities are up1 ,neither able to rule4 ,neither supreme1 how soon confusion ,may enter twixt the ,,gap of ,,both1 and take ,the one by the other4 ,com4 ,well1--on to the market place4 ,cor4 ,whoever gave that counsel1 to give forth ,the corn o' the store-house gratis1 as 'twas used ,sometime in ,greece4 ,it is not corn1 but the property of the state1 and its appropriation1 we talk of here4 ,whether the absolute power be in the hands of the people or 'their officer4' ,there had been a speech made on that subject1 which had not met with the approbation of the absolute power then conducting the affairs of this realm2 and in its main principle1 it is repeated here4 ',that was my speech1 and ,i will make it again4' ',not now1 not now4 ,not in this heat1 sir1 now4' ',now1 as ,i live1 ,i will4' ,men4 ,well1 well1 no more of that1 ,cor4 ,though there ,,the ,,people had more absolute power1 ,i say they nourished disobedience1 fed ,the ruin of the state4 ,bru4 ,why shall the people give ,one that speaks thus their voice8 ,cor4 ,i'll give my reasons1 ,more worthier than their voices4 ,they know the corn ,was not our ,,recompense2 resting well assured ,they ne'er did service for it8 4 4 4 ,well1 what then8 ,how shall this bosom multiplied1 digest2 ,the senate's courtesy8 ,let deeds express ,what's like to be their words4 ,we did request it1 ,,we are ,,the ,,greater ,,poll1 and in true fear ,they gave us our demands4 ,thus we debase ,the nature of our seats1 and make the rabble ,call our cares1 fears3 which will in time break ope ,the locks o' the senate1 and bring in the crows ,to peck the eagles4 ,mem4 ,come1 enough4 ,bru4 ,enough1 with over measure4 ,cor4 ,no1 take more2 ,what may be sworn by1 both divine and human1 ,seal what ,i end withal6 ,this double worship1-- ,where one part does disdain with cause1 the other ,insult without all reason2 where gentry1 title1 wisdom1 ,cannot conclude1 but by the yea and no ,of ,general ,ignorance--it must omit ,real necessities1 and give way the while ,to unstable slightness4 ,,purpose so barred it follows ,nothing is done to purpose3 ,therefore beseech you1-- ,therefore beseech you4 ,you that will be less fearful than discreet2 ,that love the fundamental part of state1 ,more than you doubt the change of't-- ,there was but one man in ,england then1 able to balance this revolutionary proposition so nicely--so curiously2 'that love the fundamental part of state more than you doubt the change of it'2 ',you that are less fearful than discreet'--not so fearful as discreet4 that prefer ,a noble life before a long1 and wish ,to jump a body with a dangerous physic ,that's sure of death without it1--at once pluck out ,the multitudinous tongue2 let them not lick ,the sweet which is their poison2 your dishonour ,,mangles true ,,judgment1 and bereaves ,,the ,,state ,of that ,,integrity which should become it3 ,not having the power to do the good it would1 ,for the ill which doth control it4 ,bru4 ,he has said enough4 ,one would think so4 ,sic4 ,he has spoken like a traitor1 and shall answer ,as traitors do4 ,cor4 ,thou wretch6 despite o'erwhelm thee6 ,what should the people do with these bald tribunes8 ,on whom depending1 their obedience fails ,to the greater bench8 ,in a rebellion1 ,when what's not meet1 but what must be was law ,then were they chosen3 in a better hour1 ,let what is meet1 be said it must be meet1 ,and throw their power i' the dust4 ,bru4 ,,manifest ,,treason4 ,sic4 ,this a ,consul8 ,no4 ,bru4 ,the ,aediles6 ho6 let him be apprehended4 ,sic4 ,go call the people2 ,exit ,brutus in whose name1 myself ,attach thee thee as a traitorous ,,innovator1 ,a ,,foe to the ,,public ,,weal4 ,obey1 ,i charge thee1 ,and follow to thine answer4 ,cor4 ,hence1 old goat6 ,senators and ,patricians4 ,we'll surety him4 ,cor4 ,hence1 rotten thing1 or ,i shall shake thy bones ,out of thy garments4 ,sic4 ,help1 ye citizens4 ,re-enter ,brutus1 with the ,aediles1 and a rabble of citizens4 ,men4 ,on both sides1 more respect4 ,sic4 ,there's ,,he that would ,take from you all your power4 ,bru4 ,seize him1 ,aediles4 ,cit4 ,down with him4 ,down with him4 ,several speak4 ,second ,sen4 ,weapons6 ,weapons6 ,weapons6 ,they all bustle about ,,coriolanus4 ,tribunes1 patricians3--citizens3--what ho3-- ,sicinius1 ,brutus3--,coriolanus3--citizens3-- ,cit4 ,peace6--,peace6--,peace6--stay6--hold6- -peace6 ,men4 ,what is about to be8 ,i am out of breath3 ,confusion's near6 ,i cannot speak3 you tribunes ,to the people4--,coriolanus1 patience3-- ,speak1 good ,sicinius4 ,sic4 ,hear me1 people2--,peace4 ,cit4 ,let's hear our tribune3--,peace1--,speak1 speak1 speak4 ,sic4 ,you are at point to lose your liberties1 ,marcius would have all from you2 ,marcius ,whom late you have named for consul4 ,men4 ,fye1 fye1 fye4 ,that is the way to kindle1 not to quench4 ,sen4 ,to unbuild the city and to lay all flat4 ,sic4 ,what is the city1 but the people4 ,cit4 ,,true1 ,the people are the city4 ,bru4 ,by the consent of ,,all1 we were established ,the people's magistrates4 ,cit4 ,you so remain4 ,men4 ,and so are like to do4 ,cor4 ,that is the way to lay the city flat1 ,to bring the roof to the foundation2 ,and bury all which yet distinctly ranges1 ,in heaps and piles of ruin4 ,sic4 ,this deserves death4 ,bru4 ,or let us stand to our authority1 ,or let us lose it3-- ,truly1 one hears the ,revolutionary voices here4 ,observing the history which is in all men's lives1 ',figuring the nature of the times deceased1 a man may prophesy1' as it would seem1 'with a near aim1'--quite near--'of the main chance of things1 as yet1 not come to life1 which in their weak beginnings lie intreasured4 ,such things become the hatch and brood of time1' this ,poet says2 but art1 it seems1 anticipates that process4 ,there appears to be more of the future here1 than of the times deceased4 ,bru4 ,we do here pronounce ,upon the part of the people1 in whose power ,we were elected theirs1 ,marcius is worthy ,of present death4 ,sic4 ,therefore1 lay hold of him2 ,bear him to the rook ,tarpeian1 and from thence ,into destruction cast him4 ,bru4 diles1 seize him4 ,cit4 ,yield1 ,marcius1 yield4 ,men4 ,hear me1 one word4 ,beseech you1 tribunes1 hear me1 but a word4 diles4 ,peace1 peace4 ,men4 ,be that you seem1 truly your country's friend1 ,and temperately proceed to what you would ,thus violently redress4 ,bru4 ,sir1 those cold ways ,that seem like prudent helps1 are very poisonous4 ,where the disease is violent4--,lay hands upon him1 ,and bear him to the rock4 ,cor4 ,no3 ,i'll die here4 ,drawing his sword4 ,there's some among you have beheld me fighting2 ,come try upon yourselves1 what you have seen me4 ,men4 ,,down with ,,that ,,sword2 tribunes1 withdraw awhile4 ,bru4 ,lay hands upon him4 ,men4 ,help1 help1 ,,marcius1 help6 ,you that be ,,noble1 help him1 young and old4 ,cit4 ,,down ,,with ,,him6 ,,down ,,with ,,him6 ',in this mutiny1 the ,tribunes1 the diles1 and the ,people1 are all ,,beat ,,in1' so the stage direction informs us1 which appears a little singular1 considering there is but one sword drawn1 and the victorious faction does not appear to have the advantage in numbers4 ,it is1 however1 only a temporary success1 as the victors seem to be aware4 ,men4 ,go1 get you to your houses1 be gone away1 ,all will be nought else4 ,second ,sen4 ,get you gone4 ,cor4 ,stand fast1 ,we have as many friends as enemies4 ,men4 ,shall it be put to that8 ,sen4 ,the gods forbid6 ,i pry'thee noble friend1 home to thy house2 ,leave us to ,,cure ,,this ,,cause4 ,men4 ,for 'tis a sore upon us1 ,you cannot tent yourself4 ,begone1 beseech you4 ,com4 ,come1 ,sir1 along with us4 ,cor4 ,i would they were barbarians 7as they are1 ,though in ,rome littered7 not ,romans1 7as they are not1 ,though calved i' the porch o' the ,capitol74 ,men4 ,begone2 ,put not your worthy rage into your tongue2 ,one time will owe another4 ,hear4 ,cor4 ,on fair ground1 ,i could beat forty of them4 ,men4 ,i could myself ,take up a brace of the best of them2 yea1 the two tribunes4 ,com4 ,but now 'tis odds beyond arithmetic3 ,and ,,manhood is called ,,foolery1 when it stands ,against a falling fabric4--,will you hence1 ,before the tag return8 whose rage doth rend ,like interrupted waters1 and o'erbear ,what they are used to bear4 ,change of 'predominance4' ,men4 ,pray you1 begone3 ,i'll try whether my old wit be in request ,with those that have but little2 this must be patched ,with cloth of any colour4 ,com4 ,nay1 come away4 ,the features of that living impersonation of the heroic faults and virtues which 'the mirror1' that professed to give to 'the very body of the time1 its form and pressure1' could not fail to show1 are glimmering here constantly in 'this ancient piece1' and often shine out in the more critical passages1 with such unmistakeable clearness1 as to furnish an effectual diversion for any eye1 that should undertake to fathom prematurely the player's intention4 ,for 'the gentleman who wrote the late ,shepherd's ,calendar' was not the only poet of this time1 as it would seem1 who found the scope of a double intention1 in his poetic representation1 not adequate to the comprehension of his design--who laid on another and another still1 and found the complexity convenient4 ',the sense is the best judge1' this ,poet says1 in his doctrine of criticism1 declining peremptorily to accept of the ancient rules in matters of taste2--a rule in art which requires1 of course1 a corresponding rule of interpretation4 ,in fact1 it is no bad exercise for an ordinary mind1 to undertake to track the contriver of these plays1 through all the latitudes which his art1 as he understands it1 gives him4 ,it is as good for that purpose1 as a problem in mathematics4 ,but1 'to whom you will not give an hour1 you give nothing1' he says1 and 'he had as lief not be read at all1 as be read by a careless reader4' ,so he thrusts in his meanings as thick as ever he likes1 and those who don't choose to stay and pick them out1 are free to lose them4 ,they are not the ones he laid them in for1--that is all4 ,he is not afraid1 but that he will have readers enough1 ere all is done2 and he can afford to wait4 ,there's time enough4 ,first ,pat4 ,this man has marr'd his fortune4 ,men4 ,his nature is too noble for the world3 ,he would not flatter ,neptune for his trident1 ,or ,jove for his power to thunder4 ,his heart's his mouth2 ,what his breast forges1 that his tongue must vent2 ,and being angry1 does forget that ever ,he heard the name of death4 ,a noise within4 ,here's goodly work6 ,second ,pat4 ,i would they were a-bed6 ,men4 ,i would they were in ,tyber6--,what1 the vengeance1 ,could he not speak them fair8 ,re-enter ,brutus and ,sicinius with the ,rabble4 ,sic4 ,,where ,,is ,,this ,,viper1 ,that would depopulate the city1 and ,,be ,,every ,,man ,,himself8 ,men4 ,you worthy tribunes-- ,sic4 ,he shall be thrown down the ,tarpeian rock ,with rigorous hands2 he hath resisted ,,law1 ,and therefore law shall scorn him further trial4 ',when could they say till now that talked of ,rome that her wide walls encompassed but one man8' ',what trash is ,rome1 what rubbish1 and what offal1 when it serves for the base matter to illuminate so vile a thing as ,caesar4' ,than the severity of the ,,public ,,power1 ,which he so sets at nought4 ,first ,cit4 ,he shall well know ,the noble tribunes are the people's mouths1 ,and we their hands4 ,historical principles throughout1 with much of that kind of illustration in which his works are so prolific1 an illustration which is not rhetorical1 but scientific1 based on the ,,common ,,principles ,,in ,,nature1 which it is his 'primary' business to ascend to1 and which it is his 'second' business to apply to each particular branch of art4 ',neither1' as he tells us plainly1 in his ,book of ,advancement1 'neither are these only similitudes as men of narrow observation may conceive them to be1 but the same footsteps of nature1 treading or printing upon several subjects or matters1' and the tracking of these historical principles to their ultimate forms1 is that which he recommends for the disclosing of nature and the abridging of ,art4 ,sic4 ,he's a disease1 that must be cut away4 ,men4 ,o he's a limb1 that has but a disease2 ,mortal to cut it off2 to cure it1 easy4 ,what has he done to ,rome1 that's worthy death8 ,killing our enemies8 ,the blood he hath lost1 7,which1 ,i dare vouch1 is more than that he hath1 ,by many an ounce71 he dropped it for his country4 ,and what is left1 to lose it by his country1 ,were to us all1 that do't and suffer it1 ,a brand to the end o' the world4 ,there's a piece thrust in here4 ,this is the one of whom he says in another scene1 ',i cannot speak him home4' ,bru4 ,merely awry3 when he did love his country1 ,it honour'd him4 ,men4 ,the service of the foot1 ,being once gangren'd1 is not then respected ,for what before it was8 ,bru4 ,we'll hear no more3-- ,pursue him to his house1 and pluck him thence2 ,lest his infection1 being of catching nature1 ,spread further4 ,men4 ,one word more1 one word4 ,this tiger-footed rage1 when it shall find ,the harm of unscann'd swiftness1 will1 too late1 ,tie leaden pounds to his ,,heels4 ,mark it1 for it is a prophecy ,lest ,,parties 7as he is beloved7 break out1 ,and sack great ,rome with ,romans4 ,bru4 ,if it were so1-- ,sic4 ,what do ye talk8 ,have we not had a taste of his obedience8 ,our diles smote8 ,ourselves resisted8--,come3-- ,men4 ,consider this2 he has been bred i' the wars1 ,since he could draw a sword1-- ,that has been the breeding of states1 and nobility1 and their rule1 hitherto1 as this play will show you4 ,consider what schooling these statesmen have had1 before you begin the enterprise of reforming them1 and take your measures accordingly4 ,they are not learned men1 you see4 ,how should they be8 ,there has been no demand for learning4 ,the law of the sword has prevailed hitherto4 ,when what's not meet but what must be was law1 then were they chosen4 ,proceed by process4 ,consider this2 he has been bred i' the ,,wars ,since he could draw a sword1 and is ill school'd ,in boulted language-- ,that's the trouble2 but there's been a little bolting going on in this play4 --,meal and bran1 together ,he throws without distinction4 ,give me leave ,i'll go to him1 and undertake to bring him ,where he shall answer by a lawful form1 7,in peace7 to his utmost peril4 ,first ,sen4 ,noble tribunes4 ,it is the humane way3 the other course ,will prove too bloody2 and-- ,what is very much to be deprecated in such movements4 --the ,,end of it1 ,unknown to the beginning4 ,sic4 ,noble ,menenius2 ,be you then as the ,people's ,officer3 ,masters1--and they seem to be that1 truly1--lay down your weapons4 ,bru4 ,go not home1 ,sic4 ,,meet on the ,,market-,,place1-- --that is where the 'idols of the market' are-- ,we'll attend you there3 ,where1 if you bring not ,marcius1 we'll proceed ,in our first way4 ,men4 ,i'll bring him to you4 ,let me desire your company ,to the ,senators ,he must come1 ,or what is worse will follow4 ,sen4 ,pray you1 let's to him4 ,,scene--,,the ,,forum4 ,enter ,sicinius and ,brutus4 ,bru4 ,in this point charge him home1 that he affects ,,tyrannical ,,power3 if he evade us there1 ,enforce him with his envy to the people2 ,and that the spoil1 got on the ,antiates1 ,was ne'er distributed4-- ,enter an dile4 ,what1 will he come8 d4 ,he's coming4 ,bru4 ,how accompanied8 d4 ,with old ,menenius1 and those senators ,that always favour'd him4 ,sic4 ,have you a catalogue ,of all the voices that we have procured1 ,set down by ,,the ,,poll8 d4 ,i have2 'tis ready4 ,sic4 ,have you collected them ,,by ,,tribes8 d4 ,i have4 ,sic4 ,assemble presently the people hither3 ,and when they hear me say1 it shall be so ,i the ,,right and ,,strength o' the ,,commons1 be it either ,for death1 for fine1 or banishment1 then let them1 ,if ,i say fine1 cry fine2 if death1 cry death2 ,insisting on the ,,old prerogative1 ,and power i' ,,the ,,truth1 o' ,,the ,,cause4 ,there is a great difference in the delivery of the mathematics1 which are the most abstracted of knowledges1 and policy1 which is the most immersed4--,advancement of ,,learning4 d4 ,i shall inform them4 ,bru4 ,and when such time they have begun to cry1 ,let them not cease1 but with a din confused ,enforce the present execution ,of what we chance to sentence4 d4 ,very well4 ,sic4 ,make them be strong1 and ready for this hint4 ,when we shall hap to give't them4 ,bru4 ,go about it4 ,exit dile4 ,put him to choler straight4 ,he hath been used ,ever to conquer1 and to have his worth ,of contradiction4 ,being once chafed1 he cannot ,be rein'd again to temperance2 then he speaks ,what's in his heart2 and that is there1 which looks ,with me to break his neck4 ,prophecy--inductive4 ,well1 here he comes4 ,enter ,,coriolanus1 and his party4 ,men4 ,calmly1 ,i do beseech you4 ,cor4 ,ay1 as an ostler1 that for the poorest piece ,will bear the knave by the volume4 ,the honour'd gods ,keep ,rome in safety1 and the ,,chairs of ,,justice ,supplied with ,,worthy ,,men6 plant ,,love among us4 ,throng ,,our ,,large ,,temples with the shows of ,,peace1 ,and not our ,,streets with ,,war4 ,first ,sen4 ,amen1 ,amen6 ,hear1 ,hear6 ,men4 ,a ,,noble wish4 ,re-enter dile with ,citizens4 ,sic4 ,draw near1 ye people4 ,cor4 ,first hear me speak4 dile4 ,list to your tribunes4 ,audience3 ,peace1 ,i say4 ,both ,tri4 ,well1 say1--,peace1 ho4 ,cor4 ,shall ,i be charged no further than this present8 ,must all determine here8 ,sic4 ,i do demand1 ,if you submit you to the people's voices1 ,allow their officers1 and are content ,to suffer lawful censure for such faults ,as shall be proved upon you8 ,cor4 ,i am content4 ,men4 ,lo1 citizens1 he says he is content-- ,cor4 ,what is the matter1 ,that being pass'd for consul1 with full voice1 ,i am so dishonour'd1 that the very hour ,you take it off again8 ,sic4 ,answer to us4 ,cor4 ,say then1'tis true4 ,i ought so4 ,sic4 ,,we ,,charge ,,you1 that you have contrived to take ,from ,rome1 all seasoned office1 and to wind ,yourself into a ,,power ,,tyrannical2 ,for which1 you are ,a ,,traitor to the ,,people4 ,cor4 ,how6 ,traitor8 ,men4 ,nay1 temperately3 ,your promise4 ,cor4 ,the fires in the lowest hell fold in the people6 ,call me their traitor6 ,cit4 ,to the rock1 to the rock with him4 ,sic4 ,peace4 ,we need not put new matter to his charge3 ,what you have seen him do1 and heard him speak1 ,beating your officers1 cursing yourselves1 ,opposing laws with strokes1 and here defying ,those whose great power must try him2 even ,,this1 ,so criminal1 and in such ,,capital kind1 ,deserves the extremest death4444 ,for that he has1 ,as much as in him lies1 from time to time1 ,envied against the people2 seeking means ,to pluck away their power3 as now1 at last1 ,given hostile strokes1 and that1 not in the presence ,of dreaded justice1 but on the ministers ,that do distribute it2 in the name o' the people1 ,and in the power of us1 the tribunes1 we1 ,even from this instant1 banish him our city1 ,in peril of precipitation ,from off the rock ,tarpeian1 never more ,to enter our ,rome's gates4 ,i' ,,the ,,people',s ,,name ,i say it shall be so4 ,cit4 ,it shall be so1 it shall be so3 let him away1 ,he's banish'd1 and it shall be so4 ,com4 ,hear me1 ,,my ,,masters1 and my ,,common ,,friends4 ,sic4 ,,he',s ,,sentenced3 no more hearing4 ,com4 ,let me speak3-- ,bru4 ,,there',s ,,no ,,more ,,to ,,be ,,said1 ,,but ,,he ,,is ,,banished1 ,as ,,enemy to the ,,people1 ,,and ,,his ,,country3 ,,it ,,shall ,,be ,,so4 ,cit4 ,,it ,,shall ,,be ,,so1 ,,it ,,shall ,,be ,,so4 ,and this is the story that was set before a king6 ,one1 too1 who was just then bestirring himself to get the life of 'that last king of ,england who was his ancestor' brought out2 a king who was taking so much pains to get his triple wreath of conquest brightened up1 and all the lines in it laid out and distinguished--one who was taking so much pains to get the fresh red of that last 'conqueror1' who also 'came in by battle1' cleared up in his coat of arms1 in case his double line of white and red from the old ,norman should not prove sufficient-- sufficient to convince the ,english nation of his divine right1 and that of his heirs for ever1 to dispose of it and its weal at his and their pleasure1 with or without laws1 as they should see fit4 ,a pretty scene this to amuse a king with1 whose ancestor1 the one from whom he directly claimed1 had so lately seated himself and his line by battle- -by battle with the ,english people on those very questions2 who had 'beaten them in' in their mutinies with his single sword1 'and taken all from them'2 who had planted his chair of state on their suppressed liberties1 and 'the charters that they bore in the body of the weal'-- that chair which was even then beginning to rock a little--while there was that in the mien and bearing of the royal occupant and his heir which might have looked to the prescient mind1 if things went on as they were going then1 not unlike to break some one's neck4 ',bid them home1' says the ,tribune1 after the military hero is driven out by the uprisen people1 with shouting1 from the city gates for ever2 charged never more to enter them1 on peril of precipitation from the ,tarpeian ,rock4 ',bid them home3 ,say1 their great enemy is gone1 and ,,they ,,stand in their ancient strength4' ,but it is in the conquered nation that this scene of the deposing of the military power is completed4 ,of course one could not tell beforehand what effect that cautious1 but on the whole luminous1 exhibition of the recent conquest of the ,english ,,people1 prepared at the suggestion and under the immediate criticism of royalty1 might have with the profoundly loyal ,english people themselves1 in the way of 'striking an awe into them1' and removing any lurking opposition they might have to the exercise of an arbitrary authority in government2 but with people of the old ,volscian pluck1 according to this ,poet's account of the matter1 an allusion to a similar success on the part of the ,conqueror at a critical moment1 and when his special qualifications for government happened to be passing under review1 was not attended with those happy results which appear to have been expected in the other instance4 ',if you have writ your annals true1 't is there1 ,that like an ,,eagle in a dove-cote1 ,i ,flutter'd your ,volsces in ,corioli3 ,alone1 ,i did it4' ',why-- ,the answer is1 in this case1 ',why1 noble lords1 ,will you be put in mind of his blind fortune1 ,which was your shame1 by this unholy braggart1 ',fore your own eyes and ears8 ,cons4 ,let him die for't4 ,several speak at once4 ,citizens ,speaking promiscuously4 ,tear him to pieces2 do it presently4 ,he killed my son--my daughter2--he killed my cousin ,marcus2--he killed my father4444 ,o that ,i had him1 ,with six ,aufidiuses1 or more1 his tribe1 ,to use my lawful sword4 ,insolent villain6 444,traitor6--how now84444 ,ay1 ,,traitor1 ,marcius4 ,marcius8 ,ay1 ,marcius1 ,caius ,marcius4 ,dost thou think ,i'll grace thee with that ,,robbery--thy ,,stolen ,,name1 ,coriolanus1 in ,,corioli84444 4444 ,honest1 my lord8 ',ay1 honest4' ,cons4 ,kill1 kill1 kill1 kill1 kill him4' ',would you proceed especially against ,caius ,marcius8 ,against him ,,first4' ,surely1 if that ',heir apparent' to whom the ,history of ,,henry ,,the ,,seventh was dedicated by the author1 with an urgent recommendation of the 'rare accidents' in that reign to the royal notice and consideration2 if that prince had but chanced in some thoroughly thoughtful mood to light upon this yet more 'ancient piece1' he might have found here1 also1 some things worthy of his notice4 ,it cannot be denied1 that the poet's mode of handling the same historical question is much more bold and clear than that of the professed philosopher4 ,but probably this ,prince was not aware that his father entertained at ,whitehall then1 not a literary ,historian1 merely--a ,book-maker1 able to compose narratives of the past in an orderly chronological prosaic manner1 according to the received method--but a ,show-man1 also1 an ,historical ,show-man1 with such new gifts and arts2 a true ,magician1 who had in his closet a mirror which possessed the property of revealing1 not the past nor the present only1 but the future1 'with a near aim1' an aim so near that it might well seem 'magical'2 and that a cloud was flaming in it1 even then1 'which drizzled blood upon the ,capitol4' ,this ,prince of ,wales did not know1 any more than his father did1 that they had in their court then an historical scholar1 with such an indomitable passion for the stage1 with such a decided turn for acting--one who felt himself divinely prompted to a part in that theatre which is the ,globe--one who had laid out all for his share in that4 ,they did not either of them know1 fortunately for us1 that they had in their royal train such an ,historic ,sport-,manager1 such a ,prospero for ,masques2 that there was a true ',phil-harmonus' there1 with so clear an inspiration of scientific statesmanship4 ,they did not know that they had in that servant of the crown1 so supple1 so 'patient--patient as the midnight sleep1' patient 'as the ostler that for the poorest piece will bear the knave by the volume'--such a born aspirant for rule2 one who had always his eye on the throne1 one who had always in mind their usurpation of it4 ,they did not know that they had a ,hamlet in their court1 who never lost sight of his purpose1 or faltered in his execution of it2 who had found a scientific ground for his actions1 an end for his ends2 who only affected incoherence2 and that it was he who was intriguing to such purpose with the ,,players4 ,the ,elizabethan revolutionist was suppressed3 then ',fame1 who is the posthumous sister of rebellion1 sprang up4' ',o like a book of sports thou'lt read me o'er1 ,but there's more in me than thou'lt understand4' ',henceforth guard thee well1 ,for ,i'll not kill thee there1 nor there1 nor there2 ,but by the forge that stithied ,mars his helm1 ,i'll kill thee everywhere1 yea o'er and o'er4' ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,conclusion4 ',how ,i have thought of this1 and of these times1 ,i shall recount hereafter1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 and find a time ,both meet to hear and answer such high things4 ,till then1 my noble friend1 chew upon this2 ,brutus had rather he a villager1 ,than to repute himself a son of ,rome1 ,under these hard conditions as this time ,is like to lay upon us4 ,inasmuch as the demonstration contained in this volume has laboured throughout under this disadvantage1 that however welcome that new view of the character and aims of the great ,english philosopher1 which is involved in it1 as welcome it must be to all true lovers of learning1 it presents itself to the mind of the reader as a view directly opposed1 not merely to what may possibly be his own erroneous preconceptions of the case2 but to facts which are among the most notable in the history of this country2 and not only to facts sustained by unquestionable contemporary authority1 and attested by public documents1--facts which history has graven with her pen of iron in the rock for ever1 but with other exhibitions of this man's character1 not less1 but more painful1 for which he is himself singly responsible2--not the forced exhibition of a confession wrung from him by authority1--not the craven self-blasting defamation of a glorious name that was not his to blast1--that was the property of men of learning in all coming ages1 precious and venerable in their eyes for ever1 at the bidding of power1--not that only1 but the voluntary exhibition of those qualities with which he stands charged1--which he has gone out of his way to leave to us1--memorials of them which he has collected with his own hands1 and sealed up1 and sent down to posterity 'this side up1' with the most urgent directions to have them read1 and examined1 and considered deeply1--that posterity1 too1 to which he commends1 with so much assurance1 the care of his honor1 the cure of his fame4 ,the demonstrated fact must stand4 ,the true mind must receive it4 ,because our criticism or our learning is not equal to the task of reconciling it with that which we know already1 or with that which we believed1 and thought we knew1 we must not on that account reject it4 ,that is to hurt ourselves4 ,that is to destroy the principle of integrity at its source4 ,we must take our facts and reconcile them1 if we can2 and let them take care of themselves1 if we can not4 ,god is greater than we are1 and whatever other sacrifices he may require of us1 painful to our human sensibilities1 to make way with facts1 for the sake of advancing truths1 or for any other reason never so plausible1 is a thing which he never does1 and never did require of any mind4 ,the conclusion that requires facts to be dispensed with1 or shorn1 on either side to make it tenable1 is not going to stand1 let it come in what name1 or with what authority it will2 because the truth of history is1 in its least particular1 of a universal quality1 and is much more potent than anything that the opinion and will of man can oppose to it4 ,to the mind which is able to receive under all conditions the demonstrated truth1 and give to it its full weight1--to the mind to which truth is religion1 this book is dedicated4 ,the facts which it contains are able to assert themselves1--will be1 at least1 hereafter4 ,they will not be dependent ultimately upon the mode of their exhibition here4 ,for they have the large quality1 they have the solidity and dimensions of historical truth1 and are accessible on more sides than one4 ,but to those to whom they are already able to commend themselves in the form in which they are here set forth1 the author begs leave to say1 in conclusion1 though it must stand for the present in the form of a simple statement1 but a statement which challenges investigation1 that so far from coming into any real collision with the evidence which we have on this subject from other sources1 those very facts1 and those very historical materials on which our views on this subject have been based hitherto1 are1 that which is wanting to the complete development of the views contained here4 ,it is the true history of these great events in which the hidden great men of this age played so deep a part2 it is the true history of that great crisis in which the life-long plots of these hidden actors began to show themselves on the historic surface in scenic grandeur1--in those large tableaux which history takes and keeps1--which history waits for1--it is the very evidence which has supplied the principal basis of the received views on this subject1--it is the history of the initiation of that great popular movement1--that movement of new ages1 with which the chief of popular development1 and the leader of these ages1 has been hitherto so painfully connected in our impressions2 it is that very evidence1--that blasting evidence which the ,learning of the ,modern ,ages has always carried in its stricken heart1--it is that which is wanting here4 ,that also is a part of the story which has begun to be related here4 ,and those very letters which have furnished 'confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ' of the impressions which the other historical evidence1 as it stands at present1 inevitably creates1--those very letters which have been collected by the party whose character was concerned in them1 and preserved with so much diligence and caution1--which we have been asked with so much emphasis to read and ponder1--which have been recommended to our attention as the very best means1 when all is done1 of putting ourselves into sympathetic relations with the writer1 and attaining at last to a complete understanding of his position1 and to a complete acquaintance with his character and aims1--with his natural dispositions1 as well as his deliberate scientific aims1--these letters1 long as we have turned from them1--often as we have turned from them1--chilled1 confounded1 sick at heart1--unable1 in spite of those recommendations1 to find in them any gleam of the soul of these proceedings1--these very letters will have to be read1 after all1 and with that very diligence which the directions enjoin upon us2 they will have1 when all is done1 to take just that place in the development of this plot which the author1 who always knows what he is about when he is giving directions1 designed them to take4 ,there is one very obvious reason why they should be studied--why they would have to be studied in the end4 ,they have on the face of them a claim to the attention of the learned4 ,there is nothing like them in the history of mankind4 ,for1 however mean and disreputable the acts of men may be1 when it comes to words1--that medium of understanding and sympathy1 in which the identity of the common nature is perpetually declared1 even in the most private conferences1--there is usually an attempt to clothe the forlorn and shrinking actuality with the common human dignity1 or to make it1 at least1 passably respectable1 if the claim to the heroic is dispensed with1--even in oral speech4 ,but in writing1 in letters1 destined to never so brief and limited an existence1 who puts on paper for the eye of another1 for the review of that criticism which in the lowest1 basest of mankind1 stands in unimpeachable dignity1 prepared to detect and pass sentence1 and cry out as one aggrieved1 on the least failure1 or shadow of failure in the best--who puts in writing1--what tenant of ,newgate will put on paper1 when it comes to that1 a deliberate display of meanness1--what convicted felon1 but will undertake in that case to give some sort of heroic colour to his proceedings--some air of suffering virtue to his durance8 ,but a great man1 consciously great1 who knows that his most trifling letter is liable to publication2 a great man1 writing on subjects and occasions which insure publicity to his writing2 a man of fame1 writing letters expressly for publication1 and dedicating them to the far-off times2 a man of poetic sensibilities1 alive to the finest shades of moral differences2 one of unparalleled dignity and grandeur of aims--aims pursued from youth to age1 without wavering1 under the most difficult conditions1 pursued to their successful issue2 a man whose aim in life it was to advance1 and ennoble1 and enrich his kind2 in whose life-success the race of men are made glad2 such a one sending down along with the works1 in which the nobility and the deliberate worth and grandeur of his ends are set forth and proved1 memorials of himself which exhibit studiously on the surface of them1 by universal consent1 the most odious character in history2 this is the phenomenon which our men of learning have found themselves called upon to encounter here4 ,to separate the man and the philosopher--to fly out upon the man1 to throw him overboard with every expression of animosity and disgust1 to make him out as bad as possible1 to collect diligently every scrap of evidence against him1 and set it forth with every conceivable aggravation--this has been the resource of an indignant scholarship in this case1 bent on uttering its protest in some form2 this has been the defence of learning1 cast down from its excellency1 and debased in all men's eyes1 as it seemed for ever1 in the person of its high-priest4 ,the objection to the work here presented to the public is1 that it does not go far enough4 ,from the point of review that the research of which it is the fruit has now attained1 this is the criticism to which it appears to be liable4 ,from this point of view1 the complaint to be made against it is1 that at the place where it stops it leaves1 for want of that part of the evidence which contains it1 the historical grandeur of our great men unrevealed or still obscured4 ,for we have had them1 in the sober day-light of our occidental learning1 in the actualities of history1 and not in the mists of a poetic past only--monstrous idealisms1 outstretched shadows of man's divinity1 demi-gods and heroes1 impersonations of ages and peoples1 stalking through the twilight of the ante-historic dawn1 or in the twilight of a national popular ignorance1 embalmed in the traditions of those who are always 'beginners4' ,we have had them2 we need not look to a foreign and younger race for them2 we have them1 fruit of our own stock2 we have had them1 not cloaked with falseness1 but exposed in the searching noonday glare of our western science4 ,we have had them1 we have them still1 with all their mortal frailty and littleness and ignorance confessed1 with all their 'weaved-up follies ravelled out1' with all the illimitable capacity of affection and passion and will in man1 with all his illimitable capacity for folly and wrong-doing1 assumed and acknowledged in their own persons1 symbolically1 vicariously1 assumed and confessed4 ',i am very proud1 revengeful1 ambitious2 with more offences at my beck than ,i have thoughts to put them in1 imagination to give them shape1 or time to act them in4' ,we have them1 our ,interpreters1 our ,poets1 our ,reformers1 who start from the actualities--from the actualities of nature in general1 and of the human nature in particular--who make the most careful study of man as he is1 in themselves and in all men1 the basis of their innovation1 the beginning of their advancement to the ideal or divine4 ,we have them2 and they1 too1 they also come to us1 with that old garland of glory on their brows1 with that same 'crown' of victory1 which the world has given from of old to those who have taken her affairs to be their business4 ,that the historical evidence which lies on the surface of an age1 like that age from which our modern philosophy proceeds1 is of a kind to require1 for its unravelling1 a different species of criticism from that which suffices for the historical evidence which our own times and institutions produce1 is a fact which would hardly seem to require any illustration in the present state of our historical knowledge1 in the present state of our knowledge in regard to the history of this age in particular2 when not the professed scholar only1 but every reader1 knows what age in the constitutional history of ,england1 at least1 that age was2 when we have here1 not the erudite historian only1 with his rich harvests for the scholar1 that are caviare to the multitude1 but the ,poets of history also1 wresting from dull prose and scholasticism its usurped domains1 and giving back to the peoples their own1 to tell us what age this was4 ,the inner history of this time is indeed still wanting to us2 and the reason is1 that we have not yet applied to the reading of its principal documents that key of times which our contemporary historians have already put into our hands--that key which1 we are told on good authority1 is1 in certain cases1 indispensable to the true interpretation4 ,that the direct contemporary testimony on which history depends is1 in this case1 vitiated1 tainted at its source1 and through all its details--that the documents are all of them1 on the face of them1 'suspicious1' and not fit to be received as historical evidence without the severest scrutiny and re-examination--this is the fact which remains to be taken into the account here4 ,for this is a case in which the witnesses come into court1 making signs1 seeking with mute gesticulation to attract our attention1 pointing significantly to the difficulties of the position1 asking to be cross-examined1 soliciting a second cogitation on what they say1 telling us that they mortally hate obscurity1 and would avoid it if they could2 intimating that if their testimony should be re-examined in a higher court1 and when the ,star ,chamber and the ,court of ,ecclesiastical ,commission are no longer in session1 it might perhaps be found to be susceptible of a different reading4 ,this is a case in which the party convicted comes in with his finger on his lips1 and an appeal to another tribunal1 to another age4 ,we all know what age in the history of the immemorial liberties and dignities of a race--what age in the history of its recovered liberties1 rescued from oppression and recognised and confirmed by statute1 this was4 ,we know it was an age in which the decisions of the ,bench were prescribed to it by a power that had 'the laws of ,england at its commandment1' that it was an age in which ,parliament1 and the press1 and the pulpit1 were gagged1 and in which that same justice had charge1 diligent charge 'of amusements also1 and of those who only played at working4' ,that this was a time when the ,play ,house itself1--in that same year1 too1 in which these philosophical plays began first to attract attention1 and again and again1 was warned off by express ordinances from the whole ground of 'the forbidden questions4' ,we know that this was an age in which not the books of the learned only were subjected to 'the press and torture which expulsed' from them all those 'particulars that point to action'--action1 at least1 in which the common-weal of men is most concerned2 that it was a time when the private manuscript was subjected to that same censorship and question1 and corrected with those same instruments and engines1 which made then a regular part of the machinery of the press2 when the most secret cabinet of the ,statesman and the ,man of ,letters must be kept in order for that revision1 when his most confidential correspondence1 his private note-book and diary must be composed under these restrictions2 when in the church1 not the pulpit only1 but the secrets of the study1 were explored for proofs of opposition to the power then predominant2 when the private desk and drawers of the poor obscure country clergyman were ransacked1 and his half-formed studies of sermons1 his rude sketches and hypothetical notes of sermons yet to be--which might or might not be--put down for private purposes perhaps1 and never intended to be preached--were produced by ,government as an excuse for subjecting him to indignities and cruelties to which those practised upon the ,duke of ,kent and the ,duke of ,gloster1 in the play1 formed no parallel4 ,to the genius of a race in whose mature development speculation and action were for the first time systematically united1 in the intensities of that great historical impersonation which signalises its first entrance upon the stage of human affairs1 stimulated into preternatural activity by that very opposition which would have shut it out from its legitimate fields1 and shut it up within those impossible1 insufferable limits that the will of the one man prescribed to it then1--to that many-sided genius1 bent on playing well its part even under those conditions1 all the more determined on it by that very opposition--kept in mind of its manliness all the time by that all comprehending prohibition on manhood1 that took charge of every act--irritated all the time into a protesting human dignity by the perpetual meannesses prescribed to it1 instructed in the doctrine of the human nature and its nobility in the school of that sovereignty which was keeping such a costly 'crib' here then2 ',let a beast be lord of beasts1' says ,hamlet1 'and your crib shall stand at the king's mess2' ',would you have me false to my nature8 says another1 'rather say ,i play the man ,i am'2 to that so conscious man1 playing his part under these hard conditions1 on a stage so high2 knowing all the time what theatre that was he played it in1 how 'far' those long-drawn aisles extended2 what 'far-off' crowding ages filled them1 watching his slightest movements2 who knew that he was acting 'even in the eyes of all posterity that wear this world out to the ending doom'2 to such a one studying out his part beforehand under such conditions1 it was not one disguise only1 it was not one secret literary instrumentality only1 that sufficed for the plot of it4 ,that toy stage which he seized and converted so effectually to his ends1 with all its masks did not suffice for the exigencies of this speaker's speech1 'who came prepared to speak well1' and 'to give to his speech a grace by action4' ,under these circumstances1 the art of letter-writing presented itself to this invention1 as a means of accomplishing objects to which other forms of writing did not admit then of being so readily adapted4 ,it offered itself to this invention as a means of conducting certain plots1 which inasmuch as they had the weal of men for their object1 were necessarily conducted with secresy then4 ,the whole play of that dramatic genius which shaped our great dramatic poems1 came out1 not on the stage1 but in these 'plots' in which the weal of the unborn generations of men was the end2 those plots for the relief of man's estate which had to be plotted1 like murders and highway robberies1 then1 by bandits that had watch-words1 and 'badges' and signals and private names1 and a secret slang of their own4 ,the minds that conducted this enterprise under these conditions1 were minds conscious of powers equal1 at least1 to those of the ,greeks1 and who thought they had as good a right to invent new methods of literary communication1 or to convert old ones to new uses as the ,greeks had in their day4 ,the speaker for this school was one who could not see why it was not just as lawful for the moderns to 'invent new measures in verses1' at least1 as in 'dances1' and why it was not just as competent for him to compose 'supposititious' letters for his purposes1 as it was for ,thucydides to compose speeches for his2 and though eloquence was1 in this case1 for the most part1 dispensed with1 these little every-day prosaic unassuming1 apparently miscellaneous1 scraps of life and business1 shewing it up piece-meal as it was in passage1 and just as it happened in which1 of course1 no one would think of looking for a comprehensive design1 became1 in the hands of this artist1 an invention quite as effective as the oratory of the ancient4 ,the letters which came out on the trial of ,essex1 in the name of ,sir ,antony ,bacon1 but in which the hand of ,mr4 ,francis ,bacon appeared without much attempt at disguise1 were not the only documents of that kind for which the name of the elder brother1 with his more retiring and less 'dangerous' turn of mind1 appeared to be1 on the whole1 the least objectionable4 ,an extensive correspondence1 which will tend to throw some light on the contemporary aspect of things when it is opened1 was conducted in that gentleman's name1 about those days4 ,but much more illustrious persons1 who were forced by the genius of this dramatist into his plots1 were induced to lend their names and sanction to these little unobtrusive performances of his1 when occasion served4 ,this was a gentleman who was in the habit of writing letters and arranging plots1 for quite the most distinguished personages of his time4 ,in fact1 his powers were greatly in request for that purpose4 ,for so far as the question of mere ability was concerned1 it was found upon experiment1 that there was nothing he stopped at4 ,under a sharp pressure1 and when the necessary question of the ,play required it1 and nothing else would serve1 it was found that he could compose 'a sonnet' as well as a state paper1 or a decision1 or a philosophical treatise4 ,he wrote a sonnet for ,essex1 addressed to ,queen ,elizabeth1 on one very important occasion4 ,if it was not any better than those attempts at lyrical expression in another department of song1 which he has produced as a specimen of his poetical abilities in general1 it is not strange that ,queen ,elizabeth1 who was a judge of poetry1 should find herself able to resist the blandishments of that effusion4 ,but it was not the royal favourite only1 it was not ,essex and ,buckingham only1 who were glad to avail themselves of these so singular gifts1 devoted to their use by one who was understood to have no other object in living1 but to promote their ends1--one whose vast philosophic aims1--aims already propounded in all their extent and grandeur1 propounded from the first1 as the ends to which the whole scheme of his life was to be--artistically--with the strong hand of that mighty artist1 through all its detail subordinated1 were supposed to be merged1 lost sight of1 forgotten in an irrepressible enthusiasm of devotion to the wishes of the person who happened1 at the time1 to be the sovereign's favourite2 one whose great torch of genius and learning was lighted1 as it was understood1--lighted and fed1 to light them to their desires4 ,elizabeth herself1 unwilling as she was to add any thing to the powers with which nature had crowned this man1 instructed by her instinct1 that 'such men were dangerous1' was willing1 notwithstanding1 to employ his peculiar gifts in services of this nature2 and so was her successor4 ,and the historical fact is1 that an extraordinary amount of business of one kind and another1 passed in consequence through this gentleman's hands in both these reigns1 and perhaps no one was ever better qualified by constitutional endowments1 and by a predominant tendency to what he calls technically 'active good1' for the dispatch of business in which large and distant results were comprehended4 ,and if in managing plots for these illustrious personages1 he conducted them always with stedfast reference to his ulterior aims1--if1 in writing letters for them1 he wrote them always with the under-tones of his own part1--of his own immortal part that was to survive 'when tyrants' crests and tombs of brass were spent' running through them--if1 in composing state papers and concocting legal advice1 and legal decisions1 he contrived to insert in them an inner meaning1 and to point to the secret history which contained their solution1 who that knows what those times were1 who that knows to what divine ends this man's life was dedicated1 shall undertake to blame him for it4 ,all these papers were written with an eye to publication2 thay were written for the future1 but they were written in that same secret method1 in that same 'cipher' which he has to stop to describe before he can introduce the subject of 'the principal and supreme sciences1' with the distinct assurance that as 'matters stand then1 it is an art of great use1' though some may think he introduces it with its kindred arts1 in that place1 for the sake of making out a muster-roll of the sciences1 and to little other purpose1 and that trivial as these may seem in such a connexion1 'to those who have spent their labours and studies in them1 they seem great matters1' appealing to 'those who are skilful in them' to say whether he has not given1 in what he has said of them1 'though in few words1' a proof of his proficiency4 ,this was the method of writing in which not the principal and supreme sciences only1 but every thing that was fit to be written at all had need to be written then4 ',ciphers are commonly in letters1 but may be in words4' ,both these kinds of ciphers were employed in the writings of this school4 ,the reading of that which is 'in letters1' the one in which letters are secretly employed as 'symbols' of esoteric philosophic subtleties1 is reserved for those who have found their way into the esoteric chambers of this learning4 ,it is reserved for those who have read the ',book of ,sports and ,riddles1' which this school published1 and who happen to have it with them when it happens to be called for2 it is reserved for those who have circumvented ,hamlet1 and tracked him to his last lurking place1 and plucked out the heart of his mystery2 for those who have been in ,prospero's ,island1 and 'untied his spell4' ,this point gained1--the secret of the cipher 'in letters1'--the secret of 'the symbols1' and other 'devices' and 'conceits' which were employed in this school as a medium of secret philosophic correspondence1 the characters in which these men struck through the works they could not own then1 the grand colossal symbol of the school1 its symbol of universality1 large as the world1 enduring as the ages of the human kind1 and with it--in it1 their own particular 'marks' and private signatures1--this mastered1--with the secret of this in our hands1 the cipher 'in words' presents no difficulties1 ,when we come to read the philosophical papers of this great firm in letters1 with the aid of that discovery1 we shall know what one of the partners of it means1 when he says1 that on 'account of the rawness and unskilfulness of the hands through which they pass1 the greatest matters are sometimes carried in the weakest ciphers4' ,it was easy1 for instance1 in defining the position of the favourite in the ,court of ,queen ,elizabeth1 in recommending a civil rather than a military greatness as the one least likely to provoke the animosity and suspicion of government under those conditions1 in recommending that so far from taking umbrage at the advancement of a rival--the policy of the position prescribed1 the deliberate putting forward and sustaining of another favourite to avert the jealousy and fatal suspicion with which1 under such conditions1 the government regards its favourite1 when popularity and the qualities of a military chieftain are combined in him2 it was easy in marking out those grand points in the conditions of the chief courtiers' policy at that time1 to glance at the position of other men in that same court1 seeking for power under those same conditions--men whose position1 inasmuch as the immediate welfare of society and the destinies of mankind in future ages were concerned in it1 was infinitely more important than that of the person whose affairs were agitated on the surface of the letter4 ,it was easy1 too1 in setting forth the conflicting claims of the ',new ,company and the ,old' to the monopoly of the manufacture and dying of woollens1 for instance1 to glance at the ,new ,company and the ,old whose claims to the monopoly of another public interest1 not less important1 were coming forward for adjustment just about that time1 and urging their respective rights upon the attention of the chief men in the nation4 ,or in the discussion of a plan for reforming the king's household1 and for reducing its wanton waste and extravagance--in exhibiting the detail of a plan for relieving the embarrassments of the palace just then1 which1 with the aid of the favourite and his friends1 and their measures for relief1 were fast urging on the revolution--it was easy to indicate a more extensive reform2 it was impossible to avoid a glance1 in passing1 at the pitifulness of the position of the man who held all men in awe and bondage then2 it was impossible to avoid a touch of that same pen which writes elsewhere1 ',beggar and ,madman1' too1 so freely1--consoling the ,monarch with the suggestion that ,essex was also greatly in debt at a time when he was much sought after and caressed1 and instancing the case of other courtiers who had been in the same position1 and yet contrived to hold their heads up4 ,under the easy artistic disguise of courtly rivalries and opposing ambitions--under cover1 it might be1 of an outrageous personal mutual hostility--it was easy for public men belonging to the same side in politics1 who were obliged to conduct1 not only the business of the state1 but their own private affairs1 and to protect their own most sacred interests under such conditions1--it was easy for politicians trained in such a school1 by the skilful use of such artifices1 to play into each other's hands1 and to attain ends which in open league they would have been sure to lose2 to avert evils1 it might be1 which it would have been vain and fatal for those most concerned in them openly to resist4 ,to give to a courtier seeking advancement1 with certain ulterior aims always in view1 the character of a speculator1 a scholastic dreamer1 unable for practice1 unfit to be trusted with state affairs1 was not1 after all1 however pointedly it might be complained of at the time1 so fatal a blow as it would have been to direct attention1 already sufficiently on the alert1 to the remarkable practical gifts with which this same speculator happened1 as we all know1 to be also endowed4 ,this courtier's chief enemy1 if he had been in his great rival's secrets1 or if he had reflected at all1 might have done him a worse turn than that4 ,the hostilities of that time are no more to be taken on trust than its friendships1 and the exaggerated expressions of them1--the over-doing sometimes points to another meaning4 ,while indicating the legal method of proceeding in conducting the show of a trial1 to which 'the man whose fame did indeed fold in the orb o' the world' was to be subjected--a trial in which the decision was known beforehand--'though1' says our ,poet-- ',though well1 we may not pass upon his life1 ,without the form of justice2'-- it was easy for the mean1 sycophantic1 truckling tool of a ,stuart--for the tool of a ,stuart's favourite--to insert in such a paper1 if not private articles1 private readings of passages1 interlinings1 pointing to a history in that case which has not yet transpired2 it was easy for such a one to do it1 when the partner of his treasons would have had no chance to criticise his case1 or meddle with it4 ,in this collection of the apparently miscellaneous remains of our great philosopher1 there are included many important state papers1 and much authentic correspondence with the chief personages and actors of that age1 which performed their part at the time as letters and state papers1 though they were every one of them written with an inner reference to the position of the writer1 and intended to be unfolded eventually with the key of that position4 ,but along with this authentic historical matter1 cunningly intermingled with it1 much that is 'supposititious1' to borrow a term which this writer found particularly to his purpose--supposititious in the same sense in which the speeches of ,thucydides and those of his imitators are suppositious--is also introduced4 ,there is a great deal of fictitious correspondence here1 designed to eke out that view of this author's life and times which the authentic letters left unfinished1 and which he was anxious1 for certain reasons1 to transmit to posterity1--which he was forbidden to transmit in a more direct manner4 ,there is a good deal of miscellaneous letter-writing here1 and there will be found whole series of letters1 in which the correspondence is sustained on both sides in a tolerably lively manner1 by this ,master of ,arts2 but under a very meagre dramatic cover in this case1 designedly thin1 never meant to serve as a cover with 'men of understanding4' ,read which side of the correspondence you will in these cases1 'here is his dry hand up and down4' ,these fictitious supposititious letters are written in his own name1 as often as in another's2 for of all the impersonations1 ancient and modern1 historical and poetic1 which the impersonated genius of the modern arts had to borrow to speak and act his part in1 there is no such mask1 no so deep1 thick-woven1 impenetrable disguise1 as that historical figure to which his own name and person is attached2--the man whom the ,tudor and the ,stuart admitted to their secrets1--the man whom the ,tudor tolerated1 whom the ,stuart delighted to honor4 ,in his rules of policy1 he has left us the most careful directions for the interpretations of the lives of men whose 'impediments' are such1 and whose 'natures and ends' are so 'differing and dissonant from the general state of the times in which they live1' that it is necessary for them to avoid 'disclosing themselves1' 'to be in the whole course of their lives close1 retired1 reserved1 as we see in ,tiberius1 who was never seen at a play1' men who are compelled1 as it were1 'to act their lives as in a theatre4' ',the soundest disclosing1' he says1 'and expounding of ,,men is by their ,,natures and ,,ends4 ,the weaker sort of men are best interpreted by their natures1 the wisest by their ends4' ',princes are best interpreted by their natures1 private persons by their ends1 because princes being at the top of human desires1 they have1 for the most part1 no particular ends whereto they aspire1 by distance from which a man might take measure and scale of the rest of their actions and desires' ',distance from which1'--that is the key for the interpretation of the lives of private persons of certain unusual endowments1 who propound to themselves under such conditions 'good and reasonable ends1 and such as are within their power to attain4' ,as to the worthiness of these ends1 we have some acquaintance with them already in our own experience4 ,the great leaders of the new movements which make the modern ages--the discoverers of its science of sciences1 the inventors of its art of arts1 found themselves in an enemy's camp1 and the policy of war was the only means by which they could preserve and transmit to us the benefits we have already received at their hands1--the benefits we have yet to receive from them4 ,the story of this ,interpreter is sent down to us1 not by accident1 but by his own design4 ,but it is sent down to us with the works in which the nobility of his nature is all laid open1--in which the end of his ends is constantly declared1 and constantly pursued1--it is sent down to us along with the works in which his ends are accomplished1 to the times that have found in their experience what they were4 ,he did not think it too much to ask of ages experimentally acquainted with the virtue of the aims for which he made these sacrifices1--aims which he constantly propounded as the end of his large activity1 to note the 'dissonance' between that life which the surface of these documents exhibits1--between that historic form1 too1 which the surface of that time's history exhibits1--and the nature which is revealed in this life-act1--the soul1 the never-shaken soul of this proceeding4 ',the god of soldiers1 ,with the consent of supreme ,jove1 inform ,thy thoughts with nobleness2 that thou may'st prove ,the shame ,,unvulnerable1 and stick i' the war ,like a great sea-mark1 standing every flaw1 ,and saving those that eye thee4' ',i would not1 as ,i often hear dead men spoken of1 that men should say of me1 he judged1 and lived so and so2 ,i knew him better than any4 ,now1 as much as decency permits1 ,i here discover my inclinations and affections4 ,if any observe1 he will find that ,i have either told1 or designed to tell all4 ,what ,i cannot speak1 ,i point out with my finger4' ',there was never greater circumspection and military prudence than is sometimes seen among us' ',naturalists'4 ',can it be that men are afraid to lose themselves by the way1 that they reserve themselves to the end of the game8' ',i mortally hate to be mistaken by those who happen to come across my name4 ,he that does all things for honor and glory1 what can he think to gain by showing himself to the world in a mask1 and by concealing his true being from the people8 ,if you are a coward1 and men commend you for your valour1 is it of you that they speak8 ,they take you for another4 ,archelaus1 king of ,macedon1 walking along the street1 somebody threw water on his head1 which they who were with him said he ought to punish3 ,ay1 but1 said the other1 he did not throw the water upon me1 but upon him whom he took me to be4 ,socrates being told by the people1 that people spoke ill of him1 ,not at all1 said he2 there is nothing in me of what they say4 ,i am content to be less commended1 provided ,i am better known4 ,i may be reputed a wise man1 in such a sort of wisdom as ,i take to be folly4'--',the ,french ,interpreter4' ,this is the man who never in all his life came into the theatre1 content to work behind the scenes1 scientifically enlightened as to the true ends of living1 and the means of attaining those ends1 propounding deliberately his duty as a man1 his duty to his kind1 his obedience to the law of his higher nature1 as his predominant end1--but not to the harm or oppression of his particular and private nature1 but to its most felicitous conservation and advancement1--at large in its new ,epicurean emancipations1 rejoicing in its great fruition1 happy in its untiring activities1 triumphing over all impediments1 celebrating in secret lyrics1 its immortal triumphs over 'death and all oblivious enmity1' and finding1 'in the consciousness of good intentions1 a more continual joy to nature than all the provision that can be made for security and repose1'--not reconciled to the part he was compelled to play in his own time1--his fine1 keen sensibilities perpetually at war with it1--always balancing and reviewing the nice ethical questions it involved1 and seeking always the 'nobler' solution4 ',the one part have ,i suffered1 the other will ,i do1'--demonstrating the possibility of making1 even under such conditions1 a 'life sublime4' ',all places that the eye of heaven visits ,are1 to a wise man1 ports and happy havens4' ,there is no room here for details2 but this is the account of this so irreconcileable difference between the ,man of these ,works and the ,man in the ,mask1 in which he triumphantly achieved them2--this is the account1 in the general1 which will be found to be1 upon investigation1 the true one4 ,and the more the subject is studied1 even by the light which this work brings to bear upon it1 the more the truth of this statement will become apparent4 ,but though the details are1 by the limits of this volume1 excluded here1 it cannot well close1 without one word as to the points in this part of the evidence1 which have made the deepest impression on us4 ,no man suffered death1 or mutilation1 or torture1 or outrage of any kind1 under the two tyrannies of this age of learning1 that it was possible for this scientific propounder of the law of human kind-ness to avert and protect him from--this anticipator and propounder of a human civilization4 ,he was far in advance of our times in his criticism of the barbarisms which the rudest ages of social experiment have transmitted to us4 ,he could not tread upon a beetle1 without feeling through all that exquisite organization which was great nature's gift to her ,interpreter in chief1 great nature's pang4 ,to anticipate the sovereign's wishes1 seeking to divert them first 'with a merry conceit' perhaps2 for1 so light as that were1 the motives on which such consequences might depend then--to forestall the inevitable decision was to arm himself with the powers he needed4 ,the men who were protected and relieved by that secret combination against tyranny1 which required1 as the first condition of its existence1 that its chiefs should occupy places of trust and authority1 ought to come out of their graves to testify against the calumnies that blast our modern learning1 and the virtue--the virtue of it1 at its source4 ,does any one think that a universal slavery could be fastened on the inhabitants of this island1 when wit and manliness are at their height here1 without so much as the project of an 'underground railway' being suggested for the relief of its victims8 ',i will seek him and privily relieve him4 ,go you and maintain talk with the ,duke that my charity be not of him perceived4 ,if he ask for me1 ,i am ill and gone to bed4 ,go to2 say you nothing4 ,there is division between the ,dukes--between the ,dukes--and a worse matter than that4 ,i have received a letter this night4 ,it is dangerous to be spoken4 ,i have locked the letter in my closet4 ,there is part of a power already ,,footed4 ,we must incline to ,,the ,,king4 ,if ,i die for it1 as no less is threatened me1 the king1 my old master1 must be relieved4' ,that when all is done will be found to contain some hints as to the manner in which 'charities' of this kind have need to be managed1 under a government armed with powers so indefinable4 ,cassius4 ,and let us awear our resolution4 ,brutus4 ,no1 not an oath3 ,if not the face of men1 ,the sufferance of our souls1 ,,the ,,times ,,abuse1-- ,if these be motives weak1 break off betimes1 ,and every man hence to his idle bed2 ,so let high-sighted tyranny range on1 ,till each man drop by lottery4 ,but if ,,these1-- ,as ,i am sure they do1--bear fire enough ,to kindle cowards1 and to steel with valour ,the melting spirits of women1 then1 countrymen1 ,what need we any spur but ,,our ,,own ,,cause ,to prick us to redress8 what other bond ,than secret ,romans1 that have spoken the word1 ,and will not falter4444 ,swear priests and cowards1 and men cautelous1 ,old feeble carrions1 and such suffering souls ,that welcome wrongs2 unto bad causes swear ,such creatures as men doubt2 but do not stain ,the even virtue of our enterprise1 ,nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits1 ,to think that1 or our cause1 or our performance1 ,did need an oath4' ,doctrine of the 'secret ,romans4' ,as to the rest1 it was this man--this man of a scientific 'prudence' with the abhorrence of change1 which is the instinct of the larger whole1 confirmed by a scientific forethought--it was this man who gave at last the signal for change2 not for war4 ',proceed by process' was his word4 ,constitutional remedies for the evils which appeared to have attained at last the unendurable point1 were the remedies which he proposed--this was the move which he was willing1 for his part1 to initiate4--',we are not1 perhaps1 at the last gasp4 ,i think ,i see ways to save us4'--,the proceedings of the ,parliament which condemned him were studiously arranged beforehand by himself1--he wrote the programme of it1 and the part he undertook to perform in it was the greatest in history4 '',tis the indiligent reader that loses my subject1 not ,i1' says the 'foreign interpreter' of this style of writing4 ',there will always be found some word or other1 in a corner1 though it lie very close4' ,that is the rule for the reading of the evidence in this case4 ,the word is there1 though it lies very close1 as it had need to1 to be available4 ,it was as a baffled1 disgraced statesman1 that he found leisure to complete and put in final order for posterity1 those noble works1 through which we have already learned to love and honour him1 in the face of this calumny4 ,it was as a disgraced and baffled statesman and courtier--all lurking jealousies and suspicions at last put to rest--all possibility of a political future precluded2 but as a courtier still hanging on the king and on the power that controlled the king1 for life and liberty2 and careful still not to assert any independence of those same ends1 which had always been taken to be his ends2 it was in this character that he brought out at last the ,novum ,organum2 it was in this character that he ventured to collect and republish his avowed philosophical works2 it was in this character too that he ventured at last to produce that little piece of history which comes down to us loosely appended to these philosophical writings4 ,a history of the ,second ,conquest of the ,children of ,alfred1 a ,conquest which they resisted1 in heroic wars1 but vainly1 for want of leaders and organization--overborne by the genius of a military chief whom this historian compares in king-craft with his contemporaries ,ferdinand of ,spain1 and ,louis ,,xi4 ,it is a history which was dedicated to ,charles ,i41 which was corrected in the manuscript by ,james ,i41 at the request of the author2 and he owed to that monarch's approval of it1 permission to come to town for the purpose of superintending its publication4 ,it is the ,history of the ,founding of the ,tudor ,dynasty3 prepared1--as were the rest of these works1--under the patronage of an insolent favourite with whom it was necessary 'entirely to drop the character that carried with it the least show of truth or gracefulness1' and under the patronage of a monarch with whom it was not sufficient 'for persons of superior gifts and endowments to act the deformity of obsequiousness1 unless they really changed themselves and became abject and contemptible in their persons4' ',i am in this 7,volumnia7 ,your wife1 your son1 these senators1 the nobles1 ,and you will rather show our general lowts1 ,how you can frown1 than spend a fawn upon them1 ,for the inheritance of their loves1 and safeguard1 ,of what that want might ruin4 ,away my disposition6 ,when you do find him1 or alive or dead1 ,he will be found like ,brutus1 ,,like ,,himself4 ',yet country-men1 ,o yet1 hold up your heads4 ,i will proclaim my name about the field4 ,i am the son of ,marcus ,cato1 ,,ho6 ,a foe ,,to ,,tyrants1 and my country's friend4 ',and ,i am ,brutus1 ,marcus ,brutus ,i1 ,brutus1 ,,my ,,country',s ,,friend1 know ,,me for ,,brutus4' ,,finis4