D. John. I remember.

Bora. I can, at any unseasonable instant of the night, appoint her to look
out at her lady's chamber window,

" There are conceits that some men that are of an ill and melan-
choly nature, do incline the company into which they come to he sad
and ill-disposed" (" Sylva Sylvarum," Ex. 941),

Leon. Was not Count John here at supper ?
Ant. I saw him not.

Brat. How tartly that gentleman looks ! I never can see him but I am
heart-burned an hour after.
Hero. He is of a very melancholy disposition.

(" Much Ado about Nothing," act ii. sc. 1.)

Philip the Bastard.

(" King John.")

In this play we have the Imstard Philip, who is half brother
to Eobert Faulconbridge, son to Sir Robert Faulconbridge,
Philip is the eldest son, but relinquishes his rights as heir in
favoiu' of his younger brother, preferring to be knighted by the
King, and to be 02:)enly reputed the bastard son of Richard Cceiu'
de Lion. In the depicting of this character we see how faithful
to his Essays Bacon has been. For we find Philip bitter in
words, and, like Thersites, a railer. He finds fault, and abuses
Austria and the Dauphin, and confesses in the following speech
his complete character, which is to rail, out of envy, abuse what
he does not possess : —

And why rail I on this Commodity ?
But for because he hath not woo'd me yet :
Not that I have the power to clutch my hand,
When his fair angels would salute my palm ;
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich.
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail
And say there is no sin but to be rich ;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
C

34 AMBITION, ENVY, AND DEFORMITY.

To say there is no vice but beggary.
Since kings break faitli upon commodity,
Gain, be my lord, for I will worshijt thee. \Exil.

(" King John," act ii.)

Like Thersites his tongue is scurrilous and spiteful ; his de-
scription of his half l)rother Robert is evidently coloiu:'ed with
envy at his legitimacy of birth : —

Bast. Madam, an if my brother had my shape,
And I had his, sir Robert's his, like him ;
And if my legs were two such riding-rods.
My arms such eel-skins stuff'd, my face so thin
That in mine ear I durst not stick a rose
Lest men should say, " Look, where three farthings goes !"

(Act i. sc. 1.)

When the Dauphin makes love to Blanch of Spain, niece to
King John, the bastard exclaims : —

\\\ such a love, so vile a lout as he.

And a fine touch is given in the scene laid before Anglers,
where the bitterness most at his heart is roused in a moment by
.the words ^^ breed," ^'urll-boru Moods," which reflect upon and
remind him of the illegitimacy of his birth : —

First at. In brief, we are the King of England's subjects :
For him and in his right, we hold this town.

K. John. Acknowledge then the king, and let me in.

First Cit. That can we not ; but he that proves the king
To him will we prove loyal : till that time
Have we ramm'd up our gates against the world.

K. John. Doth not the crown of England prove the king ?
And if not that, I bring you witnesses.
Twice fifteen tliousand hearts of England's breed, —

Bast. Bastards, and else.

K. John. To verify our title with their lives.

K. Phil. As many and as well-born bloods as those, —

Bast. Some bastards too. (Act ii. sc. 1.)

This trifle shoAvs the exqiiisite dclicac}^ of the painting in this
art. The l)astard Philip is proud of his father's blood (Richard
Coeiw de Lion), which speaks in his fearless utterance and spirited
renunciation of his claims to his brother's land, so much so
that Queen Elinor exclaims : —

AMBITION, ENVY, AND DEFORMITY. 35

I like thee well : wilt thou forsake thy fortune,
Bequeath thy land to him, and follow me ?

(Act i. so. 1.)

Nevertheless he never forgets that he is bastard, and it bespeaks
a wonderful knowledge of the human heart, how in a moment he
is stung by a word into bitter remembrance of what he is, which
he seeks to discharge and relieve himself of, by challenging and
bitter self-irony.

Envy,

Bacon, in his Essay upon " Envy," writes : " And it is also noted
that Love and Envy do make a man pine, which other affections do
not, because they are not so continual."

In the tragedy of " Julius Csesar " nothing is drawn with greater
art than the characters of Cassius, Brutus, and Casca. At the
opening of the play we are presented with a scene in which Cassius
begins the work of undermining and inflaming the mind of Brutus
against Caesar. He describes how he saved Caesar's life from
drowning in the Tiber, and exclaims : —

I (as ^ncas, our great ancestor,

Did from the flames of Troy, upon his shoulder,

The old Anchiscs bear), so from the waves of Tiber

Did I the tired Cccsar : and this man

Is now become a God, and Cassius is

A wretched creature, and must bend his body,

If Ctcsar carelessly but nod on him. (Act i. sc. 2.)

Apply Bacon's further remarks upon "Envy" in this passage : —
" Again, Envy is ever joined with the comparing of a man's self; and
tuhere there is no comparison no envy." Cassius saved Caesar's life by
being a better swimmer, and it is a notable featiu'e in Envy (if
not in a great deal of human nature) that if a man sm-prise others
by showing talents or qualities he was not suspected of possessing,
he will excite comparison in those points where he has proved him-
self inferior to those who now envy him. For the mind is easily
inclined to judge a man hy one thing, and from this Aveakness to
claim superiority in other things. When therefore one with whom we
have been on familiar and intimate terms, whom we have imagined

36 AMBITION, ENVY, AND DEFORMITY.

we have measured, and taken exhaustive stock of, all at once

sui'prises us by going to the front, the mind receives a rude shock,

and insulted self-comparison falls back at once upon those points

where we have proved superior. Cassius continues about Ctesar : —

He had a fever when he was in Spain,

And when the fit was on him I did mark

How he did shake : 'tis trne this God did shake,

His coward lips did from their colour fly,

And that same eye, whose bend doth awe the world,

Did lose his lustre : I did hear him groan :

I, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans

Mark him, and write his speeches in their books,

Alas it cried, " Give me some drink, Titinius,"

As a sick girl : Ye gods it doth amaze me,

A man of such a feeble temper should

So get the start of the majestic world.

And bear the palm alone. (Act i. sc. 2.)

Familiarity breedeth contempt. And, as Bacon admirably re-
marks : — "A man that hath no vertue in himself ever envietk
vertue in others. For men's minds Avdll either feed upon their
own good, or uj)on other's evil ; and icho wanteth the one will prey
upon the other ; and who so is out of hope to attain to another's vertue,
ivill seek to come at even hand, by depressing another's fortune." In the
l^assage we are about to cite may be found an exact parallel to the
words quoted from Bacon as to the pining or thinning effects of
Envij, in the person of Cassius.

Cccsar. Let me have men about me, that are fat,
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights :
Yoiid Cassius has a lean and hungry look.
He thinks too much : such men are dangerous.

(Act i. sc. 2.)

In Plutarch's life of Cassar we read : "Caesar too had some sus-
picion of him (Cassius), and he even said one day to his friends,
' What think you of Cassius 1 I do not like his pale looks.' An-
other time, Avhen Anthony and Dolabella were accused of some
designs against his person and government, he said, ' I have no
apprehensions from those fat and sleek men ; I rather fear the pale
and lean ones' meaning Cassius and Brutus" ("Julius Csesar,"
Pint,, vol. iv., Langhonie's ed., 1774.)

AMBITION, ENVY, AND DEFORMITY. 37

It is evident Bacon borrowed from this passage. And we can
only admire and respect the fidelity with which he has adhered
in these particulars to history.

Plutarch, in his life of Brutus, describes Cassius as " a man of
violent passions, and an enemy to Csesar, rather from penonal
than political hatred." And this is also implied or suggested in
the passages from the play quoted. But here we find the
expression itself : —

With full as many signs of deadly hate,
As lean-fac'd envy in her loathsome cave.

("2 King Hemy VL," act iii. sc. 2.)

Caesar remarks of Cassius : —

Such men as he be never at heart's ease,
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.

(Act L sc. 1.)

" The roots of the male-peony, dried, tied to the neck, doth
help the Falling-dckness ; and likewise the Incubus, which we call
the Mare" ("Sylva Sylvarum," Cent, x., Ex. 966).

Cassi. But soft I pray you : what did Cccsar swoon ?

Casca. He fell down in the market-place and foam'd at mouth, and was
speechless.

Brutus. 'Tis very like he hath the Falling-sickness.

Cassi. No, Coisar hath it not ; but you and I
And honest Casca, we have the Falling-sickness.

("Julius Csesar," act i. sc. 2.)

"There was an ^Egyptian Soothsayer that made Antlwnius
believe that his genius (which other^vise was brave aiul confident)
was in the presence of Octavianus Ccesar, poor and cowardly; and
therefore he advised him to absent himself (as much as he could)
and remove far from him. This Soothsayer was thought to be
suborned by Cleopatra, to make him live in Egypt, and other
remote places from Eome. Howsoever, the conceit of a Predomi-
nant or Mastering Spirit, of one man over another, is ancient and
received still, even in vulgar opinion" ("Sylva Sylvarum,"
Cent. X., Ex. 939, 940).

190144

38 AMBITION, ENVY, AND DEFORMITY.

Now compare the following passage from the second act, third
scene, of the Play of " Anthony and Cleopatra," and mark how
thoroughly and entirely Bacon's prose is reproduced.

Soothsayer. But yet hie you to Egypt again.

Anthony. Say to me, wliose Fortunes shall rise higher,
Ccesars or mine ?

Soothsayer. Cccsar's. Therefore (Oh Anthony) stay not by his side.
Tliy Daemon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is
Koble, courageous, high, unniatchable,
Where Ca'sar's is not. But near liim, thy angel
Becomes a fear ; as being o'erpowered, therefore
Make space enough between you. (Act ii. so. 3. )

The result of this advice is that Anthony exclaims, " / vill to
Egypt," showing how exactly the play follows the passage we
quote from Bacon. We see this in even little trifles like the
adherence to the title " Suothsayer " and the sequence of narrative.
Anthony's character is (apart from Caesar's) "brave and con-
fident," " noble, com-ageous ; " in desar's company it turns
"poor and cowardly," and his genius "becomes a fear." An
expression of Bacon's is " Mastering Spirits," and we find it in
these words of Anthony : —

No place will please me so, no mean of death,
As here by Caesar and by you cut off,
The choice and master sjnrits of this age.

(Act iii. sc. 1.)
Macbeth, speaking of Banquo : —

Macbeth. There is none but he,
Whose being I do fear : and under him
3Iy genius is rebuk'd as it is said
Mark Anthony's loas by Ca^ar.

(" Macbeth," act iii. sc. 1.)

Under " Fascination " Bacon wTites in the Foui'th Book of " The

Advancement of Learning " (chapter iii.) : — " Whence the conceits

have grown, made almost popular of the Mastering Spirit; of

men ominous and unlucky ; of the strokes of love and envy ; and

of others of like nature."

Cas. But what of Cicero ? shall we sound him ?
I think he will stand very strong with us.
Cusca. Let us not leave him out.

AMBITION, ENVY, AND DEFORMITY. 39

Cin. No, by no means.

Met. 0, let us have him, for his silver hairs
Will purchase us a good opinion
And buy men's voices to commend our deeds :
It shall be said, his judgment ruled our hands ;
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity.

Bru. 0, name him not : let us not break with him ;
For he will never follow any thing
That other men begin.

(" Julius Ctesar," act ii. sc. 1.)

What careful and exact study of Cicero's life the author must
have given ! For Cicero, enquiring of the Oracle of Delphi, by
" what means he might rise to the greatest glory, the priestess
bade him ' Follow nature, and not take the opinion of the multi-
tude for the guide of his life.' " And Cicero had no share in the
conspiracy against Caesar, though he was one of Brutus' particu-
lar friends. Plutarch describes his vanity as disgusting, and
no doubt he had too exalted an opinion of himself to follow
anyone.

Cassius. Did Cicero say anything ?

Casca. I, he spoke Greek.

Cass. To what effect ?

Casca. N"ay, and I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you in the face again. But
those that understood him smiled at one another, and shook their heads :
but for mine own part, it was Greek to me.

(" Julius Ccesar," act i. sc. 2.)

This proves the author of this play was a thorough scholar.
For Cicero, in fear of Sylla's resentment, retired to Greece, attend-
ing the lectures of Antiochus at Athens, and is i-eported by
Plutarch to have declaimed in Greek at Rhodes, where he studied
under the rhetorician Apollonius, the son of Molo. The same
^vl*iter says at first he was called " a Greek and a scholastic " at
Eome, and later on in life rendered the Greek terms of logic and
natural philosophy into the Roman language. Plutarch affirms
that Cicero gave Latin terms for these Greek words, pJianfasia,
syncatathesis, epoche, &c., &c. (Vide FlutSLrch's "Cicero"). These
exquisite studies of character and history, carried out to the
minutest particulars, by the author of the plays, are all against

40 AMBITION, ENVY, AND DEFORMITY.

Shakespeare. For if we are to credit Mr Gladstone, Sliakespeare
only wrote for the common jieople ; and what should the people
care whether Cicero knew Greek or no, or Avhether he was
a man who would not follow the leadership of others % Why
should an author writing for bread, pressed for leisure and means,
enter into all these artistic and exquisite finishing touches, Avhere
all is truth ?

" It hath been observed that in anger the eyes ivax red" (" Xat.
Hist.," Exp. 872).

And Cicero
Looks with sucli ferret and such fiery eyes,
As we have seen him in the Capitol,
Being cross'd in conference by some senators.

("Julius Cresar," act i. sc. 2.)

" Kings in ancient times (and at this present in some countries)
were wont to put great trust in Eunuchs ; because they that are
envious towards all, are more obnoxious and officious towards
one. But yet their trust towards them hath rather been as to
good Sjpials and good whisperers " (" Deformity "). In " Twelfth
Night " we find Viola playing the part of an Eunuch, and becom-
ing the trusted confidant, messenger, spy, and whisperer of Duke
Orsino.

Ca]). Be you his eunuch, and your mute I'll be.

(Act i. sc. 2.)
Duke. Ctiesario,

Tliou know'st no less but all ; I have unclasp'd
To thee the book even of my secret soiil.

(Act i. sc. 3.)

The Eunuch Mardian (in " Antony and Cleopatra ") is sent to
Antony to whisper in his ear the pretended death of Cleopatra,
and to play the part of a trusted spy to report the eftect : —

Clro. To the monument !
Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself ;
Say that the last I spoke was " Antony,"
And word it, prithee, piteously : hence Mardian
A)id bring me how he takes my death.

(Act iv. sc. Vi.)

AMBITION, ENVY, AND DEFORMITY. 41

" There is use also of Ambitious men in pulling down the great-
ness of any subject that overtops " (" Ambition ").

The part Cardinal Wolsey plays in " King Henry the Eighth "
in j)ulling doAvn the Duke of Buckingham is a notable illustration
of Bacon's words. He writes : " It is counted by some a Aveak-
ness in Princes to have flivourites : hut it is of all others the best
remedy against ambitious great ones."

The Earl of Siurey exclaims to Cardinal "Wolsey : —

Thy ambition
(Thou scarlet sin) roblj'd this bewailing land
Of noble Buckingham.

(" Henry VIIL," act iii. so. 2.)

In the same manner as Wolsey removed Buckingham, Norfolk
and Suffolk succeed in pulling down Wolsey.

Cromwell, I charge thee fling away ambition,
By that sin fell the angels: how can man then
(The Image of his maker) hope to win by it ?

(" Henry VIIL," act iii. sc. 2.)

Compare — " For the desire of iiotoer was the fall of angels, the
desire of knowledge the fall of man " (Preface to the " Instau-
ration," p. 19).

" Men of Noble birth are noted to be envious towards new men
when they rise. For the distance is altered " (" Envy ").

Buck. This butcher's cur is venomed-mouthed, and I
Have not the power to muzzle him, therefore best
Not wake him in his slumber. A Beggar's book
Out-'worths a Noble's blood.

(Act i. sc. 1.)

Cardinal Wolsey was a man of mean birth, and the envy his
rise created amongst the nobility is well illustrated at the com-
mencement of the play of " Henry the Eighth." We are pre-
sented with Buckingham, Norfolk, and Abergavenny, each mad
with envy and hatred of Wolsey's pride, power, and ambition.

Buck. The devil speed him : no man's fire is freed
From his ambitious fingers.