Vlll LIFE OF BACON. 



Instead of the University being formed for the discovery 

 of truths, he saw that its object was merely to preserve 

 and diffuse the knowledge of our predecessors : instead of 

 general inquiry, he found that all studies were confined to 

 Aristotle, who was considered infallible in philosophy, a 

 Dictator to command, not a Consul to advise;* the lectures, 

 both in private in the colleges, and in public in the schools, 

 being but expositions of his text, and comments upon his 

 opinions, held as authentic as if they had been given under 

 the seal of the Pope, (a) Their infallibility, however, he was 

 not disposed to acknowledge. Whilst in the university he 

 formed his dislike of the philosophy of Aristotle, not for the 

 worthlessness of the author, to whose gigantic intellect he 

 ever ascribed all high attributes, but for the unfruitfulness 

 of his method, being a philosophy, as he was wont to say, 

 strong for disputations and contentions,(6) but barren for 

 the production of works for the benefit and use of man : 

 which, according to Bacon s opinion, is the only test of the 

 purity of our motives for acquiring knowledge and of the 

 value of knowledge when acquired ; &quot; Men,&quot; he says, &quot; have 

 entered into a desire of knowledge sometimes from a natural 

 curiosity and inquisitive appetite; sometimes to entertain 

 their minds with variety and delight ; sometimes for 

 ornament and reputation; sometimes to enable them to 

 victory of wit and contradiction, and most times for lucre 

 and profession ; and seldom sincerely to give a true account 



lowing the shadowy moonlight; let him wander in her sylvan suburbs, or 

 linger in her cloistered halls; but let him not catch the din of scholars or 

 teachers, or dine or sup with them, or speak a word to any of the privileged 

 inhabitants ; for if he does, the spell will be broken, the poetry and the 

 religion gone, and the palace of enchantment will melt from his embrace 

 into thin air. 



* See Advancement of Learning, under Credulity, vol. ii. of this edition, 

 p. 43. 



() Tennison (6) Uawley TeimUon. 



