faith had given up good men in prey to those that are tyrannical and unjust.[1] Which he spake, because indeed there was never law, or sect, or opinion, did so much magnify goodness, as the Christian religion doth. Therefore, to avoid the scandal and the danger both, it is good to take knowledge[2] of the errors of an habit so excellent. Seek the good of other men, but be not in bondage to their faces or fancies; for that is but facility or softness; which taketh an honest mind prisoner. Neither give thou Æsop's cock a gem, who would be better pleased and happier if he had a barley-corn.[3] The example of God teacheth the lesson truly; He sendeth his rain, and maketh his sun to shine, upon the just and unjust;[4] but he doth not rain wealth, nor shine
- ↑ Discorsi sopra La Prima Deca di T. Livio. II. 2.
- ↑ Knowledge. Cognizance; notice; only in the phrase, 'to take knowledge of,' that is, 'to take cognizance or notice of, to observe.'
"Take you, as 't were, some distant knowledge of him."
Shakspere. Hamlet. ii. 1. - ↑ "As a Cock was turning up a Dunghill, he spy'd a Jewel. Well (says he to himself), this sparkling Foolery now to a Lapidary in my place, would have been the making of him, but as for any Use or Purpose of mine, a Barley-Corn had been worth Forty on 't."He that's Industrious in an honest Calling, shall never fail of a Blessing. 'T is the part of a wise Man to prefer Things necessary before Matters of Curiosity, Ornament, or Pleasure." Fable I. A Cock and a Diamond. Fables of Aesop and other Eminent Mythologists: with Morals and Reflexions. By Sir Roger L'Estrange, Kt.
"The Moral.
"When peace was renewed with the French in England, divers of the great counsellors were presented from the French with jewels. The Lord Henry Howard was omitted. Whereupon the King said to him: My Lord, how haps it that you have not a jewel as well as the rest? My Lord answered again (alluding to the fable of Aesop): Non sum Gallus, itaque non reperi gemmam." Bacon. Apophthegmes New and Old. 203 (34). - ↑ "For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew v. 45.
History of Florence. Bacon was much attracted towards Machiavelli, who was a kindred spirit, a man of acute intellect and no compelling conscience.
