2"^ S. V. 125., May 22. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



421 



of the plantation" (Ess. 33.). Eirionnach asksj 

 " what is to certify over ? " The Latin version 

 answers the question. "Instar erronuiu degeut 

 . . . . ac turn denium, nuncios et Uterus in pa- 

 triam mittent, in plantationis praBJudicium et de- 

 decua." 



"Too near them [great cities] which lurcheth 

 all provisions, and maketh everything dear" (Ess. 

 45.). " Aut etiam propinquior, quod victui neces- 

 saria absorbet, et omnia cara reddit." 



" That is the fume of those that conceive the 

 celestial bodies," &c. (Ess. 58.) " Id enim fumus 

 et vanitas eorum est," &c. 



" Talkers a.nd futile persons " (Ess. 6.). " One 

 futile person that maketh it his glory to tell, will 

 do more hurt thah many that know it their duty 

 to conceal" (Ess. 20.). The Latin word is "futi- 

 lis," one meaning of which is blabbing, unable to 

 keep a secret. " Quis Hon odit varios, leves,yw^f- 

 les" (Cic. de Fin. iii. 11., cited in Ainsworth's 

 Dictionary'). But, as Eirionnach observes; we 

 do not now use the English word in this sense : 

 the passages in Bacon therefore require explana- 

 tion. 



" To teach dangers to come on by over early 

 buckling towards them" (Ess. 21.). " Pericula /)r«- 

 mature obviando accersere." 



I will add a few other instances which I have 

 selected myself. 



" There is no passion in the mind of man so 

 weak but it mates and masters the fear of death " 

 (Ess. 2.). '■'■ Super et et inordinem redigat." See 

 also Ess. 15., where the word '■'■mate" occurs agaih^ 

 and is rendered by "fra7igunt." 



" A servant or a favourite if he be inward, and 

 no other apparent cause of esteem, is commonly 

 thought but a byway to close corruption" (Ess. 

 11.). " Servus gratiosus et apud dominum potens." 



" But then it must be a prudent king, such as 

 is able to grind with a hand-mill'" (Ess. 20.). " Si 

 rex prudens sit, et propria marte vulidus." 



" Believe not much them that seem to despise 

 riches ; for they despise them that despair of them, 

 and 7ione worse when they come to them" (Ess. 34.). 

 The last sentence here is equivocal, but in the 

 Latin it is clear enough ; " neque invenies usquam 

 tenaciores, ubi incipient ditescere." 



" Measure not thine advancements by quantity " 

 (Ess. 34.). " Dona tua inagnitudine," &c. 



" Let princes and states choose such ministers 

 as ... . love business rather upon conscience 

 than upon bravery" (Ess. 36.). " Potius ex con- 

 scientia bona quam ex ostentatione." 



These instances are sufficient to show the utility 

 of the Latin version, and to prove that it is quite 

 idle to indulge in conjectures until we find tliat 

 this, the author's expression of the same thing in 

 another language, will not help us. I do not 

 mean to affirm that it will certainly clear up every 

 obscure passage, but I think I may say that the 



Latin version will generally be found the safest 

 guide to a right interpretation. David Gam. 



The meaning of Bacon, when he interprets {{le 

 passage in Virgil's Seventh Eclogue, by the 

 words, " It never troubles a wolf how many the 

 sheep be," is, as Eirionnach states, "siin-clear." 

 The question, however, is whether Mr. Singeb 

 made " a downright blunder " in denying that this 

 interpretation of Vii'gil is correct. I affirm thai 

 Mb. Singer is quite right. The meaning of the 

 passage is, that, in a well-warmed hut, the shep- 

 herds care no more for the cold north wind, than 

 the wolf cares about deranging the shepherd's 

 reckoning of his sheep, or than the torrent cared 

 about tearing down its banks. Servius explains 

 the words by saying, " quia solam considerat liipus 

 praidam." Heyne says, " ut numerato pecori par- 

 cat." The original of the passage is in the Ninth 

 Idyl of Theocrilusi v. 20. L. 



I asked a friend, who, unlike me, is surrounded 

 with books, to look up in Johnson and the old 

 versions of the Bible, &c. some of the words I 

 queried about, and I send you the rfesult. 



" Advoutresses "= Adulteresses. Adultery In 

 ancient law books is called Advowtry. In Wicklif 's 

 version (1380), we find Avoutresse and Ai)outrie. 

 In Tyndale's (1534), vre have Advoutrie. So also 

 in Cranmer, Geneva, and Rheims; in the last we 

 find Advouteresse in Rom. vii. 3. See also ist l3k. 

 King Edw. VL 



" ' Lurcheth ' = Devourelh. To Lurch (Lurceri Latin) 

 means to devour, to swallow up greedily. An old Latin 

 word, Lurco, means a glutton, a gormandiser. Lurco is 

 obsolete." — Johnson. 



"'Newel.' Newel, in architecture, the upright post 

 which stairs turn about ; being that part of the staircase 

 which sustains the steps. The Newel is, properly, a cylin- 

 der of stone which bears on the ground, and is formed by 

 the ends of the steps of the winding stairs. There are 

 also Newels of wood, which are pieces of timber placed per- 

 pendicularly, receiving the tenons of the steps of wooden 

 stairs into their mortices," &c. — Chambers' Ci/cl., London, 

 1786. 



" Like the dust of a Bent." Bent, which I fan- 

 cied was, perhaps, Herb Bennet, is a kind of grass, 

 it seems ; and grass flowers are covered with a fine 

 dust. We find it mentioned by Peacham. 



"June is drawn in a mantle of dark grass-green ; upon 

 his head a garland of Bent, Kingcups, and Maidenhair." 



"Bent" seems to be not altogether obsolete, as 

 the poet of the Christian Year employs it in his 

 poem for the 20th Sunday after Trinity : — 

 "... The fitful sweep 

 Of winds across the steep, 

 Thro' nithered Bents — romantic notej and clearj 

 Meet for a Hermit's ear." 



Is " Ure " to be found in the dictionaries in 

 Bacon's sense, viz. = Ore.? Thus "Iron Ure." 



— Ess. 33. EiRIONNACit. 



