This is one of the cases in which it may at first be supposed that Bacon borrowed from Shakespeare, because the play in which the proverb occurs is of earlier date than the letter to James I. Yet, since it is authoritatively stated that the play of the Two Gentlemen of Verona was not published until 1623, the fact of Bacon's familiarity with it while it was yet merely a stage play seems to be so remarkable that it serves as a particularly good illustration of the manner in which Bacon and the author of the plays connected together and combined the same ideas, or, as in this case, the same proverbs.

If, as has already been said, the borrowing' theory is admitted as a satisfactory explanation of such coincidences, it must be applied sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other, to most of the metaphors and peculiar expressions which are common to both sets of works. Moreover, it is evident (for there are indubitable proofs, not only in these Promus notes, but by a comparison of various parts of Bacon's voluminous writings) that he had, as Mr. Spedding points out, a system of taking notes and of often making slightly inaccurate quotations intentionally, and apparently with the view of bringing out some point which suggested to him a train of thought beyond or different from that which the author intended. If he is found doing this in his notes, and if the same thing is traceable in his acknowledged works, it may fairly be inferred that it was part of his method and of his genius, a characteristic of his style, which is more likely to be noticeable in his lighter writings than elsewhere.

It is of importance, therefore, to press on the reader's attention this view of Bacon's mode of assimilating to himself every thought that fell in his way. Examples of the same kind appear on nearly every page of the Promus, and if we would track the nimble mind of Bacon through the mazes of his notes, it can only be done by realising the versatility and Proteus like genius which could find

'figures in all things,' which, glancing from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven, could give to airy nothing a local habitation and a name,' a genius which

Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself,

Could turn to favour and to prettiness.

The remarks as to the use made by Bacon of the English proverbs apply equally to the French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin proverbs, which are numerous. But the arguments which apply to the English collection cannot hold good with the foreign proverbs.' It It may be thought likely, or possible, that Shakespeare should have used upwards of 100 of the same English proverbs that Bacon noted, but did not use; and the coincidence may perhaps be accounted for by saying that both authors may equally have availed themselves of Heywood's epigrams, or that the proverbs were common and popular.

Even assuming this to be the case, the same arguments cannot be used with regard to the foreign proverbs, some of which are most peculiar, and unknown to modern ears. There are 200 French, 26 Spanish, and 14 Italian proverbs in the Promus, forming a total of 240.

Of these, traces of about 151 have been found in the plays. Three or four of the Italian and Spanish proverbs are quoted in Bacon's prose writings, but out of the 200 French proverbs, only one has been found which seems to have any reference to the plays. The one exception is No. 1445- Commence à mourir qui abandonne son désir' and this may perhaps apply as well to certain sentiments in the two essays of 'Death' as to the numerous passages in the plays which echo or paraphrase those sentiments.

The Promus collection of Choice French Proverbs,' 200 in number, is written in a clear French handwriting, which bears a much more modern appearance than the

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether an allusion is to the English or foreign version of the proverb, as the entries in the Promus are not in all cases word for word, like the version of Heywood, nor like its modern form.

crabbed old English characters from which the rest of the MSS. have to be deciphered. At first sight there was no connecting link to be found between this collection and the plays, and it seemed probable that these folios had been arranged by mistake amongst Bacon's notes. Further investigation of the proverbs, however, led to the discovery that, although few of them are used openly or literally in any of the plays, yet that a considerable number (about ninety) reappear in a modified and covert form in the later tragedies, especially in Lear, Othello, and Hamlet. Since the French collection occurs so late amongst the folios (although perhaps it should not have been placed last in the series), it is noteworthy that such a manner of using these proverbs is in accordance with a rule which is found to prevail with regard to Bacon's quotations from the Bible and from other writings. In early life he quoted them simply and openly, but in his later years, when he had as it were thoroughly assimilated and made his own the thoughts which he had previously chewed and

digested,' they no longer appeared in their crude state as proverbs, aphorisms, or brief and pithy sayings, but occur rather in the form of similes and beautiful poetic images, in which probably they would not have been recognised except through previous acquaintance with them in some other guise.

Bacon stored his

It has been observed of Bacon by eminent critics that he was a rare instance of a man in whom the judgment ripened earlier than the poetic faculty. The private notes enable us to see why this was the case. mind and matured his judgment by extensive reading and by meditation. The aptness of his mind to perceive analogies enabled him to draw upon his facts for his 'inventions,' instead of drawing upon his imagination for his statements. He never uses a figure or simile which is not drawn, as he says it should be drawn, from the centre of the sciences;' he never states a definite opinion, either in his prose writings or in the plays, without there being

evidence to show that he had studied, and usually taken notes of, the particular subject, whether small or great, to which he alludes.

There is little to be said concerning the Spanish and Italian proverbs, which are to be found chiefly in folios 94b, 95b, 97, and 1026. The Spanish are evidently the favourites with Bacon, and they are used in every respect as the English proverbs. 'Di mentira y sagueras verdad' (625) is twice noted in the Promus. It is translated in the essays and in other places, Tell a lie and find a truth, and worked up in the plays into various forms. (See f. 95, 625.) Todos los duelos con pan son buenos' is quoted in a letter to the King (1623). It does not appear elsewhere.

These (and No. 145 of Mahomet and the Mountain,' told as a story in the essay on Boldness) are the only Spanish proverbs apparently which are quoted in Bacon's prose works, but in the plays fourteen out of the twentysix in the Promus seem to be translated or alluded to.

'En fin la soga quiebra por el mas delgado' perhaps suggested the image used in describing the death of Kent, and in several other places: The strings of life began to crack. (See f. 95, 626.)

Two of the Italian proverbs are quoted by Bacon in the essays as 'Poco di matto' in the essay Of Usury, "Tanto buon che val niente' in the essay Of Goodness of Nature; but these are all that have been noticed. Seven others appear to be more or less reflected in the from the plays which are noted in the Promus.

passages

There are passages both in the plays and in the prose works of Bacon which bear such a strong likeness to certain French, Spanish, and Italian proverbs to be found in old collections, that although these proverbs are not in the Promus, it is probable that, like the English proverbs which have been consigned to the Appendix, they were noted elsewhere by Bacon, or that at any rate he had them in his mind when he wrote the passages which seem to allude to or repeat them. No attempt has been made to

seek out proverbs of this class, and there are perhaps many more than have been here collected; but it hardly seems probable that many persons will maintain that Shakespeare possessed a knowledge of French, Italian, and Spanish, which would have enabled him to introduce proverbs from these languages, or to adopt expressions and sentiments from them, as if they were to him household words, and thoughts which at some time in his life he had chewed and digested. On the supposition that the writer of the plays did not take his ideas from these proverbs, the coincidences appear in some cases all the more curious, and for those who may be interested in following up this subject twenty-four of these foreign proverbs (together with references to Bacon's prose works and to the plays) will be found in Appendix C.

It is difficult, in dealing with the Latin quotations, to distinguish between proverbs and aphorisms or pithy sayings. Perhaps it is best to consider the two classes as one, but at the same time attention should be drawn to the large number of notes in this connection which have been taken from the Adagia of Erasmus. The frequent occurrence of these adages, or wise saws of the ancients, in the pages of Shakespeare, leads to the belief that they were not taken at first hand from the various classical authors to whom they owe their origin, but were borrowed from the commentaries of Erasmus. Although there are upwards of 225 of these Erasmus notes in the Promus, of which 218 appear to be reproduced, and some literally translated in the plays, there are, it may be said, not half a dozen quoted or alluded to in any of Bacon's prose works. In his speeches, letters, and other acknowledged writings, he quotes from Latin authors and from the Vulgate edition of the Bible, far oftener than from English or modern foreign authors. In the Advancement of Learning alone there are more than 500 quotations from ancient authors and from the Vulgate; yet, excepting three or four texts which are made the subjects of aphorisms in