PREFACE. Xlll 



Lord Chancellor of England/ is in the Resuscitatio,^) 

 The second prayer, (j/) entitled, &quot; A Prayer made and 

 used by the Lord Chancellor Bacon,&quot; is in the Re 

 mains; and the two remaining prayers, &quot; The Stu 

 dents Prayer,&quot; U) and &quot; The Writers Prayer,&quot;(s) are 

 in the Baconiana. (z) 



In the Tatler, No. 267, it is, upon what authority I know 

 not, thus mentioned : &quot; I have hinted in some former papers, 

 that the greatest and wisest of men in all ages and countries, 

 particularly in Rome and Greece, were renowned for their piety 

 and virtue. It is now my intention to show, how those in our 

 own nation, that have been unquestionably the most eminent for 

 learning and knowledge, were likewise the most eminent for 

 their adherence to the religion of their country. I might pro 

 duce very shining examples from among the clergy; but because 

 priestcraft is the common cry of every cavilling, empty scribbler, 

 I shall shew that all&quot; the laymen who have exerted a more than 

 ordinary genius in their writings, and were the glory of their 

 times, were men whose hopes were filled with immortality, and 

 the prospect of future rewards ; and men who lived in a dutiful 

 submission to all the doctrines of revealed religion. I shall in 

 this paper only instance Sir Francis Bacon. I was infinitely 

 pleased to find among the works of this extraordinary man a 

 prayer of his own composing, which, for the elevation of thought, 

 and greatness of expression, seems rather the devotion of an 

 angel than a man. His principal fault seems to have been the 

 excess of that virtue which covers a multitude of faults. This 

 betrayed him to so great an indulgence towards his servants, 

 who made a corrupt use of it, that it stripped him of all those 

 riches and honours which a long series of merits had heaped 

 upon him. But in this prayer, at the same time that we find 

 him prostrating himself before the great mercy-seat, and hum- 



(x) Seepage 1, of this vol. (y) Page 5, ditto. 



(2) Baconiana 181, and 8 and 9 of this vol. 



