The Essays of Francis Bacon/XXV Of Dispatch

by Francis Bacon

XXV. Of Dispatch.

Affected dispatch is one of the most dangerous things to business that can be. It is like that which the physicians call predigestion, or hasty digestion; which is sure to fill the body full of crudities and secret seeds of diseases. Therefore measure not dispatch by the times of sitting, but by the advancement of the business. And as in races it is not the large stride or high lift that makes the speed; so in business, the keeping close to the matter, and not taking of it too much at once, procureth dispatch. It is the care of some only to come off speedily for the time; or to contrive some false periods of business, because^[1] they may seem men of dispatch. But it is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off. And business so handled at several sittings or meetings goeth commonly backward and forward in an unsteady manner. I knew a wise man that had it for a by-word, when he saw men hasten to a conclusion, Stay a little, that we may make an end the sooner.^[2]

On the other side, true dispatch is a rich thing. For time is the measure of business, as money is of wares; and business is bought at a dear hand where there is small dispatch. The Spartans and Spaniards have been noted to be of small dispatch; Mi venga la muerte de Spagna;^[3] Let my death come from Spain; for then it will be sure to be long in coming.

Give good hearing to those that give the first information in business; and rather direct them in the beginning, than interrupt them in the continuance of their speeches; for he that is put out of his own order will go forward and backward, and be more tedious while he waits upon his memory, than he could have been if he had gone on in his own course. But sometimes it is seen that the moderator is more troublesome than the actor.

Iterations^[4] are commonly loss of time. But there is no such gain of time as to iterate often the state of the question; for it chaseth away many a frivolous speech as it is coming forth. Long and curious speeches are as fit for dispatch, as a robe or mantle with a long train is for race. Prefaces and passages,^[5] and excusations,^[6] and other speeches of reference to the person, are great wastes of time; and though they seem to proceed of^[7] modesty, they are bravery. Yet beware of being too material^[8] when there is any impediment or obstruction in men's wills; for preoccupation of mind ever requireth preface of speech; like a fomentation^[9] to make the unguent^[10] enter.

Above all things, order, and distribution, and singling out of parts, is the life of dispatch; so as the distribution be not too subtle: for he that doth not divide will never enter well into business; and he that divideth too much will never come out of it clearly. To choose time is to save time; and an unseasonable motion is but beating the air. There be three parts of business; the preparation, the debate or examination, and the perfection. Whereof, if you look for dispatch, let the middle only be the work of many, and the first and last the work of few. The proceeding upon somewhat conceived in writing doth for the most part facilitate dispatch: for though it should be wholly rejected, yet that negative is more pregnant of direction than an indefinite; as ashes are more generative than dust.

1. Because. That, in order that, usually followed by a redundant 'that.' "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." John vii. 39.
2. "Sir Amice Pawlet, when he saw too much haste made in any matter, was wont to say, Stay a while, that we may make an end the sooner." Bacon. Apophthegmes New and Old. 76 (71). Sir Amias Paulet or Poulet, 1536(?)–1588, was keeper of Mary Queen of Scots from 1585 to her execution in 1587–1588. When Paulet was sent as the Queen's ambassador to France, in 1576, Bacon, then a lad of about sixteen, accompanied him as a member of his household.
3. This proverb is a curious mixture of Italian and Spanish. It is an Italian saying and should read, Mi venga la morte di Spagna.
4. Iteration. Repetition.

   "O, thou hast damnable iteration, and art, indeed, able to corrupt a saint."
   

   Shakspere. I. King Henry IV. i. 2.

5. Passages. Interchange of communications, negotiations.
6. Excusations. Excuses.
7. Of. From. "And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the Lord: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord." Exodus xxix. 25.
8. Material. Full of matter.

   "A material fool!"
   

   Shakspere. As You Like It. iii. 3.

9. Fomentation. The application to the surface of the body either of flannels, etc., soaked in hot water, whether simple or medicated, or of any other warm, soft, medicinal substance.
10. Unguent. Any soft, substance used as an ointment or for lubrication.