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Bacon's essays and Wisdom of the ancients
Bacon's essays and Wisdom of the ancients Author:Francis Bacon Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: is wounded in hot blood, who, for the time, scarce feels the hurt; and therefore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good, doth avert the dolors of death... more »; but, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is " Nunc dimittis,"l when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame, and sxtinguisheth envy : " Extinctus amabitur idem." 2 III.—OF UNITY IN RELIGION. Religion being the chief band of human society, it is a happy thing when itself is well contained within the true band of unity. The quarrels and divisions about religion were evils unknown to the heathen. The reason was, because the religion of the heathen consisted rather in rites and ceremonies, than in any constant belief; for you may imagine what kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors and fathers of their church were the poets. 1 He alludes to the song of Simeon, to whom the Holy Ghost had revealed, "that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." When he beheld the infant Jesus in the temple, he took the child in his arms and burst forth into a song of thanksgiving, commencing, " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." — St. Luke ii. 29. 2 "When dead, the same person shall be beloved." — Hor. Ep. a. i, 14. But the true God hath this attribute, that he is a jealous God; and therefore his worship and religion will endure no mixture nor partner. We shall therefore speak a few words concerning the unity of the church; what are the fruits thereof; what the bounds; and what the means. The fruits of unity (next unto the well-pleasing of God, which is all in all), are two; the one towards those that are without the church, the other t...« less