What Philip Melancthon was at fifteen, what James Crichton was at sixteen, Francis Bacon may have been. All the testimony which his contemporaries afford, especially having regard to his after life, justify the assertion that in knowledge and acquirements he was at least their equal. About eighteen months later his portrait was painted by Hilliard, the Court miniature painter, who inscribed around it, as James Spedding says, the significant words--the natural ejaculation, we may presume, of the artist's own emotion--"_Si tabula daretur digna animum mallem._" If one could only find materials worthy to paint his mind. FOOTNOTES: [7] Dr. Whitgift was a man of strong moral rectitude, yet in 1593 he became one of its sponsors on the publication of "Venus and Adonis." CHAPTER V. EARLY COMPOSITIONS. It is at this stage that the mystery of Francis Bacon begins to develop. Every channel through which information might be expected appears to be blocked. Besides a few pamphlets, in the production of which little time would be occupied, there came nothing from his pen until 1597 when, at the age of 37, the first edition of the essays was published--only ten short essays containing less than 6,000 words. In 1605, when 45, he addressed to James I. the "Two Books on the Advancement of Learning," containing less than 60,000 words. It would require no effort on Bacon's part to write either of these volumes. He could turn out the "Two Books of the Advancement of Learning" with the same facility that a leader writer of the _Times_ would write his daily articles. He was to all intents and purposes unoccupied. Until 1594 he had not held a brief, and he never had any practice at the Bar worth considering. He was a member of Parliament, but the House seldom sat, and never for long periods. Bacon's life is absolutely unaccounted for. It is now proposed, by the aid of the literature of the period from 1576 to 1620, and with the help of information derived from his own handwriting, to trace, step by step, the results of his industry, and to supply the reason for the concealment which he pursued.