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208 FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES
stating that the improvement of missiles (Tela) renders
those javelins such, "as they may serve in all
Weathers that the
;
Carriage may be Light and
Manageable and the like."
;
Should the reader object that the Essay treats of real
projectiles,
we would answer that this final Essay
which we have now come to, bears the heading : "Of
Vicissitude of Things," and deals with every possible
change and mutation of earthly things, concluding with
the words :
But it is not good, to looke too long, upon these turning
Wheeles of Vicissitude, lest we become Giddy. As for the
Philology of them, that is but a Circle of Tales, and therefore
not fit for this Writing. Finis.
The words "turning Wheeles " and "Vicissitude"
point to the theatre. The word " Philology" had not
then the meaning it has to-day, it rather conveyed the
idea of " eloquence, embellishment of speech, poetic
garb."
The word " Circle " (derived from the Latin
"Circulus") also points to the theatre. The word
" Tale " signifies both an epic and a dramatic story ;
as it occurs in the title The Winters Tale it
signifies
a dramatic one.
Then we find the statement that this " Circle of
Tales " or " Circle of Dramas " is
" not fit for this
Writing " or Book. If those words are to convey any
sense at all, what else can they mean but that, in as
clear words as possible, reference is being made to
another Book, written by the same author, and which
indeed contained a " Circle of Tales " ?
Those sentences are the last two in the Volume of
Essays. Like the whole final Essay, they were new
in 1625, and the volume containing those Essays was