BAC 



BAC 



The great dexterity of this game is, to 

 be f rvvard, if possible, upon safe terms ; 

 and so to point the men, that it shall 

 not be possible for the adversary to pass, 

 though you have entered your men, till 

 you give him liberty, after having got 

 two 10 one of the advantage of the game. 



BACK staff, in the sea language, an in- 

 strument formerly used for taking the 

 sun's altitude at sea : so called, because 

 the back of the observer is turned to- 

 wards the sun during the observation. 



BACK stays of a ship, are ropes belong- 

 ing to the mam-mast and fore-mast, and 

 the masts belonging to them ; serving to 

 keep them from pitching forwards or 

 over-board. 



BACKING, in law, a warrant of justice 

 of peace, where a warrant granted in one 

 jurisdiction is required to be executed in 

 another; as where a felony has been com- 

 mitted in one county and the offender 

 resides in another ; in which case, on 

 proof of the hand-writing of the justice 

 who granted the warrant, a justice in 

 such other county indorses or writes his 

 name at the back of it, thereby giving au- 

 thority to execute the warrant in such 

 other county. 



BACON (ROGER), in biography, an 

 English monk of the Franciscan order, 

 celebrated for his genius and learning, 

 was born near llchesterin Somersetshire, 

 in the year 1214. He commenced his 

 studies at Oxford ; from whence he re- 

 moved to the university of Paris, which 

 at that time w r as esteemed the centre of 

 literature : here he made such progress 

 in the sciences, that he was esteemed the 

 glory of the university, and was in high 

 estimation with several of his country- 

 men, particularly witli Robert Groothead, 

 or Grouthead, afterwards Bishop of Lin- 

 coln, his great friend and patron. Having 

 taken the degree of doctor, he took the 

 habit of the Franciscan order, either 

 while he was in France or soon after his 

 return to England, about the year 1240. 

 He now pursued his favourite study of ex- 

 perimental philosophy with unremitting 

 ardour and assiduity. In this pursuit, in 

 experiments, instruments, and in scarce 

 books, he informs us, he spent, in the 

 course of 20 years, no less than 2000^. 

 which sum was, generously furnished to 

 him by some of the heads of the university, 

 to enable him the better to pursue his no- 

 ble researches. But such extraordinary 

 talents, and progress in the sciences, 

 which in that ignorant age were so little 

 known to the rest of mankind, while they 

 raised the admiration of the more intelli- 

 gent, could not fail to excite the envy of 



his illiterate fraternity, whose malice h 

 further drew upon him, by the freedom 

 with which he treated the clergy in his 

 writings, in which he spared neither their 

 ignorance nor their want of morals : these 

 therefore found no difficulty in possessing 

 the vulgar with the notion of Bacon's 

 dealing with the devil. Under this pre- 

 tence he was restrained from reading lec- 

 tures ; his writings were confined to his 

 convent ; and at length, in 1278. he him- 

 self was imprisoned in his cell, at 64 years 

 of age. Being allowed, however, the use 

 of his books, he still proceeded in the 

 rational pursuit of knowledge, correcting 

 his former labours, and writing several 

 curious pieces. 



When Bacon had been ten years in 

 confinement, Jerom de Ascoli, general of 

 his order, who had condemned his doc- 

 trine, was chosen pope, by the name of 

 Nicholas IV. ; and being reputed a per- 

 son of great abilities, and one who had 

 turned his thoughts to philosophical stu- 

 dies, Bacon resolved to apply to him for 

 his discharge ; and to shew both the in- 

 nocence and the usefulness of his studies, 

 addressed to him a treatise, " On the 

 Means of avoiding the infirmities of Old 

 Age." What effect thisliad on the pope 

 does not appear ; it did not at least pro- 

 duce an immediate discharge : however, 

 towards the latter end of his reign, by 

 the interposition of some noblemen, Ba- 

 con obtained his liberty ; after which he 

 spent the remainder of his life in the col- 

 lege of his order, where he died in the 

 year 1294, at 89 years of age, and was 

 buried in the Franciscan church. Such 

 are the few particulars which the most 

 diligent researches have been able to dis- 

 cover concerning the life of this very ex- 

 traordinary man. 



Bacon's printed works are: 1. "Epis- 

 tola Fratris Rogeri Baconis de Secretis 

 Operibus Artis et Naturae, et de Nullitate 

 Magix :" Paris. 1542, in 4to. Basil 1593, 

 in 8vo. 2. " Opus Majus :" London, 1733, 

 in folio, published "by Dr. Jebb. 3. " The- 

 saurus Chemicus :" Francf. 1603 and 

 1620. These printed works of Bacon 

 contain a considerable number of essays ; 

 but there remain also in different libra- 

 ries several manuscripts not yet pub- 

 lished. 



His other physical writings shew no 

 less genius and force of mind. In his 

 treatise " Of the Secret works of Art and 

 Nature," he shews that a person, perfect- 

 ly acquainted with the manner observed 

 by nature in her operations, wouldbe able 

 to rival her. IB another piece, " Of the 

 Nullity of Magic," he points out, with 



