FRANCIS BACON 



the wife of the celebrated Lord Burleigh. Francis 

 Bacon, the youngest of three sons, was kept in his 

 early years much at home, his health being always 

 delicate. At thirteen years he was sent to Cam- 

 bridge, where his rapid progress astonished his 

 Masters. He was only sixteen years of age when he 

 wrote an essay to combat the philosophy of Aristotle, 

 which he saw was better fitted to produce and per- 

 petuate dispute than it was to enlighten the mind. 

 At the age of nineteen he had traveled through 

 much of France, and spent some time at the Court in 

 Paris, where he published an essay on " The State of 

 Europe" that showed surprising evidence of his 

 maturity of judgment. 



On the death of his father in 1579 he was recalled 

 to England, and the narrowness of his estate forced 

 him to look for an employment suitable to his birth 

 and position. He devoted himself to the study of 

 jurisprudence with such ardor and success that by the 

 time he was twenty-eight years old he was made 

 Counsel Extraordinary to the Queen. It is out of 

 our province to follow the political positions of 

 Bacon, or to dwell upon the transactions in his life 

 that caused him to be charged with ingratitude to 

 Essex, his former friend and patron ; his venality in 

 office, or the abuses committed whilst holding his 

 appointment under the Great Seal. For these he 



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