68 



NOVUM ORGANUM. 



diuin praxjipue occupasse tertiain illain parteni sive 

 periodum temporis apud nos Europaeos occidentals; 

 eo magis, quod sub idem fere tenipus et liters.? florere, 

 et controversial circa religionem pullulare cceperint (v 

 At iwo superior!, duranto periodo ilia secunda, apud 

 Romanes potissima&amp;gt; pbilosophorum meditationes et in- 

 dustria 1 in morali philosophia (qua 1 etlinicis vice theo- 

 loo-iie erat w ) occupata; et consuuiptac fucrunt : etiam 



Bacon here takes the three -pe 

 riods backwards, and points out 

 how Natural Philosophy has come 

 to lie neglected in each, (i) In the 

 Christian Period by the engros.-mg 

 effects of the questions connected 

 with Revelation ; the rule of Faith, 

 and the spiritual Nature and needs 

 of man. (2) In the Roman Period 

 by the study of Morals, and the 

 requirements of the political state, 

 which naturally engrossed much 

 of the Roman citi/en s thoughts. 

 (3) And lastly in the (Jreek (al 

 though here for a time there was 

 some study of Nature) by the pre 

 ference here also shewn for ques 

 tions of morals. And need it be 

 wondered at, that these subjects 

 God s will in the Christian Period, 

 and man s constitution in the Hea 

 then should be all-engrossing ? Is 

 it not from these two that men hope 

 to discover the secret of Happiness, 

 for which all live? And to what 

 avail would be the study of Physics, 

 if it allowed a deterioration of Mo 

 rals ? Among mankind the study of 

 Physics must always be the heritage 

 of a few. The mass of people can 

 only be expected to use the results 

 got at by the skill of others. And 

 if we take all Physical Philosophy, 

 (including Astronomy, which Bacon 

 would probably have omitted,) we 

 cannot but see that the vast majority 

 of men are unfit, unable to investi 



gate the &quot; veritas&quot; involved in it; 

 though all can be benefited by its 

 utilita.s.&quot; Among the eriors of 

 Bacon, we must count his belief that 

 the study of Physics would produce 

 a le.velling of men s intellect, and that 

 all would be able to enter upon it 

 equally well. The very contrary to 

 this is the case. 



Moral Philosophy was the Re 

 ligion of the Ancients. Without 

 revelation, and the Christian dis 

 pensation, they could know nothing 

 of things Spiritual. Their faiuv tv 

 ( }i&amp;gt;0l)una&amp;gt; was the cold pure Intellect : 

 and that which led to truth of life 

 and conduct for the multitude was 

 Moral Philosophy and Legislation. 

 The &quot; Callus&quot; of the Ancients had 

 little or nothing to do with purity 

 of personal behaviour, or the sanc 

 tity of social ties. The Priesthood 

 did not teach (except when, as in 

 the case of Pyrrho the Sceptic, it 

 chanced that a Philosopher was 

 elected Priest ) to impart know 

 ledge was no part of its functions. 

 Religion among the Ancients was 

 confined to the performance of cer 

 tain sacrifices, public or private, ac 

 cording to rules handed down from 

 father to son. So it came that Moral 

 Philosophy and Law were entirely 

 distinct from Religion. With us 

 Religion includes both their &quot; Cul- 

 tus&quot; and their moral and other 

 teaching, while Law is placed under 



