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Show 10 J. Letter to t'e Earl of E {fex, in Offer of bis S er"Vice. .d Letter ·to tT,e Earl o/E[ex, in offer of bis Serl1ice , wlun he . was firft enlarged, to E·£fex Houfc. My Lord; 'fh. NO Man can expound my Doings better, than your Lord tp; which makes me need to fay the le{fe : 0 nel y, I humbly praY .you to beleeve, that I afpire to the Confcience, and Commendation, of Boneu Civis, and !Jon~ Vir; And that, thoug? I love (orne Things, better, (I confeffe,) than ·~ love your LordfJJ'•p, yet I love few Per{ons better; Both for Grautudes fake, and f?r your Vertues; which cannot hurt, but by Accident; Of w~1ch my good ·Affe6tion, it may pleafe your'Lord{bip,'to affure your [elf; And of all the true EffeCts, and Offices, I can yield. F?r as I was e~er forry, your Lordiliip ibould fly, with waxen Wings, doubtmg Icarus Fortune; So for the growing, up ofyout own Feathers, be they Eftridges, or other kinde, no man iliall be m?re glad. And this is the Axill-Tree, whereon I have tqrned, and iball turn. Which havincr al'ready fignified, to you) by [orne near mean, havino- fo fit a M~ilenger, fot mine own Letter, I thought good:,a~fo, to ~double by Writing: And fo I commend you to GodsProteffton. FromGraies Inn-, this 9thof/u~, x6oo. . ( An~ nfwer, o/ my Lord of E!fex, to the immediatel' preceding . , Letter, ofMr. Bacons; rr ) Mr. ·Bacon·; ,r 1 I Can neither Expound, nor Cenfure, your late ~ctio.ns; Being ignorant, of all of them; [ave one; And having duected my 1 Sight inward onely.,to '?'amine my Self .. You doe pray n1e to believe, that you only .afp1re, to the Confcience, an~ Commelll~ation, of Eon~ civu, and Bon~ rir; And I doe fatthfully aflure you, that whil~ that is your A~bition, ( though your Courfe ~c ACtive, and Mmd Contemplative,) yet we fhall b0tb, Convemre ' in eodem Tertio ; And, Con·cenire inter Nojipfos-. Your Profeffi9n of Affe&ion, and Offer of good Offices, are welcom tO _me : For anfwer to them, I will fay but tlhis; That you have beheved, I have been kind to you ; And you rna y beleevc, that I cannot be other, either upon Humour, or mine own EleCtion. I am a flranger,. co all Poetical Conceits, or elfe I iliould fay fomewhat, of your Poettcal Example. But this I mufl: fay; That I never flew, w1th ot~tr wings, than Defire to merit; And Confidence in my So-z-·ercz:gns Favour; And when one of thefe wings failed me, I would llght no where, but at my So7./eraigns Feet, though fhe fuffered me, ~o be bru1fed, . Two Lett~rs fiameJ, &c. bruifed~ with my fall. . And till her Majejty, that knows, I was never Btrd of Prey, finds 1t ro agree with ber will, and her Service, that my wings fhould be imped again, I have committed my Self, to the iWue. No power, but my Gods, and my So·veraigns, canalter this Refolution, of Tour Rf!tired Friend, ESSEX. T TPo Letters framed, the ont) as from Mr. Anthony Bacon 'to the Earl of Efiex; Theother,4s tl~e Earls Anfl})er thereu~to dell'Perea to s;, Francis Bacon, with the .A d''PiceofMr. An~ tho~y Bacon, his ~rother, to be fhtewed to the Qyeen, upon fome fitoccafion; As a Mean, to "'tJotk.. her Majefly, to rtcei1Je the Earl again, to Pa11our and Attendance, .at Court : They "A1ere de~i[ed, t11biljl my Lord remained Prifoner , in his own Houfe. My ftngular good Lord ; . . ~- , . THis _Il:andtng at a Hay, in your LordfJ:ips. Fortunes,doth}nake me; In my Love towards your Lordfhtp, Jealous, left you doe fomewhat, or omit fornewhat, that amounteth to a new Error . For I fup_rofe, of all former Matters, there is a full Expiation : wherein, for any thing that your Lordfhip doth, I, for my pan, · (who arh remote, ) . cannot c~fr, nor ~ev.ife, wherein any Errour iliould be; except In one pbtnt, wh1ch I dare not cenfure, nor diffwade : .whic~ is, that ( as.the Prophet faith, ) In this AffliElion, you look up,ad Manum ~er'eutientem, and fo ma,ke your peace with God. And yet I heardlt noted; that my Lord of Leicefter, .(who could never get to be taken for a Saint, nevetthde{fe in the Q_,uuns Disfavour,) w~xed feeming Religious : which may be thought by fome, and ui~d by others, as~ .Cafe refembling yours; lf Men do not fee, or wlll not fee, the dtfference between your two Difpofitions. But to be plain with your Lordfhip,my Fear rather is, becaufe ~ he~r, how fome of your good, and wife, Friends., not unpr~etifed In the Court, and fuppofing th~tnfelves, not to be unfeen, m that deep, and unfcrutable, Center of the Court, which is her Maiefti~s Minde, doe not onely toll the Bel~, but even ring out Peals, as If your Fortune were dead, and buned; And as if 4 there were no poffibility, of recovering her Mtait~ies Favour; And as if, ~he beft of your Condition, ~ere to l~ve, a private, and retired Ltf~, out.ofWant, out of P~nl, ~nd out ofmani~efi: ~ifgrace; And f~ 111 this per~ wafion of theirs , mclude a perf wafion to your Lordfhtp, to frame, and accommodate your Aetions, and Mind, to that End : I fear, I fay, that this untimely Defpair, may, 10 -- I I |