as a philosopher and natural man, it was well said, Pompa mortis magis terret, quam mors ipsa:1 Groans and convulsions, and a discoloured face, and friends weeping, and blacks,2 and obsequies, and the like, shew death terrible. It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it mates3 and masters the fear of death; and therefore death is no such terrible enemy when a man hath so many attendants about him that can win the combat of him. Revenge triumphs over death; Love slights it; Honour aspireth to it; Grief flieth to it; Fear pre-occupateth it; nay we read, after Otho the emperor had slain himself, Pity (which is the tenderest of affections) provoked many to die, out of mere compassion to their sovereign, and as the truest sort of followers. Nay Seneca adds niceness and satiety: Cogita quamdiu eadem feceris; mori velle, non tantum fortis, aut miser,

1 The surroundings of death strike more terror than death itself. L. Annaei Senecae ad Lucilium Epistularum Moralium Liber III. Epistula III. Seneca lived 4-65 A.D.

2 Blacks. Black clothing for mourning; hangings of black cloth used in churches, etc., at funerals. In Shakspere's time the upper part of the stage, technically called 'the heavens,' was hung with black when tragedies were performed.

"I would not hear of blacks, I was so light,
But chose a color orient like my mind:
For blacks are often such dissembling mourners,
There is no credit given to 't; it has lost
All reputation by false sons and widows."
Middleton. The Old Law.

"My mind she has mated and amazed my sight."
Shakspere. Macbeth.

Pre-occupate. To occupy before; to anticipate.

5 Marcus Salvius Otho, Roman emperor, 32-69 A.D.

• Provoke. To stimulate to action; to move; to excite.

ii. 1.

v. 1.

"And let

us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works." Hebrews x. 24.

sed etiam fastidiosus potest.1 A man would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable, only✓ upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over. It is no less worthy to observe, how little alteration in good spirits the approaches of death make; for they appear to be the same men till the last instant. Augustus Cæsar2 died in a compliment; Livia,3 conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale:4 Tiberius in dissimulation; as Tacitus saith of him, Jam Tiberium vires et corpus, non dissimulatio, deserebant:7 Vespasian in a jest; sitting upon the stool, Ut puto Deus fio:9 Galba 10 with a sentence; Feri, si ex re sit populi Romani: 11 holding forth

8

1 Think how often you do the same things. A man may wish to die, not so much because he is brave or miserable, as that he is tired of living. L. Annaei Senecae ad Lucilium Epistularum Moralium Liber X. Epistula I.

"It is a brave act of valour to contemn death; but where life is more terrible than death, it is then the truest valour to dare to live." Sir Thomas Browne. Religio Medici. Part I. Section 44.

2 Caius Octavius, called later, Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus, great-nephew of Julius Caesar, and first Roman emperor, lived 63 B.C. to 14 A.D.

3 Livia Drusilla was the mother of Tiberius and the third wife of Augustus. 'Caesar Augustus died in a compliment.-I hope 't was a sincere one!-quoth my Uncle Toby.-'T was to his wife, said my father.' Sterne. Tristram Shandy. V. 3.

* Livia, mindful of our union, live on, and farewell. C. Suetoni Tranquilli De XII Caesaribus Liber II. D. Octavius Caesar Augustus. 100.

5 Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, stepson of Augustus and Roman emperor, lived 42 B.C. to 37 A.D.

Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian, lived from about 55 to about 117 A.D. He wrote De vita et moribus Julii Agricolae; Germania; Historiae, accounts of the reigns of Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian; and Annales, a history of the Julian dynasty from the death of Augustus.

7 His strength and vitality were now deserting Tiberius, but not his dissimulation. P. Cornelii Taciti Annalium Liber VI. Caput 50. 8 Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus, Roman emperor, 9-79 A.D. I suppose I am becoming a god. C. Suetoni Tranquilli De XII Caesaribus Liber VIII. T. Flavius Vespasianus Augustus. 23. 10 Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman emperor, lived 3 B.C. to 69 A.D. 11 Strike, if it be for the good of the Roman people. Cornelii Taciti Historiarum Liber I. Caput 41.

his neck. Septimius Severus1 in despatch; Adeste si quid mihi restat agendum: And the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed too much cost upon death, and by their great preparations made it appear more fearful. Better saith he, qui finem vitæ extremum inter munera ponat naturæ.3 It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other. He that dies in an earnest pursuit, is like one that is wounded in hot blood; who, for the time, scarce feels the hurt; and therefore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good doth avert the dolours of death. But above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is, Nunc dimittis;5 when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also; that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy. Extinctus amabitur idem.6

1 Lucius Septimius Severus, Roman emperor, 146-211 A.D.

2 Make haste, if anything remains for me to do. Dion Cassius. Liber LXXVI. 17.

3 Who considers the end of life as one of nature's blessings. The thought is Juvenal's, D. Junii Juvenalis Aquinatis Satirarum Liber IV. Satira X. 358-359. Bacon quotes the verse again in the Advancement of Learning. II. xxi. 5.

4 Dolours. Griefs, sorrows. "About this time I did light on a dreadful story of that miserable mortal, Francis Spira; a book that was to my troubled spirit, as salt when rubbed into a fresh wound: every sentence in that book, every groan of that man, with all the rest of his actions in his dolours, as his tears, his prayers, his gnashing of teeth, his wringing of hands, his twisting, and languishing, and pining away under that mighty hand of God that was upon him, were as knives and daggers to my soul." Bunyan. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. The Works of that eminent servant of Christ, John Bunyan, Minister of the Gospel; and formerly Pastor of a Congregation at Bedford. Vol. I. p. 49. (New Haven. 1831.)

5 Nunc dimittis, or the Song of Simeon. Luke ii. 29-32. "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." It is one of the canticles for Evening Prayer in the Church of England.

The same man, dead, will be loved; i.e., he who is envied and suffers from detraction in life, may become a hero after death. Q. Horatii Flacci Epistolarum Liber II. Epistola I. Ad Augustum. 14.

III. OF UNITY IN RELIGION.

RELIGION being the chief band of human society, it is a happy thing when itself is well contained within the true band of Unity. The quarrels and divisions about religion were evils unknown to the heathen. The reason was, because the religion of the heathen consisted rather in rites and ceremonies, than in any constant belief. For you may imagine what kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors1 and fathers of their church were the poets. But the true God hath this attribute, that he is a jealous God;2 and therefore his worship and religion will endure no mixture nor partner. We shall therefore speak a few words concerning the Unity of the Church; what are the Fruits thereof; what the Bounds; and what the Means.

The Fruits of Unity (next unto the well pleasing of God, which is all in all) are two; the one towards those that are without the church, the other towards those that are within. For the former; it is certain that heresies and schisms are of all others the greatest scandals; yea, more than corruption of manners. For as in the natural body a wound or solution of continuity3 is worse than a

1 Doctor. Teacher, instructor. "And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions." Luke ii. 46.

2 "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." Exodus xxxiv. 14. Compare also the Second Commandment, Exodus xx. 5.

3 A wound makes a solution of continuity by severing muscles, nerves, arteries, and the like.

corrupt humour; so in the spiritual. So that nothing doth so much keep men out of the church, and drive men out of the church, as breach of unity. And therefore, whensoever it cometh to that pass, that one saith Ecce in deserto,' another saith Ecce in penetralibus; that is, when some men seek Christ in the conventicles of heretics, and others in an outward face of a church, that voice had need continually to sound in men's ears, Nolite exire,-Go not out.3 The Doctor of the Gentiles (the propriety5 of whose vocation drew him to have a special care of those without) saith, If an heathen come in, and hear you speak with several tongues, will he not say that you are mad? And certainly it is little better, when atheists and profane persons do hear of so many discordant and contrary opinions in religion; it doth avert them from the church, and maketh them to sit down in the chair of the scorners. It is but a light thing to be vouched 10 in so serious a matter, but yet it expresseth well the deformity. There is a master of scoffing, that in his catalogue

1 "Behold, he is in the desert." Matthew xxiv. 26. 2 "Behold, he is in the secret chambers."

"Go not forth." Matthew xxiv. 26.

Matthew xxiv. 26.

The Apostle Paul is the 'Doctor of the Gentiles.' In Acts xxii. 21, Paul relates how he was specially called to his apostleship among the Gentiles: "And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."

5 Propriety. Peculiar quality, especial concern.

6 Vocation. Calling in life.

7"If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?" Corinthians xiv. 23.

I.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Psalms i. 1.