416 ON THE SCOPE AND INFLUENCE OF THE 



Thus, it is clear, that more than a hundred years before the 

 appearance of the Encyclopedic, Bacon's writings had attract- 

 ed so much notice in France, as to force them upon the atten- 

 tion of those who were but little disposed to relish their phi- 

 losophy. It farther appears, that the first doubts that were 

 entertained as to the sufficiency of the method of Descartes, 

 originated among those of his countrymen who had imbibed 

 the spirit of Bacon's Logic. The doctrines of the No- 

 vum Organum are professedly taken as the basis of the argu- 

 ment, in a letter addressed to Descartes in 1648, by a corre- 

 spondent who wishes to convince him, that in physical science, 

 no principles ought to be admitted, but such as have been pre- 

 viously derived from facts *. In a piece, by a different author, 

 written some years later, entitled Remarques sur la Methode de 

 Descartes, Bacon's method is characterised as follows : " One 

 " sees so much judgment in the rules laid down in the Novum 

 f Organum, for guiding the understanding in the search of 

 " truth, that one might almost believe its author had been in- 

 " spired. This work, indeed, has some defects, particularly in 

 " its language, which is often scholastic and fanciful ; but far 

 " from wishing to dwell upon them, we ought to proclaim, 

 " thai it is only since the time of Bacon, that the human mind 

 " has followed a proper plan in matters of philosophy f ." It 

 is worthy of notice, that the author of this eulogium speaks of 

 the Royal Society of London, then recently established, in 

 terms of great approbation ; and as being likely to realise all 

 Bacon's views for the advancement of the Sciences. 



Gassendi 



* Lettre premiere a M. Descartes, prefixed to his Treatise on the Passions, Pa- 

 ris edit. 1726. 



-f- Remarques sur la Methode de Descartes, p. 128, 129; annexed to his Dis- 

 cours de la Methode, Paris, 1724. 



