vehement, and rather equable than great. For of love matters there was wonderfully little talk, considering his age: insomuch that he passed that extremely slippery time of his early manhood, in so great a fortune and in very good health, without being particularly noted for any affairs of that kind. There was no one in his court that had great power with him, or that possessed a strong hold on his mind. The very pursuits in which he took most delight had rather their times than their excesses; and were repeated each in its turn, rather than some one allowed to take the lead and overrule the rest; whether that were moderation and self-restraint, or that in a nature not very precocious, but ripening slowly, it did not yet appear which would ultimately prevail. In understanding he was certainly strong, and did not want either curiosity or capacity. But in speech he was somewhat slow, and as it were embarrassed; and yet if you observed diligently the things he said, whether in asking questions or expressing opinions, they were ever to the point, and argued no ordinary capacity; so that his slow and seldom speaking seemed to come rather from suspense and solicitude than weakness or dulness of judgment. In the meantime he was a wonderfully patient listener, even in affairs which grew to length, and that attentively, and without growing weary; so that he seldom let his thoughts wander or his mind lose its power of attention, but kept it still fixed and applied to that which was saying or doing: a habit which promised great wisdom in him if he had lived. Many points there were indeed in this prince's nature which were obscure, and could not be discovered by any man's judgment, but only by time, which was not allowed him. Those however which appeared were excellent ; which is enough for fame. He died in the nineteenth year of his age of a malignant fever, which-springing from the great heats and droughts, greater than islanders are accustomed to,- was very general among the people during the summer, though few died of it ; but became towards autumn more fatal. Rumour, ever more malignant (as Tacitus says) upon the deaths of princes, suggested poison. But as no symptoms of such a thing appeared, especially in the stomach which is commonly most affected by poison, that report soon died away. PREFACE. Or the two following pieces all I know is that Dr. Rawley says he found them among Bacon's papers, and understanding that they were praised by men of great reputation (a laudatissimis viris collaudatas) printed them together with the last among the Opuscula Posthuma in 1658, and inserted English translations of them in the second edition of the Resuscitatio in 1661. The character of Julius Cæsar is apparently finished. With that of Augustus Bacon does not seem to have proceeded beyond the opening paragraph; though Dr. Rawley has printed it as if it were complete; nor has any one, so far as I know, observed that it is only a fragment. In other respects they tell their own story, and do not appear to require any further explanation. |