56 GENERAL PREFACE TO 



Gilbert for the pains he had bestowed on the subject of electrical 

 attraction, affirming that it is merely the result of the power which 

 friction possesses to excite the appetite of bodies for contact. 

 This appetite " aerem non bene tolerat, sed aliud tangibile 

 mavult." 



(17.) Bacon's opinion as to Final Causes has often been dis- 

 cussed. It seems however scarcely necessary to refute the 

 interpretation which on no just grounds has been given to the 

 phrase, "causarum finalium inquisitio tanquam virgo Deo con- 

 secrata nihil parit." 1 Nihil parit, as the context plainly shows, 

 [means simply non parit opera]. 2 Bacon is speaking of the 

 classification of physics and metaphysics the one being the 

 science of the material and efficient cause, and the other con- 

 taining two parts, namely the doctrine of forms and the doctrine 

 of final causes. To physics corresponds in practical application 

 mechanica or mechanics to metaphysics, magia or natural 

 magic. But magia corresponds to metaphysique because the 

 latter contains the doctrine of Forms ; that of final causes admit- 

 ting from its nature of no practical application. It is this idea 

 which Baoon has expressed by saying that the doctrine in ques- 

 tion is, as it were, a consecrated virgin. 



It is not sufficiently remarked that final causes have often 

 been spoken of without any reference to a benevolent intention. 

 When it is said that the final cause of a stone's falling is "locus 

 deorsum," the remark is at least but remotely connected with 

 the doctrine of an intelligent providence. We are to remember 

 that Bacon has expressly censured Aristotle for having made 

 use of final causes without referring to the fountain from which 

 they flow, namely the providence of the Creator. And in this 

 censure he has found many to concur. 



Again, in any case in which the benevolent intention can be 

 perceived, we are at liberty to ask by what means and according 

 to what laws this benevolent intention is manifested and made 

 efficient. If this question is not to be asked, there is in the first 

 place an end of physical science, so far as relates to every case 

 in which a benevolent intention has been or can be recognised ; 

 and in the second, the argument a posteriori founded on the 



1 De Augm. iii. 5. See note on the place. /. S 



2 I have supplied these words to complete the sentence, which ends abruptly at the 

 bottom of a page, a fresh page having apparently been substituted for that which 

 originally followed. J. S. 



