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tliough he indulged chimerical notions of the medicinal 

 virtues of the aurum potabile, or tincture of gold, and of a 

 fecrct charm for renewing the native heat oF old men, he 

 was led by his chemical procefies into an acquaintance with 

 the properties of bodies, a.d a variety of difcoveries that 

 were no lefs important and ufeful than novel and curious. 

 Such, in particular, was that of the ingredients and cfFeC's 

 of gun-powder, which was for a longtime fiippofed to have 

 been the invention of a much later period, (isce Gun- 

 powder.) Of his medical knowledge we have evidence in 

 his " Treatife on Old Age," blended with many things 

 that are obfcure and fanciful ; and thongh he fo far partook 

 of the fuperllition of the times as to place fome confidence 

 in judicial aftrolcgy, he was an enemy to necromancy and 

 magic. The imputation on his charafter of his leaning to 

 magic, was altogether unfounded ; and the ftory of his 

 having conftructcd a brazen head, which propofed and an- 

 fwered queftions, is as ridiculous as it is groundlcfs. The 

 firft objeft of this calumny, was his patron Robert Grout- 

 head or Grofthead, bifhop of Lincoln ; and fimilar tales 

 have been related of pope Sylvefter II., Albertus Magnus, 

 and other eminent philofophers ; but they gained credit 

 merely with mean and ignorant perfons. In logic and meta- 

 phyfics, as well as in philology, and the politer parts of 

 learning. Bacon was equal, if not fuperior, to moft of his 

 contemporaries ; and his treatile on Ethics, or moral philo- 

 fophv, contains many excellent principles for directing the 

 judgment, and regulating the conduft. To theology, all 

 his other ftudies were fubfcrvient ; and he direfted both his 

 actions and his writings to the glory of God, and the good 

 of his fellow-creatures. To the holy fcriptures he paid due 

 deference ; and he enforced the ftudy of them in their ori- 

 ginal languages, and an affiduous application to the feveral 

 branches of learning which he thought neceffary for rightly 

 iinderftanding and interpreting them. This feems to have 

 been the objett of his laft treatife, which he left as a kind oi 

 teftament to his order. 



As the whole hfe of friar Bacon was fpent in ftudy and 

 ■writing, we need not wonder that his works w-erc very nu- 

 merous. Bale fpeaks of upwards of fourfcore books writ- 

 ten by him ; and Dr. Jebb has digefted a Hill greater num- 

 ber, under the diilinft heads of grammar, mathematics, 

 phyfics, optics, geography, aftronomy, chronology, che- 

 miftry, magic, medicine, logic, metaphyfics, ethics, theo- 

 logy, philology, and mifcellany. It feems, however, that 

 the number has been multiplied by means of the different 

 titles under which various copies of the fame treatife have 

 been difperfed, and by confidering the titles of ditlinft chap- 

 ters of his work, as the titles of feparate treatifts. Accord- 

 ingly, eleven of thefe pieces will be found in the work intitled, 

 " Epiftola Fratris Rogeri Baconis, &c." already mentioned, 

 publilhcd in 410. at Paris, in 1-542 ; in 8vo. at Bafil, in 1593 ; 

 in 8vo. at Hamburgh, in 1608 and 1618. This treatife 

 abounds with various phyfical fafts and obfervations, and 

 expofes the futihty of the feveral praftkes of necromancy, 

 charms, divination, and magic. The " Opus Majus," writ- 

 ten in the form of an epiftle or addrefs to pope Clement IV. 

 is profelTedly a digeft of the author's former writings. " In 

 this cunous and valuable work, Bacon defcribes the impedi- 

 ments which hinder men from arriving at true and ufeful 

 knowledge; illuftrates, at large, the ufefalntfs of the ftudies 

 of grammar, mathematics, and perfpeftive ; explains the 

 nature and value of experiments in philofophy ; and carneftly 

 exhorts the pontiff whom he addreffcs, to give all poffible 

 encouragement to fcience in general, and particulariy to the 

 ftudy of nature. This work, which affords abundant proofs 

 of the author's fuperior talents, and, confidering th« time 



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in which he lived, of hii wonderful knowledge, long re- 

 mained buried in obfcurity, and never appeared in print till, 

 in 1733, Dr. Jcbb, from various collated MSS. lent from 

 the prefs <;f William Bowyer, a correct and beautiful edition 

 in foho. Bacon wrote many chemical iraSs, moft of which 

 may be found in " Thcfaurus Chemicus," printed in 8vo. 

 at Fraiicfort, 1603, 1620; others are in MS. in tiie univer- 

 fity library of Leyden. His treatife " On the Means of 

 avoiding the Infirmities of Old Age," in which, befide a 

 regular courfe of life, he recommends the ufe of certain fe- 

 cret and extraordinary medicines, was fiift printed at Ox- 

 ford in I5<;0, and afterwards tranflatcd into Enghfh, with 

 notes, by Dr Richard Browne, under the title of " The 

 Cure of Old Age, and Prtfcrvation of Youth," 8vo. 1683. 

 Several tracts of friar Bacon, yet unpubhflied, remain in 

 MS. ; a piece, bearing the title of " Liber Naturahum;" a 

 treatife on Chronology, intitled, " Computus Rogeri Ba- 

 conis ;" and the " Compendium of Theology ;" are to be 

 feen in the King's library: and two other works, which the 

 author called " Opus Minus," and " Opus Tertium," re- 

 main in the Cotton library ; and other pieces might probably 

 be found by diligent fearch." 



Although in the prefent advanced Rate of literature and 

 fcience, we could not cxpetl to derive much acceflion to 

 our means of knowledge from the publication and ftudy of 

 friar Bacon's works, yet as a difplay of the aftoniftiing pow. 

 ers of the human intelleft, and as a valuable part of the 

 hiftory of knowledge, they ought to be preferved and known. 

 The want of a complete edition of his works is the lefs to 

 be regretted, fince the public have been put into poffeffioo 

 of his " Opus Majus," by Dr. Jebb. 



From the brief account that has been given of the talents 

 and performances of friar Bacon, it will appear, that he 

 contnbuted, in a very eminent degree, to illuminate the 

 dark age in which he lived, and to prepare the wav, by 

 emancipating the mind from the authority of Ariftotlc, and 

 purfuing a plan of experiment ard induction in the profecu- 

 tion of Icience, for thofe difcoveries and improvements, 

 which have diftinguirtied a later period. Although allowance 

 (houldbe made for the language of panegyric, which charac- 

 terizes Bacon as the " brighteft and and moft univerfal genius 

 that perhaps the world ever faw ;" he muft ever be regarded 

 as a prodigy of learning and fcience, and a very high rank 

 muft be afiigned to him among thofe who have been inftru- 

 ments of enlightening and reform.ing the world. Jebb's 

 Pref. to Bacon's Opus Majus. Cave, H. L. t. ii. p. 325. 

 Biog. Brit. 



Bacon, Sir Nicholas, an eminent lawyer, and lord keeper 

 of the great feal in the reign of queen Elizabeth, was the 

 defcendant of an ancient and honourable familv in the 

 county of Suffolk, and born in the year 1510 at Chiflchurft 

 in Kent. He was fent at an early age to Corpus Chrifti or 

 Bennet college at Cambridge, and finifhed his education by 

 travelling into France. Upon his return, he entered at 

 Gray's inn, and diftinguifhed himfclf by the ftudy of the 

 law. By favour of Henry VIII. he obtained a grant of 

 feveral manors in Suffolk, when the monaftery of St. Ed- 

 moudfbury was diffolvcd ; and was appointed attorney in the 

 court of records; whicli ofiice he retained during the reign 

 of Edward VI. Haring, by his prudence and moderation, 

 efcaped the dangers of the reign of Marv-, he was honoured 

 with knighthood on the acceflion of queen Elizabeth; and 

 in 1558, lie was intrufted with the cuftody of the great feal, 

 and admitted a member of the privy council. He took an 

 aAive part in the adminiftraiion of this period, and was emi- 

 nently inftrumental in the tettlement of religion. It has 

 been faid, that he incurred the difpUofurc of Elizabeth by 



joining 



