NOTES. 



[KB. The letters E., J. S., and W. show that the notes to 

 which they are appended are borrowed from Mr. .Ellis, Mr. 

 Spedding, and Mr. Wright, to all of whom I am much indebted. 

 The references to Bk. 2 are to my own edition.] 



Pages 1-4. Dedication to the king. Ey the law of Moses 

 there were certain daily sacrifices which every Jew was obliged 

 to offer to God : but, besides these, pious individuals might make 

 voluntary offerings according to their ability. In like manner 

 subjects may make voluntary offerings to their sovereign, over 

 and above the services which they owe to him as subjects. 

 Considering the largeness of the king's intellect, his eloquence, 

 and above all, his great learning, Bacon thinks that he cannot 

 offer him a more appropriate present than a book which shall 

 set forth the dignity of learning, and shall contain an account 

 of what has been already done, and what still remains to be 

 done, for the advancement of learning. Such a book will serve 

 as a perpetual testimony to the merits of the king, and the 

 perusal of it will, Bacon hopes, incite the king to take such 

 measures as, in his wisdom, he shall think most fit to promote 

 learning. 



James's flatterers used to call him the British Solomon. He was 

 a bad king and wanted the qualities which make a man successful 

 in action ; but he was a man of great natural sagacity, and was 

 eminent for his learning even amongst the learned men of his 

 time. Macaulay talks of him as " a witty and well-read scholar," 

 and Lingard praises his "quickness of apprehension and soundness 

 of judgment," though he censures him for his self-sufficiency and 

 affectation. Besides the Basilicon Doron James wrote a book on 

 the True Law of Free Monarchy, and also a treatise on Dcumon- 

 ology, in which he claimed to have demonstrated the existence of 

 witches. Bacon refers to these three works in the Advancement. 

 To the end of his life James took great interest in theology, which 

 he considered the first of sciences. It is difficult to read Bacon's 



68 



