is true that small matters win great commendation, because they are continually in use and in note: whereas the occasion of any great virtue cometh but on festivals. Therefore it doth much add to a man's reputation, and is (as queen Isabella[1] said) like perpetual letters commendatory, to have good forms. To attain them it almost sufficeth not to despise them; for so shall a man observe them in others; and let him trust himself with the rest. For if he labour too much to express them, he shall lose their grace; which is to be natural and unaffected. Some men's behaviour is like a verse, wherein every syllable is measured; how can a man comprehend great matters, that breaketh his mind too much to small observations?[2] Not to use ceremonies at all, is to teach others not to use them again; and so diminisheth respect to himself; especially they be not to be omitted to strangers and formal natures; but the dwelling upon them, and exalting them above the moon, is not only tedious, but doth diminish the faith and credit of him that speaks. And certainly there is a kind of conveying of effectual and imprinting[3] passages amongst compliments, which is of singular use, if a man can hit upon it. Amongst a man's peers a man shall be sure of familiarity; and there-
- ↑ Isabella I., the Catholic, 1451–1504, daughter and heiress of Juan II. of Castile, and queen of Ferdinand V. (II. of Aragon and III. of Naples). Isabella's enduring title to fame is that she believed in Columbus, and equipped the three little ships, the Santa Maria, the Niña, and the Pinta, with which he set forth from Palos, August 3, 1492, to discover America. "Queen Isabell of Spain used to say: Whosoever hath a good presence and a good fashion, carries letters of recommendation." Bacon. Apophthegmes New and Old. 99 (74).
- ↑ Observations. Observances.
- ↑ Imprinting. That imprints or impresses something on the mind; impressive.
