176 BACON 



ence ; for men ought to avoid the extreme of Antoninus Pius, 

 and not mince cumin-seed in the sciences, nor multiply divis- 

 ions to the utmost. And it is here well worth the inquiry, how 

 far we should check ourselves in this respect ; for we see that 

 too extensive generals, unless they be reduced, afford little in- 

 formation, but rather expose the sciences to the ridicule of prac- 

 tical men, as being no more fitted for practice than a general 

 map of the world to show the road from London to York. The 

 best rules may well be compared to a metalline speculum, which 

 represents the images of things, but not before it is polished ; 

 for so rules and precepts are useful after having undergone the 

 file of experience. But if these rules could be made exact and 

 clear from the first, it were better, because they would then 

 stand in less need of experience. 



We must not omit that some men, rather ostentatious than 

 learned, have labored about a certain method not deserving the 

 name of a true method, as being rather a kind of imposture, 

 which may nevertheless be acceptable to some busy minds. 

 This art so scatters the drops of the sciences, that any preten- 

 der may misapply it for ostentation, with some appearance of 

 learning. Such was the art of Lully, and such the typocosmia 

 cultivated by some ; for these are only a collection of terms of 

 art heaped together, to the end that those who have them in 

 readiness may seem to understand the arts whereto the terms 

 belong. Collections of this kind are like a piece-broker's shop, 

 where there are many slips, but nothing of great value. And 

 thus much for the science which we call traditive prudence. 



CHAPTER III 



The Grounds and Functions of Rhetoric. Three Appendices which 

 belong only to the Preparatory Part, viz., the Colors of Good and 

 Evil, both simple and composed; the Antithesis of Things (the pro 

 and con of General Questions); the Minor Forms of Speech (the 

 Elaboration of Exordiums, Perorations, and Leading Arguments) 



We next proceed to the doctrine of ornament in speech, called 

 by the name of rhetoric or oratory. This in itself is certainly 

 an excellent science, and has been laudably cultivated by 

 writers. But to form a just estimate, eloquence is certainly in- 

 ferior to wisdom. The great difference between them appears 



