IxXX LIFE OF BACON&quot;. 



with the admonition of Bacon s philosophy, that &quot; the 

 honest and just bounds of observation by one person upon 

 another, extend no further but to understand him suffi 

 ciently, whereby not to give him offence ; or whereby to be 

 able to give him faithful counsel ; or whereby to stand upon 

 reasonable guard and caution with respect to a man s self: 

 but to be speculative into another man, to the end to know 

 how to work him, or wind him, or govern him, proceedeth 

 from a heart that is double and cloven, and not entire and 

 ingenuous.&quot; (a) Such is Bacon s doctrine, but having, as 

 it appears, in his youth, taken an unfortunate bias from 

 the censures of Burleigh and Cecil, and from the frequent 

 assertions of Elizabeth, that he was without knowledge of 

 affairs, he affected, through the whole of his life, an over 

 strained refinement in trifles, and a political subtlety, which 

 never failed to awaken the suspicions of his enemies, and 

 was altogether unworthy of his great mind. 



From these various efforts Bacon indulged the most 

 flattering hopes of the restoration of his friend to the 

 Queen s favour, in which, if Essex had acted with common 

 prudence, he would have succeeded ; though the Queen 

 kept alive her displeasure by many passionate expressions, 

 &quot; that he had long tried her anger, and she must have 

 further proof of his humility, and that her father would not 

 have endured his perverseness ;&quot; but Bacon, who knew the 

 depths and soundings of the Queen s character, was not 

 dismayed by these ebullitions; he saw, under the agitated 

 surface, a constant under-current of kindness. 



Bacon s account is as follows : &quot; From this time forth, 

 during the whole latter end of that summer, while the 

 court was at Nonsuch and Oatlands, I made it my task 

 and scope to take and give occasions for my lord s redinte- 



(a) Advancement of Learning, vol. ii. p. 30. 



