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DUKE "DIVERSITY

"treasure li^oTn

THE RIGHTE HONOURABLE

S' Jranncis Bacon, knig()t.

LORDE HIGHE CHANCELLOVR OF ENGLANDE, and one of his Ma-1^ most hon— ? privie counsell.

tl^\)t Hibn:0iDe ILitrrature ^ttita

^

THE ESSAYS OF FRANCIS BACON

EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES

BY

CLARK SUTHERLAND NORTHUP, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of the English Language and Literature in Cornell University

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

\

COPYRIGHT I90S BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

R. L. S. 177

B I^^BR

CONTENTS

Preface . v

Introduction

The Life of Bacon vii

The Essays xxii

Bibliographical Note xxvii

Chronological Table xxviii

Essays 1

1. Of Truth 5

2. Of Death 7

- 3. Of Unity in Religion 10

4. Of Revenge 15

- 5. Of Adversity 16

6. Of Simulation and Dissimulation .... 18

7. Of Parents and Children 21

8. Of Marriage and Single Life 23

- 9. Of Envy 25

10. Of Love 30

11. Of Great Place 32

12. Of Boldness 36

13. Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature . . 38

14. Of Nobility 41

15. Of Seditions and Troubles 43

16. Of Atheism 51

17. Of Superstition 54

18. Of Travel 56

19. Of Empire 58

20. Of Counsel 64

21. Of Delays 69

22. Of Cunning 70

23. Of Wisdom for a ISIan's Self ... . 74

24. Of Innovations 76

25. Of Dispatch 77

26. Of Seeming Wise 79

27. Of Friendship 81

iv CONTENTS

28. Of Expense 89

29. Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates . 90

30. Of Regiment of Health 101

- 31. Of Suspicion 103

32. Of Discourse 104

33. Of Plantations 106

34. Of Riches 110

35. Of Prophecies . . . . . . . 113

36. Of Ambition 117

37. Of Masques and Triumphs 119

~- 38. Of Nature in Men 121

- 39. Of Custom and Education 123

40. Of Fortune 125

41. Of Usury 127

42. Of Youth and Age ' . 131

43. Of Beauty 134

44. Of Deformity 135

45. Of Building 136

46. Of Gardens 141

47. Of Negotiating 148

48. Of Followers and Friends 150"

49. Of Suitors 152

- 50. Of Studies 154

51. Of Faction 156

52. Of Ceremonies and Respects 158

- 53. Of Praise 159

54. Of Vain-Glory 161

55. Of Honor and Reputation 163

56. Of Judicature 165

57. Of Anger 170

58. Of Vicissitude of Things 172

59. Of Fame: a Fragment 179

Notes 181

Suggestions for the Study of the Essays .... 226

PREFACE

The text of this edition of Bacon's Essays is based on that of Spedding, carefully collated with Arber's, and con- stantly compared with the texts of Wright and Reynolds, The spelling and capitalization have been more thoroughly modernized than in most other texts, though some familiar archaic spellings have been kept; and the punctuation has been somewhat simplified. In the majority of instances I have retained Spedding's virile translations of the quotations from foreign languages. In writing on the vexed question of Bacon's character, I have been much indebted, as every careful student of Bacon will always be, to the epoch- making researches of Spedding, who, while unconsciously minimizing, perhaps, the significance of some unpleasant facts, has given us on the whole the justest narrative of Bacon's life that we have. In the notes, while assuming that the student will have access to a good unabridged dic- tionary, I have nevertheless kept in mind the fact that for many large classes there are not reference books enough to go around, and hence students must rely largely upon the notes for explanations of all kinds of difficulties. My con- stant indebtedness to the commentators mentioned above, as well as to Dr. Abbott, will be evident, and I acknowledge it with gratitude. I must also record my obligation to my colleague. Professor William Strunk, Jr., for the use of notes generously proffered, and to the authorities of the Harvard University Library for the loan of Holland's Plu- tarch.

C. S. N.

Cornell U>n[VERsiTY, Ithaca, N. Y., October, 1907.

English 21 a Hour Lzarcinr.tion. November 5, 19R6

1, Dates of the three editions of the Essays.

^. Summarize essays Of Friendship, of Ti'uth, Of Studies.

1. Quote what passages you can from the Essays. Or give in other form examples of Bacon's portable wisdom,

1- Ex-nlain the following phrases: discoursing wits, Eat not the heart, Cloth of /rras. Doth plough upon Stuidays, the "baGr^-a{i;e of virtue, the difference be- tween saltness and bitterness, Magiia civitas na^-na solitude, the carbuncle.

5. Explain fully the following passages.

a. Revenge is a ]cind of wild .justice.

b. Reading makcth a ±\i.ll man,

c. Discourse ou^lit to be as a field.

d. Public revenges are for the most part fortunate.

e. I have given the rule where a man cannot fj.tly play

his own part if he have not a friend he may (luit the stage.

f. The first creature of God, in the wor]:s of the days,

was the light of the sense; the last was the light of reason; an.d his sabbath work ever since is the illumination of his spirits

g. Prefaces , and passages and excusations and other

speeches of reference to the person are

great wastes "of time, h, A man w€irc better relate himself to a statua or

picture, than to suffer his thoughts to

pass in smother, i. Those that are weakest in the course are yet

nimblest in the turn, j. Therefore let princes, or states, choose such servants

as have not this mark; except they mean their

service should be made but the accessary. k. The proceeding upon somewhat conceived in writing doth

for the most part facilitate dispatch, 1. Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for

ability, m, Preoccvpatlon of mind ever rcquJi-eth preface of speo>''''

Ixko a fomentation to make the unguent enter.

l.miyi.iiillili mil II II III lawi^l^^WIWltPpPBj^wyi^wpipj*

INTRODUCTION

THE LIFE OF BACON

The life of Francis Bacon is one of the most interesting, picturesque, and pathetically tragic in the whole range of literary history. He was born for great things ; he had a brilliant public career, which came to a startling and igno- minious end. Withal his devotion to science and letters was such that the world will not soon forget it. So great and ver- satile was his genius that he not only has been called the Shakespeare of English prose, but has also (though on wholly inadequate grounds) been regarded by some as the author of Shakespeare's plays. The story of so eventful a life cannot well be told in the space at our command ; we must be content with the leading facts and a few general observations.

Francis Bacon was born at York House, in the Strand,

London, January 22, 1561. He was the youngest of the

eight children of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord „

^^ ' Bacon s

Keeper of the Great Seal, who was of a good- birth, i56l,

natured, easy-going temperament and something and parent-

of a humorist. The second wife of Sir Nicholas, ^^®

and the mother of Anthony and Francis Bacon, was Ann,

second daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke ; her sister was the

wife of Sir William Cecil, then Secretary of State, and later

Lord Burghley. Lady Bacon was a well-educated woman

of strong character. She translated sermons from the Italian,

quoted Latin frequently, and knew something of Greek.

A rigid Calvinist, she exerted a marked influence on her

sons' religious beliefs ; and one clue to the explanation of

Francis Bacon's character is perhaps the fact that in early

youth, frequenting a court where lax moral and ethical

views prevailed, he was at the same time filled with the

self-assurance born of tlie Calvinistic doctrine of election to

eternal happiness.

viii INTRODUCTION

In his twelfth year, in 1573, Francis Bacon went with his brother Anthony to Trinity College, Cambridge. Here he found not quite eighteen hundred students, among them Edward Coke, his later rival, Edmund Spenser and his friend Edward Kirke, and Gabriel Harvey ; many of these were too young to know why they were there. His prescribed studies Education were mathematics (including cosmography, arith- at Trinity metic, geometry, and astronomy), dialectics, phi- Cambridge, losophy, perspective, and Greek. In public, ex- 1573-74 cept in hours of leisure, he had to speak Hebrew, Greek, or Latin. While devoting himself to Greek, he re- belled against the doctrines of Aristotle, whose infallibility had been somewhat shaken by Peter Ramus (1515-1572) a decade before; but it was not so much Aristotle's logical method as his physical theories that Bacon questioned. For example, Aristotle's theory of astronomy was based on the fundamental proposition that the heavens and heavenly bodies were incorruptible, unchangeable, and wholly regular; hence all the motions of these bodies must be in the per- fect figure of the circle and all their orbits must be concen- tric ; moreover, the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, being perishable, the imperishable stars must be made of an imperishable fifth essence. These doctrines of Aristotle the Schoolmen of the Middle Ages, especially Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), so systematized and fixed that they virtually became great obstructions to the progress of knowledge. But even as a boy of eleven Bacon saw in the northern heavens, in a region that Aristotle had pro- nounced incapable of change, the wonderful new star in the constellation Cassiopeia. No wonder the study of nature through Aristotle's dogmas struck Bacon as barren and wrong, and moved him to devise a more fruitful method. The remarkable thing, as Mr. Spedding points out, is that this undertaking became the real if not wholly absorbing passion of his life.

The plague which broke out in August, 1574, drove the Bacons from Cambridge until the following March ; then they returned and remained until Christmas.

In June, 1576, the brothers were admitted to Gray's Inn,

INTRODUCTION ix

London, and began the study of law. Three months later

Francis went with Sir Amias Paiilet, the British Begins the

ambassador, to France. Here he remained dur- study of

ing two Jlnd a half significant years, studying *^'

diplomatic affairs and foreign policy. The impression he

made upon those who talked with him is indi- _

^ Two years

cated by the inscription on Hilliard's miniature, in France,

painted in 1578 : "If a worthy canvas were 1576-78 given me, I would rather paint his mind." From this life of studious ease he was rudely awakened by the death of his father, which obliged him to return to England ; and as Sir Nicholas had failed to provide for his youngest son, Francis was now compelled to begin in earnest his prepara- tion for the legal profession, by which he was to live.

In June, 1582, he was admitted an utter (or junior) barrister of Gray's Inn; and November 23, 1584, he took

his seat in Parliament for IMelcombe Regis, Dor- „ „ ,

^ M. P. for

setshire. That he was a bold as well as alert Meicombo

politician is evident from his Advice to Queen Regis, Elizabeth ,\\x\itB\\ soon after entering Parliament. The conflict was approaching between Protestant England and Catholic Spain. Three plots had already been exposed against the life of the Queen, in whom were centred the hopes "of England, of liberty, and of the Pro- "Advice to testant faith ; " and a voluntary association had Qneen Eliz- been formed to prosecute to the death any person *^®*^ " in whose behalf violence should be offered to the Sovereign. Bacon urged rigorous repression of the suspected Catholics, but less violent measures against the Puritans. The trea- tise is remarkable for shrewdness, wit, and tact.

Two years later, in 1586, came the trial and conviction of Mary, Queen of Scots. In the Parliament of that year Bacon sat for Taunton, Somersetshire, and was m_ p. jor one of those who signed the petition for Mary's Taunton, execution. Becoming a bencher of Gray's Inn, ^^^® Bacon now attained the full rights of a practising lawyer. While he did not earn much as a barrister, he became more and more prominent in Parliament.

The Armada came and went ; and in the following year

X INTRODUCTION

the quarrel between the Puritans and the High Churchmen "Adver ^^''^^ renewed. In his Advertisement touching tisement ^^^ Controversies of the Church of England touching (1589), Bacon sought to arbitrate the bitter and tlie Contro- l^igoted conflict by considering the occasions of the Churcli ^^^^ controversies, their growth, the unjust mea- ofEng- sures of the bishops, and the separatist tenden- i^8^9 ' ^^^^ ^^ ^^® Puritans ; prescribing, as the remedy,

greater charity and more knowledge, or, as Mat- thew Arnold would have put it, more " sweetness and light."

About 1590 Bacon made the acquaintance of the Earl of Essex, the rash, impetuous, generous, sympathetic favor- Beginning ite of the Queen. Here was a man whose friend- °hr^^"f>i ^^^^P could do much for Bacon and for the great Essex, philosophical enterprise which he had begun to

1590 think of in his Cambridge days. Essex was able

and ready to discuss the high aims that inspired Bacon, and to intercede for him with the Queen for some office whereby he might be freed from professional drudgery and enabled to prosecute his studies. In asking Lord Burghley for help, about this time, Bacon says : —

"Lastly, I confess that I have as vast contemplative ends, as I have moderate civil ends: for I have taken all knowledge to be my province ; and if I could purge it of two sorts of rovers, whereof the one with frivolous disputations, confutations, and verbosities, the other with blind experiments and auricular tra- ditions and impostures, hath committed so many spoils, I hope I should bring in industrious observations, grounded conclusions, and profitable inventions and discoveries ; the best state in that province. This, whether it be curiosity, or vain-glory, or nature, or (if one take it favorably) pMlanthropia, is so fixed in my mind as it cannot be removed."

But while Bacon's repeated requests to Burghley were Failure to poured into a deaf ear, Essex proved an ardent and obtain ol- faithful patron. The place of Attorney-General tornevGen- ^°°^ became vacant; and Essex tried to secure eral and it for his friend. But Bacon had made himself Solicitor obnoxious to the Queen by protesting against cer- tain subsidies which he thoufrht would involve excessive

INTRODUCTION xi

taxation; and his rival Coke was made Attorney-General. No better fortune attended his suit for the humbler office of Solicitor ; but Essex, anxious to pay for the time and pains devoted to his own affairs, gave Bacon a piece of land which afterwards sold for £1800, the equivalent in purchasing power of about $45,000 to-day. This for a while relieved Bacon of the financial embarrassments which beset him.

Up to this time of his life Bacon is not accused of doing anything distinctly dishonorable. True, his servile place- hunting is not admirable ; but it arose partly out of unfor- tunate conditions. His conduct toward Essex from now on is variously interpreted : by some, as that of a patriot who placed loyalty to the state above friendship ; by others, as the conduct of a heartless ingrate. Much depends on whether Essex can or cannot be proved to have become a traitor.

Essex and Bacon continued friends as before ; but Bacon ceased for a time to seek for office. He wrote his ILnxims of the Law (published in January, 1596), his works from Essays, Colors of Good and Evil, and Medi- 1596 to tationes Sacra>,, all of which appeared in 1597. ^^V ^°" He still sat in Parliament, in 1597 for South- "Essays," ampton. He was an unsuccessful suitor for the ^597 hand of a rich Avidow, his cousin Lady Hatton, who ac- cepted his rival Coke instead. Meanwhile he counselled Essex to try to win and retain the Queen's «- favor by making a show of being deferential and Southamp- obsequious. But Essex was not skilled in dis- *°"' ^5®^ simulation ; he quarrelled more than once with Elizabeth, and on one occasion his insolence so enraged her that she struck him and had him ejected from the coun- cil-chamber. A few months later, acting on Ba- between con's advice, he pretended that he would accept Essex and the task of quelling the Irish rebellion under the *^® '^^^^^ Earl of Tyrone. Of this expedition Essex made a wretched failure ; and he was ordered to answer for his mismanagement and for disobedience, in the Court of the Star Chamber. Although soon released, he continued under the displea- sure of the Queen, who refused to renew the grant of the

xii INTRODUCTION

monopoly of sweet wines whence he derived most of his income. Already deeply in debt, Essex now saw himself on the brink of ruin ; and having persuaded himself that England's safety and his own lay in ruining his rivals, the Queen's present advisers, he plotted to surprise the court and remove them by force. The revolt miscarried and Essex M'as tried for treason.

As one of the Learned Counsel Bacon now occupied a subordinate, unsalaried place in the Government. He has been censured because, when ca'lled upon to participate in Essex tried the trial, he did not decline ; but Essex was not for treason yet condemned, and Bacon doubtless thought he could help his friend. For ten days the trial went on without results ; finally the confession of accomplices re- vealed deliberate treasonable action on the part of Essex and his confederates. It was then too late for Bacon to decline his task ; and he now set the claims of loyal cit- izenship above those of friendship ; the general good above Bacon's private good. He pressed the charge of treason part In the fgj, "this late and horrible rebellion," and rightly tlon of treated Essex's defence, that he was protecting

Essex himself from his enemies, as a mere afterthought.

The result was the conviction of Essex and four of his followers. Even then, Bacon declared in his Ajoology (1601), he besought mercy of the Queen and tried to ex- tenuate the sentence. But his effort was in vain. On Feb- ruary 26, 1601, Essex was executed.

It is idle to see in all this, as some do, a treacherous desertion of Essex. As Professor Gardiner suggests, doubt- less Bacon had a poverty of moral feeling ; certainly he nowhere records any pain at having to help prosecute his friend. But two things must be borne in mind : first. Bacon had himself rendered valuable services to Essex and was under no obligation to him ; second, Essex's crime seems less heinous in these days of political security than it seemed in Elizabeth's day, when the welfare of the state so largely depended on the safety of the sovereign.

Under Elizabeth, Bacon never obtained an office worthy of his abilities. For a time he was but little more success-

INTRODLXTION xiii

ful with the new sovereign. True, James honored him

with knighthood ; but he was dubbed along with some

three hundred others. For a time Bacon lived in .,„^ .,

Tac Ad- retirement. He now wrote the first book of TJie vancement

Advancement of Learning as well as the brief olLearn- *' Proem" to The Interpretation of Nature, in ^' ^^°^ which he sets forth his real mission and motives. He had set himself, he says, to consider how mankind might best be served and what he was naturally best fitted to do. Of all benefits \\q " found none so great as the discovery of new arts, endowments, and commodities for the bettering of man's life." But if one could kindle in Kature a light that should presently disclose her most hidden secrets, tliat man would indeed benefit the race. He found himself best fitted for the study of truth, " with desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to reconsider, carefulness to dispose and set in order." Yet his birth and education had seasoned him in business of state ; his country had special claims upon him ; and believing that if he rose in the state he should Bacon's de- command industry and ability to help him in his motion to work, he had entered public life. In this he had, ^^i re-°^ too, another motive, that he " might get some- search thing done for the good of men's souls." Finding, however, that his zeal was mistaken for ambition, that his life had already reached the turning-point, and that he was leaving undone the good he alone could do, he put aside all thoughts of statecraft and betook himself wholly to this work.

But Bacon was still destined for many years to live the life of a statesman rather than of a philosopher. When the first Parliament under King James met in March, 1604, he returned to public life. In the contest between the Commons and the King over some matters of „ prerogative, he skilfully led both parties to a Learned compromise. In August the King granted to Counsel, him by patent the ofhce of Learned Counsel, ^^^^ and at the same time conferred on him an annual life- pension of £60.

The interval between December, 1604, and the next meet-

xiv INTRODUCTION

ing of Parliament in ISTovember, 1605, enabled Bacon "The Aa- to complete his Two Books of the Proficience vancement ^^^^^ Advancement of Learning. He dedicated ing," Bks. it to the King, hoping thereby to interest James I. n; 1605 (whom he avouches to be "the learnedst king that hath reigned") in his great intellectual enterprises; but James, unfortunately, was busy with other affairs. Probably the book would have made more of a stir in the London world had it not appeared at the time of the in- famous Gunpowder Plot, which overshadowed everything else. That it was an important book will be evident from the following words of Dean Church : —

" ThQ Advancement was the first of a long line of books which have attempted to teach English readers how to think of know- ledge ; to make it really and intelligently the interest, not of the school or the study or the laboratory only, but of society at large. It was a book with a purpose, new then, but of which we have seen the fulfilment. He wanted to impress on his generation, as a very practical matter, all that knowledge might do in wise hands, all that knowledge had lost by the faults and errors of men and the misfortunes of time, all that knowledge might be pushed to in all directions by faithful and patient industry and well-planned methods for the elevation and benefit of man in his highest capacities as well as in his humblest. And he further sought to teach them lioic to know ; to make them understand that difficult achievement of self-knowledge, to know what it is to know ; to give the first attempted chart to guide them among the shallows and rocks and whirlpools which beset the course and action of thought and inquiry."

On May 10, 1606, Sir Francis Bacon married Alice Barn- Marriage, ham, the "handsome daughter" of a London 1606 alderman and sheriff. Continuing to sue for pre-

ferment, he was at length successful. In June, 1607, he became Solicitor-G-eneral, receiving an annual Solicitor- salary of £1000. A year later the office of Clerk General, of the Star Chamber, the reversion of which had

1607

been promised him nineteen years before, fell vacant ; the additional salary brought Bacon's income up to Clerk of the Clearly $25,000 a year (£4975). An interesting Star Cham- document which has come down to us from this ber, 1608 time, the Miscellaneous Commentary, reveals

INTRODUCTION xv

much as to his secret thoughts and ambitions. His philo- sophical work has the chief place. He plans to inquire into the kinds of motion ; to write a history of marvels, and a history of progress in the mechanical arts ; to secure the foundation of a college for inventors. As a statesman and public servant he meditates much on the welfare Bacon's of Britain ; on the problem of replenishing the ambitions coffers of the spendthrift King without further ^" England alienating the people and bringing on civil war ; on confed- eration with the Low Countries ; on reforms limiting the jurisdiction of courts of justice ; on making and codifying new laws ; on restoring " the Church to the true limits of authority since Henry 8th's confusion ; " in short, on mak- ing Britain a real " ^Monarchy in the West," a power in European affairs. Truly these were great ends. Though constantly seeking office. Bacon was none the less a patriot.

And England needed the loyal services of her sons. The struggle was beginning between King and Commons. *'The great and pressing subject of the time," says Mr. Church, '^ was the increasing difficulties of the revenue, created partly by the inevitable changes of a growing state, but much more by the King's incorrigible waste- Bacon's no- fulness." By 1608 James was running behind sitioninthe £83,000 a year and was a million pounds in debt, struggle The Earl of Salisbury, Bacon's cousin, who now ^^^g ^^ became Lord Treasurer, proposed that the Com- the Com- mons should, by paying a fixed sum annually to ^°^^ the King, secure relief from certain burdens incident to the exercise of the royal prerogative. But after a good deal of haggling over terms, the "Great Contract" came to no- thing. Bacon on the one hand defended as legal the King's claim of the right to levy custom duties on merchandize, and on the other tried to persuade the Commons to content themselves with restraining and limiting this right. But the breach was already too wide to be closed by any one man.

Bacon's literary activity kept pace with his energetic public life. His great philosophical scheme was constantly in his mind. In 1608 he wrote Beat and Cold and A

x^i INTRODUCTION

History of Sound and Hearing, and probably began his Novum Organum, which he was not to publish for twelve years. The next year he sent to Bishop Andre wes a revised j^. copy of his Thoughts and Judgments on the In-

works, terpretation of Nature, which he had written

1608-12; some two years before; and to Toby Matthew his a^new eS- Wisdom of the Ancients. In this he attempted tlonolthe an allegorical treatment of the Greek myths and "Essays" fables, in which he thought there ''lay enshrined physical discoveries and political niysteries." An enlarged edition of the Essays appeared in 1612. In the same year he wrote his Description of the Intellectual Globe, an ac- count of astronomy, and his Theme of Heaven, its sequel, in which, ignoring Kepler's researches, he denied not only the density and solidity, but also the revolution, of the earth! He had too little time or inclination for patient study before writing.

Upon the death of Salisbury in 1612, Bacon came into greater favor with the King. In 1613 he became Attorney- Bacon made General, and now took a more prominent part Attorney- j^^ g^^^te affairs. He delivered before the Star James, Chamber an earnest argument against duelling,

1613 which had become alarmingly prevalent. He

also besought Parliament, though in vain, to provide for a thorough revision and codification of the laws.

To this period, though tradition has assigned it to the last years of his life, probably belongs The New Atlantis, "The New ^^ unfinished romance recalling the imaginary Atlantis," commonwealth of Plato's Critias, and describing ^^^^ especially an institution "for the interpreting of

nature," as Rawley says, " and the produc'.ng of great and marvellous works for the benefit of men. . . . Hi:. Lordship thought also in this present fable to have composed a frame of laws, or of the best state or mould of a commonwealth ; but foreseeing it would be a long work, his desire of collect- ing the Natural History diverted him, which he preferred many degrees before it." This torso is of peculiar interest, not only as the dream of an enthusiast in the cause of scien- tific investigation, but also from the fact that it undoubtedly

INTRODUCTION xvii

had its share in leading to the establishment of the Koyal Society (1660).

Bacon continued to give King James constant proofs of his usefulness ; and when Viscount Brackley resigned Bacon the chancellorship in 1617, Bacon succeeded to the ™ade Lord office, once held by his father, of Lord Keeper of the igjy^f' Great Seal. On January 1, 1618, he was formally Lord created Lord Chancellor for life, with an increase Ciancellor. of £600 a year over his salary as Lord Keeper, veruiam. Six months later he l^ecame Baron Verulam. 1618

Constantly mindful of his great intellectual ends, Bacon devoted the long vacations to the studies nearest his heart. In October, 1620, he presented King James with « i^(,^,jjj^ his Novum Orgamitn or "New Instrument," Organum," by which he desired " to make philosophy and ^^^® sciences both more true and more active." The book, not- withstanding Bacon had " been about some such work near thirty years," and had composed the first draft about 1608, was incomplete ; but the author had begun to numl^er his days, " and would have it saved." The great object he sought to achieve was to teach men to invent or discover and judge by induction, as finding syllogistic or deductive rea- soning "incompetent for sciences of nature." The King received the ]xK)k with expressions of but moderate praise, and even permitted himself the jest that it was "like the peace of Grod, which passeth all understanding." To Bacon's plea for aid in making collections for a Natural and Ex- perimenfal History^ James was deaf.

The Novmn Organuvi was to form the second part of a great work which Bacon called Magna Iiistauratlo, " The Great Restoration," and which was to consist of the fol- lowing parts : 1. The Divisions of the Sciences, a general survey of the state of knowledge at that time. 2. The New Instrument. 3. The Phenomena of the Universe, Bacon's

considered as materials on which the new method ^^*y.i5

the Blagnft was to be employed. 4. The Ladder of the Un- instan-

derstanding, giving illustrations of the working ratio"

of the new method. 5. Forerunners of the Second Philo-

sophy, containing such discoveries as Bacon had made with-

x^rm INTRODUCTION

out the aid of the new method, the conclusions being merely tentative. 6. I'he Second Fhilosopliy or Active Science^ to contain some results of the application of the new method to phenomena. Of these parts only the second and a part of the third (published also in 1620 and entitled Prepara- tion for a Natural and Experimental History) appeared. The conception was indeed a noble one, but was even then too vast for one man. Scientists value Bacon less for his achievement than for his inspiration. He himself said, in- deed, " I only sound the clarion ; but I enter not the battle.'^ Notwithstanding his flippant reception of the Novum Organum, the King was not unmindful of the value of Made Vis- Bacon's services, and in January, 1621, created count St. him Viscount St. Alban. Bacon was now at the Alban, 1621 pij-u^acle of his fame. A peer of the realm, he held the highest legal office in the kingdom, with an annual income of probably £10,000. Ben Jonson wrote of him as

"England's High Chancellor, the destin'd heir, In his soft cradle, to his father's chair; Whose even thread the Fates spin round and full Out of their choicest and their whitest wool."

Yet in the struggle for advancement Bacon's moral fibre, never robust, was weakened. The King was more than ever under the influence of a favorite — the infamous George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham; and to keep in the favor of both James and Buckingham and at the same time preserve a high moral integrity was to serve both God and Mammon. "There is rarely any rising," says Bacon in his Essay of Nobility, ' but by a commixture of good and evil arts." Bacon well understood both kinds.

Yet Bacon's chief fault was, perhaps, that he fell in too readily with what were common practices of the day, dis- daining to protest over much against trifles. Every one accepted bribes, from the Favorite down ; and Bacon did not scruple to accept gifts from persons whose suits were pending. There is no absolute proof that these presents afi"ected his judicial decisions ; but he had not avoided the appearance of evil, and his enemies made the most of the advantage this gave them.

INTRODUCTION

XIX

Sir Edward Coke, Bacon's old rival, who had not been in the House for some years, was returned to the Parlia- ment that met on January 30, 1621. On February 5 he moved the appointment of a committee to investigate public grievances. Certain objectionable monopolies were at once

brought to the attention of the committee ; and „. . ^. . ° ' The Indlct-

in March the King in a speech alleged that in meat

granting these patents "he grounded his judg- against ment upon others who had misled him" — of ®°" whom Bacon was one. On March 14 a petitioner to the House of Commons alleged that two and a half years be- fore the Lord Chancellor had received money from him for the despatch of a pending suit ; other similar accusations followed. At first Bacon defended himself, saying to the King : —

"For the briberies and gifts wherewith I am charged, when the books of hearts shall be opened, I hope I shall not be found to have the troubled fountain of a corrupt heart, in a depraved habit of taking rewards to prevent justice; howsoever I may be frail, and partake of the abuses of the times."

But when the twenty-three articles of the charge as finally formulated were laid before him, Bacon, Bacon's now in shattered health, attempted no further confession defence, but confessed himself guilty of corruption. In his memoranda on the matter he writes : —

" There be three degrees or cases, as I conceive, of gifts or re- wards given to a judge. The first is of bargain, contract, or pro- mise of reward, pendente lite [the suit pending]. And of this ray heart tells me I am innocent ; that I had no bribe or reward in my eye or thought when I pronounced any sentence or order. The second is a neglect in the judge to inform himself whether the cause be fully at an end, or no, what time he receives the gift; but takes it upon the credit of the party that all is done, or other- wise omits to inquire. And the third is, when it is received sine fraude [without fraud], after the cause ended ; which it seems, by the opinions of the civilians, is no offence." Elsewhere he adds: "For the second, I doubt in some particulars I may be faulty. And for the last, I conceived it to be no fault."

Parliament decreed that he should pay a fine of £40,000, be imprisoned in the Tower during the King's pleasure,

XX INTRODUCTION

be thenceforth incapable of holding office or sitting in Parlia- Bacon's ment, and not be allowed to come within twelve sentence miles of the court; thus insisting that public officers were responsible to the state as well as to the King. Bacon acquiesced; ^'I was the justest judge/' said he, "that was in England these fifty years; but it was the justest censure in Parliament that was these two hun- dred years." He was confined in the Tower only two or three days ; and in September his fine was remitted and assigned to trustees for his benefit. In a few months, hav- ing yielded up York House to Cranfield and Buckingham, he was once more allowed to live in London. But he could never procure a full pardon.

The years that remained to Bacon were spent at Gray's Inn and Gorhambury, in retirement and in literary labors. In 1622 he published his History of Henry VII, the first English attempt at philosophical history, which ■v^ork be- takes high rank as a classic ; he also wrote a f rag- tweeni622 ment of an Advertisement Touching an Holy and 1626 j^^tr — a war which Bacon apparently desired to be waged against the Turks. In the following year he wrote A History of Life and Death, which received the commendation of Haller, a great medical writer; and pub- lished a much expanded Latin translation of The Advance- ment of Learning. His Apophthegms and Trans- tionolthe lations of Certain Psalms appeared in 1624; "Essays," and in the following year he published the third ^^^^ edition of his Essays. The last work upon which

he was engaged was his Sylva Sylvarum, " Wood of Woods," or "Natural History," which was published in 1627.

Toward the end of March, 1626, in the course of a journey from London to Highgate, Bacon desired to experi- Bacon's ment on the efi'ect of snow in preserving flesh. death, He purchased a fowl and stuffed it with snow;

^®^^ a chill seized him and forced him to stop at Lord

Arundel's house. Here, on April 9, he died. He was buried in St. Michael's Church, St. Albans.

Thus ended the career of a man of genius; a life of great achievements in statecraft and in philosophy, a life

INTRODUCTION xxi

characterized, however, by such apparent inconsistencies that Pope could describe Bacon as ''the wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind;" and to this description some recent writers have rather too closely conformed. He has been condemned for the basest ingratitude to Essex, for the most fawning and unblushing flattery and sycophancy, for delib- erately perverting justice to please the Favorite. His chief energy, it is said, was given to a shameless scram- conlllct- ble for wealth and position and power, which ingJiidg- utterly belies his expressions of devotion to science Bacon's and philosophy. This view of Bacon, however, character is hardly consistent with the genuine affection expressed by friends such as Dr. Rawley, his chaplain, Peter Boener, his apothecary and secretary, and Sir Toby Matthew, to whom Bacon dedicated his Essay of Friendship; or with all of the facts which Bacon himself so frankly committed to paper. The unselfish labors of some modern scholars, chief of whom is James Spedding, have done much to re- store to Bacon the reputation that is rightfully his.

To judge Bacon justly, we must bear in mind the cir- cumstances of his times. We have already considered the Essex affair. As for indulging in flattery, Bacon doubtless did so to excess ; yet we must bear in tions de- mind that good form then required some flattery, manded ty The proof that he perverted justice is not forth- ^^ coming ; the most that can be said is that in one instance only, the case of Dr. Steward and his nephew,* there is a reasonable inference that at Buckingham's request Bacon reversed a decision with the possible result that justice was thwarted. When we remember how frequently Bucking- ham tried to induce Bacon to be partial to certain persons, we can only commend Bacon for his constancy, suspending judgment further until all the facts of the case in question are brought to light. That Bacon was too fond of pomp and circumstance and wealth is probably true ; that he was excessively extravagant and wasteful is too evident from his extant financial records. He was careless about debts ; he

1 See Spedding, Letters and Life, vi, 441-446, -vni, 579-588; abridged Life, ii, 276-278; Abbott, Bacon, xviii-xxix, 268, 269.

xxii INTRODUCTION

died owing three times the value of his estate, but in the belief that there would be ^^a good round surplusage." He was doubtless indifferent, moreover, to high ethical stand- ards and to the impression made by his own conduct ; he was too often plastic in the hands of unscrupulous men ; yet it has been pointed out more than once that Bacon might have advanced more rapidly had he shaped his course differ- ently.

All things considered. Bacon may be described as a great statesman, to whom politics were not wholly congenial, but who faithfully served his country and his king even though Final esti- his policies could not always be carried into exe- »ate cution; as a great natural philosopher, whose

passionate devotion to the advancement of science was a religion, and who, though indifferent to the importance of contemporary discoveries which he should have recognized, nevertheless gave a great impetus to the method of induc- tion, on which all modern science is based ; and as a man who in the school of experience learned some of the great lessons of life, and who, chastened by adversity, furnished ^'a. memorable example to all of virtue, kindness, peaceful- ness, and patience." With all his faults he was no craven. Like Brutus he fell on