1803. | 
hands from fanftuary to fanétuary, and 
from altar to altar, and whtie they en- 
lighten one part of the temple, l:ave the 
greater part of it ia darknefs: I fhall fuf- 
pend, in the middle of the dome,a chande- 
her,which, by Jighting the whole building 
at once, will exhibit under ose point of 
view the altar and the images of all the 
gods.” 
Notwithftanding the boldnefs of this 
flight, which feems extravagant even for 
the genius of Bacon, an extreme ciscum- 
fpection, I might even fay, an extreme 
timidity, appears to predominate in all 
his pofitions, and ail his means of exe- 
eution. In every age that preceded the 
time of Bacon, and which claimed the 
title of an age of learning, in the {chools 
of the phololophers of Greece, and in 
thofe ef the do&tors of Europe, after the 
rmof {wperficial obfervation of the phe- 
homena of nature which the univerfe 
prefents, and oftentimes without any pre- 
vious obfervation, men of learning ele- 
vated themfelves, or rather took flight 
in a manner, tothe molt vague and ge- 
neral principles refpe&ting the theory of 
the world and its inhabitants. An opinion 
feemed to prevail, that, in order to ex- 
plain the theory of the univerfe, it was 
not nec flary to f{tudy it, but to account 
for its laws by the reveries of imagination, 
and not by the qualities which we per- 
ceive by our fenfes, or difcover by our ex- 
periments. Huw different is the method 
which Bacon propofes, or rather reveals ; 
and how wel! authorized is he to give 
to his method the original title of the New 
Organ, Novum Organum! ‘To examine 
and collect from every quarter all the 
acknowledged faéts and phenomena, both 
thoie that efcape from our attention be- 
caufe they are always before our eyes, 
and thofe which are withdrawn from 
our fenfes by their diftance, or by the 
my fterious veils in which they are fhroud- 
ed, to fubmit continually to new expe- 
riments Nature, which, like Proteus, con- 
ceals herielf under a thoufand different 
fhapes, and becomes vifible only to thofe 
who torment and fetter her by a thoufand 
arlifices ; to trace, for the relief of the 
memory, and for the precifion of know- 
ledge, an extenfive arrangement of faéts, 
phenomena, and ob/ervations, which are 
connected together by the general ana- 
logy that fubfif's between them; to exhi- 
bit at the fame time fimilar arrangements, 
in which the facts which feem to belong 
to the fame clafles and the fame analogy, 
lead to contradictory conclufions ; to ob- 
ferve and contemplate with patience the 
Garat’s Remarks on the Writings of Lord Bacon, 
41} 
vat affembiage of facts, thus connected 
and arranged, before any conclufion ig 
drawn from them, or any general prin- 
ciple: to watch with ferupulous attention 
that the principle which may be adopted, 
fhould be commenfurate with actual ob- 
fervation and experiment; by the dawning 
light of a confined principle, to pafs to 
new experiments which this principle may 
give birth to, to the obfervation of new 
facts and new phenomena; to clafs and 
arrange them in the fame manner in a 
doubie feries, fometimes by the fimila- 
rity of their appearances, and by the con- 
{radictory nature of their effects, fomes 
times by the idemtity of effects, when 
appearances are contradictory; to draw 
from thefe, principles more ex enlive than 
the former, but alwavs limited by the 
circumference of the facts and phenomena 
which they have embraced; from chefe new 
principles to defcend to new facts, ta new 
experiments and new obtervations, in ore 
der to raife our views fo moie comprehen- 
five principles, and to defcend a ain to 
the #tudy of facts in order to arrive by 
regular fucceffion at axioms ftill more 
general ; to turn without being fatigued 
in that circle, which is not, ke moft Io- 
gical propofitions, an imperfect circle, 
but a circle in which nature hertelf ree 
volves her transformations and her opera- 
tions ; to endeavour inceflantly to difco~ 
ver how things are made, a difcovery 
which may be ufeful to us, and which it 
is fo difficult to find a fatisfactory expla- 
nation of, and never to make inquiries 
way they are made, which may be ima- 
gined in a hundred different minners, 
without adding any thing to the power 
or the happinefs of man; to abandon to 
contemplation, to the cloifters and the 
altars, the philofophy of final caufes, 
which, like the rod confecrated to heaven, 
produces nothing; and to cultivate with= 
out relaxation experimental philofophy, 
which, purfuing Nature into her mines 
and furnaces, becomes laborious and 
fruitful like Nature herfelf,and produces 
every day fore new blefiing in conjunc- 
tion withher new labours:—fuch is the 
method of Bacon; that method which 
has changed the face of the ‘{cicences, as 
the feiences, fince the time of Bacon, 
have changed the face of the world. The 
inexhanftiole fertility of Bacon’s genius 
has invented and propofed experiments 
which can hardly be accomplithed by the 
united Jabours of the learned of every age, 
He wanted himféelf the leifure, the means, 
and the inftruments, and undoubteily 
the talents to enable him to profecute 
them 
