Introduction
Francis Bacon is called as the father
of English prose. He was the first to write
prose pieces in English, during Elizabethan period. He writes about common topics. He deals the topics in a straight forward
manner by using less number of words. Of
Truth is one such essays, which talks in favour of truth. Bacon argues about the values of truth.
Truth and Lie
Bacon begins the essay by quoting an
incident, where Pilate, a Roman governor, asked what is truth but he did not
wait for an answer. People usually do
not like truth because of the following reasons:
1.
Truth
affects free thinking
2.
It
takes a long time to prove
3.
People
like lies
The philosophers who talked about
truth are no more alive. The modern
philosophers who talk about truth are not that vigorous as the old
philosophers. Bacon says that lie gives
pleasure in poetry, it gives gains to business men and people like it for the
sake of it. He compares truth to the day
light, which shows everything as it is. Lie
is compared to a candle light, which shows and hides things. Truth is like a peal, which shines only during
day time. Lie is like a diamond, which
shines during night and changes its shade with different colours of light. Lie adds some pleasure to our life. Life would be dull and melancholic, when
there are no false valuations, imagination and lie.
Qualities of Truth
People normally blame poetry because
it is filled with lie. This is not
true. Poetry is a reflection of reality. A lie that passes over the mind is good, but
the lie that sinks into the mind hurts. Truth
can be defined only by itself. The best
part of human nature is to find truth, love truth and to believe in truth. Bacon compares truth to light through
Bible. He says that God created light on
the first day and He created man on the sixth day. After creating man, He gifted him the light
of reason. Bacon says that it is better
to be present in the ship, which is in the sea and to be in the battle field
and fight, than to stay in a place and look at the happenings. Such people, who are in the field, would look
and at the human errors with pity and not with pride. Truth makes a man move in charity and this
would heaven in earth.
Truth in Normal Life
After
talking about truth in a religious and philosophical tone, Bacon talks about
the role of truth in normal life. He compares
lie mixed with truth with a gold coin mixed with copper. The copper makes gold better, but it reduces
the value of gold. Speaking lie is like
a snake that moves with its belly and not upright upon its feet. There is not shame for a man other than
speaking lie. Bacon quotes Montaigne,
who said that a man who speaks lie is brave towards God but a coward towards
human beings. By this Bacon means that a
man who speaks lie will face the judgement of God.
