64 THE ENGLI S H E S S AY AND E S SAYI STS

I t is the ease which comes from study not from indifference ,

.

F llt ham s discipleship to Bacon is clear ; but so is the great

’
e

ness of the distance at whi ch he follows his exemplar To o .

great a spirit in a man born to poor means is like a hi gh heeled ,

-

shoe to of mean stature : it dva n c t h his proportion but

o ne a e ,

is ready to fit him with fall s is a simile with a Baconian smack ,

”
.

F llt h m s essay o death is obviously founded upon and

’
e a n

indeb ted to Bacon s essay the same subj ect ; but Of M a s

’
on n
’

U willi gnes s to Die shows how much more rhetorical and how
n n

much less massive in thought the minor writer is He loves .

orn ate phrases— cg the wise man lear n s to know hi mself

,

as well by night s b lack mantle as th scorchi ng beams o f

’
,
e

d y to which there is no parallel in Bacon

a
”
,
O ccasionally he .

paraphrases Bacon : I t was t h fool that said There is no e ,

Go d ; f certainly no wise man ever thought it and yet the

or , , ,

fool had s o much wit as n o t to prate o n t : I t was but in hi s heart ’

he said it I mpudence was not s o great nor inward conviction

.
,

s o strong s that he could with confidence declare it with hi s

,
a

tongue N or did he seriously think it in his heart : s o that it

.

proceeded no farther than a bare and lazy wish because he ,

would be glad it were s o But doubtless he co uld no more .

, ,

believe there was no soul in thi s vast world than that there
w s n o S p irit to actuate hi s body
a O bviously thi s is no more .
”

t han an expanded and weakened version f a sentence o t wo o r

fl
in Bacon s Of A the is m ’
.

There are well marked di -

n es both of endowment and ere c ,

o f purpo se between F llt h ,

and the character writers Th
e am -
. e

author of the Res lves had plenty of wit though apparently

o , , ,

n o t much humour But in the Res lves as a rule his aim was
. o , ,

no t to display either By far the most witty o f hi s writings

.

is that bright and lively performance A B r i f Ch te of the e ar a c r

Lo w—
,

C o u tr ies u der th S t te s where far more than in the

n n e a , ,

Res o lves we are reminded that he was a contemporary o f

,

E arle .