142 OF THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING. [PAGES 



Page 63, 1. 4. thereof, i.e. in its own defects. Cf. p. 46, 1. 4. 

 still, always. 



1. 6. to descend into himself, to examine himself. 

 1. 8. that most pleasant life, etc., Bacon gives the words as a 

 quotation. Ellis points out that the idea is taken from Xeno- 

 phon's Memorabilia, 1. 6. Cf. 



" And as, by feeling greater delectation, 

 A man in doing good from day to day 

 Becomes aware his virtue is increasing," etc. 



Dante, Par. xviii. 58. 



1. 9. the good parts he hath, any virtues that he possesses. 

 1. 12. to colour, to excuse, or give a specious appearance to. 

 The word is frequently used in the general sense of ' to make a 

 thing appear what it is not.' 



1. 13. that mows on still, who goes on mowing. For ' still,' 

 cf. p. 36, 1. 6. 



1. 19. print, i.e. the impression made by the seal. Goodness 

 is to knowledge, as an impression is to the seal : it is knowledge 

 which makes men good. 



they be, etc., the Latin translation has " While, on the 

 other hand, the storms of vice burst forth from the clouds of 

 error." Bacon means to say that, just as knowledge produces 

 goodness, so error or ignorance produces vice. What Bacon says 

 here is partly, though not altogether, true. In virtue there is 

 both an intellectual and a moral element the perception of what 

 is right, and the will to do it. Men do sometimes deliberately 

 what they know to be wrong : but vicious actions may, perhaps, 

 more often be attributed either to ignorance of what is right, or 

 to a want of self-control. Cf. Essay xxxviii. 

 1. 25. commandment, authority. 

 1. 27. herdmen, herdsmen. 



1. 30. galley-slaves, ships called galleys were manned with 

 condemned criminals. 



1. 32. generosity, the noble feelings. We use the word now in 

 the special sense of ' liberality.' It means properly ' noble birth,' 

 and so came to signify generally ' nobility.' In the Latin trans 

 lation, it is 'a servile people.' 



1. 33. free monarchies, those in which the authority of the 

 ruler is submitted to voluntarily. 

 Page 64, 1. 1. putteth himself forth, strives his utmost. 

 1. 12. giveth law to the will itself, i.e. except when we are 

 carried away by passion, our volitions are determined by our 

 perceptions of what is reasonable. The only reason why we 

 submit our judgment to others is that we believe them to be 

 better informed than ourselves. If they really are so, then our 



