Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

328 FEANCIS BACON
does not appear to have been nearly of such long continuance
as the former. It has given place to the figure of Britannia, or
that of a lion rampant, supporting the cap of liberty on a pole.
The name, however, has continued, and we still denominate
paper of a particular size by the title offoolscap. The original
figure has the cap and bells, of which we so often read in old
plays and histories, as the particular head-dress of the fool who
at one time formed part of every great man's establishment.
" The water-mark of a cap may sometimes be met with, of a
much simpler form than just mentioned, resembling the jockeycaps
of the present day, with a trifling ornamentation or addition
to the upper part. 1 The first edition of Shakespeare,'
'
printed by Isaac laggard and Ed Blount, lb'23, will be found to
contain this mark interspersed with several others of a different
character. No doubt the general use of the term cap to various
papers of the present day owes its origin to marks of this description.
" 2
Turning our backs for a short time upon authority, we ask
counsel of experience and research. First, as to the antiquity
of the fool's cap ? The earliest printed book which contains it
seems to be the Golden Legend, written in 1370, but printed by
Caxton. 3 After this it is not infrequent, especially in the modified
forms which sometimes suggest a coronet or crown, sometimes
the rays of a rising sun.
Perhaps the thoughts which the fool's cap suggested were
akin to those in " Quarles' Emblems "
:
" See'st thou this fulsome idiot: iu what measure
He seems delighted with the antic pleasure
Of childish baubles? Canst thou but admire
The emptiness of his full desire?
Canst thou conceive such poor delights as these
Can fill
th' insatiate soul, or please
The fond aspect of his deluded eye ?
Header, such fools are you and I." i
1 The writer omits to say that this "addition "is a. fleur-de-lis, or other
sacred emblem.
2 Herring, p. 104- 106.
3The illustration given is copied from Sotheby's Principia.
4 Quarles' Emblems, book jii. 2,