Of Great Place by Francis Bacon

Question answers
1. According to Bacon, what are the results of attaining power?
i. Once people attain posts they are no longer free to do as they wish
because they have to satisfy their masters.
ii. The great men are always conscious of their fame and the fear of
losing the fame makes them to be in tension.
iii. Because of the duties and responsibilities of their work, they get no
time to analyze about themselves.
2. Why does Bacon feel that a man holding power should perform good
action?
Bacon suggests to do good things to others, because in utilizing their power
in a good way, it is their honor to their position. He repeats that the noble
deeds done by the great men should create good followers to follow them.
3. What are the advices given by Bacon to those who are on great positions?
He suggests that they should analyze their principles to find out whether
they have come away from their principles or not. They have to neglect bad
actions done in thier place by their predecessors. They should learn lessons
from the past and present and plan the future. They should be consistent,
so that people will know what to expect but should not be rigid. They
should welcome the advices of others.
4. What are the vices made by great men mentioned in the essay and how
can a person overcome them?
The great men make vices n four major areas:
i. Delays
ii. Corruption
iii. Roughness
iv. Facility
To overcome delay, they have to be punctual. They should appoint time for
every task and all work must be done immediately. To avoid corruption, they have
to be sincere and should not show favor to anyone. They should maintain their
integrity and warn the servants against receiving bribes. Roughness is a needless
cause of discontent. To eliminate it, one has to be kind. Facility is worse than
bribery. Bacon says that people have to be considered more careful.
5. Why great men are strangers to themselves?
While being in the process of attaining a noble position, people are mostly
indulged in the efforts of achieving their goal. In doing so they think that
they can do anything without looking after themselves or caring about
themselves. So they end up ignoring their health, body, mind and soul.
They do not give themselves enough attention to analyze themselves. In
this way they do not know their real identity. So they become strangers to
themselves.
6. How does a high position reveal the true character of a man
If a man attains a high position and realizes his duties and responsibilities,
he proves his worth by showing moral improvement. When he performs
best in meritorious tasks, his true character is visible. Bacon gives the
example of a Roman emperor named Vespasain who greatly improved his
character during his reign.
7. How is a person on great position a servant of state, fame and business?
In the view of Bacon, a person having a great position is a servant of state
because he has to follow the orders of the king or the government. In order
to maintain his position, he cannot say no to them. He is a servant of fame
because their freedom is limited by the desire of fame. He cannot enjoy life
as those who do not have a noble position. In the end, he is a servant of
business because he has some restraints imposed on him by their official
duties.