19.1 Francis Bacon: a ‘nerve of genius’
In his early adult life, Bacon concentrated on political and state issues. He was a Member of Parliament more than once, became Attorney General in 1613, and later Lord Chancellor. But in 1621, Bacon was accused of corrupt practices, and fell into disgrace. Thereafter he spent more time on scholarly pursuits.
Bacon wrote on a number of issues, including religion. He supported the Puritan cause and argued for the execution of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots. But his most influential works were about scientific method. In The Advancement of Learning (1605) he argued that traditional methods of scientific enquiry were unsound. His new, ‘Baconian Method’ was described in Novum Organum (‘New Method’), which appeared in 1620. The method is based on inductive thinking – using the observation of specific instances to work out general laws. Because of the importance he gives to observation, he is sometimes called the ‘father of empiricism’. When he died, a commemorative volume of verse was produced. Among the accolades: he was ‘the very nerve of genius’, and ‘the greatest philosopher since the fall of Greece’.
Incidentally, talking of Bacon’s writings, in the nineteenth century a view was put forward that he was in fact the writer of Shakespeare’s works. There have been other candidates since, including Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and Christopher Marlowe. Then, of course, there is one William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon . . .
As a man, Bacon was, according to some, cold and arrogant. This may explain why he found it so difficult to find preferment, particularly important to him because for much of his life he had financial problems. According to Aubrey, he was a homosexual and a pederast. At the age of 45, he married a fourteen-year-old girl, but the marriage was not a happy one. He and his wife, Alice Barnham, fell out to the extent that she was removed from his will.
Something of a polymath, Bacon also wrote about medicine. His History of Life and Death contains observations about how to prolong life. Stuffing chicken with snow is presumably not recommended . . .
19.2 The continuous aspect in PDE
This activity will help you work out how continuous aspect is expressed in PDE. It is followed by an explanation.
- (a) Think first about how the present and past tenses with continuous aspect are formed in the bolded examples:
- John is visiting his uncle in London.
- I’m reading Hamlet at the moment.
- They are staying with their friend next week.
- The children are always shouting. I wish they’d keep quiet.
- John was working in London.
- They were staying with their friend.
- I was eating my lunch when he knocked on the door.
Based on the above examples, formulate a rule that describes how this aspect is expressed.
The examples above are all affirmative (i.e. not negative) and declarative (i.e. not interrogative). Now look at these interrogative and negative examples:
- Is John visiting London?
- John is not (isn’t) visiting London.
Try turning the other sentences (ii) to (vii) first into interrogatives, then into negatives. Now extend your rule to cover the formation of interrogative and negative, as well as affirmative positive continuous aspect.
Here are some more continuous examples. Can you identify what these are?
- I’ve been reading Hamlet for a month now.
- The house is being built at the moment.
- (b) Now think about how continuous aspect is used, rather than formed, in PDE. Here are some points to help you work this out:
- Compare sentences (i) and (ii) (which use the present tense, continuous aspect), with (xii) and (xiii), which use the present without continuous aspect:
- John visits his uncle in London every year.
- I read Shakespeare a lot.
- Sentence (vii) shows a common use of continuous aspect. In fact the sentence contains two verbs: one with continuous aspect, and one without. How do these differ in use here? Think also how the meaning would change if the sentence were I ate my lunch when he knocked on the door.
- What time is being spoken about in (iii)?
- Can you distinguish any difference between sentence (iv) and The children always shout. (A subtle one, this, and you may find the distinction slight).
- There are some verbs in PDE which rarely use continuous aspect forms. Here are some examples of sentences which would usually seem odd, if not downright impossible: *I am imagining he’ll be angry; *He is believing he is ill; *I was wishing he would go. Why do verbs like these rarely take continuous forms?
Now for some explanations:
Our examples show that PDE tenses with continuous aspect are formed by using part of the verb be, followed by the -ing form of the main verb. Often in speech it is the ‘contracted form’ of the verb be that is used – so instead of I am, you might find I’m. In interrogatives and negatives, there is no do-support; 16.3 will remind you what this is. Interrogatives are formed by inverting subject and whatever part of be is used (Is John?, Am I?, Are they? and so on). For negatives you use the not particle (John is not, I’m not, They are not). You can combine perfect and continuous forms. I have read is the present with perfect aspect, using have + past participle. Continuous forms need be + -ing. So the ‘present with perfect and continuous’ combines have + past participle with be + -ing. I’ve (= I have) been reading is example (x) above. You can also have continuous forms in the passive (mentioned in 6.1); example (xi) shows this.
Though some of the sentences we have discussed might suggest otherwise, it is relatively easy to describe how tenses with continuous aspect are formed. Their uses are less easily described. A common one is for an action that is happening as you speak, and which is often quite temporary. In (i) above, the idea is that John is visiting his uncle at the moment. Compare this with (xii), where the non-continuous present is used to indicate a habitual action, not necessarily taking place at the moment the sentence is uttered – it is something John habitually does, rather than is doing, you might say. You can see the same difference between sentences (ii) and (xiii). Look now at sentence (vii). This describes two actions, one going on (was eating) while the other one happened (knocked). Here the continuous is being used to describe a ‘framing action’. If you change the continuous was eating to a simple tense (ate), this sense of framing action disappears completely: I ate my lunch when he knocked on the door suggests that you started to eat when he knocked.
Linguists say that English does not have a proper future tense. This is because there is no specific set of verbal forms used to express futurity unambiguously. Sentence (iii) shows the present tense with continuous aspect being used in this way. It would be possible (though perhaps giving a slightly different shade of meaning) to use will here – They will stay. Sentence (iv) illustrates another use of the continuous, often accompanied by a word like always. It is to express a continually repeated action, often conveying a sense of irritation. You may feel that The children are always shouting shows a little more irritation than The children always shout. Finally, because continuous aspect is used so much to describe temporary actions, it is rarely found with verbs which describe more permanent states of mind – verbs like believe and wish. The same is true of love. We would say He loves Mary rather than *He is loving Mary (even though he may fall out of love with her next week!). We must add, though, that many PDE speakers do sometimes use verbs like love to express temporary states going on at the moment. In I’m loving this party, the verb almost means the same as enjoying.
19.3 Some more of it
Here are six more examples of EModM ways of saying PDE its, to add to the six you saw in Chapter 19’s Activity 19B.
- ’Tis a Comedy? What’s its name?
1694 Boyer (The Compleat French-Master – Helsinki Corpus).
- But value dwells not in particular will;
It holds his estimate and dignity
1602 Shakespeare (Troilus and Cressida) - Each part as faire doth show
In it kind, as white in snow.
1622 Wither (Faire-virtue) - that shortly after the birth thereof, [he] fell out with her
1582 Witness deposition – Helsinki Corpus.
There was a man of Gotam that had take a Bustard, & to the eating of it hee did bid iiii or v gentlemens seruaunts.
1565 Boorde (Mad Men of Gotam – Helsinki Corpus)
bustard = a type of bird - which is now in faire possibility to be purged from it's exactions
1641 Anon. (The Counters Discourse – Helsinki Corpus)
19.4 Fox in trouble again
On other occasions, Fox got into trouble with the law for his actions. Here is another story from his Journal. He had been preaching in the village of Patrington, near the city of Hull. His message was an uncomfortable one, telling the people they were wicked and had sinned. He was apprehended and taken to a justice. But, as the passage describes, it all ended well for Fox. Many EModE features have been taken out of the passage, to make for fast reading:
When I was come near his house, a man came riding after us, and asked me whether I was the man that had been apprehended. I asked him why he wanted to know. ‘Just asking’, he said. I told him I was: so he rode away ahead of us to the justice. The men guarding me said it would be well if the justice were not drunk before we got to him; for he used to get drunk early. When I was brought in before him, because I did not put off my hat, and because I said ‘thou’ to him, he asked the man that rode there before me whether I was not crazy or foolish. The man said no; it was my principle. I warned him to repent, and come to the Light with which Christ had enlightened him; that by it he might see all his evil words and actions, and turn to Christ Jesus whilst he had time; and that whilst he had time he should prize it. ‘Ay, ay’, said he, ‘the Light that is spoken of in the Third Chapter of John.’ I desired he would pay attention to it, and obey it. As I admonished him, I laid my hand upon him, and he was brought down by the power of the Lord; and all the watchmen stood amazed. Then he took me into a little room with the other man, and wanted to see whether I had any letters or pieces of news in my pockets. I pulled out my linen, and showed him I had no letters. He said, ‘Judging by his linen, he is not a vagrant.’ Then he set me free.