OF REVENGE

Ø  “Revenge is a kind of wild justice”.

Ø  One who pardoning the wrong has a Prince characteristic.

Ø  Salomon – the son of David, a Biblical figure.

Ø  Bacon thinks of man as a selfish creature motivated by egoism rather than self-denying idealism.

Ø  Some perverse men are malignant by nature. Bacon uses simile to such fellows. They are like a prickly shrub which pricks and scratches anyone who has the misfortune to come in contact with it. It is useless to blame a thorn because it hurts. Similarly, it is useless to blame an evil man because he is evil and hurts us.

Ø  Bacon avers that wrongs arise out of two sources 1. Some people do wrongs on account of narrow self-interest. (They are to be pardoned because every man is by nature selfish and loves his own self better than others).  2. Some naturally malignant people do wrongs on account of their perverse dispositions. (Their wrongs are to be excused for they are generated by their natural malignity). So the contemplation of revenge in either case is untenable.

Ø  Revenge – law of jungle.

Ø  Noble and courageous man takes open revenge and makes their enemy feel for their wrong things. But the revenge taken by hidden way is like arrows which are shot in the dark. Bacon disapproves of such baseness and attributes it to rank cowardice.

Ø  Cosmus- the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Ø  The treachery of a faithless friend is more unforgivable than the wrong done by an enemy.

Ø  Christ said that we should forgive our enemies, not to speak of our friends.

Ø  Job said that we should welcome from God evil as well as good.

Ø  it is inadvisable to blame a friend for the wrong he does us provided he does so along with bestowing much good upon us.

Ø  If he forgive the wrong-doer he would find it easier to let his injury heal by itself in due course of time. A perpetual thought of revenge keeps alive the memory of the wrong.

Ø  Caesar- the Roman emperor murdered through a conspiracy by Brutus.

Ø  Pertinax- the Roman emperor, assassinated by his mutinous soldiers in 193.

Ø  Henry the Third of France was stabbed by a friar in 1589.

Ø  Bacon compares the life and death of revengeful persons to the life and death of a witch.

Ø  Public revenges prove generally successful and assure prosperity for the avengers.

Ø  Private avenges end unfortunately, entailing much sorrow for the avengers.