386 ON THE SCOPE AND INFLUENCE OF THE 



" decreta et axiomata rite consuluit ; sed postquam pro arbi- 

 " trio suo decrevisset, experientiam ad sua placita tortam cir- 

 " cumducit, et captivam *." It should always be recollected,, 

 that Bacon's call was not merely for observation and experi- 

 ment ; but for observation and experiment conducted accord- 

 ing to certain forms and rules ; which forms and rules were first 

 delineated by him, and constitute the body of the Inductive 

 Logic. There may be nothing in this logic that can be called 

 a discovery in the strict sense of the word ; but the statement 

 of its precepts, was certainly a grand and important step to- 

 wards the advancementofgan uine science. 



It would require a complete analysis of the Novum Organum 

 to furnish an adequate idea of the value of Bacon's services in 

 this important department of philosophy ; but the fundamental 

 rules of his method may be comprehended in a few sentences. 

 They seem all to be founded upon the following principles : 

 first, That it is the business of philosophy to discover the laws 

 or causes that operate in Nature, in order thereby to explain 

 appearances, and produce new effects f : next, That we are 

 incapable of discovering these laws or causes in any other 

 way than by attending to the circumstances in which they 

 operate : and, lastly, That the mind is naturally disposed 

 to run into general conclusions, and to form systems, be- 

 fore 



* Novum Organum, Lib. i. Aph. 63. 



•f Novum Organ. Lib i. Aph. 11?. Throughout the whole of the first book, 

 the object of science is represented to be the discovery of Axioms ; by which term 

 Bacon evidently means those general laws or truths which form the basis of our 

 physical reasonings. Newton, as Mr Stewart observes, has, after Bacon's ex- 

 ample, applied the term Axiom to the laws of motion, and to the statement of 

 certain general truths in Catoptrics and Dioptrics. See Philosophy of the Mind, 

 vol. ii. Chap. 4. They who are engaged in the study of the Novum Organum, 

 will derive much valuable information and assistance from the perusal of this 

 part of Mr Stewart's work. 



