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dential affociates, that in his judgment the pope was antl- 

 chri'.l ; and he himfclf had written freely to the pope, con- 

 cerning the necellity of a reformation. The efforts of ma- 

 levolence, whatever might have been the real or pretended 

 caufes from which they originated, could not deprive this 

 great man of the efteem and refpedt to which his diftin- 

 gnilhed talents and charafter entitled him. Such was the 

 high opinion entertained by the cardinal biOiop of Sabina, 

 who was the pope's legate in England, of his genius and 

 merit, that he requefled from him a ccmpltte copy of all 

 his works. As he was reftrained, by the prohibition of his 

 own fraternity, from communicating any of his works to 

 any perfon whatever, he at firtt declined complying with tlie 

 cardinal's reqneft; but as foon as he heard that the cardinal- 

 legate was railed to the pontifical dignity, uudcr the name 

 of Clement IV. he fignified to, him by letter his readincfs 

 to perform what his holinefs had deftrtd ; and the pope 

 affured him of protedion againft any interference of his own 

 order. Bacon immediately began to colled, arrange, and 

 improve the pieces he had already written, and having di- 

 gelled them into one volume under the title of " Opus 

 Majus" (the greater work), he fent it to the pope, in the 

 year 1267, by a fpecial meffengtr, whofe name was John of 

 Paris, and who was his own favourite difciple. This John 

 of Paris was a poor boy, of prom'ifmg talents, taken by 

 Bacon under his tuition, in order to try by experience the 

 efficacy of his peculiar mode of inftruftion; and, as the re- 

 fult of it, he obferves, " that there was no room to conceive 

 any high notions of the perftftion of human wifdom, when 

 it was poffible, in a year's time, to teach a young man all 

 that, with the utmofl indiiflry and application, a zealous 

 inquirer after knowledge was able either to acquire or to 

 difcover in the fpace of twenty, or even forty years." (See 

 Opus Majus, p. 29, and Jebb's Preface.) The pope was 

 fo gratified with the prcfcnt of this learned work, that it 

 orocured for Bacon extraordinary favour and encouragement 

 m his ftudies. 



With the life of the enlightened and liberal Clement IV. 

 terminated the tranquillity of this philofopher; for in 1278, 

 under the pontificate of Nicholas III. and with the iandion 

 of his authority, Jerom de Efculo, or de Afcoli, genertd of 

 tile Francifcan order, prohibited the reading of his works, 

 and fentenced him to imprilonment. The pretended caule 

 of this feverity has been fought by fome writers in trads of 

 Bacon on necromancy, atlrology, and alchemy ; but the 

 true reafon w-as mod: probably that dread of innovation 

 which Bacon's improvements in fcience caufcd in the minds of 

 bigotted or intcrelled perfons. Bacon continued in prifon for 

 ten years ; but upon the acceflion of Jerom de Efculo to the 

 papal fee, under the name of Nicholas IV., he attempted 

 to concihat" the favour of the pope, by prefenting to him a 

 treatife " On the Means of avoiding the Infirmities of Old 

 ' Age;" but his endeavours feem to have been ineffedual, as 

 he ftill remained in prifon, and was not releafcd till about 

 the latter end of this pontificate, when fome Englilh noble- 

 men interceded in his .''avour, and obtained for him his li- 

 berty. Upon his return to Oxlord, he wrote, at the requeil 

 of his friends, " A Compendium of Theology," of whiL4i 

 a copy is preferved in the Royal library. This work appears, 

 from internal evidence, to have been written about the year 

 1291 ; and as additions were afterwards made to it, it is 

 hence inferred that the author lived till the year 1292, or 

 the fcvcnty-eighth year of his age. The learned editor of 

 his "Opus Majus" dates his death in 1294; but Anthony 

 Wood, from two MSS. which he mentions, fixes the time of 

 it to the nth of June, 1292 ; and Dr. Freind acquiefces in 

 this opinion. He is faid to have died in tranquillity, in the 



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college of his order, and to have been interred in their 

 church. Tradition reports, that in order to prevent t!)e 

 uncafincfs occafioned by his enemies, in the earlier period of 

 his life, and while he was prolecutiug his Ihidics, and per- 

 forming his experiments atBrazen-nofe hall at Oxford, he was 

 obliged to retire ft-om the univerfity into a folitary place, 

 called to this day " Friar Bacon's Study :" and Mr. Hearne 

 informs us, that he fomctimes retired in the fummer to Sun- 

 ning V/ell. 



When we contemplate the extraordinary powers and at- 

 tainments of Bacon, and review the important and ufeful 

 difcoveries that were made by him in various branches of 

 fcience, and compare them with the period in which he 

 lived, we (hall not be furprifed that he was diilinguidied by 

 the title of " doitor uiirabilis," or wonderful dottor; what- 

 ever might be the reafons which induced the monks of his 

 order thus to difcriminate him. With rcfped to hi." know- 

 ledge of the languages, which he thought to be the founda- 

 tion of all true learning, it appears that he was perfcd maf- 

 ter of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and ti:at he had 

 Uudied thofe languages with a degree of critical exadnefs 

 which renders fome of his obiervations in that part of the 

 " Opus Majus," which treats on this fubjed, judicious and 

 inllruclive. With various branches of the matiiematics he 

 was well acquainted : and in mechanics his knowledge was 

 fuch, that, in the judgment of Dr. Freind, " a greater ge- 

 nius had not arifen llnce the days of Archimedes." Ac- 

 cordingly, in his treatife, intitled, " Epifiola Fratris Rogeri 

 Baconis de feeretis Openbus Artis et Naturx, et de NuUi- 

 tate Magias," he propofes the conftrudion of wonderful 

 inllrumcnts, which may be artificially contrived, by which 

 fuch things (fays he) may be done without the help of magic, 

 as magic itfelf is incapable of performing. " For a velfel 

 may be fo conftruded, and oars therein fo difpofcd, as to 

 make more way with one man in her, than another veffel 

 fully maimed." " It is poffible (lays he) to make a chariot 

 which, without any afTiftancc of animals, fliall move with that 

 irrefillible force which is afcribed to thofe fcythed chariots 

 in which the ancients fought." " It is poffible," adds our 

 author, " to make inftruments for flying, fo that a man fit- 

 ting in the middle thereof, and fteering with a kind of rud- 

 der, may manage what is contrived to anfvver the end of 

 wings, fo as to divide and pafs through the air. It is no 

 lels poffible to make a machine of a very fmall fize, and yet 

 capable of raifing or finking the greateft weights, wiiich 

 may be of infinite ufe on certain occafions, for by the help 

 of fuch an inilrument, not above three inches high, or lefs, 

 a man may be able to deliver himfelf and his companions 

 out of prifon, and to afcend or defcend at pleafure." Hence 

 it has been inferred that Bacon was acquainted with the per- 

 petual fcrew. Our author's knowledge of the fcience of 

 optics was fo accurate and comprehenfive, that he is juftly 

 allowed to have underftood the theory and pradice of many 

 of thofe difcoveries, the apphcation of which has been fo 

 important and ufeful in more modern times. Befides the 

 dcfcriptions of the camera obfcura, and of burning glafTes, 

 which are found in his writings, we have unqueftionable evi. 

 dence that he was well acquainted with the properties of 

 convex and concave lenfes, and with the efTeds of refrac- 

 tion ; and fome have even afcribed to him the honour of 

 having invented the telefcope. (See thefe feveral articles.) 

 In geography his refearches were various and extenfive; and 

 his acquaintance with allronomy enabled him to difcover the 

 errors of the calendar, and to propofe the proper method of 

 correding them. See Calendar. 



Although Roger Bacon was in fome inflances mifled by 

 the vifionary projeds of the alchemifts of his age, and 



though 



