And you must not now deny to share the fame and honour Of this discovery. Let come what come, we give your lord

ship

All that we possess, whereof this dedication is but a
Beginning; and we wish long life still lengthened
With all happiness to your lordship."

"I thank your honor."

"Yea, we beyond limit of what else i'th world do love,
Prize, honour you, you that out of all the multitude
Found that we, like the divine nature, took pleasure in
The innocent and kindly sport of children, in playing
At hide-and-seek, and have, at the expense of time
And fortune, applied yourself and discovered the refined
History concealed in these our works. And to enroll your
Memorable name so that it may be remembered of posterity
Is the least service we can do for you; and to
Dedicate the same to any other than your worthy self,
For a monument and honour, would show very little interest
On our side for the man by whom the happy fruits of this
Device have been discovered. Nor, it must be confessed,
Was there a second of time when we ever considered
That the dilligence of the noble man, who found our way of
Mingling this confused matter, and with ingenuity made
hunt after

The unity of the matchless and wonderful changes,
Should not share all with us. Receive them, then,

As the tribute that we owe to your honour (if honour it be
At all) for the many favours we have received from

and if this dedication please you, my worthy

And if you are pleased with these seeds of most entire

Love and humble affection, that long sithen were deep sowed

in our

Breast, for the noble and virtuous gentleman
That will have devoted his lifetime to learning
These infolded ciphers, and which will now,

In the weakness of their first spring, take root,

Bud and bring forth fruits which, though not worthy of yourself,

Yet such as perhaps by good acceptance, may hereafter
Cull out a more meet and memorable evidence of your
Own excellent deserts, we offer them to you to show
Our gratitude of so worthy and honourable a scholar,
And that what delight is in them may ever be your
Lordship's."

"I hold me highly honoured of your grace,
But the gross and palpable flattery whereby your honor
Has abased and abused your wits and pains, turning
(As Du Bartus saith) Hecuba into Helena, and
Faustina into Lucretia, has most diminished the price
Of the dedication. You have too much exalted and
Glorified me. I am in no part worthy of the praise
Which it hath pleased your grace to honour me with.”

"Sir, we love you more than world can yield y-matter; Dearer than eyesight, space, liberty, beyond

What can be valued rich and rare, no less than life.

We do not flatter, but honour you, and will so do till we die;
For upon you depends not alone the office of distinguishing
The compact and proportions of things, but to bring
Back the reputation of our name and to make publique
The remarkable fate of one who, miserably unfortunate,

Has been kept dancing within little rings like a person

bewitched.

Therefore, brave conqueror, (for so you are)

Embrace this fortune and honour patiently, and joinéd

with us

Fame, that all hunt after in their lives, shall live

Registered upon our brazen tombs and make us heirs of all
Eternity. Posterity will say we have done aright to
Humbly offer these letters unto you, who have spent
Your hours in hounding nature in her wanderings,
And far behind your worth comes all the praises
That we now bestow. And, sir, as a little

In nature's book of secrecy can we read, we know you are

well

Begot; your days and years but young, but your experience Old; your head unmellowed, but your judgement ripe; and, in

A word, as you have never been an idle truant omitting
The sweet benefit of time, your genius will cloath your age
With angel-like perfection, and on this account

Your honour and nobility shall be advanced by the dedi

cation,

Which, therefore, we recommend to your honourable pro

tection.

May all good fortune follow its acceptance, for we see
You will follow where we lead, like a stinging bee
In hottest summer's day led by its leader to the
Flowered fields, and will on the cursed instruments

That screw us from our true place, avenge us and bring them
Into the view of the world as they were. And we repeat
Once more the particular obligation we owe you, for
Your great undertaking precludes any show or taste at all

Of flattery; and though we give you here a third part of our
Life, (for for thirty-three years have we gone in travail
Of these the children of our wit) yet we give them unto
Your highness as a free will offering, and we hope your
honor

Will believe our care hath been to make the present

Worthy of your grace's praise, by the perfection of the stories And histories which we have written and hid in the

Whole of our writings. Great folly were it in us

To comment unto your wisdom, either upon the eloquence
Of the author or the worthiness of the matter itself.

Therefore we leave unto your learned censure both
The one and the other, and as even that which
Has been abstracted from other works is made more
Precious by the dressing of our lines,

So that indeed they are a new work, and as our own
Is totally new in its kind, we hope it is not
Unbeseeming to beg of you to think them worthy
Of your gracious acceptance.

"The next letter that followeth is the description
Of the queen, the general curse and the story of our life,
Which, the instant you begin, will bring forth secret
And original narratives woven into a continuous history,
But separated for the better instruction and light

Of the interpreter by questions.

"And now that like another Eneas you have passed
through

The floods, we subscribe our name, and may God
In His infinite mercy and goodness lead your grace
By the hand.

Description of the Queen, General Curse,

and Sir Francis Bacon's Life.

SWEET SIR:

Lo! here led by eternal Providence

To succour me from out this cloudy vale,

And having fortune, fate, and heavenly destiny obey'd,

As fortune friends the bold, now will I

Reveal the happy prey to you

Who make great fortune's wheel turn as you please;

And you, my lord,

By curing of this maiméd empery,

Shall hold the fates bound fast in iron chains

And be the wonder of the world,

And spite of cormorant devouring Time
Shall bate his sythe's keen edge,
Since fortune gives you opportunity
To gain the title of a conqueror
And triumph over all the world;

And if you will but go with me

Unto the shining bower where Cynthia sits
Like lovely Thetis in a crystal robe,
There within pleasant shady woods,

Where neither storm nor sun's distemperature
Have power to hurt by cruel heat or cold,
Under the climate of the milder heaven
Where seldom lights Jove's angry thunderbolt,
Far from disturbance, amid the cypress springs
Where whistling winds make music 'mong the trees,
You shall see a nymph, a queen,

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