NOTE C. 



suffered less emptiness, less idleness, in what he uttered. No member of his 

 speech hut consisted of its own graces. His hearers could not cough, or look 

 aside from him without loss. He commanded where he spoke; and had his 

 judges angry and pleased at his devotion. IVo man had their affections more in 

 his power. The fear of every man that heurd him was. lest he should make an 

 end. 



The devotion of Sir Nicholas to science may be seen in inscriptions in diffe 

 rent parts of his seat at Gorhambuiy. Over a gate leading into the orchard, 

 which had a garden on one side and a Wilderness on the other, under the 

 statue of Orpheus, stood these verses : 



Horrida nuper eram aspectu latebracque ferarum, 



Ruricolis tantum numinibusque locus. 

 Edomitor fausto hue duin forte supervenit Orpheus 



Ulterius qui me non sinit esse rudem ; 

 C onvocat, avulsis virgulta virentia truncis 



Et sedem quae vel Diis placuisse potest. 



Sicque mei cultor, sic est mihi cultus et Orpheus : 

 Floreat O noster cultus amorque diu. 



This too was the favourite image of Francis. In Orpheus s Theatre all beasts 

 and birds assembled, and forgetting their several appetites, some of prey, some 

 of game, some of quarrel, stood all sociably together, listening to the airs and 

 accords of the harp ; the sound whereof no sooner ceased, or was drowned by 

 some louder noise, but every beast returned to his own nature ; wherein is aptly 

 described the nature and condition of men : who are full of savage and unre 

 claimed desires of profit, of lust, of revenge, which, as long as they give ear to 

 precepts, to laws, to religion, sweetly touched with eloquence, and persuasion 

 of books, of sermons, of harangues ; so long is society and peace maintained ; 

 but if these instruments be silent, or sedition and tumult make them not audible, 

 all things dissolve into anarchy and confusion. 



In the orchard was a little&quot; banquetting-house, adorned with great curiosity, 

 having the liberal arts beautifully depicted on its walls, over them the pictures 

 of such learned men as had excelled in each, and under them, verses expressive 

 of the benefits derived from the study of them. 



GRAMMAR. Lex sum sermonis linguarurn regula certa, 



Qui me non didicit caetera nulla petat. 

 ARITHMETICK. Ingenium exacuo, numeiorum arcana recludo, 



Qui numeros didicit quid didicisse nequit. 

 LOGICK. Divido multiplies, res explanoque latentes 



Vera exquiro, falsa arguo, cuncta probo. 

 BICSICK. Mitigo moKrores, et acerbas lenio cruras, 



Gestiat ut placidis mens hilarata sonis. 



RHETOR ICK. Me duce splendescit, gratis prudentia verbis 

 Jamque ornata nitet quae fuit ante rudis. 

 GEOMETRY. Corpora describe rerum et quo singula pacto 



Apte sunt formis appropriata suis. 

 ASTROLOGY. Astrorum lustrans cursus viresque potentes, 



Elicio miris fata futura modis. 



So, too, Francis had his banquetting-house and fish-ponds, as will be 

 explained in a subsequent part of this work. They may now be seen at Gor- 

 hambury, in a field called the Ponyard the Pondyard. His passion for build 

 ing appeared in his mansion and gardens at Gorhambury, near St. Albans, and 

 in his New Atlantis are the statues of eminent men. 



Sir Nicholas s first wife was Jane Fernly, of West Creting, in Suffolk, by whom 

 he had six children. His second wife was Anne, the daughter of Sir Anthony 

 Cooke, of Giddy Hall, Essex, by whom he had two sons, Anthony and Francis, 

 who was the celebrated Lord Verulam. His death is said to have been occasioned 

 by accident, on the 20th of February, 1579; and, on the 9th of March, he was 

 with great solemnity, under a sumptuous monument erected by him&amp;gt;elf 

 n St. Paul s church, with the following inscription by Ouchannan : 



