© Gunnar Tómasson
4 April, 2016
An Easter Letter Written by Unknown Hand
(Alfred Dodd)
Every schoolboy knows the story told in their history books how Francis Bacon one snowy day on or about All Fools Day, 1 April 1626, drove with the King’s Physician, Sir John Wedderburn, to Highgate and that at the foot of the Hill he stopped, bought a fowl, and stuffed it with snow with his own hands in order to ascertain whether bodies could be preserved by cold. During the procedure, we are told, he caught a chill, and instead of Dr. Wedderburn driving him back to Gray’s Inn (whence he had come) or taking him to some warm house, the worthy doctor took him to an empty summer mansion on Highgate Hill, Arundel House, where there was only a caretaker; and there Francis Bacon was put into a bed which was damp and had only been „warmed by a Panne“ (a very strange thing for a doctor to do) with the result that within a few days he died of pneumonia. Dr. Rawley, his chaplain, says that he died „in the early morning of the 9th April, a day on which was COMMEMORATED the Resurrection of Our Saviour“.
That is the story and this is…:
I. Francis Bacon’s Last Letter
(Easter Week, 1626)
526846
14285 = To the Earle of Arundel and Surrey.
7470 = My very good Lord:
27393 = I was likely to have had the fortune of Caius Plinius the Elder,
19392 = who lost his life by trying an experiment
21445 = about the burning of the mountain Vesuvius.
27312 = For I was also desirous to try an experiment or two,
23426 = touching the conservation and induration of bodies.
27127 = As for the experiment itself, it succeeded excellently well;
19881 = but in the journey between London and Highgate,
18137 = I was taken with such a fit of casting,
20866 = as I knew not whether it were the stone,
24599 = or some surfeit of cold, or indeed a touch of them all three.
19809 = But when I came to your Lordship’s house,
20992 = I was not able to go back, and therefore was forced
10541 = to take up my lodging here,
27187 =where your housekeeper is very careful and diligent about me;
10692 = which I assure myself
24956 = your Lordship will not only pardon towards him,
14898 = but think the better of him for it.
21030 = For indeed your Lordship’s house is happy to me;
18831 = and I kiss your noble hands for the welcome
15120 = which I am sure you give me to it.
30197 = I know how unfit it is for me to write to your lordship
15772 = with any other hand than mine own;
32508 = but in troth my fingers are so disjointed with this fit of sickness,
12980 = that I cannot steadily hold a pen…
526846
Here the letter ends abruptly. Whatever else was written has been suppressed by Sir Tobie Matthew, one of the Rosicrosse, on which Spedding remarks, „It is a great pity the editor did not think fit to print the whole.“ For some mysterious reason the letter was not printed until 1660 in Matthew’s Collection, captioned „This was the last letter that he ever wrote.” (Francis Bacon’s Personal Life-Story, Rider & Co, London, 1986, pp. 539-540.)
II. Postscript: Force without wisdom falls by its own weight.
(GORGON, or the Wonderfull Yeare, 1593)
769322
17467 = Vis consilii expers, mole ruit sua. (Force without wisdom etc.)
22204 = The Writers Postscript: or a friendly Caveat
15951 = to the Second Shakerley of Powles.
3276 = S0net
12467 = Slumbring I lay in melancholy bed,
16780 = Before the dawning of the sanguin light:
19714 = When Echo shrill, or some Familiar Spright
12112 = Buzzed an Epitaph into my hed.
16409 = Magnifique Mindes, bred of Gargantuas race,
19616 = In grisly weedes His Obsequies waiment.
27826 = Whose Corps on Powles, whose mind triumph’d on Kent,
16231 = Scorning to bate Sir Rodomont an ace.
16241 = I mus’d awhile: and having mus’d awhile,
16337 = Jesu, (quoth I) is that Gargantua minde
14804 = Conquer’d, and left no Scanderbeg behinde?
17313 = Vow’d he not to Powles A Second bile?
21454 = What bile, or kibe? (quoth that same early Spright?)
18382 = Have you forgot the Scanderbegging wight?
3509 = Glosse
14726 = Is it a Dreame? Or is the Highest minde
20829 = That ever haunted Powles, or hunted winde,
19588 = Bereaft of that same sky-surmounting breath,
21476 = That breath, that taught the Timpany to swell?
14297 = He, and the Plague contended for the game:
21808 = The hawty man extolled his hideous thoughtes,
22472 = And gloriously insultes upon poore soules,
26489 = That plague themselves: for faint harts plague themselves.
18315 = The tyrant Sicknesse of base-minded slaves
16178 = Oh how it dominers in Coward Lane?
18095 = So Surquidry rang-out his larum bell,
15505 = When he had girn’d at many a dolefull knell.
18928 = The graund Dissease disdain’d his toade Conceit.
16725 = And smiling at his tamberlaine contempt,
22405 = Sternely struck home the peremptory stroke.
14701 = He that nor feared God, nor dreaded Div’ll,
20326 = Nor ought admired, but his wondrous selfe,
20986 = Like Junos gawdy Bird, that prowdly stares
18475 = On glittring fan of his triumphant taile:
16680 = Or like the ugly Bugg, that scorn’d to dy,
22266 = And mountes of Glory rear’d in towring witt:
18142 = Alas: but Babell Pride must kisse the pitt.
3335 = L’envoy
20142 = Powles steeple, and a hugyer thing is downe:
18340 = Beware the next Bull-beggar of the towne.
769322
III. Beware the next Bull-beggar of the towne.
(Francis Bacon’s Prophecy)
18340
1 = Monad
7 = Man-Beast of Seventh Day
3450 = Þórðr – Archetypal Saga Youth
14882 = Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
18340
IV. …but Babell Pride must kisse the pitt
(Francis Bacon’s Prophecy)
16596
4714 = Völuspá – Saga Sybil’s Prophecy
-4000 = Dark Sword
14882 = Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
1000 = FIRE
16596
V. As Babell Pride kisses the pitt…
(Shakespeare Myth/Prophecy)
-3544
10338 = The Devil’s Bed and Bolster
1000 = FIRE – The Pitt
-14882 = Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
-3544
VI. …Þórðr reaches the Muses’ Springs…
(Saga-Shakespeare Myth)
263704
Venus and Adonis Epigraph (1593)
20165 = Vilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo – Let base conceited wits admire vile things;
16408 = Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua. – Fair Phoebus lead me to the Muses’ Springs.
…And Enlightenment
(Macbeth, Act V, Sc. v, First folio)
12402 = Wherefore was that cry?
Seyton
9748 = The Queene (my Lord) is dead.
Macbeth – (His Þórðr aspect.)
12050 = She should haue dy’de heereafter;
20111 = There would haue beene a time for such a word:
22689 = To morrow, and to morrow, and to morrow,
17099 = Creepes in this petty pace from day to day,
15476 = To the last Syllable of Recorded time:
17611 = And all our yesterdayes, haue lighted Fooles
19767 = The way to dusty death. Out, out, breefe Candle,
18629 = Life’s but a walking Shadow, a poore Player,
23287 = That struts and frets his houre vpon the Stage,
13957 = And then is heard no more. It is a Tale
15789 = Told by an Ideot, full of sound and fury
8516 = Signifying nothing.
263704
I + II + V + VI = 526846 + 769322 – 3544 + 263704 = 1556328
VII. Sigmundur Davíð’s Easter Letter
(Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016)
1556328
10623 = Hvað snýr upp og niður?
10230 = Gleðilega páska öll sömul.
21863 = Það varla viðeigandi að ræða mikið um stjórnmál á páskum
22989 = en að þessu sinni verður líklega ekki hjá því komist.
17060 = Stjórnmál eru furðulegt fyrirbæri.
28401 = Ekki hvað síst hér á Íslandi þar sem menn veigra sér oft ekki við því
13333 = að snúa hlutum algjörlega á haus.
30814 = Ég greip með afgerandi hætti inn í atburðarásina í íslenskum stjórnmálum
25576 = og boðaði fordæmalausar aðgerðir til að verja hagsmuni almennings,
32876 = aðgerðir sem um leið voru til þess fallnar að rýra hagsmuni eiginkonu minnar.
22442 = Það sem ég boðaði var kallað galið, óframkvæmanlegt lýðskrum.
38158 = Ég var sagður búa til óraunhæfar væntingar og tala fyrir einhverju sem stæðist ekki lög,
30047 = tala fyrir eignaupptöku og aðgerðum sem leiða myndu til margra ára málaferla.
17412 = Ég mætti mótspyrnu í hverju skrefi
22949 = bæði af hálfu vogunarsjóðanna og málsvara þeirra hér á landi.
29466 = Málsvararnir kölluðu mig popúlista, ekki hvað síst eftir að ég boðaði
22425 = að ef kröfuhafar létu ekki undan ætti að skella á þá skatti.
26590 = Sigur hafðist þó í málinu þrátt fyrir mikla mótspyrnu.
28015 = Það náðist niðurstaða sem vakið hefur athygli og undrun alþjóðlega
20638 = fyrir hvað hún var óvenjuleg og góð fyrir Ísland.
27944 = Niðurstaða sem Lee Buchheit kallaði einstaka í fjármálasögu heimsins.
29451 = Sú niðurstaða að vogunarsjóðirnir, sem komu til að græða á falli bankanna,
21047 = voru látnir borga fyrir að fá eignir sínar afhentar.
15845 = Þeir þurftu að borga fyrir að fá peninga
31065 = sem formaður eins af stjórnarandstöðuflokkunum minnti reglulega á
11958 = að væri lögvarin eign þeirra.
21823 = Til að gera þetta mögulegt var fólk, eins og konan mín,
26694 = sem þegar hafði tapað miklu á að láta bankana geyma peningana sína fyrir hrun,
10521 = látið taka á sig enn meira tap.
20933 = Nú þegar búið er að klára það sem sagt var ómögulegt
30568 = og ná niðurstöðunni sem reyndist „einstök í fjármálasögu heimsins“,
21890 = stíga þeir fram sem sögðu mig hafa lofað því ómögulega
22839 = og segja mig vanhæfan til að ná þessum árangri vegna þess
23171 = að með því hafi ég verið að fórna hagsmunum eigin fjölskyldu.
22578 = Og það sem meira sé, ég hafi ekki einu sinni látið vita af því
18628 = að ég væri að fórna hagsmunum fjölskyldunnar.
32311 = Ekkert af þessu fólki hafði talið sig vanhæft eða séð ástæðu til að gera grein fyrir
26618 = eigin hagsmunum og hagsmunum fjölskyldna sinna á liðnum árum
13155 = þegar verið var að taka ákvarðanir
25862 = sem ekki fórnuðu þeirra eigin hagsmunum heldur vörðu þá.
36236 = Svo eru þeir til sem sjá þessa umræðu alla sem tilefni til að ráðast á eiginkonu mína,
26751 = rægja hana og fjölskyldu hennar og dreifa óhróðri um þetta góða fólk,
16392 = allt væntanlega í þeim tilgangi að vega að mér.
21811 = Blanda þannig í málið fólki sem á svo sannarlega ekki skilið
36571 = að vera dregið inn í óþverraumræðuna sem allt of oft fylgir stjórnmálum nú til dags.
31157 = Þannig varð því miður til sú staða að óhjákvæmilegt reyndist fyrir mig
16276 = að fara að tjá mig um málefni eiginkonu minnar
17062 = en til þessa hef ég fylgt þeirri stefnu
29116 = að leyfa mönnum ekki að blanda konu minni eða fjölskyldu inn í pólitísk átök.
26370 = Þegar ég vék frá þeirri reglu gerðist það sem við mátti búast
24620 = að menn nýta allt sem sagt er sem tilefni til að þvæla málið áfram.
18535 = Ástæðulaust er að eltast við þá sem það gera.
20507 = Hins vegar hef ég fullan skilning á að við umfjöllun
21078 = eins og þá sem boðið hefur verið upp á að undanförnu
16456 = vakni ýmsar spurningar hjá almenningi.
29947 = Slíkt er eðlilegt þegar umræða um stjórnmál og fjármál er annars vegar.
30476 = Við hjónin erum þakklát fyrir þann mikla stuðning sem við höfum fengið
29377 = frá ótrúlegum fjölda fólks sem skilur hvernig þetta mál er vaxið.
34142 = Það er þó sjálfsagt mál að veita þeim sem telja einhverjum spurningum ósvarað
25063 = eða vilja fá betri yfirsýn yfir málið greinargóðar upplýsingar.
26520 = Við settumst því niður saman og skrifuðum samantekt
29408 = með svörum við öllum þeim álitamálum sem varpað hefur verið upp
19882 = í umræðunni að undanförnu og öðrum atriðum
26162 = sem við höfum orðið vör við að fólk hafi verið að velta fyrir sér.
19605 = Fyrir áhugasama læt ég samantektina fylgja hér að neðan.
1556328
¹ Loose translation:
What is up and down?
Happy Easter to all of you.
It is hardly appropriate to talk much politics at Easter but this time it can probably not be avoided.
Politics is a strange phenomenon. Not least here in Iceland where people often do not flinch from turning things completely upside down.
I intervened decisively in the course of events in Icelandic politics and proposed unprecedented measures to defend the interests of the general public, measures which at the same time were conducive to impairing the interests of my wife.
What I proposed was called crazy, unworkable demagogy. I was said to be creating unrealistic expectations and advocating something which was contrary to law, advocating expropriation of assets and measures which would entail many years of litigation. I met resistance at every step both by the hedge funds and their spokesmen in this country. The spokesmen called me a populist, not least after I proposed that, if the creditors would not yield, then they would be hit with a tax.
Still, victory was achieved despite great opposition. The outcome has attracted international attention and surprise because how unusual and good for Iceland it was.
An outcome which Lee Buchheit called unique in the world’s financial history. An outcome where the hedge funds, that came to Iceland to profit from the collapse of the banks, were made to pay to have their assets released. They had to pay for getting money which the chairman of one of the opposition parties pointed out on a regular basis was their legally protected asset.
This became possible because people such as my wife, who had already lost much by having the banks safeguard their money before the collapse, were made to absorb a further loss.
Now that the supposedly impossible has happened in a manner “unique in the world’s financial history”, those who said I had promised the unattainable, step up and say that I was disqualified to work towards this result because in doing so I was sacrificing the interests of my own family. And what is more, I had not even revealed that I was sacrificing its interests. None of these people have considered themselves disqualified or seen any reason to reveal their own interests and those of their families in years past when decisions were taken which defended rather than sacrificed their own interests.
And then there are those who view this debate as an occasion to attack my wife, slander her and her family and spread calumny about these good folks, presumably for the purpose of attacking me. They should certainly should not be dragged into the filthy debate which far too often is a part of politics these days.
Thus the unfortunate situation arose that it was unavoidable for me to comment on the private matters of my wife, but it has been my policy until now not to let people drag my wife or family into political clashes. But when I deviated from that policy, people began, not unexpectedly, to utilise everything that was said as an occasion to continue gabbling about the matter.
There is no point in arguing with those who do so. However, I fully understand that discussions such as those that have taken place recently will raise various questions for the general public. That is normal when politics and finances are being discussed.
My wife and I are grateful for the strong support we have received from an incredibly large number of people who understand what this matter is about. However, it is natural to give further information to those who consider that some questions remain to be answered or want to have a better understanding of the matter. Therefore we sat down together and wrote a summary with answers to all those issues which have come up in the recent discussion as well as other issues which we know that people have been thinking about. For those interested I am attaching the summary below.
***
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Gunnar Tómasson
