VI LIFE OF BACON. 



What must have passed in his youthful, thoughtful, 

 ardent mind, at this eventful moment, when he first quitted 

 his father s house to engage in active life ? What must 

 have been his feelings when he approached the university, 

 and saw, in the distance, the lofty spires, and towers, and 

 venerable walls, raised by intellect and piety &quot; and hal 

 lowed by the shrines where the works of the mighty dead 

 are preserved and reposed, (a) and by the labours of the 

 mighty living, with joint forces directing their strength 

 against Nature herself, to take her high towers, and dis 

 mantle her fortified holds, and thus enlarge the borders of 

 man s dominion, so far as Almighty God of his goodness 

 shall permit ?&quot;(&) 



&quot; As water,&quot; he says, &quot; whether it be the dew of heaven, 

 or the springs of the earth, doth scatter and lose itself in the 

 ground, except it be collected into some receptacle, where 

 it may by union comfort and sustain itself, and for that 

 cause the industry of man hath made and framed spring- 



(a) But the works touching Books are chiefly two : first, Libraries, wherein, 

 as in famous shrines, the reliques of the ancient saints, full of virtue, are 

 reposed. Secondly, New Editions of Authors, with corrected impressions ; 

 more faithful Translations, more profitable glosses, more diligent annota 

 tions; with the like train furnished and adorned. 



In a letter to Sir Thomas Bodley, he says, &quot; and the second copy I have 

 sent unto you, not only in good affection, but in a kind of congruity, in 

 regard of your great and rare desert of learning. For books are the shrines 

 where the saint is, or is believed to be. And you, having built an ark to 

 save learning from deluge, deserve propriety in any new instrument or 

 engine, whereby learning should be improved or advanced.&quot; Steph. 19. 



(&) Nor doth our trumpet summon, and encourage men to tear and 

 rend one another with contradictions ; and in a civil rage to bear arms, and 

 wage war against themselves; but rather, a peace concluded between them, 

 they may with joint forces direct their strength against Nature herself; and 

 take her high towers, and dismantle her fortified holds ; and thus enlarge 

 the borders of man s dominion, so far as Almighty God of his goodness 

 shall permit. Adv. Learn. 



