15 



from the ancients, and from the Schoolmen, from gossip, and 

 from hearsay ! 



After giving over a hundred examples of Bacon's ignor- 

 ance on questions of capital importance, Mr. Marmery wound 

 up with the laudatory verdict of Baconian biographers — 

 in contrast to which he quoted the estimation in which Bacon was 

 held by great scientific men — not mere literary men as the 

 panegyrists were. The greatest men of science and philosophy — 

 those best qualified to speak with authority on the history of 

 science — Descartes, Spinoza, Gothe, Humboldt, Liebig, Brewster, 

 Draper — are unanimous in pronouncing Bacon a scientific and 

 philosophical charlatan, whose aim was to delude ordinary mortals 

 in the belief that he was the sole imperial mind of all times, and 

 he succeeded in making literary minds believe in him, by the 

 solemn assurance he displayed, by the majesty of his style, and 

 by the contempt he poured on the men and discoveries that pre- 

 ceded him, whereas in reality he was not even a tiro in science 

 and was steeped in medieval ignorance. Finally, the lecturer 

 asked the audience : " Which verdict carries weight, the verdict 

 of literary men who follow the bent of national prejudice, or the 

 verdict of great scientific men, everyone of whom commands the 

 highest authority on the subject by their competence, their 

 labours, and their judgment ? " 



WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11th, 1895. 



DISCUSSION ON MR. MARMERY'S PAPER 

 ON BACON. 



