The Anatomy of the Mind
The Anatomie of the Minde is a small book of essays on Greek and Roman philosophy published in 1576, the year Bacon left Cambridge. It has extensive parallels with Anti-Machiavel, also 1576, which is somewhat strange, as the one was published in French at Geneva and the other in English at London. The book is divided into two sections, “Perturbations” and “Moral Virtues”; each chapter bears a title like Bacon’s essays, “Of Ambition,” “Of Constancy,” etc. The front matter includes a dedication to Sir Christopher Hatton, several poems in English and Latin, and a preface. The author describes the book as “my first fruits of study” and states:
I did once for my profit in the University draw into Latin tables, which since for thy profit (Christian Reader) at the request of a gentleman of good credit and worship, I have Englished, and published in these two books… hereafter (if God so please, and grant me life and leisure) it may be published both in sweeter phrase to delight, and in better method to profit.
Several interesting things are found here; the dedication states “Virtue though in the mind of basest for condition, is very commendable. But nothing doth so set out the Diamond, as doth the Gold . . . virtue is then most wondered at, when it is in him which for authority is of power.” Bacon’s essay “Of Beauty” begins “Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set”; Shakespeare’s Richard III:
A base, foul stone, made precious by the foil
Of England’s chair, where he is falsely set.
The Anatomie’s preface states: “he which thoroughly would know himself must as well know his body, as his mind . . . For by the one we participate the nature of beasts, by the other of Angels.” Compare with Bacon’s essay “Of Atheism”:
They that deny a God destroy a man’s nobility, for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; and if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature.
The Anatomie’s prefatory poem “Joshua Hutten to the Book” reads:
For first the mind before old Adam’s fall,
from Perturbations all, was perfect free;
But after, Motions and affections all,
and passions came, which now their dwelling be.
This was how Bacon envisioned his life’s work:
Man by the Fall fell at the same time from the state of innocence and from his dominion over creation. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some part repaired; the former by religion and Faith, the latter by arts and sciences.
The Anatomie is mentioned in Gabriel Harvey’s Pierce’s Supererogation (1593): “an anatomy of the Mind, and Fortune, were respectively as behooveful and necessary, as an Anatomy of the Body.” Harvey had been Francis Bacon’s rhetoric tutor at Cambridge and is credited with coining several words, including idiom, conscious, jovial, extensively, notoriety, and rascality. Pierce’s Supererogation is also noteworthy in that it references Venus and Adonis before it had been published, and Harvey evidently knew it was going out under the name of Shakespeare.
Several stories found in the Anatomie also appear in Shakespeare; Julius Caesar:
Caesar declared himself to hate and detest those which by nature were pale and sad; and therefore on a time, as he was merely jesting with many of his familiars, but especially with one of a pleasant countenance, and of constitution of body very gross, another perceiving his great familiarity, came unto him and willed him to talk not so friendly, but to take heed of him; for without doubt, he said, if he used his company and familiarity, no good would come thereof. Then Caesar smiling said that he feared not those of merry countenance, but those lowering and sad persons, meaning Brutus and Cassius; which in deed afterwards were not only the procurers, but the committers of his cruel murdering.
Julius Caesar:
Caesar. Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.
He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.
Antony. Fear him not, Caesar, he’s not dangerous.
He is a noble Roman, and well given.
Caesar. Would he were fatter! But I fear him not.
The following scene, in which Caesar’s wife Calpurnia, fearing for his life, begs him to stay home (“Your wisdom is consumed in confidence. Do not go forth today”) is also anticipated in the Anatomie:
Caesar likewise, being over bold and contemning the words of those which wished him well, came to a most miserable end. For oftentimes he was warned and foretold of the conspiracies of his foes to bring him to death. He was counseled to see to himself, and to guard his body, lest at any time his enemies upon the sudden should set upon him, many promising their service willingly. But he contemned all their words and would none of their service, saying that he was a miserable Prince that would have a Guard about him. But his contempt hastened his end, for as it was told him afore, his death was sought and he murdered of his Senate in their house of consultation, with penknives. If he had not so trusted to his good luck, and had such a confidence that he could have withstood all the assaults of his foes, and harkened to the wholesome admonitions of his faithful friends, his days might have been prolonged, and in time he might have turned the hearts of those which then were his capital and deadly enemies.
In The Mystery of Francis Bacon William Smedley theorized that Bacon wrote both the Anatomie and another (unnamed) book published shortly thereafter, which may have been Anti-Machiavel. Smedley did not give his reasons for essaying this attribution, but only wrote the following:
The following suggestion is put forward with all diffidence, but after long and careful investigation. Francis Bacon was the author of two books which were published, one before he left England, and the other shortly after. The first is a philosophical discourse entitled The Anatomie of the Minde. “Newlie made and set forth by T.R. Imprinted at London by I.C. for Andrew Maunsell,” 1576, 12mo. . . There is in existence a copy of the book with the printer’s and other errors corrected in Bacon’s own handwriting.
Parallels
Anatomie of the Minde:
He which thoroughly would know himself must as well know his body, as his mind . . . For by the one we participate the nature of beasts, by the other of Angels.
Bacon, “Of Atheism”:
They that deny a God destroy a man’s nobility, for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; and if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
And the Pythagoreans were of his opinion, for their poesy was, that the heart should not be eaten. Their meaning was that cares and sadness should not consume the heart by unquieting the mind.
Bacon, “Of Friendship”:
The parable of Pythagoras is dark, but true; Cor ne edito; Eat not the heart.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
there is none either of nature so wild, or for behavior so wicked, but in their kind (as it is for a hound natural to smell, and for a bird to fly) are desirous to learn, and be cunning in somewhat.
Anti-Machiavel:
I would gladly ask this question of him that is most ignorant, vicious and carnal, whether he will not grant virtue to be a good of the soul. There is none so impudent whose conscience would not compel him to confess the same.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Virtue though in the mind of basest for condition, is very commendable; but nothing doth so set out the diamond, as doth the gold.
Bacon, “Of Beauty”:
Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Cato the elder was greatly delighted with such as at the least fault would blush. And so was Diogenes the Cynic; for when talking with a young man, he perceived his face to be red with blushing, said unto him; be of good cheer my son, for this color, is the color of virtue itself.
Bacon, The Advancement of Learning:
It was truly said, rubor est virtutis color [a blush is virtue’s color]
1 Henry VI:
And, which became him like a prince indeed,
He made a blushing cital of himself,
And chid his truant youth with such a grace
As if he mastered there a double spirit
Of teaching and of learning instantly
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Cicero says that Constancy is the health of the mind, so that by the same he understands the whole force and efficacy of wisdom, and that appears very well by her contrary. For Foolishness is nothing but a lightness and inconstancy of mind. Wherefore this constant man cannot be too much praised, seeing that either whole wisdom, or the very force of wisdom is in nothing more apparent than in Constancy.
Anti-Machiavel:
I will then presuppose that constancy is a quality which ordinarily accompanies all other virtues; it is, as it were, of their substance and nature.
Bacon, De augmentis scientiarum:
Constancy is the foundation on which virtues rest.
Measure for Measure:
It is virtuous to be constant in any undertaking.
Two Gentlemen of Verona:
O Heaven, were man but constant, he were perfect.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Homer, when he lived was of none account, every man contemned him, and none would vouchsafe to account him their countryman; but Homer being dead, was both lacked and longed for.
Coriolanus:
I shall be loved when I am lack’d.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Caesar declared himself to hate and detest those which by nature were pale and sad; and therefore on a time, as he was merely jesting with many of his familiars, but especially with one of a pleasant countenance, and of constitution of body very gross, another perceiving his great familiarity, came unto him, and willed him to talk not so friendly, but to take heed of him; for without doubt, he said, if he used his company and familiarity, no good would come thereof. Then Caesar smiling, said that he feared not those of merry countenance, but those lowering and sad persons, meaning Brutus and Cassius; which in deed afterwards were not only the procurers, but the committers of his cruel murdering.
Julius Caesar:
Caesar. Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.
He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.
Antony. Fear him not, Caesar, he’s not dangerous.
He is a noble Roman, and well given.
Caesar. Would he were fatter! But I fear him not.
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much,
He is a great observer, and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music.
Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mocked himself and scorned his spirit
That could be moved to smile at anything.
Such men as he be never at heart’s ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.
I rather tell thee what is to be feared
Than what I fear, for always I am Caesar.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
the Romans and many other nations allowed and thought well of [suicide]; else would not so many so desperately have bereft themselves of life; as did Brutus and Cassius after the death of Caesar; as did Antony, when he heard that Cleopatra had killed herself. For hearing the same, he broke into these words: “Die Antony, what lookst thou for? Fortune hath taken her from thee, by whom thou desired to prolong thy days, and therefore it shall never be said that such a captain as I have been accounted will be stained of a woman in stoutness of minds”; and therewithal gored himself upon a sword, and so most desperately forsook this world.
Antony and Cleopatra:
Since Cleopatra died
I have lived in such dishonor that the gods
Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword
Quartered the world, and o’er green Neptune’s back
With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack
The courage of a woman – less noble mind
Than she which by her death our Caesar tells
“I am conqueror of myself.”
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Alexander the great, liberally bestowing many things upon his friends, upon a time Perdicas spoke unto him on this manner; If you thus largely still bestow your goods, O bountiful Prince, I marvel at the length, what you will keep for yourself? Then answered Alexander, for myself I reserve Hope.
Anti-Machiavel:
When Alexander the Great departed from Macedonia to go to the conquest of Asia, he had all the captains of his army appear before him, and distributed to them almost all the revenue of his kingdom, leaving himself almost nothing. One of the captains, named Perdicas, said to him: “What then will you keep for yourself?” “Even hope,” answered Alexander.
Bacon, Advancement of Learning:
Lastly, weigh that quick and acute reply which [Alexander] made when he gave so large gifts to his friends and servants, and was asked what he did reserve for himself, and he answered, “Hope.”
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
there is none either of nature so wild, or for behavior so wicked, but in their kind (as it is for a hound natural to smell, and for a bird to fly) are desirous to learn, and be cunning in somewhat.
Anti-Machiavel:
I would gladly ask this question of him that is most ignorant, vicious and carnal, whether he will not grant virtue to be a good of the soul. There is none so impudent whose conscience would not compel him to confess the same.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
And therefore true is that saying of a learned man, It is hard in prosperity to know whether our friends do love us for our own sakes, or for our goods; but adversity proves a friend. For neither doth prosperity manifest a friend, nor adversity bide a flatterer.
Anti-Machiavel:
The true friend perseveres in the service of his prince, as well in time of adversity as prosperity; and the flatterer turns his back in time of adversity . . . Adversity also is a true touchstone to prove who are feigned or true friends; for when a man feels labyrinths of troubles fall on him, dissembling friends depart from him, and those who are good abide with him, as said the poet Euripides:
Adversity the best and certain’st friends doth get,
Prosperity both good and evil alike doth fit.
~
Anti-Machiavel:
Amity, said Cicero, is the true bond of all human society; and whoever will take amity away from among men, as Machiavelli does from among princes, he seeks to take away all pleasure, solace, contentment, and assurance that can be among humans.
Anatomie of the Minde:
Which made Cicero to say that he which would cut off this common friendship did even as it were go about to take the Sun from the world.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
The love of our Country and Prince should be great. For (as Plato and Cicero do say) no man is born for himself, but a part of our birth our Country, a part our Parents, a part our friends challenge as due unto them.
Anti-Machiavel:
For proof hereof I will take the maxim of Plato, that we are not only born for ourselves, but that our birth is partly for our country, partly for our parents, and partly for our friends.
~
Anti-Machiavel:
as the poet Sophocles says:
Men must not seek, nor love, of all things to get gain,
For he that draws gain out of that which is naught,
Before he profit gets, shall sooner loss sustain:
For evil gotten goods are often dearly bought.
Anatomie of the Minde:
Therefore we will here conclude and say with Solon, that riches ought to be gotten, but yet after honest means, not covetously, that is by wicked arts. Male parta, male dilabuntur, Ill gotten goods are ill spent, says Tully.
~
Anti-Machiavel:
Finally, what mischiefs have there ever been in the world which that hideous monster perfidy has not engendered? Assuredly it is an Alecto, an infernal fury, excited and called lately from hell to the vexation and utter overthrow of this poor world.
Anatomie of the Minde:
And Sallust very notably says that by discord the greatest things come to naught; which agrees to that fiction of the Poets, who say that by discord, which is called Alecto, one of the furies of hell, the world, and all things else shall perish.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Scipio . . . was commonly wont to say, he had rather save one citizen than slay a thousand enemies.
Anti-Machiavel:
Here I may not forget a notable sentence of the emperor Antonius Pius, which he received from Scipio the African, which was this: That he loved better to preserve one of his subjects than to slay a thousand of his enemies.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
It happened after that the Carthaginians being sorely foiled in battle were enforced to send Legates to Rome to entreat for peace. Hamilcar was chosen Ambassador, but calling unto mind their ill intreating of Cornelius Asina, refused to go. Then they chose Hanno, which went boldly to Rome to the Senate house, where one of the Tribunes began openly to accuse him of unfaithfulness; but the Consuls hearing thereof, commanded him to hold his peace, and said unto Hanno; Fear not, for the faithfulness of the Romans, doth rid thee from all fear of revenge; and though we have thee now in our claws, and may do with thee what we list, yet shall it not be said that treacherously we will deal with any.
Bacon, Apophthegms:
Hanno the Carthaginian was sent commissioner by the state, after the second Carthaginian war, to Rome, to supplicate for peace, and in the end obtained it. Yet one of the sharper senators said: You have often broken with us the peaces whereunto you have been sworn; I pray, by what Gods will you swear? Hanno answered: By the same Gods that have punished the former perjury so severely.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Scipio was no Philosopher by profession, but a warrior (a strange thing, that one of that sort should be so pure from unchaste cogitations), and yet being of the age of three and twenty years, and having brought under the subjection of the Romans a city in Spain, a certain Damsel without comparison among all the captives, most beautiful, was brought unto him for delectation after all his troubles. But Scipio, before he would receive any recreation at her hands, demanded what she was; which, when he understood her to be espoused unto a young man called Luceius, he thought it a shame for him to use her company beyond honesty; and so with many precious gifts and jewels, sent her safely conducted to her husband, that should be. This continence of Scipio passes all the rest. For who would think that a warrior, from a woman; a lusty young man, from a beautiful maiden; a conqueror, from a captive having time, place, and permission (so that without controlment of any man, he might have used her) would contain himself, all things falling so in the nick? And yet this noble warrior, lusty youth, and victorious conqueror, entered not familiarity with this woman, this beautiful maiden, and captive, because she had given her truth to another. O unspeakable virtue, and most wonderful continence of this noble Scipio, which so preferred honesty before lechery; chastity before incontinence; and a faithful promise, before sinful pleasure. I may not in Rhetorical manner enlarge this matter (and yet too much cannot be spoken to his praise) and therefore I leave it.
Anti-Machiavel:
Yet the example of clemency in Scipio Africanus is more notable than this of his father and uncle. After the deaths of his said father and uncle, this young lord full of all generosity and hardiness came to besiege New Carthage in Spain, and got it by assault… Among other hostages, there was a young lady of a great house brought to Scipio, who was of so great beauty that as she passed by she drew each man’s regard upon her. This lady was affianced to one Allucius, prince of the Celts. Scipio, taking knowledge of her parents and to whom she was affianced, and that Allucius extremely loved her, sent for them all… The said lady’s parents stepped forward and presented to him a great quantity of gold and silver for their daughter’s ransom, which though Scipio refused it, they pressed it so sore upon him that he accorded to take it, and bade them lay it before him. Scipio called Allucius and said to him, Good friend, besides the dowry which your father-in-law will give you, my desire is that you will take this silver at my hands as an increase of her dowry.
French Academy:
Scipio Africanus, general of the Romans, at the taking of the city of Carthage had a young damsel taken prisoner, of rare and excellent beauty. And when he understood of what great calling she came, and how her parents not long before had betrothed her to a great lord of Spain, he commanded that he should be sent for, and restored her unto him without abusing her in any respect, although he was in the flower of his age and had free and sovereign authority. Moreover, he gave for a dowry with her the money that was brought unto him for her ransom.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Fabius Verruscosus (which for his virtues was called Maximus) which by circumspection did so abate the haughty courage of that victorious Hannibal, as among his friends and companions he would say that he never knew what war meant, before he had occasion to encounter with Fabius. Afterward was by the Roman Senate sent unto Fabius Maximus, Marcellus which likewise was a terror unto Hannibal. And therefore as he acknowledged Fabius to be his master, and to teach him to guide an army, so did he confess himself to stand in fear of Marcellus. Whose wisdom and circumspection was of the Romans so well noted as one of them, Fabius was called the buckler, the other Marcellus the sword (to cut off the enemies) of the people of Rome. So that as Cepio and Flaminius, for their temerity have been odious; so Fabius and Marcellus for their circumspection have been glorious in the eyes of all men.
The Advancement of Learning:
Machiavel noteth wisely, how Fabius Maximus would have been temporizing still, according to his old bias, when the nature of war was altered and required hot pursuit.” Anti-Machiavel: relates that “the Roman Senate sent against Hannibal Fabius Maximus, who was not so forward (and it may be not so hardy) as Flaminius or Sempronius were; but he was more wise and careful, as he showed himself.
Bacon, Apophthegms New and Old:
Fabius Maximus being resolved to draw the war in length, still waited upon Hannibal’s progress, to curb him; and for that purpose, he encamped upon the high grounds. But Terentius his colleague fought with Hannibal, and was in great peril of overthrow. But then Fabius came down from the high grounds, and got the day. Whereupon Hannibal said, That he did ever think, that that same cloud that hanged upon the hills, would at one time or other, give a tempest.
Anti-Machiavel:
On his arrival he did not set upon Hannibal, who desired no other thing, but began to coast him far off, seeking always advantageous places. And when Hannibal approached him, then would he show him a countenance fully determined to fight, yet always seeking places of advantage. But Hannibal, who was not so rash as to join with his enemy to his own disadvantage, made a show to recoil and fly, to draw him after him. Fabius followed him, but upon coasts and hills, seeking always not the shortest way, but that way which was most for his advantage. Hannibal saw him always upon some hill or coast near him, as it were a cloud over his head; so that after Hannibal had many times essayed to draw Fabius into a place fit for himself, and where he might give battle for his own good, and yet could not thereunto draw him, said: “I see well now that the Romans also have gotten a Hannibal; and I fear that this cloud, which approaching us, still hovers upon those hills, will one of these mornings pour out some shower on our heads.”
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
And that Prince which according to reason, doth govern is called a King. So that the difference between him and a Tyrant, is because a King rules as he ought, a Tyrant as he list; a King to the profiting of all, a Tyrant only to pleasure a few, and that not for the love of virtue, but to the increase of wickedness.
Anti-Machiavel:
As contrary, none can love tyranny but must be an enemy to the common weal. For tyranny draws all to itself and despoils subjects of their goods and commodities, to appropriate all to itself, making its particular good from what belongs to all men and applying to its own profit and use what should serve for all men in general. So it follows that whoever loves the profit of a tyrant consequently hates the profit of his subjects, and he who loves the common good of subjects hates the particular profit of a tyrant.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
Julius Caesar, though much reprehended in respect of the civil discord between him and Pompey, yet is he greatly adorned with commendations, for severe punishing the most cruel murderers of his capital enemy Pompey.
Anti-Machiavel:
In like manner was the subtle disputation of those who caused the famous captain Pompey to die. After he lost the battle of Pharsalia against Caesar, he embarked on the sea with his wife and friends, hovering about Egypt, hoping to be entertained by the young king Ptolemy in consideration of the pleasures he had done to his father. At his approach he sent a messenger to know if Ptolemy would receive him in assurance; but the king’s affairs were then managed by three base persons who understood nothing less than how to govern affairs of state. They were Theodotus the rhetorician, his schoolmaster; Achillas, his domestic servant, and a chamberlain. These three venerable persons fell to counsel, to deliberate what answer the king should make to Pompey. At the beginning they differed in opinion, one saying it was good to receive him, the other not. But in the end all three accorded in the worst opinion they could have taken, which was to receive Pompey and slay him; which opinion this goodly rhetorician Theodotus persuaded to the other two by his subtle reasons. He said, “If we receive Pompey, it is certain we will have Caesar for an enemy and Pompey for a master. If we do not receive him, they will both be our enemies, Pompey for rejecting him and Caesar because we have not stayed him. But if we receive him and put him to death, Caesar will thank us and Pompey cannot revenge himself upon us; for a dead man is no warrior.” Upon these goodly reasons of that subtle rhetorician, the conclusion was taken by these three bad people to put to death this great person Pompey, who had had so many triumphs and victories in his life, and who had sometimes seen five or six great kings wait on him at once, as an arbiter of their contentions and differences. If these bad counselors had considered the greatness of Pompey, who had so many virtuous and great lords as parents and friends, as also the magnanimity of Caesar, who would vanquish by true force and not by perfidies and treasons, they would never have stayed upon the cold and foolish subtleties of this gentle rhetorician, and they would not have concluded the death of so great a man. But yet they concluded it and executed their conclusion, putting Pompey to death as soon as he had taken port in Egypt. But it was not long before they received the reward of their perfidy; for Caesar soon arrived, unto whom Pothinus and Achillas presented the head of Pompey, thinking to please him greatly. Caesar turned his face away and began to weep, and commanded Pothinus and Achillas put to death. And that subtle reason of Theodotus, who persuaded them that Caesar would thank them for their murder, was not found true. Seeing this execution and finding himself very culpable, Theodotus fled and lived some years miserably wandering and begging here and there, fearing to be known by the world which everywhere had him in execration. But in the end, after the death of Caesar, Brutus found him by chance and caused him to die miserably, after he had made him endure infinite torments. Behold the end of those three counsellors of that young king Ptolemy, who also by their evil conducting made a poor end; for he was slain in a battle near the Nile, and none could ever find his body.
~
Anatomie of the Minde:
the cause of Galba the Emperor’s destruction was because he lacked this Magnanimity, and suffered himself to be governed according to the minds of three wicked men, in whose company he did much delight, which brought shame to him and confusion to his people.
Anti-Machiavel:
The emperor Galba was a good and wise prince, but he suffered himself to be so governed and mastered by Titus Junius, Cornelius Lacus, and Icellus Martianus, who were of accord to rob and do evil, and brought upon Galba a common report to be a wicked and unworthy emperor. For his dealings and dispositions were not of one same tenor and constancy as they ought to have been; sometimes he showed himself too sparing, sometimes too prodigal; now remiss and negligent, now too near a taker; often he would refuse things which were not to be refused, or grant that which ought not to have been granted. He condemned noble persons upon simple suspicions; yet he would never accord to the Roman people to punish Tigellinus and Halotus, the ministers of Nero culpable of great wickedness, but contrarily favored them, and advanced Halotus into a high estate. He suffered these three counsellors and governors to sell and give tributes, freedoms, pardons for faults, and all other things. By such means Galba got the evil will of all estates, noblemen, senators, magistrates, and common people; insomuch that he was slain after reigning but seven months. And he received this end because he let himself be mastered by three alone; whereas if he had had a good council, composed of a good number of good and wise people, he would never have fallen into that misfortune; for he himself was good and wise.
~
Henry V:
Fortune is painted blind, with a muffler afore her eyes, to signify to you that Fortune is blind; and she is painted also with a wheel, to signify to you, which is the moral of it, that she is turning, and inconstant, and mutability, and variation; and her foot, look you, is fixed upon a spherical stone, which rolls, and rolls, and rolls. In good truth, the poet makes a most excellent description of it: Fortune is an excellent moral.
Bacon, “Of Fortune”:
If a man look sharply and attentively, he shall see Fortune; for though she is blind, she is not invisible.
Anatomie of the Minde:
The Philosophers, and other unfaithful heathens, considering the mutability of all things, and the small assurance that man hath of anything, have supposed this world to be governed by some blind or beastly God. And hereof came the fiction of Fortune, which is of ancients, both Poets and painters feigned to be blind, brutish and frantic, and so to stand upon a round stone, distributing worldly things. She is thought to be blind, because she bestows her gifts without consideration of Persons; Brutish, because she rewards most commonly, the most ungodly; without judgement, Mad, because she is wayward, cruel and inconstant; standing not upon a square stone, for that abides, but upon a round one, for that slides continually. And therefore she is counted as brittle as glass, and nothing or more unstable. And yet notwithstanding, at her pleasure she bestows all things; which Virgil confirms, for he ascribes unto her this title Omnipotent; and Sallust says, that in all things Fortune bears sway. But let them as Heathens, and without the knowledge of the true God, imagine what they list, yet let us think, and believe none to be Omnipotent, and to dispose the world, and that which is in the same, but only our God, not Fortune; and that he does all things, not rashly without reason, but providently to our preservation; and that he is not mad in his doings, but mighty and marvelous, and doth all things to the comfort of his elect.
Anti-Machiavel:
the pagan poets have written that Fortune is a goddess who gives good and evil things to whom she will. And to denote that she does this inconsiderately and without judgment, they wrap her head in a cloth, lest with her eyes she sees and knows to whom she gives; so that she never knows unto whom she does good or evil. Moreover, they describe her standing upright upon a bowl, to denote her inconstancy, turning and tossing from side to side. Now Machiavelli would make men believe that this is true, and that all the good and evil which comes to men happens because they have Fortune accordant or discordant to their complexions. He says that she commonly favors young people, such as are hazardous and inconsiderate; to the end that thereby men might learn to be rash, violent, and heady, that they may have Fortune favorable to them. But all this doctrine tends to the same end as the former maxims do, to insinuate into men’s minds and hearts a spite and utter contempt of God and his providence. For let man have once this persuasion, that no good comes to us from God, but from Fortune, he will easily forsake the service of God.
By this description of Machiavelli is evidently seen that he thinks what the poets wrote for fables concerning fortune is the very truth. For the pagan poets have written that fortune is a goddess who gives good and evil things to whom she will. And to denote that she does this inconsiderately and without judgment, they wrap her head in a cloth, lest with her eyes she sees and knows to whom she gives; so that she never knows unto whom she does good or evil. Moreover, they describe her standing upright upon a bowl, to denote her inconstancy, turning and tossing from side to side. . . For certain it is that the haps which men call Fortune proceed from God, who rather blesses prudence, which he has recommended unto us, than temerity. And although it sometimes happens that he blesses not our counsels and wisdoms, it is because we take them not from the true spring and fountain, namely from him of whom we ought to have asked it; and that most commonly we would rather our own wisdom be a glory unto us, whereas only God should be glorified.