B A C 



with accurately reviewing the ftate of learning as it Hood 

 through all its provinces and divilions ; that lie might not 

 lofe himlelf on a fiibjeft fo vail and of fuch variety, he 

 ranges, according to the three faculties of the foul, memory, 

 fancy, and undertlanding, the fcveral fcienccs and arts un- 

 der three great claffes, hillory, poetry, and philofophy. He 

 obferves and points out defects and errors' ; and then fug- 

 gefts proper means for fupplying omiiTions end rtCiifyin'T 

 inillakes. At the end of tliis tieatile he has marked out 

 in one general chart the feveral tracls of fcience that lay 

 Hill neglefted or unknown. 



The fccoiiil, and the moll confiderable part, is the " Novum 

 Organum," or new method of employing the realoning fa- 

 culties in the purfnit of truth. Here onr anihor offers to 

 the world a new and better logic, calculated not to fupply 

 arguments for controverfy, but arts for the ufe of mankind ; 

 not to triumph over an enemy by the fophiflry of difputa- 

 tion, but to fubdue nature itfelf by experiment and inquiry. 

 RejeAing fyllogifm as a mere inftrument of difputatiou, and 

 finding no certainty in the hypothetical lyfttms of ancient 

 phllolophy, the author recommends and explains the more 

 flow but more fatisfadlory method of induction, which fub- 

 jefts natural objefts to the tell of obfervation and experience, 

 in order to furniih certain fails as the foundation of general 

 truths. 



The i/.'irJ part is the " Sylva Sylvarum," or hiftoi-y of na- 

 ture, which furnidies materials for a natural and experimental 

 hillory ; upon which the organ, or the inllrument, which the 

 author has provided for the invelligation of nature,may be em- 

 ployed. The phenomena of the univerfe are ranged in this re- 

 pofitory under three principal heads, viz. the hiltory of gene- 

 rations or the production of all fpecies, according to the ordi- 

 nary laws of nature; that of preter-generationSjOr births deviat- 

 ing from the dated rule ; and the hillor)- of nature as confined 

 or aflilled, changed or tortured by the art of man. Of fuch 

 a hillory the ufe is either to acquire the knowledge of quali- 

 ties in themfelves, or to ferve for the firll matter of a true 

 and ufeful philofophy. The fails and obfervations that are 

 here collefted together are poflibly not always correcl ; but 

 they are valuable, as they furniflt a pattern of the manner in 

 which fuch refearches (liould be purfued. 



T\\e fourth part, or " Scala Intelleftus," is a feries of fteps 

 by which the underilanding might regularly afcend in its 

 philofophical inquiries ; and it is evidently intended as a par- 

 ticular application and illuftration of the author's method of 

 philofophifmg. 



The Jifth part, or " Anticipationes Philofophia: fccundE," 

 was deiigned to contain philofophical hints and iuggedioiis, 

 but nothing of this remains betides the title and fchemc. 



The fixth, and fublimeil part, was propofed for exhibiting 

 the univerfal principles of natural knowledge, deduced from 

 experiments, in a regular and eoinplete fyftem ; but this the 

 author defpaired of being himfclf able to accoinplilh. Hav- 

 ing laid the foundation of a grand edifice, he left the fuper- 

 ftrufture to be completed by the united and continued la- 

 bours of philofopliers in future ages. 



Among the more popular works of lord Bacon, t!ie prin- 

 cipal are his " Hillory of Henry VH." which, allowing for 

 fome faults, and particularly for its partiahty to Henr)', with 

 a view of flattering his grandfon James, at whofe deliro it 

 was written, may be jullly admired for vigorous conception 

 and energy of language ; his " ^Vifdora of the Ancients," 

 in which he endeavours, w' h greater ingenuity than folidity, 

 to unveil the hidden fenfe of the fables of antiquity ; his 

 " Moral Effays," containing many ju!l refleitions on fubjedls, 

 which, in the author's own phralcology "come home to 

 men's bufineis and bofoms ;" and his law trads, fpecchcs, 



BAG 



letters, and other mifcellafleous paper*, relative to pcrfonal 

 or public affairs, and abounding with curious and interelling 

 matter. Thtfe valuable writing'^, which were gradually col- 

 lefted, have been repeatedly publiflied on the continent in 

 Latin. An edition in folio was printed at Francfort >« 

 1G65 ; and another by Arnold at Leipfic, in 1694. They 

 have palTed fepai-ately and coUedlively through feveral editi- 

 ons in Englilh ; in i 740, they were publhhed in 4 volumes, 

 folio ; but the moil complete edition is that printed at 

 London in 177S, in five volumes, quarto. 



Tiic characlcr of lord Bacon feems to be pretty jullly de- 

 lineated by Mr. Hume in his Hillory, vol. vi. p. 52. He 

 reprefents him as " a man univerfaliy admired for the great- 

 nefs of his genius, and beloved for the courteoufncfs and hu- 

 manity of his behaviour. He was the great ornam.ent of his 

 age and nation ; and nought was wanting to render him the 

 ornament of human nature itfelf, but that llrtngth of mind 

 which mi^;Iit check his intemperate deiire of preferment thst 

 could add nothing to his dignity, and reltiain his profule in- 

 clination to expence that cojld be requifite neither for h:8 

 honour nor entertainment. His want ot occonomy, and h:j 

 indulgence to fervants, had involved him in neceflilies ; anc', 

 in order to fupply his prodigality, he had been tempted to 

 take bribes, and that in a very open manner, from fuitors in 

 chancery." " If we confider," fays he, " the variety of 

 talents difplayed by this man ; as a public fpeaker, a man of 

 buhnefs, a wit, a courtier, a companion, an author, and a 

 philofopher, he is juftly the objcCl of great admiration." 

 He adds ; " if we confider him n-.erely as an author and phi- 

 lofopher, the light in which we view him at prefcnt, though 

 very ellimable, he was yet inferior to his cotcmporary Gali- 

 leo, perhaps even to Kepler." " The national fpirit," addt 

 Hume, " which prevails among the Enghfh, and which 

 forms their great happinefs, is the caufc why they beftow 

 on all their eminent writers, and on Bacon among the reft, 

 fuch praifes and acclamations as may often appear partial 

 and exceffive." In anfwcr to thefe ftriclurcs it has been 

 jullly obferved (Brit. Biog. vol. iv. p. 154.) that "Galileo 

 was undoubtedly an illullrious man, and Kepler an admira- 

 ble allronomer ; but though we admit their fuperiority in 

 aftronomy, mechanics, and fome particular branches of phy- 

 fical knowledge, it does by no means follow that either of 

 them was a greater philofupher than Bacon. The praife of 

 Bacon is founded not upon his .'kill in this or that particular 

 branch of knowledge, but on his great and compr.'':ienfivc 

 underilanding, which took in almoll the whole extent of 

 univerfal fcience. And he was fo little indebted to the par- 

 tiality of his countrymen, that his writings appear, fur fome 

 time at leall, to have been more efteemcd and admired in 

 foreign countries than in England." 



Mrs. Macaulayexpreffes in very (bong terms her abhorrence 

 of his charafter, when (he fays (vol. i. p. 157.), that "phi- 

 lofophy itfelf was degraded by a conjunction with his mean 

 foul." But with refpe£l to the llrength and extent of his 

 genius, this female writer fays, " his precious bequefts to 

 pollerity paint them ftronger than can any other pen." It 

 mud however be confelfed, that it was fome difcredit to 

 Bacon, that he could not perceive the reafonablenefs of 

 the fyllem of Copernicus ; but perhaps he underllood lefi 

 of allrononiy, and was lefs fenfibte of its deficiencies, than 

 of any other part of fcience and philofophy. With confi- 

 dence in the merit of his own produclions, and alluring him- 

 felf of pollbumous fame, lord Bacon introduces in his lall 

 will this remarkable palTage:— " My name and memory I 

 leave to foreign nations ; and to mine own countrymen, 

 after fome time is paflTed over." Upon the fuperftruCture 

 thai has been raifed on the foundation of experimental piii- 

 3 L 2 lofophy 



