XIV PREFACE. 



THE CONFESSION OF FAITH. 



Of the authenticity of this Essay no doubt can 

 be entertained ; it was published in a separate 

 tract in 1641, (&amp;lt;/) and by Dr. Rawley in the Re- 

 suscitatio, (e) by whom it was translated into 

 Latin, and published in the Opuscula. (f) In the 

 Resuscitatio, Dr. Rawley, in his address to the 

 Reader, says, &quot; For that treatise of his Lordship s, 

 inscribed, A Confession of the Faith, I have ranked 

 that, in the close of this whole volume : thereby to 

 demonstrate to the world that he was a master in 

 divinity, as well as in philosophy or politics ; and 

 that he was versed no less in the saving knowledge, 



bled under afflictions, which at that time lay heavy upon him, 

 we see him supported by the sense of his integrity, his zeal, his 

 devotion, and his love to mankind ; which give him a much 

 higher figure in the minds of thinking men, than that greatness 

 had done from which he was fallen. I shall beg leave to write 

 down the prayer itself, with the title with it, as it was found 

 amongst his Lordship s papers, written in his own hand.&quot; 



(d) The following is an exact transcript of the title page : 

 &quot; The Confession of Faith, &quot; written by Sir Francis Bacon, 

 printed in the year 1641. In the title page, there is a wood 

 engraving of Sir Francis Bacon : it is a thin 4to of twelve 

 pages, without any printer s name. Mr. D lsraeli kindly lent 

 me a copy. It is similar, but not the same as the present copy. 

 Of the Confession of Faith there are various MSS. in the British 

 Museum; Sloane s 23, 2 copies; Harleian, Vol. 2, 314 ; Vol. 

 3, 61 : Hargrave s, page 62 ; the MSS. Burch, 4263 is, I sus 

 pect, in Lord Bacon s own writing, with his signature. 

 (e) 1657. 



(/) Opuscula varia posthuma. Londini, ex officina, R. Da- 

 nielis, 1658. 



