In his
adversity
I ever prayed that God would give him strength; for
greatness he could not want.
greatness he could not want.
Ben Jonson - Discoveries Made Upon Men, and Some Poems
Now things daily fall, wits
grow downward, and eloquence grows backward; so that he may be named and
stand as the mark and ? ? ? ? of our language.
_De augmentis scientiarum_. --_Julius Caesar_. --_Lord St. Alban_. --I have ever
observed it to have been the office of a wise patriot, among the greatest
affairs of the State, to take care of the commonwealth of learning. For
schools, they are the seminaries of State; and nothing is worthier the
study of a statesman than that part of the republic which we call the
advancement of letters. Witness the care of Julius Caesar, who, in the
heat of the civil war, writ his books of Analogy, and dedicated them to
Tully. This made the late Lord St. Alban entitle his work _Novum
Organum_; which, though by the most of superficial men, who cannot get
beyond the title of nominals, it is not penetrated nor understood, it
really openeth all defects of learning whatsoever, and is a book
"Qui longum note scriptori proroget aevum. " {62a}
My conceit of his person was never increased toward him by his place or
honours; but I have and do reverence him for the greatness that was only
proper to himself, in that he seemed to me ever, by his work, one of the
greatest men, and most worthy of admiration, that had been in many ages.
In his adversity I ever prayed that God would give him strength; for
greatness he could not want. Neither could I condole in a word or
syllable for him, as knowing no accident could do harm to virtue, but
rather help to make it manifest.
_De corruptela morum_. --There cannot be one colour of the mind, another of
the wit. If the mind be staid, grave, and composed, the wit is so; that
vitiated, the other is blown and deflowered. Do we not see, if the mind
languish, the members are dull? Look upon an effeminate person, his very
gait confesseth him. If a man be fiery, his motion is so; if angry, it
is troubled and violent. So that we may conclude wheresoever manners and
fashions are corrupted, language is. It imitates the public riot. The
excess of feasts and apparel are the notes of a sick state, and the
wantonness of language of a sick mind.
_De rebus mundanis_. --If we would consider what our affairs are indeed,
not what they are called, we should find more evils belonging to us than
happen to us. How often doth that which was called a calamity prove the
beginning and cause of a man's happiness? and, on the contrary, that
which happened or came to another with great gratulation and applause,
how it hath lifted him but a step higher to his ruin? as if he stood
before where he might fall safely.
grow downward, and eloquence grows backward; so that he may be named and
stand as the mark and ? ? ? ? of our language.
_De augmentis scientiarum_. --_Julius Caesar_. --_Lord St. Alban_. --I have ever
observed it to have been the office of a wise patriot, among the greatest
affairs of the State, to take care of the commonwealth of learning. For
schools, they are the seminaries of State; and nothing is worthier the
study of a statesman than that part of the republic which we call the
advancement of letters. Witness the care of Julius Caesar, who, in the
heat of the civil war, writ his books of Analogy, and dedicated them to
Tully. This made the late Lord St. Alban entitle his work _Novum
Organum_; which, though by the most of superficial men, who cannot get
beyond the title of nominals, it is not penetrated nor understood, it
really openeth all defects of learning whatsoever, and is a book
"Qui longum note scriptori proroget aevum. " {62a}
My conceit of his person was never increased toward him by his place or
honours; but I have and do reverence him for the greatness that was only
proper to himself, in that he seemed to me ever, by his work, one of the
greatest men, and most worthy of admiration, that had been in many ages.
In his adversity I ever prayed that God would give him strength; for
greatness he could not want. Neither could I condole in a word or
syllable for him, as knowing no accident could do harm to virtue, but
rather help to make it manifest.
_De corruptela morum_. --There cannot be one colour of the mind, another of
the wit. If the mind be staid, grave, and composed, the wit is so; that
vitiated, the other is blown and deflowered. Do we not see, if the mind
languish, the members are dull? Look upon an effeminate person, his very
gait confesseth him. If a man be fiery, his motion is so; if angry, it
is troubled and violent. So that we may conclude wheresoever manners and
fashions are corrupted, language is. It imitates the public riot. The
excess of feasts and apparel are the notes of a sick state, and the
wantonness of language of a sick mind.
_De rebus mundanis_. --If we would consider what our affairs are indeed,
not what they are called, we should find more evils belonging to us than
happen to us. How often doth that which was called a calamity prove the
beginning and cause of a man's happiness? and, on the contrary, that
which happened or came to another with great gratulation and applause,
how it hath lifted him but a step higher to his ruin? as if he stood
before where he might fall safely.
