X LIFE OF BACON. 



1575. After two years residence he quitted the university with 

 15&amp;gt; the conviction not only that these seminaries of learning 

 were stagnant, but that they were opposed to the advance 

 ment of knowledge. &quot; In the universities,&quot; he says, &quot; they 

 learn nothing but to believe : first, to believe that others 

 know that which they know not; and after, themselves 

 know that which they know not. They are like a becalmed 

 ship ; they never move but by the wind of other men s 

 breath, and have no oars of their own to steer withal :&quot;(d) 

 and in his Novum Organ um, which he published when 

 he was Chancellor, he repeats what he had said when a 

 boy. &quot; In the universities, all things are found opposite 

 to the advancement of the sciences ; for the readings and 

 exercises are here so managed that it cannot easily come 

 into any one s mind to think of things out of the common 

 road: or if, here and there, one should venture to use a 

 liberty of judging, he can only impose the task upon 

 himself without obtaining assistance from his fellows ; and 

 if he could dispense with this, he will still find his in 

 dustry and resolution a great hinderance to his fortune. 

 For the studies of men in such places are confined, and 

 pinned down to the writings of certain authors; from which 

 if any man happens to differ, he is presently reprehended 

 as a disturber and innovator.&quot; (e) 



Whether the intellectual gladiatorship by which stu 

 dents in the universities of England are now stimulated, 

 then prevailed, does not appear, but his dislike of this 

 motive he early and always avowed. &quot; It is, 7 he says, 

 &quot; an unavoidable decree with us ever to retain our native 

 candour and simplicity, and not attempt a passage to truth 

 under the conduct of vanity ; for, seeking real nature with 



(d) See the tract in Praise of Knowledge, vol. i. of this edition, page 254. 



(e) Ax. 90. Lib. i. 



