74 BACON'S ESSAYS 



England and France ; whereof England, though far less in 

 territory and population, hath been (nevertheless) an over- 

 match ; in regard the middle people of England make 

 good soldiers, which the peasants of France do not. And 

 herein the device of King Henry the Seventh (whereof I 

 have spoken largely in the history of his life) was profound 

 and admirable ; in making farms and houses of husbandry 

 of a standard ; that is, maintained with such a proportion 

 of land unto them, as may breed a subject to live in con- 

 venient plenty and no servile condition ; and to keep the 

 plough in the hands of the owners, and not mere hirelings. 

 And thus indeed you shall attain to Virgil's character 

 which he gives to ancient Italy : 



Terra potens armis atque ubere glebae. 



Neither is that state (which, for any thing I know, is almost 

 peculiar to England, and hardly to be found any where 

 else, except it be perhaps in Poland) to be passed over ; I 

 mean the state of free servants and attendants upon noble- 

 men and gentlemen ; which are no ways inferior unto the 

 yeomanry for arms. And therefore out of all question, 

 the splendour and magnificence and great retinues and 

 hospitality of noblemen and gentlemen, received into 

 custom, doth much conduce unto martial greatness. 

 Whereas, contrariwise, the close and reserved living of 

 noblemen and gentlemen causeth a penury of military 

 forces. 



By all means it is to be procured, that the trunk of 

 Nebuchadnezzar's tree of monarchy be great enough to 

 bear the branches and the boughs; that is, that the natural 

 subjects of the crown or state bear a sufficient proportion 

 to the stranger subjects that they govern. Therefore all 

 states that are liberal of naturalisation towards strangers 

 are fit for empire. For to think that an handful of people 

 can, with the greatest courage and policy in the world, 

 embrace too large extent of dominion, it may hold for a 

 time, but it will fail suddenly. The Spartans were a nice 

 people in point of naturalisation ; whereby, while they kept 

 their compass, they stood firm ; but when they did spread, 



