"Question was asked of Demosthenes," &c.] See Cic. de Orat. iii. 56.; Brut. 38.; Plut. Vit. X. Orat. c. 8. By the Greek word ὑπόκρισις, and the Latin word actio, in this anecdote, is meant all that belongs to the acting or delivery of a speech. Bacon appears, by his following remarks, not to include elocution in actio; which was certainly not Cicero's understanding of the word.
"If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill.">[ Query, What is the authority for this well-known story?
Essay XIII. Of Goodness.—
"The Turks, a cruel people, nevertheless are kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and birds; insomuch, as Busbechius reporteth, a Christian boy in Constantinople had like to have been stoned for gagging in a waggishness a long-billed fowl.">[ A. G. Busbequius, Legationis Turcicæ Epistolæ quattuor, in Epist. iii. p. 107. of his works, Lond. 1660, tells a story of a Venetian goldsmith at Constantinople, who was fond of fowling, and had caught a bird of the size of the cuckoo, and of the same colour; with a beak not very large, but with jaws so wide that, when opened, they would admit a man's fist. This bird he fastened over his door, with extended wings, and a stick in his beak, so as to extend the jaws to a great width, as a joke. The Turks, who were passing by, took compassion on the bird; seized the goldsmith by the neck, and led him before the criminal judge. He was with difficulty saved from an infliction of the bastinado by the interference of the Venetian Bailo. The man told the story to Busbequius, and showed him the bird; who supposed it to be the Caprimulgus, or goat-sucker. A full account of the Caprimulgus Europæus (the bird here alluded to) may be seen in the Penny Cyclopædia, art. Nightjars. It will be observed that Bacon quotes the story from memory, and does not represent the particulars of it with accuracy. It is not a Christian boy, nor is he threatened with stoning, nor is the bird a long-billed fowl.
"Neither give thou Æsop's cock a gem," &c.] Compare Apophthegms, No. 203. p. 393.
"Such men in other men's calamities are, as it were, in season, and are ever on the loading part.">[ By "the loading part," seems to be meant the part which is most heavily laden; the part which supports the chief burthen.
"Misanthropi, that make it their practice to bring men to the bough, and yet have never a tree for the purpose in their gardens as Timon had.">[ Query, What is the allusion in this passage? Nothing of the sort occurs in Lucian's dialogue of Timon.
Essay XIV. Of Nobility.—See Antitheta, No. 1. vol. viii. p. 354.
Essay XV. Of Seditions and Troubles.—