2"'» S. N* 114., Mab. 6. '68.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



181 



lONDOy, S4TURDAY, MARCH 6. 1868. 



finiti, 



"bacon's ES8ATS." 



On recently becoming possessed of a copy of 

 Singer's edition of Bacon's Essays*, I counted 

 myself a happy man, heedless of the warnings 

 of Solon and the Son of Sirach. However, after 

 running my eye over my acquisition, I found 

 cause to cry out with Croesus, *' O Solon, Solon ! " 



Before detailing the reverses of fortune I ex- 

 perienced, I may mention that I have never seen 

 any notice of this work which was not unquali- 

 fiedly favourable : and that the preface leads one 

 to expect a careful editor and judicious annotator, 

 having an high sense of the responsibility of the 

 task he has undertaken, and the qualifications 

 necessaFy. In it Mr. Singer makes these just 

 remarks on Abp. Whately's edition : — 



" Here the Essays of Bacon form a very dispropor- 

 tionate part of a large octavo volume, the Abp. having 

 taken them as texts or hints for long dissertations and 

 extracts from his own writings. . . . But the most extra- 

 ordinary feature in the volume is a running verbal com- 

 mentarj', furnished by a friend, in which the commonest 

 words, such as every reader of English must be presumed 

 to be acquainted with, are explained, with citations of 

 other authors who have used the word. . . . But, indeed, 

 the Engtish of Bacon rarely requires a note ; it is re- 

 markably lucid, and free from archaisms and obsolete 

 forms of expression." — P. xxi. 



Now let us apply these remarks to some of Mr. 

 Singer's own notes. What are trivial and super- 

 fluous notes, if the following be not ? 



Bacon (Ess. i. p. 3.) says of Lucretius : " The 

 Poet that beautified the Sect that was otherwise 

 inferior," &c. Mr, Singer appends this note : 

 " Beautified, i. e. embellished, set off to advan- 

 tage." 



In Ess. VII. p. '23., we have a note explaining 

 the word " creatures." In Ess. xx. p. 77., do. 

 " Cabinet Councils." In Ess. xxii. p. 83., do. 

 " pack the cards." In Ess. xxix. p. 114. there is 

 a note to tell us the meaning of " nice." And In 

 Ess. xxxiii. p. 132., " in marish and unwhole- 

 some grounds," we have a note to explain that 

 "marish is the old form of the word Marsh or 

 Marshy." 



These may sufl5ce as instances of trivial notes ; 

 let us pass on to those in which the trivial cha- ' 

 racter is merged in the erroneous. 



The first three notes which follow are, to say 



* " Bacon's Essays, with the "Wisdom of the Ancients, 

 Revised from the Early Copies, the References supplied, 

 and a few Notes by Samuel Weller Singer, F.S.A." Lon- 

 don. Bell & Daldy. 1857. 



The exquisite taste with which this beautiful book has 

 been gotten up reflects the greatest credit on its esti- 

 mable publishers, and proclaims them true successors of 

 the English Aldus. 



the least, of very questionable accuracy and pro- 

 priety : — 



Ess. XX. p. 79. : — 



" In private, Men are more bold in their own humours j 

 and in consort. Men are more obnoxious to others' hu- 

 mours ; therefore it is good to take both." 



Note. " Obnoxious to, 1. e. liable to opposition from." 



Obnoxious here simply means subject to, sub- 

 servient to, influenced by ; and does not deserve to 

 be treated as an archaism. 



Ess. XXII. p. 83. : — 



" It is one thing to understand Persons, and another 

 thing to understand Matters; for many are perfect in 

 Men's humours, that are not greatly capable of the real 

 part of Business ; which is the constitution of one that 

 hath studied Men more than Books. SuokMen are fitter 

 for Practice than for Counsel." 



Note. " Practice here means intrigue, confederacy." £ ? ] 



Ess. xLiii. p. 163. : — 



" In Beauty, that of Favour is more than that of 

 Colour; and that of decent and gracious Motion more 

 than that of Favour." • 



Note. " Favour is general appearance." 



Favour rather means feature, countenance. In 

 Dr. Shaw's edition of Bacon the passage stands 

 thus : " In Beauty, that of Make is greater than 

 that of Complexion," &c. 



We now come to downright blunders : — 



In Ess. XXIX. p. 110. : — 



" Number itself in Armies importeth not much, where 

 the People is of weak Courage ; for (as Virgil saith) It 

 never troubles a Wolf how many the sheep be." 



Note. " Virg. Eel. vii. 51. The sense of the passage in 

 Virgil seems to be : After the shepherd has counted the 

 sheep, the wolf is careless about deranging the reckoning." 



A greater error, however, is to be found at 

 p. 167. Lord Bacon, dwelling on the importance 

 of site, in building (Ess. xlv.), observes : — 



" Neither is it ill Air only that maketh an ill Seat ; 

 but ill Ways, ill Markets ; and, if you will consult with 

 Momus, ill Neighbours." 



An ordinary man would consider this passage 

 so plain as to require no comment ; Mr. Singer, 

 however, thinks differently, and appends the fol- 

 lowing extraordinary note : — 



" /. e. If you are disposed to lead a pleasant life, Mo- 

 mus being the god of mirth." ! ! 



I need hardly remark that Momus is not " the 

 god of mirth" (unless Sardonic mirth), but the 

 god of mockery and ridicule, carping and fault- 

 finding : and that this most unnecessary note de- 

 stroys the whole force of the passage. 



Again, in the Wisdom of the Ancients, in the 

 Fable of Pan, at p. 270., occurs this passage : — 



" Of all natural things, there is a lively, jocund, and a 

 dancing age, and an age again that is dull, bibling, and 

 reeling." 



Note. " Bibling is here used in the sense of tottering. 

 The Latin is : ' Omnium enim rerum est aetas quaedam 

 hilaris et saltatrix : atque rursus «etas tarda et bibula.' " 



