160 NOVUM ORGANUM. 



XX. 



Eandcm ingreditur viam (priorem scilicet) intellectus sibi 

 permissus, c[uam facit ex ordine dialectics. Gestit enim mens 

 A 

 fastidit experientiam. Sed haec mala demum aucta sunt a dia- 





cxilire ad magis generalia, ut acquiescat ; et post parvam moram 



lectica, ob pompas disputationum. 



XXI. 



Intellectus sibi permissus, in ingenio sobrio et patiente et 

 gravi (praesertim si a doctrinis receptis non impediatur), tentat 

 nonnihil illam alteram viam, quae recta est, sed exiguo profectu ; 

 cum intellectus, nisi regatur et juvetur, res insqualis sit, et 

 omnino inhabilis ad superandam rerum obscuritatem. 1 



XXII. 



Utraquejvia orditur a sensu et particularibus, et acquiescit in 

 maxime generalibus ; sed immensum quiddam discrepant ; cum 

 altera perstringat tantum experientiam et particularia cursim, **/ 

 altera in iis rite et ordine versetur ; altera rursus jam a_principio 

 constituat generalia quaedam abstracta et inutilia, altera grada- 

 tim exurgat ad ea quae revera naturae sunt notiora. 2 



XXIII. 



Non leve quiddam interest inter humanae mentis idola et 

 divinae mentis ideas; hoc est, inter placita quaedam inania et 

 * ^ms^atqujejimpr^ssione^factas in^ creaturis, prout 



XXIV. 



Nullo modo fieri potest, ut axiomata per argumentationem 

 constitute ad inventionem novorum operum valeant ; quia sub- ' | 



1 I should be inclined to translate this clause, " since the intellect, if it be not guided 

 and assisted, acts irregularly (res insequalis sit), and is altogether unequal to overcom- 

 ing the obscurity of nature." Thus in 60. we meet with a similar use of the adverb 

 * incequaliter :" " temere et inasqualiter a rebus abstracta" "rashly and irregularly 

 abstracted from their objects." Or perhaps, though this translation would not be free 

 from objection, inaequalis might be rendered " inadequate " or unequal to the matter 

 in hand. 



2 This phrase is a scholastic mistranslation of the Aristotelian phrase TT? Qvtrei ytxa- 

 pilMorepov i. e, naturally better known, or naturally better fitted to be the object of 

 knowledge. It is difficult to render the phrase accurately either into Latin or into 

 English, because in neither language is there an adjective corresponding to the Greek 

 yvdpi/j-os', "notus" and "known" being of course participles, and immediately suggesting 

 the question, "known to whom ? " [See note on Distrib. Operis, p. 137. In "his English 

 writings, Bacon seems to use the word " original " as equivalent to " naturae notius." 

 Compare the instruction for " freeing a direction," in the Valerius Terminus, with 

 the " praeceptum verum et perfectum operandi," in the Nov. Org. ii. 4. ; where the 

 rule that " the nature discovered be more original than the nature supposed and not 

 more secondary or of the like degree," in the one, corresponds with the precept 

 " Forma vera talis sit ut naturam datum ex fonte aliquo essentise deducat, quae inest 

 pluribus et notior est natures (ut loquuntur) quam ipsa forma," in the other. J. S. ] 



8 See note on Distr. Op. p. 145. /. S. 



