ment or management) of Health," is another of those published in 1597. It is very short, and it will be sufficient to quote the opening sentences:

There is a wisdom in this beyond the rules of physic: a man's own observation what he finds good of and what he finds hurt of, is the best physic to preserve health. But it is a safer conclusion to say, This agreeth not well with me, therefore I will not continue it-than this, I find no offence of this, therefore I may use it. For strength of nature in youth passeth over many excesses which are owing a man till his age.

The Thirty-first, entitled "Of Suspicion," was new in 1625. It is also very short; and the following few sentences may be sample enough of it :—

There is nothing makes a man suspect much more than to know little, and therefore men should remedy suspicion by procuring to know more, and not to keep their suspicions in smother. What would men have? Do they think those they employ and deal with are saints? Do they not think they will have their own ends, and be truer to themselves than to them? Therefore there is no better way to moderate suspicions than to account upon such suspicions as true, and yet to bridle them as false. For so far a man ought to make use of suspicions as to provide as, if that should be true that he suspects, yet it may do him no hurt.

The Thirty-second, "Of Discourse," is another of those, most or all of which are short, in the original collection of 1597. Here are two or three sentences of it :

The honourablest part of talk is to give the occasion, and again to moderate and pass to somewhat else; for then a man leads the dance. It is good in discourse and speech of conversation to vary and intermingle speech of the present occasion with arguments, tales with reasons, asking of questions with telling of opinions, and jest with earnest; for it is a dull thing to tire, and, as we say now, to jade any thing too far. .

A good continued speech, without a good speech of interlocution, shows slowness; and a good reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth shallowness or weakness;

as we see in beasts, that those that are weakest in the course are yet nimblest in the turn, as it is betwixt the greyhound and the hare. To use too many circumstances ere one come to the matter, is wearisome; to use none all, is blunt.

From the Thirty-third Essay, entitled "Of Plantations," which was first published in 1625, we extract the commencing and concluding remarks, as of more general or enduring applicability:

Plantations are amongst ancient, primitive, and heroical works. When the world was young it begat more children, but now it is old it begets fewer; for I may justly account new plantations to be the children of former kingdoms. It is the sinfullest thing in the world to forsake or destitute a plantation once in forwardness; for besides the dishonour, it is the guiltiness of blood of many commiserable persons.

The Thirty-fourth Essay, "Of Riches," first appeared in the collection of 1612. Its spirit and general tenour may be gathered from the following extracts :

Of great riches there is no real use, except it be in the distribution, the rest is but conceit: so saith Solomon, 'Where much is, there are many to consume it, and what hath the owner but the sight of it with his eyes?" The personal fruition in any man cannot reach to feel great riches: there is a custody of them, or a power of dole and donative of them, or a fame of them, but no solid use to the owner. Do you not see what feigned prices are set upon little stones and rarities? And what works of ostentation are undertaken, because there might seem to be some use of great riches? But then you will say they may be of use to buy men out of dangers or troubles: as Solomon saithRiches are as a stronghold in the imagination of the rich man.' But this is excellently expressed, that it is in imagination, and not always in fact; for certainly great riches have sold more men than they have bought out. The ways to enrich are many, and most of them foul. Parsimony is one of the best, and yet is not innocent; for it withholdeth men from works of liberality and charity. . . . . . It was truly observed by one, that himself came very hardly to a little riches, and very easily to great riches: for when a man's stock come to that that he can expect the prime of markets, and overcome those bargains, which, for their greatness, are few men's money, and

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be partner in the industries of younger men, he cannot but increase mainly. . . . . . He that resteth upon gains certain shall hardly grow to great riches, and he that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes break and come to poverty; it is good, therefore, to guard adventures with certainties that may uphold losses. Believe not much them that seem to despise riches; for they despise them that despair of them, and none worse when they come to them. Be not penny-wise: riches have wings, and sometimes they fly away of themselves; sometimes they must be set flying to bring in more. A great estate left to an heir is as a lure to all the birds of prey round about to seize on him, if he be not the better established in years and judgment. Likewise glorious gifts and foundations are like sacrifices without salt, and but the painted sepulchres of alms which soon will putrify and corrupt inwardly therefore measure not thine advancements by quantity, but frame them by measure, and defer not charities till death; for certainly, if a man weigh it rightly, he that doth so is rather liberal of another man's than of his own.

The Thirty-fifth Essay is entitled "Of Prophecies," and was first published in 1625. It is omitted in the Latin translation of the Essays, perhaps from the impossibility of giving the effect of the popular rhymes to which great part of it relates in that language, and the peculiarly English interest of the principal matters discussed or noticed. The following are extracts :—

When I was in France, I heard from one Doctor Pena that the queen-mother, who was given to curious arts, caused the king her husband's nativity to be calculated under a false name; and the astrologer gave a judgment that he should be killed in a duel, at which the queen laughed, thinking her husband to be above challenges and duels; but he was slain upon a course at tilt, the splinters of the staff of Montgomery going in at his beaver. The trivial prophecy that I heard when I was a child, and Queen Elizabeth was in the flower of her years, was"When hempe is spun, England's done :*

whereby it was generally conceived, that after the princes had reigned which had the principal letters of that word 'hempe' (which were Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth), England should come to utter confusion; which, thanks be to God, is verified only in the change of the name; for that the king's

style is now no more of England, but of Britain.

As for Cleon's dream, I think it was a jest: it was, that he was devoured of a long dragon, and it was expounded of a maker of sausages that troubled him exceedingly. There are numbers of the like kind, especially if you include dreams and predictions of astrology. But I have set down these few only of certain credit for example. My judgment is, that they ought all to be despised, and ought to serve but for winter-talk by the fireside: though when I say despised, I mean it as for belief; for otherwise the spreading or publishing of them is in no sort to be despised, for they have done much mischief. And I see many severe laws made to suppress them. That that hath given them grace and some credit consisteth in three things-first, that men mark when they hit, and never mark when they miss, as they do generally also of dreams. The second is, that probable conjectures or obscure traditions many times turn themselves into prophecies, while the nature of man, which coveteth divination, thinks it no peril to foretel that which indeed they do but collect. The third and last (which is the great one) is, that almost all of them, being infinite in number, have been impostures, and by idle and crafty brains merely contrived and feigned after the event past.

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The following few sentences are from the Thirty-sixth Essay, entitled "Of Ambition," which is in the collection of 1612 ::

Ambition is like choler, which is a humour that maketh men active, earnest, full of alacrity, and stirring, if it be not stopped; but if it be stopped, and cannot have its way, it becometh a dust, and thereby malign and venomous. So ambitious men, if they find the way open for their rising, and still get forward, they are rather busy than dangerous; but if they be checked in their desires they become secretly discontent, and look upon men and matters with an evil eye, and are best pleased when things go backward, which is the worst property in a servant of a prince or state. It is counted by

some a weakness in princes to have favourites, but it is of all others the best remedy against ambitious great ones; for when the way of pleasuring and displeasuring lieth by the favourite, it is impossible any other should be over-great.

We subjoin the whole of the Thirty-seventh, entitled "Of Masques and Triumphs," which was first published in 1625:

These things are but toys to come amongst such serious observations; but yet since princes will have such things, it is better they should be graced with elegancy than daubed with cost. Dancing to song is a thing of great state and pleasure. I understand it that the song be in quire, placed aloft, and accompanied with some broken music, and the ditty fitted to the device. Acting in song, especially in dialogues, hath an extreme good grace: I say acting, not dancing (for that is a mean and vulgar thing), and the voices of the dialogue would be strong and manly (a bass and a tenor, no treble), and the ditty high and tragical, not nice or dainty. Several quires placed one over against another, and taking the voice by catches, anthem-wise, give great pleasure. Turning dances into figure is a childish curiosity; and generally let it be noted, that those things which I here set down are such as do naturally take the sense, and not respect petty wonderments. It is true, the alterations of scenes, so it be quietly and without noise, are things of great beauty and pleasure; for they feed and relieve the eye before it be full of the same object. Let the scenes abound with light, especially coloured and varied; and let the maskers, or any other that are to come down from the scene, have some motions upon the scene itself before their coming down; for it draws the eye strangely, and makes it with great pleasure to desire to see that it cannot perfectly discern. Let the songs be loud and cheerful, and not chirpings or pulings. Let the music likewise be sharp and loud, and well placed. The colours that show best by candle-light are white, carnation, and a kind of sea-water green; and oes or spangs, as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost and not discerned. Let the suits of the maskers be graceful, and such as become the person when the vizors are off, not after examples of known attires-Turks, soldiers, mariners, and the like. Let anti-masks not be long: they have been commonly of fools, satyrs, baboons, wild-men, antics, beasts, spirits, witches, Æthiops, pigmies, turquets, nymphs, rustics, cupids, statues (moving), and the like. As for angels, it is not comical enough to put them in anti-masks; and anything that is hideous, as devils, giants, is on the other side as unfit. But chiefly, let the music of them be recreative, and with some strange changes. Some sweet odours suddenly coming forth, without any drops falling, are in such a company, as there is steam and heat, things of great pleasure and refreshment. Double masks, one of men, another of ladies, addeth state and variety. But all is nothing, except the room be kept clean and neat.