Of the proficience and advancement of learning

Presented to the
LIBRARY of the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

by

Prof. Robert Finch

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OF THE ADVANCEMENT OF
LEARNING.

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Digitized by the Internet Archive
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University of Toronto

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PROFICIENCE
AND
ADVANCEMENT OF
LEARNING

BY FRANCIS BACON

VISCOUNT ST. ALBAN

EDITED BY THE

REV. G. W. KITCHIN M.A.
STUDENT AND LATE TUTOR

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BEB ACE.

SEG ORD BACON has given us his own
Or eftimate of the value and pofition of
eZ Ml the Advancement of Learning. ‘* This
writing,” fays he, “‘ feemeth to me,
fi nunquam fallit imago, not much better than that
noife or found which muficians make while they
are tuning their inftruments; which is nothing
pleafant to hear, but yet is a caufe why the mufic
is fweeter afterwards: fo have I been content to
tune the inftruments of the Mufes, that they may
play that have better hands.” Wherein he errs
in two oppofite ways: for, on the one fide, the
book is nobler than the fenfelefs jargon to which
he likens it; while, on the other, the muficians
that have taken up the work have fcarcely fuc-
ceeded in playing harmonioufly together. He
feems not to be aware of the intrinfic worth of
the thoughts expreffed in every page, while he alfo
feems to have imagined that a Millennium of

vi PREFACE.

Learning was about to begin, to which this book
fhould be, as it were, the herald trumpet. Un-
der fo almoft divine a fovereign as King James
I. learning will furely be foftered and advanced.
Controverfies in religion, he thinks, are all but
worn out (and this on the eve of the great Puritan
ftrugeles and fuccefles !), and we fhall have leifure
to leave queftions of faith for the difcovery of the
Laws of Nature. And yet, with al] this, he does
not difcern the value of mathematics, that branch
of learning which was then making great advance,
and was deftined to work wonders. He fearcely
cared to have an opinion on the ‘‘ Copernican
Theory” of Aftronomy. He never mentions his
famous countryman Gilbert without a fneer, or at
leaft a difparaging remark; though he was en-
gaged on thofe difcoveries in magnetifm which
have tended to enlarge in many ways the empire
of man over Nature. He by no means emanci-
pates himfelf thoroughly from the thraldom of
the old fcholaftic fyftems. He regards Poetry
as complete, requiring no farther development :
and is not confcious that he is living with thofe
who were above all others to be the pride of
Englifh Literature, and who fhould labour in
broad fields of Poetry, which had never yet been
touched by mortal hand. In thefe and other

PREFACE. vil

fubje&ts the book is defective enough; yet, re-
membering all things, we muft marvel at the
extraordinary breadth of knowledge and reading ;
the fertility of thought, and happinefs of expreffion;
the complete arrangement of fubjeéts, and lucid
order of the work, which fhow themfelves through-
out. Nor did Bacon himfelf fail to fee the im-
portance of his pioneer-book—otherwife he would
not have expanded it fo fully as he has done in the
Latin—tranflating it into that tongue that it might
the more readily gain accefs to all lands, and be
read by the learned in every place; and carefully
expunging all paflages which might be diftafteful
abroad, left the Roman Church fhould be offended
with the accidents, and fo neglect the effence of
his writings.

The frontifpiece of the original edition of the
Novum Organum exprefles his feeling refpecting
the Advancement. Between two pillars, the pil-
lars of Hercules, the fhip of learning fails forth
upon a toffed fea, bound for lands as yet unvifited,
to bring thence goodly ftore of new and precious
merchandife. Behind her lie all thofe well-known
fhores of knowledge, of which the Advancement
gives the map and chart. ‘They were, if we may
fo fpeak, thofe Mediterranean lands which were
the heart of the fourth or Roman Empire—trod-

Vili PREFACE.

den by every foot of learned men: familiar even
to children in knowledge. But beyond the ftraits
is the great outer fea, and continents as yet un-
known, to be explored by painful daring, and def-
tined to increafe the wealth of the world in a mil-
lion ways. The old empire fhould give place to
the new: juft as the Mediterranean ceafed to be
all-important, when once the boldnefs of Bartho-
lomew Diaz had fhown an eafier pathway to the
wealth of India; and the infpired dreams of Co-
lumbus had been realized by the difcovery of new
continents acrofs the main.

The Advancement of Learning was, therefore,
the firft work in Bacon’s great feries. “That feries
he ftyled the ‘ Inftauratio Magna,” and under
the firft head of “ Partitiones Scientiarum” he
placed this book. It was to be a chart of the
lands already difcovered and known; fo as to di-
rect the attention of the adventurer without lofs
of time or labour to thofe parts which had not
yet been explored. Then came the Novum Or-
ganum; a ‘* Method” or inftrument by means of
which men fhould arrive at thefe novelties :—the
fhip, in fact, of his frontifpiece, on board of which
(to ufe his own motto),—

Multi pertranfibunt, et augebitur fcientia.

After that, the “* Inftauratio”’ was to be compofed
) p

PREFACE. ix

of fucceflive works, ending with a “ Philofophia
fecunda,” or complete fyftem of knowledge. This,
however, he felt muft be left to pofterity.

Whoever, therefore, defires to acquaint himfelf
with Bacon’s philofophical works muft begin with
the Advancement, referring to the De Augmentis
Scientiarum from time totime. Then, having thus
become familiar with the ftyle of the great thinker,
he will be able to go on to that noble work, the
Novum Organum ; wherein are contained the feeds
of marvellous wifdom, of knowledge which has
grown and flourifhed to this day; and has affected
for ever the courfe and fortunes of learning.

In preparing this edition of the Advancement
of Learning for the general reader, I have aimed
at three things—a faithful text, full verification
of quotations, and brevity and fimplicity of notes.

As to the firft of thefe matters, there was but
little difficulty. The variations in the text are
very few, and very unimportant. Wherever it
was poffible, I have followed the edition of 1605,
leaving myfelf little {cope for conjecture.

As to the next point, I had the work already
done for me, to a great extent, both in the edition
of Mr, Markby, and in the De Augmentis of the
great Ellis and Spedding edition. I have been
able here and there to fupply miffing references,

x PREFACE.

and have carefully verified thofe already found for
me.

But with refpect to notes, it is unneceflary that
I fay more than that their aim is to be as unobtru-
five as poffible, and that I hope they may be ufe-
ful.

Laftly, I fubjoin a brief analyfis of the work.

ANALYSIS.

Book I. (Preliminary.) Briefly removes the prejudices
againft Learning, with proofs, divine and human, of its
dignity. (Corre/ponds with De Augmentis, Bk. 1.)

Book II. (Oz the main fubje&.) Commended to kings as
nurfing fathers, (De Augm. ii. pref.)

Learning is twofold—Divine and Human. Divine poft-
poned. (De Augm. ii.)

Human LearninG is threefold—I. Hiftory (which an{wers
to the Memory). II. Poefy (to Imagination). III.
Philofophy (to Rea/on).

I. Hiftory.
1. Natural.
(a.) Of Creatures.
(6.) Marvels.
(c.) Arts.
2. Civil.
(a.) Memorials.
(4.) Antiquities.
(c.) Perfect Hiftory.
i, Chronicles.
a. Ancient.
8. Modern.
ii, Lives.
iii. Narrations.
iv. Annals.
v. Cofmography.
3. Ecclefiaftical.
(a.) Of the Church.
(4.) Of Prophecy.
(c.) Of Providence.
4. Literaty, or appendices to Hiftory.

xii ANALYSIS.

II. Poefy. (Herein is no deficiency.)
1. Narrative.
2. Reprefentative.
3. Allufive or Parabolical.

III. Philofophy. (De Augm. iii.)
x. Divine (or Natural Theology, not = Divinity).
Difcuffion of the Philofophia Prima.
2. Natural
i, Science.
(1.) Phyfical (of material and efficient
caufes),
(z.) Metaphyfical (of formal and final
caules), and under Metaphyfical
come Mathematics, pureand mixed.

ui. Prudence.

1.) Experimental.
(z.) Philofophical.
(3-) Magical.

3. Human. (De Augm. iv.)

i. Segregate (7.e. of individual men) of (a.)
Body and (4.) Mind, firft confidered in
combination with refpeét to («.) Difcovery
and (é.) Impreffion, and then feparately;

(2.) Body.

(a.) Medicine.

(6.) Cofmetic Art.

(y.) Athletics.

(3.) Senfual Arts.

(4.) Mind,

(«.) Its Nature, (with two Appen-
dices on Divination and Fa/-
cination.)

(8.) Its Fun&tions. (De Augm. v.)

A. Intelle€tual, whofe Arts are
four.
(i.) Of Invention.
(a.) Of Arts (de-
ficient).
(8.) Of Speech.

ANALYSIS. Xili

(ii.) Of Judgment, whofe Methods are—
(a.) Of Direétion (Analytics).
(4.) Of Caution (Elenches).
(iii.) of Cuftody.
(4.) By Writing.
(4.) By Memory.
(a.) Prenotion.
(¢.) Emblem.
(iv.) of Tradition. (De Augm. vi.)

(a.) Its organ—fpeech, or writing
rammar).
(4.) Its method (Logic).
(c.) Its illuftration (Rhetoric).
(With appendices).

B. Moral. (De Augm. vii.)

(i.) Of the Nature of Good (omitting the fummum
bonum, as belonging to another lite).

(1.) Private.

(a.) Aétive.
(4.) Paffive.

(a.) Confervative.
(8.) Perfective.

(2.) Relative.

(a.) Of man as citizen.
(4.) Of man as focial being.

(ii.) Of Moral Culture.
ii. Congregate. (De Augm. viii.)

a.) In Converfation.

rm In Negociation (with rules for felf-advance-
ment).

(c.) In Government (with notes on Laws).

xiv ANALYSIS.

In Conclufion. (De Augm. ix.)
Theology—refers to man’s Reafon and Will.
Difcuffed as to—

1, The nature (or manner) of the Revelation
(a.) Its Limits.
(4.) Its Sufficiency.
(c.) Its Acquifition.

2. The thing revealed.
(a.) Matter of Belief.

(a.) Faith.
(@.) Manners.

(4.) Matter of Service.
(a.) Liturgy.
(@.) Government.

THE TWO BOOKS OF FRANCIS BACON.

Of the Proficience and
Advancement of Learning,
Divine and Human.

To the King.

o

THE FIRST BOOK OF FRANCIS BACON:

Of the Proficience and

Advancement of Learning

Divine and Human.

To the King.

Ves King, both daily Sacrifices and free-

@/y\ will Offerings; the one proceeding
v | upon ordinary obfervance, the other
upon a devout cheerfulnefs: in like manner there
belongeth to Kings from their fervants both tri-
bute of duty and prefents of affection. In the
former of thefe I hope I fhall not live to be want-
ing, according to my moft humble duty, and the
good pleafure of your Majefty’s employments :
for the latter, I thought it more refpective to make
choice of fome oblation, which might rather refer
to the propriety and excellency of your indivi-
dual perfon, than to the bufinefs of your crown
and ftate.

! Where the divifions occur in the Latin, I propofe to place re-
ferences in the margins.

B

HERE were under the Law, excellent De Aug.
Sc. I

c. I.

2 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Wherefore, reprefenting your Majefty many
times unto my mind, and beholding you, not with
the inquifitive eye of prefumption, to difcover that
which the Scripture telleth me is infcrutable,* but
with the obfervant eye of duty and admiration ;
leaving afide the other parts of your virtue and for-
tune, | have been touched, yea, and pofleffed with
an extreme wonder at thofe your virtues and fa-
culties, which the Philofophers call intelle¢tual ;
the largenefs of your capacity, the faithfulnefs of
your memory, the {wiftnefs of your apprehenfion,
the penetration of your judgment, and the facility
and order of your elocution: and I have often
thought, that of all the perfons living that I have
known, your Majefty were the beft inftance to
make a man of Plato’s opinion,® that all know-
ledge is but remembrance, and that the mind of
man by nature knoweth all things, and hath but
her own native and original notions* (which by
the ftrangenefs and darknefs of this tabernacle of
the body are fequeftered) again revived and re-
ftored: fuch a light of nature I have obferved in
your Majefty, and fuch a readinefs to take fame
and blaze from the leaft occafion prefented, or the
leaft {park of another’s knowledge delivered. And
as the Scripture faith of the wifeft king, That his
heart was as the fands of the fea ;> which though

2 Prov. xxv. 3.

3 Phedo, i. 72. I have ufed in all references to Plato the
paging of the ed. Steph.

4 The edition 1605 has motions, a word which miffes the point
—editions 1629 and 1633 read notions.

5 1 Kings iv. 29.

BOOK I. 2

it be one of the largeft bodies, yet it confifteth of
the fmalleft and fineft portions; fo hath God given
your Majefty a compofition of underftanding ad-
mirable, being able to compafs and comprehend
the greateft matters, and neverthelefs to touch and
apprehend the leaft; whereas it fhould feem an
impoffibility in nature for the fame inftrument to
make itfelf fit for great and fmall works. And for
your gift of fpeech, I call to mind what Cornelius
Tacitus faith of Auguftus Cefar: Augu/fto pro-
fluens, et que principem deceret, eloquentia fuit.°
For, if we note it well, fpeech that is uttered
with labour and difficulty, or fpeech that favour-
eth of the affectation of art and precepts, or {peech
that is framed after the imitation of fome pattern
of eloquence, though never {fo excellent; all this
hath fomewhat fervile, and holding of the fubject

But your Majefty’s manner of {peech is indeed
prince-like, flowing as from a fountain, and yet
ftreaming and branching itfelf into nature’s order,
full of facility and felicity, imitating none, and ini-
mitable byany. And as in your civil eftate there
appeareth to be an emulation and contention of
your Majefty’s virtue with your fortune; a vir-
tuous difpofition with a fortunate regiment ; a vir-
tuous expectation (when time was) of your greater
fortune, with a profperous poffeffion thereof in the
due time ; a virtuous obfervation of the laws of
marriage, with moft bleffed and happy fruit of
marriage; a virtuous and moft Chriftian defire of
peace, with a fortunate inclination in your neigh-

6 Tac. Annal. xiii. 3.

Learning,

how difcre-

dited.

By Divines.

6 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ce the entrance to the former of thefe,

to clear the way, and as it were to
make filence, to have the true tefti-
monies concerning the dignity of
nae to be better heard, without the interrup-
tion of tacit objections, I think good to deliver it
from the difcredits and difgraces which it hath re-
ceived ; all from ignorance ; but ignorance feve-
rally difguifed, appearing fometimes in the zeal
and jealoufy of Divines; fometimes in the feve-
rity and arrogancy of Politiques; and fometimes
in the errors and imperfections of learned men
themfelves.

1. I hear the former fort fay, that Knowledge
is of thofe things which are to be accepted of
with great limitation and caution; that the afpir-
ing to overmuch knowledge was the original
temptation and fin whereupon enfued the fall of
man; that Knowledge hath in it fomewhat of the
ferpent, and therefore where it entereth into a
man it makes him fwell; Sczentia inflat :° that
Salomon gives a cenfure, That there is no end of
making books, and that much reading 1s wearine/s
of the fiefb 31 and again in another place, That in
fpacious knowledge there 1s much contriftation, and
that he that increafeth knowledge increafeth an-
xiety 31° that St. Paul gives a caveat, That we be
not fpoiled through vain philofophy ;* that expe-

tor Gores wills a Il Eccl, xii. 12.
12 eEceledle bos 13 Col. ii. 8.

BOOK I. 7

rience demonftrates how learned men have been
arch-heretics, how learned times have been in-
clined to atheifm, and how the contemplation of
fecond caufes doth derogate from our dependence
upon God, who is the firft caufe.

To difcover then the ignorance and error of Their ob-

this opinion, and the mifunderftanding in the
grounds thereof, it may well appear thefe men do
not obferve or confider that it was not the pure
knowledge of nature and univerfality, a knowledge
by the light whereof man did give names unto
other creatures in Paradife,'* as they were brought
before him, according unto their proprieties, which
gave the occafion to the fall: but it was the proud
knowledge of good and evil, with an intent in
man to give law unto himfelf, and to depend no
more upon God’s commandments, which was the
form of the temptation. Neither is it any quan-
tity of knowledge, how great foever, that can
make the mind of man to {well; for nothing can
fill, much lefs extend the foul of man, but God
and the contemplation of God; and therefore Salo-
mon, {peaking of the two principal fenfes of in-
quifition, the eye and the ear, affirmeth that the
eye is never fatisfied with feeing, nor the ear with
hearing ;'° and if there be no fulnefs, then is
the continent greater than the content: fo of
knowledge itfelf, and the mind of man, whereto
~ the fenfes are but reporters, he defineth likewife in
thefe words, placed after that Kalendar or Ephe-
merides, which he maketh of the diverfities of

14 See Gen. ii. and iii. 5 Eccl. is 8.

jections an-
{wered.

8 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

times and feafons for all actions and purpofes ;
and concludeth thus: God hath made all things
beautiful, or decent, in the true return of their fea-
fons: Alfo he hath placed the world in man’s heart, —
yet cannot man find out the work which God work-
eth from the beginning to the end :© declaring not
obfcurely, that God hath framed the mind of man
as a mirror or glafs, capable of the image of the
univerfal world, and joyful to receive the impref-
fion thereof, as the eye joyeth to receive light;
and not only delighted in beholding the variety of
things and viciffitude of times, but raifed alfo to
find out and difcern the ordinances and decrees,
which throughout all thofe changes are infallibly
obferved. And although he doth infinuate that
the fupreme or fummary law of nature, which he
calleth the work which God worketh from the be-
ginning to the end, is not poffible to be found out
by man; yet that doth not derogate from the capa-
city of the mind, but may be referred to the impe-
diments, as of fhortnefs of life, ill conjunétion of
labours, ill tradition of knowledge over from hand
to hand, and many other inconveniences, where-
unto the condition of man is fubject. For that
nothing parcel of the world is denied to man’s in-
quiry and invention, he doth in another place rule
over, when he faith, Zhe /pirit of man is as the
lamp of God, wherewith he fearcheth the inwardne/s
of all fecrets." If then fuch be the capacity and
receipt of the mind of man, it is manifeft that there
is no danger at all in the proportion or quantity

IOP RGcl mete VW Prova xXae7e

BOOK I. 9

of knowledge, how large foever, left it fhould
make it {well or out-compafs itfelf; no, but it is
merely the quality of knowledge, which, be it in
quantity more or lefs, if it be taken without the
true corrective thereof, hath in it fome nature of
venom or malignity, and fome effects of that ve-
nom, which is ventofity or fwelling. This cor-
rective f{pice, the mixture whereof maketh Know-
ledge fo fovereign, is Charity, which the Apoftle
immediately addeth to the former claufe: for fo he
faith, Knowledge bloweth up, but Charity buildeth
up ; not unlike unto that which he delivereth in
another place: Jf I /pake, faith he, with the tongues
of men and angels, and had not charity, it were
but as a tinkling cymbal; not but that it is an
excellent thing to fpeak with the tongues of men
and angels, but becaufe, if it be fevered from
charity, and not referred to the good of men and
mankind, it hath rather a founding and unworthy
glory, than a meriting and fubftantial virtue.
And as for that cenfure of Salomon, concerning
the excefs of writing and reading books, and the
anxiety of fpirit which redoundeth from know-
ledge ; and that admonition of St. Paul, That we
be not feduced by vain philofophy ; \et thofe places
be rightly underftood, and they do indeed excel-
lently fet forth the true bounds and limitations,
whereby human knowledge is confined and cir-
cumfcribed ; and yet without any fuch contracting
or coarctation, but that it may comprehend all the
univerfal nature of things; for thefe limitations are

PPE Cor. Kills Is

10 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.
three: the firft, That we do not fo place our feli-

city in knowledge, as we forget our mortality: the
fecond, That we make application of our know-
ledge, to give ourfelves repofe and contentment, and
not diftafte or repining: the third, That we do not
prefume by the contemplation of nature to attain to
the myfteries of God. For as touching the firft of
thefe, Salomon doth excellently expound himfelf
in another place of the fame book, where he
faith:19 I faw well that knowledge recedeth as far
from ignorance as light doth from darkne/s ; and
that the wife man’s eyes keep watch in his head,
whereas the fool roundeth about in darknefs: but
withal I learned, that the fame mortality involveth
them both. And for the fecond, certain it is, there
is no vexation or anxiety of mind which refulteth
from knowledge otherwife than merely by acci-
dent; for all knowledge and wonder (which is the
feed of knowledge) is an impreffion of pleafure in
itfelf : but when men fall to framing conclufions
out of their knowledge, applying it to their parti-
cular, and miniftering to themfelves thereby weak
fears or vaft defires, there groweth that careful-
nefs and trouble of mind which is fpoken of : for
then knowledge is no more Lumen /iccum, whereof
Heraclitus the profound® faid, Lumen ficcum optima
19 Eccl. li. 13, 14
20 6 oKoreuvoc.
My) rayic ‘HparXeirou ix’ dudaddr tireo BiBAov"
Tov ‘deciov pada ro dveBaroc arpariroc
"Oodvn Kai oxdroc éoriv Ghapreror, hy O& o€ phorne

Eicayayy, gavepov NauTporep’ Hedtiov.
Diog. Laert. ix.

BOOK I. Si

anima ; but it becometh Lumen madidum, or ma-
ceratum, being fteeped and infufed in the humours
of the affections.*!_ And as for the third point, it
deferveth to be a little ftood upon, and not to be
lightly paffed over: for if any man fhall think by
view and inquiry into thefe fenfible and material
things to attain that light, whereby he may reveal
unto himfelf the Nature or Will of God, then in-
deed is he {fpoiled by vain philofophy: for the con-
templation of God’s creatures and works pro-
duceth (having regard to the works and creatures
themfelves), knowledge, but having regard to God,
no perfect knowledge, but wonder, which is bro-
ken knowledge. And therefore it was moft aptly
faid by one of Plato’s fchool,** That the fenfe of man
carrieth a refemblance with the fun, which, as we
fee, openeth and revealeth all the terreftrial globe;
but then again it obfcureth and concealeth the ftars
and celeftial globe: fo doth the fenfe difcover natu-
ral things, but it darkeneth and fhutteth up divine.
And hence it is true that it hath proceeded, that
divers great learned men have been heretical, whilft
they have fought to fly up to the fecrets of the
Deity by the waxen wings of the fenfes. And as
for the conceit that too much knowledge fhould
incline a man to Atheifm,** and that the igno-
rance of fecond caufes fhould make a more devout
dependence upon God, which is the firft caufe ;
1 Ady Enon Wuvx7 copwrarn. A corruption of ain Puxy
sogwrdrn. (See note in Ellis and Spedding’s ed.) The phrafe
occurs in Stobzeus, cf. Ritter, Hif?. Philos. vol. i. Heraclitus.

22 Philo Jud. de Somn.
23 See Bacon’s Ejfays—On Athei/m.

12 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

firft, it is good to afk the queftion which Job
afked of his friends: Will you lie for God, as one
man will do for another, to gratify him?** For
certain it is that God worketh nothing in nature
but by fecond caufes: and if they would have it
otherwife believed, it is mere impofture, as it were
in favour towards God; and nothing elfe but to
offer to the Author of Truth the unclean facrifice
ofa lie. But farther, it is an affured truth, anda
conclufion of experience, that a little or fuperficial
knowledge of Philofophy may incline the mind of
man to Atheifm, but a farther proceeding therein
doth bring the mind back again to Religion: for in
the entrance of Philofophy, when the fecond caufes,
which are next unto the fenfes, do offer them-
felves to the mind of man, if it dwell and ftay there
it may induce fome oblivion of the higheft caufe ;
but when a man paffeth on farther, and feeth the
dependence of caufes, and the works of Provi-
dence; then, according to the allegory of the
poets, he will eafily believe that the higheft link of
nature’s chain muft needs be tied to the foot of
Jupiter’s chair.2° To conclude therefore, let no
man upon a weak conceit of fobriety or an ill-
applied moderation think or maintain, that a man
can fearch too far, or be too well ftudied in the
book of God’s word, or in the book of God’s
works; divinity or philofophy: but rather let men
endeavour an endlefs progrefs or proficience in
both; only let men beware that they apply both
to charity, and not to {welling ; to ufe, and not to

2 Job xiii. 7. 23 Hom. Il. viii. 19.

BOOK: 13

oftentation ; and again, that they do not unwifely
mingle or confound thefe learnings together.

2. And as for the difgraces which Learning re-
ceiveth from Politiques, they be of this nature ;
that Learning doth foften men’s minds, and makes
them more unapt for the honour and exercife of
arms; that it doth mar and pervert men’s difpo-
fitions for matter of government and policy, in
making them too curious and irrefolute by variety
of reading, or too peremptory or pofitive by ftrit-
nefs of rules and axioms, or too immoderate and
overweening by reafon of the greatnefs of examples,
or too incompatible and differing from the times by
reafon of the diffimilitude of examples; or at leaft,
that it doth divert men’s travails from action and
bufinefs, and bringeth them toa love of leifure and
privatenefs; and that it doth bring into ftates a re-
laxation of difcipline, whilft every man is more
ready to argue than to obey and execute. Out of
this conceit, Cato,*° furnamed the Cenfor, one of
the wifeft men indeed that ever lived, when Car-
neades the philofopher came in embaflage to Rome,
and that the young men of Rome began to flock
about him, being allured with the fweetnefs and
majefty of his eloquence and learning, gave coun-
fel in open fenate that they fhould give him his
difpatch with all fpeed, left he fhould infect and
enchant the minds and affections of the youth, and
at unawares bring in an alteration of the manners
and cuftoms of the ftate.*7 Out of the fame con-
ceit or humour did Virgil, turning his pen to the

25 See Pliny, Nat. Hift. vii. 31. 7 Plut. vit. Cat.

By Politi-

cians.

Their ob-
jeCtions re-
futed.

14, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

advantage of his country, and the difadvantage of
his own profeffion, make a kind of feparation be-
tween policy and government, and between arts
and {ciences, in the verfes fo much renowned, at-
tributing and challenging the one to the Romans,
and leaving and yielding the other to the Gre-
cians :—
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento,
He tibi erunt artes, &c.?8

So likewife we fee that Anytus, the accufer of So-
crates, laid it as an article of charge and accufa-
tion againft him, that he did, with the variety and
power of his difcourfes and difputations, withdraw
young men from due reverence to the laws and
cuftoms of their country, and that he did profefs a
dangerous and pernicious f{cience, which was, to
make the worfe matter feem the better, and to
fupprefs truth by force of eloquence and {peech.*9

(1.) But thefe, and the like imputations, have
rather a countenance of gravity than any ground
of juftice: for experience doth warrant, that both
in perfons and in times, there hath been a meeting
and concurrence in Learning and Arms, flourifh-
ing and excelling in the fame men and the fame
ages. For, as for men, there cannot be a better
nor the like inftance, as of that pair, Alexander the
Great and Julius Czfar the DiCtator; whereof the
one was Ariftotle’s fcholar in philofophy, and the
other was Cicero’s rival in eloquence: or if any
man had rather call for fcholars that were great

28 Virg. An. vi. 851. % Plato, Apol. Soc., i. 19, 24.

BOOK I. 15

generals, than generals that were great {cholars, let
him take Epaminondas the Theban, or Xenophon
the Athenian ; whereof the one was the firft that
abated the power of Sparta, and the other was the
firft that made way to the overthrow of the mo-
narchy of Perfia. And this concurrence is yet
more vifible in times than in perfons, by how much
an age is a greater object thana man. For both
in Egypt, Affyria, Perfia, Gracia, and Rome, the
fame times that are moft renowned for arms, are
likewife moft admired for learning, fo that the
greateft authors and philofophers, and the greateft
captains and governors have lived in the fame ages.
Neither can it otherwife be: for as in man the
ripenefs of ftrength of the body and mind cometh
much about an age, fave that the ftrength of the
body cometh fomewhat the more early :*° fo in
ftates, Arms and Learning, whereof the one cor-
refpondeth to the body, the other to the foul of
man, have a concurrence or near fequence in
times.

(2.) And for matter of Policy and Government,
that learning fhould rather hurt, than enable
thereunto, is a thing very improbable: we fee it
is accounted an error to commit a natural body to
empiric phyficians, which commonly have a few
pleafing receipts whereupon they are confident and
adventurous, but know neither the caufes of dif-
eafes, nor the complexions of patients, nor peril of

% Cf, Ariftotle, Rhet. ii. 14. 4, where he fays that the body
reaches perfection at the age of 35 (7X5), and the mind at 49
(7X7-)

16 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

accidents, nor the true method of cures: we fee
it is a like error to rely upon advocates or lawyers,
which are only men of practice and not grounded
in their books, who are many times eafily fur-
prifed when matter falleth out befides their expe-
rience, to the prejudice of the caufes they handle:
fo by like reafon it cannot be but a matter of
doubtful confequence if ftates be managed by
empiric Statefmen, not well mingled with men
grounded in learning. But contrariwife, it is al-
moft without inftance contradictory, that ever
any government was difaftrous that was in the
hands of learned governors.*!_ For howfoever it
hath been ordinary with politic men to extenuate
and difable learned men by the names of Pedantes ;
yet in the records of time it appeareth, in many
particulars, that the governments of princes in mi-
nority (notwithftanding the infinite difadvantage of
that kind of ftate) have neverthelefs excelled the
government of princes of mature age, even for
that reafon which they feek to traduce, which is,
that by that occafion the ftate hath been in the
hands of Pedantes; for fo was the ftate of Rome
for the firft five years, which are fo much magni-
fied, during the minority of Nero, in the hands o

Seneca, a Pedanti ; fo it was again, for ten years’
fpace or more, during the minority of Gordianus
the younger, with great applaufe and contentation
in the hands of Mifitheus, a Pedanti: fo was it
before that, in the minority of Alexander Severus,
in like happinefs, in hands not much unlike, by

51 See Plato, Rep. v. 473.

BOOK I. 17

reafon of the rule of the women, who were aided by
the teachers and preceptors. Nay, let a man look
into the government of the bifhops of Rome, as,
by name, into the government of Pius Quintus,
and Sextus Quintus, in our times, who were both
at their entrance efteemed but as pedantical* friars,
and he fhall find that fuch popes do greater things,
and proceed upon truer principles of eftate, than
thofe which have afcended to the papacy from an
education and breeding in affairs of eftate and
courts of princes; for although men bred in learn-
ing are perhaps to feek in points of convenience
and accommodating for the prefent, which the Ita-
lians call Ragioni di /tato, whereof the fame Pius
Quintus could not hear fpoken with patience,
terming them inventions againft religion and the
moral virtues ; yet on the other fide, to recom-
penfe that, they are perfect in thofe fame plain
grounds of religion, juftice, honour, and moral
virtue, which if they be well and watchfully pur-
fued, there will be feldom ufe of thofe other, no
more than of phyfic in a found or well-dieted body.
Neither can the experience of one man’s life fur-
nifh examples and precedents for the events of one
man’s life: for, as it happeneth fometimes that the
grandchild, or other defcendants, refembleth the
anceftor more than the fon; fo many times occur-
rences of prefent times may fort better with ancient
examples than with thofe of the latter or imme-
diate times: and laftly, the wit of one man can no

# Edit. 1605, prejudicial. The Latin has “fraterculis rerum
imperitis.”
Cc

18 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

more countervail learning than one man’s means
can hold way with a common purfe.

3. And as for thofe particular feducements, or
indifpofitions of the mind for policy and govern-
ment, which Learning is pretended to infinuate ;
if it be granted that any fuch thing be, it muft be
remembered withal, that Learning miniftereth in
every of them greater ftrength of medicine or re-
medy than it offereth caufe of indifpofition or in-
firmity. For if by a fecret operation it make men
perplexed and irrefolute, on the other fide by plain
precept it teacheth them when and upon what
ground to refolve ; yea, and how to carry things
in fufpenfe without prejudice, till they refolve; if
it make men pofitive and regular, it teacheth them
what things are in their nature demontftrative, and
what are conjectural, and as well the ufe of dif-
tin@tions and exceptions, as the latitude of prin-
ciples and rules. If it miflead by difproportion or
diffimilitude of examples, it teacheth men the force
of circumftances, the errors of comparifons, and
all the cautions of application ; fo that in all thefe
it doth rectify more effectually than it can pervert.
And thefe medicines it conveyeth into men’s minds
much more forcibly by the quicknefs and penetra-
tion of examples. For let a man look into the
errors of Clement the feventh, fo lively defcribed
by Guicciardine,** who ferved under him, or into
the errors of Cicero, painted out by his own pencil
in his Epiftles to Atticus, and he will fly apace from
being irrefolute. Let him look into the errors of

32 Guicciard. xvi. 5.

BOOK I. 19

Phocion, and he will beware how he be obftinate
or inflexible. Let him but read the fable of Ixion,**
and it will hold him from being vaporous or ima-
ginative. Let him look into the errors of Cato
the fecond, and he will never be one of the 4nzi-
podes, to tread oppofite to the prefent world.**

4. And for the conceit that Learning fhould
difpofe men to leifure and privatenefs, and make
men flothful; it were a ftrange thing if that which
accuftometh the mind to a perpetual motion and
agitation fhould induce flothfulnefs: whereas con-
trariwife it may be truly affirmed, that no kind
of men love bufinefs for itfelf but thofe that are
learned; for other perfons love it for profit, as a
hireling, that loves the work for the wages ; or for
honour, as becaufe it beareth them up in the eyes
of men, and refrefheth their reputation, which
otherwife would wear; or becaufe it putteth them
in mind of their fortune, and giveth them occafion
to pleafure and difpleafure; or becaufe it exer-
cifeth fome faculty wherein they take pride, and
fo entertaineth them in good humour and pleafing
conceits towards themfelves; or becaufe it ad-
vanceth any other their ends. So that, as it is
faid of untrue valours, that fome men’s valours are
in the eyes of them that look on; fo fuch men’s
induftries are in the eyes of others, or at leaft in
regard of their own defignments: only learned men
love bufinefs as an action according to nature, as
agreeable to health of mind as exercife is to health
of body, taking pleafure in the action itfelf, and not

33 Pind. Pytb. ii. 21, fe. S40Cic. ad ttt. ii: 1.

20 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

in the purchafe: fo that of all men they are the
moft indefatigable, if it be towards any bufinefs
which can hold or detain their mind.

And if any man be laborious in reading and
ftudy and yet idle in bufinefs and aétion, it grow-
eth fram fome weaknefs of body or foftnefs of {pi-
rit; fuch as Seneca {peaketh of: Quidam tam funt
umbratiles, ut putent in turbido effe quicquid in luce
eft;>> and not of Learning: well may it be that fuch
a point of a man’s nature may make him give him-
felf to Learning, but it is not learning that breedeth
any fuch point in his nature.

5. And that Learning fhould take up too much
time or leifure; I anfwer, the moft active or bufy
man that hath been or can be, hath, no queftion,
many vacant times of leifure, while he expecteth
the tides and returns of bufinefs (except he be
either tedious and of no difpatch, or lightly and
unworthily ambitious to meddle in things that may
be better done by others :) and then the queftion
is, but how thefe fpaces and times of leifure fhall
be filled and fpent ; whether in pleafures or in ftu-
dies ; as was well anfwered by Demofthenes to his
adverfary Aifchines, that was a man given to plea-
fure, and told him, That his orations did fmell of
the lamp: Indeed, (faid Demofthenes) there is a
great difference between the things that you and I
do by lamp-light.*° So as no man need doubt that
Learning will expulfe bufineis, but rather itwill keep

35 Seneca, Epift. 3. quoted from Pomponius, ‘ Quidam adeo in
latebras refugerunt, ut” &c.

86 Plutarch. Libanius, Vit. Demofik. (Ed. Dindorf, p. 6.) Told
of Pytheas, not of A®{chines.

BOOK I. 2%

and defend the poffeffion of the mind againft idle-
nefs and pleafure, which otherwife at unawares
may enter to the prejudice of both.

6. Again, for that other conceit that Learning
fhould undermine the reverence of laws and go-
vernment, it is afluredly a mere depravation and
calumny, without all fhadow of truth. For to fay
that a blind cuftom of obedience fhould be a furer
obligation than duty taught and underftood, it is to
affirm, that a blind man may tread furer by a guide
than a feeing man can bya light. And it is with-
out all controverfy, that learning doth make the
minds of men gentle, generous, maniable,*? and
pliant to government; whereas ignorance makes
them churlifh, thwart, and mutinous: and the evi-
dence of time doth clear this affertion, confidering
that the moft barbarous, rude, and unlearned times
have been moft fubject to tumults, feditions, and
changes.

7. And as to the judgment of Cato the Cenfor,
he was well punifhed for his blafphemy againft
Learning, in the fame kind wherein he offended ;
for when he was patft threefcore years old, he was
taken with an extreme defire to go to fchool again,
and to learn the Greek tongue, to the end to pe-
rufe the Greek authors ; which doth well demon-
ftrate that his former cenfure of the Grecian learn-
ing was rather an affected gravity, than according to
the inward fenfe of his own opinion. And as for
Virgil’s verfes, though it pleafed him to brave the

37 The edition of 1605 reads amiable, that of 1633 maniable.
The latter word anfwers beft to the Latin, artes—teneros reddunt,
Jequaces, cereos.

22 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

world in taking to the Romans the art of empire,
and leaving to others the art of fubjeéts ; yet fo
much is manifeft that the Romans never afcended
to that height of empire, till the time they had af-
cended to the height of other arts. For in the time
of the two firft Czefars, which had the art of go-
vernment in greateft perfection, there lived the
beft poet, Virgilius Maro; the beft hiftoriographer,
Titus Livius; the beft antiquary, Marcus Varro;
and the beft, or fecond orator, Marcus Cicero, that
to the memory of man are known. As for the
accufation of Socrates, the time muft be remem-
bered when it was profecuted ; which was under
the Thirty Tyrants, the moft bafe, bloody, and
envious perfons that have governed ; which revo-
lution of ftate was no fooner over, but Socrates,
whom they had made a perfon criminal, was made
a perfon heroical, and his memory accumulate with
honours divine and human; and thofe difcourfes
of his which were then termed corrupting of man-
ners, were after acknowledged for fovereign medi-
cines of the mind and manners, and fo have been
received ever fince till this day. Let this, there-
fore, ferve for anfwer to Politiques, which in their
humorous feverity, or in their feigned gravity, have
prefumed to throw imputations upon Learning ;
which redargution neverthelefs (fave that we know
not whether our labours may extend to other ages)
were not needful for the prefent, in regard of the
love and reverence towards Learning, which the
example and countenance of two fo learned Princes,

Queen Elizabeth, and your Majefty, being as Caf-

BOOK I. 23

tor and Pollux,Zucida fidera,** ftars of excellent
light and moft benign influence, hath wrought in
all men of place and authority in our nation.

III. Now therefore we come to that third fort
of difcredit or diminution of credit that groweth
unto Learning from learned men themfelves, which
commonly cleaveth fafteft: it is either from their
fortune ; or from their manners; or from the na-
ture of their ftudies. For the firft, it is not in their
power ; and the fecond is accidental; the third
only is proper to be handled. But becaufe we are
not in hand with true meafure, but with popular
eftimation and conceit, it is not amifs to fpeak fome-
what of the two former. ‘The derogations there-
fore which grow to Learning from the fortune or
condition of learned men, are either in refpect of
{carcity of means, or in refpect of privatenefs of
life and meannefs of employments.

I. (z) Concerning want, and thatit is the cafe of
learned men ufually to begin with little, and not
to grow rich fo faft as other men by reafon they
convert not their labours chiefly to lucre and in-
creafe: it were good to leave the common place
in commendation of poverty to fome friar to handle,
to whom much was attributed by Machiavel in this
point; when he faid, That the kingdom of the clergy
had been long before at an end, if the reputation and
reverence towards the poverty of friars had not borne
out the fcandal of the fuperfiuities and exceffes of bi-
Jhops and prelates.°9 So aman might fay that the

38 Hor. Carm. iii. 2.

39 Mach. Difc. fopra Tita, Liv. iii. 1., {peaking of the Francifcan
and Dominican orders.

By learned
men them-
felves.

This objec-
tion exam-
ined and
refuted :

1. As to
their mean-
ne{s,

24 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

felicity and delicacy of princes and great perfons
had long fince turned to rudenefs and barbarifm, if
the poverty of Learning had not kept up civility and
honour of life: but without any fuch advantages,
it is worthy the obfervation what a reverend and
honoured thing poverty was for fome ages in the
Roman ftate, which neverthelefs was a ftate with-
out paradoxes. For we fee what Titus Livius faith
in his introduction : Ceterum aut me amor negotit
fufcepti fallit, aut nulla unquam refpublica nec major,
nec fanétior, nec bonis exemplis ditior fuit ; nec in
quam tam fere avaritia luxuriaque immigraverint;
nec ubi tantus ac tam diu paupertati ac parfimonie
honos fuerit.*° We fee likewife, after that the ftate
of Rome was not itfelf, but did degenerate, how
that perfon that took upon him to be counfellor
to Julius Czefar after his victory where to begin his
reftoration of the ftate, maketh it of all points the
moft fummary to take away the eftimation of
wealth: Verum hec, et omnia mala pariter cum ho-
nore pecunia definent; fi neque magiftratus, neque
alia vulgo cupienda, venalia erunt.* ‘To conclude
this point, as it was truly faid, that Rubore/fvir-
tutis color, though fometime it come from vice ;# fo
it may be fitly faid that Paupertas eff virtutis for-
tuna, though fometime it may proceed from mif-
government and accident. Surely Salomon hath
pronounced it both in cenfure, Qui fe/tinat ad di-
vitias non erit infons ;* and in precept; Buy the
truth, and fell it not; and fo of wifdom and know-

40 Livii Pref. 41 Epift. 1. ad C. Cas. de Rep. ord.
“2 Diog. Cyn. ap. Laert. vi. 54. 43 Prov. xxviii. 22.

BOOK I. 25

ledge ;#* judging that means were to be {pent
upon Learning, and not Learning to be applied to
means.

(8) And as for the privatenefs, or obfcurenefs (as
it may be in vulgar eftimation accounted) of life of
contemplative men; it is a theme fo common to
extol a private life, not taxed with fenfuality and
floth, in comparifon [ with] and to the difadvantage
of a civil life, for fafety, liberty, pleafure, and dig-
nity, or at leaft freedom from indignity, as no man
handleth it but handleth it well; fuch a conf{o-
nancy it hath to men’s conceits in the exprefling,
and to men’s confents in the allowing. This only
I will add, that learned men forgotten in ftates
and not living in the eyes of men, are like the
images of Caffius and Brutus in the funeral of
Junia: of which not being reprefented, as many

_ others were, Tacitus faith, Eo ip/o prefulgebant,

quod non vifebantur.*

(y) And for meannefs of employment, that
which is moft traduced to contempt is that the
government of youth is commonly allotted to
them; which age, becaufe it is the age of leaft
authority, it is transferred to the difefteeming of
thofe employments wherein youth is converfant,

_ and which are converfant about youth. But how

unjuft this traducement is (if you will reduce things
from popularity of opinion to meafure of reafon)
may appear in that we fee men are more curious
what they put into a new veflel than into a veflel
feafoned ; and what mould they lay about a young

Prov. Xx. 23. 4 Tac, Ann, iii. 76. ad fin.

m1. As to
their man-
ners.

26 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

plant than about a plant corroborate; fo as the
weakeft terms and times of all things ufe to have
the beft applications and helps. And will you
hearken to the Hebrew rabbins? Your young men
Jhall fee vifions, and your old men fhall dream
dreams ;* fay they47 youth is the worthier age,
for that vifions are nearer apparitions of God than
dreams. And let it be noted, that howfoever the
condition * of life of Pedantes hath been fcorned
upon theatres, as the ape of tyranny ; and that the
modern loofenefs or negligence hath taken no due
regard to the choice of fchoolmafters and tutors ;
yet the ancient wifdom of the beft times did always
make a juft complaint, that {tates were too bufy
with their laws and too negligent in point of edu-
cation: which excellent part of ancient difcipline-
hath been in fome fort revived of late times by the
colleges of the Jefuits ; of whom, although in re-
gard of their fuperftition I may fay, Quo meliores,
eo deteriores ; yet in regard of this, and fome other
points concerning human learning and moral mat-
ters, I may fay, as Agefilaus faid to his enemy
Pharnabazus, Talis guum fis, utinam nofter effes49
And thus much touching the difcredits drawn from
the fortunes of learned men.

2. Astouching the manners of learned men, it
is a thing perfonal and individual : and no doubt
there be amongft them, as in other profeffions,

46 Joel ii. 28.

47 Ed. 1629 and 1633 read “ fay the.”

48 Ed. 1605 reads ‘conditions. . . hath,” 1633 reads * con-

ditions . . . have.”
“9 Conference of Agefilaus and Pharnabazus, Plut. Vit. Ages.

BOOK I. 27

of all temperatures : but yet fo as it is not with-
out truth, which is faid, that Abeunt ftudia in
mores,°° ftudies have an influence and operation
upon the manners of thofe that are converfant in
them.

(a) But upon an attentive and indifferent review,
I for my part cannot find any difgrace to Learning
can proceed from the manners of learned men not
inherent*! to them as they are learned; except it
be a fault (which was the fuppofed fault of Demof-
thenes, Cicero, Cato the fecond, Seneca, and
many more) that, becaufe the times they read of
are commonly better than the times they live in,
and the duties taught better than the duties prac-
tifed, they contend fometimes too far to bring
things to perfection, and to reduce the corruption
of manners to honefty of precepts, or examples of
too great height. And yet hereof they have caveats
enough in their own walks. For Solon, when he
was afked whether he had given his citizens the
beft laws, anfwered wifely, Yea of fuch as they
would receive :** and Plato, finding that his own
heart could not agree with the corrupt manners of
his country, refufed to bear place or office, faying,
That a man’s country was to be ufed as his parents
were, that is, with humble perfuafions, and not with
conteftations.°*®> And Cefar’s counfellor put in the

50 Ovid, Ep. xv. 83.

51 De Augm. has nullum occurrit dedecus literis ex litteratorum
moribus, quatenus funt literati, adberens, which explains it. The
not before inherent goes with cannot according to the rule of double
negative, as it prevailed in early Englifh writers.

*2 Plutarch, Vit. Solon.
53 Plato, Epift. Z. iii. 331.

28: ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fame caveat, Non ad vetera inftituta revocans que
jampridem corruptis moribus ludibrio funt :°* and
Cicero noteth this error directly in Cato the fecond,
when he writes to his friend Atticus ; Cato optime
fentit, fed nocet interdum reipublice ; loquitur enim
tanquam in reipublica Platonis, non tanquam in
face Romuli.*> And the fame Cicero doth excufe
and expound the philofophers for going too far, and
being too exact in their prefcripts, when he faith,
Ifti ipft preceptores virtutis et magiftri, videntur
fines officiorum paulo longius quam natura vellet pro-
tulifje, ut cum ad ultimum animo contendiffemus, ibi
tamen, ubi oportet, confifteremus :°© and yet himfelf
might have faid, AZonitis {um minor ipfe meis ;*" for
it was his own fault, though not in fo extreme a
degree.

(8) Another fault likewife much of this kind
hath been incident to learned men; which is, that
they have efteemed the prefervation, good, and
honour of their countries or mafters before their
own fortunes or fafeties. For fo faith Demofthenes
unto the Athenians ; [fit pleafe you to note it, my
counfels unto you are not fuch whereby I fhould grow
great among ft you, and you become little among/t the
Grecians : but they be of that nature, as they are
fometimes not good for me to give, but are always
good for you to follow.*® And fo Seneca, after he
had confecrated that Quinguennium Neronis®9 to

54 Sall. Epift. de Rep. ord. 55 Cic. ad Att. ii. 1.

56 Cic. pro Mur. xxxi. 65. 27 Ovid, 4. Am. ii. 548.

58 Demofth. Chers. 187, ad finem.

59 The Quinguennium INeronis refers to the firft five years of
Nero’s reign, during which he was under Seneca’s influence.

BOOK I. 29

the eternal glory of learned governors, held on his
honeft and loyal courfe of good and free counfel,
after his mafter grew extremely corrupt in his
government. Neither can this point otherwife be ;
for Learning endueth men’s minds with a true fenfe
of the frailty of their perfons, the cafualty of their
fortunes, and the dignity of their foul and vocation:
fo that it is impoffible for them to efteem that any
greatnefs of their own fortune can be a true or
worthy end of their being and ordainment; and
therefore are defirous to give their account to God,
and fo likewife to their mafters under God (as
kings and ftates that they ferve) in thefe words ;
Ecce tibi lucrefeci, and not Ecce mihi lucrefeci ;®
whereas, the corrupter fort of mere Politiques,
that have not their thoughts eftablifhed by learn-
ing in the love and apprehenfion of duty, nor never
look abroad into univerfality, do refer all things to
themfelves, and thruft themfelves into the centre
of the world, as if all lines fhould meet in them
and their fortunes; never caring in all tempefts
what becomes of the fhip of eftates, fo they may
fave themfelves in the cockboat of their own for-
tune: whereas men that feel the weight of duty
and know the limits of felf love, ufe to make good
their places and duties, though with peril; and if
they ftand in feditious and violent alterations, it is
rather the reverence which many times both ad-
verfe parts do give to honefty, than any verfatile
advantage of their own carriage. But for this
point of tender fenfe and faft obligation of duty

© Matt. xxv. 20.

30 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

which learning doth endue the mind withal, how-
foever fortune may tax it, and many in the depth
of their corrupt principles may defpife it, yet it will
receive an open allowance, and therefore needs
the lefs difproof or excufation.

(vy) Another fault incident commonly to learned
men, which may be more properly defended than
truly denied, is, that they fail fometimes in apply-
ing themfelves to particular perfons: which want
of exact application arifeth from two caufes; the
one, becaufe the largenefs of their mind can hardly
confine itfelf to dwell in the exquifite obfervation
or examination of the nature and cuftoms of one
perfon: for it is a fpeech for a lover, and not for
a wife man: Satis magnum alter alteri theatrum

fumus. Neverthelefs I fhall yield, that he that _

cannot contract the fight of his mind as well as
difperfe and dilate it, wanteth a great faculty. But
there is a fecond caufe, which is no inability, but
a rejection upon choice and judgment. For the
honeft and juft bounds of obfervation by one per-
fon upon another, extend no farther but to under-
ftand him fufficiently, whereby not to give him
offence, or whereby to be able to give him faithful
counfel, or whereby to ftand upon reafonable guard
and caution in refpeé of a man’s felf. But to be
fpeculative into another man to the end to know
how to work him, or wind him, or govern him,
proceedeth from a heart that is double and cloven
and not entire and ingenuous ; which as in friend-
fhip it is want of integrity, fo towards princes or

St A faying of Epicurus. Seneca, Epi/?. Mor. i. 7.

BOOK I. 31

fuperiors is want of duty. For the cuftom of the
Levant, which is that fubjects do forbear to gaze
or fix their eyes upon princes,® is in the outward
ceremony barbarous, but the moral is good : for
men ought not by cunning and bent obfervations
to pierce and penetrate into the hearts of kings,
which the Scripture hath declared to be infcru-
table.®

(0) There is yet another fault (with which I
will conclude this part) which is often noted in
learned men, that they do many times fail to ob-
ferve decency and difcretion in their behaviour and
carriage, and commit errors in {mall and ordinary
points of action, fo as the vulgar fort of capacities
do make a judgment of them in greater matters by
that which they find wanting in them in {maller.
But this confequence doth often deceive men, for
which I do refer them over to that which was faid
by Themiftocles, arrogantly and uncivilly being
applied to himfelf out of his own mouth, but,
being applied to the general {tate of this queftion,
pertinentlyand juftly ; when, being invited to touch
a lute, he faid, He could not fiddle, but he could
make a {mall town a great ftate.°* So, no doubt,
many may be well feen in the paflages of govern-
ment and policy, which are to feek in little and
punctual occafions. I refer them alfo to that
which Plato faid of his mafter Socrates, whom he
compared to the gallipots of apothecaries, which
on the outfide had apes and owls and antiques, but

62 Herod. I. 99. Prov. xxva 3-
% Plutarch, Vit. Themift., ad init.

32 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

contained within fovereign and precious liquors and
confections ; acknowledging that to an external
report he was not without fuperficial levities and
deformities, but was inwardly replenifhed with
excellent virtues and powers. And fo much
touching the point of manners of learned men.
But in the mean time I have no purpofe to give
allowance to fome conditions and courfes bafe and
unworthy, wherein divers profeflors of learning
have wronged themfelves and gone too far ; fuch
as were thofe trencher Philofophers which in the
later age of the Roman {tate were ufually in the
houfes of great perfons, being little better than
folemn parafites ; of which kind, Lucian maketha
merry defcription of the philofopher that the great
lady took to ride with her in her coach, and would
needs have him carry her little dog, which he doing
officioufly and yet uncomely, the page fcoffed and
faid, That he doubted, the philofopher of a Stoic
would turn to be a Cynic. But above all the reft,

the grofs and palpable flattery, whereunto many .

not unlearned have abafed and abufed their wits
and pens, turning, as Du Bartas faith,°’ Hecuba
into Helena, and Fauftina into Lucretia, hath moft
diminifhed the price and eftimation of learning.
Neither is the moral® dedication of books and
writings, as to patrons, to be commended : for that
books, fuch as are worthy the name of books,

65 Plat. Conv. ili. 215, where the thought is prefent, though the
exact fimilitude is wanting.
66 Lucian. de Merc. Cond., 33, 34.
§7 See Bethulian’s Refcue, book v.
“ Tous ces efprits dont la voix flattereufe
Change Hécube en Héléne, et Fauftine en Lucréce.”
68 Moral, here cuffomary.

BOOK I. 33

ought to have no patrons but truth and reafon.
And the ancient cuftom was to dedicate them only
to private and equal friends, or to entitle the
books with their names: or if to kings and great
-perfons, it was to fome fuch as the argument of
the book was fit and proper for: but thefe and
the like courfes may deferve rather reprehenfion
than defence.

Not that I can tax or condemn the morigera-,

tion or application of learned men to men in for-
tune. For the anfwer was good that Diogenes
made to one that afked him in mockery, How it
came to pafs that philofophers were the followers of
rich men, and not rich men of philofophers? He
anfwered foberly, and yet fharply, Becaufe the one
fort knew what they had need of, and the other did
not.°9 And of the like nature was the anfwer which
Ariftippus made, when having apetition to Diony-
fius, and no ear given to him, he fell down at his
feet; whereupon Dionyfius ftaid, and gave him
the hearing, and granted it; and afterward fome
perfon, tender on the behalf of philofophy, re-
proved Ariftippus that he would offer the profef-
fion of philofophy fuch an indignity, as for a pri-
vate fuit to fall at atyrant’s feet: but he anfwered,
It was not his fault, but it was the fault of Diony-
Jius, that had his ears in his feet.1? Neither was
it accounted weaknefs, but difcretion in him that
would not difpute his beft with Adrianus Cefar ;
excufing himfelf, That it was rea/fon to yield to him

6 Diog. Laert. Vit. Ariffippi, ii. 69; the anfwer was given by
Ariftippus. 70 Ibid, ii. 79.

D

As to their
follies.

34. ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

that commanded thirty legions... "Thefe and the
like applications, and ftooping to points of neceflity
and convenience, cannot be difallowed ; for though
they may have fome outward bafenefs, yet in a
judgment truly made they are to be accounted fub-
miffions to the occafion, and not to the perfon.

3. Now I proceed to thofe errors and vanities
which have intervened amongit the ftudies them-
felves of the learned, which is that which is prin-
cipal and proper to the prefent argument; wherein
my purpofe is not to make a juftification of the
errors, but by a cenfure and feparation of the errors
to make a juftification of that which is good and
found, and to deliver that from the afperfion of the
other. For we fee that it is the manner of men to
fcandalize and deprave that which retaineth the
ftate?® and virtue, by taking advantage upon that
which is corrupt and degenerate: as the heathens
in the primitive Church ufed to blemifh and taint
the Chriftians with the faults and corruptions of
heretics. But neverthelefs I have no meaning at
this time to make any exact animadverfion of the
errors and impediments in matters of learning,
which are more fecret and remote from vulgar
opinion, but only to fpeak unto fuch as do fall under
or near unto a popular obfervation.

There be therefore chiefly three vanities in ftu-
dies, whereby learning hath been moft traduced.

71 Spartianus, Vit. Adriani, § 15. The excufe was made by
Favorinus.

72 Had Bacon been accuftomed to ufe the then modern word its,
it is probable he would have ufed it here. As it is, “ the ftate and
virtue” muft mean its pure and right condition,

BOOK I. 35

For thofe things we do efteem vain, which are
either falfe or frivolous, thofe which either have
no truth or no ufe: and thofe perfons we efteem
vain, which are either credulous or curious;
and curiofity is either in matter or words: fo
that in reafon, as well as in experience, there
fall out to be thefe three diftempers, as I may
term them, of learning: the firft, fantaftical learn-
ing; the fecond, contentious learning; and the
laft, delicate learning; vain imaginations, vain al-
tercations, and vain affectations ; and with the laft
I will begin. (a) Martin Luther, conducted no
doubt by a higher providence, but in difcourfe of
reafon’ finding what a province he had under-
taken againft the bifhop of Rome and the degene-
rate traditions of the church, and finding his own
folitude, being no ways aided by the opinions of
his own time, was enforced to awake all antiquity,
and to call former times to his fuccours to make a
party againft the prefenttime. So that the ancient
authors, both in divinity and in humanity, which
had long time flept in libraries, began generally to
be read and revolved. This by confequence did
draw on a neceflity of a more exquifite travail in
the languages original, wherein thofe authors did
write, for the better underftanding of thofe authors,
and the better advantage of prefling and applying
their words. And thereof grew againa delight in
their manner of ftyle and phrafe, and an admiration
of that kind of writing ; which was much furthered

73 Dijfcourfe of reafon ; a proper logical term. Cf, Sanderfon, drs
Log. 111. i.

Folly in

vain words.

36 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

and precipitated by the enmity and oppofition that
the propounders of thofe primitive but feeming new
opinions had againft the {choolmen ; who were ge-
nerally of the contrary part, and whofe writings
were altogether in a different {tyle and form; taking
liberty to coin and frame new terms of art to ex-
prefs their own fenfe, and to avoid circuit of fpeech,
without regard to the purenefs, pleafantnefs, and,
as I may call it, lawfulnefs of the phrafe or word.
And again, becaufe the great labour that’ then
was with the people, (of whom the Pharifees were
wont to fay, Execrabilis ifta turba, que non novit
legem)*> for the winning and perfuading of them,
there grew of neceffity in chief price and requeft
eloquence and variety of difcourfe, as the fitteft
and forcibleft accefs into the capacity of the vulgar
fort: fo that thefe four caufes concurring, the ad-
miration of ancient authors, the hate of the fchool-
men, the exact {tudy of languages, and the efficacy
of preaching, did bring in an affectionate ftudy of
eloquence and copie of fpeech, which then began
to flourifh. This grew {peedily to an excefs; for
men began to hunt more after words than matter ;
more after the choicenefs of the phrafe, and the
round and clean compofition of the fentence, and
the {weet falling of the claufes, and the varying and
illuftration of their works with tropes and figures,
than after the weight of matter, worth of fubject,
foundnefs of argument, life of invention or depth
of judgment. Then grew the flowing and watery

74 Ed, 1629 and 1033) omit that ; but becaufe here=becaufe of.
78 John vii. ro.

BOOK I. 37

vein of Oforius?® the Portugal bifhop, to be in
price. “Then did Sturmius fpend fuch infinite and
curious pains upon Cicero the Orator, and Her-
mogenes the Rhetorician, befides his own books
of Periods and Imitation, and the like. “Then did
Car of Cambridge, and Afcham with their lectures
and writings almoft deify Cicero and Demofthenes,
and allure all young men that were ftudious, unto
that delicate and polifhed kind of learning. “Then
did Erafmus take occafion to make the fcoffing
Echo: Decem annos confumpfi in legendo Cicerone ;
and the Echo anfwered in Greek, “Ove, Afine.7
Then grew the learning of the {choolmen to be
utterly defpifed as barbarous. In fum, the whole
inclination and bent of thofe times was rather to-
wards copie than weight.

Here, therefore, is the firft diftemper of learn-
ing, when men ftudy words and not matter ;
whereof, though I have reprefented an example of
late times, yet it hath been and will be /ecundum
majus et minus in alltime. And how is it poffible
but this fhould have an operation to difcredit
learning, even with vulgar capacities, when they
fee learned men’s works like the firft letter of a
patent, or limned book; which though it hath
large flourifhes, yet is but a letter? It feems to
me that Pygmalion’s frenzy is a good emblem or
portraiture of this vanity :7® for words are but the
images of matter; and except they have life of
reafon and invention, to fall in love with them is
all one as to fall in love with a picture.

76 Bithop of Silves, died 1580.
™ Collog. between Fuvenis and Echo. *® Ovid, Metam. x. 243,

Folly in
vain matter.

38 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

But yet notwithftanding it is a thing not hatftily
to be condemned, to clothe and adorn the obfcurity
even of Philofophy itfelf with fenfible and plaufible
elocution. For hereof we have great examples in
Xenophon, Cicero, Seneca, Plutarch, and of Plato
alfo in fome degree ; and hereof likewife there is
great ufe: for furely, to the fevere inquifition of
truth and the deep progrefs into philofophy, it is
fome hindrance ; becaufe it is too early fatisfactory
to the mind of man, and quencheth the defire of
further fearch, before we come to a juft period.
But then if a man be to have any ufe of fuch know-
ledge in civil occafions, of conference, counfel, per-
fuafion, difcourfe, or the like; then fhall he find it
prepared to his hands in thofe authors which write
in that manner. But the excefs of this is fo juftly
contemptible, that as Hercules, when he faw the
image of Adonis, Venus’ minion, in a temple, faid
in difdain, Nil facri es ;79 fo there is none of Her-
cules’ followers in learning, that is, the more fevere
and laborious fort of inquirers into truth, but will
defpife thofe delicacies and affectations, as indeed
capable of no divinenefs. And thus much of the
firft difeafe or diftemper of learning.

(@) The fecond which followeth is in nature
worfe than the former: for as fubftance of matter
is better than beauty of words, fo contrariwife
vain matter is worfe than vain words: wherein
it feemeth the reprehenfion of St. Paul was not
only proper for thofe times, but prophetical for
the times following; and not only refpective to

79 Theocr. v. 2. ({chol.) or Erafmi dag.

BOOK I. 39

divinity, but extenfive to all knowledge: Devita
profanas vocum novitates, et oppofitiones falfi nominis
feientia. For he affigneth two marks and badges
of fufpected and falfified {cience: the one, the no-
velty and ftrangenefs of terms; the other, the
ftrictnefs of pofitions, which of neceffity doth in-
duce oppofitions, and fo queftions and altercations.
Surely, like as many fubftances in nature which are
folid do putrify and corrupt into worms ; {o it is the
property of good and found knowledge to putrify
and diffolve into a number of fubtle, idle, unwhole-
fome, and, as I may term them, vermiculate quef-
tions, which have indeed a kind of quicknefs and
life of f{pirit, but no foundnefs of matter or goodnefs
of quality. This kind of degenerate learning did
chiefly reign amongft the Schoolmen :®! who hav-
ing fharp and ftrong wits, and abundance of leifure,
and {mall variety of reading, but their wits being
fhut up in the cells of a few authors (chiefly Arif-
totle their dictator) as their perfons were fhut up
in the cells of monafteries and colleges, and know-
ing little hiftory, either of nature or time, did out
of no great quantity of matter and infinite agitation
of wit fpin out unto thofe laborious webs of learn-
ing which are extant in their books.®* For the wit
and mind of man, if it work upon matter, which
is the contemplation of the creatures of God, work-
eth according to the ftuff, and is limited thereby ;
but if it work upon itfelf, as the {fpider worketh his

80 x Tim. vi. 20.

81 For his judgment—a harfh one—on the Schoolmen, fee the
Nov. Org.i. 71.

82 See Hallam, Hift. of Lit. vol. i. init. § 18 —23.

40 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

web, then it is endlefs, and brings forth indeed
cobwebs of learning, admirable for the finenefs of
thread and work, but of no fubftance or profit.
This fame unprofitable fubtilty or curiofity is of
two forts ; either in the fubject itfelf that they han-
dle, when itis a fruitlefs {peculation or controverfy,
(whereof there are no {mall number both in Divi-
nity and Philofophy) or in the manner or method
of handling of a knowledge, which amongft them
was this; upon every particular pofition or affer-
tion to frame objections, and to thofe objections,
folutions ; which folutions were for the moft part
not confutations, but diftinétions : whereas indeed
the ftrength of all fciences is, as the ftrength of
the old man’s fagot, inthe band. For the harmony
of a fcience, fupporting each part the other, is and
ought to be the true and brief confutation and fup-
preffion of all the fmaller fort of objections. But,
on the other fide, if you take out every axiom, as
the fticks of the fagot, one by one, you may quarrel
with them, and bend them, and break them at your
pleafure: fo that, as was faid of Seneca, Verborum
minutiis rerum frangit pondera ;* fo a man may
truly fay of the fchoolmen, Que/tionum minutits
feientiarum frangunt foliditatem. For were it not
better for a man in a fair room to fet up one great
light or branching candleftick of lights, than to go
about with a {mall watch candle into every corner?
And fuch is their method, that refts not fo much
upon evidence of truth proved by arguments, au-

88 Rerum pondera minutiflimis fententiis fregit.—QuinT. de Inf.
Orat. x. 1.

BOOK I. 4a

thorities, fimilitudes, examples, as upon particular
confutations and folutions of every fcruple, cavil-
lation, and objection ; breeding for the moft part
one quettion as faft as it folveth another; even as
in the former refemblance, when you carry the
light into one corner, you darken the reft; fo that
the fable and fiction of Scylla feemeth to be a lively
image of this kind of philofophy or knowledge ;
which was transformed into a comely virgin for
the upper parts; but then

Candida fuccinétam la—trantibus inguina monftris :*4

fo the generalities of the fchoolmen are for a while
good and proportionable; but then, when you de-
{cend into their diftintions and decifions, inftead of
a fruitful womb for the ufe and benefit of man’s
life, they end in monftrous altercations and barking
queftions. So as it is not poffible but this quality of
knowledge muft fall under popular contempt, the
people being apt to contemn truth upon occafion
of controverfies and altercations, and to think they
are all out of their way which never meet; and
when they fee fuch digladiation about fubtilties,
and matters of no ufe or moment, they eafily fall
upon that judgment of Dionyfius of Syracufe,
Verba ifta funt fenum otioforum.®®
Notwithftanding, certain it is that if thofe
Schoolmen to their great thirft of truth and un-
wearied travail of wit had joined variety and uni-
verfality of reading and contemplation, they had
proved excellent lights, to the great advancement

8 Virg. Ecl. vi. 75. 85 Diog. Laert. iii. 18. (Vit. Platonis.)

Folly in
untruth,

42 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

of all learning and knowledge: but as they are,
they are great undertakers indeed, and fierce with
dark keeping: but as in the inquiry of the divine
truth, their pride inclined to leave the oracle of
God’s word, and to vanifh in the mixture of their
own inventions; fo in the inquifition of nature,
they ever left the oracle of God’s works, and
adored the deceiving and deformed images which
the unequal mirror of their own minds, or a few
received authors or principles did reprefent unto
them. And thus much for the fecond difeafe of
learning.

(y) For the third vice or difeafe of learning, which
concerneth deceit or untruth, it is of all the reft
the fouleft ; as that which doth deftroy the effen-
tial form of knowledge, which is nothing but a
reprefentation of truth: for the truth of being and
the truth of knowing are one, differing no more
than the direct beam and the beam reflected.
This vice therefore brancheth itfelf into two forts;
delight in deceiving, and aptnefs to be deceived ;
impofture and credulity ; which, although they
appear to be of a diverfe nature, the one feeming
to proceed of cunning and the other of fimplicity,
yet certainly they do for the moft part concur:
for, as the verfe noteth,

Percontatorem fugito, nam garrulus idem eft,®°

an inquifitive man is a prattler; fo, upon the like
reafon, a credulous man is a deceiver: as we fee
it in fame, that he that will eafily believe rumours,

86 Hor. Ep, I. xviii. 69.

_— ae

BOOK I. 43

will as eafily augment rumours, and add fomewhat
to them of his own; which Tacitus wifely noteth,
when he faith, Fingunt fimul creduntque :®" fo great
an affinity hath fiction and belief.

This facility of credit and accepting or admitting
things weakly authorized or warranted, is of two
kinds according to the fubject: for it is either a
belief of hiftory, (as® the lawyers fpeak, matter of
fact); or elfe of matter of art and opinion. As
to the former, we fee the experience and inconve-
nience of this error in ecclefiaftical hiftory ; which
hath too eafily received and regiftered reports and
narrations of miracles wrought by martyrs, hermits,
or monks of the defert, and other holy men, and
their relics, fhrines, chapels, and images: which
though they had a paflage for a time by the igno-
rance of the people, the fuperftitious fimplicity of
fome, and the politic toleration of others holding
them but as divine poefies; yet after a period of
time, when the mift began to clear up, they grew
to be efteemed but as old wives’ fables, impoftures
of the clergy, illufions of {pirits, and badges of
Antichrift, to the great fcandal and detriment of
religion.

So in natural hiftory, we fee there hath not been
that choice and judgment ufed as ought to have
been; as may appear in the writings of Plinius,
Cardanus,®9 Albertus,°° and divers of the Arabians,

& Tac. Hift.i. 51.

8 T have here followed the reading of Ed. 1605.

89 Cardan—born in Pavia, 1501—wrote about 122 works on
Phyfics, Mathematics, Aftronomy, Aftrology, Medicine, Ethics,
Mufic, &c.

9 Albertus Magnus—born in Swabia, about 1198—the moft
learned man of his age.

44, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

being fraught with much fabulous matter, a great
part not only untried, but notorioufly untrue, to
the great derogation of the credit of natural phi-
lofophy with the grave and fober kind of wits:
wherein the wifdom and integrity of Ariftotle is
worthy to be obferved; that, having made fo dili-
gent and exquifite a hiftory of living creatures,
hath mingled it {paringly with any vain or feigned
matter: and yet on the other fake,?! hath caft all
prodigious narrations, which he thought worthy
the recording, into one book:% excellently dif-
cerning that matter of manifeft truth (fuch where-
upon obfervation and rule were to be built), was
not to be mingled or weakened with matter of
doubtful credit; and yet again, that rarities and
reports that feem incredible are not to be fup-
prefled or denied to the memory of men.

And as for the facility of credit which is yielded
to arts and opinions, it is likewife of two kinds ;
either when too much belief is attributed to the
arts themfelves, or to certain authors in any art.
The fciences themfelves, which have had better
intelligence and confederacy with the imagination
of man than with his reafon, are three in number ;
aftrology, natural magic, and alchemy: of which
fciences, neverthelefs, the ends or pretences are
noble. For aftrology pretendeth to difcover that
correfpondence or concatenation which is between
the fuperior globe and the inferior: natural magic

91 So in all the early editions ; fide has been fuggefted.
% Oavpaova ’Akovopara—a treatife now generally thought
not to be genuine,

BOOK 1. 4S

pretendeth to call and reduce natural philofophy
from variety of fpeculations to the magnitude of
works: and alchemy pretendeth to make fepara-
tion of all the unlike parts of bodies which in mix-
tures of nature are incorporate. But the deriva-
tions and profecutions to thefe ends, both in the
theories and in the practices, are full of error and
vanity ; which the great profeflors themfelves have
fought to veil over and conceal by enigmatical writ-
ings, and referring themfelves to auricular traditions
and fuch other devices, to fave the credit of im-
poftures: and yet furely to alchemy this right is
due, that it may be compared to the hufbandman
whereof A“fop makes the fable; that, when he
died, told his fons that he had left unto them gold
buried under ground in his vineyard; and they
digged over all the ground, and gold they found
none; but by reafon of their ftirring and digging
the mould about the roots of their vines, they had
a great vintage the year following: fo afluredly the
fearch and ftir to make gold hath brought to light
a great number of good and fruitful inventions and
experiments, as well for the difclofing of nature as
for the ufe of man’s life.

And as for the overmuch credit that hath been
given unto authors in fciences, in making them
diGtators, that their words fhould ftand, and not
counfellors®* to give advice ; the damage is infinite
that fciences have received thereby, as the principal

93 Ed. 1629 and 1633 have confuls. De Augm. “ Diétatoria
quadam poteftate munivit ut edicant, non fenatoria ut confulant.”
Ellis fuggefts that Bacon wrote counfell'*. It clearly fhould be coun-
Jellors.

46 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

caufe that hath kept them low at a ftay without
growth or advancement. For hence it hath come,
that in arts mechanical the firft devifer comes
fhorteft, and time addeth and perfecteth; but in
fciences the firft author goeth fartheft, and time
leefeth and corrupteth. So we fee, artillery, fail-
ing, printing, and the like, were groffly managed at
the firft, and by time accommodated and refined :
but contrariwife, the philofophies and fciences of
Ariftotle, Plato, Democritus, Hippocrates, Eu-
clides, Archimedes, of moft vigour at the firft and
by time degenerate and imbafed ; whereof the rea-
fon is no other, but that in the former many wits
and induftries have contributed in one; and in the
latter many wits and induftries have been {pent
about the wit of fome one, whom many times they
have rather depraved than illuftrated. For as water
will not afcend higher than the level of the firft
{pringhead from whence it defcendeth, fo know-
ledge derived from Ariftotle, and exempted from
liberty of examination, will not rife again higher
than the knowledge of Ariftotle. And therefore
although the pofition be good, Oportet difcentem
credere,® yet it muft be coupled with this, Oportet
edoétum judicare; for difciples do owe unto mafters
only a temporary belief and a fufpenfion of their
own judgment until they be fully inftructed, and
not an abfolute refignation or perpetual captivity :
and therefore, to conclude this point, I will fay no
more, but fo let great authors have their due, as
time, which is the author of authors, be not de-

8 Aritt. Sopb. El. 2.

BOOK I. 47

prived of his due, which is, further and further to
difcover truth.

4. Thus have I gone over thefe three difeafes of Leffer er-
learning ; befides the which there are fome other pe
rather peccant humours than formed difeafes: which Men.
neverthelefs are not fo fecret and intrinfic but that
they fall under a popular obfervation and traduce-
ment, and therefore are not to be paffed over.

(a) The firft of thefe is the extreme affecting of Affeétation
two extremities; the one antiquity, the other no- %*™eme
velty ; wherein it feemeth the children of time do
take after the nature and malice of the father. For
as he devoureth his children, fo one of them feeketh
to devour and fupprefs the other; while antiquity
envieth there fhould be new additions, and novelty
cannot be content to add but it muft deface. Surely
the advice of the prophet is the true direction in
this matter, State /uper vias antiquas, et videte que-
nam fit via reéta et bona et ambulatein ea. Anti-
quity deferveth that reverence, that men fhould
make a ftand thereupon and difcover what is the
beft way; but when the difcovery is well taken,
then to make progreffion. And to fpeak truly,
Antiquitas feculi juventus mundi. Thefe times
are the ancient times, when the world is ancient,
and not thofe which we account ancient ordine
retrogrado, by a computation backward from our-
felves.

(4) Another error induced by the former is a Diftrut of
diftruft that anything fhould be now to be found "°v*lty-
out, which the world fhould have miffed and paffed

95 Jerem. vi. 16. % See Nov. Org. i. 84.

Belief in
the wifdom
of the paft.

48 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

over fo long time; as if the fame objection were
to be made to time, that Lucian maketh to Ju-
piter and other the heathen gods; of which he
wondereth that they begot fo many children in
old time, and begot none in his time; and afketh
whether they were become feptuagenary, or whe-
ther the law Papia, made againft old men’s mar-
riages, had reftrained them. So it feemeth men
doubt left time is become paft children and gene-
ration; wherein, contrariwife, we fee commonly
the levity and inconftancy of men’s judgments,
which till a matter be done, wonder that it can be
done; and as foon as it is done, wonder again that
it was no fooner done: as we fee in the expedition
of Alexander into Afia, which at firft was pre-
judged as a vaft and impoflible enterprife ; and yet
afterwards it pleafeth Livy to make no more of it
than this: Nz7/ aliud quam bene aufus vana contem-
nere ;%* and the fame happened to Columbus in
the weftern navigation. But in intelle€tual mat-
ters it is much more common ; as may be feen in
moft of the propofitions of Euclid ; which till they
be demonftrate, they feem ftrange to our affent; but
being demonftrate, our mind accepteth of them
by a kind of relation (as the lawyers {peak), as if
we had known them before.

3. Another error, that hath alfo fome affinity
with the former, is a conceit that of former opin-
ions or fects, after variety and examination, the beft
hath ftill prevailed and fuppreffed the reft ; fo as,
if a man fhould begin the labour of a new fearch,

M7 Liv. ix. 17.

BOOK I. 49

he were but like to light upon fomewhat formerly
rejected, and by rejection brought into oblivion:
as if the multitude, or the wifeft for the multi-
tude’s fake, were not ready to give paflage rather
to that which is popular and fuperficial than to
that which is fubftantial and profound; for the
truth is that time feemeth to be of the nature of
a river or ftream, which carrieth down to us that
which is light and blown up, and finketh and
drowneth that which is weighty and folid.

4. Another error, of a diverfe nature from all
the former, is the over early and peremptory re-
duction of knowledge into arts and methods ; from
which time commonly {ciences receive fmall or no
augmentation. But as young men, when they knit
and fhape perfectly, do feldom grow to a further
ftature; fo knowledge, while it is in aphorifms and
obfervations, it is in growth: but when it once is
comprehended in exact methods, it may perchance
be further polifhed and illuftrate?* and accommo-
dated for ufe and practice; but it increafeth no
more in bulk and fubftance.

5- Another error, which doth fucceed that which
we laft mentioned, is that after the diftribution of
particular arts and fciences, men have abandoned
univerfality, or philofophia prima; which cannot
but ceafe and ftop all progreffion. For no perfect
difcovery can be made upon a flat or a level: nei-
ther is it poflible to difcover the more remote and
deeper parts of any fcience, if you ftand but upon

88 So in Ed. 1605.
E

Method.

Love of
particulars.

Reverence.

Intermix-
ture of
favourite
fiudies, &c.

50 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

the level of the fame fcience, and afcend not to a
higher {cience.

6. Another error hath proceeded from too great
a reverence, and a kind of adoration of the mind
and underftanding of man; by means whereof
men have withdrawn themfelves too much from
the contemplation of nature, and the obfervations
of experience, and have tumbled up and down in
their own reafon and conceits. Upon thefe intel-
letualifts, which are notwithftanding commonly
taken for the moft fublime and divine philofophers,
Heraclitus gave a juft cenfure, faying, Men fought
truth in their own little worlds, and not in the great
and common world ;* for they difdain to fpell, and
fo by degrees to read in the volume of God's
works : and contrariwife by continual meditation
and agitation of wit do urge and as it were invo-
cate their own fpirits to divine and give oracles
unto them, whereby they are defervedly deluded.

7. Another error that hath fome connedtion
with this latter, is, that men have ufed to infe&
their meditations, opinions, and doétrines, with
fome conceits which they have moft admired, or
fome fciences which they have moft applied; and
given all things elfe a tincture according to them,
utterly untrue and unproper. So hath Plato in-
termingled his philofophy with theology, and Ant
totle with logic; and the fecond fchool of Plato,
Proclus and the reft, with the mathematics. For
thefe were the arts which had a kind of primoge-.

Sext. Empir. adv. Matb. vii. 133.
? See Nov. Orz. i. 63.

|

BOOK I. 5I

niture with them feverally. So have the alchym-
ifts made a philofophy out of a few experiments of
the furnace; and Gilbertus,? our countryman,
hath made a philofophy out of the obfervations of
alodeftone. So Cicero, when reciting the feveral
opinions of the nature of the foul he found a mu-
fician that held the foul was but a harmony, faith
pleafantly, Hic ab arte fua non receffit,c3 But
of thefe conceits Ariftotle fpeaketh ferioufly and
wifely, when he faith, Qui re/piciunt ad pauca de
facili pronunciant.*

8. Another error is an impatience of doubt,
and hafte to affertion without due and mature
fufpenfion of judgment. For the two ways of
contemplation are not unlike the two ways of ac-
tion commonly fpoken of by the ancients; the one
plain and {mooth in the beginning, and in the end
impaflable ; the other rough and troublefome in
the entrance, but after a while fairand even. So it
is in contemplation; if a man will begin with cer-
tainties, he fhall end in doubts; but if he will be
content to begin with doubts, he fhall end in cer-
tainties.

g. Another error is in the manner of the tradi-
tion and delivery of knowledge, which is for the
moft part magiftral and peremptory, and not in-
genuous and faithful; in a fort as may be fooneft
believed, and not eafilieft examined. It is true,
that in compendious treatifes for practice that form

2 See Nov. Org. i. 64.

3 Tufeul. Difp.i. x. 20. He is {peaking of Ariftoxenus. Plato,
in the Phads, pp. 56and 61, introduces the fame analogy.

* De Gener. et Corrupt. i. 2.

Impatience
of doubt.

Manner of
tradition of
knowledge.

Low ends.

Miftalee in
the fartheft
end of

knowledge.

52 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

is not to be difallowed: but in the true handling of
knowledge, men ought not to fall either on the
one fide into the vein of Velleius the Epicurean :
Nil tam metuens, quam ne dubitare aliqua de re
videretur ;> nor on the other fide into Socrates his
ironical doubting of all things;® but to propound
things fincerely with more or lefs afleveration, as
they ftand in a man’s own judgment proved more
or lefs.

10. Other errors there are in the fcope that
men propound to themfelves, whereunto they
bend their endeavours; for whereas the more
conftant and devote’ kind of profeffors of any
fcience ought to propound to themfelves to make
fome additions to their fcience, they convert their
labours to afpire to certain fecond prizes: as to —
be a profound interpreter or commenter, to be a
fharp champion or defender, to be a methodical
compounder or abridger ; and fo the patrimony of
knowledge cometh to be fometimes improved, but
feldom augmented.

11. But the greateft error of all the reft is the
miftaking or mifplacing of the laft or fartheft end
of knowledge: for men have entered into a defire
of learning and knowledge, fometimes upon a na-
tural curiofity and inquifitive appetite; fometimes
to entertain their minds with variety and delight ;
fometimes for ornament and reputation ; and

5 Cic. De Nat. Deor. I. viii. 18. :
6 His Eipwrveva. See Plato, Apel. (p. 21), for the beft inftance of
this. He there explains his fuperiority to confift in the know-

ledge of his own ignorance.
7 So Ed. 1605.

BOOK I. 53

fometimes to enable them to victory of wit and
contradiction ; and moft times for lucre and pro-
feffion ; and feldom fincerely to give a true ac-
count of their gift of reafon, to the benefit and
ufe of men: as if there were fought in knowledge
a couch whereupon to reft a fearching and reft-
lefs fpirit; or a tarraffe, for a wandering and
variable mind to walk up and down with a fair
profpect; or a tower of ftate, for a proud mind to

raife itfelfupon; or a fort or commanding ground,’

for ftrife and contention; or a fhop, for profit or
fale ; and not a rich ftorehoufe, for the glory of
the Creator and the relief of man’s eftate. But
this is that which will indeed dignify and exalt
knowledge, if contemplation and action may be
more nearly and ftraitly conjoined and united to-
gether than they have been; a conjunction like
unto that of the two higheft planets, Saturn, the
planet of reft and contemplation, and Jupiter, the
planet of civil fociety and action: howbeit, I do
not mean, when I {peak of ufe and action, that
end before-mentioned of the applying of know-
ledge to lucre and profeffion; for I am not igno-
rant how much that diverteth and interrupteth
the profecution and advancement of knowledge,
like unto the golden ball thrown before Atalanta,
which while fhe goeth afide and ftoopeth to take
up, the race is hindered ;

Declinat curfus, aurumque volubile tollit.8

12. Neither is my meaning, as was {poken of

® Ovid, Metam. x. 667.

54 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Socrates, to call philofophy down from heaven to
converfe upon the earth ;9 that is, to leave natural
philofophy afide, and to apply knowledge only to
manners and policy. But as both heaven and
earth do confpire and contribute to the ufe and
benefit of man; fo the end ought to be, from both
philofophies to feparate and reject vain fpecula-
tions, and whatfoever is empty and void, and to
preferve and augment whatfoever is folid and
fruitful: that knowledge may not be, as a curte-
fan, for pleafure and vanity only, or as a bond-wo-
man, to acquire and gain to her mafter’s ufe; but
as a fpoufe, for generation, fruit, and comfort.
Thus have I defcribed and opened, as by a kind
of diffeCtion, thofe peccant humours, (the principal
of them,) which hath?* not only given impediment
to the proficience of learning, but have given alfo
occafion to the traducement thereof: wherein if J
have been too plain, it muft be remembered, fidelia
vulnera amantis, fed dolofa ofcula malignantis.™
This, I think, I have gained, that I ought to be
the better believed in that which I fhall fay per-
taining to commendation; becaufe I have pro-
ceeded fo freely in that which concerneth cenfure.
And yet I have no purpofe to enter into a lauda-
tive of learning, or to make a hymn to the Mufes;
(though I am of opinion that it is long fince their
rites were duly celebrated:) but my intent is,
without varnifh or amplification juftly to weigh

9 Cic. Tufc. Difp. v. 4, 10.

10 Tn all Editions bath. For in Bacon’s time the verb fingular
was very commonly ufed with more nominatives than one, and
even with plural nouns, as here.

11 Prov. xxvii. 6.

BOOK I. 55

the dignity of knowledge in the balance with other
things, and to take the true value thereof by tefti-
monies and arguments divine and human.

II. i. Firft therefore let us feek the dignity of Divine _
Knowledge in the archetype or firft platform, Looe
which is in the attributes and acts of God, as far of Know-
as they are revealed to man and may be obferved ie
with fobriety; wherein we may not feek it by the 1. God's
name of Learning ; for all Learning is Knowledge 3v “""
acquired, and all knowledge in God is original :
and therefore we muft look for it by another
name, that of Wifdom or Sapience, as the Scrip-
tures call it.

It is fo then, that in the work of the creation
we fee a double emanation of Virtue from God ;
the one referring more properly to Power, the
other to Wiidom; the one expreffed in making
the fubfiftence of the matter, and the other in dif-
pofing the beauty of the form. ‘This being fup-
pofed, it is to be obferved that for anything which
appeareth in the hiftory of the creation, the con-
fufed mafs and matter of Heaven and Earth was
made in a moment; and the order and difpofition
of that chaos or mafs was the work of fix days ;
fuch a note of difference it pleafed God to put
upon the works of Power, and the works of
Wifdom ; wherewith concurreth, that in the for-
mer it is not fet down that God faid, Let there be
heaven and earth, as it is fet down of the works
following ; but actually, that God made Heaven
and Earth: the one carrying the ftyle of a Manu-

_ facture, and the other of a Law, Decree, or
Counfel.

2. The wif-

dom of
Angels.

3. Creation
of light.

4. God’s
contempla-
tion of
Creation.

5- Man’s
endin Eden,
knowledge.

56 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

To proceed to that which is next in order from
God, to Spirits ;1° we find, as far as credit is to be
given to the celeftial hierarchy of that fuppofed
Dionyfius the fenator of Athens, the firft place
or degree is given to the angels of Love, which
are termed Seraphim; the fecond to the angels of
Light, which are termed Cherubim; and the
third, and fo following places, to Thrones, Prin-
Cipalities, and the reft, which are all angels of
power and miniftry ; fo as the angels of Know-
ledge and I]lumination are placed before the angels
of Office and Domination,*

To defcend from Spirits and Intelle&tual Forms
to Senfible and Material Forms; we read the firft
Form that was created was Light,!* which hath a
relation and correfpondence in nature and corporal
things to Knowledge in Spirits and incorporal
things.

So inthe diftribution of days we fee the day
wherein God did reft and contemplate His own
works, was blefled above all the days wherein He
did effect, and accomplifh them.'5

After the creation was finifhed, it is fet down
unto us that man was placed in the garden to work
therein ; which work, fo appointed to him, could
be no other than work of Contemplation; that is,
when the end of work is but for exercife and ex-
periment, not for neceffity ; for there being then
no reluctation of the creature, nor fweat of the
brow, man’s employment muft of confequence

it Cr. Hooker, 2. PP) 1. iv. 15/2.

18 Dionys. De Coelefi Hierarch. cap. 7, 8,9. This work is, as

Bacon hints, {purious, though no other auther is affigned,
14 Gen. i. 3. A SGen aaa

a ee ee

BOOK I. 57

_ have been matter of delight in the experiment,
and not matter of labour for the ufe. Again, the
firft aé&ts which man performed in Paradife con-
fifted of the two fummary parts of knowledge;
the view of creatures, and the impofition of names.?°
As for the knowledge which induced the fall, it
was, as was touched before, not the natural know-
ledge of creatures, but the moral knowledge of
good and evil; wherein the fuppofition was, that
God’s commandments or prohibitions were not
the originals of good and evil, but that they had
other beginnings, which man afpired to know; to
the end to make a total defection from God and
to depend wholly upon himéelf.

To pafs on: in the firft event or occurrence
after the fall of man, we fee, (as the Scriptures
have infinite myfteries, not violating at all the
truth of the ftory or letter,) an image of the two
eftates, the contemplative ftate and the active
ftate, figured in the two perfons of Abel and Cain,
and in the two fimpleft and moft primitive trades
of life ; that of the fhepherd, (who, by reafon of
his leifure, reft in a place, and living in view of
heaven, is a lively image of a contemplative life, )
and that of the hufbandman:!7 where we fee again
the favour and election of God went to the fhep-
herd, and not to the tiller of the ground.

So in the age before the flood, the holy records
within thofe few memorials which are there en-
tered and regiftered have vouchfafed to mention
and honour the name of the inventors and authors
of mufic and works in metal.!® In the age after

16 Gen. ii, 19. aT iv. 2 18: lv. 2%, 22,

6. Abel’s
ftate of con-
templation
bleffed.

7. God ho-
nours
inventors
before the
flood.

58 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

the flood, the firft great judgment of God upon the
ambition of man was the confufion of tongues ;'9
whereby the open trade and intercourfe of learn-
ing and knowledge was chiefly imbarred.

8. The To defcend to Mofes the lawgiver, and God’s

nts °F firft pen: he is adorned by the Scriptures with
this addition and commendation, That he was feen
in all the learning of the Egyptians ;° which na-
tion, we know, was one of the moft ancient
fchools of the world: for fo Plato brings in the
Egyptian prieft faying unto Solon: You Grecians
are ever children; you have no knowledge of anti-
quity, nor antiquity of knowledge.®' ‘Take a view
of the ceremonial law of Mofes ; you fhall find,
befides the prefiguration of Chrift, the badge or
difference of the people of God, the exercife and
impreflion of obedience, and other divine ufes and
fruits thereof, that fome of the moft learned Rab-
bins have travailed profitably and profoundly to
obferve, fome of them a natural, fome of them a
moral fenfe, or reduction of many of the cere-
monies and ordinances. As in the law of the
leprofy, where it is faid, If the whitene/s have over-
Jpread the flefh, the patient may pafs abroad for
clean ; but if there be any whole fle/h remaining, he
is to be fhut up for unclean ;* one of them noteth
a principle of nature, that putrefaction 1s more con-
tagious before maturity than after: and another
noteth a pofition of moral philofophy, that men
abandoned to vice do not fo much corrupt manners,

13 Gen. xi. 20 Act. Ap. vii. 22.
1 Plat. Tim, iil. 22. 22 Levit. xiii. 12-14.

BOOK I. 59

as thofe that are half good and half evil. So in
this and very many other places in that law, there
is to be found, befides the theological fenfe, much
afperfion of philofophy.

So likewife in that excellent book of Job, if it be
revolved with diligence, it will be found pregnant
and {welling with natural philofophy; as, for exam-
ple, cofmography, and the roundnefs of the world,
Qui extendit aquilonem fuper vacuum, et appendit ter-
ram fuper nibilum;? wherein the penfilenefs of the
earth, the pole of the north, and the finitenefs or
convexity of heaven are manifeftly touched. So
again, matter of aftronomy ; Spiritus ejus ornavit
ceelos, et obftetricante manu ejus eduétus eff coluber
tortuofus.** And in another place; Nunguid con-
jungere valebis micantes fellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum
Aréturi poteris diffipare?* Where the fixing of
the ftars, ever ftanding at equal diftance, is with
great elegancy noted. And in another place, Qui
facit Aréturum, et Oriona, et Hyadas, et interiora
Auftri ;°° where again he takes knowledge of the
depreffion of the fouthern pole, calling it the fe-
crets of the fouth, becaufe the fouthern ftars were
in that climate unfeen. Matter of generation ;
Annon ficut lac mulfifti me, et ficut cafeum coagu-
lafti me? &c.** Matter of minerals; Habet ar-
gentum venarum fuarum principia: et auro locus
eft in quo confiatur, ferrum de terra tollitur, et lapis
folutus calore in @s vertitur :** and fo forwards in
that chapter.

23 Job xxvi. 7. SpeSKVI. 14. 25 XXXVI. 3Xs
= ix: 9. cil o Go) 8 xxviii. I.

g. Job’s

learning.

10. Solo-
mon.

11. Our
Lord
fubdued
ignorance.

60 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

So likewife in the perfon of Salomon the King,
we fee the gift or endowment of wifdom and
learning, both in Salomon’s petition and in God’s
aflent thereunto, preferred before all other terrene
and temporal felicity.°9 By virtue of which grant
or donative of God Salomon became enabled not
only to write thofe excellent Parables or Aphor-
ifms concerning divine and moral philofophy; but
alfo to compile a Natural Hiftory of all verdure,
from the cedar upon the mountain to the mofs
upon the wall, (which is but a rudiment between
putrefaction and a herb,)*° and alfo of all things
that breathe or move.*! Nay, the fame Salomon
the King, although he excelled in the glory of
treafure and magnificent buildings, of fhipping and
navigation, of fervice and attendance, of fame and
renown, and the like, yet he maketh no claim to
any of thofe glories, but only to the glory of
inquifition of truth; for fo he faith expreflly, The
glory of God is to conceal a thing, but the glory of the
king 1s to find it out ;*° as if, according to the inno-
cent play of children, the Divine Majefty took
delight to hide His works, to the end to have
them found out ; and as if kings could not obtain
a greater honour than to be God’s playfellows in
that game; confidering the great commandment
of wits and means, whereby nothing needeth to be
hidden from them.

Neither did the difpenfation of God vary in the
times after our Saviour came into the world ; for

29 y Kings iii, 5, fgg. °° Nov. Org. ii. 30. %! 1 Kings iv. 33.
32 Prov. XXV. 2.

BOOK I. 61

our Saviour Himfelf did firft fhow His power to
fubdue ignorance, by His conference with the
priefts and doétors of the law,*3 before He fhowed
His power to fubdue nature by His miracles. And
the coming of the Holy Spirit was chiefly figured
and expreffed in the fimilitude and gift of tongues,°4
which are but vehicula /cientia.

So in the election of thofe inftruments, which
it pleafed God to ufe for the plantation of the
Faith, notwithftanding that at the firft He did em-
ploy perfons altogether unlearned, otherwife than
by infpiration, more evidently to declare His im-
mediate working, and to abafe all human wifdom
or knowledge; yet, neverthelefs, that counfel of
His was no fooner performed, but in the next vi-
ciffitude and fucceflion He did fend His Divine
Truth into the world waited on with other learn-
ings, as with fervants or handmaids; for fo we fee
St. Paul, who was the only learned amongft the
Apoftles, had his pen moft ufed in the Scriptures
of the New Teftament.

So again, we find that many of the ancient
Bifhops and Fathers of the Church were excel-
lently read and ftudied in all the learning of the
heathen ; infomuch that the edict of the Emperor
Julianus,® whereby it was interdiéted unto Chrif-
tians to be admitted into fchools, lectures, or ex-
ercifes of learning, was efteemed and accounted a
more pernicious engine and machination againft

3 Luke ii. 46. 34 AG. Ap. ii, 1.
38 Gibbon, vol. ii. c. 23, who quotes Ammian. xxv. 5.

12. The
Apoftles
not all
unlearned.
St Paul:

13. Learned
Bithops, &c.

62 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

the Chriftian Faith, than were all the fanguinary
profecutions of his predeceflors; neither could the
emulation and jealoufy of Gregory the firft of that
name, bifhop of Rome,*® ever obtain the opinion
of piety or devotion ; but contrariwife received the
cenfure of humour, malignity, and pufillanimity,
even amoneft holy men; in that he defigned to
obliterate and extinguifh the memory of heathen
antiquity and authors. But contrariwife, it was
the Chriftian Church, which, amidft the inunda-
tions of the Scythians on the one fide from the
north-weft, and the Saracens from the eaft, did
preferve in the facred lap and bofom thereof the
precious relics even of heathen learning, which
otherwife had been extinguifhed as if no fuch
thing had ever been.

14. Revival And we fee before our eyes, that in the age of

Ee ae ourfelves and our fathers, when it pleafed God to

formation, Call the Church of Rome to account for their de-
generate manners and ceremonies, and fundry doc-
trines obnoxious and framed to uphold the fame
abufes ; at one and the fame time it was ordained
by the Divine Providence that there fhould attend
withal a renovation and new fpring of all other
knowledges. And on the other fide we fee the
Jefuits, (who partly in themfelves, and partly by
the emulation and provocation of their example,
have much quickened and ftrengthened the ftate

86 Gibbon, vol. iv. c. 45. The ftory that St. Gregory de-
ftroyed the Palatine Library is now rejected ; but as to his averfion
to profane letters there can be no doubt. Milman’s Latin Chrif-
tianity, bk. iii. c. 7.

BOOK I. 63

of learning,) we fee, I fay, what notable fervice
and reparation they have done to the Roman fee.

Wherefore, to conclude this part, let it be ob-
ferved, that there be two principal duties and fer-
vices, befides ornament and illuftration, which
philofophy and human learning do perform to
faith and religion. ‘The one, becaufe they are an
effectual inducement to the exaltation of the glory
of God: for as the Pfalms and other Scriptures do
often invite us to confider and magnify the great
and wonderful works of God,** fo if we fhould
reft only in the contemplation of the exterior of
them, as they firft offer themfelves to our fenfes,
we fhould do a like injury unto the Majefty of
God, as if we fhould judge or conftrue of the
ftore of fome excellent jeweller, by that only
which is fet out toward the ftreet in his fhop.
The other, becaufe they minifter a fingular help
and prefervative again{ft unbelief and error: for
our Saviour faith, You err, not knowing the Scrip-
tures, nor the power of God ;*° laying before us two
books or volumes to ftudy, if we will be fecured
from error; firft, the Scriptures, revealing the
Will of God ; and then the creatures exprefling
His Power ;%9 whereof the latter is a key unto the
former: not only opening our underftanding to
conceive the true fenfe of the Scriptures, by the
general notions of reafon and rules of fpeech; but
chiefly opening our belief, in drawing us into a
due meditation of the omnipotency of God, which
is chiefly figned and engraven upon His works.

710 Pa, aie OLY. 38 Matt. xxii. 29. 39 Cf. Nov. Org. i. 89.

15. Con-
clufion.

Human
Proofs.

Learning in
higheft
honour
among the
Heathen.

1. As bear-
ing much
fruit.

64 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Thus much therefore for divine teftimony and
evidence concerning the true dignity and value of
Learning.

ii. As for human proofs, it is fo large a field,
as in a difcourfe of this nature and brevity it is
fit rather to ufe choice of thofe things which we
fhall produce, than to embrace the variety of
them. Firft, therefore, in the degrees of human
honour amongft the heathen, it was the higheft to
obtain to a veneration and adoration as a God.
This unto the Chriftians is as the forbidden fruit.
But we {peak now feparately of human teftimony:
according to which, that which the Grecians call
apotheofis, and the Latins, relatio inter divos, was
the fupreme honour which man could attribute
unto man: efpecially when it was given; not bya
formal decree or act of ftate, as it was ufed among
the Roman Emperors, but by an inward affent
and belief. Which honour, being fo high, had
alfo a degree or middle term; for there were
reckoned above human honours, honours*® heroi-
cal and divine: in the attribution and diftribution
of which honours, we fee antiquity made this
difference : that whereas founders and uniters of
{tates and cities, law-givers, extirpers of tyrants,
fathers of the people, and other eminent perfons in
civil merit, were honoured but with the titles of
worthies or demi-gods; fuch as were Hercules,
Thefeus, Minos, Romulus, and the like: on the
other fide, fuch a8 were inventors and authors of
new arts, endowments, and commodities towards

40 All the old Editions read boncur.

BOOK I. 65

man’s life, were ever confecrated amongft the gods
themfelves ; as were Ceres, Bacchus, Mercurius,
Apollo, and others: and juftly; for the merit of
the former is confined within the circle of an age
or a nation; and is like fruitful fhowers, which
though they be profitable and good, yet ferve but
for that feafon, and for a latitude of ground where
they fall; but the other is indeed like the benefits
of heaven, which are permanent and univerfal.
The former, again, is mixed with ftrife and per-
turbation; but the latter hath the true character
of Divine Prefence, coming* in aura Jeni, without
noife or agitation.

Neither is certainly that other merit of learning,
in repreffing the inconveniences which grow from
man to man, much inferior to the former, of re-
lieving the neceffities which arife from nature ;
which merit was lively fet forth by the ancients in
that feigned relation of Orpheus’ theatre, where all
beafts and birds aflembled ; and, forgetting their
feveral appetites, fome of prey, fome of game,
fome of quarrel, ftood all fociably together liften-
ing to the airs and accords of the harp; the found
whereof no fooner ceafed, or was drowned by
fome louder noife, but every beaft returned to its
own nature: wherein is aptly defcribed the nature
and condition of men, who are full of favage and
unreclaimed defires of profit, of luft, of revenge ;
which as long as they give ear to precepts, to

41 In the edition 1605 com— ends a line, and the remainder of
the word has been omitted. The editions 1629 and 1633 read
commonly.

F

2. As bring-
ing peace
and fe-
curity.

;
;
;
i
1p
I
{
:
{
|

Efpecially
under
learned
princes,

66 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

laws, to religion, fweetly touched with eloquence
and perfuafion of books, of fermons, of harangues,
fo long is fociety and peace maintained ; but if
thefe inftruments be filent, or that fedition and
tumult make them not audible, all things diffolve
into anarchy and confufion.

But this appeareth more manifeftly, when kings
themfelves, or perfons of authority under them, or
other governors in commonwealths and popular
eftates, are endued with learning. For although
he might be thought partial to his own profeffion,
that faid, Then /hould people and eftates be happy,
when either kings were philofophers, or philofophers
kings ;** yet fo much is verified by experience, that
under learned princes and governors there have
been ever the beft times: for howfoever kings
may have their imperfections in their paffions and
cuftoms; yet if they be illuminate by learning,
they have thofe notions of religion, policy, and
morality, which do preferve them, and refrain
them from all ruinous and peremptory errors
and excefles ; whifpering evermore in their ears,
when counfellors and fervants ftand mute and
filent. And fenators or counfellors likewife,
which be learned, do proceed upon more fafe and
fubftantial principles, than counfellors which are
only men of experience: the one fort keeping
dangers afar off, whereas the other difcover them
not till they come near hand, and then truft to
the agility of their wit to ward or avoid them.

42 Plat. Rep. v. 473.

BOOK I. 67

Which felicity of times under learned princes, Such as the
(to keep {till the law of brevity, by ufing the moft aay
eminent and felected examples,) doth beft appear Domitian.
in the age which paffed from the death of Domi-
tian the emperor until the reign of Commodus ;
comprehending a fucceffion of fix princes, all
learned, or fingular favourers and advancers of
learning, which age for temporal refpects, was the
moft happy and flourifhing that ever the Roman H
empire, (which then was a model of the world,) !
enjoyed: a matter revealed and prefigured unto |
Domitian in a dream the night before he was
flain ; for he thought there was grown behind
upon his fhoulders a neck and a head of gold:
which came accordingly to pafs in thofe golden
times which fucceeded: of which princes we will
make fome commemoration ; wherein although
the matter will be vulgar, and may be thought
fitter for a declamation than agreeable to a treatife
_ infolded as this is, yet becaufe it is pertinent to the
point in hand,

Neque femper arcum
Tendit Apollo,**

and to name them only were too naked and cur-
fory, I will not omit it altogether. The firft was
Nerva; the excellent temper of whofe govern- (1.) Nava.
ment is by a glance in Cornelius Tacitus touched
to the life: Poffguam divus Nerva res olim infocia-
biles mifcuiffet, imperium et libertatem.4* And in
token of his learning, the laft act of his fhort

* Hor. Od. ii. 10, 19.. MT Asrics Wits) C3,

(2.) Trajan.

68 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

reign left to memory, was a miffive to his adopted
fon Trajan, proceeding upon fome inward difcon-
tent at the ingratitude of the times, comprehended
in a verfe of Homer’s:

Telis, Phebe, tuis lacrymas ulcifcere noftras.4®

Trajan, who fucceeded, was for his perfon not
learned: but if we will hearken to the fpeech of
our Saviour, that faith, He that receiveth a prophet
in the name of a prophet, fhall have a prophet’s
reward ;*© he deferveth to be placed amongft the
moft learned princes: for there was not a greater
admirer of learning, or benefactor of learning ;
a founder of famous libraries, a perpetual advancer
of learned men to office, and a familiar converfer
with learned profeffors and preceptors, who were
noted to have then moft credit in court. On the
other fide, how much Trajan’s virtue and govern-
ment was admired and renowned, furely no tefti-
mony of grave and faithful hiftory doth more lively
fet forth, than that legend tale of Gregorius Magnus,
bifhop of Rome, who was noted for the extreme
envy he bore towards all heathen excellency: and
yet he is reported, out of the love and eftimation
of Trajan’s moral virtues, to have made unto God
paffionate and fervent prayers for the delivery of
his foul out of hell :47 and to have obtained it, with
a caveat that he fhould make no more fuch peti-
tions. In this prince’s time alfo, the perfecution

4 Ticsray Aavaoi tua ddaxpva coiot BéXeoow. Hom. LI.
a. 42. Dionis. Epit. (Xiphilini), xii.

4° Matt. x. 41.
47 See Dante, Purgatorio, x. who feems to take it from the Life

of Gregory, by John the Deacon,

BOOK I. 69

againft the Chriftians received intermiffion, upon
the certificate of Plinius Secundus, a man of ex-
cellent learning, and by Trajan advanced.*

Adrian, his fucceflor, was the moft curious man (3.) Adrian.

that lived, and the moft univerfal inquirer ; info-
much as it was noted for an error in his mind,
that he defired to comprehend all things, and not
to referve himfelf for the worthieft things : falling
into the like humour that was long before noted
in Philip of Macedon, who, when he would needs
over-rule and put down an excellent mufician in
an argument touching mufic, was well anfwered
by him again, God forbid, fir, faith he, that your
fortune fhould be fo bad, as to know thefe things
better than I.49 It pleafed God likewife to ufe the
curiofity of this emperor as an inducement to the
peace of His Church in thofe days. For having
Chrift in veneration, not as a God or Saviour, but
as a wonder or novelty; and having His picture in
his gallery, matched with Apollonius, with whom
in his vain imagination he thought he had fome
conformity ; yet it ferved the turn to allay the
bitter hatred of thofe times againft the Chriftian
name, fo as the Church had peace during his time.

And for his government civil, although he did not
attain to that of Trajan’s in glory of arms, or per-
fection of juftice, yet in deferving of the weal of
the fubjeét he did exceed him. For Trajan
erected many famous monuments and buildings ;
infomuch as Conftantine the Great in emulation

4 C, Plin. Epi. x. 97. 49 Plutarch, Apophth. 179.

(4.) Anto-
ninus Pius.

70 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

was wont to call him Parietaria, wall-flower,
becaufe his name was upon fo many walls: but
his buildings and works were more of glory and
triumph than ufe and neceffity. But Adrian fpent
his whole reign, which was peaceable, in a per-
ambulation or furvey of the Roman empire; giving
order and making affignation where he went, for
re-edifying of cities, towns, and forts decayed; and
for cutting of rivers and ftreams, and for making
bridges and paflages, and for policing® of cities and
commonalties with new ordinances and conftitu-
tions, and granting new franchifes and incorpora-
tions; fo that his whole time was a very reftoration
of all the lapfes and decays of former times.

Antoninus Pius, who fucceeded him, was a prince
excellently learned; and had the patient and fubtle
wit of a fchoolman; infomuch as in common fpeech,
which leaves no virtue untaxed, he was called
Cymini Seétor,*! a carver or divider of cummin,
which is one of the leaft feeds; fuch a patience he
had and fettled fpirit to enter into the leaft and
moft exact differences of caufes ; a fruit no doubt
of the exceeding tranquillity and ferenity of his
mind ; which being no ways charged or incum-
bered, either with fears, remorfes, or fcruples, but
having been noted for a man of the pureft good-
nefs, without all fiGtion or affectation, that hath
reigned or lived, made his mind continually pre-
fent and entire. He likewife approached a degree

30 Editions 1605 and 1629, pollicing, edition 1633, pollifbing.

5! Unum de iftis puto qui cuminum fecant. Julian, Ces. So

Ariftot. Erk. Nic. iv. 3, ei¢ Twv dtarpiovrwy To Kipuvoy:
where, however, the phrafe is ufed of the * fkinflint,” or niggard.

‘BOOK I. 71

nearer unto Chriftianity, and became, as Agrippa
faid unto St. Paul, half a Chriftian ;5* holding their
religion and law in good opinion, and not only
ceafing perfecution, but giving way to the advance-
ment of Chriftians.

There fucceeded him the firft Divi fratres, the
two adoptive brethren, Lucius Commodus Verus,*?
(fon to HZlius Verus, who delighted much in the
fofter kind of learning, and was wont to call the
poet Martial his Virgil,*4) and Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus ; whereof the latter, who obfcured his
colleague and furvived him long, was named the
philofopher: who, as he excelled all the reft in
learning, fo he excelled them likewife in perfection
of all royal virtues ; infomuch as Julianus the em-
peror, in his book entitled Cz/ares, being as a
pafquil or fatire to deride all his predeceffors,
feigned that they were all invited to a banquet of
the gods, and Silenus the jefter fat at the nether
end of the table, and beftowed a {coff on every
one as they came in; but when Marcus Philofo-
phus came in, Silenus was gravelled, and out of
countenance, not knowing where to carp at him ;
fave at the laft he gave a glance at his patience
towards his wife. And the virtue of this prince,
continued with that of his predeceflor, made the
name of Antoninus fo facred in the world, that
though it were extremely difhonoured in Com-
modus, Caracalla, and Heliogabalus, who all bore
the name, yet when Alexander Severus refufed

52 Aéts xxvi. 28. 53 Better known as L. Aurelius Verus,
*# See his life by Spartianus.

(5 and 6.)
L. Commo-
dus Verus,
and M, Aur.
Antoninus,

So under
Queen

Elizabeth.

72 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

the name, becaufe he was a {tranger to the family,
the fenate with one acclamation faid, Quomodo
Auguftus, fic et Antoninus. In fuch renown and
veneration was the name of thefe two princes in
thofe days, that they would have it as a perpetual
addition in all the emperor’s ftyle. In this em-
peror’s time alfo the Church for the moft part was
in peace ; fo as in this fequence of fix princes we
do fee the bleffed effects of learning in fovereignty,
painted forth in the greateft table of the world.
But for a tablet, or picture of {fmaller volume,
(not prefuming to forwall of your majefty that liveth,)
in my judgment the moft excellent is that of Queen
Elizabeth, your immediate predeceffor in this part
of Baan ; a princefs that, if Plutarch were now
alive to write lives®> by parallels, would trouble
him, I think, to find for her a parallel amongft
women. ‘This lady was endued with learning in
her fex fingular, and great®® even amongft mafculine
princes; whether we fpeak of learning, of lan-
guage, or of {cience, modern or ancient, Divinity
or Humanity: and unto the very laft year of her
life fhe was accuftomed to appoint fet hours for
reading, fcarcely any young ftudent in a univerfity
more daily, or more duly. As for her govern-
ment, I affure myfelf I fhall not exceed, if I do
affirm that this part of the ifland never had forty-
five years of better times; and yet not through
the calmnefs of the feafon, but through the wifdom
55 Ed. 1605, /ynes.

56 Edd. 1629, 1633, rare. Ed. 1605, grace, i.e. “learning
in her fex fingular, and grace even among{t mafculine princes.”

BOOK I. 73

of her regiment. For if there be confidered of the
one fide, the truth of religion eftablifhed; the con-
ftant peace and fecurity; the good adminiftration
of juftice; the temperate ufe of the prerogative, not
flackened, nor much ftrained; the flourifhing ftate
of learning, fortable to fo excellent a patronefs; the
convenient eftate of wealth and means, both of
Crown and fubje&t; the habit of obedience, and
the moderation of difcontents: and there be con-
fidered on the other fide the differences of religion ;
the troubles of neighbour countries; the ambition
of Spain, and oppofition of Rome; and then,
that fhe was folitary and of herfelf: thefe things,
I fay, confidered, as I could not have chofen an
inftance fo recent and fo proper, fo I fuppofe I
could not have chofen one more remarkable or
eminent to the purpofe now in hand, which is
concerning the conjunction of learning in the
prince with felicity in the people.

Neither hath learning an influence and opera-
tion only upon civil merit and moral virtue, and
the arts or temperature of peace and peaceable
government ; but likewife it hath no lefs power
and efficacy in enablement towards martial and
military virtue and prowefs; as may be notably
reprefented in the examples of Alexander the
Great, and Czfar the dictator, mentioned before,
but now in fit place to be refumed : of whofe
virtues and acts in war there needs no note or
recital, having been the wonders of time in that
kind: but of their affections towards learning, and

3. As pro-
moting
greatnefs in
war.

As Alexan-
der.

74 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

perfections in learning, it is pertinent to fay fome-
what.

Alexander®? was bred and taught under Arif-
totle, the great philofopher, who dedicated divers
of his books of philofophy unto him: he was at-
tended with Callifthenes and divers other learned
perfons, that followed him in camp, throughout
his journeys and conquefts. What price and efti-
mation he had learning in doth notably appear in
thefe three particulars: firft, in the envy he ufed
to exprefs that he bore towards Achilles, in this,
that he had fo good a trumpet of his praifes as
Homer’s verfes ; fecondly, in the judgment or fo-
lution he gave touching that precious cabinet of
Darius, which was found among his jewels ;
whereof queftion was made what thing was wor-
thy to be put into it; and he gave his opinion for
Homer’s works: thirdly, in his letter to Ariftotle,
after he had fet forth his books of nature, wherein
he expoftulated with him for publifhing the fecrets
or mytteries of philofophy ; and gave him to un-
derftand that himfelf efteemed it more to excel
other men in learning and knowledge than in
power and empire. And what ufe he had of
learning doth appear, or rather fhine, in all his
fpeeches and anfwers, being full of fcience, and
ufe of fcience, and that in all variety.

And herein again it may feem a thing fcholaf-
tical, and fomewhat idle, to recite things that
every man knoweth ; but yet, fince the argument
I handle leadeth me thereunto, I am glad that

57 Thefe anecdotes of Alexander come from Plutarch, Vit. Alex.

EEE

BOOK I. 75

men fhall perceive I am as willing to flatter, if
they will fo call it, an Alexander, or a Cefar, or
an Antoninus, that are dead many hundred years
fince, as any that now liveth: for it is the difplay-
ing of the glory of learning in fovereignty that I
propound to myfelf, and not an humour of de-
claiming in any man’s praifes. Obferve then the
fpeech he ufed of Diogenes, and fee if it tend not
to the true ftate of one of the greateft queftions
of moral philofophy ; whether the enjoying of
outward things, or the contemning of them, be the
greateft happinefs : for when he faw Diogenes fo
perfectly contented with {fo little, he faid to thofe
that mocked at his condition, Were I not Alexan-
der, I would wifh to be Diogenes. But Seneca in-
verteth it, and faith; Plus erat, quod hic nollet
accipere, quam quod ille poffet dare.® ‘There were
more things which Diogenes would have refufed,
than there were which Alexander could have
given.

Obferve again that fpeech which was ufual with
him, That he felt his mortality chiefly in two
things, fleep and luff ;°9 and fee if it were not a
fpeech extracted out of the depth of natural phi-
lofophy, and liker to have come out of the mouth
of Ariftotle or Democritus, than from Alexander.

See again that fpeech of humanity and poefy ;
when upon the bleeding of his wounds, he called
unto him one of his flatterers, that was wont to
afcribe to him divine honour, and faid, Loof, this
is very blood ; this is not fuch a liquor as Homer

$8 Sen. De Benef. v. 4. 8? Sen. Ep. Mor. vi. 7.

76 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Jpeaketh of, which ran from Venus’ hand, when it
was pierced by Diomedes.©

See likewife his readinefs in reprehenfion of
logic, in the fpeech he ufed to Caflander, upon a
complaint that was made againft his father Anti-
pater: for when Alexander happened to fay, Da
~ you think thefe men would have come from fo far to
complain, except they had juft caufe of grief ?
And Caflander anfwered, Yea, that was the mat-
ter, becaufe they thought they fhould not be difproved.
Said Alexander laughing: See the fubtilties of
Ariftotle, to take a matter both ways, pro et contra,
re

But note again how well he could ufe the fame
art, which he reprehended, to ferve his own hu-
mour: when bearing a fecret grudge to Callif-
thenes, becaufe he was againft the new ceremony
of his adoration, feafting one night where the
fame Callifthenes was at the table, it was moved
by fome after fupper, for entertainment fake, that
Callifthenes, who was an eloquent man, might
fpeak of fome theme or purpofe at his own
choice ; which Callifthenes did; choofing the
praife of the Macedonian nation for his difcourfe,
and performing the fame with fo good manner,
as the hearers were much ravifhed : whereupon
Alexander, nothing pleafed, faid, /t was ea/y to be
eloquent upon fo good a fubjeé?. But, faith he, Turn
your ftyle, and let us hear what you can fay againft
us: which Callifthenes prefently undertook, and

60 “"Iywp, oidc mEp TE peer paxapecar Oeoiow. Il. €. 340. Cf,
Seneca, ad Lucil. 59.

BOOK I. 77

did with that fting and life, that Alexander inter-
rupted him, and faid, The goodne/s of the caufe
made him eloquent before, and defpite made him
eloquent then again.

Confider further, for tropes of rhetoric, that
excellent ufe of a metaphor or tranflation, where-
with he taxed Antipater, who was an imperious
and tyrannous governor: for when one of Anti-
pater’s friends commended him to Alexander for
his moderation, that he did not degenerate, as his
other lieutenants did, into the Perfian pride, in ufe
of purple, but kept the ancient habit of Macedon,
of black ;© Trwe, faith Alexander, but Antipater is
all purple within. Or that other, when Par-
menio came to him in the plain of Arbela, and
fhowed him the innumerable multitude of his
enemies, efpecially as they appeared by the inf-
nite number of lights, as it had been a new firma-
ment of ftars, and thereupon advifed him to affail
them by night: whereupon he anfwered, That he
would not fteal the victory.

For matter of policy, weigh that fignificant dif-
tinction, fo much in all ages embraced, that he
made between his two friends, Hephzftion and
Craterus, when he faid, That the one loved Alex-
ander, and the other loved the king: defcribing the
principal difference of princes’ beft fervants, that
fome in affection love their perfon, and others in
duty love their crown.

Weigh alfo that excellent taxation of an error,
ordinary with counfellors of princes, that they

St The Greek is Xevkorrdpu¢oc.
2 Odordpgdupoc. Apop. Reg. et Imp.

76 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Jpeaketh of, which ran from Venus’ hand, when it
was pierced by Diomedes.©

See likewife his readinefs in reprehenfion of
logic, in the fpeech he ufed to Caffander, upon a
complaint that was made againft his father Anti-
pater: for when Alexander happened to fay, Do
~ you think thefe men would have come from fo far to
complain, except they had juf? caufe of grief ?
And Caffander anfwered, Yea, that was the mat-
ter, becaufe they thought they fhould not be difproved.
Said Alexander laughing: See the fubtilties of
Ariftotle, to take a matter both ways, pro et contra,
ee

But note again how well he could ufe the fame
art, which he reprehended, to ferve his own hu-
mour: when bearing a fecret grudge to Callif-
thenes, becaufe he was againft the new ceremony
of his adoration, feafting one night where the
fame Callifthenes was at the table, it was moved
by fome after fupper, for entertainment fake, that
Callifthenes, who was an eloquent man, might
fpeak of fome theme or purpofe at his own
choice; which Callifthenes did; choofing the
praife of the Macedonian nation for his difcourfe,
and performing the fame with fo good manner,
as the hearers were much ravifhed : whereupon
Alexander, nothing pleafed, faid, /t was ea/y to be
eloquent upon fo good a fubjec?. But, faith he, Turn
your ftyle, and let us hear what you can fay againft
us: which Callifthenes prefently undertook, and

69 "Iywp, cidc wép TE pier waxdpecar Oeoior. Il. &. 340. CF,
Seneca, ad Lucil. 59.

BOOK 1. 77

did with that fting and life, that Alexander inter-
rupted him, and faid, The goodne/s of the caufe
made him eloquent before, and defpite made him
eloquent then again.

Confider further, for tropes of rhetoric, that
excellent ufe of a metaphor or tranflation, where-
with he taxed Antipater, who was an imperious
and tyrannous governor: for when one of Anti-
pater’s friends commended him to Alexander for
his moderation, that he did not degenerate, as his
other lieutenants did, into the Perfian pride, in ufe
of purple, but kept the ancient habit of Macedon,
of black ;° True, faith Alexander, but Antipater is
all purple within. Or that other, when Par-
menio came to him in the plain of Arbela, and
fhowed him the innumerable multitude of his
enemies, efpecially as they appeared by the infi-
nite number of lights, as it had been a new firma-
ment of ftars, and thereupon advifed him to affail
them by night: whereupon he anfwered, That he
would not fteal the victory.

For matter of policy, weigh that fignificant dif-
tinction, fo much in all ages embraced, that he
made between his two friends, Hephzftion and
Craterus, when he faid, That the one loved Alex-
ander, and the other loved the king: defcribing the
principal difference of princes’ beft fervants, that
fome in affection love their perfon, and others in
duty love their crown.

Weigh alfo that excellent taxation of an error,
ordinary with counfellors of princes, that they

St The Greek is Xevxordpudgoc.
2 ohowdpgupoc. pop. Reg. ex Imp.

80 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

he collected, we fee that he efteemed it more
honour to make himfelf but a pair of tables to
take the wife and pithy words of others, than to
have every word of his own to be made an
apophthegm or an oracle; as vain princes, by
cuftom of flattery, pretend to do. And yet if I
fhould enumerate divers of his fpeeches, as I did
thofe of Alexander, they are truly fuch as Solomon
noteth, when he faith, Verba fapientum tanquam
aculei, et tanquam clavi in altum defixi :© whereof
I will only recite three, not fo delectable for ele-
gancy, but admirable for vigour and efficacy.

As, firft, it is reafon he be thought a mafter of
words, that could with une word appeafe a mutiny
in his army, which was thus: The Romans,
when their generals did fpeak to their army, did
ufe the word milites, but when the magiftrates
fpake to the people, they did ufe the word Quirites.
The foldiers were in tumult, and feditioufly prayed
to be cafhiered ; not that they fo meant, but by
expoftulation thereof to draw Czfar to other con-
ditions; wherein he being refolute not to give
way, after fome filence, he began his fpeech, Ega,
Quirites,™ which did admit them already cafh-
iered ; wherewith they were fo furprifed, croffed,
and confufed, as they would not fuffer him to go
on in his {fpeech, but relinquifhed their demands,
and made it their fuit to be again called by the
name of milites.

The fecond fpeech was thus: Czfar did ex-
tremely affect the name of king; and fome were

§$ Cic. Epift. ad Div. ix. 16. 6 Eccl: xuem
67 Suet. Ful. Ces. c. 70.

BOOK I. 81

fet on as he paffed by in popular acclamation to
falute him king: whereupon, finding the cry weak
and poor, he put it off thus, in a kind of jeft, as
if they had miftaken his furname; Non Rex fum,
fed Cafar ;* a {peech that if it be fearched the life
and fulnefs of it can fcarce be exprefled. For,
firft, it was a refufal of the name, but yet not fe-
rious: again, it did fignify an infinite confidence
and magnanimity, as if he prefumed Czfar was the
greater title ; as by his worthinefs it is come to pafs
till this day: but chiefly it was a {peech of great
allurement toward his own purpofe ; as if the ftate
did ftrive with him but for a name, whereof mean
families were vefted ; for Rex was a furname with
the Romans, as well as King is with us.°9

The laft fpeech which I will mention, was ufed
to Metellus, when Czfar after war declared did
poffefs himfelf of the city of Rome; at which
time entering into the inner treafury to take the
money there accumulated, Metellus being tribune
forbade him: whereto Cefar faid, That if he did
not defif?, he would lay him dead in the place. And
prefently taking himfelf up, he added, 4dolefcens,
durius eft mihi hoc dicere quam facere. Young man,
it is harder for me to fpeak than to do it? A
fpeech compounded of the greateft terror and
greateft clemency that could proceed out of the
mouth of man.”

68 Suet. Ful. Ces. c. 70. 6 Cf. Hor. Sat. I. vii.

70 Plutarch, Ful. Ces.

71 To thefe might have well been added Czefar’s exhortation to
the boatman, “‘ Thou carrieft Czfar and his fortunes.”

G

And Xeno-
phon.

82 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

But to return and conclude with him ; it is evi-
dent, himfelf knew well his own perfeétion in
learning, and took it upon him ; as appeared when,
upon occafion that fome fpake what a ftrange re-
folution it was in Lucius Sylla to refign his difta-
ture; he fcoffing at him to his own advantage
anfwered, That Sylla could not kill of letters, and
therefore knew not how to diétate.7®

And here it were fit to leave this point, touching
the concurrence of military virtue and learning; (for
what example would come with any grace after
thofe two of Alexander and Czfar?) were it not
in regard of the rarenefs of circumftance that I
find in one other particular, as that which did fo
fuddenly pafs from extreme fcorn to extreme won-
der ; and it is of Xenophon the philofopher, who
went from Socrates’ fchool into Afia, in the expe-
dition of Cyrus the younger, againft King Arta-
xerxes. [his Xenophon at that time was very
young, and never had feen the wars before; neither
had any command in the army, but only followed
the war as a voluntary, for the love and conver-
fation of Proxenus his friend.73_ He was prefent
when Phalynus came in meflage from the great
king to the Grecians, after that Cyrus was flain
in the field, and they a handful of men left to them-
felves in the midft of the king’s territories, cut off
from their country by many navigable rivers, and
many hundred miles. The meflage imported,
that they fhould deliver up their arms, and fubmit

77 Sucte yu, Cai: 77. ™ Xen, Anab. ii. ad fin.

BOOK I. - 83

themfelves to the king’s mercy. To which mef-
fage before anfwer was made, divers of the army
conferred familiarly with Phalynus, and amongft
the reft Xenophon happened to fay, Why, Phaly-
nus, we have now but thefe two things left, our arms
and our virtue; and if we yield up our arms, how
fall we make ufe of our virtue? Whereto Pha-
lynus fmiling on him, faid, Jf I be not deceived,
young gentleman, you are an Athenian: and, I be-
lieve you ftudy philofophy, and it is pretty that you
fay: but you are much abufed, if you think your vir-
tue can withftand the king’s power.’* Here was
the fcorn; the wonder followed: which was, that
this young {fcholar or philofopher, after all the cap-
tains were murdered in parley by treafon, con-
ducted thofe ten thoufand foot through the heart
of all the king’s high countries from Babylon to
Grecia in fafety, in defpite of all the king’s forces,
to the aftonifhment of the world, and the encou-
ragement of the Grecians in time fucceeding to
make invafion upon the kings of Perfia: as was
after purpofed by Jafon the Theffalian, attempted
by Agefilaus the Spartan, and achieved by Alex-
ander the Macedonian, all upon the ground of the
act of that young {cholar.
To proceed now from imperial and military 4. Alfo in

virtue to moral and private virtue: firft, it is an ‘* moist
: 4 : E and private

affured truth, which is contained in the verfes: _ effeéts by
Scilicet ingenuas didiciffe fideliter artes, Ee

Emollit mores, nec finit effe feros.7 a eke =

It taketh away the wildnefs and barbarifm and
™ Xen. Anab. ii. 1. 12. 75 Ov. Ep. Pont. ii. ix. 47.

84 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fiercenefs of men’s minds; but indeed the accent
had need be upon fideliter: for a little fuperficial
learning doth rather work a contrary effet. It
taketh away all levity, temerity, and infolency, by
copious fuggeftion of all doubts and difficulties,
and acquainting the mind to balance reafons on
both fides, and to turn back the firft offers and
conceits of the mind, and to accept of nothing
but examined and tried. It taketh away vain
admiration of anything, which is the root of
all weaknefs: for all things are admired either
becaufe they are new, or becaufe they are great.
For novelty, no man that wadeth in learning
or contemplation thoroughly, but will find that
" printed in his heart Nil novi fuper terram.® Nei-
ther can any man marvel at the play of puppets,
that goeth behind the curtain, and advifeth well of
the motion. And for magnitude, as Alexander
the Great, after that he was ufed to great armies,
and the great conquefts of the fpacious provinces
in Afia, when he received letters out of Greece,
of fome fights and fervices there, which were com-
monly for a paflage or a fort, or fome walled town
at the moft, he faid, It /eemed to him that he was
advertifed of the Battle of the Frogs and the Mice,
that the old tales went of. So certainly, if a man
meditate much upon the univerfal frame of nature,
the earth with men upon it (the divinenefs of
fouls except,) will not feem much other than an
78 Keclale9.

7 "Eoucev, © Gvdpec, dre Aapsiov ipeic tvixdpev tvradda,
éxet ric tv "Apkadia yeyovevat prvopayia. Plut. Ages. c, 15.

BOOK I. 85

ant-hill, whereas fome ants carry corn, and fome
carry their young, and fome go empty, and all to-
and-fro a little heap of duft. It taketh away or
mitigateth fear of death, or adverfe fortune ; which
is one of the greateft impediments of virtue, and
imperfections of manners. For if a man’s mind
be deeply feafoned with the confideration of the
mortality and corruptible nature of things, he will
eafily concur with Epictetus, who went forth one
day and faw a woman weeping for her pitcher of
earth that was broken; and went forth the next
day and faw a woman weeping for her fon that
was dead, and thereupon faid: Heri vidi fragilem
frangi, hodie vidi mortalem mori."® And therefore
Virgil did excellently and profoundly couple the
knowledge of caufes and the conquett of all fears,
together, as concomitantia:

Felix, qui potuit rerum cognofcere caufas,
Quique metus omnes, et inexorabile fatum
Subjecit pedibus, ftrepitumque Acherontis avari.7

It were too long to go over the particular reme-
dies which learning doth minifter to all the difeafes
of the mind ; fometimes purging the ill-humours,
fometimes opening the obftructions, fometimes
helping digeftion, fometimes increafing appetite,
fometimes healing the wounds and exulcerations
thereof, and the like; and, therefore, I will con-
clude with that which hath rationem totius, which
is, that it difpofeth the conftitution of the mind not
to be fixed or fettled in the defects thereof, but

7% There is no fuch tale in Epictetus, but fee Simplicii in Epi&.
Comment. cap. 33. 79 Virg. Georg. ii. 490.

5. In giving
dignity to
human na-
ture.

86 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

{till to be capable and fufceptible of growth and
reformation. For the unlearned man knows not
what it is to defcend into himfelf, or to call him-
felf to account ; nor the pleafure of that /uaviffima
vita, indies fentire fe fieri meliorem.® The good
parts he hath he will learn to fhow to the full, and
ufe them dexteroufly, but not much to increafe
them: the faults he hath he will learn how to hide
and colour them, but not much to amend them:
like an ill mower, that mows on iftill, and never
whets his feythe: whereas with the learned man
it fares otherwife, that he doth ever intermix
the correction and amendment of his mind with
the ufe and employment thereof. Nay, further,
in general and in fum, certain it is that Veritas
and Bonitas differ but as the feal and the print:
for Truth prints Goodnefs ; and they be the clouds
of error which defcend in the ftorms of paffions
and perturbations.

From moral virtue let us pafs on to matter of
power and commandment, and confider whether
in right reafon there be any comparable with that
wherewith knowledge invefteth and crowneth
man’s nature. We fee the dignity of the com-
mandment is according to the dignity of the com-
manded: to have commandment over beafts, as
herdmen have, is a thing contemptible; to have
commandment over children, as fchoolmafters
have, is a matter of {mall honour; to have com-
mandment over galley-flaves is a difparagement
rather than an honour. Neither is the command-

80 Xen. Mem. i. 6.

BOOK I. 87

ment of tyrants much better, over people which
have put off the generofity of their minds: and
therefore it was ever holden that honours in free
monarchies and commonwealths had a fweetnefs
more than in tyrannies; becaufe the command-
ment extendeth more over the wills of men, and
not only over their deeds and fervices. And there-
fore, when Virgil putteth himfelf forth to attribute
to Auguftus Czfar the beft of human honours, he
doth it in thefe words:
Vi@torque volentes
Per populos dat jura, viamque affectat Olympo.®!

But yet the commandment of knowledge is yet
higher than the commandment over the will ; for
it is a commandment over the reafon, belief, and
underftanding of man, which is the higheft part of
the mind, and giveth law to the will itfelf. For
there is no power on earth which fetteth up a
throne or chair of {tate in the fpirits and fouls of
men, and in their cogitations, imaginations, opi-
nions, and beliefs, but knowledge and learning.
And therefore we fee the deteftable and extreme
pleafure that arch-heretics, and falfe prophets, and
impoftors are tranfported with, when they once
find in themfelves that they have a fuperiority in
the faith and confcience of men; fo great as if
they have once tafted of it, it is feldom feen that
any torture or perfecution can make them relin-
quifh or abandon it. But as this is that which the
author of the Revelation calleth the depth or pro-
foundnefs of Satan :®? fo by argument of contra-

8! Georg. iv. 561, 562. Baa evenilsi 2A

6. In ad-
vancing
worldly
intterefts.

7. In giving
pleafure.

88 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ries, the juft and lawful fovereignty over men’s
underftanding, by force®> of truth rightly inter-
preted, is that which approacheth neareft to the
fimilitude of the Divine Rule.

As for fortune and advancement, the benefi-
cence of learning is not fo confined to give fortune
only to ftates and commonwealths, as it doth not
likewife give fortune to particular perfons. For
it was well noted long ago, that Homer hath
given more men their livings, than either Sylla, or
Ceefar, or Auguftus ever did, notwithftanding their
great largeffes and donatives, and diftributions of
lands to fo many legions. And no doubt it is hard
to fay, whether arms or learning have advanced
greater numbers. And in cafe of fovereignty we
fee, that if arms or defcent have carried away the
kingdom, yet learning hath carried the priefthood,
which ever hath been in fome competition with
empire. *+

Again, for the pleafure and delight of know-
ledge and learning, it far furpaffeth all other in
nature : for, fhall the pleafures of the affections fo
exceed the fenfes, as much as the obtaining of de-
fire or victory exceedeth a fong or a dinner ; and
muft not, of confequence, the pleafures of the in-
tellect or underftanding exceed the pleafures of the
affections? We fee in all other pleafures there is
fatiety, and after they be ufed, their verdure de-
parteth ; which fhoweth well they be but deceits

83 Ed. 1605 reads face.
® Cf. Herod. ii, 141. for the afcendancy of the Priefthood in

Egypt.

BOOK I. 89

of pleafure, and not pleafures: and that it was the
novelty which pleafed, and not the quality; and
therefore we fee that voluptuous men turn friars,
and ambitious princes turn melancholy. But of
knowledge there is no fatiety, but fatisfaction and
appetite are perpetually interchangeable; and there-
fore appeareth to be good in itfelf fimply, without
fallacy or accident. Neither is that pleafure of
{mall efficacy and contentment to the mind of man
which the poet Lucretius defcribeth elegantly,
Suave mari magno, turbantibus equora ventis, &c.®

It isa view of delight, faith he, to fand or walk
upon the fhore fide, and to fee a fhip toffed with
tempeft upon the fea; or to be in a fortified tower,
and to fee two battles join upon a plain; but it is a
pleafure incomparable, for the mind of man to be
Jettled, landed, and fortified in the certainty of truth ;
and from thence to defcry and behold the errors,
perturbations, labours, and wanderings up and down
of other men.

Laftly, leaving the vulgar arguments, that by
learning man excelleth man in that wherein man
excelleth beafts ; that by learning man afcendeth
to the heavens and their motions, where in body
he cannot come, and the like; let us conclude
with the dignity and excellency of knowledge and
learning in that whereunto man’s nature doth
moft afpire, which is, immortality or continuance :
for to this tendeth generation, and raifing of houfes
and families; to this buildings, foundations, and

* De Rer. Nat. ii. 1-10.

8. Laftly,
in giving an
immortality
to its pof-
feffors.

90 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

monuments ; to this tendeth the defire of memory,
fame, and celebration, and in effect the ftrength
of all other human defires. We fee then how
far the monuments of wit and learning are more -
durable than the monuments of power or of the
hands. For have not the verfes of Homer con-
tinued twenty-five hundred years, or more, with-
out the lofs of a fyllable or letter; during which
time, infinite palaces, temples, caftles, cities, have
been decayed and demolifhed? It is not poffible
to have the true pictures or ftatues of Cyrus,
Alexander, Czfar; no, nor of the kings or great
perfonages of much later years; for the originals
cannot laft, and the copies cannot but leefe of the
life and truth, But the images of men’s wits and
knowledges remain in books, exempted from the
wrong of time, and capable of perpetual renova-
tion. Neither are they fitly to be called images,
becaufe they generate ftill, and caft their feeds in
the minds of others, provoking and caufing infi-
nite actions and opinions in fucceeding ages: fo
that, if the invention of the fhip was thought fo
noble, which carrieth riches and commodities from
place to place, and confociateth the moft remote
regions in participation of their fruits, how much
more are letters to be magnified, which, as fhips,
pafs through the vaft feas of time, and make ages
fo diftant to participate of the wifdom, illumina-
tions, and inventions, the one of the other? Nay
further, we fee fome of the philofophers which
were leaft divine, and moft immerfed in the fenfes,

BOOK I. gt

and denied generally the immortality of the foul,
yet came to this point, that whatfoever motions
the fpirit of man could act and perform without
the organs of the body, they thought might remain
after death, which were only thofe of the under-
ftanding, and not of the affection : fo immortal and
incorruptible a thing did knowledgefeem unto them
to be. But we, that know by divine revelation
that not only the underftanding but the affections
purified, not only the fpirit but the body changed,
fhall be advanced to immortality, do difclaim in®
thefe rudiments of the fenfes. But it muft be re-
membered both in this laft point, and fo it may
likewife be needful in other places, that in proba-
tion of the dignity of knowledge or learning, I did
in the beginning feparate divine teftimony from
human, which method I have purfued, and fo
handled them both apart.

Neverthelefs, I do not pretend, and I know
it will be impoffible for me, by any pleading of
mine, to reverfe the judgment, either of A®fop’s
Cock, that preferred the barley-corn before the
gem ; or of Midas, that being chofen judge between
Apollo, prefdent of the Mufes, and Pan, god of
the flocks, judged for plenty :* or of Paris, that
judged for beauty and love againft wifdom and
power; nor of Agrippina, Occidat matrem, modo
imperet, that preferred empire with conditions

86 So all three editions. The Latin has, Nos autem .. . concul-
cantes hac rudimenta...novimus, Perhaps in fhould be omitted—

“€ do difclaim thefe rudiments of the fenfes.”
POV, Met. xi. 153, feq.

92 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

never fo deteftable ;® or of Ulyffes, Qui vetulam
pratulit immortalitati,®9 being a figure of thofe
which prefer cuftom and habit before all excel-
lency; or of a number of the like popular judg-
ments. For thefe things continue as they have
been: but fo will that alfo continue whereupon
learning hath ever relied, and which faileth not:

TFuftificata eft fapientia a filiis fuis.

8 Tacit. Aunal. xiv. 9.

89 Cf. Cic. de Orat.i. 44, where it is Ithaca, not his old wife,
that Ulyffes is faid to prefer to immortality.

£0 Matt. xi. 19.

THE SECOND BOOK OF FRANCIS BACON :

Of the Proficience and
Advancement of Learning

Divine and Human.

To the King.

T might feem to have more conve- De Aug. ii.
nience, though it come often other- ae
wife to pafs, excellent King, that vancement
thofe, which are fruitful in their gene- = base 2

rations, and have in themfelves the forefight of to the care

immortality in their defcendants, fhould likewife if pce
be more careful of the good eftate of future times,

unto which they know they muft tranfmit and

commend over their deareft pledges. Queen Eli-

zabeth was a fojourner in the world in refpect of

her unmarried life, and was a bleffing to her own

times ; and yet fo as the impreffion of her good

government, befides her happy memory, is not

without fome effet which doth furvive her. But

to your Majefty, whom God hath already blefled

with fo much royal iflue, worthy to continue and

Three chief
means of
help:

(1,) Re-
wards 5

(2.) Guid-
ance ;

(3.) Com-
bination.

94 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

reprefent you for ever, and whofe youthful and
fruitful bed doth yet promife many of the like re-
novations ; it is proper and agreeable to be conver-
fant not only in the tranfitory parts of good go-
vernment, but in thofe acts alfo which are in their
nature permanent and perpetual: amongft the
which, if affection do not tranfport me, there is not
any more worthy than the further endowment of
the world with found and fruitful knowledge.
For why fhould a few received authors ftand up
like Hercules’ columns, beyond which there fhould
be no failing or difcovering, fince we have fo
bright and benign a ftar as your Majefty to con-
duct and profper us? To return therefore where
we left, it remaineth to confider of what kind
thofe acéts are which have been undertaken and
performed by kings and others for the increafe and
advancement of learning: wherein I purpofe to
{peak actively without digreffing or dilating.

Let this ground therefore be laid, that all works
are overcome by amplitude of reward, by found-
nefs of direction, and by the conjunction of la-
bours. The firft multiplieth endeavour, the fecond
preventeth error, and the third fupplieth the frailty
of man: but the principal of thefe is direction :
for Claudus in via antevertit curforem extra viam ;
and Salomon excellently fetteth it down, Jf the
iron be not fharp, it requireth more ftrength ; but
wifdom is that which prevaileth ;* fignifying that

1 A favourite thought of Bacon’s, and expreffed afterwards on
the engraved title-page of the firft edition of the Nowum Organum,

A.D. 1620.
2 Eccl, x. -X0.

BOOK I. 95

the invention or election of the mean is more
effectual than any inforcement or accumulation of
endeavours. This I am induced to fpeak, for
that (not derogating from the noble intention of
any that have been defervers towards the ftate of
learning) I do obferve, neverthelefs, that their
works and acts are rather matters of magnificence
and memory, than of progreffion and proficience ;
and tend rather to augment the mafs of learning
in the multitude of learned men, than to rectify or
raife the fciences themfelves.

The works or acts of merit towards learning Three ob-
are converfant about three objects: the places = ara a
learning, the books of learning, and the perfons of (1.) Places
the learned. For as water, whether it be the dew ° learning ;

: (2.) Books ;
of heaven, or the fprings of the earth, doth fcatter (3.)Learned
and leefe itfelf in the ground, except it be collected Perfons.
into fome receptacle, where it may by union com-
fort and fuftain itfelf, (and for that caufe the in-
duftry of man hath made and framed {pring-heads,
conduits, cifterns, and pools, which men have ac-
cuftomed likewife to beautify and adorn with
accomplifhments of magnificence and ftate, as
well as of ufe and neceffity) fo this excellent
liquor of knowledge, whether it defcend from
divine infpiration, or fpring from human fenfe,
would foon perifh and vanifh to oblivion, if it
were not preferved in books, traditions, confer-
ences, and places appointed, as univerfities, col-

leges, and fchools, for the receipt and comforting
of the fame.

(1.) Places
of learning,

how helped.

(2z.) Books,
how beft
cared for.

(3.) The
learned,

how helped.

96 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

The works which concern the feats and places
of learning are four; foundations and buildings,
endowments with revenues, endowments with
franchifes and privileges, inftitutions and ordi-
nances for government; all tending to quietnefs
and privatenefs of life, and difcharge of cares and
troubles ; much like the ftations which Virgil pre-
fcribeth for the hiving of bees:

Principio fedes apibus ftatioque petenda,
Quo neque fit ventis aditus, &c.?

The works touching books are two: firft, libra-
ries, which are as the fhrines where all the relics
of the ancient faints, full of true virtue, and that
without delufion or impofture, are preferved and
repofed : fecondly, new editions of authors, with
more correct impreffions, more faithful tranfla-
tions, more profitable gloffes, more diligent anno-
tations, and the like.

The works pertaining to the perfons of learned
men, befides the advancement and countenancing
of them in general, are two: the reward and de-
fignation of readers in {ciences already extant and
invented; and the reward and defignation of
writers and inquirers concerning any parts of
learning not fufficiently laboured and profecuted.

Thefe are fummarily the works and aéts,
wherein the merits of many excellent princes and
other worthy perfonages have been converfant.
As for any particular commemorations, I call to
mind what Cicero faid, when he gave general
thanks ; Difficile non aliquem, ingratum quenquam

3 Virg. Georg. iv. 8.

BOOK II. 97

praeterire.* Let us rather, according to the Scrip-
tures,? look unto that part of the race which is
before us than look back to that which is already
attained.

Firft, therefore, among{ft fo many great foun-
dations of colleges in Europe, I find it ftrange
that they are all dedicated to profeffions, and none
left free to arts and {ciences at large. For if men
judge that learning fhould be referred to action,
they judge well ; but in this they fall into the error
defcribed in the ancient fable,® in which the other
parts of the bedy did fuppofe the ftomach had
been idle, becaufe it neither performed the office of
motion, as the limbs do, nor of fenfe, as the head
doth ; but yet, notwithftanding, it is the ftomach
that digefteth and diftributeth to all the reft: fo
if any man think philofophy and univerfality to be
idle ftudies, he doth not confider that all pro-
feffions are from thence ferved and fupplied. And
this I take to be a great caufe that hath hindered
the progreffion of learning, becaufe thefe funda-
mental knowledges have been ftudied but in paf-
fage. For if you will have a tree bear more fruit
than it hath ufed to do, it is not anything you can
do to the boughs, but it is the ftirring of the
earth and putting new mould about the roots that
muft work it. Neither is it to be forgotten, that
this dedicating of foundations and dotations to pro-

* Orat. poft Redit. in Sen. xii. 30, which in Bacon’s day was
counted genuine, The actual paffage is fomething ftronger; for it
has nefas inftead of ingratum.

> Philip. iii. 13. SL Wil.132.

H

Seats of
learning
faulty, (1)
as being de-
dicated to
particular
profefiions.

(2) As ill
provided
with public
lectures,

98 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

feffory learning hath not only had a malign afpe&
and influence upon the growth of fciences, but
hath alfo been prejudicial to ftates and govern-
ments. For hence it proceedeth that princes find
a folitude in regard of able men to ferve them in
caufes of ftate, becaufe there is no education col-
legiate which is free; where fuch as were fo dif-
pofed might give themfelves to hiftories, modern
languages, books of policy and civil difcourfe,
and other the like enablements unto fervice of
eftate.

And becaufe Founders of Colleges do plant, and
Founders of Le€tures do water, it followeth well
in order to {peak of the defect which is in public
lectures ; namely, in the fmallnefs and meannefs
of the falary or reward which in moft places is
affigned unto them; whether they be lectures of
arts, or of profeffions. For it is neceflary to the
progreffion of fciences that Readers be of the moft
able and fufficient men; as thofe which are or-
dained for generating and propagating of {ciences,
and not for tranfitory ufe. This cannot be, except
their condition and endowment be fuch as may
content the ableft man to appropriate his whole
labour and continue his whole age in that function
and attendance; and therefore muft have a pro-
portion anfwerable to that mediocrity or com-
petency of advancement, which may be expected
from a profeflion or the practice of a profeffion.
So as, if you will have fciences flourifh, you muft
obferve David’s military law, which was, That
thofe which fiaid with the carriage fhould have

BOOK I]. 99

equal part with thofe which were in the aétion ;7
elfe will the carriages be ill attended. So Readers
in fciences are indeed the guardians of the ftores
and provifions of {ciences, whence men in active
courfes are furnifhed, and therefore ought to have
equal entertainment with them: otherwife if the
fathers in fciences be of the weakett fort, or be ill-
maintained,

Et patrum invalidi referent jejunia nati.$

Another defect I note, wherein I fhall need
fome alchemift to help me, who call upon men to
fell their books, and to build furnaces; quitting
and forfaking Minerva and the Mufes as barren
virgins, and relying upon Vulcan. But certain it
is, that unto the deep, fruitful, and operative ftudy
of many fciences, efpecially Natural Philofophy
and Phyfic, books be not the only inftrumentals ;
wherein alfo the beneficence of men hath not been
altogether wanting: for we fee fpheres, globes,
aftrolabes, maps, and the like, have been provided
as appurtenances to aftronomy and cofmography,
as well as books: we fee likewife that fome places
inftituted for phyfic have annexed the commodity
of gardens for fimples of all forts, and do likewife
command the ufe of dead bodies for anatomies.
But thefe do refpect but a few things. In gene-
ral, there will hardly be any main proficience in
the difclofing of nature, except there be fome

Bereoail.XxX5 22, 8 Virg. Georg. iil. 128.
9 See Nov. Org. ii. 7: “ Tranfeundum plane a Vulcano ad
Minervam, fi in animo fit veras corporum texturas ct {chemati{mos
. in lucem protrahere.”

(3) As to
means for
inquiry

into Nature.

(4) As to
the careleff-
nefs of
Vifitors.

100 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

allowance for expenfes about experiments ; whether
they be experiments appertaining to Vulcanus or
Deedalus, furnace or engine, or any other kind: and
therefore as fecretaries and fpials of princes and
ftates bring in bills for intelligence, fo you muft
allow the fpials and intelligencers of nature to bring
in their bills ; or elfe you fhall be ill advertifed.
And if Alexander made fuch a liberal affigna-
tion to Ariftotle of treafure?° for the allowance of
hunters, fowlers, fifhers, and the like, that he
might compile a Hiftory of Nature, much better
do they deferve it that travail in Arts of Nature.”
Another defect which I note, is an intermif-
fion or neglect in thofe which are governors in
univerfities, of confultation ; and in princes or fu-
perior perfons, of vifitation : to enter into account
and confideration, whether the readings, exercifes,
and other cuftoms appertaining unto learning, an-
ciently begun, and fince continued, be well infti-
tuted or no; and thereupon to ground an amend-
ment or reformation in that which fhall be found
inconvenient. For it is one. of your majefty’s
own moft wife and princely maxims, That in all

10 Elian, Var. Hif?.iv. 19, fays that Philip helped him, and
Athenzus, ix. 398. f. ftates the amount faid to have been allowed
him by Alexander, 800 talents. But Bacon takes his ftatement
here from Plin. Nat. Hift. viii. 17.

11 The Latin has for ‘travail in arts of Nature,” “ in labyrin-
this artium viam fibi aperiunt,”—where Art is oppofed to Nature.
So that the phrafe “ Arts of Nature” muft be modified to mean
“¢ Arts concerned with Nature.” Or, poffibly, there is fome mif-
take in the reading. All the old editions have travailes. If the
reading is correét, the fenfe will be that they who lay down rules
and general principles of Arts in things Natural are worthy of
higher reward than are they who only collect Hiftories, i.e. cata-
logues or regifters of detached facts.

BOOK I]. IOI

ufages and precedents, the times be confidered wherein
they firft began; which, if they were weak or igno-
rant, it derogateth from the authority of the ufage,
and leaveth it for fufpecét. And therefore inaf-
much as mott of the ufages and orders of the uni-
verfities were derived from more obfcure times,
it is the more requifite they be re-examined. In
this kind I will give an inftance or two, for ex-
ample fake, of things that are the moft obvious
and familiar. The one is a matter, which though
it be ancient and general, yet I hold to be an
error ; which is, that f{cholars in univerfities come
too foon and too unripe to logic and rhetoric, arts
fitter for graduates than children and novices: for
thefe two, rightly taken, are the graveft of {ciences,
being the arts of arts; the one for judgment, the
other for ornament: and they be the rules and
direGtions how to fet forth and difpofe matter;
and therefore for minds empty and unfraught with
matter, and which have not gathered that which
Cicero calleth Sylva and Supellex,!* ftuff and va-
riety, to begin with thofe arts, (as if one fhould
learn to weigh, or to meafure, or to paint the
wind), doth work but this effec, that the wifdom
of thofe arts, which is great and univerfal, is
almoft made contemptible, and is degenerate into
childifh fophiftry and ridiculous affectation. And
further, the untimely learning of them hath drawn
on, by confequence, the fuperficial and unprofit-
able teaching and writing of them, as fitteth indeed
to the capacity of children. Another is a lack I

12 Sylva, de Orat. iii. 26. (103.) Supellex, Orat. 24. (80.)

(5) As to
intercourfe
between
Univerfities.

102 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

find in the exercifes ufed in the Univerfities, which
do make too great a divorce between invention
and memory; for their fpeeches are either pre-
meditate, /m verbis conceptis, where nothing is left
to invention, or merely extemporal, where little is
left to memory: whereas in life and action there
is leaft ufe of either of thefe, but rather of in-
termixtures of premeditation and invention, notes
and memory; fo as the exercife fitteth not the prac-
tice, nor the image the life; and it is ever a true
rule in exercifes, that they be framed as near as
may be to the life of practice; for otherwife they
do pervert the motions and faculties of the mind,
and not prepare them. The truth whereof is not
obfcure, when fcholars come to the practices of
profeffions, or other actions of civil life; which
when they fet into, this want is foon found by
themfelves, and fooner by others. But this part,
touching the amendment of the inftitutions and
orders of Univerfities, I will conclude with the
claufe of Czefar’s letter to Oppius and Balbus, Hoc
quemadmodum fieri poffit, nonnulla mihi in mentem
veniunt, et multa reperiri poffunt; de iis rebus rogo
vos ut cogitationem fufcipiatis.

Another defect which I note, afcendeth a little
higher than the precedent: for as the profi-
cience of learning confifteth much in the orders
and inftitutions of Univerfities in the fame ftates
and kingdoms, fo it would be yet more advanced,
if there were more intelligence mutual between
the Univerfities of Europe than now there is.

IS Cicead. Alt. 1x. 7.1G.

BOOK Il. 103

We fee there may be many orders and founda-
tions, which though they be divided under feveral
fovereignties and territories, yet they take them-
felves to have a kind of contraét, fraternity, and
correfpondence one with the other; infomuch as
they have provincials and generals. And furely,
as nature createth brotherhood in families, and arts
mechanical contract brotherhoods in commonal-
ties, and the anointment of God fuperinduceth a
brotherhood in kings and bifhops ; fo in like man-
ner there cannot but be a fraternity in learning
and illumination, relating to that paternity which
is attributed to God, who is called the Father of
illuminations or lights.14

The laft defe&t which I will note is, that there
hath not been, or very rarely been, any pub-
lic defignation of writers or inquirers concerning
fuch parts of knowledge as may appear not to have
been already fufficiently laboured or undertaken ;
unto which point it is an inducement to enter into
a view and examination what parts of learning
have been profecuted, and what omitted: for the
opinion of plenty is among the caufes of want, and
the great quantity of books maketh a fhow rather
of fuperfluity than lack ; which furcharge, never-
thelefs, is not to be remedied by making no more
books, but by making more good books, which, as
the ferpent of Mofes, might devour the ferpents of
the enchanters.!®

The removing of all the defects formerly enu-

4 James i. 17.
4° Exod, vii. 10, It was Aaron’s rod that became a ferpent.

(6) No
perfons ap-
pointed to
inquire into
deficient
branches of
learning.

The re-
moval of

thefe defe&ts
the work of
kings, except
part of the
laft, i.e. the
furvey of
learning,
which I

will now
attempt.

104 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

merated, except the laft, and of the active part
alfo of the laft, (which is the defignation of writers, )
are opera bafilica ; towards which the endeavours
of a private man may be but as an image in a
croflway, that may point at the way, but cannot
go it: but the inducing part of the latter, which is
the furvey of learning, may be fet forward by pri-
vate travail, Wherefore I will now attempt to
make a general and faithful perambulation of
learning, with an inquiry what parts thereof lie
frefh and wafte, and not improved and converted
by the induftry of man; to the end that fuch a
plot made and recorded to memory, may both
minifter light to any public defignation, and alfo
ferve to excite voluntary endeavours: wherein,
neverthelefs, my purpofe is at this time to note
only omiffions and deficiencies, and not to make
any redargution of errors or incomplete profe-
cutions ; for it is one thing to fet forth what ground
lieth unmanured, and another thing to correét ill
hufbandry in that which is manured.

In the handling and undertaking of which work
I am not ignorant what it is that | do now move
and attempt, nor infenfible of mine own weaknefs
to fuftain my purpofe ; but my hope is, that if my
extreme love to learning carry me too far, I may ob-
tain the excufe of affection; for that [t zs not granted
to man to love and to be wife.© But I know well I
can ufe no other liberty of judgment than I muft
leave to others; and I for my part fhall be indif-
ferently glad either to perform myfelf, or accept

16 Publ. Syr. Sentent.166: Amare et fapere vix Deo conceditur.

BOOK I1. 105

from another, that duty of humanity; Nam qui
erranti comiter monftrat viam, Sc." I do forefee
likewife that of thofe things which I fhall enter and
regifter as deficiencies and omiffions, many will
conceive and cenfure that fome of them are al-
ready done and extant; others to be but curiofities,
and things of no great ufe; and others to be of
too great difficulty, and almoft impoffibility to be
compaffed and effected. But for the two firft, I
refer myfelf to the particulars ; for the laft, touch-
ing impoffibility, 1 take it thofe things are to be
held poffible which may be done by fome perfon,
though not by every one; and which may be done
by many, though not by any one; and which may
be done in the fucceffion of ages, though not with-
in the hourglafs of one man’s life; and which may
be done by public defignation, though not by pri-
vate endeavour. But, notwithftanding, if any man
will take to himfelf rather that of Salomon, Dicit
piger, Leo eft in via, than that of Virgil, Poffunt
quia poffe videntur,'? I fhall be content that my
labours be efteemed but as the better fort of wifhes:
for as it afketh fome knowledge to demand a quef-
tion not impertinent, fo it required fome fenfe to
make a wifh not abfurd.

ference to the three parts of man’s
underftanding, which is the feat of
learning : i/tory to his memory, poe/y

7 Ennius, quoted by Cic. de Off. i. 16.(5.) '® Prov. xxii. 13.
Sev Ite. 227. V. 237.

i
Human
Learning is
triple, ac-
cording to
the three
parts of the
mind.

106 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

(1.) Hiftory to his imagination, and philofophy to his reafon.

( Venee Divine learning receiveth the fame diftribution ;

. ? y >

to Imagina- for the {pirit of man is the fame, though the reve-
(..) Philo. lation of oracle and fenfe be diverfe : fo as theolo

(3-) Philo- Sy

fophy to confifteth alfo of the hz/ory of the church; of para-

Realon. Jes, which is divine poefy; and of holy doctrine or

precept: for as for that part which feemeth fuper-

numerary, which is prophecy, it is but Divine Hif-

tory ; which hath that prerogative over human, as

the narration may be before the fact as well as after.

DeAug-u. Fiffory is natural, civil, ecclefiaftical, and lite-

a Hiftory, ”@ry3 whereof the firft three I allow as extant, the

(1.) Natu- fourth I note as deficient. For no man hath pro-

(2.) Civil, Pounded to himfelf the general ftate of learning to

(3.) Ecclefi- be defcribed and reprefented from age to age, as

eae many have done the works of nature, and the ftate

rary. civil and ecclefiaftical ; without which the hiftory

of the world feemeth to me to be as the ftatua of

Polyphemus with his eye out; that part being

wanting which doth moft fhow the {pirit and life of

the perfon: and yet I am not ignorant that in divers

particular fciences, as of the jurifconfults, the ma-

thematicians, the rhetoricians, the philofophers,

there are fet down fome fmall memorials of the

{chools, authors, and books; and fo likewife fome

barren relations touching the invention of arts or

ufages. But a juft ftory of learning, containing

the antiquities and originals of knowledges and

their fects, their inventions, their traditions, their

diverfe adminiftrations and managings, their flou-

rifhings, their oppofitions, decays, depreffions,

oblivions, removes, with the caufes and occa-

BOOK II. 107

fions of them, and all other events concerning
learning, throughout the ages of the world, I may
truly affirm to be wanting. The ufe and end of
which work I do not fo much defign for curiofity or
fatisfaction of thofe that are the lovers of learning,
but chiefly for a more ferious and grave purpofe ;
which is this in few words, that it will make
learned men wife in the ufe and adminiftration of
learning. For it isnot St. Auguftine’s nor St. Am-
brofe’s works that will make fo wife a divine,'as
ecclefiaftical hiftory, thoroughly read and obferved ;
and the fame reafon is of learning.

Hiftory of nature is of three forts; of nature in
courfe, of nature erring or varying, and of nature
altered or wrought; that is, hiffory of creatures,
hiftory of marvels, and hiffory of arts. The firft
of thefe, no doubt, is extant, and that in good
perfection ; the two latter are handled fo weakly
and unprofitably, as I am moved to note them as
deficient. For I find no fufficient or competent
collection of the works of nature which have a
digreffion and deflection from the ordinary courfe
of generations, productions, and motions ; whe-
ther they be fingularities of place and region, or
the ftrange events of time and chance, or the
effets of yet unknown properties, or the inftances
of exception to general kinds. It is true, I find
a number of books of fabulous experiments and
fecrets, and frivolous impoftures for pleafure and
ftrangenefs ; but a fubftantial and fevere collection
of the heteroclites or irregulars of nature,® well

2 Cf. Nov, Org. i. 45, and ii. 28. Thefe “inftances of ex-

DeAug. 11.
was

(1.) Natu-
ral.

(a) Of

creatures.

(8) Of
Marvels.

108 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

examined and defcribed, I find not: efpecially not
with due rejection of fables and popular errors:
for as things now are, if an untruth in nature be
once on foot, what by reafon of the neglect of ex-
amination and countenance of antiquity, and what
by reafon of the ufe of the opinion in fimilitudes
and ornaments of fpeech, it is never called down.

The ufe of this work, honoured with a prece-
dent in Ariftole,*! is nothing lefs than to give
contentment to the appetite of curious and vain
wits, as the manner of Mirabilaries** is todo; but
for two reafons, both of great weight; the one to
correct the partiality of axioms and opinions, which
are commonly framed only upon common and
familiar examples; the other becaufe from the
wonders of nature is the neareft intelligence and
paffage towards the wonders of art: for it is no
more but by following, and as it were hounding
nature in her wanderings, to be able to lead her
afterwards to the fame place again. Neither am I
of opinion, in this hiftory of marvels, that fuper-
{titious narrations of forceries, witchcrafts, dreams,
divinations, and the like, where there is an aflu-
rance and clear evidence of the fact, be altogether
excluded. For it is not yet known in what cafes
and how far effects attributed to fuperftition do
participate of natural caufes: and therefore how-
foever the practice of fuch things is to be con-
demned, yet from the fpeculation and confideration

ception to general kinds” he there terms inffantie monodice, quas
etiam irregulares five beteroclitas appellare coniuevimus.
21 De Miris Aujcultationibus ; (Qavpacia axotopara), fee p. 30.
22 Mirabilaries. In De Augm., Sc. ii. he calls them “ Mirabil-
aril et prodigiaftri.”

BOOK Il. 10g

of them light may be taken, not only for the dif-
cerning of the offences, but for the further difclofing
of nature. Neither ought a man to make {cruple
of entering into thefe things for inquifition of truth,
as your Majefty hath fhowed in your own example;
who with the two clear eyes of religion and natu-
ral philofophy have looked deeply and wifely into
thefe fhadows, and yet proved yourfelf to be of the
nature of the fun, which pafleth through pollutions,
and itfelf remains as pure as before.*® But this |
hold fit, that thefe narrations, which have mixture
with fuperftition, be forted by themfelves, and not
be mingled with the narrations which are merely
and fincerely natural. But as for the narrations
touching the prodigies and miracles of religions,
they are either not true, or not natural; and there-
fore impertinent for the ftory of nature.

For hiftory of nature wrought or mechanical, I
find fome collections made of agriculture, and like-
wife of manual arts ; but commonly with a rejec-
tion of experiments familiar and vulgar. For it is
efteemed a kind of difhonour unto learning to
defcend to inquiry or meditation upon matters
mechanical, except they be fuch as may be thought
fecrets, rarities, and fpecial fubtilties; which hu-
mour of vain and fupercilious arrogancy is juftly
derided in Plato; where he brings in Hippias, a
vaunting fophift, difputing with Socrates, a true
and unfeigned inquifitor of truth; where the fub-
jet being touching beauty, Socrates, after his

%3 Cf. Nov. Org.i. 120. This thought is to be met with in

Chaucer, Perfone’s Tale: ‘Certes, Holy Writ may not be defouled,
no more than the fonne that fhineth on the myxene.”

(c) Of
Arts,

110 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

wandering manner of induions, put firft an ex-
ample ofa fair virgin, and then of a fair horfe, and
then of a fair pot well glazed, whereat Hippias
was offended, and faid, Adore than for courte/y’s
Jake, he did think much to difpute with any that
did allege fuch bafe and fordid inftances: where-
unto Socrates anfwered, You have reafon, and it
becomes you well, being a man fo trim in your veft-
ments, Sc. and fo goeth on in an irony.** But
the truth is, they be not the higheft inftances that
give the fecureft information ; as may be well ex-
preffed in the tale fo common of the philofopher, *
that while he gazed upwards to the ftars fell into
the water; for if he had looked down he might have
feen the ftars in the water, but looking aloft he could
not fee the water in the ftars. So it cometh often
to pafs, that mean and {mall things difcover great,
better than great can difcover the fmall: and there-
fore Ariftotle noteth well, That the nature of every-
thing is beft feen in its /mallef? portions. And for
that caufe he inquireth the nature of a common-
wealth, firft in a family, and the fimple conjuga-
tions of man and wife, parent and child, mafter
and fervant, which are in every cottage.*° Even
fo likewife the nature of this great city of the world,
and the policy thereof, muft be firft fought in mean
concordances and fmall portions. So we fee how
that fecret of nature, of the turning of iron touched
with the loadftone towards the north, was found
out in needles of iron, not in bars of iron.

*4 Plato, Hipp. Maj. iii. 288 and 291.
*° Thales. See Plat. Theet. i. 174.
%6 Ariftot. Polit. I. iii. 1,and Phys. i.

BOOK II. i

But if my judgment be of any weight, the ufe
of hiftory mechanical is of all others the moft radi-
cal and fundamental towards natural philofophy ;
fuch natural philofophy as fha!l not vanifh in the
fume of fubtile, fublime, or deleCtable {peculation,
but fuch as fhall be operative to the endowment
and benefit of man’s life: for it will not only
minifter and fuggeft for the prefent many inge-
nious practices in all trades, by a connection and
transferring of the obfervations of one art to the ufe
of another, when the experiences of feveral myf-
teries fhall fall under the confideration of one man’s
mind; but further, it will give a more true and
real illumination concerning caufes and axioms
than is hitherto attained. For like as a man’s dif-
pofition is never well known till he be croffed, nor
Proteus ever changed fhapes till he was ftrait-
ened and held faft ;* fo the paflages and varia-
tions of nature cannot appear fo fully in the
liberty of nature, as in the trials and vexations
of art.

For civil hiftory, it is of three kinds; not unfitly
to be compared with the three kinds of pictures
or images: for of pictures or images, we fee fome
are unfinifhed, fome are perfect, and fome are de-
faced. So of hiftories we may find three kinds,
memorials, perfect hiftories, and antiquities ; for me-
mortals are hiftory unfinifhed, or the firft or rough
draughts of hiftory ; and antiquities are hiftory
defaced, or fome remnants of hiftory which have
cafually efcaped the fhipwreck of time.

7 Virg. Georg. iv. 387, {qq.

De Aug. 11.
6.

(2.) OF
Civil Hif-
tory.

(a2) Me-

morials,

(4) Anti-
quities.

112 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Memortals, or preparatory hiftory, are of two
forts; whereof the one may be termed commenta-
ries, and the other regi/ers. Commentaries are they
which fet down a continuance of the naked events
and actions, without the motives or defigns, the
counfels, the fpeeches, the pretexts, the occafions
and other paflages of action: for this is the true
nature ofa commentary; though Czefar, in modefty
mixed with greatnefs, did for his pleafure apply
the name of a commentary to the beft hiftory of
the world. Regi/fers are collections of public acts,
as decrees of council, judicial proceedings, declara-
tions and letters of ftate, orations and the like,
without a perfect continuance or contexture of
the thread of the narration.

Antiquities, or remnants of hiftory, are, as was
faid, Tanquam tabula naufragii;** when induftrious
perfons by an exact and fcrupulous diligence and
obfervation, out of monuments, names, words,
proverbs, traditions, private records and evidences,
fragments of ftories, paflages of books that con-
cern not ftory,” and the like, do fave and recover
fomewhat from the deluge of time.

In thefe kinds of unperfect hiftories I do affign
no deficience, for they are Zanguam imperfeéte
mifta; and therefore any deficience in them is
but their nature. As for the corruptions and
moths of hiftory, which are epitomes, the ufe of
them deferveth to be banifhed, as all men of found
judgment have confefled; as thofe that have fretted

28 “¢ As was faid;” referring to the laft page. Cf. Nov. Org.

1. 7+
29 Story here = hiftory: “librorum neutiquam hiftoricorum.”

BOOK Il. 113

and corroded the found bodies of many excellent
hiftories, and wrought them into bafe and unpro-
- fitable dregs.%°

Hiftory, which may be called ju/? and perfect
hiftory, is of three kinds, according to the obje&
which it propoundeth or pretendeth to reprefent :
for it either reprefenteth a time, or a per/fon, or an
aétion. ‘The firft we call chronicles, the fecond

De Aug.
I. Fe

(e:) Per-
feét Hif-

tory.

i. Chroni-

lives, and the third narrations or relations. Of “>

thefe, although the firft be the moft complete and
abfolute kind of hiftory, and hath moft eftimation
and glory, yet the fecond excelleth it in profit and
ufe, and the third in verity and fincerity. For
hiftory of times reprefenteth the magnitude of
actions, and the public faces and deportments of
perfons, and paffeth over in filence the fmaller
paflages and motions of men and matters. But
fuch being the workmanfhip of God, as He doth
hang the greateft weight upon the fmalleft wires,
Maxima ¢ minimis fufpendens,* it comes therefore
to pafs, that fuch hiftories do rather fet forth the
pomp of bufinefs than the true and inward reforts
‘thereof. But /ives, if they be well written, pro-
pounding to themfelves a perfon to reprefent in
whom actions both greater and fmaller, public and
private, have a commixture, mutft of neceflity con-
tain a more true, native, and lively reprefentation.
So again narrations and relations of aétions, as the
war of Peloponnefus, the expedition of Cyrus
Minor, the confpiracy of Catiline, cannot but be
% Asin the Epitomes written in the decline of Latin Literature.
3! Job xxvi. 7. * Qui appendit terram fuper nihilum.”
I

a. Ancient,

‘

114, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

more purely and exactly true than hiftories of
times, becaufe they may choofe an argument com-
prehenfible within the notice and inftructions of the
writer : whereas he that undertaketh the ftory of
a time, efpecially of any length, cannot but meet
with many blanks and fpaces which he muft be
forced to fill up out of his own wit and conjeCture.
For the Hiftory of Times, I mean of Civil
Hiftory, the providence of God hath made the
diftribution: for it hath pleafed God to ordain
and illuftrate two exemplar ftates of the world for
arms, learning, moral virtue, policy, and laws; the
ftate of Grecia, and the ftate of Rome; the hif-
tories whereof occupying the middle part of time,
have more ancient to them, hiftories which may
by one common name be termed the antiquities
of the world: and after them, hiftories which may
be likewife called by the name of modern hiftory.
Now to fpeak of the deficiencies. As to the
heathen antiquities of the world, it is in vain to
note them for deficient: deficient they are no
doubt, confifting moft of fables and fragments ;
but the deficience cannot be holpen ; for antiquity
is like fame, Caput inter nubila condit,* her head
is muffled from our fight. For the hiftory of the ex-
emplar /tates, it is extant in good perfection. Not
but I could with there were a perfect courle of hiftory
for Grecia from Thefeus to Philopcemen, (what
time the affairs of Gracia were drowned and ex-
tinguifhed in the affairs of Rome ;) and for Rome
from Romulus to Juftinianus, who may be truly

31 Virg. Zn, iv. 177.

BOOK II. 115

faid to be Ultimus Romanorum.** In which fe-
quences of ftory the text of Thucydides and
Xenophon in the one, and the texts of Livius,
Polybius, Salluftius, Czfar, Appianus, Tacitus,
Herodianus in the other, to be kept entire without
any diminution at all, and only to be fupplied and
continued. But this is matter of magnificence,
rather to be commended than required: and we
{peak now of parts of learning fupplemental ane
not of fupererogation.

But for modern hi/tories, whereof there are fome
few very worthy, but the greater part beneath
mediocrity, (leaving the care of foreign ftories to
foreign ftates, becaufe I will not be curiofus in
aliena republica,**) | cannot fail to reprefent to your
Majefty the unworthinefs of the hiftory of England
in the main continuance thereof, and the partiality
and obliquity of that of Scotland in the lateft and
largeft author that I have feen :5* fuppofing that it
would be honour for your Majefty, and a work
very memorable, if this ifland of Great Britain, as
it is now joined in monarchy for the ages to come,
fo were joined in one hiftory for the times paffled ;
after the manner of the Sacred Hiftory, which
draweth down the ftory of the ten tribes and of
the two tribes, as twins, together. And if it fhall
feem that the greatnefs of this work may make it
lefs exactly performed, there is an excellent period

% Said of Caffius, Tac. Aun. iv. 34. “ Cremutius Cordus poftu-
latur,. . . quod C. Caffium Romanorum ultimum dixiffet.” Cf.
Plut. Brutus, 43. Suet. Tib. 61. who attributes it to both Brutus
and Caffius.

#3 Cic. Off 1. 34.

% Buchanan, for whom King James had no love.

B. Modern.

116 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

of a much fmaller compafs of time, as to the ftory
of England ; that is to fay, from the uniting of the
Rofes to the uniting of the kingdoms; a portion
of time, wherein, to my underftanding, there hath
been the rareft varieties that in like number of
fucceffions of any hereditary monarchy hath been
known. For it beginneth with the mixed adop-
tion of a crown by arms and title: an entry by
battle, an eftablifhment by marriage, and therefore
times anfwerable, like waters after a tempeft, full
of working and {welling, though without extre-
mity of ftorm; but well pafled through by the
wifdom of the pilot, being one of the moft fufi-
cient kings of all the number. Then followeth
the reign of a king, whofe actions, howfoever
conduéted, had much intermixture with the af-
fairs of Europe, balancing and inclining them
variably ; in whofe time alfo began that great
alteration in the ftate ecclefiaftical, an aétion
which feldom cometh upon the ftage. “Then the
reign of a minor: then an offer of a_ufurpation,
though it was but as febris ephemera. ‘Then
the reign of a queen matched with a foreigner:
then of a queen that lived folitary and unmarried,
and yet her government fo mafculine, that it had
greater impreffion and operation upon the {tates
abroad than it any ways received from thence.
And now laft, this moft happy and glorious event,
that this ifland of Britain, divided from all the
world, fhould be united in itfelf: and that oracle
of reft, given to Aineas, antiquam exquirite ma-

35 Virg. Ecl. i. 67.

BOOK II. 117,

trem,*© fhould now be performed and fulfilled upon
the nations of England and Scotland, being now
reunited in the ancient mother name of Britain,
as a full period of all inftability and peregrina-
tions. So that as it cometh to pafs in maffive
bedies, that they have certain trepidations and
waverings before they fix and fettle; fo it feem-
eth that by the providence of God this monar-
chy, before it was to fettle in your majefty and
your generations, (in which I hope it is now
eftablifhed for ever,) had thefe prelufive changes
and varieties.

For dives, I do find it ftrange that thefe times
have fo little efteemed the virtues of the times, as
that the writing of lives fhould be no more fre-
quent. For although there be not many fovereign
princes or abfolute commanders, and that ftates
are moft collected into monarchies, yet are there
many worthy perfonages that deferve better than
difperfed report or barren elogies. For herein the
invention of one of the late poets*’ is proper, and
doth well enrich the ancient fiction: for he feign-
eth that at the end of the thread or web of every
man’s life there was a little medal containing the
perfon’s name, and that Time waited upon the
fhears; and as foon as the thread was cut, caught
the medals, and carried them to the river of Lethe;
and about the bank there were many birds flying
up and down, that would get the medals and carry

36 Virg. 4x. iii. 96.
37 Ariofto, Orlando Furiofo, end of Bk. 34, and opening of Bk,
35. (See Ellis’ and Spedding’s Ed. of the De Augm. Sc.)

ii. Lives.

iii. Narra-
tions.

118 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

them in their beak a little while, and then let them
fall into the river: only there were a few fwans,
which if they got a name, would carry it to a
temple where it was confecrate. And although
many men, more mortal in their affections than in
their bodies, do efteem defire of name and me-
mory but as a vanity and ventofity,

Animi nil magnz laudis egentes ;%°

which opinion cometh from that root, Non prius
laudes contempfimus, quam laudanda facere defivi-
mus :°9 yet that will not alter Salomon’s judgment,
Memoria jufti cum laudibus, at impiorum nomen
putrefcet :*° the one flourifheth, the other either
comfumeth to prefent oblivion, or turneth to an
ill odour. And therefore in that ftyle or addition,
which is and hath been long well received and
brought in ufe, Felicts memoria, pie memoria, bone
memoria, we do acknowledge that which Cicero
faith, borrowing it from Demofthenes, that Bona
fama propria poffeffio defunétorum ;* which poffef-
fion I cannot but note that in our times it lieth
much watte, and that therein there is a deficience.

For narrations and relations of particular actions,
there were alfo to be wifhed a greater diligence
therein ; for there is no great action but hath fome
good pen which attends it. And becaufe it is an

38 Virg. 4in.v. 751.

39 Plin, Ep. iii. 21. Poftquam defiimus facere laudanda,
laudari quoque ineptum putamus.” Were Bacon’s quotations
ufually from memory?

40° Prov.x..7-

41 Cic, Philip. ix. ‘¢ Vita enim mortuorum in memoria vivorum
eft pofita.” From Dem. adv. Lept. 488. tv” ijy Zévrec éxrh-
cavro cveotiay avrn Kal TeXEUTHKOOW adToic a7odoEIn.

BOOK I]. 119g

ability not common to write a good hiftory, as
may well appear by the fmall number of them;
yet if particularity of actions memorable were but
tolerably reported as they pafs, the compiling of a
complete hiftory of times mought be the better ex-
pected, when a writer fhould arife that were fit
for it: for the collection of fuch relations mought
be as a nurfery garden, whereby to plant a fair and
ftately garden, when time fhould ferve.

There is yet another portion of hiftory which
Cornelius Tacitus maketh, which is not to be
forgotten, efpecially with that application which he
accoupleth it withal, amnals and journals: appro-
priating to the former matters of eftate, and to the
latter acts and accidents of a meaner nature. For
giving but a touch of certain magnificent buildings,
he addeth, Cum ex dignitate populi Romani reper-
tum fit, res illuftres annalibus talia diurnis urbis
aétis mandare.* So as there is a kind of con-
templative heraldry, as well as civil. And as
nothing doth derogate from the dignity of a
{tate more than confufion of degrees ; fo it doth
not a little embafe the authority of a hiftory,
to intermingle matters of triumph, or matters of
ceremony, or matters of novelty, with matters of
ftate. But the ufe of a journal hath not only been
in the hiftory of time, but likewife in the hiftory
of perfons, and chiefly of actions; for princes in
ancient time had, upon point of honour and policy
both, journals kept of what paffed day by day: for
we fee the chronicle which was read before

42 Tac. Ann. xiii. 31.

De Aug. 1.

9-
iv. Annals,

120 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Ahafuerus,** when he could not take reft, con-
tained matter of affairs indeed, but fuch as had
paffed in his own time, and very lately before:
but the journal of Alexander’s houfe expreffed
every {mall particularity, even concerning his per-
fon and court ;#* and it is yet a ufe well received in
enterprifes memorable, as expeditions of war, na-
vigations, and the like, to keep diaries of that
which paffeth continually.
De Aug. il. I cannot likewife be ignorant of a form of writ-
Efys on 2ng which fome wife and grave men have ufed,
Hiftory containing a fcattered hiftory of thofe ations which
ae they have thought worthy of memory, with politic
difcourfe and obfervation thereupon : not incorpo-
rate into the hiftory, but feparately, and as the
more principal in their intention ; which kind of
ruminated hiftory | think more fit to place amongft
books of policy, whereof we fhall hereafter fpeak,
than amongtt books of hiftory : for it is the true
office of hiftory to reprefent the events themfelves
together with the counfels, and to leave the obfer-
vations and conclufions thereupon to the liberty
and faculty of every man’s judgment. But mix-
tures are things irregular, whereof no man can
define.
v. Cofmo- So alfo is there another kind of hiftory mani-
ae ies foldly mixed, and that is biftory of cofmography 3
mathema- being compounded of natural hiftory, in refpe&t of

tics on their’ the regions themfelves; of hiftory civil, in refpeé
phyfical
fide. ASE ea vile «
44 See Plutarch, Sympos. i. Qu. 6.
48 Such books as Machiavelli’s Difcorfi fopra Livia are here
meant.

BOOK I]. I21

of the habitations, regiments, and manners of the
people ; and the mathematics, in refpect of the
climates and configurations towards the heavens :
which part of learning of all others in this latter
time hath obtained moft proficience. For it may
be truly affirmed to the honour of thefe times, and
in a virtuous emulation with antiquity, that this
great building of the world had never through-
lights made in it, till the age of us and our fathers :
for although they ‘had knowledge of the Anti-
podes,
Nofque ubi primus equis Oriens afflavit anhelis,
Illic fera rubens accendit lumina Vefper :*°

yet that mought be by demonftration, and not in
fact ; and if by travel, it requireth the voyage but
of half the globe. But to circle the earth, as the
heavenly bodies do, was not done or enterprifed
till thefe latter times: and therefore thefe times
may juftly bear in their word, not only plus ultra,"
in precedence of the ancient non ultra, and imita-
bile fulmen, in precedence of the ancient non imi-
tabile fulmen,

Demens qui nimbos et non imitabile fulmen ; &c.**

but likewife imitabile celum; in refpet of the
many memorable voyages after the manner of
heaven about the globe of the earth.

And this proficience in navigation and dif
coveries may plant alfo an expectation of the
further proficienceand augmentation of all {ciences ;

48 Virg. Georg. i. 250, 251.
47 Plus ultra was the motto of Charles V, (Ellis.)
48 Virg. En, vi. 590.

122 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

becaufe it may feem they are ordained by God to
be coevals, that is, to meet in one age. For fo
the prophet Daniel, {peaking of the latter times,
foretelleth Plurimi pertranfibunt, et multiplex erit
fcientia :*9 as if the opennefs and thorough paflage
of the world and the increafe of knowledge were
appointed to be in the fame ages; as we fee it is
already performed in great part; the learning of
thefe latter times not much giving place to the
former two periods or returns of learning, the one
of the Grecians, the other of the Romans.

De Aug. Hiftory ecclefiaftical receiveth the fame divi-
a dies fions with hiftory civil: but further, in the pro-
(3.) Eccle-

faftical priety thereof, may be divided into the hi/ffory of

Hifttory. — the church, by ageneral name; hiftory of prophecy 5

(a.) Of the and hiffory of providence. ‘The firft defcribeth the

Church. times of the militant church, whether it be fluc-
tuant, as the ark of Noah; or moveable, as the
ark in the wildernefs ; or at reft, as the ark in the
temple: that is, the ftate of the church in perfe-
cution, in remove, and in peace. This part I
ought in no fort to note as deficient ; only I would
that the virtue and fincerity of it were according
to the mafs and quantity. But IJ am not now in
hand with cenfures, but with omiffions.

(8.)OfPro- The fecond, which is hiffory of prophecy, con-

pay: fifteth of two relatives, the prophecy, and the
accomplifhment ; and therefore the nature of fuch
a work ought to be, that every prophecy of the
Scripture be forted with the event fulfilling the
fame, throughout the ages of the world; both for

49°Dan. xiiwa4s

BOOK I]. 123

better confirmation of faith, and for the better
illumination of the Church touching thofe parts of
prophecies which are yet unfulfilled: allowing
neverthelefs that latitude which is agreeable and
familiar unto divine prophecies; being of the na-
ture of their Author, with whom a thoufand years
are but as one day ;°° and therefore are not ful-
filled punétually at once, but have fpringing and
germinant accomplifhment throughout many ages;
though the height or fulnefs of them may refer to
fome one age. This is a work which I find de-
ficient ; but is to be done with wifdom, fobriety,
and reverence, or not at all.

The third, which is hi/tory of providence, con-
taineth that excellent correfpondence which is be-
tween God’s revealed will and His fecret will:
which though it be fo obfcure, as for the moft
part it is not legible to the natural man; no, nor
many times to thofe that behold it from the T’a-
bernacle ; yet at fome times it pleafeth God, for
our better eftablifhment and the confuting of thofe
which are as without God in the world, to write
it in fuch text and capital letters, that as the pro-
phet faith, He that runneth by may read it ;>' that
is, mere fenfual perfons, which haften by God’s
judgments, and never bend or fix their cogitations
upon them, are neverthelefs in their paflage and
race urged to difcern it. Such are the notable
events and examples of God’s judgments, chaf-

S02 :Peter. ili. S.
51 Hab. ii. 2. but mifquoted. “ That he may run that readeth,”
—i. e. may haften to carry on the tidings.

(c.) Of Pro-
vidence.

De Aug. 11.

(4.) There
are alfo Ap-
pendices to
Hiftory ; or
Literary

Hiftory.

124 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

tifements, deliverances, and bleffings: and this is
a work which hath paffed through the labour of
many, and therefore I cannot prefent as omitted.
There are alfo other parts of learning which
are appendices to hiffory: for all the exterior pro-
ceedings of man confift of words and deeds:
whereof hiftory doth properly receive and retain
in memory the deeds: and if words, yet but as
inducements and paflages to deeds: fo are there
other books and writings, which are appropriate
to the cuftody and receipt of words only ; which
likewife are of three forts: orations, letters, and
brief [peeches or fayings. Orations are pleadings,
fpeeches of counfel, laudatives, invectives, apolo-
gies, reprehenfions, orations of formality or cere-
mony, and the like. Letters are according to all
the variety of occafions, advertifements, advices,
directions, propofitions, petitions, commendatory,
expoftulatory, fatisfactory, of compliment, of plea-
fure, of difcourfe, and all other paflages of action.
And fuch as are written from wife men, are of all
the words of man, in my judgment, the beft; for
they are more natural than orations and public
fpeeches, and more advifed than conferences or
prefent fpeeches. So again letters of affairs from
fuch as manage them, or are privy to them, are of
all others the beft inftructions for hiftory, and to

‘a diligent reader the beft hiftories in themfelves.

For Apophthegms, it is a great lofs of that book of

Ceefar’s ;*° for as his hiftory, and thofe few letters

of his which we have, and thofe apophthegms
52 Vid. Cic. ad Fam. ix. 16.

BOOK Il. 125

which were of his own, excel all men’s elfe, fo I
fuppofe would his collection of Apophthegms have
done; for as for thofe which are collected by
others, either I have no tafte in fuch matters, or
elfe their choice hath not been happy. But upon
thefe three kinds of writings I do not infift, be-
caufe I have no deficiencies to propound concern-
ing them.

Thus much therefore concerning hiftory ; which
is that part of learning which anfwereth to one of
the cells, domiciles, or offices of the mind of man:
which is that of memory.

Poefy is a part of learning in meafure of words De Aug. 11.
for the moft part reftrained, but in all other points
extremely licenfed, and doth truly refer to the
imagination ; which, being not tied to the laws of
matter, may at pleafure join that which nature
hath fevered, and fever that which nature hath
joined; and fo make unlawful matches and di-
vorces of things; Préforibus atque poetis, Sc.
It is taken in two fenfes in refpect of words or
matter ; in the firft fenfe it is but a charaéter of
ftyle, and belongeth to arts of fpeech, and is not
pertinent for the prefent: in the latter it is, as
hath been faid, one of the principal portions of
learning, and is nothing elfe but feigned hiffory,
which may be ftyled as well in profe as in verfe.

The ufe of this feigned hiftory hath been to give
fome fhadow of fatisfaction to the mind of man in
thofe points wherein the nature of things doth
deny it, the world being in proportion inferior to

58 Hor. Ep. ad Pis. 9.

-
Ww

Il. ‘Poetry.

126 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

the foul ; by reafon whereof there is, agreeable to
the fpirit of man, a more ample greatnefs, a more
exact goodne(s, and a more abfolute variety, than
can be found in the nature of things. ‘Therefore,
becaufe the acts or events of true hiffory have not
that magnitude which fatisfieth the mind of man,
poe/y feigneth acts and events greater and more
heroical: becaufe true hiffory propoundeth the
fucceffes and iffues of actions not fo agreeable to
the merits of virtue and vice, therefore poefy feigns
them more juft in retribution, and more according
to revealed providence: becaufe true hiftory re-
prefenteth actions and events more ordinary, and
lefs interchanged, therefore poefy endueth them
with more rarenefs, and more unexpected and
alternative variations: fo as it appeareth that
poefy ferveth and conferreth to magnanimity, mo-
rality, and to delectation. And therefore it was
ever thought to have fome participation of divine-
nefs, becaufe it doth raife and erect the mind, by
fubmitting the fhows of things to the defires of the
mind; whereas reafon doth buckle and bow the
mind into the nature of things. And we fee, that
by thefe infinuations and congruities with man’s
nature and pleafure, joined alfo with the agree-
ment and confort it hath with mufic, it hath had
accefs and eftimation in rude times and barbarous
regions, where other learning ftood excluded.
The divifion of Poefy which is apteft in the
propriety thereof, (befides thofe divifions which
are common unto it with hiftory, as feigned chro-
nicles, feigned lives, and the appendices of hiftory,

BOOK I. 127

as feigned epiftles, feigned orations, and the reft)
is into poe/y narrative, reprefentative, and allufive.
The Narrative is a mere imitation of hiftory, with
the excefles before remembered; chooiing for fub-
ject commonly wars and love, rarely ftate, and
fometimes pleafure or mirth. Reprefentative is as
a vifible hiftory; and is an image of actions as if
they were prefent, as hiftory is of actions in nature
as they are, (that is) paft. A/lufive or Parabolical
is a Narrative applied only to exprefs fome {pe-
cial purpofe or conceit. Which latter kind of
parabolical wifdom was much more in ufe in the
ancient times, as by the fables of AZfop, and the
brief fentences of the Seven, and the ufe of hiero-
glyphics may appear. And the caufe was, for that
it was then of neceffity to exprefs any point of
reafon which was more fharp or fubtile than the
vulgar in that manner, becaufe men in thofe times
wanted both variety of examples and {fubtilty of
conceit : and as hieroglyphics were before letters,
fo parables were before arguments: and neverthe-
lefs now, and at all times, they do retain much life
and vigour; becaufe reafon cannot be fo fenfible,
nor examples fo fit.

But there remaineth yet another ufe of Poefy
Parabolical, oppofite to that which we laft men-
tioned: for that tendeth to demonftrate and illuf-
trate that which is taught or delivered, and this
other to retire and obfcure it: that is, when the
fecrets and myfteries of religion, policy, or philo-
fophy, are involved in fables or parables. Of this
in divine poefy we fee the ufe is authorized. In

128 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

heathen poefy we fee the expofition of fables doth
fall out fometimes with great felicity; as in the
fable that the giants being overthrown in their war
againft the gods, the Earth their mother in revenge
thereof brought forth Fame:

lllam terra parens, ira irritata Deorum,

Extremam, ut perhibent, Ceo Enceladoque fororem

Progenuit :°4
expounded, that when princes and monarchs have
fuppreffed actual and open rebels, then the ma-
lignity of the people, which is the mother of re-
bellion, doth bring forth libels and flanders, and
taxations of the ftates, which is of the fame kind
with rebellion, but more feminine. So in the fable,
that the reft of the gods having confpired to bind
Jupiter, Pallas®> called Briareus with his hundred
hands to his aid: expounded, that monarchies need
not fear any curbing of their abfolutenefs by mighty
fubjeéts, as long as by wifdom they keep the hearts
of the people, who will be fure to come in on their
fide. So in the fable, that Achilles was brought
up under Chiron the Centaur, who was part a
man and part a beaft, expounded ingenioufly but
corruptly by Machiavel,® that it belongeth to the
education and difcipline of princes to know as well
how to play the part of the lion in violence, and
the fox in guile, as of the man in virtue and juf-
tice. Neverthelefs, in many the like encoun-
ters, I do rather think that the fable was firft, and
the expofition devifed, than that the moral was

54 Virg. Zn. iv. 178-180.

35 Not Pallas, but Thetis, Hom. J/. A. 401, /79-
36 Hom. J/. A. 831, and Machiav. Prince, c. 18.

BOOK II. 129

firft, and thereupon the fable framed. For I find
it was an ancient vanity in Chryfippus, that trou-
bled himfelf with great contention to faften the
affertions of the Stoics upon the fictions of the
ancient poets; but yet that all the fables and fic-
tions of the poets were but pleafure and not figure,
Linterpofe no opinion. Surely of thofe poets which
are now extant, even Homer himfelf (notwith-
ftanding he was made a kind of Scripture by the
latter fchools of the Grecians,) yet I fhould with-
out any difficulty pronounce that his fables had no
fuch inwardnefs in his own meaning; but what
they might have upon a more original tradition, is
not eafy to affirm; for he was not the inventor of
many of them.*7

In this third®* part of learning, which is poefy,
I can report no deficience. For being as a plant
that cometh of the luft of the earth, without a
formal feed, it hath fprung up and fpread abroad
more than any other kind. But to afcribe unto
it that which is due, for the exprefling of affec-
tions, paffions, corruptions, and cuftoms, we are
beholding to poets more than to the philofophers’
works; and for wit and eloquence, not much lefs
than to orators’ harangues. But it is not good to
ftay too long in the theatre. Let us now pafs on
to the judicial place or palace of the mind, which
we are to approach and view with more reverence
and attention.

57 Jn the Latin, in room of thefe examples, the fables of Pan,
Perfeus, and Dionyfus, are expounded to fhow refpectively how
phyfical, political, and moral do¢trines might be thence deduced.

58 Rather the fecond than the third part of learning —Hiftory,
Poefy, Philofophy.

K

130 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

DeAug.m. The knowledge of man is as the waters, fome
a uno defcending from above, and fome fpringing from
fophy. [Di- beneath; the one informed by the light of nature,
vinity being the other infpired by divine revelation. The light
referved to : 2 :
the lat.] Of nature confifteth in the notions of the mind and
the reports of the fenfes: for as for knowledge
which man receiveth by teaching, it is cumulative
and not original; as in a water that befides his
own fpring-head is fed with other fprings and
ftreams. So then, according to thefe two differing
illuminations or originals, knowledge is firft of all
divided into divinity and philofophy.
Which is, In Philfophy, the contemplations of man do
ie Neral either penetrate unto God,—or are circumferred
(3.)Human, to nature,—or are reflected or reverted upon him-
felf. Out of which feveral inquiries there do arife
three knowledges, divine philofophy, natural phil-
Jophy, and human philofophy or humanity. For all
things are marked and {tamped with this triple
character, of the power of God, the difference of
nature, and the ufe of man. But becaufe the dif-
tributions and partitions of knowledge are not like
feveral lines that meet in one angle, and fo touch
but in a point; but are like branches of a tree,
that meet in a ftem, which hath a dimenfion and
quantity of entirenefs and continuance, before it
come to difcontinue and break itfelf into arms and
boughs: therefore it is good, before we enter into
the former diftribution, to erect and conftitute one
The Piilofo- univerfal fcience, by the name of philofophia prima,
phia Prima yimitive or fummary philofophy, as the main and

precedes all
divifions | Common way, before we come where the ways

BOOK II. 131

part and divide themfelves; which fcience whe-
ther I fhould report as deficient or no, I ftand
doubtful. For I find a certain rhapfody of natural
theology, and of divers parts of logic; and of that
part of natural philofophy which concerneth the
principles, and of that other part of natural philo-
fophy which concerneth the foul or {pirit; all thefe
ftrangely commixed and confufed; but being ex-
amined, it feemeth to me rather a depredation of
other fciences, advanced and exalted unto fome
height of terms, than anything folid or fubftantive
of itfelf. Neverthelefs I cannot be ignorant of the
diftin@tion which is current, that the fame things
are handled but in feveral refpeéts. As for ex-
ample, that logic confidereth of many things as
they are in notion, and this philofophy as they are
in nature; the one in appearance, the other in
exiftence; but I find this difference better made
than purfued. For if they had confidered quantity,
fimilitude, diverfity, and the reft of thofe extern
characters of things, as philofophers, and in nature,
their inquiries muft of force have been of a far
other kind than they are. For doth any of them,
in handling quantity, {peak of the force of union,
how and how far it multiplieth virtue? Doth any
give the reafon, why fome things in nature are fo
common, and in fo great mafs, and others fo rare,
and in fo fmall quantity? Doth any, in handling
Jimilitude and diverfity, affign the caufe why iron
fhould not move to iron, which is more like, but
move to the lode-ftone, which is lefs like? Why
in all diverfities of things there fhould be certain

132 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

participles in nature, which are almoft ambiguous
to which kind they fhould be referred? But there
is a mere and deep filence touching the nature and
operation of thofe common adjunéts of things, as
in nature: and only a refuming and repeating of
the force andufe of them in f{peech or argument.
Therefore, becaufe in a writing of this nature, I
avoid all fubtilty, my meaning touching this ori-
ginal or univerfal philofophy is thus, in a plain and
grofs defcription by negative: That it be a recep-
tacle for all fuch profitable obfervations and axioms
as fall not within the compafs of any of the {pecial
parts of philofophy or fetences, but are more common
and of a higher ftage.

Now that there are many of that kind need not
to be doubted. For example: is not the rule, Sz
inequalibus equalia addas, omnia erunt inequaiia,
an axiom as well of juftice as of the mathema-
tics £59 and is there not a true coincidence between
commutative and diftributive juftice, and arithme-
tical and geometrical proportion? Is not that
other rule, Que in eodem tertio conveniunt, et inter
Je conveniunt, a rule taken from the mathematics,
but fo potent in logic as all fyllogifms are built
upon it? Is not the obfervation, Omnia mutantur,
nil interit,® a contemplation in philofophy thus,
that the guantum of nature is eternal? in natural
theology thus, that it requireth the fame Omnipo-

59 In Ellis and Spedding’s ed, there is a note faying that this
claufe and its fucceffor are tran{pofed in the original ed. This is
not the cafe in the copy I have collated. And in one or two other
notices of variation my copy did not bear out their remarks.

60 Plat. Theet. i. 152. Ovid, Met, xv. 165.

BOOK II. 133

tence to make fomewhat nothing, which at the
firft made nothing fomewhat? according to the
Scripture, Didici quod omnia opera, que fecit Deus,
perfeverent in perpetuum ; non poffumus eis quicquam
addere nec auferre' Is not the ground, which
Machiavel wifely and largely difcourfeth concern-
ing governments, that the way to eftablifh and pre-
ferve them, is to reduce them ad principia, a rule
in religion and nature, as well as in civil adminif-
tration ° Was not the Perfian magic a reduction
or correfpondence of the principles and architec-
tures of nature to the rules and policy of govern-
ments? Is not the precept of a mufician, to fall
from a difcord or harfh accord upon a concord or
{weet accord, alike true in affection. Is not the
trope of mufic, to avoid or flide from the clofe or
cadence, common with the trope of rhetoric of
deceiving expectation ?® Is not the delight of the
quavering upon a ftop in mufic the fame with the
playing of light upon the water?

Splendet tremulo fub lumine pontus.®*

Are not the organs of the fenfes of one kind with
the organs of reflection, the eye with a glafs, the
ear with a cave or ftrait determined and bounded?
Neither are thefe only fimilitudes, as men of nar-
row obfervation may conceive them to be, but the
fame footfteps of nature, treading or printing upon
feveral fubjeé&ts or matters. This fcience, there-
fore, as I underftand it, I may juftly report as de-

61 Ecclus. xlii. 21. 62 Difcourfe on Livy, iii. 1.
e : Y

63 See Nov. Org. ii. 27. ‘ Inftantie conformes.”

6 Virg. Zn. vii. 9.

De Aug. 111.
2,

(1.) Divine
Philofophy,
or Natural
Theology.

134 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ficient : for I fee fometimes the profounder fort of
wits in handling fome particular argument will
now and then draw a bucket of water out of this
well for their prefent ufe; but the fpring-head
thereof feemeth to me not to have been vifited ;
being of fo excellent ufe, both for the difclofing of
nature, and the abridgment of art.

This fcience being therefore firft placed as a
common parent, like unto Berecynthia, which had
fo much heavenly iffue,

Omnes Celicolas, omnes fupera alta tenentes,®
we may return to the former diftribution of the
three philofophies, divine, natural, and human.

And as concerning divine philofophy or natural
theology, it is that knowledge or rudiment of know-
ledge concerning God, which may be obtained by
the contemplation of His creatures; which know-
ledge may be truly termed divine in refpect of the
object, and natural in refpect of the light. The
bounds of this knowledge are, that it fufficeth to
convince atheifm, but not to inform religion : and
therefore there was never miracle wrought by God
to convert an atheift, becaufe the light of nature
might have led him to confefs a God: but mira-
cles have been wrought to convert idolaters and
the fuperftitious, becaufe no light of nature ex-
tendeth to declare the will and true worfhip of
God. For as all works do fhow forth the power
and {kill of the workman, and not his image ; fo it
is of the works of God, which do fhow the omni-
potency and wifdom of the Maker, but not His

6 Virg. An. vi. 787.

BOOK I]. 135

image: and therefore therein the heathen opinion
differeth from the facred truth; for they fuppofed
the world to be the image of God, and man to be
an extract or compendious image of the world ;©
but the Scriptures never vouchfafe to attribute to
the world that honour, as to be the image of
God, but only the work of His hands : neither do
they fpeak of any other image of God, but man:
wherefore by the contemplation of nature to in-
duce and enforce the acknowledgment of God,
and to demonftrate His power, providence, and
goodnefs, is an excellent argument, and hath been
excellently handled by divers.

But on the other fide, out of the contemplation
of nature, or ground of human knowledge, to in-
duce any verity or perfuafion concerning the points
of faith, isin my judgment not fafe: Da fidei que
fidei funt.© For the heathens themfelves con-
clude as much in that excellent and divine fable of
the golden chain: That men and gods were not able
to draw “fupiter down to the earth; but contrari-
wife, Fupiter was able to draw them up to heaven.®9
So as we ought not to attempt to draw down or
fubmit the myfteries of God to our reafon; but
contrariwife to raife and advance our reafon to
the divine truth. So as in this part of knowledge,
touching divine philofophy, I am fo far from noting
any deficience, as I rather note an excefs: where-

66 Muxpéxoopoc—a favourite dogma with Paracelfus, who di-
vided the body of man according to the cardinal points of the
world. But Bacon is perhaps referring to the Platonifts in the firft
part of the fentence.

PPs, vila 3. . uke xx. 25. 6 Hom. Il. viii. 19-22.

136 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

unto I have digrefled becaufe of the extreme pre-
judice which both religion and philofophy have
received and may receive, by being commixed
together ; as that which undoubtedly will make an
heretical religion, and an imaginary and fabulous
philofophy.

Otherwife it is of the nature of angels and
{pirits, which is an appendix of theology both
divine and natural, and is neither infcrutable nor
interdicted ; for although the Scripture faith, Let
no man deceive you in fublime difcourfe touching the
worfbip of angels, preffing into that he knoweth not,
&Fe.,7° yet, notwithf{tanding, if you obferve well
that precept, it may appear thereby that there be
two things only forbidden, adoration of them, and
opinion fantaftical of them, either to extol them
farther than appertaineth to the degree of a crea-
ture, or to extol a man’s knowledge of them far-
ther than he hath ground. But the fober and
grounded inquiry, which may arife out of the paf-
fages of holy Scriptures, or out of the gradations
of nature, is not reftrained. So of degenerate and
revolted fpirits, the converfing with them or the
employment of them is prohibited, much more
any veneration towards them; but the contem-
plation or fcience of their nature, their power, their
illufions, either by Scripture or reafon, is a part of
{piritual wifdom. For fo the apoftle faith, We are
not ignorant of his ftratagems."' And it isno more
unlawful to inquire the nature of evil fpirits, than
to inquire the force of poifons in nature, or the

7 Colofs, ii, 18. 43,2 (Cor, ike ae

BOOK I]. 137

nature of fin and vice in morality. But this part
touching angels and fpirits I cannot note as defi-
cient, for many have occupied themfelves in it;7*
I may rather challenge it, in many of the writers
thereof, as fabulous and fantatftical.

Leaving therefore divine philofophy or natural
theology, (not Divinity or infpired theology, which
we referve for the laft of all, as the haven and
fabbath of all man’s contemplations) we will now
proceed to natural philofophy.

If then it be true that Democritus faid, That
the truth of nature lieth hid in certain eed mines
and caves,@ and if it be true likewife that the al-
chemifts do fo much inculcate, that Vulcan is a
fecond nature, and imitateth that dexteroufly and
compendioufly, which nature worketh by ambages
and length of time, it were good to divide natural
philofophy into the mine and the furnace: and to
make two profeffions or occupations of natural
philofophers, fome to be pioneers and fome {miths ;
fome to dig, and fome to refine and hammer: and
furely I do beft allow of a divifion of that kind,
though in more familiar and fcholaftical terms ;
namely, that thefe be the two parts of natural phi-
lofophy,—the inqui/ition of caufes,and the production
of effects; fpeculative, and operative; natural I[cience,
and natural prudence. For as in civil matters there
is a wifdom of difcourfe and a wifdom of direction ;

® The nature of Angels was a favourite fubjeét of {peculation
and difcuffion among the Schoolmen, whofe writings on it deferve
Bacon’s cenfure.

73 éy BuO yao 7 adnOea. Diog. Laert. ix. 72.—Whence our
* Truth lies at the bottom of a Well.”

De Augm,
its Oh

(z.) Natu-
ral Philofo-

phy.

De Aug. 111.

4.
Natural
{cience is
Phyfical
and Meta-
phyfical :
the latter
defined.

138 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fo is itin natural. And here I will make a requeft,
that for the latter, or at leaft for a part thereof, I
may revive and reintegrate the mifapplied and
abufed name of zatural magic ;"* which, in the
true fenfe, is but natural wifdom, or natural pru-
dence; taken according to the ancient acception,
purged from vanity and fuperftition. Now al-
though it be true, and I know it well, that there
is an intercourfe between caufes and effects, fo as
both thefe knowledges, fpeculative and operative,
have a great connection between themfelves ; yet
becaufe all true and fruitful natural philofophy
hath a double fcale or ladder, afcendent and de-
fcendent : afcending from experiments to the in-
vention of caufes, and defcending from caufes to
the invention of new experiments; therefore I
judge it moft requifite that thefe two parts be
feverally confidered and handled.

Natural fcience or theory is divided into phyfique
and metaphy/ique: wherein I defire it may be con-
ceived that I ufe the word metaphyfique in a dif-
fering fenfe from that that is received : and in like
manner, I doubt not but it will eafily appear to
men of judgment, that in this and other particu-
lars, wherefoever my conception and notion may
differ from the ancient, yet I am ftudious to keep
the ancient terms. For hoping well to deliver
myfelf from miftaking, by the order and perfpi-
cuous expreffing of that I do propound, I am
otherwife zealous and affectionate to recede as little

74 Cf. Nov, Org. ii. 9, and 51, and De Augm. iii. 5, where he
afferts for the term Magic its proper honours.

BOOK II. 139

from antiquity, either in terms or opinions, as may
ftand with truth and the proficience of knowledge.
And herein I cannot a little marvel at the philo-
fopher Ariftotle, that did proceed in fuch a {pirit
of difference and contradiction towards all anti-
quity: undertaking not only to frame new words
of fcience at pleafure, but to confound and extin-
guifh all ancient wifdom: infomuch as he never
nameth or mentioneth an ancient author or opin-
ion, but to confute and reprove ;’> wherein for
glory, and drawing followers and difciples, he took
the right courfe. For certainly there cometh to
pafs and hath place in human truth, that which
was noted and pronounced in the higheft truth:
Veni in nomine Patris, nec recipitis me; fi quis
venerit in nomine fuo eum recipietis.*© But in this
divine aphorifm, (confidering to whom it was ap-
plied, namely to Antichrift, the higheft deceiver,)
we may difcern well that the coming in a man’s
own name, without regard of antiquity or pater-
nity, is no good fign of truth, although it be joined
with the fortune and fuccefs of an Eum recipietis.
But for this excellent perfon Ariftotle, I will think
of him that he learned that humour of his fcholar,
with whom, it feemeth, he did emulate; the one
to conquer all opinions, as the other to conquer
all nations; wherein neverthelefs, it may be, he
may at fome men’s hands that are of a bitter dif-
pofition get a like title as his fcholar did:

7 Cf. Nov. Org. i. 63.67; where he likens him to the Turks,
whofe Sultans on afcending the throne murder all the feed royal.
Ci, Ar. Eth. Nic. I. 6.1. where Ariftotle declares that it is fome-
times needful for truth’s fake cai ra oixtia avaupeiv.

7 John v. 43.

140 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Felix terrarum przdo, non utile mundo
Editus exemplum, &c.

So

Felix doétrine praedo.77

But to me, on the other fide, that do defire as
much as lieth in my pen to ground a fociable
intercourfe between antiquity and proficience, it
feemeth beft to keep way with antiquity u/qgue ad
aras; and therefore to retain the ancient terms,
though I fometimes alter the ufes and definitions,
according to the moderate proceeding in civil go-
vernment; where although there be fome altera-
tion, yet that holdeth which Tacitus wifely noteth,
Eadem Magiftratuum vocabula.”®
And diftin- | To return therefore to the ufe and acception
ai of the term Metaphyfique, as I do now underftand
Philofopbia the word; it appeareth, by that which hath been
silico already faid, that I intend philofophia prima, Sum-
mary Philofophy, and Metaphyfique, which here-
tofore have been confounded as one, to be two
diftin& things. For the one I have made as a
parent or common anceftor to all knowledge ; and
the other I have now brought in as a branch or
defcendent of natural fcience. It appeareth like-
wife that I have affigned to Summary Philofophy
the common principles and axioms which are pro-
mifcuous and indifferent to feveral fciences: I

7 Illic Pellaei proles vefana Philippi
Felix prado jacet, terrarum vindice fato
iRaptusimese meme |
Nam fibi libertas unquam fi redderet orbem, |
Ludibrio fervatus erat, non utile mundo
Editus exemplum,. Lucan. Phars. x. 20.

TEV aC ageless

BOOK II. 141

have affigned unto it likewife the inquiry touching
the operation of the relative and adventive charac-
ters of effences, as quantity, fimilitude, diverfity,
poffibility, and the reft: with this diftinction and
provifion ; that they be handled as they have effi-
cacy in nature, and not logically. It appeareth
likewife that Natural Theology, which heretofore
hath been handled confufedly with Metaphyfique,
I have inclofed and bounded by itfelf. It is there-
fore now a queftion what is left remaining for
Metaphyfique; wherein I may without prejudice
preferve thus much of the conceit of antiquity,
that Phyfique fhould contemplate that which is
inherent in matter, and therefore tranfitory ; and
Metaphyfique that which is abftracted and fixed.
And again, that Phyfique fhould handle that which
fuppofeth in nature only a being and moving ; and
Metaphyfique fhould handle that which fuppofeth
further in nature a reafon, underftanding, and plat-
form. But the difference, perfpicuoufly exprefled,
is moft familiar and fenfible. For as we divided
natural philofophy in general into the inquiry of
caufes,and productions of effecis : fo that part which
concerneth the inquiry of caufes we do fubdivide
according to the received and found divifion of
caufes ; the one part, which is Phyfique, inquireth
and handleth the material and efficient caufes ; and
the other, which is Metaphyfique, handleth the
formal and final caufes.79

Phyfique, taking it according to the derivation, OF, Phyfi-

and not according to our idiom for medicine, is

7 For thefe “ four caufes,” fee Arift. Poff. Anal.ii, 10. 1. Cf.
Mill’s Logic, Bk. iii. Ch. 5.

cal; of the
material
and effi-
cient
caufes,

142 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fituate in a middle term or diftance between Na-
tural Hiftory and Metaphyfique. For natural hif-
tory defcribeth the variety of things; phyfique,
the caufes, but variable or refpective caufes; and
metaphyfique, the fixed and conftant caufes.

Limus ut hic durefcit, et hac ut cera liquefcit,
Uno eodemque igni : ®°

Fire is the caufe of induration, but refpective to
clay; fire is the caufe of colliquation, but refpec-
tive to wax; but fire is no conftant caufe either
of induration or colliquation : fo then the phyfical
caufes are but the efficient and the matter. Phy-
fique hath three parts ; whereof two refpect nature
united or collected, the third contemplateth nature
diffufed or diftributed. Nature is collected either
into one entire total, or elfe into the fame prin-
ciples or feeds. So as the firft do€trine is touch-
ing the contexture or configuration of things, as
de mundo, de univerfitate rerum. ‘The fecond is
the doétrine concerning the principles or originals
of times. The third is the doctrine concerning
all variety and particularity of things; whether it
be of the differing fubftances, or their differing
qualities and natures; whereof there needeth no
enumeration, this part being but as a glofs, or
paraphrafe, that attendeth upon the text of natural
hiftory. Of thefe three I cannot report any as
deficient. In what truth or perfection they are
handled, I make not now any judgment; but they
are parts of knowledge not deferted by the labour

of man.
8% Virg. Ecl. viii. 80.

BOOK I]. 143

For Metaphyfique, we have affigned unto it the
inquiry of formal and final caufes ; which affigna-
tion, as to the former of them, may feem to be
nugatory and void; becaufe of the received and
inveterate opinion that the inquifition of man is
not competent to find out effential Forms or true
differences: of which opinion we will take this
hold, that the invention of Forms is of all other
parts of knowledge the worthieft to be fought, if
it be poffible to be found.*t As for the poffibility,
they are ill difcoverers that think there is no land,
when they can fee nothing but fea. But it is ma-
nifeft that Plato, in his opinion of Ideas, as one
that had a wit of elevation fituate as upon a cliff,
did defery, that Forms were the true object of know-
ledge ;*° but loft the real fruit of his opinion, by
confidering of Forms as abfolutely abftracted from
matter, and not confined and determined by mat-
ter; and fo turning his opinion upon theology,
wherewith all his natural philofophy is infected.®
But if any man fhall keep a continual watchful
and fevere eye upon action, operation, and the ufe
of knowledge, he may advife and take notice what
are the Forms, the difclofures whereof are fruitful
and important to the ftate of man. For as to the
forms of fubftances, man only except, of whom it
is faid, Formavit hominem de limo terre, et [piravit
in faciem ejus fpiraculum vita, and not as of all

81 See Nov. Org. ii. 1. Date nature formam .. . invenire,
opus et intentio eft humane fcientie. The firft twenty chapters
of Bk. ii. of the Now. Org. are an attempt at expanfion of this
faying.

82 Plato, Rep. x. init. 8 Nov. Org. i. 96.

(2.) Meta-
phyfical.
(a.) Of for-

mal caufes.

144 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

other creatures, Producant aque, producat terra ;**
the Forms of fubftances, I fay, as they are now by
compounding and tranfplanting multiplied, are fo
perplexed, as they are not to be inquired ; no more
than it were either poflible or to purpofe to feek
in grofs the Forms of thofe founds which make
words, which by compofition and tranfpofition of
letters are infinite. But, on the other fide, to in-
quire the Form of thofe founds or voices which
make fimple letters is eafily comprehenfible ; and
being known, induceth and manifefteth the Forms
of all words, which confift and are compounded
of them. In the fame manner to inquire the Form
of a lion, of an oak, of gold; nay, of water, of air,
is a vain purfuit : but to inquire the Forms of fenfe,
of voluntary motion, of vegetation, of colours, of
gravity and levity, of denfity, of tenuity, of heat,
of cold, and all other natures and qualities, which,
like an alphabet, are not many, and of which the
eflences, upheld by matter, of all creatures do con-
fift ; to inquire, I fay, the true Forms of thefe, is
that part of metaphyfique which we now define of.
Not but that Phyfic doth make inquiry, and take
confideration of the fame natures: but how?
Only as to the material and efficient caufes of them,
and not as to the Forms. For example; if the
caufe of whitenefs in fnow or froth be inquired,
and it be rendered thus, that the fubtile intermix-
ture of air and water is the caufe, it is well ren-
dered; but, neverthelefs, is this the form of white-
nefs? No; but it is the efficient, which is ever

BS Gen. its 751. 20. 24>

BOOK II. 145

but vehiculum forme.® This part of Metaphyfique
I do not find laboured and performed: whereat I
marvel not; becaufe I hold it not poffible to be
invented by that courfe of invention which hath
been ufed; in regard that men, which is the root
of all error, have made too untimely a departure
and too remote a recefs from particulars.

But the ufe of this part of Metaphyfique, which
I report as deficient, is of the reft the moft excel-
lent in two refpects: the one, becaufe it is the
duty and virtue of all knowledge to abridge the
infinity of individual experience, as much as the
conception of truth will permit, and to remedy the
complaint of vita brevis, ars longa ;*° which is
performed by uniting the notions and conceptions
of fciences: for knowledges are as pyramids,
whereof hiftory is the bafis. So of natural philo-
fophy, the bafis is natural hiftory ; the ftage next
the bafis is phyfique; the ftage next the vertical
point is metaphyfique. As for the vertical point,
opus quod operatur Deus a principio ufque ad finem,*'
the fummary law of nature, we know not whether
man’s inquiry can attain unto it. But thefe three
be the true itages of knowledge, and are to them
that are depraved no better than the giant’s hills:

Ter funt conati imponere Pelio Offam,
Scilicet atque Off frondofum involvere Olympum.*®*

But to thofe who refer all things to the glory of

85 Now. Org. ii. 3, efficiens et materialis caufa (que caufe fluxe
funt, et nihil aliud quam vedicula et caufe formam deferentes in
aliquibus.)

= ippace-app. i. © Eccles. ili. ar. © Georg. i. 281, 282.

L

Good, as it
abridges
particulars.

And as it
gives liberty
to man’s
powers.

146 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING

God, they are as the three acclamations, Sanéfe,
fanéte, fanéte ! holy in the defcription or dilatation
of His works; holy in the connection or concate-
nation of them; and holy in the union of them in
a perpetual and uniform law. And therefore the
fpeculation was excellent in Parmenides and Plato,
although but a fpeculation in them, that all things
by feale did afcend to unity.89 So then always
that knowledge is worthieft which is charged with
leaft multiplicity ; which appeareth to be meta-
phyfique; as that which confidereth the fimple
Forms or differences of things, which are few in
number, andthe degrees and co-ordinations whereof
make all this variety.

The fecond refpeét, which valueth and com-
mendeth this part of metaphyfique, is that it doth
enfranchife the power of man unto the greateft
liberty and poffibility of works and effects. For
phyfique carrieth men in narrow and reftrained
ways, fubject to many accidents of impediments,
imitating the ordinary flexuous courfes of nature ;
but late undique funt fapientibus vie :® to fapience,
which was anciently defined to be rerum divinarum
et humanarum fcientia,® there is ever choice of
means. For phyfical caufes give light to new in-
vention in fimili materia ; but whofoever knoweth
any Form, knoweth the utmoft poffibility of fuper-
inducing that nature upon any variety of matter ;
and {fo is lefs reftrained in operation, either to the

89 Plato, Parm. 165, 166.
90 Perhaps Prov. xv. 19, via juftorum abfque offendiculo.
5! Cic. de Off. i. 43. (154.)

BOOK Il. 147

bafis of the matter, or the condition of the efficient;
which kind of knowledge Salomon likewife, though
in a more divine fort, elegantly defcribeth: non
arétabuntur greffus tui, et currens non habebis of-
fendiculum.* ‘The ways of fapience are not much
liable either to particularity or chance.

The fecond part of metaphyfique is the imguiry
of final caufes, which | am moved to report not
as omitted, but as mifplaced; and yet if it were
but a fault in order, I would not fpeak of it: for
order is matter of illuftration, but pertaineth not
to the fubftance of fciences. But this mifplacing
hath caufed a deficience, or at leaft a great impro-
ficience in the fciences themfelves. For the hand-
ling of final caufes mixed with the reft in phyfical
inquiries, hath intercepted the fevere and diligent
inquiry of all real and phyfical caufes, and given
men the occafion to ftay upon thefe fatisfactory
and fpecicus caufes, to the great arreft and preju-
dice of further difcovery. For this I find done
not only by Plato, who ever anchoreth upon that
fhore, but by Ariftotle, Galen, and others which
do ufually likewife fall upon thefe flats of difcourfing
caufes.°3 For to fay that the hairs of the eyelids are
for a quickfet and fence about the fight ; or that the
firmnefs of the kins and hides of living creatures is
to defend them from the extremities of heat or cold;
or that the bones are for the columns or beams, where-
upon the frames of the bodies of living creatures are

92 Prov. iv. 12.

% Ariftot. Phy/. ii. 8, 2, where he illuftrates by the teeth. Alfo
Plat. Tim. iii, 70, and Galen, De Uju Partium.

(8.) Of final

caufes,

148 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

built: or that the leaves of trees are for protecting of
the fruit ; or that the clouds are for watering of the
earth ; or that the folidne/s of the earth is for the
Station and manjfion of living creatures and the like,
is well inquired and collected in metaphyfique, but
in phyfique they are impertinent. Nay, they are
indeed but remore, and hindrances to ftay and
flug the fhip from further failing ; and have brought
this to pafs, that the fearch of the phyfical caufes
hath been neglected, and paffed in filence. And
therefore the natural philofophy of Democritus
and fome others, (who did not fuppofe a mind or
reafon in the frame of things, but attributed the
form thereof able to maintain itfelf to infinite
eflays or proofs of nature, which they term /for-
tune) feemeth to me, as far as I can judge by the
recital and fragments which remain unto us, in
particularities of phyfical caufes, more real and
better inquired than that of Ariftotle and Plato;
whereof both intermingled final caufes, the one as
a part of theology, and the other as a part of logic,
which were the favourite ftudies refpectively of
both thofe perfons. Not becaufe thofe final caufes
are not true, and worthy to be inquired, being
kept within their own province; but becaufe
their excurfions into the limits of phyfical caufes
hath bred a vaftnefs and folitude in that track.
For otherwife, keeping their precinéts and borders,
men are extremely deceived if they think there is
an enmity or repugnancy at all between them.
For the caufe rendered, that the hairs about the
eye-lids are for the fafeguard of the fight, doth not

BOOK II. 149

impugn the caufe rendered, that pilofity is incident
to orifices of moifiure ; mufcofi fontes,9* &c. Nor
the caufe rendered, that the firmne/s of hides ts for
the armour of the body againft extremities of heat or
cold, doth not impugn the caufe rendered, that
contraétion of pores 1s incident to the outwardeft
parts, in regard of their adjacence to foreign or un-
like bodies: and fo of the reft: both caufes being
true and compatible, the one declaring an intention,
the other a confequence only. Neither doth this
call in queftion, or derogate from Divine Provi-
dence, but highly confirm and exalt it. For asin
civil actions he is the greater and deeper politique,
that can make other men the inftruments of his
will and ends, and yet never acquaint them with
his purpofe, fo as they fhall do it and yet not know
what they do, than he that imparteth his meaning
to thofe he employeth; fo is the wifdom of God
more admirable, when nature intendeth one thing,
and Providence draweth forth another, than if He
communicated to particular creatures and motions
the characters and impreffions of His Providence.
And thus much for metaphyfique: the latter part
whereof I allow as extant, but wifh it confined to
his proper place.

Neverthelefs there remaineth yet another part
of Natural Philofophy, which is commonly made
a principal part, and holdeth rank with Phyfique
fpecial and Metaphyfique, which is Mathema-
tique; but I think it more agreeable to the
nature of things and to the light of order to

9 Virg. Ecl. vii. 45.

De Augm.
11. 6.
Mathema-
tics may be
ranked
under Meta-
phyfics.

This branch
is,
(a.) Pure.

150 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

place it as a branch of Metaphyfique: for the
fubject of it being quantity, (not quantity in-
definite, which is but a relative, and belongeth
to philofophia prima, as hath been faid, but guan-
tity determined or proportionable), it appeareth to
be one of the effential Forms of things; as that
that is caufative in nature of a number of effects ;
infomuch as we fee, in the fchools both of De-
mocritus and of Pythagoras, that the one did
afcribe figure to the firft feeds of things, and the
other did fuppofe numbers to be the principles
and originals of things: and it is true alfo that of
all other Forms, as we underftand Forms, it is the
moft abftracted and feparable from matter, and
therefore moft proper to Metaphyfique ; which
hath likewife been the caufe why it hath been
better laboured and inquired than any of the other
Forms, which are more immerfed in matter.

For it being the nature of the mind of man, to
the extreme prejudice of knowledge, to delight in
the fpacious liberty of generalities, as in a cham-
pain region, and not in the inclofures of particu-
larity ; the Mathematics of all other knowledge
were the goodlieft fields to fatisfy that appetite.
But for the placing of this fcience, it is not much
material: only we have endeavoured in thefe our
partitions to obferve a kind of perfpective, that
one part may caft light upon another.

The Mathematics are either pure or mixed. To
the Pure Mathematics are thofe fciences belonging

95 For thefe opinions of Democritus and the Pythagoreans, fee
Ariftot. De Anima, i. 2, Met. i. 4, 5.

BOOK II. 151

which handle guantity determinate, merely fevered
from any axioms of natural philofophy ; and thefe
are two, Geometry and Arithmetic ; the one hand-
ling quantity continued, and the other diffevered.
Mixed hath for fubject fome axioms or parts of (4.) Mixed.
natural philofophy, and confidereth guantity de-
termined, as it is auxiliary and incident unto them.
For many parts of nature can neither be invented
with fufficient fubtilty, nor demonftrated with
fufficient perfpicuity, nor accommodated unto ufe
with fufficient dexterity, without the aid and inter-
vening of the mathematics ; of which fort are per-
Ipeétive, mufic, aftronomy, cofmography, architecture,
enginery, and divers others.
In the Mathematics I can report no deficience,
except it be that men do not fufficiently underftand
the excellent ufe of the Pure Mathematics, in that
they do remedy and cure many defects in the wit
and faculties intellectual. For if the wit be too
dull, they fharpen it; if too wandering, they fix
it; if too inherent in the fenfe, they abftract it.
So that as tennis is a game of no ufe in itfelf, but
of great ufe in refpect it maketh a quick eye and a
body ready to put itfelf into all poftures ; fo in the
Mathematics, that ufe which is collateral and in-
tervenient is no lefs worthy than that which is
principal and intended. And as for the Mixed
Mathematics, I may only make this predi¢tion, that
there cannot fail to be more kinds of them, as
nature grows further difclofed. “Thus much of
Natural Science, or the part of nature fpeculative. ,. .,
ii. Natural
For Natural Prudence, or the part operative of Prudence.

(1.) Experi-

mental.

De Augm.
fit Ge
(2.) Philo-
fophical.

(3-) Ma-
gical,

152 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Natural Philofophy, we will divide it into three
parts, experimental, philofophical, and magical ;
which three parts active have a correfpondence
and analogy with the three parts fpeculative, na-
tural hiftory, phyfique, and metaphyfique: for
many operations have been invented, fometimes
by a cafual incidence and occurrence, fometimes by
a purpofed experiment: and of thofe which have
been found by an intentional experiment, fome
have been found out by varying or extending the
fame experiment, fome by transferring and com-
pounding divers experiments the one into the
other, which kind of invention an empiric may
manage.

Again, by.the knowledge of phyfical caufes
there cannot fail to follow many indications and
defignations of new particulars, if men in their
{fpeculation will keep one eye upon ufe and prac-
tice. But thefe are but coaftings along the fhore,
Premendo littus iniquum:°® for it feemeth to me
there can hardly be difcovered any radical or fun-
damental alterations and innovations in nature,
either by the fortune and eflays of experiments,
or by the light and direction of phyfical caufes.
If therefore we have reported Metaphyfique defi-
cient, it muft follow that we do the like of natural
Magic, which hath relation thereunto. For as for
the Natural Magic whereof now there is mention
in books, containing certain credulous and fuper-
{titious conceits and obfervations of fympathies
and antipathies, and hidden properties, and fome

Por For.y Odile 3

BOOK I]. 153

frivolous experiments, ftrange rather by difguife-
ment than in themfelves; it is as far differing in truth
of nature from fuch a knowledge as we require,
as the ftory of King Arthur of Britain, or Hugh
_ of Bordeaux, differs from Czfar’s Commentaries
in truth of ftory. For it is manifeft that Czefar
did greater things de vero than thofe imaginary
heroes were feigned to do; but he did them not
in that fabulous manner. Of this kind of learning
the fable of Ixion9? was a figure, who defigned
to enjoy Juno, the goddefs of power ; and inftead
of her had copulation with a cloud, of which mix-
ture were begotten centaurs and chimeras. So
whofoever fhall entertain high and vaporous ima-
ginations, inftead of a laborious and fober inquiry
of truth, fhall beget hopes and beliefs of ftrange
and impoffible fhapes.

And therefore we may note in thefe fciences
which hold fo much of imagination and belief, as this
degenerate Natural Magic, Alchemy, Aftrology,
and the like, that in their propofitions the defcrip-
tion of the mean is ever more monftrous than the
pretence or end. For it is a thing more probable,
that he that knoweth well the natures of werght,
of colour, of pliant and fragile, in refpe&t of the
hammer, of volatile and fixed in refpect of the fire
and the reft, may fuperinduce upon fome metal
the nature and Form of gold by fuch mechanique
as belongeth to the produétion of the natures
afore rehearfed, than that fome grains of the
medicine projected fhould in a few moments of

7 Pind, Pyth. ii. 21,

154 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

time turn a fea of quickfilver or other material
into gold: fo it is more probable that he that know-
eth the nature of arefaction, the nature of affimi-
lation of nourifhment to the thing nourifhed, the
manner of increafe and clearing of fpirits, the
manner of the depredations which fpirits make
upon the humours and folid parts, fhall by am-
bages of diets, bathings, anointings, medicines,
motions, and the like, prolong life, cr reftore fome
degree of youth or vivacity, than that it can be
done with the ufe of a few drops or feruples of a
liquor or receipt. ‘To conclude, therefore, the
true Natural Magic, which is that great liberty and
latitude of operation which dependeth upon the
knowledge of Forms, I may report deficient, as
the relative thereof is.

To which part, if we be ferious, and incline not
to vanities and plaufible difcourfe, befides the de-
riving and deducing the operations themfelves from
Metaphyfique, there are pertinent two points of
much purpofe, the one by way of preparation, the
other by way of caution : the firft is, that there be
made a kalendar, refembling an inventory of the
eftate of man, containing all the inventions, being
the works or fruits of nature or art, which are now
extant, and whereof man is already poflefled ; out
of which doth naturally refult a note, what things
are yet held impoffible, or not invented: which
kalendar will be the more artificial and ferviceable,
if to every reputed impoffibility you add what thing
is extant which cometh the neareft in degree to that
impoffibility ; to the end that by thefe optatives and

BOOK I. 155

potentials man’s inquiry may be more awake in
deducing direction of works from the fpeculation
of caufes: and fecondly, that thofe experiments be
not only efteemed which have an immediate and
prefent ufe, but thofe principally which are of moft
univerfal confequence for invention of other ex-
periments, and thofe which give moft light to the
invention of caufes ; for the invention of the ma-
riner’s needle, which giveth the direction, is of no
lefs benefit for navigation than the invention of the
fails which give the motion.

Thus have I paffled through Natural Philofophy,
and the deficiencies thereof; wherein if I have
differed from the ancient and received doétrines,
and thereby fhall move contradiction ; for my
part, as I affect not to diffent, fo I purpofe not to
contend. If it be truth,

Non canimus furdis, refpondent omnia fylve.%

The voice of nature will confent, whether the
voice of man do or no. And as Alexander
Borgia was wont to fay of the expedition of the
French for Naples, that they came with chalk in
their hands to mark up their lodgings, and not
with weapons to fight ; fo I like better that entry
of truth which cometh peaceably, with chalk to
mark up thofe minds which are capable to lodge
and harbour it, than that which cometh with pug-
nacity and contention.%

Conclufion
of this part.

But there remaineth a divifion of natural philo- De Augm.

98 Virg. Ecl. x. 8.

9 Nov. Org. i. 35. This faying of Alexander VI. was called
forth by the expedition of Charles VIII. which over-ran Italy in
about five months, A.D. 1494.

Ill. 4s

156 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fophy according to the report of the inquiry, and
nothing concerning the matter or fubject; and
that is pofitive and confiderative ; when the in-
quiry reporteth either an affertion or a doubt.
Thefe doubts or non liquets are of two forts, par-
ticular and total. For the firft, we fee a good
example thereof in Ariftotle’s Problems, which
deferved to have had a better continuance; but fo
neverthelefs as there is one point whereof warning
is to be given and taken. The regiftering of
doubts hath two excellent ufes: the one, that it
faveth philofophy from errors and falfehoods; when
that which is not fully appearing is not collected
into affertion, whereby error might draw error, but
referved in doubt: the other, that the entry of
doubts are as fo many fuckers or fponges to draw
ufe of knowledge ; infomuch as that which, if
doubts had not preceded, a man fhould never have
advifed, but pafled it over without note, by the
fuggeftion and folicitation of doubts, is made to be
attended and applied. But both thefe commodities
do fcarcely countervail an inconvenience which
will intrude itfelf, if it be not debarred; which is,
that when a doubt is once received, men labour
rather how to keep it a doubt ftill, than how to
folve it; and accordingly bend their wits. Of this
we fee the familiar example in lawyers and {cholars,
both which, if they have once admitted a doubt,
it goeth ever after authorized for a doubt. But
that ufe of wit and knowledge is to be allowed,
which laboureth to make doubtful things certain,
and not thofe which labour to make certain things

BOOK I. 157

doubtful. Therefore thefe kalendars of doubts I
commend as excellent things ; fo that there be this
caution ufed, that when they be thoroughly fifted
and brought to refolution, they be from thenceforth
omitted, decarded, and not continued to cherifh
and encourage men in doubting. To which ka-
lendar of doubts or problems, I advife be annexed
another kalendar, as much or more material, which
is a Kalendar of popular errors: I mean chiefly
in natural hiftory, fuch as pafs in fpeech and con-
ceit, and are neverthelefs apparently detected and
convicted of untruth ; that man’s knowledge be not
weakened nor embafed by fuch drofs and vanity.
As for the doubts or mon liquets general, or in
total, I underftand thofe differences of opinions
touching the principles of nature, and the funda-
mental points of the fame, which have caufed the
diverfity of fects, fchools, and philofophies, as that
of Empedocles, Pythagoras, Democritus, Parme-
nides, and the reft. For although Ariftotle, as
though he had been of the race of the Ottomans,
thought he could not reign except the firft thing
he did he killed all his brethren ;! yet to thofe
that feek Truth and not magiftrality, it cannot but
feem a matter of great profit, to fee before them
the feveral opinions touching the foundations of
nature ; not for any exact truth that can be ex-

' See Ellis’ note on De Augm., iii. 4, where he fuggefts, moft
probably, that Bacon is alluding to the aéts of Mahomet III. who,
on becoming Sultan, in a.p. 1595, put to death nineteen brothers,
and ten or twelve women, fuppofed to be with child by his father.
He adds that the praétice was eftablifhed as a fundamental State
Law by Mahomet II.

158 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

pected in thofe theories; for as the fame pheno-
mena in aftronomy are fatisfied by the received
aftronomy of the diurnal motion, and the proper
motions of the planets, with their eccentrics and
epicycles, and likewife by the theory of Coper-
nicus,° who fuppofed the earth to move, (and the
calculations are indifferently agreeable to both,)
fo the ordinary face and view of experience is
many times fatisfied by feveral theories and philo-
fophies; whereas to find the real truth requireth
another manner of feverity and attention. For as
Ariftotle faith,’ that children at the firft will call
every woman mother, but afterward they come
to diftinguifh according to truth, fo experience, if
it be in childhood, will call every philofophy mo-
ther, but when it cometh to ripenefs, it will difcern
the true mother. So as in the mean time it is
good to fee the feveral gloffes and opinions upon
nature, whereof, it may be, every one in fome one
point hath feen clearer than his fellows: therefore
I wifh fome collection to be made, painfully and
underftandingly, de antiguis philofophiis, out of all
the poffible light which remaineth to us of them:
which kind of work I find deficient. But here I
muft give warning, that it be done diftinétly and
feverally;* the philofophies of every one through-

2 Now. Org. i. 45. where he calls thefe “ eccentrics and epi-
cycles,” /inee fpirales et dracones. Bacon was ignorant of, and
incurious about Mathematics and Aftronomy at this time; and
fhows no good will towards Galileo and the ‘‘ Copernican theory.”

3 Ariftot. Phys. i. 1.

4 Edd. 1605, 1633, read feverely; but the Latin has diffinge,
which feems to require feverally.

BOOK II. 159

out by themfelves; and not by titles packed and
fagotted up together, as hath been done by Plu-
tarch. For it is the harmony of a philofophy in
itfelf which giveth it light and credence ; whereas
if it be fingled and broken, it will feem more foreign
and diflonant. For as when I read in Tacitus
the actions of Nero, or Claudius, with circum-
ftances of times, inducements, and occafions, I
find them not fo ftrange; but when I read them
in Suetonius Tranquillus, gathered into titles and
bundles, and not in order of time, they feem more
monftrous and incredible: fo is it of any philofo-
phy reported entire, and difmembered by articles.
Neither do I exclude opinions of latter times to
be likewife reprefented in this kalendar of fects of
philofophy, as that of Theophraftus Paracelfus,$
eloquently reduced into a harmony by the pen of
Severinus the Dane :° and that of Telefius? and
his fcholar Donius, being as a paftoral philofophy,
full of fenfe, but of no great depth; and that of
Fracaftorius,® who, though he pretended not to
make any new philofophy, yet did ufe the abfo-
lutenefs of his own fenfe upon the old; and that
of Gilbertus our countryman,? who revived, with

5 Paracelfus (von Hohenheim), enthufiaft and alchemift, born
A.D. 1493, died a.p. 1541. He, though in a purpofely obfcure
way, did much fervice to experimental philofophy.

© Severinus, a Danith phyfician, died in 1602.

7 Telefius, born in 1509 at Cofenza; who, as Bacon adds in the
Latin, revived the philofophy of Parmenides.

8 Fracaftorius, born in 1483 at Verona ; a man of greateft worth,
difintereftednefs, and capacity ; whether as Poet, Philofopher, Phy-
fician, Aftronomer, or Mathematician. But of courfe Bacon has

no good word for him.
® Gilbertus, Court Phyfician to Elizabeth and James I, a great

(3-) De
Augm. Iv, 1,
Human

Philofophy.

160 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fome alterations and demonttrations, the opinions
of Xenophanes: and any other worthy to be
admitted.

Thus have we now dealt with two of the three
beams of man’s knowledge ; that is, radius direétus,
which is referred to nature; radius refractus,
which is referred to God, and cannot report truly
becaufe of the inequality of the medium. There
refteth radius reflexus, whereby man beholdeth and
contemplateth himielf.

We come therefore now to that knowledge
whereunto the ancient oracle directeth us, which
is the knowledge of ourfelves ;° which deferveth
the more accurate handling, by how much it
toucheth us more nearly. ‘This knowledge, as it
is the end and term of natural philofophy in the in-
tention of man, fo notwithftanding it is but a por-
tion of natural philofophy in the continent of
nature: and generally let this be a rule, that all
partitions of knowledges be accepted rather for
lines and veins than for fections and feparations ;
and that the continuance and entirenefs of know-
ledge be preferved. For the contrary hereof hath
made particular fciences to become barren, fhallow,
and erroneous, while they have not been nourifhed
and maintained from the common fountain. So
we fee Cicero the orator complained of Socrates
and his fchool, that he was the firft that feparated
philofophy and rhetoric ;* whereupon rhetoric

experimentalift and difcoverer in Magnetifm. Bacon feems to have
regarded him with efpecial ill-will.
10 Plat. Alcib. Pr. ii, 124. "! Cic. de Orat. iii. 16, 17.

4

BOOK II. 161

became an empty and verbal art. So we may fee
that the opinion of Copernicus touching the rota-
tion of the earth, which aftronomy itfelf cannot
correct, becaufe it is not repugnant to any of the
phenomena, yet natural philofophy may correct.
So we fee alfo that the fcience of medicine, if it be
deftituted and forfaken by natural philofophy, it is
not much better than an empirical practice. With
this refervation therefore we proceed to human
philofophy or humanity, which hath two parts : the
one confidereth man fegregate or diftributively ;
the other congregate or in fociety. So as human
philofophy is either fimple and particular, or con-
jugate and civil.

Humanity particular confifteth of the fame
parts whereof man confifteth; that is, of know-
ledges which refpeét the body, and of knowledges
which refpe&t the mind. But before we diftribute
fo far, it is good to conftitute. For I do take the
confideration in general and at large of human
nature to be fit to be emancipate and made a
knowledge by itfelf: not fo much in regard of
thofe delightful and elegant difcourfes which have
been made of the dignity of man, of his miferies,
of his ftate and life, and the like adjuncts of his
common and undivided nature ; but chiefly in re-
gard of the knowledge concerning the fympathies
and concordances between the mind and body,
which being mixed cannot be properly affigned to
the {ciences of either.

This knowledge hath two branches: for as all
leagues and amities confift of mutual intelligence

M

Is either
fegregate
(of indivi-
duals), or
congregate
(of focie-
ties).

i. Segregate.
(a.) Of the

Body.

(4.) Of the

Mind.

Firft, as to
the Sympa-
thies be-
tween them.

This in two
parts.

(a.) Difco-
very.

162 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

and mutual offices, fo this league of mind and
body hath thefe two parts ; how the one difclofeth
the other, and how the one worketh upon the
other; difcovery and impreffion. ‘The former of
thefe hath begotten two arts, both of prediction or
prenotion ; whereof the one is honoured with the
inquiry of Ariftotle, and the other of Hippocrates.’*
And although they have of later time been ufed to
be coupled with fuperftitious and fantaftical arts,
yet being purged and reftored to their true ftate,
they have both of them a folid ground in nature,
and a profitable ufe in life. The firft is phy/io-
gnomy, which difcovereth the difpofition of the
mind by the lineaments of the body: the fecond
is the expofition of natural dreams, which difcover-
eth the ftate of the body by the imaginations of the
mind. In the former of thefe I note a deficience.
For Ariftotle hath very ingenioufly and diligently
handled the factures of the body, but not the gef-
tures of the body, which are no lefs comprehen-
fible by art, and of greater ufe and advantage.'s
For the lineaments of the body do difclofe the dif-
pofition and inclination of the mind in general ;
but the motions of the countenance and parts do
not only fo, but do further difclofe the prefent hu-
mour and {tate of the mindand will. For as your
majefty faith moft aptly and elegantly, 4s the
tongue [peaketh to the ear fo the gefture fpeaketh to

12 In his Prenotiones.

13 Tn the treatifes on the Hiftory and Parts of Animals. The

fubjeé&t of Gefture may be faid to come under the fhort treatifes on
the External Phenomena of the Animal Kingdom: and in that on

* the Motion of Animals.

BOOK Il. 163

the eye.* And therefore a number of fubtle per-
fons, whofe eyes do dwell upon the faces and
fafhions of men, do well know the advantage of
this obfervation, as being moft part of their ability ;
neither can it be denied, but that it is a great dif-
covery of diffimulations, and a great direction in
bufinefs.

The latter branch, touching ‘mpre/fion, hath not
been collected into art, but hath been handled dif-
perfedly; and it hath the fame relation or anti-
firophe that the former hath. For the confidera-
tion is double: either how, and how far the humours
and affects of the body do alter or work upon the
mind; or again, how and how far the pajfions or
apprehenfions of the mind do alter or work upon the
body. ‘(he former of thefe hath been inquired and
confidered as a part and appendix of medicine, but
much more as a part of religion or fuperftition.
For the phyfician prefcribeth cures of the mind in
phrenfies and melancholy paffions ; and pretendeth
alfo to exhibit medicines to exhilarate the mind, to
confirm the courage, to clarify the wits, to corro-
borate the memory, and the like: but the fcruples
and fuperftitions of diet and other regimen of the
body in the fect of the Pythagoreans, in the herefy
of the Manicheans, and in the law of Mahomet, do
exceed. So likewife the ordinances in the cere-
monial law, interdi¢ting the eating of the blood
and the fat, diftinguifhing between beafts clean
and unclean for meat, are many and ftrict. Nay

4 Spedding gives Bajfilikon Doron, Bk. iii, as the place whence
this quotation comes, Cr. Horace, 4, P, 180, 181.

(8.) Im-
preffion.

164 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

the faith itfelf being clear and ferene from all clouds
of ceremony, yet retaineth the ufe of faftings, ab-
{tinences, and other macerations and humiliations
of the body, as things real, and not figurative.
The root and life of all which prefcripts is, befides
the ceremony, the confideration of that dependency
which the affections of the mind are fubmitted
unto upon the ftate and difpofition of the body,
And if any man of weak judgment do conceive
that this fuffering of the mind from the body doth
either queftion the immortality, or derogate from
the fovereignty of the foul, he may be taught in
eafy inftances, that the infant in the mother’s
womb is compatible with the mother and yet fe-
parable ;!° and the moft abfolute monarch is fome-
times led by his fervants and yet without fubjection.
As for the reciprocal knowledge, which is the
operation of the conceits and paffions of the mind
upon the body, we fee all wife phyficians, in the
prefcriptions of their regiments to their patients,
do ever confider accidentia animi as of great force
to further or hinder remedies or recoveries: and
more efpecially it is an inquiry of great depth and
worth concerning imagination, how and how far
it altereth the body proper of the imaginant. For
although it hath a manifeft power to hurt, it fol-
loweth not it hath the fame degree of power to
help; no more than a man can conclude, that be-
caufe there be peftilent airs able fuddenly to kill a
man in health, therefore there fhould be fovereign

'S Qui fimul cum matris affeétibus compatitur, et tamen e cor-
pore matris {uo tempore excluditur. De dugm.

~

BOOK II. 165

airs able fuddenly to cure a man in ficknefs. But
the inquifition of this part is of great ufe, though
it needeth, as Socrates faid, a Delian diver," being
dificult and profound. But unto all this know-
ledge de communi vinculo, of the concordances be-
tween the mind and the body, that part of inquiry
is moft neceflary, which confidereth of the feats
and domiciles which the feveral faculties of the
mind do take and occupate in the organs of the
body ; which knowledge hath been attempted,
and is controverted, and deferveth to be much
better inquired. For the opinion of Plato,!7 who
placed the underftanding in the brain, animo/fity
(which he did unfitly call anger, having a greater
mixture with pride) in the heart, and concupifcence
or fenfuality in the liver, deferveth not to be def-
pifed; but much lefs to be allowed. So then we
have conftituted, as in our own wifh and advice,
the inquiry touching human nature entire, as a
juft portion of knowledge to be handled apart.
The knowledge that concerneth man’s body is
divided as the good of man’s body is divided, unto
which it referreth. The good of man’s body is of
four kinds, Health, Beauty, Strength, and Pleafure:

16 Diog. Laert. ii. 22. Socrates fpeaks of a work of Heraclitus
which Euripides had lent him: ‘ Delio quopiam natatore in-
diget.”

17 Plat. Tim. 69, 70, (Steph.) In the head, rd Ociov: then
below the ifthmus of the neck, the mortal part of man; firft rd
perexov ripe Wuxije avdpeiacg Kai Ovpov; (fo that Bacon is
icarcely right in his cenfure; for neither aydpeia nor Ovpoc is
anger) then the diaphragm to divide the parts; then in the Aeart
he placed @appog kai p6Boc; and below it ro éxiOupyrixdy,
Womeo tv Garvy . - . KaTadedepévov—in the iver.

De Aug. rv.

Ze

(a.) Of Hu-
man Philo-
fophy re-
garding the
Body.

(a.) Medi-

cine.

166 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fo the knowledges are Medicine, or art of Cure;
art of Decoration, which is called Cofmetic ;
art of Activity, which is called Athletic ; and art
Voluptuary, which Tacitus truly calleth eruditus
luxus.8 This fubjeét of man’s body is of all other
things in nature moft fufceptible of remedy; but
then that remedy is moft fufceptible of error. For
the fame fubtility of the fubjeé&t doth caufe large
pofibility and eafy failing; and therefore the in-
quiry ought to be the more exact.

To fpeak therefore of Medicine, and to refume
that we have faid, afcending a little higher: the
ancient opinion that man was microcofmus, an ab-
(traét or model of the world, hath been fantaftically
{trained by Paracelfus!? and the alchemifts, as if
there were to be found in man’s body certain cor-
refpondences and parallels, which fhould have
refpeét to all varieties of things, as ftars, planets,
minerals, which are extant in the great world.
But thus much is evidently true, that of all fub-
ftances which nature hath produced, man’s body
is the moft extremely compounded. For we fee
herbs and plants are nourifhed by earth and water 5
beafts for the moft part by herbs and fruits ; man
by the fleth of beafts, birds, fifhes, herbs, grains,
fruits, water, and the manifold alterations, drefl-
ings, and preparations of the feveral bodies, before
they come to be his food and aliment. Add here-
unto, that beafts have a more fimple order of life,
and lefs change of affections to work upon their

18 Tac. Ann. xvi. 18.
19 See Ellis and Spedding’s note to Now. Org. ii. 48. (p- 339+)

BOOK II. 167

bodies: whereas man in his manfion, fleep, exer-
cife, paffions, hath infinite variations : and it can-
not be denied but that the Body of man of all
other things is of the moft compounded mafs.
The Soul on the other fide is the fimpleft of fub-
ftances, as is well exprefled :

Purumque reliquit
Ethereum fenfum atque aurai fimplicis ignem.”

So that it is no marvel though the foul fo placed
enjoy no reft, if that principle be true, that AZotus
rerum eft rapidus extra locum, placidus in loco.
But to the purpofe: this variable compofition of
man’s body hath made it as an inftrument eafy to
diftemper ; and therefore the poets did well to
conjoin Mufic and Medicine in Apollo,*! becaufe
the office of Medicine is but to tune this curious
harp of man’s body and to reduce it to harmony.
So then the fubject being fo variable, hath made
the art by confequence more conje€tural ; and the
art being conjectural hath made fo much the more
place to be left for impofture. For almoft all
other arts and {ciences are judged by acts, or maf-
ter-pieces, as | may term them, and not by the
fucceffes and events. The lawyer is judged by
the virtue of his pleading, and not by the iffue of
the caufe ; the mafter of the fhip is judged by the
directing his courfe aright, and not by the fortune
of the voyage ; but the phyfician, and perhaps the
politique, hath no particular acts demonttrative of
his ability, but is judged moft by the event ; which
is ever but as it is taken: for who can tell, if a

20 Virg. En. vi. 747. 2! Ovid, Metam. i. 521.

168 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

patient die or recover, or if a ftate be preferved‘or
ruined, whether it beart or accident? And there-
fore many times the impoftor is prized, and the
man of virtue taxed. Nay, we fee the weaknefs
and credulity of men is fuch, as they will often
prefer a mountebank** or witch before a learned
phyfician. And therefore the poets were clear-
fighted in difcerning this extreme folly, when they
made /E{culapius and Circe brother and fifter,
both children of the fun, as in the verfes,

Ipfe repertorem medicinz talis et artis
Fulmine Pheebigenam Stygias detrufit ad undas : 2%

And again,
Dives inacceffos ubi So/is filia lucos, &c.*#

For in all times, in the opinion of the multitude,
witches and old women and impoftors have had a
competition with phyficians. And what follow-
eth? Even this, that phyficians fay to themfelves
as Salomon exprefleth it upon an higher occafion ;
If it befall to me as befalleth to the fools, why fhould
I labour to be more wife?*> And therefore I can-
not much blame phyficians, that they ufe com-
monly to intend fome other art or practice, which
they fancy more than their profeflion. For you
fhall have of them antiquaries, poets, humanifts,
ftatefmen, merchants, divines, and in every of
thefe better feen than in their profeffion; and no
doubt upon this ground, that they find that me-
diocrity and excellency in their art maketh no

22 Montabank—in the old editions—from montambanco, a quack-
doétor. Holland, in his Plutarch, renders the word mount-bank.

The word was confined in meaning to a quack in Bacon’s day.
23 Virg, Abn. vii. 772. 24 Tbid. vil. 11. 45 Eccles. 11. 25.

BOOK Ul. 169

difference in profit or reputation towards their
fortune ; for the weaknefs of patients, and fweet-
nefs of life, and nature of hope, maketh men de-
pend upon phyficians with all their defects. But
neverthelefs, thefe things which we have f{poken
of, are courfes begotten between a little occafion,
and a great deal of floth and default; for if we
will excite and awake our obfervation, we fhall fee
in familiar inftances what a predominant faculty
the /ubtilty of /pirit hath over the variety of matter
or form: nothing more variable than faces and
countenances : yet men can bear in memory the
infinite diftinctions of them; nay, a painter with
a few fhells of colours, and the benefit of his eye
and habit of his imagination, can imitate them all
that ever have been, are, or may be, if they were
brought before him: nothing more variable than
voices ; yet men can likewife difcern them per-
fonally: nay, you fhall have a buffoon or pantomi-
mus,°° who will exprefs as many as he pleafeth.
Nothing more variable than the differing founds
of words; yet men have found the way to reduce
them to a few fimple letters. So thatit is not the
infufficiency or incapacity of man’s mind, but it is
the remote ftanding or placing thereof, that breed-
eth thefe mazes and incomprehenfions : for as the
fenfe afar off is full of miftaking, but is exact at
hand, fo is it of the underftanding ; the remedy
whereof is, not to quicken or ftrengthen the organ,

26 Buffon, or pantomimus, in the original; fhowing that the
words were newly imported into the Englifh tongue. The panto-
mime was then a perfon, not a play.

Deficient in

170 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

but to go nearer to the objeét ; and therefore there
is no doubt but if the phyficians will learn and ufe
the true approaches and avenues of nature, they
may aflume as much as the poet faith :

Et quoniam variant morbi, variabimus artes ;
Mille mali {pecies, mille falutis erunt.??

Which that they fhould do, the noblenefs of their
art doth deferve ; well fhadowed by the poets, in
that they made A®{culapius to be the fon of the
fun, the one being the fountain of life, the other
as the fecond ftream: but infinitely more honoured
by the example of our Saviour, who made the
body of man the object of His miracles, as the
foul was the object of His doctrine. For we read
not that ever He vouchfafed to do any miracle
about honour or money, except that one for giving
tribute to Czefar;*° but only about the preferving,
fuftaining, and healing the body of man.
Medicine is a fcience which hath been, as we
faid, more profeffed than laboured, and yet more
laboured than advanced ; the labour having been,
in my judgment, rather in circle than in progref-
fion. For 1 find much iteration, but fmall addition.
It confidereth caufes of difeafes, with the occafions or
impulfions ; thedifeafes themfelves, with the accidents ;
and the cures, with the prefervations. “The defi-
ciencies which I think good to note, being a few
of many, and thofe fuch as are of a more open and
manifeft nature, I will enumerate, and not place.
The firft is the difcontinuance of the ancient

= Patholo- and ferious diligence of Hippocrates,*? which ufed

7 Ovid, R. A. 525. 28 Matt. xvil. 27.
39 Hippocr. De Epidemiis.

BOOK II. 171

to fet down a narrative of the fpecial cafes of his
patients, and how they proceeded, and how they
were judged by recovery or death. ‘Therefore
having an example proper in the father of the art,
I fhall not need to allege an example foreign,
of the wifdom of the lawyers, who are careful to
report new cafes and decifions for the direction
of future judgments. ‘This continuance of medi-
cinal hiftory 1 find deficient ; which I underftand
neither to be fo infinite as to extend to every
common cafe, nor fo referved as to admit none but
wonders: for many things are new in the manner,
which are not new in the kind; and if men will
intend to obferve, they fhall find much worthy to
obferve.

In the inquiry which is made by Anatomy, I
find much deficience : for they inquire of the parts,
and their /ub/tances, figures, and collocations ; but
they inquire not of the diver/ities of the parts, the
Jecrecies of the paffages, and the feats or ne/tlings of
the humours, nor much of the foot/teps and impre/-
fions of difeafes: the reafon of which omiffion I
fuppofe to be, becaufe the firit inquiry may be
fatisfied in the view of one or a few anatomies:
but the latter, being comparative and cafual, muft
arife from the view of many. And as to the diver-
fity of parts, there is no doubt but the facture or
framing of the inward parts is as full of difference
as the outward, and in that is the caufe continent
of many difeafes ; which not being obferved, they
quarrel many times with humours, which are not
in fault; the fault being in the very frame and

Narrationes
medicinales.

And in
Anatomy.
Anatomia
comparata.

172 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

mechanic of the part, which cannot be removed
by medicine alterative, but muft be accommodate
and palliate by diets and medicines familiar. As
for the paflages and pores, it is true which was
anciently noted, that the more fubtle of them ap-
pear not in anatomies, becaufe they are fhut and
latent in dead bodies, though they be open and
manifeft in live: which being fuppofed, though
the inhumanity of anatomia vivorum was by Celfus
juftly reproved ;°° yet in regard of the great ufe of
this obfervation, the inquiry needed not by him fo
flightly to have been relinquifhed altogether, or
referred to the cafual practices of furgery; but
mought have been well diverted upon the diflec-
tion of beafts alive, which notwithftanding the
diffimilitude of their parts, may fufficiently fatisfy
this inquiry. And for the humours, they are com-
monly paffed over in anatomies as purgaments;
whereas it is moft neceflary to obferve, what ca-
vities, nefts, and receptacles the humours do find
in the parts, with the differing kind of the humour
fo lodged and received. And as for the footfteps
of difeafes and their devaftations of the inward
parts, impofthumations, exulcerations, difcontinua-
tions, putrefactions, confumptions, contractions,
extenfions, convulfions, diflocations, obftructions,
repletions, together with all preternatural fub-
ftances, as ftones, carnofities, excrefcences, worms,
and the like; they ought to have been exactly
obferved by multitude of anatomies, and the con-
tribution of men’s feveral experiences, and care-

30 De Re Medica, i. 1.

BOOK II. 173

fully fet down, both hiftorically, according to the
appearances, and artificially, with a reference to
the difeafes and fymptoms which refulted from
them, in cafe where the anatomy is of a defunét

patient; whereas now, upon opening of bodies, -

they are paffed over flightly and in filence.

In the inquiry of difeafes, they do abandon the
cures of many, fome as in their nature incurable,
and others as paft the period of cure ; fo that Sylla
and the Triumvirs never profcribed fo many men

Through
defpair of
cures,
Inguifitio
ulterior de
morbis in-

to die, as they do by their ignorant edicts: whereof janabilibus,

numbers do efcape with lefs difficulty than they
did inthe Roman profcriptions. Therefore I will
not doubt to note as a deficience, that they inquire
not the perfect cures of many difeafes, or extre-
mities of difeafes; but pronouncing them incurable,
do enact a law of neglect, and exempt ignorance
from difcredit.

Nay, further, I efteem it the office of a phyfi-
cian not only to reftore health, but to mitigate pain
and dolours; and not only when fuch mitigation
may conduce to recovery, but when it may ferve
to make a fair and eafy paffage: for it is no {mall
felicity which Auguftus Cafar was wont to wifh
to himfelf, that fame Euthanafia ;*! and which was
efpecially noted in the death of Antoninus Pius,
whofe death was after the fafhion and femblance
ofa kindly and pleafant fleep. So it is written of
Epicurus, that after his difeafe was judged def-
perate, he drowned his ftomach and fenfes with a
large draught and ingurgitation of wine; where-

31 Suet. Vit. dug. c. 99.

De Eutha-
nafia exte-
riore.

Through
confufion
of remedies,
Medicine
experimen-
tales.

174 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

upon the epigram was made, Hinc Stygias ebrius
haufit aquas ;3* he was not fober enough to tafte
any bitternefs of the Stygian water. But the phy-
ficians contrariwife do make a kind of fcruple and
religion to ftay with the patient after the difeafe is
deplored ; whereas, in my judgment, they ought
both to inquire the {kill and to give the atten-
dances for the facilitating and afluaging of the
pains and agonies of death.

In the confideration of the cures of difeafes,
I find a deficience in the receipts of propriety,*%
refpecting the particular cures and difeafes: for
the phyficians have fruftrated the fruit of tra-
dition and experience by their magiftralities, in
adding, and taking out, and changing guid pro
quo, in their receipts at their pleafures; com-
manding fo over the medicine, as the medicine
cannot command over the difeafes: for except
it be treacle and mithridatum,*' and of late dia/-
cordium, and a few more, they tie themfelves to

32

roy aKkpaTov
*Eoracey, tir’ Aidny Puypoy érsordcaro.
Diog. Laert. x. 15. (Vit. Epic.)
No ebrius here ; protenus and Jetius are fuggefted ; but either emen-
dation would rob the {tory of its point.

33 Receipts of propriety, i.e. proper or fit for each particular
difeafe.

34 Treacle and mithridatum, In the frontifpiece to the ed. of
Hippocrates, which I confulted, Onptakdy and McOpidarucoy were
placed fide by fide as the chief remedies. By treacle (therias) is
meant, not the fyrup of fugar, &c. but a compofition of the parts
of vipers; good for the cure of ferpents’ bites, and for other medi-
cinal purpofes. M@ithridate (from king Mithridates’ antidote)
was a medicine of general ufe. ‘‘ Was it not ftrange, a phyfician
fhould decline exhibiting of Mithridate, becaufe it was a known
medicine, and famous for its cures many ages fince?” Boyle’s
Works, ii. p. 218. Diafeordium is {aid to have been invented by
Fracaftorius,

BOOK I. 175

no receipts feverely and religioufly: for as to
the confections of fale which are in the fhops,
they are for readinefs and not for propriety; for
they are upon general intention of purging, open-
ing, comforting, altering, and not much appro-
priate to particular difeafes: and this is the caufe
why empirics and old women are more happy
many times in their cures than learned phyficians,
becaufe they are more religious in holding their
medicines. Therefore here is the deficience
which I find, that phyficians have not, partly out
of their own practice, partly out of the conftant
probations reported in books, and partly out of the
traditions of empirics, fet down and delivered over
certain experimental medicines for the cure of
particular difeafes, befides their own conjectura!
and magiftral defcriptions. For as they were the
men of the beft compofition in the ftate of Rome,
which either being confuls inclined to the people,
or being tribunes inclined to the fenate ; fo in the
matter we now handle, they be the beft phyficians,
which being learned incline to the traditions of ex-
perience, or being empirics incline to the methods
of learning.

In preparation of medicines, I do find ftrange,
efpecially aigring how mineral medicines have
been extolled,*” and that they are fafer for the out-
ward than inward parts, that no man hath fought
to make an imitation by art of natural baths and
medicinable fountains: which neverthelefs are con-

5 By Paracelfus and his {chool, who were chiefly diftinguithed
by their ufe of mineral medicines.

Through
negleé& of
baths, &c.
Imitationes
nature in
Balneis et
Aquis Me-

dicinalibus.

Filum Me-
dicinale, five
de wicibus
Medicina-

rum,

Through
want of care
and variety
of medi-
cines.

176 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fefled to receive their virtues from minerals: and
not fo only, but difcerned and diftinguifhed from
what particular mineral they receive tincture, as
fulphur, vitriol, fteel, or the like; which nature, if
it may be reduced to compofitions of art, both the
variety of them will be increafed, and the temper
of them will be more commanded.

But left I grow to be more particular than is
agreeable either to my intention or to proportion,
I will conclude this part with the note of one de-
ficience more, which feemeth to me of greateft
confequence; which is, that the prefcripts in ufe
are too compendious to attain their end: for, to
my underftanding, it is a vain and flattering opinion
to think any medicine can be {fo fovereign or fo
happy, as that the receipt or ufe of it can work
any great effect upon the body of man. It were
a ftrange fpeech, which fpoken, or fpoken oft,
fhould reclaim a man from a vice to which he
were by nature fubject: it is order, purfuit, fe-
quence, and interchange of application, which is
mighty in nature ; which although it require more
exact knowledge in prefcribing, and more precife
obedience in obferving, yet is recompenfed with the
magnitude of effects. And although a man would
think, by the daily vifitations of the phyficians, that
there were a purfuance in the cure: yet let a man
look into their prefcripts and miniftrations, and he
fhall find them but inconftancies and every day’s
devices, without any fettled providence or projec,
Not that every fcrupulous or fuperftitious prefcript
is effectual, no more than every ftraight way is

BOOK II. 177

the way to heaven; but the truth of the direction
mutt precede feverity of obfervance.%

For Cofmetic, it hath parts civil, and parts ef-
feminate : for cleannefs of body was ever efteemed
to proceed from a due reverence to God, to fo-
ciety, and to ourfelves. As for artificial decora-
tion, it is well worthy of the deficiences which it
hath ; being neither fine enough to deceive, nor
handfome to ufe, nor wholefome to pleafe.

For Athletic, I take the fubject of it largely, that
is to fay, for any point of ability whereunto the
body of man may be brought, whether it be of
aétivity, or of patience; whereof activity hath two
parts, /frength and /wiftne/s ; and patience likewife
hath two parts, hardne/s againf? wants and extre-
mities, and endurance of pain or torment ; whereof
we fee the practices in tumblers, in favages, and in
thofe that fuffer punifhment: nay, if there be any
other faculty which falls not within any of the
former divifions, as in thofe that dive, that obtain
a ftrange power of containing refpiration, and the
like, I refer it to this part. Of thefe things the
practices are known, but the philofophy that con-
cerneth them is not much inquired ; the rather, I
think, becaufe they are fuppofed to be obtained,
either by an aptnefs of nature, which cannot be
taught, or only by continual cuftom, which is foon
prefcribed: which though it be not true, yet I
forbear to note any deficiencies: for the Olym-
* 3° The paffage in the Latin on the prolongation of Life, which
is inferted at this point, is moft curious. It was a fubje& to which
Bacon had evidently turned his attention ; for he often refers to
it, and had great hopes refpecting it.
| N

(8.) Cof-

metic Art.

(y-) Ath-
letic Art.

(6.) Arts of
pleafure
fenfual.

De Augm,
IV. 3.

(4.) OF
Human
Philofophy
as it con-
cerns the
Mind,
which re-
gards,

(a.) Its na-
ture.

(8.) Its
funétions,
(a.) Nature
of the Mind,

178 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

pian games are down long fince, and the medio-
crity of thefe things is for ufe ; as for the excellency
of them it ferveth for the moft part but for mer-
cenary oftentation.

For arts of pleafure fenfual, the chief deficience
in them is of laws to reprefs them.*7 For as it
hath been well obferved, that the arts which
flourifh in times while virtue is in growth, are
military; and while virtue is in ftate, are /éberal ; and
while virtue is in declination, are voluptuary; fo I
doubt that this age of the world is fomewhat upon
the defcent of the wheel. With arts voluptuary I
couple practices joculary ; for the deceiving of the
fenfes is one of the pleafures of the fenfes. As for
games of recreation, I hold them to belong to
civil life and education. And thus much of that
particular human philofophy which concerns the
body, which is but the tabernacle of the mind.

For Human Knowledge which concerns the
Mind, it hath two parts; the one that inquireth
of the fubftance or nature of the foul or mind, the
other that inquireth of the faculties or functions
thereof. Unto the firft of thefe, the confiderations
of the original of the foul, whether it be native or
adventive, and how far it is exempted from laws
of matter, and of the immortality thereof, and
many other points, do appertain: which have
been not more laborioufly inquired than varioufly
reported ; fo as the travail therein taken feemeth

to have been rather in a maze than in a way.
37 This fubjet is very differently treated in the Latin. He

there introduces mufic and painting, not as things to be repreffed,.
but honoured.

BOOK I. 179

But although I am of opinion that this knowledge
may be more really and foundly inquired, even in
nature, than it hath been; yet I hold that in the
end it muft be bounded by religion, or elfe it will
be fubject to deceit and delufion: for as the fub-
ftance of the foul in the creation was not extracted
out of the mafs of heaven and earth by the bene-
diction of a producat but was immediately infpired
from God: foit is not poffible that it fhould be
(otherwife than by accident) fubject to the laws of
heaven and earth, which are the fubject of philo-
fophy ; and therefore the true knowledge of the
nature and {tate of the foul muft come by the
fame infpiration that gave the fubftance. Unto
this part of knowledge touching the foul there be
two appendices ; which, as they have been han-
dled, have rather vapoured forth fables than kin-
dled truth, Divination and Fafcination.
Divination hath been anciently and fitly divided
into artificial and natural; whereof artificial is,
when the mind maketh a prediction by argument,
concluding upon figns and tokens; natural is
when the mind hath a prefention by an internal
power, without the inducement of a fign. Arti-
ficial is of two forts; either when the argument
is coupled with a derivation of caufes, which is
rational; or when it is only grounded upon a co-
incidence of the effect, which is experimental :
whereof the latter for the moft part is fuperftitious ;
fuch as were the heathen obfervations upon the
infpection of facrifices, the flights of birds, the
{warming of bees; and fuch as was the Chaldean

(Appendix
5

1
Divination.

180 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

aftrology, and the like. For artificial divination,
the feveral kinds thereof are diftributed amongft
particular knowledges. The aftronomer hath his
predictions, as of conjunctions, afpects, eclipfes,
and the like. The phyfician hath his prediétions
of death, of recovery, of the accidents and iflues
of difeafes. The Politique hath his prediétions ;
O urbem venalem, et cito perituram, fi emptorem in-
venerit /*8 which ftayed not long to be performed,
in Sylla firft, and after in Czefar. So as thefe pre-
dictions are now impertinent, and to be referred
over. But the divination which fpringeth from
the internal nature of the foul, is that which we
now {peak of ; which hath been made to be of two
forts, primitive and by influxion. Primitive is
grounded upon the fuppofition, that the mind,
when it is withdrawn and collected into itfelf, and
not diffufed into the organs of the body, hath fome
extent and latitude of prenotion; which therefore
appeareth moft in fleep, in ecftacies, and near
death, and more rarely in waking apprehenfions ;
and is induced and furthered by thofe abftinences
and obfervances which make the mind-moft to
confift in itfelf. By influxion, is grounded upon
the conceit that the mind, as a mirror or glafs,
fhould take illumination from the foreknowledge
of God and fpirits:°9 unto which the fame regi-
ment doth likewife conduce. For the retiring
of the mind within itfelf, is the ftate which is
moft fufceptible of divine influxions ; fave that
Be Salli tee SEL V

39 Plat. Tim. 71. (Steph). oloy tv carémrpy dexouivy riTtoug,
and note the obfervation on payruk7), at the fame place.

BOOK II. 181

it is accompanied in this cafe with a fervency and
elevation, which the ancients noted by fury, and
not with a repofe and quiet, as it is in the other.
Fafcination’is the power and act of imagination
intenfive upon other bodies than the body of the
imaginant, for of that we fpake in the proper
place: wherein the fchool of Paracelfus, and the
difciples of pretended Natural Magic have been fo
intemperate, as they have exalted the power of
the imagination to be much one with the power
of miracle-working faith ; others, that draw nearer
to probability, calling to their view the fecret paf-
fages of things, and fpecially of the contagion that
paffeth from body to body, do conceive it fhould
likewife be agreeable to nature, that there fhould
be fome tranfmiffions and operations from fpirit to
{pirit without the mediation of the fenfes ; whence
the conceits have grown, now almoft made civil,
of the maftering fpirit, and the force of confidence,
and the like. Incident unto this is the inquiry
how to raife and fortify the imagination : for if the
imagination fortified have power, then it is mate-
rial to know how to fortify and exalt it. And
herein comes in crookedly and dangeroully a pal-
liation of a great part of Ceremonial Magic. For
it may be pretended that Ceremonies, Charac¢ters,
and Charms, do work, not by any tacit or facra-
mental contract with evil fpirits, but ferve only to
ftrengthen the imagination of him that ufeth it:
as images are faid by the Roman church to fix the
cogitations, and raife the devotions of them that
pray before them. But for mine own judgment,
if it be admitted that imagination hath power, and

(Appendix
ii.)
Fafcination.

De Aug. v.
i.
(B.) Of the

fun@tions of
the mind.
Thefe are,
(a.) Intel-
le€tual.

(8.) Moral.

182 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

that Ceremonies fortify imagination, and that they
be ufed fincerely and intentionally for that pur-
pofe ;*° yet I fhould hold them unlawful, as op-
pofing to that firft edit which God gave unto
man, In fudore vultus comedes panem tuum.*' For
they propound thofe noble effeéts, which God hath
fet forth unto man to be bought at the price of
labour, to be attained by a few eafy and flothful
obfervances. Deficiences in thefe knowledges I
will report none, other than the general deficience,
that it is not known how much of them is verity,
and how much vanity.*

The Knowledge which refpecteth the faculties
of the mind of man is of two kinds ; the one re-
fpecting his Underftanding and Reafon, and the
other his Will, Appetite, and Affection; whereof
the former produceth Pofition or Decree, the
latter Action or Execution. It is true that the
Imagination is an agent or zuncius, in both pro-
vinces, both the judicial and the minifterial. For
Senfe fendeth over to Imagination before Reafon
have judged: and Reafon fendeth over to Imagi-
nation before the decree can be acted: for Ima-
gination ever precedeth Voluntary Motion. Saving
that this Janus of Imagination hath differing faces:
for the face towards Reafon hath the print of Truth,

49 Ceremonies. The word does not now convey quite the fame
fenfe ; for in thefe paffages Bacon refers to invocation of fpirits :
faying (as we gather alfo from the Latin) that they are illicit,
though ufed only as phyfical remedies without any incantation,

41 Gen. ili. 19.

4° In the Latin, two defiderata are noticed ; Voluntary Motion,
and Senfe and the Senfible: together with a curious difcourfe on
the Form of Light.

BOOK Il. 183

but the face towards Action hath the print of
Good ; which neverthelefs are faces,

Quales decet effe fororum.*?

Neither is the Imagination fimply and only a meffen-
ger; but is invefted with, or at leaftwife ufurpeth
no fmall authority in itfelf, befides the duty of the
meflage. For it was well faid by Ariftotle, That
the mind hath over the body that commandment,
which the lord hath over a bondman ; but that rea-
fon hath over the imagination that commandment
which a magiftrate hath over a free citizen ;#* who
may come alfo to rule in his turn. For we fee
that, in matters of Faith and Religion, we raife our
Imagination above our Reafon; which is the
caufe why Religion fought ever accefs to the mind
by fimilitude, types, parables, vifions, dreams.
And again, in all perfuafions that are wrought by
eloquence, and other impreffions of like nature,
which do paint and difguife the true appearance of
things, the chief recommendation unto Reafon is
from the Imagination.** Neverthelefs, becaufe I
find not any fcience that doth properly or fitly
pertain to the Imagination, I fee no caufe to alter
the former divifion. For as for poefy, it is rather
a pleafure or play of Imagination, than a work or
duty thereof. And if it be a work, we fpeak not
now of fuch parts of learning as the Imagination
produceth, but of fuch fciences as handle and con-

43 Ovid, Metam. ii. 14.

“4 Ariftot. Polit.i. 5,63; where dpektc, appetite, is the term here
rendered by imagination.

49 j,e. Rhetoric aims at the feelings rather than at the cool
judgment, and inflames Imagination till fhe overpowers Reafon,

(a.) Intel-
leétual.

184, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fider of the Imagination ; no more than we fhall
{peak now of fuch knowledges as reafon pro-
duceth, for that extendeth to all philofophy, but
of fuch knowledges as do handle and inquire the
faculty of reafon: fo as poefy had its true place.
As for the power of the Imagination in nature,
and the manner of fortifying the fame, we have
mentioned it in the doctrine De Anima, where-
unto it moft fitly belongeth. And laftly, for Ima-
ginative or Infinuative Reafon, which is the fub-
ject of Rhetoric, we think it beft to refer it to the
Arts of Reafon. So therefore we content our-
felves with the former divifion, that human philo-
fophy, which refpecteth the faculties of the mind
of man, hath two parts, rational and moral.

The part of human philofophy which is rational,
is of all knowledges, to the moft wits, the leaft
delightful; and feemeth but a net of fubtilty and
{fpinofity. For as it was truly faid, that know-
ledge is Pabulum animi,* fo in the nature of men’s
appetite to this food, moft men are of the tafte
and ftomach of the Ifraelites in the defert, that
would fain have returned ad ollas carnium,*" and
were weary of manna; which, though it were
celeftial, yet feemed lefs nutritive and comfortable.
So generally men tafte well knowledges that are
drenched in flefh and blood, civil hiftory, morality,
policy, about the which men’s affections, praifes,

46 Cic. Acad. iv. ad Lucullum, 32. a. (Steph. 225.) Eft enim
animorum ingeniorumque naturale quoddam quafi pabulum confi-
deratio contemplatioque nature. Or perhaps, De Sene&. 14. Si
habet aliquid tanquam pabulum fiudii atque doérina, nihil eft otiofa

feneétute jucundius.
47 Numb. xi. 4—6.

BOOK I1. 185

fortunes do turn and are converfant ; but this fame
lumen ficcum doth parch and offend moft men’s
watery and foft natures. But, to fpeak truly of
things as they are in worth, Rational Knowledges
are the keys of all other arts, for as Ariftotle faith,
aptly and elegantly, That the hand is the inftru-
ment of inftruments, and the mind is the form of
forms :* fo thefe be truly faid to be the art of
arts: neither do they only direét, but likewife
confirm and ftrengthen: even as the habit of
fhooting doth not only enable to fhoot a nearer
fhoot, but alfo to draw a ftronger bow.

The 4&rts intellectual are four in number; di-
vided according to the ends whereunto they are.
referred: for man’s labour is to znvent that which
is fought or propounded; or to judge that which
is invented ; or to retain that which is judged ; or
to deliver over that which is retained. So as the
arts muft be four: Art of Inquiry or Invention:
Art of Examination or Fudgment: Art of Cuftcdy
or Memory: and Art of Elscution or Tradition.

Invention is of two kinds, much differing: the
one of Arts and Sciences ; and the other of Speech
and Arguments. The former of thefe I do report
deficient ; which feemeth to me to be fuch a defi-
cience as if in the making of an inventory touch-
ing the eftate of a defunct it fhould be fet down
that there is no ready money. For as money will
fetch all other commodities, fo this knowledge is
that which fhould purchafe all the reft. And like
as the Weft Indies had never been difcovered if the

48 Ariftot. De Anima, iii. 8,

Whofe Arts
are four.

De Aug. v.

2.

(i.) Art of

Invention.

(a.) Of Arts
is deficient.

Not pro-
vided by
Logic.

186 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ufe of the mariner’s needle had not been firft difco-
vered, though the one be vaft regions, and the other
a {mall motion; fo it cannot be found ftrange if
{ciences be no farther difcovered, if the art itfelf
of invention and difcovery hath been pafled over.

That this part of knowledge is wanting, to my
judgment ftandeth plainly confeffled; for firft,
Logic doth not pretend to invent fciences, or the
axioms of fciences, but pafleth it over with a
Cuique in fua arte credendum.9 And Celfus ac-
knowledgeth it gravely, fpeaking of the Empirical
and dogmatical fects of phyficians, That medicines
and cures were firft found out, and then after the
reafons and caufes were difcourfed; and not the
caufes firft found out, and by light from them the
medicines and cures difcovered. And Plato, in his
Theaetetus, noteth well, That particulars are infi-
nite, and the higher generalities give no fufjicient
direction: and that the pith of all [ciences, which
maketh the art{man differ from the inexpert, is in
the middle propofitions, which in every particular
knowledge are taken from tradition and experience.”
And therefore we fee, that they which difcourfe
of the inventions and originals of things, refer them
rather to chance than to art, and rather to beafts,
birds, fifhes, ferpents, than to men.

49 Ellis and Spedding refer to Arift. Anal. Pr. 1. 303 Mr.
Markby to Eth, Mag.1.i.17. Ariftotle declares (Réet. 1. i. 1)
that neither Rhetoric nor Logic has any proper fubje¢t-matter,
both being purely inftrumental; accordingly neither can “ invent
{ciences,””

DO Der Re Ved. leh

5! Notin the Theetetus certainly. As Bacon in the Latin intro-
duces the quotation with Plato non femel innuit, he probably is not
quoting any exact paffage.

BOOK Il. 187

Dig&tamnum genitrix Cretaa carpit ab Ida,
Puberibus caulem foliis et flore comantem
Purpureo; non illa feris incognita capris
Gramina, cum tergo volucres hefere fagittz.*?

So that it was no marvel, the manner of antiquity
being to confecrate inventors, that the Egyptians
had fo few human idols in their temples, but almoft
all brute.

Omnigenumque Deum monftra, et latrator Anubis,
Contra Neptunum, et Venerem, contraque Minervam, &c.*°

And if you like better the tradition of the Gre-
cians, and afcribe the firft inventions to men; yet
you will rather believe that Prometheus.firft ftruck
the flints, and marvelled at the fpark, than that
when he firft ftruck the flints he expected the
fpark: and therefore we fee the Weft Indian Pro-
metheus* had no intelligence with the European,
becaufe of the rarenefs with them of flint, that
gave the firft occafion. So as it fhould feem, that
hitherto men are rather beholding to a wild goat
for furgery, or to a nightingale for mufic, or to
the ibis for fome part of phyfic, or to the pot-lid
that flew open for artillery, or generally to chance,°®
or anything elfe, than to logic, for the invention
of arts and fciences. Neither is the form of in-
vention which Virgil defcribeth much other:

Ut varias ufus meditando extunderet artes
Paulatim.*®

For if you obferve the words well, it is no other

52 Virg. xn. xii. 412. 53 Thid. viii. 698.
54 Refers, doubtlefs, to the rubbing of two fticks together to
produce fire. Cf. Now. Org. 1. ii. 16.
°° Texvn roXnv torepee, kai rUXn TExYHY. Arift. Erb. Nic.
vi. 4.
58 Georg. i. 133.

Neither by
Induétion,

188 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

method than that which brute beafts are capable
of, and do put in ure; which is a perpetual intend-
ing or practifing fome one thing, urged and im-
pofed by an abfolute neceflity of confervation of
being ; for fo Cicero faith very truly, U/us uni ret
deditus et naturam et artem fepe vincit.” And
therefore if it be faid of men,

Labor omnia vincit
Improbus, et duris urgens in rebus egeftas !58

it is likewife faid of beafts,

Quis pfittaco docuit fuum yatpe ?59

Who taught the raven in a drought to throw peb-
bles into a hollow tree, where fhe efpied water,
that the water might rife fo as fhe might come to
it? Who taught the bee to fail through fuch a
vaft fea of air, and to find the way from a field in
flower a great way off to her hive? Who taught
the ant to bite every grain of corn that fhe burieth
in her hill, left it fhould take root and grow?
Add then the word extundere, which importeth
the extreme difficulty, and the word paulatim,
which importeth the extreme flownefs, and we
are where we were, even amongft the Egyptians’
gods ; there being little left to the faculty of rea-
fon, and nothing to the duty of art, for matter of
invention.

Secondly, the Induétion which the Logicians
fpeak of, and which feemeth familiar with Plato,
(whereby the Principles of Sciences may be pre-
tended to be invented, and fo the middle propofi-

57 Cic. p. Corn. Balb. xx. 45. 58 Virg. Georg. 1. 145.
59 Pers, Prol. 8, where it is expedivit,

BOOK I]. 189

tions by derivation from the Principles ;) their
form of induction, I fay, is utterly vicious and
incompetent : wherein their error is the fouler,
becaufe it is the duty of Art to perfect and exalt
Nature; but they contrariwife have wronged,
abufed, and traduced Nature. For he that fhall
attentively obferve how the mind doth gather this
excellent dew of knowledge, like unto that which
the poet fpeaketh of,

Aérei mellis celeftia dona,

diftilling and contriving it out of particulars na-
tural and artificial, as the flowers of the field and
garden, fhall find that the mind of herfelf by
nature doth manage and act an induction much
better than they defcribe it. For to conclude
upon an enumeration of particulars, without in-
ftance contradictory, is no conclufion, but a con-
jecture; for who can affure, in many fubjects,
upon thofe particulars which appear of a fide, that
there are not other on the contrary fide which
appear not? As if Samuel fhould have refted
upon thofe fons of Jefle® which were brought
before him, and failed of David, which was in the
field. And this form, to fay truth, is fo grofs,
as it had not been poffible for wits fo fubtile as
have managed thefe things to have offered it to
the world, but that they hafted to their theories
and dogmaticals, and were imperious and fcornful
toward particulars; which their manner was to

60 Virg. Georg. iv. I.

$! All the old editions fpell the word Ifzy, and the De Augm.
(as a genitive) Jai.
62 y Sam. xvi.

Nor by Syl-
logifm.

190 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ufe but as /iéfores and viatores, for ferjeants and
whifflers, ad /ummovendam turbam, to make way
and make room for their opinions, rather than in
their true ufe and fervice. Certainly it is a thing
may touch a man with a religious wonder, to fee
how the footfteps of feducement are the very
fame in divine and human truth: for as in divine
truth man cannot endure to become as a child;
fo in human, they reputed the attending the induc-
tions whereof we {fpeak, as if it were a fecond
infancy or childhood.

Thirdly, allow fome principles or axioms were
rightly induced, yet neverthelefs certain it is that
middle propofitions cannot be deduced from them
in fubjec of nature® by fyllogifm, that is, by touch
and reduction of them to principles in a middle
term. Itis true that in fciences popular, as mora-
lities, laws, and the like, yea, and divinity, (be-
caufe it pleafeth God to apply himfelf to the capa-
city of the fimpleft,) that form may have ufe;
and in natural philofophy likewife, by way of argu-
ment or fatisfactory reafon, Que affenfum parit,
operis effaeta eft :** but the fubtlety of nature and
operations will not be enchained in thofe bonds:
for arguments confift of propofitions, and propo-
fitions of words; and words are but the current
tokens or marks® of popular notions of things ;
which notions, if they be grofily and variably col-

63 Tn the Latin, in rebus naturalibus.

64 This quotation is omitted in the Latin, nor can I find whence
it comes; could it be a faying of Bacon’s own?

6 Teffere. Arift. Interp. 1.1. 2—7a rev tv TY Puxy waOn-
parwy obpBoda.

BOOK I]. IgI

leted out of particulars, it is not the laborious
examination either of confequence of arguments,
or of the truth of propofitions, that can ever cor-
rect that error, being, as the phyficians fpeak, in
the firft digeftion: and therefore it was not with-
out caufe, that fo many excellent philofophers be-
came Sceptics and Academics, and denied any
certainty of knowledge or comprehenfion ; and
held opinion that the knowledge of man extended
only to appearances and probabilities. It is true
that in Socrates it was fuppofed to be but a form
of irony, Scientiam diffimulando fimulavit,© for he
_ufed to difable his knowledge, to the end to en-
hance his knowledge: like the humour of Tibe-
rius in his beginnings, that would reign, but would
not acknowledge fo much: and in the later
Academy, which Cicero embraced, this opinion
alfo of acatalepfia,® I doubt, was not held fin-
cerely: for that all thofe which excelled in copie
of fpeech feem to have chofen that fect, as that
which was fitteft to give glory to their eloquence
and variable difcourfes ; being rather like progreffes
of pleafure, than journeys to an end. But affu-
redly many fcattered in both Academies did hold
it in fubtilty and integrity: but here was their
chief error; they charged the deceit upon the
fenfes; which in my judgment, notwithftanding
all their cavillations, are very fufficient to certify

Mi@iceamawteesetG. Cf Cic. ad Ait. xiii. 19. 3. Thefe
very words do not occur,

STAG. canna. i... ET.

68 Cic, Acad. ii. 6. 18, where karadnWic only is mentioned.
Cf, Nov. Org. i. 37¢

192 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

and report truth, though not always immediately,
yet by comparifon, by help of inftrument, and by
producing and urging fuch things as are too fub-
tile for the fenfe to fome effect comprehenfible by
the fenfe, and other like affiftance. But they
ought to have charged the deceit upon the weak-
nefs of the intellectual powers, and upon the
manner of collecting and concluding upon the
reports of the fenfes. This I fpeak, not to dif-
able the mind of man, but to ftir it up to feek
help: for no man, be he never fo cunning or
practifed, can make a ftraight line or perfect circle
by fteadinefs of hand, which may be eafily done
by help of a ruler or compafs.
This part This part of invention, concerning the inven-
ene tion of fciences, I purpofe, if God give me leave,
hereafter to propound, having digefted it into two
parts ; whereof the one I term experientia literata,
and the other interpretatio nature: the former
being but a degree and rudiment of the latter.
But I will not dwell too long, nor fpeak too great
upon a promife.%
De Aug. v. ‘Lhe invention of fpeech or argument is not
és) oe properly an invention, for to zmvent is to difcover
Speech (not that we know not, and not to recover or refum-
true Inven- mon that which we already know: and the ufe of
tion), Sy se : ;
this invention is no other but out of the know-
ledge whereof our mind is already pofleffed to
draw forth or call before us that which may be
69 In the Latin, Bacon explains his experientia literata, which
treats of methods of experiment; Venatio Panis he alfo ftyles it.

Cf. Nov. Org. i, 101. The Interpretatio Nature is the fubje&-
matter of the Now. Org. ;

BOOK II. 193

pertinent to the purpofe which we take into our
confideration. So as to {peak truly, it is no in-
vention, but a remembrance or fuggeftion, with
an application ; which is the caufe why the fchools
do place it after judgment, as fubfequent and not
precedent. Neverthelefs, becaufe we do account
it a chafe as well of deer in an inclofed park as in
a foreft at large, and that it hath already obtained
the name, let it be called invention: fo as it be
perceived and difcerned, that the fcope and end
of this invention is readinefs and prefent ufe of
our knowledge, and not addition or amplification
thereof.

To procure this ready ufe of knowledge there
are two courfes, Preparation and Suggeftion.
The former of thefe feemeth fcarcely a part of
knowledge, confifting rather of diligence than of
any artificial erudition. And herein Ariftotle
wittily, but hurtfully, doth deride the Sophifts
near his time, faying, They did as if one that pro-
Selfed the art of fhoe-making should not teach how to
make a fhoe, but only exhibit in a readine/s a num-
ber of fhoes of all fafhions and fizes."° But yet a
man might reply, that if a fhoemaker fhould have
no fhoes in his fhop, but only work as he is
befpoken, he fhould be weakly cuftomed. But
our Saviour, {peaking of divine knowledge, faith,
that the kingdom of heaven is like a good Bice
holder, that bringeth forth both new and old ftore :™
and we fee the ancient writers of Rhetoric do
give it in precept, ‘that pleaders fhould have the

7 Ariftot, Soph. El. 34s 7. Matt. xiii, 52.

By Prepara-
tion.

By Suggef-

tion,

194 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Places, whereof they have moft continual ufe,
ready handled in all the variety that may be;” as
that, ‘‘ to fpeak for the literal interpretation of the
law again{ft equity, and contrary; and to fpeak
for prefumptions and inferences againft teftimony,
and contrary.”72 And Cicero himfelf, being
broken unto it by great experience, delivereth it
plainly, that whatfoever a man fhall have occafion
to {peak of, if he will take the pains, he may have
it in effect premeditate, and handled, zm theft ;7%
fo that when he cometh to a particular he fhall
have nothing to do, but to put to names and
times and places, and fuch other circumftances
of individuals. We fee likewife the exact dili-
gence of Demofthenes; who, in regard of the
great force that the entrance and accefs into caufes
hath to make a good impreffion, had ready framed
a number of prefaces for orations and {peeches.
All which authorities and precedents may over-
weigh Ariftotle’s opinion, that would have us
change a rich wardrobe for a pair of fhears.

But the nature of the collection of this provi-
fion or preparatory ftore, though it be common
both to Logic and Rhetoric, yet having made an
entry of it here, where it came firft to be fpoken
of, I think fit to refer over the further handling
of it to Rhetoric.

The other part of invention, which I term fug-
geftion, doth affign and direct us to certain marks,

7 In the ed. 1605 thefe paffages are printed in black letter, as
quotations.
73 Cic. Orat. 14 (46).

BOOK I]. 195

or places, which may excite our mind to return
and produce fuch knowledge as it hath formerly
collected, to the end we may make ufe thereof.
Neither is this ufe, truly taken, only to furnifh
argument to difpute probably with others, but
likewife to minifter unto our judgment to con-
clude aright within ourfelves. Neither may thefe
Places ferve only to apprompt our invention, but
alfo to direct our inquiry. For a faculty of wife
interrogating is half a knowledge. For as Plato
faith, Whofoever feeketh, knoweth that which he
feeketh for in a general notion: elfe how fhall he
know it when he hath found it?** and therefore the
larger your anticipation is, the more direct and
compendious is your fearch. But the fame Places
which will help us what to produce of that which
we know already, will alfo help us, if a man of
experience were before us, what queftions to afk;
or, if we have books and authors to inftrué us,
what points to fearch and revolve; fo as I cannot
report that this part of invention, which is that
which the fchools call Topics, is deficient.’

Neverthelefs, Topics are of two forts, general
and fpecial.*© ‘The general we have fpoken to;
but the particular hath been touched by fome, but
rejected generally as inartificial and variable. But
leaving the humour which hath reigned too much
in the fchools, which is, to be vainly fubtle in a
few things which are within their command, and

74 Plato, Menon. 80.

7 ‘This paffage is better arranged in the Latin. The paragraphs

on Topics look as if they had been inferted as an afterthought.
76 Cf, Ariftot. Rhet. 11. xxii, 16, 17.

Of Topics.

De Augm.
Ve 4e

(ii.) Art of
Judgment.
in Induc-
tion.

By Syllo-
gifm,

196 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

to reject the reft; I do receive particular Topics,
(that is, places or directions of invention and
inquiry in every particular knowledge,) as things
of great ufe, being mixtures of, Logic with the
matter of fciences; for in thefe it holdeth, ars
inveniendi adolefcit cum inventis ;7 for as in going of
a way, we do not only gain that part of the
way which is pafled, but we gain the better fight
of that part of the way which remaineth: fo every
degree of proceeding in a fcience giveth a light to
that which followeth ; which light ifwe ftrengthen
by drawing it forth into queftions or places of
inquiry, we do greatly advance our purfuit.”®
Now we pafs unto the arts of Judgment, which
handle the natures of Proofs and Demonftrations ;
which as to Induétion hath a coincidence with
Invention. For in all inductions, whether in good
or vicious form, the fame action of the mind which
inventeth, judgeth; all one as in the fenfe. But
otherwife it is in proof by fyllogifm ; for the proof
being not immediate, but by mean, the invention
of the mean is one thing, and the judgment of the
confequence is another; the one exciting only,
the other examining. ‘Therefore for the real and
exact form of judgment, we refer ourfelves to that
which we have {poken of interpretation of nature."9
For the other judgment by Syllogifm, as it is a
thing moft agreeable to the mind of man, fo it

™ Cf, Nov. Org, i. 130.

78 In the Latin an inquiry de gravi et Jevi is here added as a
Topic.

79 In the Latin, legitimam (Induétionis formam) ad Novum Or-
ganum remittimus.

BOOK I]. 197

hath been vehemently and excellently laboured ;
for the nature of man doth extremely covet to
have fomewhat in his underftanding fixed and
immovable, and as a reft and fupport of the mind.
And therefore as Ariftotle endeavoureth to prove,
that in all motion there is fome point quiefcent ;®°
and as he elegantly expoundeth the ancient fable
of Atlas, that ftood fixed, and bare up the heaven
from falling, to be meant of the poles or axle-tree
of heaven, whereupon the converfion is accom-
plifhed; fo affuredly men have a defire to have
an Atlas or axle-tree within to keep them from
fluctuation, which is like to a perpetual peril of
falling; therefore men did haften to fet down
fome principles about which the variety of their
difputations might turn.

So then this art of Judgment is but the reduc-
tion of propofitions to principles in a middle term :
the principles to be agreed by all and exempted
from argument ; the middle term to be elected at
the liberty of every man’s invention; the reduc-
tion to be of two kinds, direct and inverted; the
one when the propofition is reduced to the prin-
ciple, which they term a probation offenfive; the
other, when the contradictory of the propofition
is reduced to the contradictory of the principle,
which is that which they call per incommodum, or
preffing an abfurdity ; the number of middle terms
to be as the propofition ftandeth degrees more or
lefs removed from the principle.®!

® Ariftot. De Motu Anim.3. *' Cf. Sanderfon, Logic, iii. 5.

Judgment
defined,

Its methods.
(a.) Of di-
rection.

(Analytics. )

(b.) Of cau-
tion.

(Elenches.)

Elenches,
how treated
by Ariftotle
and Plato,

198 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

But this art hath two feveral methods of doc-
trine, the one by way of direction, the other by
way of caution: the former frameth and fetteth
down a true form of confequence, by the varia-
tions and deflections from which errors and incon-
fequences may be exactly judged. “Toward the
compofition and ftructure of which form, it is
incident to handle the parts thereof, which are
propofitions, and the parts of propofitions, which
are fimple words: and this is that part of Logic
which is comprehended in the Analytics.

The fecond method of doétrine was introduced
for expedite ufe and aflurance fake; difcovering
the more fubtle forms of fophifms and illaquea-
tions with their redargutions, which is that which
is termed elenches. For although in the more
grofs forts of fallacies it happeneth, as Seneca
maketh the comparifon well, as in juggling feats,
which, though we know not how they are done,
yet we know well it is not as it feemeth to be; ®
yet the more fubtle fort of them doth not only
put a man befide his anfwer, but doth many times
abufe his judgment.

This part concerning elenches is excellently
handled by Ariftotle in precept, but more excel-
lently by Plato in example, not only in the per-
fons of the Sophifts, but even in Socrates himfelf;
who, profeffing to affirm nothing, but to infirm
that which was affirmed by another, hath exactly
exprefled all the forms of objection, fallacy, and

82 Sen. Epiff. Mor. 45. Sine noxa decipiunt, quomodo prefti-
giatorum acetabula et calculi, in quibus fallacia ipfa dele€tat.

BOOK Il. 199

redargution.® And although we have faid that
the ufe of this doctrine is for redargution, yet it
is manifeft the degenerate and corrupt ufe is for
caption and contradiction, which paffeth for a
great faculty, and no doubt is of very great advan-
tage: though the difference be good which was
made between orators and fophifters, that the one
is as the greyhound, which hath his advantage in
the race, and the other as the hare, which hath
her advantage in the turn, fo as it is the advantage
of the weaker creature.

But yet further, this doctrine of elenches hath a
more ample latitude and extent than is perceived ;

namely, unto divers parts of knowledge ; whereof

fome are laboured and others omitted. For firft,
I conceive, though it may feem at firft fomewhat
ftrange, that that part which is variably referred,
fometimes to logic, fometimes to metaphyfics,
_ touching the common adjuné¢ts of eflences, is but
an elench; for the great fophifm of all fophifms
being equivocation, or ambiguity of words and
phrafe, (efpecially of fuch words as are moft ge-
neral, and intervene in every inquiry,) it feemeth
to me that the true and fruitful ufe, leaving vain
fubtilties and fpeculations, of the inquiry of majo-
rity, minority, priority, pofteriority, identity, diver-
fity, poffibility, act, totality, parts, exiftence, priva-
tion, and the like, are but wife cautions againft the
ambiguities of fpeech. So again the diftribution
of things into certain tribes, which we call catego-

83 Cf, Plato’s account of Socrates in the opening of the Thee-
tetus.

Capable of
further ex-
tenfion.

Imagination
affects judg-
ment.

Fallacies in
the mind.

:

200 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ries or predicaments, are but cautions againft the
confufion of definitions and divifions.®4

Secondly, there is a feducement that worketh
by the ftrength of the impreffion, and not by the
fubtilty of the illaqueation ; not fo much perplex-
ing the reafon, as overruling it by power of the
imagination. But this part I think more proper
to handle when I {hall fpeak of rhetoric.

But laftly, there is yet a much more important
and profound kind of fallacies in the mind of man,
which I find not obferved or inquired at all,®° and
think good to place here, as that which of all
others appertaineth moft to rectify judgment: the
force whereof is fuch, as it doth not dazzle or’
fnare the underftanding in fome particulars, but
doth more generally and inwardly infect and cor-
rupt the ftate thereof. For the mind of man is
far from the nature of a clear and equal glafs,
wherein the beams of things fhould reflect accord-
ing to their true incidence; nay, it is rather like
an enchanted glafs, full of fuperftition and impof-
ture, if it be not delivered and reduced. For this
purpofe, let us confider the falfe appearances that
are impofed upon us by the general nature of the
mind,®° beholding them in an example or two;
as firft, in that inftance which is the root of all
fuperftition, namely, That to the nature of the
mind of all men it is confonant for the affirmative
or adtive to affect more than the negative or pri-

§4 Arift. Categ.

& This is the doétrine of ‘ Idols,” expanded in the Latin, and

ftill more in the Nov. Org. i. 39—68.
% « Tdols” of the Tribe, Mow. Org, i. 24—31.

BOOK IT. 201

vative: fo that a few times hitting or prefence,
-countervails oft-times failing or abfence ; as was
well anfwered by Diagoras to him that fhowed
him in Neptune’s temple the great number of
pictures of fuch as had efcaped fhipwreck, and
had paid their vows to Neptune, faying, Advife
now, you that think it folly to invocate Neptune in
tempef?: Yea, but, faith Diagoras, where are they
painted that are drowned?*' Let us behold it in
another inftance, namely, That the /pirit of man,
being of an equal and uniform fubftance, doth ufually
Juppofe and feign in nature a greater equality and
uniformity than is in truth. Hence it cometh,
that the mathematicians cannot fatisfy themfelves
except they reduce the motions of the celeftial
bodies to perfect circles, rejecting fpiral lines, and
labouring to be difcharged of eccentrics. Hence
it cometh, that whereas there are many things in
nature as it were monodica, fui juris ;®9 yet the
cogitations of man do feign unto them relatives,
parallels, and conjugates, whereas no fuch thing is ;
as they have feigned an element of fire, to keep
fquare with earth, water, and air, and the like:
nay, it is not credible, till it be opened, what a
number of fictions and fancies the fimilitude of
human actions and arts, together with the making
of man communis menfura, have brought into na-

87 Cic. De Nat. Deor. iii. 37.

88 Bacon’s warning here is good, though his illuftration was
foon fignally confuted by the promulgation of Kepler’s laws. See
Nov. Org. i. 45.

8° He feems to think the derivation of this term is ydvoc and
dikn. ,

Phantoms
of the Cave.

202 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

tural philofophy ; not much better than the herefy
of the Anthropomorphites,” bred in the cells of
grofs and folitary monks, and the opinion of Epi-
curus, anfwerable to the fame in heathenifm, who
fuppofed the Gods to be of human fhape. And
therefore Velleius the Epicurean needed not to
have afked, why God fhould have adorned the
heavens with ftars, as if he had been an edilis,
one that fhould have fet forth fome magnificent
fhows or plays.°! For if that great Work-mafter
had been of a human difpofition, he would have caft
the ftars into fome pleafant and beautiful works.
and orders, like the frets in the roofs of houfes ;
whereas one can fcarce find a pofture in fquare,
or triangle, or ftraight line, amongft fuch an infi-
nite number ; fo differing a harmony there is be-
tween the fpirit of man and the fpirit of nature.
Let us confider again the falfe appearances im-
pofed upon us by every man’s own individual
nature and cuftom,% in that feigned fuppofition
that Plato’ maketh of the cave: for certainly if
a child were continued in a grot or cave under -
the earth until maturity of age, and came fuddenly
abroad, he would have ftrange and abfurd imagina-
tions. So in like manner, although our perfons
live in the view of heaven, yet our fpirits are

90 Anthropomorphites, a fe€t which flourifhed in the fourth and
tenth centuries ; their diftinétive do@trine was that as God is faid
to have made man in his own Image, therefore the Deity is
clothed in human fhape. See Mofheim, Ecc/. Hif?, Cent. x. part
i. th. 5s

Ze Ch. De Nat. Deor. i. 9.

92 6 Tdols” of the Cave, Now. Org. i. 31—35.

% Plato, De Rep. lib. vii. init.

BOOK II. 203

included in the caves of our own complexions and
cuftoms, which minifter unto us infinite errors and
vain opinions, if they be not recalled to examina-
tion. But hereof we have given many examples
in one of the errors, or peccant humours, which
-we ran briefly over in our firft book.

And laftly, let us confider the falfe appearances
that are impofed upon us by words, which, are
framed and applied according to the conceit and
capacities of the vulgar fort: and although we
think we govern our words, and prefcribe it well,
loquendum ut vulgus, fentiendum ut fapientes ; yet
Certain it is that words, as a Tartar’s bow, do
fhoot back upon the underftanding of the wifett,
and mightily entangle and pervert the judgment.
So as it is almoft neceflary in all controverfies
and difputations to imitate the wifdom of the
mathematicians, in fetting down in the very begin-
ning the definitions of our words and terms, that
others may know how we accept and underftand
them, and whether they concur with us or no.
For it cometh to pafs for want of this, that we
are fure to end there where we ought to have
begun, which is, in queftions and differences about
words. ‘To conclude therefore, it muft be con-
feffed that it is not poffible to divorce ourfelves
from thefe fallacies and falfe appearances, becaufe
they are infeparable from our nature and condition
of life; fo yet neverthelefs the caution of them,
(for all elenches, as was faid, are but cautions,)
doth extremely import the true conduct of human

Of the Mar-
ket-place.

Elenchi
magni, five
de Idolis
animi hu-
mani nativis
et adventi-
tiis.

204 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

judgment. The particular elenches or cautions
againft thefe three falfe appearances, I find altoge-
ther deficient.
Reference “I“here remaineth one part of judgment of great
he ee excellency, which to mine underftandingis fo flightly
jets defi- touched, as I may report that alfo deficient ; which
or is the application of the differing kinds of proofs
to the differing kinds of fubjects; for there being
but four kinds of demonftrations, that is, by the
immediate confent of the mind or fenfe, by induction,
by /yllogifm, and by congruity (which is that which
Ariftotle calleth demon/tration in orb or circle,
and not a notioribus ;) every of thefe hath certain
fubjects in the matter of fciences, in which re-
fpectively they have chiefeft ufe; and certain
others, from which refpectively they ought to be
excluded ; and the rigour and curiofity in requiring
the more fevere proofs in fome things, and chiefly
the facility in contenting ourfelves with the more
remifs proofs in others, hath been amongft the
greateft caufes of detriment and hinderance to
De Anabgia knowledge. The diftributions and affignations of
Se demonftrations, according to the analogy of {ci-
ences, I note as deficient.
De Augm. ‘The cuftody or retaining of knowledge is either
Git Artof 22 Writing or memory; whereof writing hath two
cuftody. parts, the nature of the character, and the order
aa of the entry; for the art of characters, or other
vifible notes of words or things, it hath neareft
conjugation with grammar ; and therefore I refer
it to the due place: for the difpofition and Ccollo-

% Ariftot. Analyt, Pr. ii. 5. 1.

BOOK I]. 205

cation of that knowledge which we preferve in
writing, it confifteth in a good digeft of common-
places; wherein I am not ignorant of the preju-
dice imputed to the ufe of common-place books,
as caufing a retardation of reading, and fome
floth or relaxation of memory. But becaufe it
is but a counterfeit thing in knowledges to be for-
ward and pregnant, except a man be deep and
full, I hold the entry of common-places to be a
matter of great ufe and eflence in ftudying, as that
which affureth copie of invention, and contracteth
judgment to a ftrength. But this is true, that of
the methods of common-places that I have feen,
there is none of any fufficient worth; all of them
carrying merely the face of a {chool, and not of a
world; and referring to vulgar matters and pe-
dantical divifions, without all life or refpeé& to
action.

For the other principal part of the cuftody of
knowledge, which is Memory, I find that faculty
in my judgment weakly inquired of. An art 9
there is extant of it; but it feemeth to me that
there are better precepts than that art, and better
practices of that art than thofe received. It is
certain the art, as it is, may be raifed to points of
oftentation prodigious: but in ufe, as it is now
managed, it is barren, (not burdenfome, nor dan-
gerous to natural memory, as is imagined, but
barren,) that is, not dexterous to be applied to the
ferious ufe of bufinefs and occafions, And there-

5 Cf. Ariftot. De Mem. See the article in the Encycl, Britan-
nica, On Mnemonics,” Cf. Cicero, De Rhet. iii. and De Orat. ii,

(é.) By Me-
mory :—ill-
handled.
The Art
of Memory
bad,

Art of Me-
mory refts
on

(a.) Preno-
tion ;

(8.) Em-

blem.

De Augm.
VI. I<

(iv.) Art of
Tradition.

206 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fore I make no more eftimation of repeating a
great number of names or words upon once hear-
ing, or the pouring forth of a number of verfes or
rhymes, ex tempore, or the making of a fatirical
fimile of everything, or the turning of everything
to a jeft, or the falfifying or contradicting of
everything by cavil, or the like, (whereof in the
faculties of the mind there is great copie, and fuch
as by device and practice may be exalted to an
extreme degree of wonder,) than I do of the
tricks of tumblers, funambuloes, baladines :® the
one being the fame in the mind that the other is
in the body, matters of {trangenefs without wor-
thinefs.

This art of memory is but built upon two
intentions ; the one prenotion, the other emblem.
Prenotion difchargeth the indefinite feeking of
that we would remember, and directeth us to feek
in a narrow compafs, that is, fomewhat that hath
congruity with our place of memory. Emblem
reduceth conceits intelle€tual to images fenfible,
which {trike the memory more; out of which
axioms may be drawn much better practice than
that in ufe; and befides which axioms, there are
divers moe touching help of memory, not infe-
rior tothem. But I did in the beginning diftin-
guifh, not to report thofe things deficient, which
are but only ill managed.

There remaineth the fourth kind of rational
knowledge, which is tranfitive, concerning the
exprefling or transferring our knowledge to others;

% Ballerino is Italian for a dancer.

i]
BOOK II. 207

which I will term by the general name of tradi-
tion or delivery. ‘Tradition hath three parts; the
firft concerning the organ of tradition: the fecond
concerning the method of tradition; and the third
concerning the illuftration of tradition.

For the organ of tradition, it is either fpeech or
writing: for Ariftotle faith well, Words are the
images of cogitations, and letters are the images of
words ;% but yet it is not of neceffity that cogita-
tions be exprefled by the medium of words. For
whatfoever is capable of fufficient differences, and
thofe perceptible by the fenfe, is in nature competent
to expre/s cogitations. And therefore we fee in the
commerce of barbarous people, that underftand
not one another’s language, and in the practice of
divers that are dumb and deaf, that men’s minds
are exprefled in geftures, though not exactly, yet
to ferve the turn. And we underftand further,
that it is the ufe of China, and the kingdoms of
the high Levant,* to write in characters real,
which exprefs neither letters nor words in grofs,
but things or notions; infomuch as countries and
provinces, which underftand not one another’s
language, can neverthelefs read one another’s
writings, becaufe the characters are accepted more
generally than the languages do extend ; and there-
fore they have a vaft multitude of characters, as
many, I fuppofe, as radical words.

% Ariftot. De Interpret. i. 2.
98 ¢¢ Tn China et provinciis ultimi Orientis.” (De 4ugm.) See

a very interefting note on thefe paragraphs in Ellis and Spedding’s
ed. of the De Augm. vi. 1.

(a) Its or-
gan; {peech
or writing.

De notis re-
rum,

208 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Thefe notes of cogitations are of two forts ; the
one when the note hath fome fimilitude or con-
gruity with the notion: the other ad placitum,
having force only by contract or acceptation. Of
the former fort are hieroglyphics and geftures.
For as to hieroglyphics, things of ancient ufe, and —
embraced chiefly by the Egyptians, one of the
moft ancient nations, they are but as continued
imprefles and emblems. And as for geftures,
they are as tranfitory hieroglyphics, and are to
hieroglyphics as words fpoken are to words writ-
ten, in that they abide not; but they have ever-
more, as well as the other, an affinity with the
things fignified: as Periander, being confulted
with how to preferve a tyranny newly ufurped,
bid the meflenger attend and report what he faw
him do; and went into his garden and topped all
the higheft flowers: fignifying, that it confifted
in the cutting off and keeping low of the nobility
and grandees.29 Ad placitum, are the characters
real before mentioned, and words: although fome
have been willing by curious inquiry, or rather by
apt feigning to have derived impofition of names
from reafon and intendment ; a fpeculation elegant,
and, by reafon it fearcheth into antiquity, reverent;
but {paringly mixed with truth, and of {mall fruit.
This portion of knowledge, touching the notes of

9% Ariftot. Polit, iii. 13, and Herod. v. 92. Cf. alfo Livy, i. 54,
where the ftory is transferred to Tarquinius Superbus. Grandees, in
ed.1605, grandes ; the word being not yet naturalized in the Englith
language. According to Richardfon, Burton (the Anatomy was
publifhed in 1624) fpells it grandy. In my copy of the firft edition
i have not met with the word.

BOOK I. 209°

things and cogitations in general, I find not in-
quired, but deficient. And although it may feem
of no great ufe, confidering that words and writings
by letters do far excel all the other ways ; yet be-
caufe this part concerneth, as it were, the mint of
knowledge, (for words are the tokens current and
accepted for conceits, as moneys are for values,
and that it is fit men be not ignorant that moneys
may be of another kind than gold and filver,) I
thought good to propound it to better inquiry.
Concerning fpeech and words, the confideration
of them hath produced the fcience of grammar:
for man ftill ftriveth to reintegrate himfelf in thofe
benedictions, from which by his fault he hath been
deprived ; and as he hath ftriven againft the firft
general curfe by the invention of all other arts, fo
hath he fought to come forth of the fecond general
curfe, which was the confufion of tongues, by the
art of grammar; whereof the ufe in a mother
tongue! is fmall, in a foreign tongue more; but
moft in fuch foreign tongues as have ceafed to be
vulgar tongues, and are turned only to learned
tongues. ‘he duty of it is of two natures; the
one popular, which is for the fpeedy and perfe&
attaining languages, as well for intercourfe of fpeech
as for underftanding of authors ; the other philo-
fophical, examining the power and nature of words,
as they are the foot{teps and prints of reafon: which
kind of analogy between words and reafon is han-

1 The Latin is “linguis quibufque vernaculis.” Ed. 1605 has
in another tongue, which is clearly a mifprint—the antithefis lying
between a “‘ vernacular” or mother tongue, and a foreign language.

rE

Speech has
produced
grammar.

The acci-
dents of
words.

Ciphers.

210 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

dled /parfim, brokenly, though not entirely ; and
therefore I cannot report it deficient, though I
think it very worthy to be reduced into a fcience
by itfelf.

Unto grammar alfo belongeth, as an appendix,
the confideration of the accidents of words ; which
are meafure, found, and elevation or accent, and
the fweetnefs and harfhnefs of them ; whence hath
iffued fome curious obfervations in rhetoric, but
chiefly poefy, as we confider it in refpect of the
verfe and not of the argument; wherein though
men in learned tongues do tie themfelves to the
ancient meafures, yet in modern languages it feem-
eth to me as free to make new meatures of verfes
as of dances: fora dance is a meafured pace, as a
verfe isa meafured fpeech. In thefe things the
fenfe is better judge than the art ;

Cenz fercula noftre
Mallem convivis quam placuiffe cocis.?

And of the fervile expreffing antiquity in an un-
like and an unfit fubje@, it is well faid, Quod tem-
pore antiquum videtur, id incongruitate ef? maxime
novum.®

For ciphers, they are commonly in letters or
alphabets, but may be in words. The kinds of
ciphers, befides the fimple ciphers, with changes,
and intermixtures of nulls and non-fignificants,
are many, according to the nature or rule of the
infolding, wheel-ciphers, key-ciphers, doubles, &c.*

2 Martial. Epig. ix. 82. ;
3 'This quotation, which is omitted in the Latin, is only another
form and application of Bacon’s favourite “ Antiquitas feeculi, ju-

ventus mundi.” :
4 In the Latin a fpecimen ofa cipher (invented by himfelf when

BOOK I. ait

But the virtues of them, whereby they are to be
preferred, are three ; that they be not laborious to
write and read; that they be impoffible to deci-
pher; and, in fome cafes, that they be without
fufpicion. The higheft degree whereof is to write
omnia per omnia; which is undoubtedly poffible,
with a proportion quintuple at moft of the writing
infolding to the writing infolded, and no other re-
ftraint whatfoever. ‘This art of ciphering hath
for relative an art of deciphering, by fuppofition
unprofitable, but, as things are, of great ufe. For
fuppofe that ciphers were well managed, there be
multitudes of them which exclude the decipherer.
But in regard of the rawnefs and unfkilfulnefs of
the hands through which they pafs, the greateft
matters are many times carried in the weakeft ci-
phers.

In the enumeration of thefe private and retired
arts, it may be thought I feek to make a great
mufter-roll of fciences, naming them for fhow and
oftentation, and to little other purpofe. But let
thofe which are fkilful in them judge whether I
bring them in only for appearance, or whether in
that which I fpeak of them, though in few marks,
there be not fome feed of proficience. And this
muft be remembered, that as there be many of
great account in their countries and provinces,
which, when they come up to the feat of the eftate,

a youhg man at Paris) is introduced, to fhow how the art of writ-
ing omnia per omnia can be attained to. See alfo Encycl. Brit. verb,
Cipher. Trithemius, Bapt. Porta, and others, wrote treatifes on
this art; and it is worth remembering that the Stuarts made con-
fiderable political ufe of it.

Conclufion.

Aug. vi.

( ) Method
of Tradition,

Method, a
part of
Logic.

212 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

are but of mean rank and fearcely regarded; fo
thefe arts, being here placed with the principal and
fupreme fciences, feem petty things; yet to fuch
as have chofen them to fpend their labours and
ftudies in them, they feem great matters.

For the Method of Tradition, I fee it hath moved
a controverfy in our time.® But as in civil bufi-
nefs, if there be a meeting, and men fall at words,
there is commonly an end of the matter for that
time, and no proceeding at all; fo in learning,
where there is much controverfy, there is many
times little inquiry. For this part of knowledge
of Method feemeth to me fo weakly inquired as I
fhall report it deficient.

Method hath been placed, and that not amifs,
in Logic, as a part of Judgment ;° for as the doc-
trine of Syllogifms comprehendeth the rules of
Judgment upon that. which is invented, fo the
doctrine of Method containeth the rules of Judg-
ment upon that which is to be delivered; for
Judgment precedeth Delivery, as it followeth In-
vention. Neither is the Method or the nature of
the tradition material only to the ufe of knowledge,
but likewife to the progreffion of knowledge: for
fince the labour and life of one man cannot attain
to perfection of knowledge, the wifdom of the
tradition is that which infpireth the felicity of con-

5 Between Ramus, whofe method was one of perpetual dicho-
tomies, and others.

© Not fo in the ufual text-books —Sanderfon, iil. 30, 31, and
Aldrich, chap. vi. place it under Difcourfe; and it is defined as
“ Ratio ita difponendi partes alicujus difciplinz vel tra€tationis, ut
facillime a nobis integra difcatur.”

BOOK Il. 213

tinuance and proceeding. And therefore the moft
real diverfity of method, is of Method referred to
ufe, and Method referred to progreffion: whereof
the one may be termed Magiftral, and the other
of Probation.

The latter whereof feemeth to be via deferta et
interclufa. For as knowledges are now delivered,
there is a kind of contract of error between the
deliverer and the receiver: for he that delivereth
knowledge, defireth to deliver it in fuch form as
may be beft believed, and not as may be beft ex-
amined; and he that receiveth knowledge, defireth
rather prefent fatisfaction, than expectant inquiry ;
and fo rather not to doubt, than not to err: glory
making the author not to lay open his weaknefs,
and floth making the difciple not to know his
ftrength.

But knowledge that is delivered as a thread to
be fpun on, ought to be delivered and intimated,
if it were poffible, in the fame method wherein it
was invented: and fo is it poflible of knowledge
induced. But in this fame anticipated and pre-
vented knowledge, no man knoweth how he came
to the knowledge which he hath obtained. But
yet neverthelefs, fecundum majus et minus, a man
may revifit and defcend unto the foundations of
his knowledge and confent; and fo tranfplant it
into another, as it grew in his own mind, For it
is in knowledges as it is in plants: if you mean to
ufe the plant, it is no matter for the roots; but if
you mean to remove it to grow, then it is more
affured to reft upon roots than flips: fo the deli-

Of Proba-

tion, or for
progreffion
(deficient. )

Magiftral, or
for ufe.

De Methodo
Jfincera, five
ad filios fci-

entiarum.

Enigma-
tical.

Compared
with Aphor-
ifms.

214 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

very of knowledges, as it is now ufed, is as of fair
bodies of trees without the roots; good for the
carpenter, but not for the planter. But if you
will have fciences grow, it is lefs matter for the
fhaft or body of the tree, fo you look well to the
taking up of the roots: of which kind of delivery
the method of the mathematics, in that fubjedt,
hath fome fhadow: but generally I fee it neither
put in ufe7 nor put in inquifition, and therefore
note it for deficient.

Another diverfity of Method there is, which
hath fome affinity with the former, ufed in fome
cafes by the difcretion of the ancients, but dif-
graced fince by the impoftures of many vain per-
fons, who have made it as a falfe light for their
counterfeit merchandifes ; and that is, enigmatical
and difclofed.@ The pretence whereof is, to re-
move the vulgar capacities from being admitted to
the fecrets of knowledges, and to referve them to
felected auditors, or wits of fuch fharpnefs as can
pierce the veil.

Another diverfity of Method, whereof the con-
fequence is great, is the delivery of knowledge in
Aphorifms, or in Methods; wherein we may ob-
ferve that it hath been too much taken into cuftom,
out of a few axioms or obfervations upon any fub-
jet, to make a folemn and formal art, filling it

7 I have read ufe for ure. For the Latin is u/us, and the word
ure isarare one. Richardfon’s examplesare all from Chaucer, The
meaning of both words is the fame.

® Correfponds to the fcholaftic ‘ Methodus axpoapartxy et
iEwreoucy,” Aldrich, Logic, vi. Bacon ufes thefe terms in the
Latin,

BOOK I]. 214°

with fome difcourfes, and illuftrating it with ex-
amples, and digefting it into a fenfible Method.

But the writing in aphorifms hath many excel-
lent virtues, whereto the writing in Method doth
not approach. For firft, it trieth the writer,
whether he be fuperficial or folid: for Aphorifms,
except they fhould be ridiculous, cannot be made
but of the pith and heart of fciences ; for difcourfe
of illuftration is cut off: recitals of examples are
cut off; difcourfe of connection and order is cut
off; defcriptions of practice are cut off. So there
remaineth nothing to fill the Aphorifms but fome
good quantity of obfervation: and therefore no
man can fuffice, nor in reafon will attempt to
write Aphorifms, but he that is found and grounded.
But in Methods,

Tantum feries junéturaque pollet,
Tantum de medio fumptis accedit honoris ;9

as a man fhall make a great fhew of an art, which,
if it were disjointed, would come to little. Secondly,
methods are more fit to win confent or belief, but
lefs fit to point to action ; for they carry a kind of
demontftration in orb or circle, one part illuminat-
ing another, and therefore fatisfy ; but particulars,
being difperfed, do beft agree with difperfed direc-
tions. And laftly, Aphorifms, reprefenting a know-
ledge broken, do invite men to inquire farther;
whereas Methods, carrying the fhow of a total, do
fecure men, as if they were at fartheft.

Another diverfity of Method, which is likewife
of great weight, is the handling of knowledge by

9 Hor. Ep. ad Pis, 242.

By affertions
and their
proofs, or by

216 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

See affertions and their proofs, or by queftions and
' their determinations; the latter kind whereof, if
it be immoderately followed, is as prejudicial to
the proceeding of learning, as it is to the proceed-
ing of an army to go about to befiege every little
fort or hold. For if the field be kept, and the fum
of the enterprife purfued, thofe fmaller things will
come in of themfelves: indeed a man would not
leave {ome important piece enemy at his back.
In like manner, the ufe of confutation in the deli-
very of fciences ought to be very fparing; and to
ferve to remove ftrong preoccupations and pre-
judgments, and not to minifter and excite difputa-
tions and doubts. ;
Differs ac- Another diverfity of Method is, according to
ae the fubject or matter which is handled; for there
matter. is a great difference in delivery of the mathematics,
which are moft abftracted of knowledges, and po-
licy, which is the moft immerfed: and howfoever
contention hath been moved touching a uniform-
ity of method in multiformity of matter, yet we
fee how that opinion, befides the weaknefs of it,
hath been of ill defert towards learning, as that
which taketh the way to reduce learning to cer-
tain empty and barren generalities ; being but the
very hufks and fhells of fciences, all the kernel
being forced out and expulfed with the torture
and prefs of the Method. And therefore as I did
~ allow well of particular topics for invention, fo I
do allow likewife of particular Methods of tradition.

10 This paffage is equivalent to *¢ although indeed a man would
not leave fome fortified place hoftile to him in his rear.”

BOOK Il. 217

Another diverfity of judgment"! in the delivery
and teaching of knowledge is according unto the
light and prefuppofitions of that which is delivered ;
for that knowledge which is new, and foreign from
opinions received, is to be delivered in another
form than that that is agreeable’* and familiar ;
and therefore Ariftotle, when he thinks to tax
Democritus, doth in truth commend him, where
he faith, Jf we fhall indeed difpute, and not follow
after fimilitudes, Sc.3 For thofe whofe conceits
are feated in popular opinions, need only but to
prove or difpute ; but thofe whofe conceits are be-
yond popular opinions, have a double labour ; the
one to make themfelves conceived, and the other
to prove and demontftrate : fo that it is of neceflity
with them to have recourfe to fimilitudes and tranf-
lations to exprefs themfelves. And therefore in
the infancy of learning, and in rude times, when
thofe conceits which are now trivial were then
new, the world was full of parables and fimilitudes ;
for elfe would men either have paffed over with-
out mark, or elfe rejected for paradoxes, that which
was offered, before they had underftood or judged.
So in divine learning, we fee how frequent para-
bles and tropes are: for it is a rule, that whatfo-
ever fcience is not confonant to prefuppofitions,
muft pray in aid of fimilitudes.

1! Bacon meant here to fay * diverfity of Method to be ufed
with judgment,” &c.; for the Latin is ‘* Sequitur aliud ete
difcrimen in tradendis fcientiis cum judicio adhibendum.”

2 Agreeable. ‘‘Opinionibus jampridem imbibitis et receptis
affinis.”

3 Arift. Eth. Nic. vi. 3, fee note in Ellis and Spedding’s ed.

According
to the
knowledge
of the re-
ceiver.

Other dif-
ferences,

Deprudentia
Traditionis.

Method
alfo confi-
ders the
limitation
of propofi-
tions.

218 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

There be alfo other diverfities of Methods vul-
gar and received: as that of Refolution or Ana-
lyfis, of Conftitution or Syftafis, of Concealment
or Cryptic, &c., which I do allow well of, though
I have ftood upon thofe which are leaft handled
and obferved. All which I have remembered to
this purpofe, becaufe I would ere& and conftitute
one general inquiry, which feems to me deficient,
touching the Wifdom of Tradition.

But unto this part of knowledge concerning
Methods doth farther belong not only the archi-
tecture of the whole frame of a work, but alfo the
feveral beams and columns thereof; not as to their
ftuff, but as to their quantity and figure. And
therefore Method confidereth not only the difpo-
fition of the argument or fubject, but likewife the
propofitions: not as to their truth or matter, but
as to their limitation and manner. For herein
Ramus merited better a great deal in reviving the
good rules of propofitions, Kaécaov mpatov xara
gaytds, &c., than he did in introducing the canker
of epitomes ;'* and yet (as it is the condition of
human things that, according to the ancient fables,
the moft precious things have the moft pernicious
keepers ;) it was fo, that the attempt of the one
made him fall upon the other. For he had need
be well conducted that fhould defign to make
axioms convertible, if he make them not withal
circular, and non-promovent, or incurring into
themfelves ; but yet the intention was excellent.

14 Should this not rather have been Dichotomies ? “quam in
unica fua Methodo et Dichotomiis obtrudendis,”

BOOK II. 219

The other confiderations of method, concern-
ing propofitions, are chiefly touching the utmoft
propofitions, which limit the dimenfions of fci-
ences; for every knowledge may be fitly faid,
befides the profundity, (which is the truth and
fubftance of it, that makes it folid,) to have a lon-
gitude and a latitude; accounting the latitude
towards other fciences, and the longitude towards
action ; that is, from the greateft generality to
the moft particular precept. “The one giveth
tule how far one knowledge ought to inter-
meddle within the province of another, which is
the rule they call Kaéaurd ;15 the other giveth
rule unto what degree of particularity a knowledge
fhould defcend: which latter I find paffed over in
filence, being in my judgment the more material ;
for certainly there muft be fomewhat left to prac-
tice; but how much is worthy the inquiry. We
fee remote and fuperficial generalities do but offer
knowledge to {corn of practical men; and are no
more aiding to practice, than an Ortelius’ ?° uni-
verfal map is to direét the way between London
and York. ‘The better fort of rules have been
not unfitly compared to glaffes of fteel unpolifhed,
where you may fee the images of things, but firft
they muft be filed: fo the rules will help, if they
be laboured and polifhed by practice. But how
cryftalline they may be made at the firft, and how
far forth they may be polifhed aforehand, is the quef-
tion ; the inquiry whereof feemeth to me deficient.

There hath been alfo laboured and put in prac-

15 Viz. that Propofitions fhould be true effentially.
16 Ortelius was an Antwerper, died 1598, ftyled the “* Ptolemzus
fui feeculi,”

Method
alfo chiefly
concerns
univerfal
propofi-
tions,

De produc-
tiene Axi-
omatum.

Falfe Me-
thod, as

that of Ray-
mond
Lully.

De Aug.
Vi. 2.

(c.) Illuftra-
tion of tra-
dition, or
rhetoric.

220 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

tice a method, which is not a lawful method, but
a method of impofture ; which is, to deliver know-
ledges in fuch manner, as men may fpeedily come
to make a fhow of learning who have it not: fuch
was the travail of Raymundus Lullius, in making
that art which bears his name: not unlike to
fome books of typocofmy, which have been made
fince; being nothing but a mafs of words of all
arts, to give men countenance, that thofe which
ufe the terms might be thought to underftand the
art; which collections are much like a fripper’s
or broker’s fhop, that hath ends of everything,
but nothing of worth.

Now we defcend to that part which concerneth
the illuftration of tradition, comprehended in that
fcience which we call rhetoric, or art of eloquence ;
a fcience excellent, and excellently well laboured.
For though in true value it is inferior to wifdom,
(as it is faid by God to Mofes, when he difabled
himfelf for want of this faculty, 4aron fhall be thy
fpeaker, and thou fhalt be to him as God:)® yet
with people it is the more mighty: fo Salomon
faith, Sapiens corde appellabitur prudens, fed dulcis
eloquio majora reperiet ;9 fignifying, that profound-
nefs of wifdom will help a man to a name or ad-
miration, but that it is eloquence that prevaileth
in an active life. And as to the labouring of it,

. 7 Raymundus Lully, “the Enlightened Doétor,” was born in
Majorca in 1225, ftudied Arabian philofophy, chemiftry, phyfic,
and divinity. He was ftoned to death, at the age of 80, in Maure-
tania, for preaching the gofpel. Fora brief account of his Method,
fee note to Ellis and Spedding’s De Augm. vi. 2. (p. 669.)

18 Exod, iv. 16, 19 Prov, xvi. 21.

BOOK Ii. 221

the emulation of Ariftotle with the rhetoricians
of his time, and the experience of Cicero, hath
made them in their works of rhetorics exceed
themfelves. Again, the excellency of examples
of eloquence in the orations of Demofthenes and
Cicero, added to the perfection of the precepts of
eloquence, hath doubled the progreffion in this
art; and therefore the deficiencies which I fhall
note will rather be in fome collections, which may
as hand-maids attend the art, than in the rules or
ufe of the art itfelf.

Notwithftanding, to ftir the earth a little about
the roots of this fcience, as we have done of the
reft ; the duty and office of rhetoric is, to apply
reafon to imagination for the better moving of the
will. For we fee reafon is difturbed in the ad-
miniftration thereof by three means ; by c//aquea-
tion or fophifm, which pertains to logic; by zma-
gination or impreffion, which pertains to rhetoric ;
and by paffion or affection, which pertains to mo-
rality. And as in negotiation with others, men
are wrought by cunning, by importunity, and by
vehemency ; fo in this negotiation within our-
felves, men are undermined by inconfequences,
folicited and importuned by impreffions or obfer-
vations, and tranfported by paffions. Neither is
the nature of man fo unfortunately built, as that
thofe powers and arts fhould have force to difturb
reafon, and not to eftablifh and advance it. For
the end of logic is, to teach a form of argument

to fecure reafon, and not to entrap it; the end of -

morality is to procure the affections to obey reafon,

Definition
of rhetoric.

Plato un-
derrated it.

222 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

and not to invade it; the end of rhetoric is, to fill
the imagination to fecond reafon, and not to op-
prefs it: for thefe abufes of art come in but ex
obliquo, for caution.

And therefore it was great injuftice in Plato,
though fpringing out of a juft hatred to the rheto-
ricians of his time, to efteem of rhetoric but as a
voluptuary art, refembling it to cookery, that did
mar wholefome meats, and help unwholefome by
variety of fauces to the pleafure of the tafte.2° For
we fee that fpeech is much more converfant in
adorning that which is good, than in colouring
that which is evil; for there is no man but fpeak-
eth more honeftly than he can do or think: and
it was excellently noted by Thucydides in Cleon,
that becaufe he ufed to hold on the bad fide in
caufes of eftate, therefore he was ever inveighing
againft eloquence and good {fpeech ;*! knowing
that no man can fpeak fair of courfes fordid and
bafe. And therefore as Plato faid elegantly, That
virtue, if fhe could be feen, would move great love
and affection ;** fo feeing that fhe cannot be fhowed
to the fenfe by corporal fhape, the next degree is
to fhow her to the imagination in lively reprefent-
ation: for to fhow her to reafon only in fubtilty
of argument, was a thing ever derided in Chryfip-
pus and many of the Stoics; who thought to
thruft virtue upon men by fharp difputations and
conclufions, which have no fympathy with the will
of man.

20 Plat. Gorg. 462, eq. 31 Thucyd. iii. 42.
42 Plat. Phedr. 250.

BOOK II. 223

Again, if the affe€tions in themfelves were pliant
and obedient to reafon, it were true there fhould
be no great ufe of perfuafions and infinuations to
the will, more than of naked propofition and
proofs; but in regard of the continual mutinies
and feditions of the affections,

Video meliora, proboque ;
Deteriora fequor :?

reafon would become captive and fervile, if elo-
quence of perfuafions did not practife and win the
imagination from the affections’ part, and contract
a confederacy between the reafon and imagination
againft the affections; for the affections them-
felves carry ever an appetite to good, as reafon
doth. The difference is, that the affection be-
holdeth merely the prefent ; reafon beholdeth the
future and fum of time. And therefore the pre-
fent filling the imagination more, reafon is com-
monly vanquifhed; but after that force of elo-
quence and perfuafion hath made things future
and remote appear as prefent, then upon the revolt
of the imagination reafon prevaileth.

We conclude, therefore, that rhetoric can be no
more charged with the colouring of the worfe part,
than logic with fophiftry,* or morality with vice.
For we know the doétrines of contraries are the
fame, though the ufe be oppofite. It appeareth
alfo that logic differeth from rhetoric, not only as
the fift from the palm, the one clofe, the other at
large; but much more in this, that logic handleth
reafon exact and in truth, and rhetoric handleth

23 Ovid, Metam. vil. 20. 24 Arift, Rhet. 1. i. 14.

Ufeful to
quell the
feditions of
the paf-

fions.

Rhetoric by
the fide of
logic,

a

De pru-
dentia Jer-
monis pri-
vati,

Its defici-
ences : no
good collec-
tion of co-
lours of
good and
evil.

224 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

it as it is planted in popular opinions and manners.
And therefore Ariftotle®® doth wifely place rhe-
toric as between logic on the one fide, and moral
or civil knowledge on the other, as participating
of both: for the proofs and demonftrations of
logic are towards all men indifferent and the fame ;
but the proofs and perfuafions of rhetoric ought
to differ according to the auditors :
Orpheus in fylvis, inter delphinas Arion.”

Which application, in perfection of idea, ought to
extend fo far, that if a man fhould fpeak of the
fame thing to feveral perfons, he fhould fpeak to
them all refpectively and feveral ways: though
this politic part of eloquence in private fpeech it
is eafy for the greateft orators to want: whilft by
the obferving their well-graced forms of fpeech
they leefe the volubility of application : and there-
fore it fhall not be amifs to recommend this to
better inquiry, not being curious whether we place
it here, or in that part which concerneth policy.

Now therefore will I defcend to the deficiences,
which, as I faid, are but attendances :*7 and firft,
I do not find the wifdom and diligence of Ariftotle
well purfued, who began to make a colleétion of
the popular figns and colours of good and evil,
both fimple and comparative, which are as the
fophifms of rhetoric, as I touched before.*® For
example:

25 Ariftot. Rhet. 1. 2.7. % Virg. Ecl..viil. 56,

27 Attendances. ‘* Pertinent omnia ad promptuarium.”

28 Thefe were publithed in 1597, at the end of the volume of

Effays. They are reproduced in the correfponding place of the
Latin. See Arift. Top. i. 12.

BOOK I. 225
Sophifma,

Quod laudatur, bonum: quod vituperatur, malum.
Redargutio,

Laudat venales qui vult extrudere merces,

Malum eft, malum eft, inquit emptor: fed cum
recefferit, tum gloriabitur !*°

The defects in the labour of Ariftotle are three:
one, that there be but a few of many; another,
that their elenches are not annexed; and the third,
that he conceived but a part of the ufe of them:
for their ufe is not only in probation, but much
more in impreffion. For many forms are equal
in fignification which are differing in impreffion ;
as the difference is great in the piercing of that
which is fharp and that which is flat, though the
ftrength of the percuffion be the fame: for there
is no man but will be a little more raifed by hear-
ing it faid, Your enemies will be glad of this:

Hoc Ithacus velit, et magno mercentur Atridz :?!

than by hearing it faid only, This is evil for you.

Secondly, I do refume alfo that which I men-
tioned before, touching provifion or preparatory
ftore for the furniture of fpeech and readinefs. of
invention ; which appeareth to be of two forts;
the one in refemblance to a fhop of pieces unmade
up, the other to a fhop of things ready made up ;
both to be applied to that which is frequent and
moft in requeft: the former of thefe I will call
antitheta, and the latter formule.

Antitheta are thefes argued pro et contra; wherein

PiHor. Pp. tis 2. 17. 30 Prov. xx. 14,
31 Virg. nr. ii. 104.

<3

Deficient in
antitheta
and form-
ule.

Appendices
to the art of
tradition,
(a.) Advice
to critics,

226 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

men may be more large and laborious: but, in
fuch as are able to do it, to avoid prolixity of en-
try, I with the feeds of the feveral arguments to
be caft up into fome brief and acute fentences,
not to be cited, but to be as fkeins or bottoms of
thread, to be unwinded at large when they come
to be ufed; fupplying authorities and examples by

reference.
Pro verbis legis.

Non eft interpretatio, fed divinatio, quz recedit a litera :
Cum receditur a litera, judex tranfit in legiflatorem.

Pro fententia legis,

Ex omnibus verbis eft eliciendus fenfus qui interpretatur fingula.

Formule are but decent and apt paffages or con-
veyances of {peech, which may ferve indifferently
for differing fubjects ; as of preface, conclufion, di-
greffion, tranfition, excufation, Sc. For as in build-
ings, there is great pleafure and ufe in the well
cafting of the ftaircafes, entries, doors, windows,
and the like; fo in fpeech, the conveyances and
paflages are of {pecial ornament and effect.

Ai conclufion in a deliberative.

So may we redeem the faults paffed, and prevent the inconve-
niences future.

There remain two appendices touching the tra-
dition of knowledge, the one critical, the other
pedantical. For all knowledge is either delivered
by teachers, or attained by men’s proper endea-
vours: and therefore as the principal part of tra-
dition of knowledge concerneth chiefly writing of
books, fo the relative part thereof concerneth read-
ing of books ; whereunto appertain incidently thefe
confiderations. ‘The firft is concerning the true

BOOK II. 227

correction and edition of authors ; wherein never-
thelefs rafh diligence hath done great prejudice.
For thefe critics have often prefumed, that that
which they underftand not is falfe fet down: as
the prieft that, where he found it written of St.
Paul, Demiffus eff per [portam*? mended his book,
and made it DemijJus ef? per portam; becaufe
Jporta was a hard word, and out of his reading:
and furely their errors, though they be not fo pal-
pable and ridiculous, are yet of the fame kind.
And therefore, as it hath been wifely noted, the
moft corrected copies are commonly the leaft
correct.

The fecond is concerning the expofition and
explication of authors, which refteth in annota-
tions and commentaries: wherein it is over ufual
to blanch the obfcure places, and difcourfe upon
the plain.

The third is concerning the times, which in
many cafes give great light to true interpretations.

The fourth is concerning fome brief cenfure
and judgment of the authors; that men thereby
may make fome election unto themfelves what
books to read.

And the fifth is concerning the fyntax and dif-
pofition of ftudies ; that men may know in what
order or purfuit to read.

For pedantical knowledge, it containeth that
difference of tradition which is proper for youth ;
whereunto appertain divers confiderations of great
fruit.

SSVAGsiix..2'5¢

(.) OF pe-
dantical

knowledge,
(i.e. wifdom
in teaching.)

228 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

As firft, the timing and feafoning of knowledges;
as with what to initiate them, and from what for
a time to refrain them.

Secondly, the confideration where to begin with
the eafieft, and fo proceed to the more difficult ;
and in what courfes to prefs the more difficult, and
then to turn them to the more eafy: for it is one
method to practife {wimming with bladders, and
another to practife dancing with heavy fhoes.

A third is the application of learning according
unto the propriety of the wits; for there is no
defect in the faculties intelleCtual, but feemeth to
have a proper cure contained in fome ftudies: as,
for example, if a child be bird-witted, that is, hath
not the faculty of attention, the mathematics giv-
eth a remedy thereunto; for in them, if the wit
be caught away but a moment, one is to begin
anew. And as {ciences have a propriety towards
faculties for cure and help, fo faculties or powers
have a fympathy towards fciences for excellency
or {peedy profiting: and therefore it is an inquiry
of great wifdom, what kinds of wits and natures
are moft apt and proper for what fciences.

Fourthly, the ordering of exercifes is matter of
great confequence to hurt or help: for, as is well
obferved by Cicero,*> men in exercifing their fa-
culties, if they be not well advifed, do exercife
their faults and get ill habits as well as good; fo
there is a great judgment to be had in the conti-
nuance and intermiffion of exercifes. It were too
long to particularize a number of other confidera-

Cicer. Or. i. 44«

BOOK I. 229

tions of this nature, things but of mean appear-
ance, but of fingular efficacy. For as the wronging
or cherifhing of feeds or young plants is that that
is moft important to their thriving: (and as it was
noted that the firft fix kings being in truth as tu-
-tors of the ftate of Rome in the infancy thereof,
was the principal caufe of the immentfe greatnefs of
that {tate which followed :) fo the culture and ma-
nurance of minds in youth, hath fuch a forcible,
though unfeen operation, as hardly any length of
time or contention of labour can countervail it
afterwards. And it is not amifs to oblerve alfo
how {mall and mean faculties gotten by education,
yet when they fall into great men or great matters,
do work great and important effects ; whereof we
fee a notable example in Tacitus** of two ftage
players, Percennius and Vibulenus, who by their
faculty of playing put the Pannonian armies into
an extreme tumult and combutftion. For there
arifing a mutiny amongft them upon the death of
Auguftus Czfar, Blzfus the lieutenant had com-
mitted fome of the mutineers, which were fud-
denly refcued; whereupon Vibulenus got to be
heard fpeak, which he did in this manner :—
Thefe poor innocent wretches appointed to cruel death,
you have reftored to behold the light; but who fhall
reftore my brother to me, or life unto my brother, that
was fent hither in meffage from the legions of Ger-
many, to treat of the common caufe? and he hath
murdered him this laft night hy fome of his fencers
and ruffians, that he hath about him for his execu-

=) Tacit. Ann: i. 22, 23.

230 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

tioners upon foldiers. Anfwer, Blafus, what is done
with his body? The mortale/? enemies do not deny
burial. When I have performed my laft duty to the
corpfe with kiffes, with tears, command me to be flain
befide him; fo that thefe my fellows, for our good
meaning, and our true hearts to the legions, may
have leave to bury us. With which fpeech he put
the army into an infinite fury and uproar : whereas
truth was he had no brother, neither was there
any fuch matter; but he played it merely as if he
had been upon the ftage.

But to return: we are now come to a period of
rational knowledges ; wherein if 1 have made the
divifions other than thofe that are received, yet
would I not be thought to difallow all thofe divi-
fions which I do not ufe. For there is a double
neceflity impofed upon me of altering the divifions.
The one, becaufe it differeth in end and purpofe,
to fort together thofe things which are next in
nature, and thofe things which are next in ufe.
For if a fecretary of {tate fhould fort his papers, it
is like in his ftudy or general cabinet he would
fort together things of a nature, as treaties, inftruc-
tions, &c., but in his boxes or particular cabinet
he would fort together thofe that he were like to
ufe together, though of feveral natures ; fo in this
general cabinet of knowledge it was neceflary for
me to follow the divifions of the nature of things;
whereas if myfelf had been to handle any particu-
lar knowledge, I would have refpeéted the divi-
fions fitteft for ufe. The other, becaufe the
bringing in of the deficiences did by confequence

BOOK I], a

alter the partitions of the reft. For let the know-
ledge extant, for demonftration fake, be fifteen ;
let the knowledge with the deficiences be twenty ;
the parts of fifteen are not the parts of twenty ;
for the parts of fifteen are three and five; the
parts of twenty are two, four, five, and ten. So
as thefe things are without contradi¢tion, and could
not otherwife be.

Sep E proceed now to that knowledge
yh which confidereth of the appetite and

Vie will of man: whereof Salomon faith,

Ante omnia, fil, cuftodi cor tuum; nam

jadi = actiones vite. In the handling of
this fcience, thofe which have written feem to me
to have done as if a man, that profeffed to teach
to write, did only exhibit fair copies of alphabets
and letters joined, without giving any precepts or
directions for the carriage of the hand and framing
of the letters. So have they made good and fair
exemplars and copies, carrying the draughts and
portraitures of good, virtue, duty, felicity; pro-
pounding them well defcribed as the true objects
and fcopes of man’s will and defires. But how
to attain thefe excellent marks, and how to frame
and fubdue the will of man to become true and
conformable to thefe purfuits, they pafs it over
altogether, or flightly and unprofitably. For it is
not the difputing that moral virtues are in the
mind of man by habit and not by nature,°° or the

35 Prov. iv. 23.
3 Arift. Eth. Nic. ii. 1, Eud. Eth. i. 3.1.

De Aug.
VII. 1.

(8.) The
Moral func-
tions of the
Mind; i.e.
of the Ap-
petite and
Will ofmen.
Til handled
as yet.

For men def-
pife it as
common,

232 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

diftinguifhing that generous fpirits are won by doc-
trines and perfuafions, and the vulgar fort by re-
ward and punifhment, and the like {cattered glances
and touches, that can excufe the abfence of this
part.

The reafon of this omiffion I fuppofe to be that
hidden rock whereupon both this and many other
barks of knowledge have been caft away ; which
is, that men have defpifed to be converfant in or-
dinary and common matters, the judicious direc-
tion whereof neverthelefs is the wifeft doctrine,
(for life confifteth not in novelties or fubtilties,)
but contrariwife they have compounded {fciences
chiefly of a certain refplendent or luftrous mafs of
matter, chofen to give glory either to the fubtilty
of difputations, or to the eloquence of difcourfes.
But Seneca giveth an excellent check toeloquence;
Nocet illis eloquentia, quibus non rerum cupiditatem
facit, fed fui.** Doétrine fhould be fuch as fhould
make men in love with the leffon, and not with
the teacher; being directed to the auditor’s bene-
fit, and not to the author’s commendation. And
therefore thofe are of the right kind which may
be concluded as Demofthenes concludes his coun-
fel, Que fi feceritis, non oratorem duntaxat in pra-
Jentia laudabitis, fed vofmetipfos etiam non ita multo
poft flatu rerum veftrarum meliore.*®

Neither needed men of fo excellent parts to
have defpaired of a fortune, which the poet Virgil
promifed himfelf, and indeed obtained, who got as

37 Sen. ad Lucilium, Ep. 52.
38 Demofth. Olynth. B. ad fin.

BOOK I. 233

much glory of eloquence, wit, and learning in the
expreffing of the obfervations of hufbandry, as of
the heroical acts of Aineas :—

Nec fum animi dubius, verbis ea vincere magnum
Quam fit, et anguftis his addere rebus honorem.*®

And furely, if the purpofe be in good earneft,
not to write at leifure that which men may read
at leifure, but really to inftruét and fuborn action
and active life, thefe Georgics of the mind, con-
cerning the hufbandry and tillage thereof, are no
lefs worthy than the heroical defcriptions of virtue,
duty, and felicity. Wherefore the main and pri-
mitive divifion of moral knowledge feemeth to be
into the exemplar or platform of good, and the
regiment or culture of the mind: the one defcrib-
ing the nature of good, the other prefcribing rules
how to fubdue, apply, and accommodate the will
of man thereunto.

The dodtrine touching the platform or nature
of good confidereth it either fimple or compared ;
either the kinds of good, or the degrees of good ;
in the latter whereof thofe infinite difputations,
which were touching the fupreme degree thereof,
which they term felicity, beatitude, or the higheft
good, the doctrines concerning which were as the
heathen divinity,*° are by the Chriftian faith dif-
charged. Andas Ariftotle faith, That young men
may be happy, but not otherwife but by hope ;* fo
we mutt all acknowledge our minority, and em-

39 Georg. iii. 289.

40 j.e. Stood to the Heathen in the place of Divinity. “ Que

ethnicis inftar Theologie erant.”
4i Rbet. ii. 12. 8.

Objects of
Ethics.
(i.) The
nature of
Good.

(ii.) Moral

culture.

(i.) Of the
nature of
Good.

We may
omit the
Summum
Bonum, (as
belonging
to the fu-
ture life.)

234 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

brace the felicity which is by hope of the future
world.

Freed therefore and delivered from this doétrine
of the philofopher’s heaven, whereby they feigned
a higher elevation of man’s nature than was, (for
we fee in what a height of ftyle Seneca writeth,
Vere magnum, habere fragilitatem hominis, fecuri-
tatem Dei,**) we may with more fobriety and
truth receive the reft of their inquiries and labours.
Wherein for the nature of good pofitive or fimple,
they have fet it down excellently, in defcribing the
forms of virtue and duty, with their fituations and
poftures ; in diftributing them into their kinds,
parts, provinces, actions, and adminiftrations, and
the like: nay farther, they have commended them
to man’s nature and {pirit, with great quicknefs of
argument and beauty of perfuafions ; yea, and for-
tified and entrenched them, as much as difcourfe
can do, againft corrupt and popular opinions.
Again, for the degrees and comparative nature of
good, they have alfo excellently handled it in their
triplicity of good, in the comparifon between a
contemplative and an active life,* in the diftinc-
tion between virtue with reluctation and virtue
fecured, in their encounters between honefty and
profit, in their balancing of virtue with virtue, and
the like; fo as this part deferveth to be reported
for excellently laboured.

Notwithftanding, if before they had come to the
popular and received notions of virtue and vice,

pleafure and pain, and the reft, they had ftayed a

42 Sen. ad Lucilium, Ep. 53. 43 Arift, Eth. Nic. x. 6-8.

BOOK II. 235

little longer upon the inquiry concerning the roots
of good and evil, and the ftrings of thofe roots,
they had given, in my opinion, a great light to that
which followed; and {pecially if they had con-
fulted with nature, they had made their doctrines
lefs prolix and more profound; which being by
them in part omitted and in part handled with
much confufion, we will endeavour to refume and
open in a more clear manner.

There is formed in every thing a double nature
of good: the one, as every thing is a total or fub-
ftantive in itfelf; the other, as it is a part or mem-
ber of a greater body; whereof the latter is in
degree the greater and the worthier, becaufe it
tendeth to the confervation of a more general form.
Therefore we fee the iron in particular fympathy
moveth to the lodeftone; but yet if it exceed a
certain quantity, it forfaketh the affection to the
lodeftone, and like a good patriot moveth to the
earth, which is the region and country of mafly
bodies : fo may we go forward, and fee that water
and mafly bodies move to the centre of the earth ;
but rather than to fuffer a divulfion in the conti-
nuance of nature, they will move upwards from
the centre of the earth, forfaking their duty to the
earth in regard to their duty to the world. This
double nature of good, and the comparative thereof,
is much more engraven upon man, if he degene-
rate not: unto whom the confervation of duty to
the public ought to be much more precious than
the confervation of life and being : according to
that memorable fpeech of Pompeius Magnus, when

Good either
(1.) Pri-
vate, or
(2.) Rela-

tive,

Chriftianity
exalts rela-
tive (or fo-
cial) good.

This con-
demns Arif-
totle’s con-
templative
perfection
of Life.

236 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

being in commiffion of purveyance for a famine at
Rome, and being diffuaded with great vehemency
and inftance by his friends about him that he
fhould not hazard himfelf to fea in an extremity of
weather, he faid only to them, Nece//e eff ut eam,
non ut vivam.** But it may be truly afirmed that
there was never any philofophy, religion, or other
difcipline, which did fo plainly and highly exalt the
good which is communicative, and deprefs the
good which is private and particular, as the Holy
Faith; well declaring that it was the fame God
that gave the Chriftian law to men, who gave
thofe laws of nature to inanimate creatures that
we {poke of before; for we read that the elected
faints of God have wifhed themfelves anathema-
tized and razed out of the book of life, in an
ecftafy of charity and infinite feeling of commu-
nion.*

This being fet down and ftrongly planted, doth
judge and determine moft of the controverfies
wherein moral philofophy is converfant. For firft,
it decideth the queftion touching the preferment
of the contemplative or active life, and decideth
it againft Ariftotle. For all the reafons which he
bringeth for the contemplative are private, and
refpecting the pleafure and dignity of a man’s felf,
(in which refpeéts, no queftion, the contemplative
life hath the pre-eminence) not much unlike to
that comparifon, which Pythagoras made for the
gracing and magnifying of philofophy and con-
templation: who being afked what he was, an-

4 Plut. Vit. Pomp. Rom. ix. 3.

BOOK II. 237

fwered, That if Hiero were ever at the Olympian
games, he knew the manner, that fome came to try
their fortune for the prizes, and fome came as mer-
chants to utter their commodities, and fome came to
make good cheer and meet their friends, and fome
came to look on; and that he was one of them that
came to look on.** But men muft know, that in
this theatre of man’s life it is referved only for
God and angels to be lookers on: neither could
the like queftion ever have been received in the
church (notwithftanding their Pretiofa in oculis
Domini mors fanctorum ejus,* by which place they
would exalt their civil death and regular profef-
fions,) but upon this defence, that the monattical
life is not fimply ** contemplative, but performeth
the duty either of inceffant prayers and fupplica-
tions, which hath been truly efteemed as an office
in the church, or elfe of writing or taking inftruc-
tions for writing concerning the law of God, as
Mofes did when he abode {fo long in the mount.’
And fo we fee Enoch the feventh from Adam,
who was the firft contemplative, and walked with
God, yet did alfo endow the church with pro-
phecy, which St. Jude citeth.6° But for contem-
plation which fhould be finifhed in itfelf, without
cafting beams upon fociety, afluredly divinity
knoweth it not.

It decideth alfo the controverfies between Zeno
and Socrates, and their fchools and fucceffions, on

© Cic. Tufc. Queft. v. 3. of Leo, tyrant of Phlius, not of Hiero,
STOPS icEvi. 25. 48 Ed. 1605, fimple; 1629, 1633, fimply.
a Ex, Xtiv. 30 Jude 14.

It decides
the quarrel

between
Stoics and
Epicureans,
&c., as to
the nature
of felicity.

Cenfures
Epictetus,

238 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

the one fide, who placed felicity in virtue fimply
or attended, the actions and exercifes whereof do
chiefly embrace and concern fociety ; and on the
other fide, the Cyrenaics and Epicureans, who
placed it in pleafure, and made virtue, (as it is
ufed in fome comedies of errors, wherein the mif-
trefs and the maid change habits,) to be but as a
fervant, without which pleafure cannot be ferved
and attended, and the reformed {chool of the Epi-
cureans, which placed it in ferenity of mind and
freedom from perturbation, (as if they would have
depofed Jupiter again, and reftored Saturn and the
firft age, when there was no fummer nor winter,
{pring nor autumn, but all after one air and fea-
fon,) and Herillus, who placed felicity in extin-
guifhment of the difputes of the mind, making no
fixed nature of good and evil, efteeming things
according to the clearnefs of the defires, or the
reluctation ; which opinion was revived in the he-
refy of the Anabaptifts,°! meafuring things accord-
ing to the motions of the fpirit, and the conftancy
or wavering of belief: all which are manifeft to
tend to private repofe and contentment, and not
to point of fociety.

It cenfureth alfo the philofophy of Epictetus,
which prefuppofeth that felicity muft be placed in
thofe things which are in our power, left we be
liable to fortune and difturbance : as if it were not
a thing much more happy to fail in good and vir-

51 Anabaptifts. Bacon here refers to the doctrines held by the
German Anabaptifts. They believed themfelves to be under {pecial

and divine influences, and therefore had no need of magiftracies, ot
diftinét ranks of men, or of reftri¢tions in marriage.

BOOK II. 239

tuous ends for the public, than to obtain all that
we can wifh to ourfelves in our proper fortune ;
as Gonfalvo faid to his foldiers, fhowing them
Naples, and protefting, He bad rather die one foot
forwards, than to have his life fecured for long by
one foot of retreat.©* Whereunto the wifdom of
that heavenly leader hath figned, who hath af-
firmed that @ good confcience is a continual feaft ;°°
fhowing plainly that the confcience of good inten-
tions, howfoever fucceeding, is a more continual
joy to nature, than all the provifion which can be
made for fecurity and repofe.

It cenfureth likewife that abufe of philofophy,
which grew general about the time of Epictetus,
in converting it into an occupation or profeffion ;
as if the purpofe had been, not to refift and ex-
tinguifh perturbations, but to fly and avoid the
caufes of them, and to fhape a particular kind and
courfe of life to that end; introducing fuch a health
of mind, as was that health of body of which Arif-
totle fpeaketh of Herodicus, who did nothing all
his life long but intend his health :°4 whereas if
men refer themfelves to duties of fociety, as that
health of body is beft, which is ableft to endure
all alterations and extremities; fo likewife that
health of mind is moft proper, which can go
through the greateft temptations and perturba-
tions. So as Diogenes’ opinion is to be accepted,
who commended not them which abftained, but
them which fuftained, and could refrain their mind

52 Guicciardini, vi. 2. 53) Prov. XV. 15
54 Arift. Rhet. i. 5. 10,

And the

error of

making a

profeffion

of Philofo-
hy.

And with-
drawalfrom
bufinefs,

De Aug.
VIII. 2,
(1.) Private
good, either
(a.) Adtive,

or
(4.) Paffive.

(a.) Adtive.

240 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

in precipitio, and could give unto the mind, as is
ufed in horfemanthip, the fhorteft {top or turn.*

Laftly, it cenfureth the tendernefs and want of
application in fome of the moft ancient and reve-
rend philofophers and philofophical men, that did
retire too eafily from civil bufinefs, for avoiding
of indignities and perturbations : whereas the refo-
lution of men truly moral ought to be fuch as the
fame Gonfalvo faid the honour of a foldier fhould
be, ¢ tela craffiore, and not fo fine as that every.
thing fhould catch in it and endanger it.

To refume private or particular good; it falleth
into the divifion of good aétive and paffive: for
this difference of good, not unlike to that which
among{t the Romans was exprefled in the familiar
or houfehold terms of promus and condus, is formed
alfo in all things, and is beft difclofed in the two
feveral appetites in creatures; the one to preferve
or continue themfelves, and the other to dilate or
multiply themfelves ; whereof the latter feemeth
to be the worthier: for in nature the heavens,
which are the more worthy, are the agent; and
the earth, which is the lefs worthy, is the patient.
In the pleafures of living creatures, that of gene-
ration is greater than that of food; in divine doc-
trine, Leatius ef? dare quam accipere,® and in life,
there is no man’s fpirit fo foft, but efteemeth
the effeCting of fomewhat that he hath fixed in
his defire, more than fenfuality ; which priority
of the aétive good, is much upheld by the confi-

55 Diog. Laert. Vita Diogenis, fee Ellis and Spedding’s ed. in loco.
5 Acts xx. 35.

BOOK Ul. 241

deration of our eftate to be mortal and expofed to
fortune. For if we might have a perpetuity and
certainty in our pleafures, the ftate of them would
advance their price: but when we fee it is but
magni eftimamus mori tardius,* and ne glorieris
de .craftino, nefcis partum diei,*® it maketh us to
defire to have fomewhat fecured and exempted
from time; which are only our deeds and works :
as it is faid opera eorum fequuntur eos.°9 ‘The pre-
eminence likewife of this active good is upheld by
the affection which is natural in man towards va-
riety and proceeding ; which in the pleafures of
the fenfe, which is the principal part of paffive
good, can have no great latitude: Cogita quamdiu
eadem feceris ; cibus, fomnus, ludus; per hune circu-
lum curritur; mori velle non tantum fortis, aut
mifer, aut prudens, fed etiam fa/tidiofus pote/?. But
in enterprifes, purfuits, and purpofes of life, there
is much variety ; whereof men are fenfible with
pleafure in their inceptions, progreffions, recoils,
reintegrations, approaches and attainings to their
ends: fo as it was well faid Vita fine propofito lan-
guida et vaga eft.’ Neither hath this active good
any identity with the good of fociety, though in
fome cafe it hath an incidence into it ; for although
it do many times bring forth acts of beneficence,
yet it is with a refpect private to a man’s own
power, glory, amplification, continuance ; as ap-

57 Sen. Nat. Qua@ft. ii. 59. 58 Prov. xxvii. I.

59 Revel. xiv. 13. 60 Sen. ad Lucil. Epift. 77.

®1 Sen, ad Lucil. Epift. 95, where the words “ languida et” are
wanting.

R

242 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

peareth plainly, when it findeth a contrary fubjec.
For that gigantine {tate of mind which poffeffeth
the troublers of the world, fuch as was Lucius
Sylla, and infinite other in fmaller model, who
would have all men happy or unhappy as they
were their friends or enemies, and would give form
to the world, according to their own humours,
(which is the true Theomachy,) pretendeth and
afpireth to active good, though it recedeth fartheft
from good of fociety, which we have determined
to be the greater.
(2) Paffive. To refume paflive good, it receiveth a fubdivi-
ee fion of confervative and perfe€tive. For let us
vative, or take a brief review of that which we have faid:
6.) Pertec- we have fpoken firft of the good of fociety, the
; intention whereof embraceth the form of human
nature, whereof we are members and portions,
and not our own proper and individual form: we
have fpoken of active good, and fuppofed it as a
part of private and particular good: and rightly,
for there is imprefled upon all things a triple de-
fire or appetite proceeding from love to them-
felves; one of preferving and continuing their
form; another of advancing and perfecting their
form; and a third of multiplying and extending
their form upon other things; whereof the multi-
plying, or fignature of it upon other things, is that
which we handled by the name of active good.
So as there remaineth the conferving of it, and
perfecting or raifing of it; which latter is the high-
eft degree of paffive good. For to preferve in

BOOK II. 243

ftate is the lefS, to preferve with advancement is
the greater. Soin man,—
Igneus eft ollis vigor, et czleftis origo.

His approach or aflumption to divine or angelical
nature is the perfection of his form; the error or
falfe imitation of which good is that which is the
tempeft of human life; while man, upon the in-
ftin&t of an advancement formal and effential,. is
carried to feek an advancement local. For as thofe
which are fick, and find no remedy, do tumble up
and down and change place, as if by a remove
local they could obtain a remove internal ; fo is it
with men in ambition, when failing of the means
to exalt their nature, they are in a perpetual eftu-
ation to exalt their place. So then paffive good
is, as was faid, either confervative or perfective.

To refume the good of confervation or comfort,
which confifteth in the fruition of that which is
agreeable to our natures; it feemeth to be the
moft pure and natural of pleafures, but yet the
fofteft and the loweft. And this alfo receiveth a
difference, which hath neither been well judged
of, nor well inquired: for the good of fruition or
contentment is placed either in the fincerenefs of
the fruition, or in the quicknefs and vigour of it ;
the one fuperinduced by equality, the other by vi-
ciffitude ; the one having lefs mixture of evil, the
other more impreffion of good. Which of thefe
is the greater good is a queftion controverted ;
but whether man’s nature may not be capable of
both, is a queftion not inquired.

‘2 Virg. Zn. vi. 730.

(8.) Perfec-

tive.

(a.) Confer-
vative.

244 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

The former queftion being debated between
Socrates and a fophift, Socrates placing felicity in
an equal and conftant peace of mind, and the fo-
phift in much defiring and much enjoying, they
fell from argument to ill words: the fophift faying
that Socrates’ felicity was the felicity of a block or
{tone ; and Socrates faying that the fophift’s feli-
city was the felicity of one that had the itch, who
did nothing but itch and fcratch.® And both thefe
opinions do not want their fupports. For the
opinion of Socrates is much upheld by the general
confent even of the Epicures themfelves, that vir-
tue beareth a great part in felicity ; and if fo, cer-
tain it is, that virtue hath more ufe in clearing per-
turbations than in compaffing defires. “The fo-
phift’s opinion is much favoured by the affertion
we laft fpoke of, that good of advancement is
greater than good of fimple prefervation ; becaufe
every obtaining a defire hath a fhow of advance-
ment, as motion though in a circle hath a fhow of
progreffion.

But the fecond queftion, decided the true way,
maketh the former fuperfluous. For can it be
doubted but that there are fome who take more
pleafure in enjoying pleafures than fome other, and
yet neverthelefs are lefs troubled with the lofs or
leaving of them? fo as this fame, Non uti ut non
appetas, non appetere ut non metuas, funt animi pu-
filli et diffidentis. And it feemeth to me, that moft
of the doctrines of the philofophers are more fear-
ful and cautionary than the nature of things re-

63 Plat. Gorg. 4.92, 494-

BOOK II. 245

quireth. So have they increafed the fear of death
in offering to cure it. For when they would have
a man’s whole life to be but a difcipline or prepa-
ration to die, they muft needs make men think
that it is a terrible enemy, againft whom there is
no end of preparing. Better faith the poet :—

Qui fpatium vite extremum inter munera ponat
Nature.

So have they fought to make men’s minds too uni-
form and harmonical, by not breaking them fufh-
ciently to contrary motions: the reafon whereof
I fuppofe to be, becaufe they themfelves were men
dedicated to a private, free, and unapplied courfe
of life. For as we fee, upon the lute or like in-
ftrument, a ground, though it be fweet and have
fhow of many changes, yet breaketh not the hand
to fuch ftrange and hard ftops and paflages as a
fet fong or voluntary ; much after the fame man-
ner was the diverfity between a philofophical and
a civil life. And therefore men are to imitate the
wifdom of jewellers ; who, if there be a grain, or
a cloud, or an ice,® which may be ground forth
without taking too much of the {ftone, they help
it; but if it fhould leflen and abate the ftone too
much, they will not meddle with it: fo ought
men fo to procure ferenity as they deftroy not
magnanimity.

Having therefore deduced the good of man
which is private and particular, as far as feemeth
fit; we will now return to that good of man which

6 Juv. Sat. x. 358.
65 “ Nubecula aliqua aut glaciecula,” De Augm.

(2.) Good

relative.

(a.) Of man

as a citizen,

(2.) Asa to-
cial being.

246 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

refpecteth and beholdeth fociety, which we may
term Duty; becaufe the term of Duty is more
proper to a mind well framed and difpofed towards
others, as the term of virtue is applied to a mind
well formed and compofed in itfelf: though nei-
ther can a man underftand virtue without fome
relation to fociety, nor Duty without an inward
difpofition. ‘This part may feem at firft to pertain
to {cience civil and politic: but not if it be well
obferved; for it concerneth the regiment and go-
vernment of every man over himfelf, and not over
others. And as in architeGure the direction of
framing the pofts, beams, and other parts of build-
ing, is not the fame with the manner of joining
them and ereéting the building; and in mechani-
cals, the direction how to frame an inftrument or
engine, is not the fame with the manner of fetting
it on work and employing it, (and yet neverthe-
lefs in expreffing of the one you incidentally ex-
prefs the aptnefs towards the other;) fo the doc-
trine of conjugation of men in fociety differeth
from that of their conformity thereunto.

This part of Duty is fubdivided into two parts:
the common Duty of every man, as a man or
member of a ftate; the other, the refpective or
fpecial Duty of every man, in his profeffion, voca-
tion, and place. The firft of thefe is extant and
well laboured, as hath been faid. The fecond
likewife 1 may report rather difperfed than defi-
cient; which manner of difperfed writing in this
kind of argument I acknowledge to be beft. For
who can take upon him to write of the proper

|

BOOK I]. 247

duty, virtue, challenge, and right of every feveral
vocation, profeffion, and place? For although
fometimes a looker on may fee more than a game-
fter, and there be a proverb more arrogant than
found, that the vale beft difcovereth the hill; yet
there is fmall doubt but that men can write beft,
and moft really and materially, in their own pro-
feffions ; and that the writing of {peculative men
of active matter, for the moft part, doth feem to
men of experience, as Phormio’s argument of the
wars feemed to Hannibal, to be but dreams and
dotage.© Only there is one vice which accom-
panieth them that write in their own profeffions,
that they magnify them in excefs. But generally
it were to be wifhed, as that which would make
learning indeed folid and fruitful, that active men
would or could become writers.

In which kind I cannot but mention, honoris
caufa, your Majefty’s excellent book touching the
duty of a king ; a work richly compounded of
divinity, morality, and policy, with great afperfion
of all other arts; and being, in mine opinion, one
of the moft found and healthful writings that I
have read; not diftempered in the heat of inven-
tion, nor in the coldnefs of negligence; not fick
of dizzinefs,® as thofe are who leefe themfelves in
their order; nor of convulfions, as thofe which
cramp in matters impertinent; not favouring of
perfumes and paintings, as thofe do who feek to

6 Cic. de Orat. ii. 18. 75. 87 Sc. the Bafilicon Doron.
* Dizzinefs—Latin Vertigines. The ed, 1605 has dufineffe, 1629

and 1633, bufineffe.

=

248 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

pleafe the reader more than nature beareth; and
chiefly well difpofed in the {fpirits thereof, being
agreeable to truth and apt for action; and far re-
moved from that natural infirmity, whereunto I
noted thofe that write in their own profeffions to
be fubjeét, which is, that they exalt it above mea-
fure: for your majefty hath truly defcribed, not a
king of Affyria or Perfia in their extern glory, but
a Mofes or a David, paftors of their people. Nei-
ther can I ever leefe out of my remembrance, what
I heard your majefty, in the fame facred fpirit of
Government, deliver in a great caufe of judicature,
which was, That kings ruled by their laws, as God
did by the laws of nature; and ought as rarely to
put in ufe their fupreme prerogative, as God doth
his power of working miracles. And yet notwith-
ftanding, in your book of a free monarchy,® you
do well give men to underftand, that you know the
plenitude of the power and right of a king, as well
as the circle of his office and duty. Thus have I
prefumed to allege this excellent writing of your
majefty, as a prime or eminent example of trac-
tates concerning {fpecial and refpective duties:
wherein I fhould have faid as much, if it had been
written a thoufand years fince: neither am I
moved with certain courtly decencies, which ef-
teem it flattery to praife in prefence ; no, it is flat-
tery to praife in abfence ; that is, when either the
virtue is abfent, or the occafion is abfent; and fo
the praife is not natural, but forced, either in truth
orin time. But let Cicero be read in his oration

69 Sc. “ The True Law of Free Monarchies.”

BOOK I. 249

pro Marcello, which is nothing but an excellent
table of Czefar’s virtue, and made to his face; _ be-
fides the example of many other excellent perfons,
wifer a great deal than fuch obfervers; and we
will never doubt, upon a full occafion, to give juft
praifes to prefent or abfent.

But to return: there belongeth further to the
handling of this part, touching the duties of pro-
feffions and vocations, a relative or oppofite, touch-
ing the frauds, cautels, impoftures, and vices of
every profeffion, which hath been likewife handled:
but how? rather in a fatire and cynically, than
ferioufly and wifely : for men have rather fought
by wit to deride and traduce much of that which
is good in profeffions, than with judgment to dif-
cover and fever that which is corrupt. For, as
Salomon faith, he that cometh to feek after know-
ledge with a mind to fcorn and cenfure, fhal] be
fure to find matter for his humour, but no matter
for his inftruction: Querenti derifori fcientiam
ipfa fe abfcondit ; fed ftudiofo fit obviam.”° But the
managing of this argument with integrity and
truth, which I note as deficient, feemeth to me to
be one of the beft fortifications for honefty and
virtue that can be planted. For, as the fable goeth
of the bafilifk, that if he fee you firft, you die for
it; but if you fee him firft, he dieth : fo it is with
deceits and evil arts ; which, if they be firft efpied
they leefe their life ; but if they prevent, they en-
danger. So that we are much beholden to Ma-
chiavel and others, that write what men do, and

7 Prov, xiv. 6.

The evils
of focial
life ill-
handled.

250 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

not what they ought to do. For it is not poffible
to join ferpentine wifdom with columbine inno-
cency,"! except men know exactly all the condi-
tions of the ferpent: his bafenefs and going upon
his belly, his volubility and lubricity, his envy and
fting, and the reft ; that is, all forms and natures
of evil: for without this, virtue lieth open and un-
fenced. Nay, an honeft man can do no good
upon thofe that are wicked to reclaim them, with-
out the help of the knowledge of evil. For men
of corrupted minds prefuppofe that honefty grow-
eth out of fimplicity of manners, and believing of
preachers, fchoolmafters, and men’s exterior lan-
guage: fo as, except you can make them perceive
that you know the utmoft reaches of their own
corrupt opinions, they defpife all morality ; Non
ecipit fiultus verba prudentia, nifi ea dixeris quae
verfantur in corde ejus.7®
Unto this part, touching Refpective Duty, doth
alfo appertain the duties between hufband and wife,
parent and child, mafter and fervant: fo likewife
the laws of friendfhip and gratitude, the civil bond
of companies, colleges, and politic bodies, of neigh-’
bourhood, and all other proportionate duties ; not
as they are parts of government and fociety, but
as to the framing of the mind of particular perfons.
Of cafesof The knowledge concerning good refpeéting So-
feet ciety doth handle it alfo, not fimply alone, but
comparatively ; whereunto belongeth the weigh-
ing of duties between perfon and perfon, cafe and
cafe, particular and public: as we fee in the pro-

7) Matt. x. 16. 72 Prov. xvili. 2. From the Vulgate.

BOOK II. 251

ceeding of Lucius Brutus again{ft his own fons,
which was fo much extolled; yet what was faid?

Infelix, utcunque ferent ea fata minores,7%

So the cafe was doubtful, and had opinion on both
fides. Again, we fee when M. Brutus and Caf
fius invited to a fupper certain whofe opinions they
meant to feel, whether they were fit to be made
their aflociates, and caft forth the queftion touch-
ing the killing of a tyrant being a ufurper, they
were divided in opinion ;"* fome holding that fer-
vitude was the extreme of evils, and others that
tyranny was better than a civil war: and a num-
ber of the like cafes there are of comparative duty ;
amongft which that of all others is the moft fre-
quent, where the queftion is of a great deal of
good to enfue of a {mall injuftice. Which Jafon
of Theffalia determined againft the truth: A/igua
funt injufte facienda, ut multa jufte-fieri poffint.®
But the reply is good, Auctorem prafentis juftitie
habes, [ponforem future non habes. Men muft
purfue things which are juft in prefent, and leave
the future to the divine Providence. So then we
pafs on from this general part touching the exem-
plar and defcription of good.

Now therefore that we have fpoken of this fruit
of life, it remaineth to fpeak of the hufbandry that
belongeth thereunto ; without which part the for-
mer feemeth to be no better than a fair image, or

73 Virg. En. vi. 823. Bacon, or a mifprint, has fubftituted
fata for faa.

74 See Plutarch, Life of Brutus.

75 Plut. Prac. Ger. Reip. 24.

De Aug.
VII. 3-
(1i.) OF Mo-
ral Culture.
Its excel-
lence.

252 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ftatua, which is beautiful to contemplate, but is
without life and motion; whereunto Ariftotle him-
felf fubfcribeth in thefe words: Neceffe ef? /cilicet
de virtute dicere, et quid fit, et ex quibus gignatur.
Inutile enim fere fuerit virtutem quidem noffe, ac-
quirendeé autem ejus modos et vias ignorare: non
enim de virtute tantum, qua fpecie fit, querendum
eft, fed et quomods fui copiam faciat: utrumque enim
volumus, et rem ipfam noffe, et ejus compotes fiert:
hoc autem ex voto non fuccedet, nifi [ciamus et ex
quibus et quomodo.*® In fuch full words and with
fuch iteration doth he inculcate this part. So faith
Cicero in great commendation of Cato the fecond,
that he had applied himfelf to philofophy, Non ita
difputandi caufa, fed ita vivendi.“ And although
the neglect of our times, wherein few men do hold
any con{ultations touching the reformation of their
life, (as Seneca excellently faith) De partibus vite
quifque deliberat, de fummé nema,'* may make this
part feem fuperfluous; yet I muft conclude with
that aphorifm of Hippocrates, Qui gravi morbo cor-
repti dolores non fentiunt, iis mens egrotat,"? they
need medicine, not only to affuage the difeafe, but
to awake the fenfe. And if it be faid, that the
cure of men’s minds belongeth to facred divinity,
it is moft true: but yet moral philofophy may be
preferred unto her as a wife fervant and humble
handmaid. For as the Pfalm faith, that the eyes
of the handmaid look perpetually towards the mi/-

76 Eth, Mag. A. i. 3. 77 Cic. pro Mur. xxx. (62.)
78 Sen. ad Lucil, Epift. 71. where it is “de partibus vite omnes
deliberamus, de tofa nemo,” 79 Hippoc. 4p, ii. 6.

BOOK I]. 253

trefs,®° and yet no doubt many things are left to
the difcretion of the handmaid, to difcern of the
miftrefs’ will; fo ought moral philofophy to give
a conftant attention to the doctrines of divinity,
and yet fo as it may yield of herfelf, within due
limits, many found and profitable directions.

This part therefore, becaufe of the excellency
thereof, I cannot but find exceeding ftrange that
it is not reduced to written inquiry: the rather,
becaufe it confifteth of much matter, wherein both
{peech and action is often converfant ; and fuch
wherein the common talk of men, (which is rare,
but yet cometh jometimes to pafs,) is wifer than
their books. It is reafonable therefore that we
propound it in the more particularity, both for the
worthinefs, and becaufe we may acquit ourfelves
for reporting it deficient; which feemeth almoft
incredible, and is otherwife conceived and prefup-
pofed by thofe themfelves that have written. We
will therefore enumerate fome heads or points
thereof, that it may appear the better what it is,
and whether it be extant.

Firft, therefore, in this, as in all things which
are practical, we ought to caft up our account,
what is in our power, and what not; for the one
may be dealt with by way of alteration, but the
other by way of application only. The hufband-
man cannot command neither the nature of the
earth nor the feafons of the weather; no more
can the phyfician the conftitution of the patient,
nor the variety of accidents. So in the culture

80 Ps, cxxill. 2.

As yet but
little han-
dled in
books,

Some heads
thereof.

(1.) What
is in our
power?

(2.) Men’s
different
characters
mutt be
ftudied.

254 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

and cure of the mind of man, two things are with-
out our command; points of nature, and points of
fortune. For to the bafis of the one, and the con-
ditions of the other, our work is limited and tied.
In thefe things therefore it is left unto us to pro-
ceed by application ;

Vincenda eft omnis fortuna ferendo :%!

and fo likewife,
Vincenda eft omnis Natura ferendo.

But when that we fpeak of fuffering, we do not
{peak of a dull and neglected fuffering, but of a
wife and induftrious fuffering, which draweth and
contriveth ufe and advantage out of that which
feemeth adverfe and contrary ; which is that pro-
perty which we call accommodating or applying.
Now the wifdom of application refteth principally
in the exact and diftinét knowledge of the prece-
dent ftate or difpofition, unto which we do apply:
for we cannot fit a garment, except we firft take
meafure of the body.

So then the firft article of this knowledge is to
fet down found and true diftributions and defcrip-
tions of the feveral characters and tempers of men’s
natures and difpofitions ; efpecially having regard
to thofe differences which are moft radical in being
the fountains and caufes of the reft, or moft fre-
quent in concurrence or commixture ; wherein it
is not the handling of a few of them in paflage,
the better to defcribe the mediocrities of virtues,
that can fatisfy this intention. For if it deferve

81 Virg. Zn. v. 710. ‘¢Superanda omnis fortuna ferendo eft.”

BOOK II. 2s

to be confidered, that there are minds which are
proportioned to great matters, and others to fmall,®
(which Ariftotle handleth, or ought to have han-
dled, by the name of magnanimity ;) doth it not
deferve as well to be confidered, that there are
minds proportioned to intend many matters, and
others to few? So that fome can divide them-
felves: others can perchance do exactly well, but
it muft be but in few things at once: and fo there
cometh to be a narrowne(s of mind, as well as a
pufillanimity. And again, that fome minds are
proportioned to that which may be difpatched at
once, or within a fhort return of time; others to
that which begins afar off, and is to be won with
Jength of purfuit :

Jam tum tenditque fovetque.®

So that there may be fitly faid to be a longanimity,
which is commonly alfo afcribed to God as a mag-
nanimity. So further deferved it to be confidered
by Ariftotle ; that there is a difpofition in conver-
fation, ( fuppofing it in things which do in no fort
touch or concern a man’s felf,) to foothe and pleafe ;
and a difpofition contrary to contradict and crofs:
and deferveth it not much better to be confidered,
that there is a di/pofition, not in converfation or talk,
but in matter of more ferious nature, (and fuppofing
it ftill in things merely indifferent,) to take pleafure
in the good of another: anda difpofition contrari-
wife, to take diftafte at the good of another ?** which

82 Arift. Erb. Nic, iv. 7. 83 Virg. 2x. i. 22.
% Erb. Nic. iv. 6.

With their
fex, age,
health, &c.

256 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

is that property® which we call good nature or ill
nature, benignity or malignity: and therefore I
cannot fufficiently marvel that this part of know-
ledge, touching the feveral characters of natures
and difpofitions, fhould be omitted both in morality
and policy ; confidering it is of fo great miniftry
and fuppeditation to them both. A man fhall find
in the traditions of aftrology fome pretty and apt
divifions of men’s natures, according to the predo-
minances of the planets; lovers of quiet, lovers of
aétion, lovers of victory, lovers of honour, lovers of
pleafure, lovers of arts, lovers of change, and {fo forth.
A man fhall find in the wifeft fort of thefe rela-
tions which the Italians make touching conclaves,
the natures of the feveral cardinals handfomely and
lively painted forth: a man fhall meet with in every
day’s conference, the denominations of /en/itive,
dry, formal, real, humorous, certain, huomo di prima
impreffione, huomo di ultima impreffione, and the
like: and yet neverthelefs this kind of obfervation
wandereth in words, but is not fixed in inquiry.
For the diftinétions are found, many of them, but
we conclude no precepts upon them: wherein
our fault is the greater; becaufe both hiftory,
poefy, and daily experience are as goodly fields
where thefe obfervations grow ; whereof we make
a few pofies to hold in our hands, but no man
bringeth them to the confectionary, that receipts
might be made of them for ufe of life.

Of much like kind are thofe impreffions of na-
ture, which are impofed upon the mind by the

§§ In all three early ed. this word is printed properly.

BOOK II. 257

fex, by the age, by the region, by health and fick-
nefs, by beauty and deformity, and the like, which
are inherent and not extern; and again, thofe
which are caufed by extern fortune; as fove-
reignty, nobility, obfcure birth, riches, want, ma-
giftracy, privatenefs, profperity, adverfity, conftant
fortune, variable fortune, rifing per faltum, per
gradus, and the like. And therefore we fee that
Plautus maketh it a wonder to fee an old man be-
neficent, benignitas hujus ut adolefcentuli eft. St.
Paul concludeth that feverity of difcipline was to
be ufed to the Cretans, imcrepa eos dure, upon the
difpofition of their country, Creten/es femper men-
daces, male beftie, ventres pigri®’ Salluft noteth
that it is ufual with kings to defire contradictories:
Sed plerumque regia voluntates, ut vehementes funt,
fic mobiles, fepeque ipfe fibi adverfe® Tacitus
obferveth how rarely raifing of the fortune mend-
eth the difpofition: /olus Vefpafianus mutatus in
melius.89 Pindarus maketh an obfervation, that
great and fudden ‘fortune for the moft part defeat-
eth men gui magnam felicitatem concoquere non po/-
Junt.© So the pfalm fhoweth it is more eafy to
keep a meafure in the enjoying of fortune, than in
the increafe of fortune: divitia fi affiuant, nolite
cor apponere.’ ‘Thefe obfervations, and the like,
I deny not but are touched a little by Ariftotle, as
in paflage in his Rhetorics,9? and are handled in
fome fcattered difcourfes: but they were never

% Plaut. Mil. Glor. iii. 1. 39. oF, Tit, 15.12.

88 Bell. Fug. 113. Tac. Hf. i 50,

© warareVat péyay OABov ovk tduvacOn. Olym.i. 55.

ar Ps, Ixus 30. 8 Arift. Rbet. ii, 12—17.
S

Alfo their
affeétions.

258 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

incorporated into moral philofophy, to which they
do effentially appertain ; as the knowledge of the
diverfity of grounds and moulds doth to agricul-
ture, and the knowledge of the diverfity of com-
plexions and conftitutions doth to the phyfician ;
except we mean to follow the indifcretion of em-
pirics, which minifter the fame medicines to all
patients.

Another article of this knowledge is the inquiry
touching the affections; for as in medicining of
the body, it is in order firft to know the divers
complexions and conttitutions ; fecondly, the dif-
eafes; and laftly, the cures: fo in medicining of
the mind, after knowledge of the divers characters
of men’s natures, it followeth, in order, to know
the difeafes and infirmities of the mind, which are
no other than the perturbations and diftempers of
the affections. For as the ancient politiques in
popular ftates9? were wont to compare the people
to the fea, and the orators to the winds; becaufe
as the fea would of itfelf be calm and quiet, if the
winds did not move and trouble it; fo the people
would be peaceable and tradable, if the feditious
orators did not fet them in working and agitation:
fo it may be fitly faid, that the mind in the nature
thereof would be temperate and ftayed, if the af-
feCtions, as winds, did not put it into tumult and
perturbation. And here again I find ftrange, as
before, that Ariftotle fhould have written divers
volumes of ethics, and never handled the affec-

%3 Bacon here feems to refer to Solon’s lines on Pififtratus.
Ellis’ ed. quotes Cic. pro C/uent. 49.

BOOK II. 259

tions, which is the principal fubjeét thereof; and
yet in his Rhetorics, where they are confidered
but collaterally, and in a fecond degree, as they
may be moved by fpeech, he findeth place for
them,% and handleth them well for the quantity ;
but where their true place is, he pretermitteth
them. For it is not his difputations about pleafure
and pain that can fatisfy this inquiry, no more than
he that fhould generally handle the nature of light
can be faid to handle the nature of colours; for
pleafure and pain are to the particular affections
as light is to particular colours. Better travails,
I fuppofe, had the Stoics taken in this argument,
as far as I can gather by that which we have at
fecond hand. But yet, it is like, it was after their
manner, rather in fubtilty of definitions, (which in
a fubje& of this nature are but curiofities,) than in
active and ample defcriptions and obfervations.
So likewife I find fome particular writings of an
elegant nature, touching fome of the affections ;
as of anger, of comfort upon adverfe accidents, of
tendernefs of countenance, and other.95

But the poets and writers of hiftories are the
beft doctors of this knowledge; where we may
find painted forth with great life, how affections
are kindled and incited ; and how pacified and re-
frained ; and how again contained from act and
further degree; how they difclofe themfelves ;
how they work; how they vary ; how they gather
and fortify; how they are inwrapped one within
another; and how they do fight and encounter

4 Arift. Rhet. ii. I—11. 89 Such as Plutarch’s and Seneca’s.

Beft treated
by Poets and
Hiftorians.

Points with-
in ourown
command.

Cuftom and
habit.

260 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

one with another; and other the like particulari-
ties: amongft the which this laft is of fpecial ufe
in moral and civil matters; how, I fay, to fet af-
fection againft affection, and to mafter one by
another; even as we ufe to hunt beaft with beaft,
and fly bird with bird, which otherwife percafe we
could not fo eafily recover: upon which founda-
tion is erected that excellent ufe of premium and
pena, whereby civil ftates confift : employing the
predominant affections of fear and hope, for the
fuppreffling and bridling the reft. For as in the
government of ftates it is fometimes neceflary to
bridle one faction with another, fo it is in the go-
vernment within.

Now come we to thofe points which are within
our own command, and have force and operation
upon the mind, to affect the will and appetite, and
to alter manners: wherein they ought to have
handled cuftom, exercife, habit, education, ex-
ample, imitation, emulation, company, friends,
praife, reproof, exhortation, fame, laws, books,
ftudies : thefe as they have determinate ufe in mo-
ralities, from thefe the mind fuffereth; and of
thefe are fuch receipts and regiments compounded
and defcribed, as may feem to recover or preferve
the health and good eftate of the mind, as far as
pertaineth to human medicine: of which number
we will infift upon fome one or two, as an ex-
ample of the reft, becaufe it were too long to pro-
fecute all; and therefore we do refume cuftom
and habit to fpeak of.

The opinion of Ariftotle feemeth to me a neg-

BOOK I1. 261

ligent opinion, that of thofe things which confift
by nature nothing can be changed by cuftom;
ufing for example, that if a ftone be thrown ten
thoufand times up, it will not learn to afcend ;9°
and that by often feeing or hearing, we do not
learn to fee or hear the better. For though this
principle be true in things wherein nature is pe-
remptory (the reafon whereof we cannot now
ftand to difcufs), yet it is otherwife in things
wherein nature admitteth a latitude. For he might
fee that a ftrait glove will come more eafily on
with ufe; and that a wand will by ufe bend other-
wife than it grew; and that by ufe of the voice
we {peak louder and ftronger ; and that by ufe of
enduring heat or cold, we endure it the better,
and the like: which latter fort have a nearer re-
femblance unto that fubject of manners he han-
dleth, than thofe inftances which he allegeth. But
allowing his conclufion, that virtues and vices
confift in habit, he ought fo much the more to
have taught the manner of fuperinducing that
habit: for there be many precepts of the wife or-
dering the exercifes of the mind, as there is of or-
dering the exercifes of the body ; whereof we will
recite a few.

The firft fhall be, that we beware we take not
at the firft either too high a ftrain, or too weak:
for if too high, in a diffident nature you difcourage,
in a confident nature you breed an opinion of fa-
cility, and fo a floth ; and in all natures you breed
a farther expectation than can hold out, and fo an

% Eth. Nic. ii. 1.2.

Some pre-
cepts there-
unto.

262 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

infatisfaction in the end: if too weak on the other
fide, you may not look to perform and overcome
any great tafk.

Another precept is, to practife all things chiefly
at two feveral times, the one when the mind is
beft difpofed, the other when it is worft difpofed ;
that by the one you may gain a great ftep, by the
other you may work out the knots and ftonds of
the mind, and make the middle times the more
eafy 97 and pleafant.

Another precept is, that which Ariftotle men-
tioneth by the way, which is to bear ever towards
the contrary extreme of that whereunto we are
by nature inclined; like unto the rowing againft
the ftream, or making a wand ftraight by bend-
ing®* him contrary to his natural crookednefs.99

Another precept is, that the mind is brought to
any thing better, and with more fweetnefs and
happinefs, if that whereunto you pretend be not
firft in the intention, but tanguam aliud agendb,
becaufe of the natural hatred of the mind againft
neceflity and conftraint. Many other axioms there
are touching the managing of exercife and cuftom ;
which being fo conducted doth prove indeed an-
other nature ; but being governed by chance doth
commonly prove but an ape of nature, and bring-
ing forth that which is lame and counterfeit.

So if we fhould handle books and ftudies, and
what influence and operation they have upon man-

97 Ed. 1605, has ea/ily—Latin, “ facile et placide delabentur”—
from which Mr. Spedding fuggefts that Bacon may have originally

written “run more ea/fily.”

98 Ed. 1605 and 1624 have binding. 9 Eth. Nic. ii. 9. 5.

BOOK II. 263

ners, are there not divers precepts of great caution
and direétion appertaining thereunto? Did not
one of the fathers? in great indignation call poefy,
vinum demonum, becaufe it increafeth temptations,
perturbations, and vain opinions? Is not the
opinion of Ariftotle worthy to be regarded, wherein
he faith, That young men are no fit auditors of moral
philofophy, becaufe they are not fettled from the boil-
ing heat of their affections, nor attempered with
time and experience?* And doth it not hereof
come, that thofe excellent books and difcourfes of
the ancient writers, (whereby they have perfuaded
unto virtue moft effectually, by reprefenting her
in ftate and majefty, and popular opinions againft
virtue in their parafites’ coats fit to be fcorned
and derided,) are of fo little effect towards honefty
of life, becaufe they are not read and revolved by
men in their mature and fettled years, but confined
almoft to boys and beginners? But is it not true
alfo, that much lefs young men are fit auditors of
matters of policy, till they have been thoroughly
feafoned in religion and morality ; left their judg-
ments be corrupted, and made apt to think that
there are no true differences of things, but accord-
ing to utility and fortune, as the verfe defcribes it,
Profperum et felix {celus virtus vocatur 5°
and again,
Ile crucem pretium fceleris tulit, hic diadema :*

which the poets do fpeak fatirically, and in indig-
nation on virtue’s behalf; but books of policy do

1 Probably St. Auguftine. =a Pts Nicolay ene
3 Senec. Herc. Fur, 251. 4 Juv. Sat. xiii. 105.

264 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

{peak it ferioufly and pofitively ; for fo it pleafeth
Machiavel to fay, That if Czfar had been over-
thrown, he would have been more odious than ever
was Catiline;> as if there had been no difference
but in fortune, between a very fury of luft and
blood, and the moft excellent fpirit (his ambition
referved) of the world? Again, is there not a
caution likewife to be given of the doctrines of
moralities themfelves, (fome kinds of them,) left
they make men too precife, arrogant, incompati-
ble; as Cicero faith of Cato, In Marco Catone
hac bona que videmus divina et egregia, ipfius [citote
effe propria; que nonnunquam requirimus, ea funt
omnia non a natura, fed a magifiro?® Many other
axioms and advices there are touching thofe pro-
prieties and effects which ftudies do infufe and
inftil into manners. And fo likewife is there
touching the ufe of all thofe other points, of com-
pany, fame, laws, and the reft, which we recited
in the beginning in the doétrine of morality.

But there is a kind of culture of the mind that
feemeth yet more accurate and elaborate than the
reft, and is built upon this ground ; that the minds
of all men are at fome times in a {tate more per-
fect, and at other times in a ftate more depraved.
The purpofe therefore of this practice is to fix
and cherifh the good hours of the mind, and to
obliterate and take forth the evil. The fixing of
the good hath been practifed by two means, vows
or conftant refolutions, and obfervances or exer-

5 Machiav. difc. fopra T. Liwio, I. x.
6 Cic. pro Mur. xxix. 61.

BOOK I1. 265

cifes; which are not to be regarded fo much in
themfelves, as becaufe they keep the mind in con-
tinual obedience. The obliteration of the evil
hath been practifed by two means, fome kind of
redemption or expiation of that which is paft, and
an inception or account de novo, for the time to
come. But this part feemeth facred and religious,
and juftly ; for all good moral philofophy, as was
faid, is but a handmaid to religion.

Wherefore we will conclude with that laft point,
which is of all other means the moft compendious
and fummary, and again, the moft noble and ef-
fe€tual to the reducing of the mind unto virtue
and good eftate ; which is the electing and pro-
pounding unto a man’s felf good and virtuous ends
of his life, fuch as may be in a reafonable fort
within his compafs to attain. For if thefe two
things be fuppofed, that a man fet before him honeft
and good ends, and again, that he be refolute, con-
ftant, and true unto them; it will follow that he
fhall mould himfelf into all virtue at once. And
this indeed is like the work of nature; whereas
the other courfe is like the work of the hand. For
as when a carver makes an image, he fhapes only
that part whereupon he worketh, (as if he be upon
the face, that part which fhall be the body is but
a rude ftone ftill, till fuch time as he comes to it;)
but, contrariwife, when nature makes a flower or
living creature, fhe formeth rudiments of all the
parts at one time: fo in obtaining virtue by habit,
while a man practifeth temperance, he doth not
profit much to fortitude, nor the like: but when

Concluding
with advice
as to the
ends of Life
to be
chofen.

266 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

he dedicateth and applieth himfelf to good ends,
look, what virtue foever the purfuit and paflage
towards thofe ends doth commend unto him, he
is invefted of a precedent difpofition to conform
himfelf thereunto. Which ftate of mind Ariftotle
doth excellently exprefs himfelf that it ought not
to be called virtuous, but divine: his words are
thefe: Immanitati autem confentaneum eft opponere
eam, que fupra humanitatem eft, heroicam five di-
vinam virtutem: and a little after, Nam ut fere
neque vitium neque virtus eft, fic neque Dei: fed hic
quidem ftatus altius quiddam virtute eft, ille aliud
quiddam a vitio.” And therefore we may fee what
celfitude of honour Plinius Secundus attributeth
to Trajan in his funeral oration ;® where he faid,
That men needed to make no other prayers to the
gods, but that they would continue as good Lords to
them as Trajan had been ;9 as if he had not been
only an imitation of divine nature, but a pattern
of it. But thefe be heathen and profane paflages,
having but a fhadow of that divine ftate of mind,
which religion and the holy faith doth conduét
men unto, by imprinting upon their fouls charity,
which is excellently called the bond of perfection,
becaufe it comprehendeth and fafteneth all virtues
together.!° And as it is elegantly faid by Menander
of vain love, which is but a falfe imitation of divine

7 Arift. Eth. Nic. vii, 1. 1.

8 Bacon feems to have thought that the Panegyric was delivered
after Trajan’s death. He became aware of his error before the
Latin was publifhed ; for he there omits the words ‘in his funeral
oration.”

9 Plin. Paneg. 74. 10 Colofs. iii. 14.

BOOK II. 267

love, Amor melior Sophifta levo ad humanamvitam,4
that love teacheth a man to carry himfelf better
than the fophift or preceptor ; which he calleth
left-handed, becaufe, with all his rules and pre-
cepts, he cannot form a man fo dexteroufly, nor
with that facility to prize himfelf and govern him-
felf, as love can do: fo certainly, if a man’s mind
be truly inflamed with charity, it doth work him
fuddenly into a greater perfection than all the doc-
trine of morality can do, which is but a fophift in
comparifon of the other. Nay further, as Xeno-
phon obferved truly, that all other affections,
though they raife the mind, yet they do it by dif-
torting and uncomelinefs of ecftafies or excefles ;
but only love doth exalt the mind, and neverthe-
lefs at the fame inftant doth fettle and compofe
it ;'* fo in all other excellencies, though they ad-
vance nature, yet they are fubject to excefs ; only
charity admitteth no excefs. For fo we fee, af-
piring to be like God in power, the angels tranf-
grefled and fell; A/cendam, et ero fimilis altiffimo:
by afpiring to be like God in knowledge, man
tranfgrefled and fell; Eritis ficut Dii, fcientes
bonum et malum :'* but by afpiring to a fimilitude
of God in goodnefs or love, neither man nor angel
ever tranfgrefled, or fhall tranfgrefs. For unto
that imitation we are called: Diligite inimicos
veftros, benefacite eis qui oderunt vos, et orate pro

1 6 Not Menander but Anaxandrides—
*Epwe cogiorou yiverar dudacKkadoc
TKavov TON Koeirrwy zpdc roy avOowrov Biov.”
(Spedding.)
12 Xen. Symp. ad init, 13 Tfai. xiv. 14. 14 Gen. iii. 5.

Conclufion.

268 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

perfequentibus et calumniantibus vos, ut fitis filii
Patris veftri qui in ceelis eft, qui folem fuum oriri
facit fuper bonos et malas, et pluit fuper juftos et in-
juftos.© So in the firft platform of the divine na-
ture itfelf, the heathen religion fpeaketh thus, Op-
timus Maximus: and the facred Scriptures thus,
Mifericordia ejus fuper omnia opera ejus.®
Wherefore I do conclude this part of moral

knowledge, concerning the culture and regimen of
the mind; wherein if any man, confidering the
parts thereof which I have enumerated, do judge
that my labour is but to collect into an art of fci-
ence that which hath been pretermitted by others,
as matter of common fenfe and experience, he
judgeth well. But as Philocrates fported with
Demofthenes, You may not marvel, Athenians, that
Demofthenes and I do differ ; for he drinketh water,
and I drink wine ;" and like as we read of an
ancient parable of the two gates of fleep,

Sunt geminz fomni porte: quarum altera fertur

Cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris :

Altera candenti perfeéta nitens elephanto,

Sed falfa ad celum mittunt infomnia manes :!8
fo if we put on fobriety and attention, we fhall
find it a fure maxim in knowledge, that the more
pleafant liquor of wine is the more vaporous, and
the braver gate of ivory fendeth forth the falfer
dreams.

But we have now concluded that general part

of human philofophy, which contemplateth man

15 Luke vi. 27, 28. 18) Ps. cxhvs10s
17 Demofth. de Fals. Leg. p. 355. 18 Virg. in. vi. 894.

-

BOOK I. 269

fegregate, and as he confifteth of body and fpirit.
Wherein we may further note, that there feemeth
to be a relation or conformity between the good
of the mind and the good of the body. For as we
divided the good of the body into health, beauty,
ftrength, and pleafure ; fo the good of the mind,
inquired in rational and moral knowledges, tend-
eth to this, to make the mind found, and without
perturbation ; beautiful, and graced with decency;
and ftrong and agile for all duties of life. Thefe
three, as in the body, fo in the mind, feldom meet,
and commonly fever. For it is eafy to obferve,
that many have ftrength of wit and courage, but
have neither health from perturbations, nor any
beauty or decency in their doings; fome again
have an elegancy and finenefs of carriage, which
have neither foundnefs of honefty, nor fubftance
of fufficiency: and fome again have honeft and
reformed minds, that can neither become them-
felves nor manage bufinefs: and fometimes two
of them meet, and rarely all three. As for plea-
fure, we have likewife determined that the mind
ought not to be reduced to ftupid,’9 but to retain
pleafure ; confined rather in the fubje& of it, than
in the ftrength and vigour of it.

19 Should this be fupidity or ffupor ? In the Latin it is *¢ reddat

animum—non ftupidum, ied voluptatis—fenfum vivide retinen-
tem.”

De Aug.
VIII. Ie
(ii.) Philo-
fophy con-
gregate (or
of focie-
ties.)

Is of three
parts.

(a.) InCon-
verfation.
(6.) In Ne-
gociation.

270 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

|| IVIL knowledge is converfant about
a fubject which of all others is moft
immerfed in matter, and hardlieft re-

Sd] duced to axiom. Neverthelefs, as
Cato the Cenfor faid, That the Romans were like
Sheep, for that a man might better drive a flock of
them, than one of them; for in a flock, if you could
but get fome few to go right, the reft would follow :*°
fo in that refpeét moral philofophy is more difficile
than policy. Again, moral philofophy propound-
eth to itfelf the framing of internal goodnefs ; but
civil knowledge requireth only an external good-
nefs ; for that as to fociety fufficeth. And there-
fore it cometh oft to pafs that there be evil times
in good governments: for fo we find in the holy
ftory, when the kings were good, yet it is added,
Sed adhuc populus non direxerat cor fuum ad Domi-
num Deum patrum fuorum.*: Again, ftates, as
great engines, move flowly, and are not fo foon
put out of frame: for as in Egypt the feven good
years fuftained the feven bad, fo governments for
a time well grounded, do bear out errors follow-
ing; but the refolution of particular perfons is
more fuddenly fubverted. Thefe refpeéts do fome-
what qualify the extreme difficulty of civil know-
ledge.

This knowledge hath three parts, according to
the three fummary actions of fociety ; which are
converfation, negotiation, and government. For
man feeketh in fociety comfort, ufe, and protec-

20 Plut. Vit. Cat. 4 2 Chrous ax, 342

BOOK Il. 271

tion: and they be three wifdoms of divers natures,
which do often fever: wifdom of the behaviour,
wifdom of bufinefs, and wifdom of ftate.

The wifdom of converfation ought not to be
over much affected, but much lefs defpifed ; for it
hath not only an honour in itfelf, but an influence

alfo into bufinefs and government. The poet
faith,

Nec vultu deftrue verbo tuo :””

a man may deftroy the force of his words with
his countenance: fo may he of his deeds, faith
Cicero, recommending to his brother affability and
eafy accefs; Nil intere/t habere oftium apertum,
vultum claufum ;* it is nothing won to admit men
with an open door, and to receive them with a
fhut and referved countenance. So, we fee, At-
ticus, before the firft interview between Czfar
and Cicero, the war depending, did ferioufly ad-
vife Cicero touching the compofing and ordering
of his countenance and gefture.** And if the go-
vernment of the countenance be of fuch effet,
much more is that of the fpeech, and other car-
riage appertaining to converfation ; the true model
whereof feemeth to me well exprefled by Livy,
though not meant for this purpofe: Ne aut arro-
gans videar, aut obnoxius; quorum alterum eft
aliene libertatis obliti, alterum fue :*° "The fum of
behaviour is to retain a man’s own dignity, with-
out intruding upon the liberty of others. On the

2 Ovid, ii. 312. de Art. Am.
3 Q. Cic. de Petit. Conful. xi. 44.
2 Cic. ad itt. 1x, 12. 2 Livy, xxili. 12.

(c.) In Go-

vernment.

(a.)In Con-

ver{ation.

272, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

other fide, if behaviour and outward carriage be
intended too much, firft it may pafs into affecta-
tion, and then Quid deformius quam fcenam in
vitam transferre (to act a man’s life)? But al-
though it proceed not to that extreme, yet it con-
fumeth time, and employeth the mind too much.
And therefore as we ufe to advife young ftudents
from company keeping, by faying, Amici fures
temporis: fo certainly the intending of the difcre-
tion of behaviour is a great thief of meditation.
Again, fuch as are accomplifhed in that hour*® of
urbanity pleafe themfelves in it,°? and feldom afpire
to higher virtue; whereas thofe that have defect
in it do feek comelinefs by reputation ; for where
reputation is, almoft everything becometh; but
where that is not, it muft be fupplied by puntos,
and compliments. Again, there is no greater im-
pediment of action than an over-cyrious obferv-
ance of decency, and the guide of decency, which
is time and feafon. For as Salomon faith, Qui
re[picit ad ventos, non feminat; et qui refpicit ad
nubes, non metet :*® a man muft make his oppor-
tunity, as oft as find it. “To conclude, behaviour
feemeth to me as a garment of the mind, and to
have the conditions of a garment. For it ought

26 Howr, ed. 1605; hour, 1633; forme, 1629. Mr. Spedding
fuggefts and prints homor—not improbably. The Latin is, * Qui
ptimas in urbanitate obtinent, et ad hanc rem quafi nati videntur”
—to which “ primas”’ honor well agrees. It might poffibly be either
foow or flower. But honor feems better, fave that the phrafe
“ honor of urbanity”’ is forced.

7 Init, Ed. 1605 and 1633 have in name; 1629, init. Latin,
“ut fibi ipfis in illa fola complaceant,” which agrees with our

reading.
28 Eccles, xi. 4.

BOOK I1. 298

to be made in fafhion; it ought not to be too cu-
rious ; it ought to be fhaped fo as to fet forth any
good making of the mind, and hide any deformity ;
and above all, it ought not to be too ftrait, or re-
ftrained for exercife or motion. But this part of
civil knowledge hath been elegantly handled, and
therefore I cannot report it for deficient.

The wifdom touching negotiation or bufinefs
hath not been hitherto collected into writing, to
the great derogation of learning, and the profeflors
of learning. For from this root fpringeth chiefly
that note or opinion, which by us is expreffed in
adage to this effect, that there is no great concur-
rence between learning and wifdom. For of the
three wifdoms which we have fet down to pertain
to civil life, for wifdom of behaviour, it is by
learned men for the moft part defpifed, as an in-
ferior to virtue, and an enemy to meditation ; for
wifdom of government, they acquit themfelves
well, when they are called to it, but that hap-
peneth to few; but for the wifdom of bufinefs,
wherein man’s life is moft converfant, there be
no books of it, except fome few fcattered adver-
tifements, that have no proportion to the magni-
tude of this fubject. For if books were written
of this, as the other, I doubt not but learned men
with mean experience, would far excel men of
long experience without learning, and outfhoot
them in their own bow.

Neither needeth it at all to be doubted, that this
knowledge fhould be fo variable as it falleth not
under precept; for it is much lefs infinite than

T

De Aug.
VIII. 2.

(4.) In Ne-
gociation
(deficient. )

Tt can be
brought un-
der precept,
and is
worthy.

274, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

{cience of government, which, we fee, is laboured
and in fome part reduced. Of this wifdom, it
feemeth fome of the ancient Romans in the fad-
deft and wifeft times were profeflors; for Cicero
reporteth*? that it was then in ufe for fenators that
had name and opinion for general wife men, as
Coruncanius, Curius, Lzlius, and many others, to
walk at certain hours in the Place, and to give
audience to thofe that would ufe their advice ; and
that the particular citizens would refort unto them,
and confult with them of the marriage of a daugh-
ter, or of the employing of a fon, or of a purchafe
or bargain, or of an accufation, and every other
occafion incident to man’s life. So as there is a
wifdom of counfel and advice even in private
caufes, arifing out of a univerfal infight into the
affairs of the world; which is ufed indeed upon
particular caufes propounded, but is gathered by
general obfervation of cafes® of like nature. For
fo we fee in the book which Q. Cicero writeth to
his brother, De petitione confulatus, (being the only
book of bufinefs that I know written by the an-
cients,) although it concerned a particular action
fet on foot, yet the fubftance thereof confifteth of
many wife and politic axioms, which contain not
a temporary, but a perpetual direétion in the cafe
of popular elections. But chiefly we may fee in
thofe aphorifms which have place among divine
writings, compofed by Salomon the king, (of whom
the Scriptures teftify that his heart was as the fands

29 Cic. de Orat. iii. 133, 134 (cap. 33-)
30 Ed. 1629 and 1633 have cau/es.

BOOK II. 275

of the fea,*! encompaffing the world and all worldly
matters,) we fee, I fay, not a few profound and
excellent cautions, precepts, pofitions, extending
to much variety of occafions ; whereupon we will
{tay awhile, offering to confideration fome number
of examples.

Sed et cunétis fermonibus qui dicuntur ne accom-
modes aurem tuam, ne forte audias fervum tuum
maledicentem tibi.** Here is concluded the provi-
dent ftay of inquiry of that which we would be
loth to find: as it was judged great wifdom in
Pompeius Magnus that he burned Sertorius’ pa-
pers unperufed.**

Vir fapiens, fi cum ftulto contenderit, five ira/-
catur, five rideat, non inveniet requiem.** Here is
defcribed the great difadvantage which a wife man
hath in undertaking a lighter perfon than himfelf;
which is fuch an engagement as, whether a man
turn the matter to jeft, or turn it to heat, or how-
foever he change copy, he can no ways quit him-
felf well of it.

Qui delicate a pueritia nutrit fervum fuum, poftea
Jentiet eum contumacem.** Here is fignified, that
if a man begin too high a pitch in his favours, it
doth commonly end in unkindnefs and unthank-
tulnefs.

Vidifti virum velocem in opere fuo? coram regi-
bus flabit, nec erit inter ignobiles.*© Here is ob-
ferved, that of all virtues for rifing to honour,
quicknefs of defpatch is the beft; for fuperiors

31 1 Kings iv. 29. 32 Eccles. vii. 21.

33 Plut. Vit. Pomp. c. 20. $t Prov. s%xixo19:
* Prov. xxix. 21. 36: xxiis29:

Examples of
it from
Solomon.

276 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

many times love not to have thofe they employ
too deep or too fufficient, but ready and diligent.

Vidi cunétos viventes qui ambulant [ub fole, cum
adolefcente fecundo qui confurgit pro eo." Here is
exprefled that which was noted by Sylla firft, and
after him by Tiberius; Plures adorant folem ori-
entem quam occidentem vel meridianum.*

Si fpiritus poteftatem habentis afcenderit fuper te,
locum tuum ne demiferis ; quia curatio faciet ceffare
peccata maxima.*® Here caution is given, that
upon difpleafure, retiring is of all courfes the un-
fitteft ; for a man leaveth things at worft, and de-
priveth himfelf of means to make them better.

Erat civitas parva, et pauci in ea viri: venit
contra eam rex magnus, et vadavit eam, infiruxitque
munitiones per gyrum, et perfecta eft obfidio; in-
ventufque eff in ea vir pauper et fapiens, et liberavit
eam per fapientiam fuam; et nullus deinceps recor-
datus eft hominis illius pauperis.© Here the cor-
ruption of ftates is fet forth, that efteem not virtue
or merit longer than they have ufe of it.

Mallis refponfio frangit iram.* Here is noted
that filence or rough anfwer exafperateth ; but an
anfwer prefent and temperate pacifieth.

Iter pigrorum quafi fepes fpinarum.* Here is
lively reprefented how laborious floth proveth in
the end; for when things are deferred till the laft
inftant, and nothing prepared beforehand, every

37 Eccles, iv. 15.

38 Plut. Vit. Pomp. and Tacit. Ann. vi. 46. The words wel
meridianum are omitted in the Latin, as they fhould be here.

39, Eccles. x. 4- @ ixs1qg,15. “ Prov.xvii. “ig

BOOK I]. B77

ftep findeth a brier or an impediment, which
catcheth or ftoppeth.

Melior eff finis orationis quam principium.*
Here is taxed the vanity of formal fpeakers, that
ftudy more about prefaces and inducements, than
upon the conclufions and iflues of {peech.

Qui cognofcit in judicio faciem, non bene facit ;
ifte et pro bucella panis deferet veritatem.** Here
is noted, that a judge were better be a briber than
a refpecter of perfons; for a corrupt judge oftend-
eth not fo lightly* as a facile.

Vir pauper calumnians pauperes fimilis eft imbri
vehementi, in quo paratur fames.*© Here is ex-
prefled the extremity of neceffitous extortions,
figured in the ancient fable of the full and the
hungry horfeleech.

Fons turbatus pede, et vena corrupta, eft juftus
cadens coram impio.*” Here is noted, that one
judicial and exemplar iniquity in the face of the
world, doth trouble the fountains of juftice more
than many particular injuries pafled over by con-
nivance.

Qui fubtrahit aliquid a patre et a matre, et dicit
hoc non effe peccatum, particeps eft homicidii.*® Here
is noted, that whereas men in wronging their beft
friends ufe to extenuate their fault, as if they
might prefume or be bold upon them, it doth con-
trariwife indeed aggravate their fault, and turneth
it from injury to impiety.

43 Eccles. vii. 8. 44 Prov. xxviii. 21.

45 Ed. 1629 and 1633 read highly, which is clearly inferior to

lightly, which is the reading of 1605.
46 Prov. xxviii. 3. poxxv. 20. 48 xxviii. 24.

278 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Noli effe amicus homini iracundo, nec ambulato
cum homine furiofo.*9 Here caution is given, that
in the election of our friends we do principally
avoid thofe which are impatient, as thofe that will
efpoufe us to many factions and quarrels.

Qui conturbat domum fuam, poffidebit ventum.™
Here is noted, that in domeftical feparations and
breaches men do promife to themfelves quieting
of their mind and contentment; but ftill they are
deceived of their expectation, and it turneth to
wind.

Filius fapiens letificat patrem: filius vero ftultus
meftitia eft matri fue. Here is diftinguifhed,
that fathers have moft comfort of the good proof
of their fons; but mothers have moft difcomfort
of their ill proof, becaufe women have little dif-
cerning of virtue, but of fortune.

Qui celat deliétum, quarit amicitiam; fed qui
altero fermone repetit, feparat feederatos.* Here
caution is given, that reconcilement is better ma-
naged by an amnefty, and paffing over that which
is paft, than by apologies and excufations.

In omni opere bono erit abundantia; ubi autem
verba funt plurima, ibi frequenter egeftas. Here
is noted, that words and difcourfe abound moft
where there is idlenefs and want.

Primus in fua caufa juftus; fed venit altera pars,
et inquiret in eum.** Here is obferved, that in all
caufes the firft tale poflefleth much ; in fort that
the prejudice thereby wrought will be hardly re-

‘
49 Prov. xxil. 24. SORxI0208 Ere the
PPXVI AQ: Bapxivs. 23. 5# xviii. 17.

BOOK I]. 279

meved, except fome abufe or falfity in the in-
formation be detected.

Verba bilinguis quafi fimplicta, et ipfa perveniunt
ad interiora ventris.°° Here is diftinguifhed, that
flattery and infinuation, which feemeth fet and
artificial, finketh not far; but that entereth deep
which hath fhow of nature, liberty, and fimpli-
city.

Qui erudit deriforem, ipfe fibi injuriam facit ; et
qui arguit impium, fibi maculam generat. Here
caution is given how we tender reprehenfion to
arrogant and fcornful natures, whofe manner is to
efteem it for contumely, and accordingly to re-
turn it.

Da fapienti occafionem, et addetur ei fapientia.>™

Here is diftinguifhed the wifdom brought into
habit, and that which is but verbal, and fwimming
only in conceit; for the one upon occafion pre-
fented is quickened and redoubled, the other is
amazed and confufed.
- Quomodo in aquis refplendent vultus profpicien-
tium, fic corda hominum manifefta funt prudenti-
bus.*® Here the mind of a wife man is compared
to a glafs, wherein the images of all diverfity of
natures and cuftoms are reprefented ; from which
reprefentation proceedeth that application,

Qui fapit, innumeris moribus aptus erit.*9
Thus have I ftayed fomewhat longer upon thefe
fentences politic of Salomon than is agreeable to
the proportion of an example; led with a defire

55 Prov. xviil. 8. SOS 1217s StXaIe
%8 xxvil. 19. 59 Ovid, de Art. Am. i. 760.

This wif-
dom beft
drawn from
hiftory.

280 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

to give authority to this part of knowledge, which
I noted as deficient, by fo excellent a precedent ;
and have alfo attended them with brief obferva-
tions, fuch as to my underftanding offer no violence
to the fenfe, though I know they may be applied
to a more divine ufe: but it is allowed, even in
divinity, that fome interpretations, yea, and fome
writings, have more of the eagle than others ;®
but taking them as inftructions for life, they might
have received large difcourfe, if I would have
broken them and illuftrated them by deducements
and examples.

Neither was this in ufe only with the Hebrews,
but it is generally to be found in the wifdom of
the more ancient times; that as men found out
any obfervation that they thought was good for
life, they would gather it, and exprefs it in parable,
or aphorifm, or fable. But for fables, they were
vicegerents and fupplies where examples failed :
now that the times abound with hiftory, the aim
is better when the mark is alive. And therefore
the form of writing which of all others is fitteft
for this variable argument of negotiation and oc-
cafions is that which Machiavel chofe wifely and
aptly for government; namely, difcourfe upon
hiftories or examples. For knowledge drawn
frefhly, and in our view, out of particulars, know-
eth the way beft to particulars again ; and it hath
much greater life for practice when the difcourfe
attendeth upon the example, than when the ex-
ample attendeth upon the difcourfe. For this is

60 j.e, foar higher than others.

BOOK I]. 281

no point of order, as it feemeth at firft, but of
fubftance: for when the example is the ground,
being fet down in a hiftory at large, it is fet down
with all circumftances, which may fometimes con-
trol the difcourfe thereupon made, and fometimes
fupply it as a very pattern for action ;*! whereas
the examples alleged for the difcourfe’ fake are
cited fuccinétly, and without particularity, and
carry a fervile afpect towards the difcourfe which
they are brought in to make good.

But this difference is not amifs to be remem-
bered, that as hiftory of Times is the beft ground
for difcourfe of government, fuch as Machiavel
handleth, fo hiftory of Lives is the moft proper
for difcourfe of bufinefs, as®* more converfant in
private actions. Nay, there is a ground of dif-
courfe for this purpofe fitter than them both, which
is difcourfe upon letters, fuch as are wife and
weighty, as many are of Cicero ad 4tticum, and
others. For letters have a great and more par-
ticular reprefentation of bufinefs than either chro-
nicles or lives. Thus have we fpoken both of the
matter and form of this part of civil knowledge,
touching negociation, which we note to be defi-
cient.

But yet there is another part of this part, which
differeth as much from that whereof we have
fpoken as fapere and /ibi fapere, the one moving

6! Ed. 1605 has gaine—Mr. Spedding fuggefts aim—Edd. 1629,
1633, have aéion,

$2 T have here followed Mr. Spedding’s amendment of as for is,
which is no doubt correét, and far the beft folution of the diffi-
culty of the paffage in the original.

Efpecially
from bio-
graphy.

For felf-
advance-
ment this
knowledge

gives much
power over
Fortune.

282 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

as it were to the circumference, the other to the
centre. For there is a wifdom of counfel, and
again there is a wifdom of prefling a man’s own
fortune ; and they do fometimes meet, and often
fever. For many are wife in their own ways that
are weak for government or counfel ; like ants,
which is a wife creature for itfelf, but very hurtful
for the garden. This wifdom the Romans did
take much knowledge of: Nam pol fapiens, faith
the comical poet, fingit fortunam /ibi ; and it
grew to an adage, Faber quif/que fortune propria ;™
and Livy attributed it to Cato the firft, in hoc viro
tanta vis animi et ingenii inerat, ut quocunque loco
natus effet fibi ipfe fortunam facturus videretur.©

This conceit or pofition, if it be too much de-
clared and profeffed, hath been thought a thing
impolitic and unlucky, as was obferved in Timo-
theus the Athenian, who, having done many great
fervices to the eftate in his government, and giv-
ing an account thereof to the people, as the man-
ner was, did conclude every particular with this
claufe, And in this fortune had no part. And
it came fo to pafs, that he never profpered in any
thing he took in hand afterwards: for this is too
high and too arrogant, favouring of that which
Ezekiel faith of Pharaoh, Dicis, Fluvius eff meus
et ego feci memet ipfum:© or of that which an-
other prophet fpeaketh, that men offer facrifices
to their nets and fnares :®° and that which the
poet expreffeth,

6 Plaut. Trin. i. 2. 48.

64 J have not met with this. Itis attributed to Appius Claudius.

65 Liv. xxxix. 40. 66 Plutarch, Sy//a, c. 6.
7 Ezek, xxix. 3- 68 Habak. i, 16.

BOOK Il. 283

Dextra mihi Deus, et telum quod miffile libro,
Nunc adfint ! ©

for thefe confidences were ever unhallowed, and
unbleffed: and therefore thofe that were great
politiques indeed ever afcribed their fuccefles to
their felicity, and not to their fkill or virtue. For
fo Sylla furnamed himfelf Felix, not Magnus : ‘fo
Czefar faid to the mafter of the fhip, Cz/arem
portas et fortunam ejus.

But yet neverthelefs thefe pofitions, Faber gui/-
que fortune fue: fapiens dominabitur aftris :™
invia virtuti nulla eff via,'* and the like, being
taken and ufed as fpurs to induftry, and not as
ftirrups to infolency, rather for refolution than for
prefumption or outward declaration, have been
ever thought found and good; and are, no quef-
tion, imprinted in the greateft minds, who are fo
fenfible of this opinion, as they can fcarce contain
it within. As we fee in Auguftus Cefar, (who
was rather diverfe from his uncle, than inferior in
virtue,) how when he died, he defired his friends
about him to give him a plaudite, as if he were
confcient to himfelf that he had played his part
well upon the ftage.** This part of knowledge
we do report alfo as deficient: not but that it is
practifed too much, but it hath not been reduced
to writing. And therefore left it fhould feem to
any that it is not comprehenfible by axiom, it is

© Wirg. in, x. 773. 7° Plutarch, Cefar.
71 Mr. Spedding ftates that this quotation is afcribed by Cognatus
to Ptolemy.

72 Ovid, Met. xiv. 113. 73 Sueton. Vit. Aur. c. 99.

Of this rul-
ing our For-
tune great
men are
con{cious.

Faber For-
tune five de
Ambitu
vita.

Rules to-

wards the

making of
one’s for-

tune.

You mutt
be able to

284. ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

requifite, as we did in the former, that we fet
down fome heads or paflages of it.

Wherein it may appear at the firft a new and
unwonted argument to teach men how to raife
and make their fortune ; a doctrine wherein every
man perchance will be ready to yield himfelf a
difciple, till he fee the difficulty : for fortune layeth
as heavy impofitions as virtue; and it is as hard
and fevere a thing to be a true politique, as to be
truly moral. But the handling hereof concerneth
learning greatly, both in honour and in fubftance :
in honour, becaufe pragmatical men may not go
away with an opinion that learning is like a lark,
that can mount, and fing, and pleafe herfelf, and
nothing elfe ; but may know that fhe holdeth as
well of the hawk, that can foar aloft, and can alfo
defcend and ftrike upon the prey: in fubftance,
becaufe it is the perfect law of inquiry of truth,
that nothing be in the globe of matter, which
fhould not be likewife in the globe of cryftal, or
form ; that is, that there be not any thing in being
and action, which fhould not be drawn and col-
leéted into contemplation and doctrine. Neither
doth learning admire or efteem of this architecture
of fortune, otherwife than as of an inferior work:
for no man’s fortune can be an end worthy of his
being; and many times the worthieft men do
abandon their fortune willingly for better refpects :
but neverthelefs fortune, as an organ of virtue
and merit, deferveth the confideration.

Firft, therefore, the precept which I conceive
to be moft fummary towards the prevailing in for-

BOOK U. 285

tune, is to obtain that window which Momus did
require :’* who feeing in the frame of man’s heart
fuch angles and recefles, found fault that there was
not a window to look into them ; that is, to pro-
cure good informations of particulars touching
perfons, their natures, their defires and ends, their
cuftoms and fafhions, their helps and advantages,
and whereby they chiefly ftand: fo again their
weaknefles and difadvantages, and where they lie
moft open and obnoxious; their friends, factions,
and dependencies ; and again their oppofites, en-
viers, competitors, their moods and times,

Sola viri molles aditus et tempora noras ;7°

their principles, rules, and obfervations, and the like:
and this not only of perfons, but of actions ; what
are on foot from time to time, and how they are
conducted, favoured, oppofed, and how they im-
port, and the like. For the knowledge of prefent
actions is not only material in itfelf, but without it
alfo the knowledge of perfons is very erroneous :
for men change with the actions; and whiles they
are in purfuit they are one, and when they return
to their nature they are another. Thefe informa-
tions of particulars, touching perfons and actions,
are as the minor propofitions in every active fyl-
logifm ; for no excellency of obfervations, which
are as the major propofitions, can fuffice to ground
a conclufion, if there be error and miftaking in
the minors.

That this knowledge is poffible, Salomon is
our furety ; who faith, Con/ilium in corde viri tan-

74 Lucian. Hermot. 20. 7 Virg. Zn. iv. 423.

fee into
men.

Be therein

flow of be-
lief and dif-
truft.

286 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

quam aqua profunda; fed vir prudens exhauriet
illud.?® And although the knowledge itfelf falleth
not under precept, becaufe it is of individuals, yet
the inftructions for the obtaining of it may.

We will begin, therefore, with this precept, ac-
cording to the ancient opinion, that the finews of
wifdom are flownefs of belief and diftruft; that
more truft be given to countenances and deeds
than to words: and in words rather to fudden
paflages and furprifed words than to fet and pur-
pofed words. Neither let that be feared which is
faid, Fronti nulla fides :** which is meant of a ge-
neral outward behaviour, and not of the private
and f{ubtile motions and labours of the countenance
and gefture; which as Q. Cicero elegantly faith,
is Animi janua, the gate of the mind.® None more
clofe than Tiberius, and yet Tacitus faith of Gallus,
Etenim vultu offenfionem conjectaverat."9 So again,
noting the differing character and manner of his
commending Germanicus and Drutfus in the fenate,
he faith, touching his fafhion wherein he carried
his fpeech of Germanicus, thus ; AZagis in /peciem
adornatis verbis, quam ut penitus fentire crederetur:
but of Drufus thus: Paucioribus, fed intentior, et
fida oratione :*° and in another place, {peaking of
his character of fpeech, when he did any thing
that was gracious and popular, he faith, that in
other things he was velut eluctantium verborum ;
but then again, /olutius vero loquebatur quando fub-
veniret.®! So that there is no fuch artificer of dif-

76 Prov. xx. 5. 7 Juv. Sat. ii. 8.

78 De Petit. Conful. xi. 44. 79 Tacit. Ann. i, 12.
80 Ibid. i. 52. 81 Ibid. iv. 31.

BOOK I. 287

-fimulation, nor no fuch commanded countenance,
vultus juffus, that can fever from a feigned tale
fome of thefe fafhions, either a more flight and
carelefs fafhion, or more fet and formal, or more
tedious and wandering, or coming from a man
more drily and hardly.

Neither are deeds fuch affured pledges, as that
they may be trufted without a judicious confider-
ation of their magnitude and nature: Fraus /ibi
in parvis fidem praftruit, ut majore emolumento
fallat :®* and the Italian thinketh himfelf upon the
point to be bought and fold, when he is better
ufed than he was wont to be, without manifetft
caufe. For fmall favours, they do but lull men
afleep, both as to caution and as to induftry ; and
are, as Demofthenes calleth them, Alimenta fo-
cordig.® So again we fee how falfe the nature of
fome deeds are, in that particular which Mutianus
practifed upon Antonius Primus, upon that hol-
low and unfaithful reconcilement which was made
between them; whereupon Mutianus advanced
many of the friends of Antonius: /mul amicis
ejus prefeciuras et tribunatus largitur :** wherein,
under pretence to ftrengthen him, he did defolate
him, and won from him his dependences.

As for words, though they be like waters to
phyficians, full of flattery and uncertainty, yet they

82 Liv. xxviii. 42.

83 See Mr. Spedding’s note on the De Augm. Sc. (p. 681),
where thefe words are quoted with context, and traced through ED
Wolf’s tranflation of Dem. PAi/. ithe Greek being fimply gore
Tavra Ta THY ExdoToU pabupiay éxaviavorra.

% Tacit. Hiff. iv. 39.

Cautious in
trufting to
men’s
deeds.

Watchful
as to their
words.

How re-
ports of
men at fe-
cond hand
fhould be
received.

288 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

are not to be defpifed, efpecially with the advan-
tage of paffion and affedtion. For fo we fee Ti-
berius, upon a ftinging and incenfing fpeech of
Agrippina, came a ftep forth of his diffimulation,
when he faid, You are hurt becaufe you do not reign;
of which Tacitus faith, 4udita hec raram occulti
pectoris vocem elicuere; correptamque Graco verfu
admonuit, ideo ledi, quia non regnaret.” And
therefore the poet doth elegantly call paffions, tor-
tures that urge men to confefs their fecrets :

Vino tortus et ira, ®6

And experience fhoweth, there are few men fo
true to themfelves and fo fettled, but that, fome-
times upon heat, fometimes upon bravery, fome-
times upon kindnefs, fometimes upon trouble of
mind and weaknefs, they open themfelves ; efpe-
cially if they be put to it with a counter-difiimu-
lation, according to the proverb of Spain, Dz
mentira, y facaras verdad (Tell a le and find a
truth.)

As for the knowing of men which is at fecond
hand from reports; men’s weaknefles and faults
are beft known from their enemies, their virtues
and abilities from their friends, their cuftoms and
times from their fervants, their conceits and opi-
nions from their familiar friends, with whom they
difcourfe moft. General fame is light, and the
opinions conceived by fuperiors or equals are de-
ceitful ; for to fuch men are more mafked : Verior
fama e domefticis emanat.™

85 Tacit. Ann. iv. 52; Suet. Vit. Tib. c. 53.
86 Hor. Epi/f. 1. xviii. 38. 87 Q. Cic. De Petit. Conful. v. 17.

BOOK II. 289

But the foundeft difclofing and expounding of
men is by their natures and ends, wherein the
weakeft fort of men are beft interpreted by their
natures, and the wifeft by their ends. For it was
both pleafantly and wifely faid, though I think very
untruly, by a nuncio of the pope, returning from
a certain nation where he ferved as lidger ; whofe
opinion being afked touching the appointment of
one to go in his place, he wifhed that in any cafe
they did not fend one that was too wife; becaufe
no very wife man would ever imagine what they
in that country were like to do. And certainly it
is an error frequent for men to fhoot over, and to
fuppofe deeper ends and more compafs-reaches
than are: the Italian proverb being elegant, and
for the moft part true :—

Di danari, di fenno, e di fede,
Ce ne manco che non credi.

There is commonly lefs money, lefs wifdom, and
lefs good faith than men do account upon.

But princes, upon a far other reafon, are beft
interpreted by their natures, and private perfons
by their ends. For princes being at the top of
human defires, they have for the moft part no
particular ends whereto they afpire, by diftance
from which a man might take meafure and {cale
of the reft of their actions and defires ; which is
one of the caufes that maketh their hearts more
infcrutable.® Neither is it fufficient to inform
ourfelves in men’s ends and natures, of the variety
of them only, but alfo of the predominancy, what

88 Prov. xxv. 3.
U

You muft
watch the
natures and
endsof men.

Summary of
this precept.

290 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

humour reigneth moft, and what end is principally
fought. For fo we fee, when Tigellinus faw him-
felf outf{tripped by Petronius Turpilianus in Nero’s
humours of pleafures, metus ejus rimatur,® he
wrought upon Nero’s fears, whereby he brake
the other’s neck.

But to all this part of inquiry the moft compen-
dious way refteth in three things : the firft, to have
general acquaintance and inwardnefs with thofe
which have general acquaintance and look moft
into the world ; and efpecially according to the di-
verfity of bufinefs, and the diverfity of perfons, to
have privacy and converfation with fome one
friend at leaft which is perfect and well intelli-
genced in every feveral kind. The fecond is, to
keep a good mediocrity in liberty of fpeech and
fecrefy ; in moft things liberty ; fecrefy where it
importeth ; for liberty of {peech inviteth and pro-
voketh liberty to be ufed again, and fo bringeth
much to a man’s knowledge; and fecrefy, on the
other fide, induceth truft and inwardnefs. The
laft is, the reducing of a man’s felf to this watch-
ful and ferene habit, as to make account and pur-
pofe, in every conference and action, as well to
obferve as to act. For as Epictetus would have
a philofopher in every particular aétion to fay to
himfelf, Et hoc volo, et etiam inftitutum fervare,°

89 Tacit. dnn. xiv. 57. Mr. Markby notices that Tacitus
{peaks ‘ of the intrigues of Tigellinus againft Plautus and Sulla,
by which he induced Nero to have both of them murdered. Pe-
tronius Turpilianus was put to death by Galba, folely becaufe he
had enjoyed Nero’s confidence. Vid. Tacit. Hift. i. 6.”

9 Vid. Epictet. Enchir. c. 4.—(AotoacPar) OEdw, Kai THY
éuauTov TOOaipEcLy KaTa PiaLY EXOVTaY THONCAaL

BOOK II. 291

fo a politic man in everything fhould fay to him-
felf, Et hoc volo, ac etiam aliquid addifcere. 1 have
ftayed the longer upon this precept of obtaining
good information, becaufe it is a main part by it-
felf, which anfwereth to all the reft. But, above
all things, caution muft be taken that men have
a good ftay and hold of themfelves, and that this
much knowledge do not draw on much meddling ;
for nothing is more unfortunate than light and
rafh intermeddling in many matters. So that this
variety of knowledge tendeth in conclufion but
only to this, to make a better and freer choice of
thofe actions which may concern us, and to con-
duct them with the lefs error and the more dex-
terity.
The fecond precept concerning this knowledge 2. You
2 : : . ~ muift know
is, for men to take good information touching their yourfeif
own perfon, and well to underftand themfelves: well.
knowing that, as St. James faith, though men look
oft in a glafs,% yet they do fuddenly forget them-
felves ; wherein as the divine glafs is the word of
God, fo the politic glafs is the ftate of the world,
or times wherein we live, in the which we are to
behold ourfelves.
For men ought to take an impartial view of
their own abilities and virtues ; and again of their
wants and impediments; accounting thefe with
the moft, and thofe other with the leaft ; and from
this view and examination to frame the confidera-
tions following.
Firft, to confider how the conftitution of their (a.)Seehow

1 St. James i. 23, 24.

your charac-
ter agrees
with the ge-
neral ftate
of affairs.

(4.) Choofe,
accordingly,
the moft
fuitable
courfe of
lite.

(c.) Confider
what com-
petition
there may
be; and
avoid it.

292 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

nature forteth with the general ftate of the times ;
which if they find agreeable and fit, then in all
things to give themfelves more fcope and liberty ;
but if differing and diffonant, then in the whole
courfe of their life to be more clofe, retired, and
referved: as we fee in Tiberius, who was never
feen at a play, and came not into the Senate in
twelve of his laft years; whereas Auguftus Czefar
lived ever in men’s eyes, which Tacitus obferveth,
alia Tiberio morum via.%*

Secondly, to confider how their nature forteth
with profeffions and courfes of life, and accord-
ingly to make election, if they be free; and, if
engaged, to make the departure at the firft
opportunity : as we fee was done by Duke Va-
lentine,9? that was defigned by his father to a
facerdotal profeffion, but quitted it foon after in
regard of his parts and inclination; being fuch,
neverthelefs, as a man cannot tell well whether
they were worfe for a prince or for a prieft.

Thirdly, to confider how they fort with thofe
whom they are like to have competitors and con-
currents ; and to take that courfe wherein there is
moft folitude, and themfelves like to be moft emi-
nent: as Czfar Julius did, who at firft was an
orator or pleader ; but when he faw the excellency
of Cicero, Hortenfius, Catulus, and others, for
eloquence, and faw there was no man of reputa-
tion for the wars but Pompeius, upon whom the
{tate was forced to rely, he forfook his courfe be-

3°'Tac. Aan. 1. 5A:
93 Sc, Cxefar Borgia, fon of Alexander VI. See Guicciardini,
vi. 36

BOOK II. 293

gun toward a civil and popular greatne(s, and tranf-
ferred his defigns to a martial greatnefs.

Fourthly, in the choice of their friends and de-
pendences, to proceed according to the compofi-
tion of their own nature: as we may fee in Cefar;
all whofe friends and followers were men active
and effectual, but not folemn, or of reputation. |

Fifthly, to take fpecial heed how they guide
themfelves by examples, in thinking they can do
as they fee others do; whereas perhaps their na-
tures and carriages are far differing. In which
error it feemeth Pompey was, of whom Cicero
faith, that he was wont often to fay, Syl/a potuit—
ego non potero?9* Wherein he was much abufed,
the natures and proceedings of himfelf and his ex-
ample being the unlikeft in the world; the one
being fierce, violent, and preffing the fact; the
other folemn, and full of majefty and circumftance,
and therefore the lefs effectual.

But this precept touching the politic knowledge
of ourfelves, hath many other branches, where-
upon we cannot infift.

Next to the well underftanding and difcerning
of a man’s felf, there followeth the well opening
and revealing a man’s felf; wherein we fee nothing
more ufual than for the more able man to make
the lefs fhow. For there is a great advantage in
the well fetting forth of a man’s virtues, fortunes,
merits ; and again, in the artificial covering of a
man’s weaknelles, defects, difgraces ; ftaying upon
the one, fliding from the other; cherifhing the

% Cic. ad Att, ix. 10.

(d.) In
choice of
friends, fol-
low the bent
of your own
charaéter.

(e.) Do not
be led aftray
by examples.

(3-) You
muft take
care to put
yourtelf for-
ward judici-

oufly.

294 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

one by circumftances, gracing the other by expo-
fition, and the like: wherein we fee what Tacitus
faith of Mutianus, who was the greateft politique
of his time, Omnium que dixerat feceratque arte
quadam oftentator :9° which requireth indeed fome
art, left it turn tedious and arrogant; but yet fo
as oftentation, though it be to the firft degree of
vanity, feemeth to me rather a vice in manners
than in policy: for as it is faid, 4udadter calum-
niare, femper aliquid heret :° fo, except it be in
a ridiculous degree of deformity, Audaéter te ven-
dita, femper aliquid heret. For it will ftick with
the more ignorant and inferior fort of men, though
men of wifdom and rank do fmile at it, and defpife
it; and yet the authority won with many doth
countervail the difdain of a few. But if it be car-
ried with decency and government, as with a na-
tural, pleafant, and ingenious fafhion ; or at times
when it is mixed with fome peril and unfafety, as
in military perfons; or at times when others are
moft envied ; or with eafy and carelefs paflage to
it and from it, without dwelling too long, or being
too ferious ; or with an equal freedom of taxing a
man’s felf, as well as gracing himfelf; or by occa-
fion of repelling or putting down others’ injury or
infolence ; it doth greatly add to reputation: and
furely not a few folid natures, that want this ven-
tofity, and cannot fail in the height of the winds,

9 Tacit. Hif. ii. 80. i

96 Mr. Spedding confiders that this comes from the advice given
by Medius to Alexander’s fycophants.—Plutarch, Quomodo quis
difcernere, Gc. c. 24.

BOOK II. 295

are not without fome prejudice and difadvantage
by their moderation.

But for thefe flourifhes and enhancements of
virtue, as they are not perchance unneceflary, fo
it is at leaft neceflary that virtue be not difvalued
and imbafed under the juft price; which is done
in three manners: by offering and obtruding a
man’s felf; wherein men think he is rewarded,
when he is accepted ; by doing too much, which
will not give that which is well done leave to fettle,
and in the end induceth fatiety ; and by finding
too foon the fruit of a man’s virtue, in commend-
ation, applaufe, honour, favour; wherein if a man
be pleafed with a little, let him hear what is truly
faid ; Cave ne infuetus rebus majoribus videaris, fi
hac te res parva ficuti magna deleétat.%

But the covering of defects is of no lefs im-
portance than the valuing of good parts; which
may be done likewife in three manners, by caution,
by colour, and by confidence. Caution is when men
do ingenioufly and difcreetly avoid to be put into
thofe things for which they are not proper:
whereas, contrariwife, bold and unquiet fpirits will
thruft themfelves into matters without difference,
and fo publifh and proclaim all their wants. Colour
is, when men make a way for themfelves, to have
a conftruction made of their faults or wants, as
proceeding from a better caufe, or intended for
fome other purpofe: for of the one it is well faid,

Szpe latet vitium proximitate boni,%°

and therefore whatfoever want a man hath, he
97 Cic. ad Heren, iv. 4. %8 Ovid, drt. Am. ii. 662.

And cover
your defects
neatly.

296 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

mutt fee that he pretend the virtue that fhadoweth
it; as if he be dull, he muft affect gravity; if a
coward, mildnefs ; and fo the reft : for the fecond,
a man muft frame fome probable caufe why he
fhould not do his beft, and why he fhould dif-
femble his abilities ; and for that purpofe muft ufe
to diffemble thofe abilities which are notorious in
him, to give colour that his true wants are but in-
duftries and diffimulations. For confidence, it is
the laft99 but fureft remedy; namely, to deprefs
and feem to defpife whatfoever a man cannot at-
tain; obferving the good principle of the mer-
chants, who endeavour to raife the price of their
own commodities, and to beat down the price of
others. But there is a confidence that paffeth
this other ; which is, to face out a man’s own de-
fects, in feeming to conceive that he is beft in
thofe things wherein he is failing; and, to help
that again, to feem on the other fide that he hath
leaft opinion of himfelf in thofe things wherein he
is beft: like as we fhall fee it commonly in poets,
that if they fhow their verfes, and you except to
any, they will fay, that that line coft them more
labour than any of the ref? ; and prefently will feem
to difable and fufpeét rather fome other line, which
they know well enough to be the beft in the num-
ber. But above all, in this righting and helping
of a man’s felf in his own carriage, he muft take
heed he fhow not himfelf difmantled, and expofed
to fcorn and injury, by too much dulcenefs, good-

99 je. the laft which fhould be made ufe of; ‘*impudens certe
eft remedium, fed tamen, &c.”

BOOK I]. 297

nefs, and facility of nature ; but fhow fome fparkles
of liberty, fpirit, and edge. Which kind of for-
tified carriage, with a ready refcuing of a man’s
felf from fcorns, is fometimes of neceffity impofed
upon men by fomewhat in their perfon or fortune ;
but it ever fucceedeth with good felicity.
Another precept of this knowledge is, by all
pofflible endeavour to frame the mind to be pliant
and obedient to occafion; for nothing hindereth
men’s fortunes fo much as this: Jdem manebat,
neque idem decebat,| men are where they were,
when occafions turn: and therefore to Cato, whom
Livy maketh fuch an architect of fortune, he add-
eth, that he had ver/atile ingenium.* And thereof
it cometh that thefe grave folemn wits, which muft
be like themfelves, and cannot make departures,
have more dignity than felicity. But in fome it
is nature to be fomewhat vifcous and inwrapped,
and not eafy to turn; in fome it is a conceit, that
is almoit a nature, which is, that men can hardly
make themfelves believe that they ought to change
their courfe, when they have found good by it in
former experience. For Machiavel noted wifely,
how Fabius Maximus would have been temporiz-
ing ftill, according to his old bias, when the nature
of the war was altered and required hot purfuit.*
In fome other it is want of point and penetration
in their judgment, that they do not difcern when
things have a period, but come in too late after
the occafion; as Demofthenes* compareth the

' Cic. Brut. 95. (327-) 2 Livy, xxxix. 40,
3 Mach. Difcorfi Jopra Livio, iii. g. * Demofth. Pdil. i. 51.

4. Be onthe
watch to
feize oppor-
tunities.

5. Sail with

the wind
wherever
poffible.

6. But do
not feem
merely to

298 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

people of Athens to country fellows, when they
play in a fence fchool, that if they have a blow,
then they remove their weapon to that ward, and
not before. In fome other it is a lothnefs to leefe
Jabours paffed, and a conceit that they can bring
about occafions to their ply; and yet in the end,
when they fee no other remedy, then they come
to it with difadvantage ; as Tarquinius, that gave
for the third part of Sibylla’s books the treble price,®
when he might at firft have had all three for the
fimple. But from whatfoever root or caufe this
reftivenefs of mind proceedeth, it is a thing moft
prejudicial ; and nothing is more politic than to
make the wheels of our mind concentric and volu-
ble with the wheels of fortune.

Another precept of this knowledge, which hath
fome affinity with that we laft {pake of, but with
difference, is that which is well exprefled, Fatis
accede Dei/que,® that men do not only turn with the
occafions, but alfo run with the occafions, and not
{train their credit or ftrength to over hard or ex-
treme points; but choofe in their actions that
which is moft paflable: for this will preferve men
from foil, not occupy them too much about one
matter, win opinion of moderation, pleafe the
moft, and make a fhow of a perpetual felicity in
all they undertake; which cannot but mightily
increafe reputation.

Another part of this knowledge feemeth to have
fome repugnancy with the former two, but not as

5 For the fame price, according to the Legend, Aul. Gell. i. 19.
© Lucan, viii. 486.

BOOK I]. 299

I underftand it ; and it is that which Demofthenes
uttereth in high terms ; Et guemadmodum receptum
eff, ut exercitum ducat imperator, fic et a cordatis
viris res ipfe ducende; ut que ipfis videntur, ea
gerantur, et non ipfi eventus tantum perfequi cogan-
tur.” For, if we obferve, we fhall find two differing
kinds of fufficiency in managing of bufinefs: fome
can make ufe of occafions aptly and dexteroufly,
but plot little; fome can urge and purfue their
own plots well, but cannot accommodate nor take
in ;® either of which is very imperfect without the
other.

Another part of this knowledge is the obferving
a good mediocrity in the declaring, or not declar-
ing a man’s felf: for although depth of fecrecy,
and making way, gualis eff via navis in mari,9
(which the French calleth /ourdes menées, when
men fet things in work without opening them-
felves at all,) be fometimes both profperous and
admirable; yet many times di/fimulatio errores
parit, qui diffimulatorem ipfum illaqueant; and
therefore, we fee the greateft politiques have in a
natural and free manner profefled their defires,
rather than been referved and difguifed in them.
For fo we fee that Lucius Sylla made a kind of
profeffion, that he wifhed all men happy or unhappy,
as they ftood his friends or enemies. So Cefar, when
he went firft into Gaul, made no fcruple to pro-
fefs that he had rather be firft in a village, than

7 Demofth. PAil. i. 51.

8 Explained by the Latin ‘qui occafiones que opportune inci-

dunt non arripiunt.”
9 Prov. xxx, 19.

follow cir-
cumftances.

7. Be nei-
ther too
open nor
too re-
ferved.

300 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fecond at Rome.© So again, as foon as he had be-
gun the war, we fee what Cicero faith of him,
Alter (meaning of Czefar) non recufat, fed quedam-
modo poftulat, ut, ut eft, fic appelletur tyrannus.™'
So we may fee in a letter of Cicero to Atticus, that
Auguftus Czfar, in his very entrance into affairs,
when he was a darling of the fenate, yet in his
harangues to the people would fwear, lta parentis
honores confequi liceat,'* which was no lefs than the
tyranny ; fave that, to help it, he would ftretch
forth his hand towards a ftatua of Czefar’s that was
erected in the place: and!’ men laughed, and won-
dered, and faid, Is it poffible? or, Did you ever
hear the like? and yet thought he meant no hurt;
he did it fo handfomely and ingenuoufly. And
all thefe were profperous: whereas Pompey, who
tended to the fame end, but in a more dark and
diffembling manner, as Tacitus faith of him, Oc-
cultior, non melior,* wherein Salluft concurreth,
ore probo, animo inverecundo,'> made it his defign,
by infinite fecret engines, to caft the ftate into an
abfolute anarchy and confufion, that the ftate
might caft itfelf into his arms for neceffity and
proteétion, and fo the fovereign power be put upon
him, and he never feen in it: and when he had
brought it, as he thought, to that point, when he
was chofen conful alone, as never any was, yet he
could make no great matter of it, becaufe men un-
derftood him not; but was fain, in the end, to go

10 Plutarch, Apophthegms, Cic. ad Att. x. 4. 2.
1S Ad, Att Xvieihi5. ae 13 T follow ed. 1605 in this paflage.
4 Tacit. Hift. ii. 38. 18 [Sueton.] de Clar. Gram, § xv.

BOOK II. 301

the beaten track of getting arms into his hands,
by colour of the doubt of Czfar’s defigns: fo
tedious, cafual, and unfortunate are thefe deep dif-
fimulations: whereof it feemeth Tacitus made
his judgment, that they were a cunning of an in-
ferior form in regard of true policy ; attributing
the one to Auguftus, the other to Tiberius; where
_ {peaking of Livia, he faith, Et cum artibus mariti
fimulatione filii bene compofita °° for furely the con-
tinual habit of diffimulation is but a weak and
fluggifh cunning, and not greatly politic.
Another precept of this architeCture of fortune
is, to accuftom our minds to judge of the propor-
tion or value of things, as they conduce and are
material to our particular ends: and that to do
fubftantially, and not fuperficially. For we thall
find the logical part, as I may term it, of fome
men’s minds good, but the mathematical part er-
roneous; that is, they can well judge of confe-
quences, but not of proportions and comparifons,
preferring things of {how and fenfe before things
of fubftance and effect. So fome fall in love with
accefs to princes, others with popular fame and
applaufe, fuppofing they are things of great pur-
chafe: when in many cafes they are but matters
of envy, peril, andimpediment. So fome meafure
things according to the labour and difficulty, or
affiduity, which are {pent about them ; and think,
if they be ever moving, that they muft needs ad-
vance and proceed; as Cefar faith in a defpifing

16 Tacit. Annal. v. I.

8. Be accuf-
tomed to
judge the
relative
values of
things.

302 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

manner of Cato the fecond, when he defcribeth
how laborious and indefatigable he was to no great
purpofe; Hac omnia magno ftudio agebat So
in moft things men are ready to abufe themfelves
in thinking the greateft means to be beft, when it
fhould be the fitteft.
The bett As for the true marfhalling of men’s purfuits
ne towards their fortune, as they are more or lefs
wards ad- Material, I hold them to ftand thus: firft the
vancement. amendment of their own minds. For the remove
of the impediments of the mind will fooner clear
the paflages of fortune, than the obtaining fortune
will remove the impediments of the mind. In
the fecond place, I fet down wealth and means ;
which I know moft men would have placed firft,
becaufe of the general ufe which it beareth towards
all variety of occafions. But that opinion I may
condemn with like reafon as Machiavel*® doth
that other, that moneys were the finews of the
wars; whereas, faith he, the true finews of the
wars are the finews of men’s arms, that is, a valiant,
populous, and military nation: and he voucheth
aptly the authority of Solon, who, when Croefus
fhowed him his treafury of gold, faid to him, that
if another came that had better iron, he would be
mafter of his gold. In like manner it may be
truly affirmed, that it is not moneys that are the
finews of fortune, but it is the finews and fteel of
men’s minds, wit, courage, audacity, refolution,
temper, induftry, and the like. In the third place

17 Ces. de Bell, Civ. i. 30.
18 Machiav. Dic. fopr. Liv. ii, 10.

BOOK I. 303

I fet down reputation, becaufe of the peremptory
tides and currents it hath; which, if they be not
taken in their due time, are feldom recovered, it
being extreme hard to play an after game of repu-
tation. And laftly, I place honour, which is more
eafily won by any of the other three, much more
by all, than any of them can be purchafed by
honour. To conclude this precept, as there is
order and priority in matter, fo is there in time,
the prepofterous placing whereof is one of the
commoneft errors: while men fly to their ends
when they fhould intend their beginnings, and do
not take things in order of time as they come on,
but marfhal them according to greatnefs, and not
according to inftance; not obferving the good
precept, Quod nunc inftat agamus.'9

Another precept of this knowledge is not to
embrace any matters which do occupy too great
a quantity of time, but to have that founding in a
man’s ears,

Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus :°

and that is the caufe why thofe which take their
courfe of rifing by profeffions of burden, as law-
yers, orators, painful divines, and the like, are not
commonly {fo politic for their own fortune, other-
wife than in their ordinary way, becaufe they want
time to learn particulars, to wait occafions, and to
devife plots.

Another precept of this knowledge is, to imi-
tate nature, which doth nothing in vain; which

19 Virg. Ecl. ix. 66. 20 Ib. Georg. iii. 284.

9. Do not

follow what
requires too
much time.

10, Imitate
nature,

11. Secure
a line of re-
treat from
any courfe
you follow.

304 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

furely a man may do if he do well interlace his
bufinefs, and bend not his mind too much upon
that which he principally intendeth. For a man
ought in every particular ation fo to carry the
motions of his mind, and fo to have one thing
under another, as if he cannot have that he feek-
eth in the beft degree, yet to have it in a fecond,
or fo in a third; and if he can have no part of
that which he purpofed, yet to turn the ufe of it
to fomewhat elfe ; and if he cannot make anything
of it for the prefent, yet to make it as a feed of
fomewhat in time to come ; and if he can contrive
no effect or fubftance from it, yet to win fome
good opinion by it, or the like. So that he fhould
exact an account of himfelf of every action, to
reap fomewhat, and not to ftand amazed and con-
fufed if he fail of that he chiefly meant: for no-
thing is more impolitic than to mind aétions wholly
one by one. For he that doth fo leefeth infinite
occafions which intervene, and are many times
more proper and propitious for fomewhat that he
fhall need afterwards, than for that which he urg-
eth for the prefent; and therefore men muft be
perfect in that rule, Hac oportet facere, et illa non
omittere.*

Another precept of this knowledge is, not to
engage a man’s felf peremptorily in any thing,
though it feem not liable to accident ; but ever to
have a window to fly out at, or a way to retire:
following the wifdom in the ancient fable of the
two frogs, which confulted when their plafh was

21 Matth. xxiii, 23.

BOOK II. 305

dry whither they fhould go; and the one moved
to go down into a pit, becaufe it was not likely
the water would dry there; but the other an-
fwered, True, but if it do, how fhall we get out
again?

Another precept of this knowledge is, that an-
cient precept of Bias, conftrued not to any point
of perfidioufnefs, but only to caution and modera-
tion, Et ama tanquam inimicus futurus, et odi tan-
quam amaturus ;*° for it utterly betrayeth all utility
for men to embark themfelves too far in unfortu-
nate friendfhips, troublefome fpleens, and childifh
and humorous envies or emulations.

But I continue this beyond the meafure of an
example; led, becaufe I would not have fuch
knowledges, which I note as deficient, to be
thought things imaginative or in the air, or an ob-
fervation or two much made of, but things of bulk
and mafs, whereof an end is hardlier made than a
beginning. It muft be likewife conceived, that in
thefe points which I mention and fet down, they
are far from complete tractates of them, but only
as fmall pieces for patterns. And laftly, no man,
I fuppofe, will think that I mean fortunes are not
obtained without all this ado; for I know they
come tumbling into fome men’s laps ; and a num-
_ ber obtain good fortunes by diligence in a plain
way, little intermeddling, and keeping themfelves
from grofs errors.

But as Cicero, when he fetteth down an idea’

of a perfect orator, doth not mean that every

22 Ariftot. Rhet. ii. 13. 4.
x

12; Sit
loofely in
friendfhip
and ill-will.

Conclufion
of the rules
for making
your fortune,

306 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

pleader fhould be fuch; and fo likewife, when a
prince or a courtier hath been defcribed by fuch
as have handled thofe fubjects, the mould hath
ufed to be made according to the perfe€tion of the
art, and not according to common prattice: fo I
underftand it, that it ought to be done in the de-
fcription of a politic man, I mean politic for his
own fortune.

All thefe But it muft be remembered all this while, that

rules are for the precepts which we have fet down are of that

the purfuit : :

of good, not kind which may be counted and called Bone Artes.

evil ends. Ags for evil arts, if a man would fet down for him-
felf that principle of Machiavel,® that a man feek
not to attain virtue itfelf, but the appearance only
thereof; becaufe the credit of virtue is a help, but
the ufe of it is cumber: or that other of his prin-
ciples, that he prefuppofe, that men are not fitly to
be wrought otherwife but by fear; and therefore
that he feek to have every man obnoxious, low, and
in ftrait, which the Italians call feminar /pine, to
fow thorns: or that other principle, contained in
the verfe which Cicero citeth, Cadant amici, dum-
modo inimict intercidant,** as the triumvirs, which
fold, every one to other, the lives of their friends
for the deaths of their enemies: or that other pro-
teftation of L. Catilina, to fet on fire and trouble
ftates, to the end to fifh in droumy waters, and to
unwrap their fortunes, Ego fi quid in fortunis meis
excitatum fit incendium, id non aqua fed ruina reft-
inguam:* or that other principle of Lyfander,

23 Prince, c. 17, 18. 24 Pro Reg. Deiot. ix. 25.
% Cic. pro Mur, xxv. (51-)

BOOK I]. 307

that children are to be deceived with comfits, and
men with oaths :*® and the like evil and corrupt
pofitions, whereof, as in all things, there are more
in number than of the good: certainly with thefe
difpenfations from the laws of charity and integ-
rity, the prefling of a man’s fortune may be more
hafty and compendious. But it is in life as it ‘is
in ways, the fhorteft way is commonly the fouleft,
and furely the fairer way is not much about,

But men, if they be in their own power, and
do bear and fuftain themfelves, and be not carried
away with a whirlwind or tempeft of ambition,
ought, in the purfuit of their own fortune, to fet
before their eyes not only that general map of the
world, that all things are vanity and vexation of
Spirit,” but many other more particular cards and
directions: chiefly that—that being without well-
being is a curfe—and the greater being the greater
curfe; and that all virtue is moft rewarded, and
all wickednefs moft punifhed in itfelf: according
as the poet faith excellently :

Que vobis, que digna, viri, pro laudibus iftis

Premia poffe rear folvi? pulcherrima primum

Di more/gue dabunt veftri.*®
And fo of the contrary. And, fecondly, they ought
to look up to the eternal providence and divine
judgment, which often fubverteth the wHdom of
evil plots and imaginations, according to that Scrip-
ture, He hath conceived mifchief, and shall bring

© Plut. Lys.—rove pév raidac dorpayddote, rove dé dvdpac
dprotc Lararay.
27 Eccl. il. 11. 28 Virg. én. ix, 252.

Nor fhould
men only
feek their
fortunes, but
remember
higher
things alfo.

308 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

forth a vain thing.*9 And although men fhould
refrain themfelves from injury and evil arts, yet
this inceflant and Sabbathlefs purfuit of a man’s
fortune Jeaveth not the tribute which we owe to
God of our time ; who we fee demandeth a tenth
of our fubftance, and a feventh, which is more
ftrit, of our time: and it is to fmall purpofe to
have an erected face towards heaven, and a per-
petual grovelling {pirit upon earth, eating duft, as
doth the ferpent,

Atque affigit humo divine particulam aurz.*°

And if any man flatter himfelf that he will employ
his fortune well, though he fhould obtain it ill, as
was faid concerning Auguftus Cefar, and after of
Septimius Severus, that either they fhould never
have been born, or elfe they fhould never have died,*
they did fo much mifchief in the purfuit and afcent
of their greatnefs, and fo much good when they
were eftablifhed ; yet thefe compenfations and fa-
tisfactions are good to be ufed, but never good to
be purpofed. And laftly, it is not amifs for men
in their race toward their fortune, to cool them-
felves a little with that conceit which is elegantly
exprefled by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, in
his inftructions to the king his fon, That fortune
hath fomewhat of the nature of a woman, that if
fhe be too much wooed, fhe is the farther off.°* But
this laft is but a remedy for thofe whofe taftes are

29 Job xv. 35. % Hor. Sat, ii. 2579s

3! Aurel. Victor, Epit. i. for Auguftus; for Severus, fee his
life by Lampridius.

32 See Ellis and Spedding on this in the De Augm. Bk. viii. 2.

BOOK II. 309

corrupted: let men rather build upon that foun-
dation which is a corner-{ftone of divinity and phi-
lofophy, wherein they join clofe, namely, that fame
Primum querite. For divinity faith, Primum que-
rite regnum Dei, et ifta omnia adjicientur vobis :°8
and philofophy faith, Primum querite bona animt ;
cetera aut aderunt, aut non oberunt. And although
the human foundation hath fomewhat of the fands,?#
as we fee in M. Brutus, when he brake forth into
that fpeech,

Te colui, Virtus, ut rem ; at tu nomen inane es ;°5

yet the divine foundation is upon the rock. But
this may ferve for a tafte of that knowledge which
I noted as deficient.

Concerning Government,” it is a part of know-
ledge fecret and retired, in both thefe refpedts in
which things are deemed fecret ; for fome things
are fecret becaufe they are hard to know, and fome
becaufe they are not fit to utter. We fee all go-
vernments are obfcure and invifible :

Totamque infufa per artus
Mens agitat molem, et magno fe corpore mifcet.37
Such is the defcription of governments. We fee
the government of God over the world is hidden,
inafmuch as it feemeth to participate of much ir-

33 Matth. vi. 33.

*4 So edd. 1629, 16335; ed. 1605 has /ame.

35 & rAijpov aperr), \dyoc ap’ 706", Eyw Cé GE,

Q¢ Egyov yoKxovv’ od 0’ dp’ édovAEvec riyy.
Dio Caf. x\vii. 49.

3° This upon Government is very differently given in the Latin ;
the main fubjeét is poftponed ; and two defiderata are difcufled—
the queftion of Enlarging an Empire, and that of Univerfal Juftice.

37 Virg. Zn, vi. 726.

De Aug.
VIII. 3-

(c.) In Go-
vernment—
a dark
fubject.

Should be

declared as

far as may
Ce

310 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

regularity and confufion: the government of the
foul in moving the body is inward and profound,
and the paflages thereof hardly to be reduced to
demonftration. Again, the wifdom of antiquity,
(the fhadows whereof are in the poets,) in the
defcription of torments and pains, next unto the
crime of rebellion, which was the giants’ offence,
doth deteft the cffence of futility, as in Sifyphus
and Tantalus.*® But this was meant of particu-
lars: neverthelefs even unto the general rules and
difcourfes of policy and government there is due a
reverent and referved handling.

But contrariwife, in the governors toward the
governed, all things ought, as far as the frailty of
man permitteth, to be manifeft and revealed. For
fo it is exprefled in the Scriptures touching the
government of God, that this globe, which feem-
eth to us a dark and fhady body, is in the view of
God as cryftal: Et in confpectu fedis tanquam mare
vitreum fimile cryftallo®9 So unto princes and
ftates, efpecially towards wife fenates and councils,
the natures and difpofitions of the people, their
conditions and neceffities, their factions and com-
binations, their animofities and difcontents, ought
to be, in regard of the variety of their intelligences,
the wifdom of their obfervations, and the height
of their {tation where they keep fentinel, in great
part clear and tranfparent. Wherefore, confider-
ing that I write to a King that is a matter of this
{cience, and is fo well affifted, I think it decent to

58 Vid. Pind. O/. 1. 55. 39 Rev. iv. 6,

BOOK II. 311

pafs over this part in filence, as willing to obtain
the certificate which one of the ancient philofo-
phers afpired unto ; who being filent, when others
contended to make demonttration of their abilities
by fpeech, defired it might be certified for his part,
that there was one that knew how to hold his peace.

Notwithftanding, for the more public part of Deficiency

government, which is laws, I think good to note
only one deficiency ; which is, that all thofe which
have written of laws, have written either as phi-
lofophers or as lawyers, and none as ftatefmen.
As for the philofophers, they make imaginary laws
for imaginary commonwealths; and their difcourfes
are as the ftars, which give little light, becaufe they
are fo high. For the lawyers, they write accord-
ing to the ftates where they live, what is received
law, and not what ought to be law: for the wif
dom of a lawmaker is one, and of a lawyer is an-
other. For there are in nature certain fountains
of juftice, whence all civil laws are derived but as
ftreams: and like as waters do take tin@tures and
taftes from the foils through which they run, fo do
civil laws vary according to the regions and go-
vernments where they are planted, though they
proceed from the fame fountains. Again, the
wifdom of a lawmaker confifteth not only in a
platform of juftice, but in the application thereof;
taking into confideration by what means laws may
be made certain, and what are the caufes and re-
medies of the doubtfulnefs and incertainty of law;
by what means laws may be made apt and eafy to
be executed, and what are the impediments and

in Law
Books ;
none are by
ftatef{men.

De Pru-

dentia legif-
latoria, five
de Fontibus

Furis.

312 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

remedies in the execution of laws ; what influence
laws touching private right of meum and tuum have
into the public ftate, and how they may be made
apt and agreeable; how laws are to be penned
and delivered, whether in texts or in aé?s, brief or
large, with preambles, or without ; how they are
to be pruned and reformed from time to time, and
what is the beft means to keep them from being
too vaft in volumes, or too full of multiplicity and
crofinefs ; how they are to be expounded, when
upon caufes emergent and judicially difcuffed, and
when upon refponfes and conferences touching
general points or queftions ; how they are to be
preffed, rigoroufly or tenderly ; how they are to
be mitigated by equity and good confcience, and
whether difcretion and ftrict law are to be mingled
in the fame courts, or kept apart in feveral courts;
again, how the practice, profeffion, and erudition
of law is to be cenfured and governed ; and many
other points touching the adminiftration, and, as
I may term it, animation of laws. Upon which
I infift the lefs, becaufe I purpofe, if God give me
leave, (having begun a work of this nature in
aphorifms,) to propound it hereafter, noting it in
the mean time for deficient.

And for your Majefty’s laws of England, I
could fay much of their dignity, and fomewhat of
their defect ; but they cannot but excel the civil
laws in fitnefs for the government: for the civil
law was non hos quefitum munus in ufus ;* it was

40 Virg. in, iv. 647.

BOOK I. 215

not made for the countries which it governeth:
hereof I ceafe to fpeak becaufe I will not inter-
mingle matter of action with matter of general
learning.

= HUS have I concluded this portion of Conclufion
Re 5 learning touching civil knowledge; and % the Re
with civil knowledge have concluded Philo-

Sy human philofophy ; and with human “Py:
arama philofophy in general. And being now

at fome paufe, looking back into that I have paffed
through, this writing feemeth to me, /7 nunguam

fallit imago,* (as far as a man can judge of his

own work,) not much better than that noife or
found which muficians make while they are tuning

their inftruments: which is nothing pleafant to
hear, but yet is a caufe why the mufic is fweeter
afterwards: fo have I been content to tune the
inftruments of the Mufes, that they may play that

have better hands. And furely, when I fet before

me the condition of thefe times, in which learning

hath made her third vifitation or circuit in all the
qualities thereof—as the excellency and vivacity of

the wits of this age; the noble helps and lights
which we have by the travails of ancient writers ;

the art of printing, which communicateth books

to men of all fortunes ; the opennefs of the world

by navigation, which hath difclofed multitudes of
experiments, and a mafs of natural hiftory; the
leifure wherewith thefe times abound, not em-

sity, Eel. ii. 27.

314, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ploying men fo generally in civil bufinefs, as the
{tates of Grzcia did, in refpeét of their popularity,
and the ftate of Rome, in refpe& of the greatnefs
of their monarchy ; the prefent difpofition of thefe
times at this inftant to peace; the confumption of
all that ever can be faid in controverfies of religion,
which have fo much diverted men from other fci-
ences; the perfection of your Majefty’s learning,
which as a Phoenix may call whole vollies of wits
to follow you; and the infeparable propriety of
time, which is ever more and more to difclofe
truth—I cannot but be raifed to this perfuafion
that this third period of time will far furpafs that
of the Grecian and Roman learning: only if men
will know their own ftrength, and their own weak-
nefs both; and take one from the other, light of
invention, and not fire of contradiction; and efteem
of the inquifition of truth as of an enterprife, and
not as of a quality or ornament; and employ wit
and magnificence to things of worth and excel-
lency, and not to things vulgar and of popular ef-
timation. As for my labours, if any man {hall
pleafe himfelf or others in the reprehenfion of them,
they fhall make that ancient and patient requeft,
Verbera, fed audi;** let men reprehend them, fo
they obferve and weigh them: for the appeal is
lawful, though it may be it fhall not be needful,
from the firft cogitations of men to their fecond,
and from the nearer times to the times farther off.
Now let us come to that learning, which both the .

42 Themiftocles to Eurybiades, Plut. Rez, et Imper. Apop.—
muratoyv piv ovy, adkovooy Oé.

BOOK I1. 315

former times were not fo blefled as to know, fa-
cred and infpired divinity, the Sabbath and port of
all men’s labours and peregrinations.

= HE prerogative of God extendeth as
aA eS well to the reafon as to the will of
iy man; fo that as we are to obey His

oo} law, though we find a reluctation in
our will, fo we are to believe His word, though
we find a reluétation in our reafon. For, if we
believe only that which is agreeable to our fenfe,
we give confent to the matter, and not to the au-
thor ; which is no more than we would do towards
a fufpected and difcredited witnefs ; but that faith
which was accounted to Abraham for righteouf-
nefs was of fuch a point as whereat Sarah laughed,*
who therein was an image of natural reafon.

Howbeit, if we will truly confider it, more
worthy it is to believe than to know as we now
know. For in knowledge man’s mind fuffereth
from fenfe; but in belief it fuffereth from fpirit,
fuch one as it holdeth for more authorized than
itfelf, and fo fuffereth from the worthier agent.
Otherwife it is of the ftate of man glorified; for
then faith fhall ceafe, and we fhall know as we
are known.

Wherefore we conclude that facred theology,
(which in our idiom we call divinity,) is grounded
only upon the word and oracle of God, and not
upon the light of nature: for it is written Cal
enarrant gloriam Dei ;** but it is not written, Cal

43 Vid. Gen, xviii. 41° Ps. xix.) Ee

De Aug.
1X. De
Of Theo-

logy.

Grounded
on the
Bible and
on Nature.

316 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

enarrant voluntatem Dei: but of that it is faid, 4d
legem et teftimonium: fi non fecerint fecundum ver-
bum iftud,*® &c. This holdeth not only in thofe
points of faith which concern the myfteries of the
Deity, of the Creation, of the Redemption, but
likewife thofe which concern the law moral truly
interpreted: Love your enemies: do good to them
that hate you; be like to your heavenly Father, that
Juffereth his rain to fall upon the juft and unjuft.®
To this it ought to be applauded, mec vox hominem
Jonat:* it is a voice beyond the light of nature.
So we fee the heathen poets, when they fall upon
a libertine paffion, do ftill expoftulate with laws
and moralities, as if they were oppofite and ma-
lignant to nature ;

Et quod natura remittit,
Invida jura negant.*®
So faid Dendamis the Indian unto Alexander’s
meflengers, That he had heard fomewhat of Pytha-
goras, and fome other of the wife men of Grecia,
and that he held them for excellent men: but that
they had a fault, which was that they had in too
great reverence and veneration a thing which they
called law and manners.*9 So it muft be con-
fefled, that a great part of the law moral is of that
perfection, whereunto the light of nature cannot
afpire : how then is it that man is faid to have, by
the light and law of nature, fome notions and con-

45 Ifai. viii. 20. 46 Matth. v. 44.

47 Virg. én. i. 328. 48 Ovid, Met. x. 330.

49 Plut. Alexander. 65—evpveic piv airp yeyovévar doxovow
ot dvdoec, Niay dé rode Vomove aicxuYdpmEvoar BEBiWKEVaL.

BOOK II. 317

ceits of virtue and vice, juftice and wrong, good
and evil? “Thus, becaufe the light of nature is
ufed in two feveral fenfes; the one, that which
fpringeth from reafon, fenfe, induction, argument,
according to the laws of heaven and earth; the
other, that which is imprinted upon the fpirit of
man by an inward inftinét, according to the law
of confcience, which is a fparkle of the purity of
his firft eftate ; in which latter fenfe only he is
participant of fome light and difcerning touching
the perfection of the moral law: but how? fuffi-
cient to check the vice, but not to inform the
duty. So then the dodtrine of religion, as well
moral as myttical, is not to be attained but by in-
fpiration and revelation from God,

The ufe, notwithftanding, of reafon in fpiritual
things, and the latitude thereof, is very great and
general; for it is not for nothing that the apoftle
calleth religion our reafonable fervice of God ;© in-
fomuch as the very ceremonies and figures of the
old law were full of reafon and fignification, much
more than the ceremonies of idolatry and magic,
that are full of non-fignificants and furd charac-
ters. But moft efpecially the Chriftian faith, as in
all things, fo in this deferveth to be highly magni-
fied; holding and preferving the golden medio-
crity in this point between the law of the heathen
and the law of Mahomet, which have embraced
the two extremes. For the religion of the heathen
had no conftant belief or confeffion, but left all
to the liberty of argument; and the religion of

50 Rom. xii. 1.

Reafon to
be ufed in
{piritual
things.

1. In appre-
hending
myfteries.
2. In de-
ducing doc-
trine and
direction.

318 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

Mahomet, on the other fide, interdi€teth argu-
ment altogether: the one having the very face of
error, and the other of impofture: whereas the
faith doth both admit and reject difputation with
difference.

The ufe of human reafon in religion is of two
forts: the former, in the conception and appre-
henfion of the myfteries of God to us revealed ;
the other, in the inferring and deriving of doctrine
and direction thereupon. The former extendeth
to the myfteries themfelves; but how? by way
of illuftration, and not by way of argument: the
latter confifteth indeed of probation and argument.
In the former, we fee, God vouchfafeth to defcend
to our capacity, in the expreffing of his myfteries
in fort as may be fenfible unto us; and doth graft
his revelations and holy do&rine upon the no-
tions of our reafon, and applieth his infpirations
to open our underftanding, as the form of the key
to the ward of the lock: for the latter, there is
allowed us a ufe of reafon and argument, fecondary
and refpective, although not original ‘and abfolute.
For after the articles and principles of religion are
placed and exempted from examination of reafon,
it is then permitted unto us to make derivations
and inferences from and according to the analogy
of them, for our better direction. In nature this
holdeth not; for both the principles are examin-
able by induction, though not by a medium or .
fyllogifm ; and befides, thofe principles or firft po-
fitions have no difcordance with that reafon which
draweth down and deduceth the inferior pofitions.

BOOK Il. 319

But yet it holdeth not in religion alone, but in
many knowledges, both of greater and {maller na-
ture, namely, wherein there are not only po/ita
but placita; for in fuch there can be no ufe of
abfolute reafon. We fee it familiarly in games of
wit, as chefs, or the like: the draughts and firft
laws of the game are pofitive, but how? merely
ad placitum, and not examinable by reafon; but
then how to direct our play thereupon with beft
advantage to win the game, is artificial and ra-
tional. So in human laws, there be many grounds
and maxims which are placita juris, pofitive upon
authority, and not upon reafon, and therefore not
to be difputed: but what is moft juft, not abfo-
lutely but relatively, and according to thofe maxims,
that affordeth a long field of difputation. Such
therefore is that fecondary reafon, which hath place
in divinity, which is grounded upon the p/acets of
God.

Here therefore I note this deficiency, that there
hath not been, to my underftanding, fufficiently
inquired and handled the true limits and ufe of
reafon in fpiritual things, as a kind of divine dia-
lectic: which for that it is not done, it feemeth to
me a thing ufual, by pretext of true conceiving
that which is revealed, to fearch and mine into
that which is not revealed; and by pretext of
enucleating inferences and contradictories, to ex-
- amine that which is pofitive: the one fort falling
inte the error of Nicodemus, demanding to have
things made more fenfible than it pleafeth God to
reveal them, Quomodo poffit homo nafci cum fit

Its limits
not yet de-
fined.

De ufu le-
gitimo ra-
tionis hu-
mana@ in
divinis.

Divinity
has two
parts.

320 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

fenex?* the other fort into the error of the dif-
ciples, which were fcandalized at a fhow of con-
tradiction, Quid eff hoc quod dicit nobis ? Modicum,
et non videbitis me; et iterum modicum, et vide-
bitis me, &c.**

Upon this I have infifted the more, in regard
of the great and bleffed ufe thereof; for this point,
well laboured and defined of, would in my judg-
ment be an opiate to ftay and bridle not only the
vanity of curious fpeculations, wherewith the
{chools labour, but the fury of controverfies, where-
with the church laboureth. For it cannot but
open men’s eyes, to fee that many controverfies
do merely pertain to that which is either not re-
vealed, or pofitive ; and that many others do grow
upon weak and obfcure inferences or derivations :
which latter fort, if men would revive the bleffed
ftyle of that great doctor of the Gentiles, would
be carried thus, ego, non dominus ;*° and again, /e-
cundum confilium meum, in opinions and counfels,
and not in pofitions and oppofitions. But men
are now over-ready to ufurp the ftyle, non ego, fed
dominus ; and not fo only, but to bind it with the
thunder and denunciation of curfes and anathemas,
to the terror of thofe which have not fufficiently
learned out of Salomon, that the caufele/s curfe
fhall not come.**

Divinity hath two principal parts; the matter
informed or revealed, and the nature of the infoi-
mation or revelation: and with the latter we will

51 Joh. iii. 4. 52 Joh. xvi. 17.
53 1 Cor. vil. 12. 40. 54 Prov. xxvi. 2.

BOOK II. 321

begin, becaufe it hath moft coherence with that
which we have now laft handled. The nature of
the information confifteth of three branches ; the
limits of the information, the fufficiency of the in-
formation, and the acquiring or obtaining the in-
formation. Unto the limits of the information
belong thefe confiderations ; how far forth parti-
cular perfons continue to be infpired; how far
forth the Church is infpired ; how far forth reafon
may be ufed: the laft point whereof I have noted
as deficient. Unto the fufficiency of the informa-
tion belong two confiderations ; what points of
religion are fundamental, and what perfective, be-
ing matter of further building and perfection upon
one and the fame foundation ; and again, how the
gradations of light, according to the difpenfation
of times, are material to the fufficiency of belief.
Here again I may rather give it in advice, than
note it as deficient, that the points fundamental,
and the points of farther perfection only, ought to
be with piety and wifdom diftinguifhed: a fubje&
tending to much like end as that I noted before ;
for as that other were like to abate the number of
controverfies, fo this is likely to abate the heat of
many of them. We fee Mofes when he faw the
Ifraelite and the A®gyptian fight, he did not fay,
Why ftrive you? but drew his fword and flew the
Egyptian: but when he faw the two [Ifraelites
fight, he faid, You are brethren, why /trive you?
If the point of doétrine be an AXgyptian, it muft
be flain by the fword of the fpirit, and not recon-

85 Exod. ii. 11—14.
=

1. The na-
ture of the
revelation,

a. Its limits.

6. Its fuffi-

ciency.

De Gradibus
unitatis in
Civitate Dei.

c. Its acqui-
fition by in-
terpretation.

(1.) Me-
thodical.

322 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

ciled ; but if it be an Ifraelite, though in the
wrong, then, Why /rrive you? We fee of the
fundamental points, our Saviour penneth the league
thus, He that is not with us, is againft us ;*© but
of points not fundamental, thus, He that is not
againft us, is with us.*7 So we fee the coat of our
Saviour was entire without feam,®® and fo is the
doctrine of the Scriptures in itfelf; but the gar-
ment of the Church was of divers colours,°? and
yet not divided: we fee the chaff may and ought
to be fevered from the corn in the ear, but the
tares may not be pulled up from the corn in the
field. So as it is a thing of great ufe well to de-
fine what, and of what latitude thofe points are,
which do make men merely aliens and difincor-
porate from the Church of God.

For the obtaining of the information, it refteth
upon the true and found interpretation of the
Scriptures, which are the fountains of the water
of life. The interpretations of the Scriptures are
of two forts; methodical, and folute or at large.
For this divine water,® which excelleth fo much
that of Jacob’s Well, is drawn forth much in the
fame kind as natural water ufeth to be out of wells
and fountains; either it is firft forced up into a
ciftern, and from thence fetched and derived for
ufe ; or elfe itis drawn and received in buckets and
veflels immediately where it {pringeth. The former
fort whereof, though it feem to be the more ready,

56 Matth. xii. 30. 57 Luke ix. 50. 58 Joh. xix. 23.

59 See Pf. xlv. 10, 14 or it may refer to Jofeph’s coat of many

colours— Gen. xxxvii. 3.
60 Matth. xiii. 29. 6! Joh. iv. 13, 14.

BOOK I, 323

yet in my judgment is more fubject to corrupt.
This is that method which hath exhibited unto
us the fcholaftical divinity ; whereby divinity hath
been reduced into an art, as into a ciftern, and the
ftreams of doctrine or pofitions fetched and de-
rived from thence.

In this men have fought three things, a fum-
mary brevity, a compacted ftrength, and a com-
plete perfection; whereof the two firft they fail
to find, and the laft they ought not to feek. For
as to brevity we fee, in all fummary methods,
while men purpofe to abridge, they give caufe to
dilate. For the fum or abridgment by contraction
becometh obfcure ; the obfcurity requireth expofi-
tion, and the expofition is diduced into large com-
mentaries, or into common places and titles, which
grow to be more vaft than the original writings,
whence the fum was at firft extracted. So, we
fee, the volumes of the fchoolmen are greater
much than the firft writings of the fathers, whence
the Mafter of the Sentences® made his fum or
colleGtion. So, in like manner, the volumes of
the modern doétors of the civil law exceed thofe
of the ancient jurifconfults, of which Tribonian®

62 Peter Lombard received this name after writing a work en-
titled ‘* The Sentences ;” a fummary of Theology in four Books.
The objeé of the work was the fettlement of all difputed do¢trines
by a collection of fentences from the Fathers. It is perhaps fu-
perfluous to add that the work has not as yet fulfilled its objedt.
Still he deeply affected Theology, for he laid by it the foundations
of the Scholaitic Philofophy. He was born at the beginning of the
twelfth century ; Bithop of Paris 1159; died 1164.

3 Tribonian, Queftor, Conful and Matter of the Offices to Juf-
tinian. With fixteen others he compiled the Digeft—promulgated

it in 533-

Herein men
have fought,
a. Brevity.

8. Strength.

y.- Com-
pletene/s.

324 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

compileth the digeft. So as this courfe of fums
and commentaries is that which doth infallibly
make the body of fciences more immenfe in quan-
tity, and more bafe in fubftance.

And for ftrength, it is true that knowledges re-
duced into exact methods have a fhow of ftrength,
in that each part feemeth to fupport and fuftain
the other; but this is more fatisfactory than fub-
ftantial: like unto buildings which ftand by archi-
tecture and compaction, which are more fubject
to ruin than thofe which are built more {trong in
their feveral parts, though lefs compacted. But
it is plain that the more you recede from your
grounds, the weaker do you conclude: and as in
nature, the more you remove yourfelf from par-
ticulars, the greater peril of error you do incur:
fo much more in divinity, the more you recede
from the Scriptures by inferences and confequences,
the more weak and dilute are your pofitions.

And as for perfection or completenefs in divi-
nity, it is not to be fought ; which makes this
courfe of artificial divinity the more fufpect. For
he that will reduce a knowledge into an art, will
make it round and uniform : but in divinity many
things muft be left abrupt, and concluded with
this: O altitudo fapientia et fcientie Dei! quam
incomprehenfibilia funt judicia ejus, et non invefti-
gabiles vie ejus!®* So again the apoftle faith, Ex
parte /cimus :® and to have the form of a total,
where there is but matter for a part, cannot be
without fupplies by fuppofition and prefumption.

6 Rom. xi. 33. © x Cor, xii ge

BOOK I]. 325

And therefore I conclude, that the true ufe of
thefe fums and methods hath place in inftitutions
or introductions preparatory unto knowledge: but
in them, or by deducement from them, to handle
the main body and fubftance of a knowledge, is
in all fciences prejudicial, and in divinity danger-
ous.
As to the interpretation of the Scriptures folute
and at large, there have been divers kinds intro-
duced and devifed ; fome of them rather curious
and unfafe than fober and warranted. Notwith-
ftanding, thus much mutt be confeffed, that the
Scriptures being given by infpiration, and not by
- human reafon, do differ from all other books in
_ the author: which, by confequence, doth draw
on fome difference to be ufed by the expofitor.
For the inditer of them did know four things
which no man attains to know; which are, the
myfteries of the kingdom of glory, the perfection
of the laws of nature, the fecrets of the heart of
man, and the future fucceffion of all ages. For
as to the firft it is faid, He that preffeth into the
light, fhall be oppreffed of the glory. And again,
No man fall fee my face and live To the fe-
cond, When he prepared the heavens I was pre-
Jent, when by law and compafs he inclofed the deep.™
To the third, Neither was it needful that any
Should bear witne/s to him of man, for he knew well
what was in man.® And to the laft, From the
beginning are known to the Lord all his works.°9

6 Exod. xxxiil. 20. 7 Prov. viii. 27. 68 Joh. ii, 25.
@ Adts xv. 18.

(2.) Solute,
or at large.

Expofition
muft be fo-
ber, becaufe
God knows
things hid-
den from us.

326 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

From the former two have been drawn certain
fenfes and expofitions of Scriptures, which had
need be contained within the bounds of fobriety ;
the one anagogical, and the other philofophical.
But as to the former, man is not to prevent his
time: Videmus nunc per fpeculum in aenigmate,
tunc autem facie ad faciem :™ wherein neverthe-
lefs there feemeth to be a liberty granted, as far
forth as the polifhing of this glafs, or fome mode-
rate explication to this enigma. But to prefs too
far into it, cannot but caufe a diffolution and over-
throw of the {pirit of man. For in the body there
are three degrees of that we receive into it, aliment,
medicine, and poifon; whereof aliment is that
which the nature of man can perfeétly alter and
overcome: medicine is that which is partly con-
verted by nature, and partly converteth nature ;
and poifon is that which worketh wholly upon na-
ture, without that, that nature can in any part
work upon it. Soin the mind, whatfoever know-
ledge reafon cannot at all work upon and convert
is a mere intoxication, and endangereth a diffolu-
tion of the mind and underftanding.

But for the latter, it hath been extremely fet on
foot of late time by the fchool of Paracelfus, and
fome others, that have pretended to find the truth
of all natural philofophy in the Scriptures; fcan-
dalizing and traducing all other philofophy as hea-
thenifh and profane. But there is no fuch enmity
between God’s word and His works; neither do
they give honour to the Scriptures, as they fuppofe,

70 + Cor. xiii. 12.

BOOK I]. 327

but much imbafe them. For to feek heaven and
earth in the word of God, (whereof it is faid,
Heaven and earth fhall pafs, but my word fhall not
pa/s,") is to feek temporary things amongft eternal :
and as to feek divinity in philofophy is to feek the
living amongft the dead,’* fo to feek philofophy in
divinity is to feek the dead amongft the living:
neither are the pots or lavers, whofe place was in
the outward part of the temple, to be fought in
the holieft place of all, where the ark of the tefti-
mony was feated. And again, the fcope or pur-
pofe of the fpirit of God is not to exprefs matters
of nature in the Scriptures, otherwife than in
paflage, and for application to man’s capacity, and
to matters moral or divine. And it is atrue rule,
auétoris aliud agentis parva auctoritas ; for it were
a ftrange conclufion, if a man fhould ufe a fimi-
litude for ornament or illuftration fake, borrowed
from nature or hiftory according to vulgar conceit,
as of a Bafilifk, an Unicorn, a Centaur, a Briareus,
an Hydra, or the like, that therefore he muft needs
be thought to affirm the matter thereof pofitively
to be true. To conclude, therefore, thefe two in-
terpretations, the one by reduction or enigmatical,
the other philofophical or phyfical, which have
been received and purfued in imitation of the rab-
bins and cabalifts,** are to be confined with a nol
altum fapere, fed time."

7! Matth. xxiv. 35. 72 Luke xxiv. 5.

78 Cabalifts—expounders of the Jewifh Cabala, or hidden fcience
of divine myfteries, faid by the Rabbins to have been delivered to

Mofes with the Law.
74 Rom, xi. 20.

328 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING,

But the two latter points, known to God and
unknown to man, touching the fecrets of the heart,
and the fucceffions of time, do make a juft and
found difference between the manner of the ex-
pofition of the Scriptures and all other books. For
it is an excellent obfervation which hath been
made upon the anfwers of our Saviour Chrift to
many of the queftions which were propounded to
him, how that they are impertinent to the ftate of
the queftion demanded; the reafon whereof is,
becaufe, not being like man, which knows man’s
thoughts by his words, but knowing man’s thoughts
immediately, he never anfwered their words, but
their thoughts: much in the like manner it is
with the Scriptures, which being written to the
thoughts of men, and to the fucceffion of all ages,
with a forefight of all herefies, contradi@ions, dif-
fering eftates of the church, yea and particularly
of the elect, are not to be interpreted only accord-
ing to the latitude of the proper fenfe of the place,
and refpectively towards that prefent occafion
whereupon the words were uttered, or in precife
congruity or contexture with the words before or
after, or in contemplation of the principal fcope of
the place; but have in themfelves, not only totally
or collectively, but diftributively in claufes and
words, infinite fprings and ftreams of dotrine to
water the church in every part. And therefore
as the literal fenfe is, as it were, the main ftream
or river; fo the moral fenfe chiefly, and fometimes
the allegorical or typical, are they whereof the
church hath moft ufe; not that I wifh men to be

BOOK Ii. 329

bold in allegories, or indulgent or light in allufions:
but that I do much condemn that interpretation
of the Scripture which is only after the manner as
men ufe to interpret a profane book.

In this part, touching the expofition of the
Scriptures, I can report no deficience ; but by way
of remembrance this I will add: in perufing books
of divinity, I find many books of controverfies ;
and many of commonplaces and treaties ; a mafs of
pofitive divinity, as it is made an art; a number
of fermons and lectures, and many prolix com-
mentaries upon the Scriptures, with harmonies
and concordances: but that form of writing in di-
vinity which in my judgment is of all others moft
rich and precious, is pofitive divinity, collected
upon particular texts of Scriptures in brief obfer-
vations ; not dilated into commonplaces, not chaf-
ing after controverfies, not reduced into method
of art; a thing abounding in fermons, which will
vanifh, but defective in books which will remain;
and a thing wherein this age excelleth. For I
am perfuaded, (and I may fpeak it with an adb/it
invidia verbo,’° and no ways in derogation of an-
tiquity, but as in a good emulation between the
vine and the olive,) that if the choice and beft of
thofe obfervations upon texts of Scriptures, which
have been made difperfedly in Sermons within this
your Majefty’s ifland of Britain by the fpace of
thefe forty years and more, leaving out the large-
nefs of exhortations and applications thereupon,
had been fet down in a continuance, it had been

7 Livy, ix. 19.

Emanationes
Scriptura-
rum in doc-
trinas pofi-

tivas.

330 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

the beft work in divinity which had been written

fince the Apoftles’ times.
Se The matter informed by divinity is of two
formed by kinds; matter of belief and truth of opinion, and
ou matter of fervice and adoration; which is alfo
lief, judged and directed by the former: the one being
Se, Of fer- as the internal foul of religion, and the other as
; the external body thereof. And therefore the
heathen religion was not only a worfhip of idols,
but the whole religion was an idol in itfelf; for it
had no foul, that is, no certainty of belief or con-
feffion: as a man may well think, confidering the
chief doors of their church were the poets: and
the reafon was, becaufe the heathen gods were no
jealous gods, but were glad to be admitted into
part, as they had reafon. Neither did they refpect
the purenefs of heart, fo they might have external

honour and rites.

But out of thefe two do refult and iffue four
main branches of divinity ; faith, manners, liturgy,
a. Faith. and government. Faith containeth the doctrine of
the nature of God, of the attributes of God, and
of the works of God. The nature of God con-
fifteth of three perfons in unity of Godhead. The
attributes of God are either common to the Deity,
or refpective to the perfons. The works of God
fummary are two, that of the creation and that of
the redemption ; and both thefe works, as in total
they appertain to the unity of the Godhead, fo in
their parts they refer to the three perfons: that of
the creation, in the mafs of the matter, to the
Father ; in the difpofition of the form, to the Son;

BOOK I. 331

and in the continuance and confervation of the
being, to the Holy Spirit. So that of the redemp-
tion, in the election and counfel, to the Father ;
in the whole act and confummation to the Son;
and in the application, to the Holy Spirit; for by
the Holy Ghoft was Chrift conceived in flefh,
and by the Holy Ghoft are the elect regenerate
in fpirit. This work likewife we confider either
effeQtually, in the eleé&t; or privatively7® in the
reprobate; or according to appearance, in the
vifible church.

For manners, the do¢trine thereof is contained
in the law, which difclofeth fin. The law itfelf
is divided, according to the edition thereof, into
the law of nature, the Jaw moral, and the law po-
fitive ; and according to the ftyle, into negative
and affirmative, prohibitions and commandments.
Sin, in the matter and fubject thereof, is divided
according to the commandments; in the form
thereof, it referreth to the three perfons in Deity :
fins of infirmity againft the Father, whofe more
{pecial attribute is power ; fins of ignorance againft
the Son, whofe attribute is wifdom; and fins of
malice again{ft the Holy Ghoft, whofe attribute is
grace or love. In the motions of it, it either
moveth to the right hand or to the left; either to
blind devotion, or to profane and libertine tranf-
greffion ; either in impofing reftraint where God
granteth liberty, or in taking liberty where God

78. All old edd. have privately ; but I cannot find that this word
is ever ufed as the ienfe of this paffage requires it, and fo have fub-
ftituted privatively.

&. Manners.

c. Liturgy.

d. Govern-
ment.

332, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

impofeth reftraint. In the degrees and progrefs
of it, it divideth itfelf into thought, word, or act.
And in this part I commend much the deducing
of the law of God to cafes of confcience ; for that
I take indeed to be a breaking, and not exhibiting
whole of the bread of life. But that which quick-
eneth both thefe doétrines of faith and manners, is
the elevation and confent of the heart ; whereunto
appertain books of exhortation, holy meditation,
Chriftian refolution, and the like.

For the liturgy or fervice, it confifteth of the
reciprocal aéts between God and man; which, on
the part of God, are the preaching of the word,
and the facraments, which are feals to the cove-
nant, or as the vifible word; and on the part of
man, invocation of the name of God; and under
the law, facrifices; which were as vifible prayers
or confeffions: but now the adoration being in
Jpiritu et veritate,?” there remaineth only vituli
labiorum ;78 although the ufe of holy vows of thank-
fulnefs and retribution may be accounted alfo as
fealed petitions.

And for the government of the church, it con-
fifteth of the patrimony of the church, the fran-
chifes of the church, and the offices and jurifdic-
tions of the church, and the laws of the church
directing the whole; all which have two confi-
derations, the one in themfelves, the other how
they ftand compatible and agreeable to the civil
eftate.

‘This matter of divinity is handled either in form

77 John iv. 24. 78 Hofea xiv. 2,

BOOK I. 433

of inftruction of truth, or in form of confutation
of falfehood. The declinations from religion, be-
fides the privative, which is atheifm, and the
branches thereof, are three; Herefies, Idolatry,
and Witchcraft ; herefies, when we ferve the true
God with a falfe worfhip ; idolatry, when we wor-
fhip falfe gods, fuppofing them to be true: and
witchcraft, when we adore falfe gods, knowing
them to be wicked and falfe: for fo your Majefty
doth excellently well obferve, that witchcraft is
the height of idolatry. And yet we fee though
thefe be true degrees, Samuel teacheth us that
they are all of a nature, when there is once a re-
ceding from the word of God; for fo he faith,
Quafi peccatum ariolandi ef? repugnare et quafi {celus
idololatria nolle acquiefcere.?9

Thefe things I have pafied over fo briefly be-
caufe I can report no deficience concerning them:
for I can find no fpace or ground that lieth vacant
and unfown in the matter of divinity: fo diligent
have men been, either in fowing of good feed, or
in fowing of tares.

(= 23)|HUS have I made as it were a {mall
be i globe of the intellectual world, as truly
tg fe) and faithfully as I could difcover: with

£9) 2 note and defcription of thofe parts
which feem to me not conftantly occupate, or not
well converted by the labour of man. In which,
if I have in any point receded from that which is
commonly received, it hath been with a purpofe

7 1 Sam, xv. 23.

Conclufion.

334 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

of proceeding in melius, and not in aliud; a mind
of amendment and proficience, and not of change
and difference. For I could not be true and con-
{tant to the argument I| handle, if I were not will-
ing to go beyond others ; but yet not more willing
than to have others go beyond me again: which
may the better appear by this, that I have pro-
pounded my opinions naked and unarmed, not
feeking to preoccupate the liberty of men’s judg-
ments by confutations. For in anything which is
well fet down, I am in good hope, that if the firft
reading move an objection, the fecond reading will
make an anfwer. And in thofe things wherein I
have erred, I am fure I have not prejudiced the
right by litigious arguments ; which certainly have
this contrary effect and operation, that they add
authority to error, and deftroy the authority of that
which is well invented: for queftion is an honour
and preferment to falfehood, as on the other fide
it is a repulfe to truth. But the errors I claim
and challenge to myfelf as mine own: the good,
if any be, is due tanquam adeps facrificiz,®° to be
incenfed to the honour, firft of the Divine Ma-
jefty, and next of your Majefty, to whom on earth
I am moft bounden.

80 Tfaiah xlili. 24.

DEO GLORIA.

GLOSSARY

OF WORDS EITHER OBSOLETE OR USED
IN SENSES NOT NOW ALLOWED.

(The numbers refer to the paging.)

ji} CCEPTION, 138, = acceptation.

ACCOMMODATE, 172, an adjective in ufe in
Bacon’s day, but here equivalent to the
participle and almoft = adjujfted.
ADVENTIVE, 141, —adventitious—from the
verb to advene, which is alfo obfolete.

AFFECTS, 163, —affections—not ufed here with any fenfe
of infincerity.

AMBAGES, 137, 154, “ambiguities of fpeech, fubterfuges,
evafions :? Richardfon, who quotes Chaucer,—

“< And but if Calcas lede us with ambages,
That is to faine, with double words flie, &c.”
Troil. and Crefs. Bk. v.
Bacon ufes the word according to its derivation—ambe
(ugh), agere (4ye1)—“ nature worketh by ambages,”
z.é. circuitous paths.

ANTIPODES, 19, of the dwellers on the other fide of the
earth, not of that other fide itfelf. So Holland, Plinie,
B. ii. c. 65,— The Antipodes thould marvaile why we
fell not down.”

APPROMPT, 195, to ftir up, quicken.

ASPERSION, 58, 247, fprinkling, now ufed chiefly, if not
entirely metaphorically, and in a bad fenfe—then fre-
quently in a good,—

“No iweet a/perfions fhall the heavens let fall.”

SHAKES., Tempef?, iv. 1.

336 GLOSSARY.

ATTEND, 280, ufed aétively,—‘ I have attended them with
obfervations.”

BIRD-WITTED, 228, incapable of continuous attention.
Bp. Fither ufes the compound gro/s-qwitted—Hall, /ubtil-
witted. (Not in Richardfon.)

BLANCH, 227, = blink, to avoid or evade; alfo =blench.
So Shakefpere, Meafure for M. iv. 5. “ Do you blench
from this?”

BrIBER, 277, here a receiver, not a giver, of bribes. This
agrees with the origin of the word (fee Richardfon)—
be-reaver, or be-robber, the original ufage being = thief.
So, as the word changed meaning, it became “a receiver
of unlawful gain.” Then in modern Englifh it is trans-
ferred to the agent who bribes.

CAPTION, 199, quibbling and deceit—ufed of fallacies.

CARNOSITIES, 172, a medieval term, for growth of flefhy
fubftances, as wens. (The word is not noticed in Rich-
ardfon.)

CAUTELS, 249, tricks and frauds—the word having drifted
away from cautela, while caution has continued to repre-
fent the Latin. So Hall, Henry VI, anno 26,—‘‘ By
this praty cautele and flight impofture was the town
taken.”

“* So now no foil, nor cautel doth befmirch
The virtue of his will.” —Suakes., Hamlet, i. 3.

CEASE, 49, ufed tranfitively, “‘ to ceafe progreflion,” equi-
valent to ‘‘ put a ftop to.”

CENSURE, 312, =to be kept under cenforfhip—not — blame.

CEREMONIES, 181, 182, ufed of fuperftitious ufages, in-
tended to invoke the aid of fpirits. So Shakefpere,
Ful. Caf. ii. 1:—

“ For he is fuperftitious grown of late,
uite from the main opinion he held once
Of phantafy, of dreams, and ceremonies.”

CIVIL ESTATE, 3, condition as member of a civitas. The
higheft afe of the term is now almoft, if not entirely, gone.
See Trench, Glo/s. verbo. A “ civil opinion,” =re-
ceived, 181.

CHAMPAIGN, 150, plain land—locus campeftris. In Bacon’s
day both a fubftantive and (as here) an adjective.

CIRCUMFER, 130, almoft = transfer, a rare verb, though
its fenfe is plain enough, and its derivative common.

GLOSSARY. 227

COARCTATION, reftraint.

COEVALS, 122, coincident in point of time—ufed as a fub-
ftantive. Hakewill, Apologie, “ taunted at by his coe-
vals,”

COLLIQUATION, 142, melting—oppofed (by Sir T. Brown,
Vulgar Errors, Bk. ii. c. 1.) to coagulation.

COLUMBINE, 250, dove-like—the innocency of the dove,
as oppofed to “‘ferpentine wifdom.” This is the only
inftance of the ufe of this adjective.

COMPASS, 192, = (now) a pair of compaffes. By the
change of ufe we diftinguifh between this inftrument and
the mariners’ compais.

COMPASS-REACHES, 289. This compound is not noticed
in Richardfon, Its fenfe is that of roundabout fteps
taken towards the accomplifhment of any object —
reaching forth to compa/s it.

COMPLEXION, 203, —(probably) temperament or difpofi-
tion. ‘The word has now been degraded from the in-
ward parts of a thing or perfon to the ¢znt of the out-
ward countenance. ‘The tranfition is marked in Rich-
ardfon (quoting Cook’s Voyages, vol. i. c. 10.) ‘ with-
out the leaft appearance of what is called complexion” —
where he is {peaking of a man’s fkin as dead white,
without colour.

CONFECTIONARY, 256, the maker of confections, not the
confections made. So 1 Sam. viii. 13. ‘* He will take
your daughters to be confectionaries.” ‘The word con-
Section is not rightly limited to {weet ftuff. Bacon here
ufes it as equal to apothecary (a word formed in the fame
manner)—and in medizval Latin the apothecary was
confectionarius. Comfit is derived from the fame fource.

CONSCIENT, 283, =con{cious. Richardfon does not ac-
knowledge the exiftence of this word; but, quoting the
paflage whence it comes, alters it to con/cious.

CONSIST IN, 180,—=depend upon. Richardfon quotes
Ford—

“‘Tho’ the ufe

Of fuch fet entertainments more con/i/ts
In cuftom, than in caufe; yet, &c.”

CONTENTATION, =contentment.

CONTESTATIONS, 27, —contefts, contentions.

CONTINENT, 160,—=the whole extent of anything. So
here “the continent of Nature” is ‘all that comes
within the limits of Nature.”

iz

338 GLOSSARY.

CONTRISTATION, 6, = trouble or diftrefs. In Eccles. i. 18.
the word which Bacon englifhes by contriftation, the
Authorized Verfion renders grief.

CoPIE, 36, 37, 191, 205, —=plenty—a French word im-
ported into England in the fixteenth century. We ftill
retain its adjective copiows—and copy is really another
form of the fame word, though its ufage is different.
To copy is ‘‘ copiam tacere ex{cribendi,” and perhaps
carries us back to the days of the multiplication of
** copies” of books by the hand.—See Dean Trench’s
Glojary. ‘There is a curious ufe of the word in p. 275
—‘* howfoever a man change copy, he can no ways quit
himfelf well of it” (of contending with a fool.) The
Latin fimply has “‘ quocunque nos vertamus,”

CORROBORATE, 26, = ftrong, matured.

DECARDED, 157, = difcarded—de or dis—carta, to
throw away one’s hand at cards. Richardfon quotes
Macklin’s Dumb Knight,—

‘* Indeed, mine are two queens, and one, I'll throw
away—
Can you decard, madam ?”

DEDUCEMENTS, 280, = deduétions.

DEFUNCT, 185, a fubftantive, now only ufed as an adjettive.

DESIGNMENTS, 1g, = intentions.

DESTITUTED, 161, = abandoned.

DEVOTE, 52, = devoted, (not devout, as one ed. reads it,)
given up to any matter—then ‘(efpecially) to the wor-
thip of God.

DIFFICILE, 270, = difficult.

DIGLADIATION, 41, = fencing, with fwords, properly :
thence with fharp inftruments—as the tongue.

DILATATION, 146, power of expanfion. Bacon, in faying
that God is “ Holy in the de/cription or dilatation of his
works,” feems to ufe thefe words as fynonyms, whereas
they are more properly ufed, di/atation—ot the expan-
fion of the thing itfelf; de/cription—of the limitation
of the thing by inveftigators.

DISCOURSE, 35,280,281. See Trench’s Glofary. * Might
have received large di/cour/e,” illuftration or inveftiga-
tion of a fubjeét. Soagain, ‘ di/cour/e of government,”

*¢ difcourfe of bufinefs,” and *€ difcourfe of reafon,” are
all phrafes ufed by Bacon in the original fenfe of the

GLOSSARY. 339

word, fpringing out of the Latin d/curfus —the paff-
ing from thought to thought, fubject to fubjeét; or, as
in logic, from premife to conclufion; and thence the
word defcends to the modern ufage—of difcuffion by
talk. There is a curious ufage of di/courfing in p. 147,
where Bacon ufes it (unlefS fome words have been
omitted) as = fizal cauies.

Drovumy, 306, = difturbed, troubled, “to fith in droumy
waters.” The Latin has “ in aquis turbidis pifcari.”
The word is not found in Richardfon’s diétionary, nor
can I trace its hiftory.

DUuLceENESs, 296, —{weetnefs. I find no other example
of this fubftantive, though dulcet and the verb to dulce
are not uncommon in old writers. (This fubftantive
is not in Richard{fon.)

EASILIEST, 51, = moft eafily.

ELENCH, 198, a technical term—refutation of an argu-
ment or pofition.

EmBasg, fee Imbafe.

ENABLEMENT, 98, = aid or means.

EsTUATION, 243, — heat and commotion.

EXCEED, 163, = pafs beyond the bounds of moderation—
ufed without a cafe after it.

EXPULSED, 216, = expelled.

EXQUISITE, 44,—carefully fought out (not refined, as now.)

EXTERN, 131, 248, 257, — foreign or outward.

EXTIRPER, 64, — extirpator—the old verb being #o extirp,
not to extirpate.

FACTURES, 162, 171, = fafhion or features of a thing.
For the word feature is only another form of the word
jaéture.

FANTASTICAL, 35, — (in this place) falfe—bafed upon the
fancy alone, without any bafis of fact or truth.

FLExuous, 146, — bending and pliant.

FRIPPER, 220, broker. We retain the word in our
Srippery—trom frivolus, a feller of frivolous or worth-
lefs goods, See Trench’s Glofary.

GAMESTER, 246, = player—not with the flighteft fenfe
of gambling. So in Shakefpere,—
“Sirrah, young game/fter, your father was a fool.”
Taming of the Shrew, ii. 1.

340 GLOSSARY.

And,—

** You are a merry gameffer.”—Henry VIII, i. 4.
The word is ftill ufed in its right fenfe in the Weft of
England,

GIGANTINE, 242, = gigantic, giant-like. (This adjeétive
is not in Richardfon.)

GRAVELLED, 71, = ftuck or fet faftin gravel ; then, embar-
raffled. So Shakefpeare, As you Like It, iv. 1.“ Gravelled
for lack of matter.” Dean Trench quotes the Rheims
verfion of the Aéts, xxvii. 41, “ When they were fallen
into a place between two feas, they gravelled the fhip.”
The word has now pafled out of the original fenfe.
Gravel is derived either from glareola or from gravare
—the loading of fhips for ballaft—or from to grave or
dig out—(to grub)—a doubtful fuggeftion of Serenius.
The firft feems to be the moft probable.

GROUND, 24.5, = an accompaniment with an inftrument in
mufic—the metaphor being fomewhat fimilar to that
which would conneét ba/s with bajfe or ground-floor of
anything. The bafo part is fimply the /ow part—as
diftinét from tezore, midway ; alto, high ; foprano, above
all. Thus bafs or ground would be the foundation on
which all refts.

HOLDING OF, 3, = pertaining to.

Humour, HUMOROUS, 22, 62, 256. ‘This word (Lat.
humor, moifture) was originally ufed of the four ‘ hu
mours” of the body, blood, phlegm, choler, melancholy ;
it came to a morbid ftate of the mind arifing from excefs
of thefe; and fo Bacon here ufes it; ‘*the cenfure of
humour, malignity, and pufillanimity ” where it is not =
ill-humour in our fenfe, but rather =a difeafed or jaun-
diced condition of mind. We apply the word in me-
dicine to a moift difeafed ftate of the body :—in common
language, to good and ill humour, or a cheerful or
morofe condition of temper ;—and to a quality of mind,
difficult to define—a deep, almoft folemn, fenfe of the
incongruities which coexift in the world. ‘* The 4u-
morous man (2.é. the melancholy man) fhall end his part
in peace.” —Hamlet, ii. 2.

ILLAQUEATION, 198, 221, = entanglement. The
chief part of the gloffary under this letter muft be taken
up with Latin words which entered into our language,

GLOSSARY. 341

when learned men began to ufe it inftead of Latin for
literary purpofes. The early part of the feventeenth
century, under a pedantic king, was the time when this
tranfition was moft marked. As the Englifh tongue
gathered ftrength by greater ufe in philofophical writ-
ings, it threw off thefe excrefcences of unnatural words,
and we are rid of confiderable numbers of them.

IMAGINANT, 164, = perfon who imagines—a good word,
though perhaps not now in attual ule.

IMBAR, 58, — bar or hinder.

IMBASE (or embafe), 46, 119, 157, 295, 327, = to lower,
degrade; almoft = deba/e.

IMPERTINENT, 148, = out of place, according to the ac-
ceptance of the word among other writers.

IMPOSTHUMATION, 172, — tumour or cyft formed in any
part of the body by the humours withdrawn from the
other parts.

IMPROFICIENCE, 147, — want or abfence of progrefs.

INCEPTION, 241, 265, — beginning.

INDIFFERENT, 27, impartial. Thence it came naturally
to = moderate ; thence, of courfe, lukewarm and carele/s.
So hard is it for one who feels to help being a partifan
—and fo rare is a really impartial and judicial {pirit.

INFIRM, 198, —to deprive of ftrength. Ufed by Bacon
as the oppofite of affirm. The method of Socrates, he
fays, was to “‘ infirm that which was affirmed by an-
other.”

INFLUENCE INTO, 312, ufed in a fenfe of its derivation, as
of one ftream flowing into another.

INGURGITATION, 173, =a greedy {wallowing. So Burton,
Anatomy of Mel. (p. 235), has, “‘ to eat and ingurgitate
beyond all meafure.”’

INQUIRE, 174, ufed as our “ inquire into.”

INSATISFACTION, 262, = difappointment or abfence of
fatisfaction.

INSINUATION, 126, = bending of onefelf, fo as to corre-
{pond with the form of a thing—(not in a bad fenfe.)

INTEND, 272, 303, — attend to.

INTRINSIC, 47, = internal (not as now = real.)

INVENT, 185, =difcover (imvenire) ; the wider ufe of the
term, now limited to the productions of man’s ingenuity
and fkill.

JOCULARLY, 178,=pertaining tojugglery, to which form

342 GLOSSARY.

it has been contracted in courfe of time. The joculator
in low Latin was the merry-andrew, or juggler (jocus.)

JURISCONSULTS, 106, = lawyers—profeflors of law ; being
the Latin word fimply transferred into the Englifh
tongue.

LEESE, 46, 90, 95, 224, 247,298. This is the old fpelling
of the fame verb as “to /ofe;”’ akin to it are /ofs, lefs, to
loofe. In p. 46, Bacon ufes it as equivalent to waj/fe,
or diminifh a thing; in pp. 90, 224, = #0 lofe. (So,
too, the termination /e/s comes from this verb—blame-
lefs, &c.) ; fo Germ. los, free.

LEVANT, THE, 31, =the Eaft, not part of the Mediter-
ranean fea.

LipGER, 289, = legate (a corrupt form of the word not no-
ticed by Richardfon). In Bailey’s Dict. it is fpelt ~
ledger.

LIKER, 75, = more likely.

LIMNED, 37, = illuminated ; the derivation being the fame.

Lust, 129, ufed by Bacon of Poefy, which “is as a plant
that cometh of the /u/? of the earth”—fo ufed as nearly
equivalent to its German meaning.

MACHINATION, 61, =machine. The bad fenfe of
the term is met with early. Richardfon quotes Sandy’s
Pfalms, p. 96,—

“¢ How long will you machinate,
Perfecute with ceafelefs hate !”

MAGISTRAL, 51, = our dogmatic.

MaGISTRALITIES, 174. Magiffery was a term ufed by
chemifts. Paracelfus defcribes it thus—“ a preparation
whereby the whole or very near the whole of any body,
by the help of fome additament, greater or lefS, is turned
into a body of another kind.” (BoyYLe, Works, i. p.
637-) This explains Bacon’s ufe of the term; but in
p- 157, he ufes it as almoft equivalent to dogmati/m.

MANIABLE, 21, = manageable, tractable (through the
French manier, from manus). This French form of
the word never took root.

MANURED, 104, 229. The fame word as manceuvre—
auvre into ure. To manure, then, is to work by hand,
or cultivate—firft land, then intelle&ts. Richardfon
quotes Bifhop Hall, who, in one of his Satires, Bk. v.
Sat. i, {peaks of “‘ many a load of marle and manure.”

GLOSSARY, 343

This brings in the modern ufage of the term—a very
reftricted and debafed ufe.

MIRABILARIES, 108, works containing things marvellous.
(?) Note-books of Marvels.

MOE, 27, 206. See Richardfon, v. More. Bacon ufes the
word as a comparative. It is (according to the ety-
mologifts) that which is mow-en, or mow-ed, into a
heap (mawan, to mow, A. S.) Then mo; mo-er,
(more) ; mo-e/?, (moft.) Our much is a derivation of
mo—mickle. ‘The general ufe of the word is compara-
tive and = more.

Moral, 32, =(perhaps) cuftomary—a Latinifed ufe “ fe-
cundum morem”—deriving the adjeétive from the fin-
gular, not from the plural of mos.

MORIGERATION, 33, —complai{ance or compliance ; ‘* mo-
rem gerere alicui,” to humour him.

MoucHt, 119, 121, 172, = might.

NON-PROMOVENT, 218. This is not Latin, as one
edition feems to make it, but an Englifh word, formed
after the type of fuch compounds as xon-proficient, non-
conforming, &c. Bacon himfelf interprets it by ‘ incur-
ring into themfelves.” The meaning is =“ not ad-
vancing” as are arguments iz circulo.

OCCUPATE, 165,=occupy. Ufedasan adjective in 333,
= occupied.

PAINFUL, 303, = painftaking, induftrious— here and
elfewhere an epithet of the clergy.

PALLIATE, 172, = palliated, or mitigated,

PANTOMIMUS, 169, the perfon, not the thing. See Trench’s
Gloffary.

PARCEL, = part.

PARTICIPLES, 132, = partaking of more kinds than one;
ufed generally and not folely of grammar.

PasQUuIL, 71,— pafquinade, or lampoon (from an image at
Rome, to which libels and fatires were affixed).

PEDANTES, 16,26. ‘This word was written thus by Bacon
as a foreign word (Italian or Spanifh, probably the
latter), newly introduced into the Englifh tongue and
not acclimatifed. It does not feem to carry its modern
notion of affe4ation joined with learning, in the ufe
Bacon makes of the word pedantical (p. 227).

ey a ee

344 GLOSSARY.

PERCASE, 260, = perchance.

PLY, 298. ‘This word is again ufed as a fubftantive by
Bacon in the Effay on Cuftom: ‘ Late learners cannot
fo well take the p/y; except it be in fome minds, that
have not fuffered themfelves to fix.” Where we fee the
fame fenfe as in the compound app/y—the bending or
turning the mind to any matter. In this paflage Bacon
ufes the word as almoft = purpofe: ‘can bring occafion
to their ply,”—z.e. “can bend circumftances to their
fervice,” &c.

POPULARITY, 314, = populoufnefs, Sir T. Browne ufes
populofity—which, ugly as it is, would be the more cor-
rect form of the word.

PRAGMATICAL, 2 284, — officious, bufy—now folely “ prig-
gifh,’— a word which perhaps comes from it. See
Trench’s Gla ary.

PRENOTION, 162, a fubdivifion of that part of human {ci-
ence which treats of the fympathy between mind and
body. Alfo, 206, the procefs of marking off before-
hand what has no connection with the fubjeét. Ufed
by Bacon as one of the two “ intentions” or means in
the received Arts of Memory.

PREPOSTEROUS, 303, ufed in its exact fenfe of wrong order
of things.

PRESENTION, 179, = prefentiment, or previous perception
inwardly of that which is about to occur. (Not in
Richardfon.)

PROFICIENCE, 95, 121, 334, =a making of progrels.
(Profit is the fame word under another form.)

PROPRIETY, 5, 314, property in its /ogical fenfe.

PUNCTUAL, 31, = to a point—thence exact even to little-
nefs; later confined to time only, in fenfe of accurate.
See Trench’s Glofary.

PuNTO, 272, (Spanifh) =ceremony, punéctilio. Another
example of the Spanifh connection with England about
this period of our hiftory.

PURGAMENT, 172, = that which purges or cleanfes.

QUT, 275, = acquit. So in the Bible, A. V.— Quit
you like men.”—1 Cor, xvi. 13.

REDARGUTION, 104, 198, 199, = refutation.
RE-EDIFY, 70, =rebuild. The verb edify being ufed in
its original fignification, as edifice ftill is.

GLOSSARY. 345

REGIMENT, 3, 164, 261, —rule, government (regimen)—
When did the technical ufe of the term for a body of
men under ftriét government firft obtain? Dryden ufes
it.

REINTEGRATE, 138, 209, — re-eftablifh anew. (Not
merely to renew, but to go back to the beginning—as
Bacon ufes it of the term magia which he propotes to
‘* revive and reintegrate,” z.e. to bring back to its ori-
ginal fenfe.)

RELUCTATION, 56, 234, 315, —refiftance. We ufe re-
luGant ftill, of one ftruggling againft what he diflikes,
yet is driven to.

REMORA, 148 (remorare, mora), a little fifh, as was thought,
which, clinging to a fhip’s keel, ftayed her courfe.
Thence metaphor of any hindrance.

“¢ All fodainly there clove unto her keele
A little fith, that men call remora,
Which ftopt her courfe, and held her by the heele,
That winde nor tide could move her thence away.”
SPENSER, The World’s Vanitie.

REMOVE, 302, = removal.

RESPECTIVE, 2, =refpectful (almoft)—more exactly, hav-
ing due refpeét or regard to the worth of the perfon
dealt with. The honour which would be re/pective to
a king would {carcely be re/pective to a {quire.

SAD, 274, =grave, firm, and fixed ; derived from the A. S.
Jfet—{o that fad is that which is /et or fixed ; then grave
or fedate ; then ferious, mournful. See Trench’s Glofary.

SAKE, 44 (if the reading be correct), either =/ide (which
has been fuggefted as an emendation), or = queft—fol-
lowing its derivation from the verb /eek, “ on the other
fake” would then be ‘on the other fide of the invefti-
gation,” referring to Ariftotle’s two treatifes—one on
Natural Hiftory, the other (attributed to him) of Pro-
digies, &c.

SAPIENCE, 55, = wifdom.

SCHOLASTICAL, 74, = pedantic, not neceflarily in a bad
fenfe.

SECURED, = free from care or hindrance (?).

SEEN, TO BE WELL, 168, = to be efteemed.

SEGREGATE, 269, as oppofed to congregate, or aggregate—
feparated part from part.

346 GLOSSARY.

SEVER, TO, 269, = to be disjoined, or diffevered ; “* feldom
meet, and commonly fever.”

SLUG, TO, 148, =to render fluggifh ; flug is from the fame
root as flow.

SOLUTE, 322, —loofe and unreftrained.

SORT, 278, 318. “In fort that”—we now ufe “in fuck
fort.”

SORTABLE, 73, — agreeable to, correfponding with.

SPIAL, 100, —{py. Shakefpere ufes e/pial, Hamlet, iii. 1.

SPINOSITY, 184, = pricklinefs, as of thorns.

STATUA, 106, 252, 300, = ftatue. The Englifh form was
in ufe long before Bacon’s time, fo that he might as
well have written it inftead of disfiguring his text with
an unneceflary Latin word. Shakefpere (according to
Collier and Knight) wrote /ffatue, not ftatua, in Fulius
Cefar, iii. 2,—‘ Even at the bafe of Pompey’s /fatua.”

STOND, 262. ‘Knots and /fonds of the mind.” Rich-
ardfon fays it = ftanding-place or ftation ; ftay, ftop. It
feems to be more like the joints and divifions of the ftem
of a plant.

SUPPEDITATION, 256, — fupport and fupply.

SuRD, 317, almoft = abfurd—i.e. without proper fignifi-
cance, “idolatry and magic, that are full of non-figni-
ficants and furd charaéters.” So in mathematics, /urds
are “ roots incapable of being exhibited in a finite form,”
and incommenturable.

SYNTAX, 227, = arrangement in relation to one another.
Bacon ufes it of the “ order or purfuit”’ in which ftudies
may be undertaken.

TABLE, 72, = picture (tableau.) So Holland’s Pliny,
xxxv.c.g. So Tablet (ibid.)

TARRASSE, 53,—terrace. So fpelt, following the pronun-
ciation, &c. of the French terrafe, or of the Spanifh
terrazo.

Tax, TO, 25, 30, 33, 168, 294, ufed abfolutely, (almoft =
depreciated.) ‘The impofter is prized, and the man
of virtue taxed.” So Barrow, vol. iii. fer. 3,—** He
was not like thofe mafters of philofophy, fo frequently
taxed and derided by the fatirifts.” Is it equivalent to
“ taxed with folly,” or (following the original fenfe),
weighed, or rated, and found wanting? So Bacon ufes
taxation, pp. 77, 128.

TERRENE, 60, = earthly.

GLOSSARY. 347

THEORY, 138, ufed in the original fenfe of 4ewpia—invefti-
gation, chiefly of things abitract.

THWanrT, 21, =perverfe, twifted. The verb fo thwart is
in general ufe, the adjective has now difappeared. The
fubftantive thwart of a boat (crofs piece of board
whereon the rowers fit), and athqwart are alfo in ufe.
A. S. thweorian, to wrelt; thweort, paft participle.
Shakefpere, King Lear, i. 4,—‘‘ And be a thwart dif-
natured torment.”

TRACTATES, 305, — treatifes—we now have cut the word
down to trad, and its meaning down to a flimfy or
fhort paper of a few pages. A tradate was a complete
work on fome {pecial fubjeét.

TREACLE, 174, not our fyrup of molaffes, but a medicine
compofed of viper’s flefh, as an antidote to the viper’s
bite—fee note, p. 174.

‘TRIVIAL,217,=common and well-known :—not in Bacon’s
ufe = worthle{s; but (according to its derivation) of
things in the high-way, beaten down by many feet:
the fenfe worthlefs is later. Richardfon notices the
fimilarity of fenfe and found with ¢rifle; but the words
are not really conne¢ted.

TyYPocosMY, 220,—a figure or reprefentation of the world;
NOT pLOU TUIOG.

UNDERVALUE, 5, the verb is common enough,—the
fubftantive is not now in ufe. Bacon takes itin the fenfe
of deficiency in worth: ‘what defects and undervalues
I find in fuch particular aéts.”

UNPERFECT, 112, — imperfect.

UNPROPER, 50, = improper.

URE, 188, 214, (if this reading be allowed, initead of w/e.)
There are two derivations fuggefted—u/ura, which is
improbable ; and @uvre, as manure from main, euvre.
The meaning is much the fame as that of w/e. Chaucer,
Complaint of the Black Knight, ufes it thus :-—

‘he fo piteoufly gan cry
On his fortune and on ure al{o.”’

i.e. fortune = chance, and ure = labour, not of chance.
So Milton, Paradife Lo/?, ufes the verb inure (or enure)
not as derived from ure, but (as above) from @uvre.

VASTNESS, 148 (vaftitudo), a wafte or defert—following

348 GLOSSARY.

the derivation of the word. (Richardfon gives no ex-
ample of this ufage of the term.)

VENTOSITY, 118, 294, = windinefS, or lightnefs, as of
air.

VERDOR, 60, faid by Mr. Spedding to be a different word
from verdure, but this feems to be very doubtful.

VERMICULATE, 39. Bacon is drawing a comparifon be-
tween the corruption of fome folid fubftances into
worms, and the tendency of found knowledge to pu-
trify into idle and unwholefome “and, as I may term
them, vermiculate queftions ;” where the word clearly
fignifies queftions that are corruptions of knowledge,
though fome notion of entanglement and intricacy may
poffibly alfo enter in.

VOLLIES OF WITS, 314, = flights (as of birds) of men of
learning and wifdom. This fenfe is rare, if not pecu-
liar to Bacon. The ordinary meaning of difcharges of
flying fhot is at the bottom of all the paflages mentioned
by Richardfon.

VOLUBLE, 298, volubility, 250 (volubilis), apt or eafy to
roll—‘ voluble with the wheels of Fortune.” Volubi-
lity is ufed by Bacon as an epithet of the ferpent. Now
ued chiefly, if not entirely, of {peech, and that too in
rather a difparaging fenfe.

WHIFFLER, 190, =piper—conneéted with wif, a
flight breath of wind; alfo perhaps with waft—fuch a
current of air as may be made by the waving of a fan—
(Richardfon.) Mr. Markby, very appofitely to the
paffage in Bacon, quotes Shakefpere, King Henry V.v.
(chorus) —

“‘ The deep-mouthed fea,
Which, like a mighty w4ziffer before the king,
Seems to prepare his way.”

INDEX.

j\| BEL, type of the contemplative ftate, 57.
Abraham, 315.

Academic philofophers, why popular, 191.
Acatalepfy in philofophy, 191.

Accidents of words, an appendix to gram-

mar, 210.

Achilles, envied by Alexander becaufe he had a vates facer
in Homer, 74; educated by Chiron, 128.

AGive good better than pafflive, 240.

Adonis, Venus’ minion, 38.

Adrian, “ mafter of thirty legions,” 33; a learned prince
and great inquirer, 69 ; curious as to Chriftianity, and
hung up Chrift’s picture in his gallery, 75.

Advancement of Learning, compared to the tuning of in-
ftruments before a concert, 313.

LE fchines’ {neer at Demofthenes, 20.

4: fculapius and Circe, fable of, 168 ; he was the fon of the
fun, 170.

4 fop, fable of the cock, 91; his fables are parabolical
poefy, 127.

Affections, inquiry refpecting the, 258; infufficiently han-
died by the ancients, 259; beft treated by poets and
hiftorians, 2d,

Agefilaus, 83; his fpeech to Pharnabazus, 26.

Agrippa, half a Chriftian, 71.

Agrippina, deteftable choice of, 91; ftung Tiberius by a
{fpeech, 288.

Ahajfuerus, his journals, 120.

Albertus Magnus, too credulous in natural hiftory, 43.

Aichemifits depend on Vulcan, 99, 137-

Alchemy, 51, related to imagination rather than reafon, 44;

350 INDEX.

has a good aim, and has produced good refults, 45;
furpafled by natural prudence, 153.

Alexander Borgia’s faying refpeéting the French expedi-
tion, 155.

Alexander the Great, Ariftotle’s fcholar, 14, 74; his expe-
dition into Afia, 48, 83; his eftimate of learning, 74;
his letter to Ariftotle, z+. ; examples of his acutenefs, 75 ;
his faying about Greek wars, 84; his allowance to
Ariftotle for inquiry, 100; the journals of his houfe,
120; his title of predo, 140; fends meflengers to Den-
damis the Indian, 316.

Alexander Severus, 16, 72.

Anabaptifts (of Muntfter), their evil tenets, 238.

Analytics, their place in logic, 198.

Anatomy, too much negleéted, 171.

Angels in a hierarchy, 56; our knowledge of them limited,
136; fell by afpiring to be like Gop in power, 267.

Annals of Tacitus, 119.

Anthropomorphites, herefy of the, 202.

Antipater, 76; a bad ruler, 77.

Antipodes, 19. —

Antiquities are hiftory defaced, 111; of the world, 114.

Antiquity worfhipped by fome, 47; not to be neglected,
139; ‘¢ antiquitas feeculi juventus mundi,” 26.

Antitheta, or thefes argued pro and con., 225.

Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, his learning, 4, 71.

Antoninus Pius, moft learned, nicknamed xvgvorpicrns, 70 5
became half a Chriftian, 71; his name how honoured
after, 2b. ; died a peaceful death, 173.

Antonius over-reached by Mucianus, 287.

Anytus, accufer of Socrates, 14.

Aphorifms are knowledge in growth, 49 ; compared with
methodical writings, 214.

Apollo ruled over mulic and medicine, 167.

Apollonius, 69.

Apophthegms, 124.3 Czefar’s, 2b. ; Solomon’s, 274.

Apotheofis of the learned, 64.

Appendices to hiftory, 124.

Arabian philofophers too credulous in natural hiftory, 43.

Archimedes, 46.

Archite@ure illuftrates man’s perfonal relation with fociety,
246.

Ariofto’s conceit of pofthumous fame, 117.

Ariftippus’ reply after having fallen at Dionyfius’ feet, 33.

INDEX. 351

Ariftotle, 46, 51; Alexander’s tutor, 14; Dictator over the
{choolmen, 39; not too credulous, 44; mixes philo-
fophy with logic, 50, 148; helped in his inquiries by
Alexander, 100; his De Miris Aufcult., 108 ; on {mall
things, 110; contradicts antiquity, 139; is too fond of
final caufes, 147; his Problemata a valuable work,
156; is compared to the Turkifh Sultan who murders
his brethren, 157; notices the growth of obfervation in:
children, 158; wrote on prediction, 162; but not on
gefture, 76.; on imagination (dpef) and reafon, 183;
on the mind, 185; derides the fophifts, 193 ; expounds
the fable of Atlas, 197; on elenches, 198; on argu-
ment in a circle, 204 on fpeech, 207; taxes Demo-
critus, 217; on rhetoric, 221; compares logic and rhe-
toric together, 224 ; his collections of figns of good and
evil (in the topics), 25.; not well worked out, 225; faid
that the young only can be happy, 233; his giving
the firft place to the Prog Gewpusrixdg condemned by Chrift-
ianity, 236; blames Herodicus, 239; on moral cul-
ture, 252; on magnanimity, 255; does not duly con-
fider the relations of age, fortune, &c., to morals, 257;
but touches on thefe points in the Rhetoric, ib.; does
not duly difcufS the affections, 258; except cafually in
the Rhetoric, 259 ; carelefs in his difcuffion as to cuftom
and habit, 261; gives precepts for habituation, 262 ;
caution required in training youth, 263; on heroic or
divine virtue, 266.

Arithmetic, 151.

Arts, hiftory of, 109; calendar of them to be made, 154;
their duty to exalt nature, 189.

Afcham’s veneration for Cicero and Demofthenes, 37.

Afirology related to imagination rather than reafon, 44;
has a noble aim, 7b.; divides men’s natures according
to the planets, 256.

Afironomy, can be explained either by the “ received,” or
by the Copernican hypothetis, 158.

Atalanta, 53.

Atheif, how far encouraged by knowledge, 12.

Athletic art, 177.

Atlas, fable of, how expounded by Ariftotle, 197.

Atticus, 300 ; his advice to Cicero on bearing, 271.

Auguftine, St., not fo great a teacher as ecclefiaftical hif-
tory is, 107.

Augujius Cafar, his eloquence defcribed by Tacitus, 3;

252 INDEX.

praifed by Virgil, 87; defired euthanafia, 173; re-
quefted a plaudite when dying, 283; lived before men’s
eyes, 292; his feigned franknefs to the people, 300;
hoped to employ well his ill-gotten fortune, 308.
Authority in {cience is too highly credited, 45, 46.
Axioms applicable to more than one {cience, 132, 133.

Babel, 58.

Bacon, Lord, promifes a work on Laws, 312.

Ba/filifk, fable of the, 249.

Baths, medicinal, much neglected by phyficians, 175.

Beajfis get the credit of moft inventions, 186, 187.

Behaviour is like a garment, 272.

Bias, precept of, concerning friendfhip, 305.

Biography, 1173; teaches beft the ‘ wifdom of negocia-
tion,” 281.

Bird-witted (or inattentive), people cured by mathematics,
228,

Blaefus, 229.

Books to be cherifhed in a ftate, 95; plentiful, but not good,
265.

Briareus, the hundred-handed, 128.

Brutus, Lucius, his act towards his fons, 251.

Brutus and Caffius, their images abfent from Junia’s funeral,
25; their {upper and difcourfe on tyrants, 251; Brutus’
f{peech on fortune, 309.

Bufinefs, wifdom of, much negleéted, 273, 274.

Cafar, Augufius, (fee Augu/fus.)

Cafar, Fulius, (fee Fulius.)

Cain, type of the active life, 57.

Calendar of knowledge to be made, 154; and of doubts,
156; and of popular errors, 157.

Callifthenes attended Alexander, 74; his eloquence, 76.

Car, of Cambridge, almoft deified Cicero, 37.

Caracalla, 71.

Cardan, too credulous, 43.

Cardinals, their temperaments noted in the accounts ot
conclaves, 256.

Carneades, ambaflador to Rome, 13.

Caffander, argued with Alexander, 76.

Caffus (and Brutus), their images not fhown at Junia’s fu-
neral, 25; their fupper and difcuffion on affaflination
of tyrants, 251.

INDEX. 353

Cafuifiry, cafes of, in focial life, 250, 251.

Categories, their ufe, 200.

Catiline, 113 ; withed to “ fith in droumy waters,” 306.

Cato the cenfor, wifhed to have no learning at Rome, 13;
withed to learn Greek in his old age, 21 ; his judgment
on his countrymen, 270; Livy’sjudgment on him, 282,

297.

Cato the fecond (of Utica), his errors in judgment, 19, 27,
28; praifed by Cicero, 252; cenfured by Czfar, 302.

Catulus, the orator, 292.

Caujfes, the four, how inveftigated, 141.

Celjus, condemned azatomia vivorum, 172; acknowledges
that logic has nothing to do with medicine, 186.

Ceremonies (in the old fenfe) not lawful, 182.

Chance gets the credit of moft inventions, 187.

Char aéters of men to be ftudied by the moral philofopher,

255.

Charity, * the very bond of virtues,” 266 ; admits of no ex-
Gels, -2.67.

Charles V. on fortune, 308.

Charms, how fuppofed to act, 181.

Cherubim, angels of light, fecond in rank, 56.

Chefs, 319.

Chinefe charatters, 207.

Chiron, the centaur, Achilles’ preceptor, 128.

Chriftianity, has fettled the queftion as to fummum bonum,
233; exalts focial above private good, 236.

Chronicles, 113.

C4ryfippus tried to interpret the fables of the poet, 129;
followed a bad way of perfuading men to virtue, 222.

Church, the, charged with the excefles of heretics, 34; be-
friended learning, 61, 62.

Church Hiftory too credulous, 43; how divided, 122.

Cicero, M, Tullius, 51, 188, 292, 306; had no refolution,
18; beft or fecond beft of orators, 22 ; hisphilofophy was
adorned by eloquence, 38; on pofthumous fame, 118 ;
his complaint againft Socrates, 160; an academic, 191;
commends rhetorical preparations, 194; on rhetoric,
221; on faulty exercife of the faculties, 228; his
Oratio pro Marcello, 249; praifes Cato the Second,
252; his judgment on Cato, 264; his interview with
Czfar, 271; {peaks of the “ profeffors of bufinefs” at
Rome, 274; his Ad Atticum ufeful for wifdom of bufi-

AA

354 INDEX.

nefs, 281; cenfures Pompey, 293; calls Cafar tyrannus,
300; relates how Auguttus feigned franknefs, 76.; his
perfect orator, 305.

Cicero, Quintus, his advice to his brother as to his bearing,
2713; his book De Petitione Confulatus, 274; calls the
face animi janua, 286.

Ciceronian ftyle revived at the Reformation, 35—37.

Ciphers, 210.

Circe and AE {culapius, 168.

Civil Hiftory, 111; knowledge, 270.

Clement VII, 18.

Cleon hated eloquence, 222.

Coat of Chrift without a feam, 322.

Cobwebs of learning {pun by the fchoolmen, 39, 40.

Columbus, 48.

Commentaries, 112; in theology are bad, 323.

Commodus, 71.

Common-place Books, prejudice againft, 205; their ufe, id.

Conclaves, 256.

Confufion of tongues the fecond curfe of man, 209.

Confcience, a {parkle of man’s original purity, 317.

Conftantine nicknamed Trajan Parietaria, 70.

Contemplation, the beft ftate, 55—57 ; Ariftotle placed it
above active life, Chriftianity places it below it, 236;
referved for God and angels, 237.

Contradigtory inftances not to be negleéted in induétion,
189.

Controverfies in religion nearly extinét (fo Bacon hopes),
314; an affliction to the Church, 320.

Copernicus’ theory of aftronomy, 158, 161.

Corruption of learning a great evil, 39.

Coruncanius ufed to walk in the forum to be confulted on
bufinefs, 274.

Cofmetic Art, 177.

Cofmography, hiftory of, 120.

Countenance, the, a tell-tale, 286.

Craterus, Alexander’s friend, 77.

Credulity, akin to impofture, 42.

Cretans, how judged by St. Paul, 257.

Critics, advice to, 226, 227.

Crefus’ interview with Solon, 302.

Curius, 274.

Cuftody of knowledge, art of, 214.

INDEX. 355

Cujiom and habit, confidered as affecting moral aéts, 260,
261.

Cyrenaic {chool, wherein it placed happinefs, 238.

Cyrus Minor, 113.

Dedalus, 100.

Dancing anfwers to verfifying, both being meafured, 210.

Darius, 74.

De Petitione Confulatus of Quintus Cicero, the one work or
bufinefS written among the ancients, 274. ;

Death, preparation for, renders fear of it the greater, 245.

Dedications of books to patrons fervile, 32.

Deeds of men not to be too much trufted by him who would
make his fortune, 287.

Defeés of chara&ter, how to be concealed, 295.

Definitions, neceflary before difcuflion, 203.

Democritus, 46,157 ; of the truth of Nature, 137 ; faid that
there was no ruling mind in the univerfe, 148 ; his phi-
lofophy (as to phyfics) more found than Ariftotle’s, 26. ;
bafed his philofophy on numbers, 150; taxed by Arif-
totle, 217.

Demojfthenes, his reply to AEfchines, 20; counfel to the
Athenians, 28; prepared beforehand prefaces for his
orations, 194; his examples of eloquence, 221; cares
more for the right effeét of eloquence than for praife,
232; rallied by Philocrates, 268 ; calls {mall favours
alimenta focordiz, 287; his comparifon of Athens to a
countryman fencing, 298 ; exhorts men to govern cir-
cumttances, 299.

Dendamis the Indian, 316.

Diagoras the atheift, his wife reply, 201.

Diafcordium, 174.

Differences, the object of metaphyfics, 143.

Diogenes, his defence of philofophers (Ari/fippus, not Dio-
genes), 33; his interview with Alexander, 75; on felf-
reftraint, 239.

Dionyfius had his ears in his feet, 33 ; his fpeech about phi-
lofophy, 41.

Dionyfius the Areopagite, 56.

Direéion (or guidance), the chief help to learning, 94.

Divination, 179.

Divines have objected to learning, 6, 7.

Divinity, briefly difcuffed, 315; two chief parts, 320; four
main branches thereof, 330.

356 INDEX.

Domitian’s dream, 67.

Donius, 159.

Doubt and fufpenfion of judgment wholefome, 51; fhould
always be regiftered, 156.

Dreams, expofition of, the only true part of prenotion, 162.

Drufus, how commended by Tiberius, 286.

Du-Bartas on flattery, 32.

Duty, the good of man as regards fociety, 246.

Eccentrics and epicycles, 158

Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, too credulous, 43; a great teacher,
107; its divifions, 122.

Eden, man’s labour in, really contemplation, 56.

Education, honourable and important, 25; of youth, affeéts
the character ever after, 229.

Egypt, a moft learned land, 58; why fo few human figures
in her temples, 187.

Eg yptian prieft’s judgment on the Greeks, 58; hierogly-
phics, 208.

Elenchs, a method of judgment, 198; how handled by
Plato and Ariftotle, 7b.; can be ufed to guard againft
metaphorical ambiguities, 199.

Elizabeth, Queen, and King James I, are Caftor and Pol-
lux, 22 ; a moft learned princefs, 72 ; the glories and
dangers of her reign, 73; her good government feen
in its lafting effects, 93; her mafculine rule, 116.

Elogies, barren, 117.

Eloquence, {ometimes defired above fenfe, 36 ; not to be con-
demned, 38 ; bafed chiefly on imagination, 183.

Emblem, one of the foundations on which the art of me-
mory refts, 206.

Empedocles, 157.

Empirics, in phyfic, 15; in ftatecraft, 16.

Ends of life muft be well chofen, 265.

England, hiftory of, during Tudor period efpecially, 115,
116.

Enoch, the firft contemplative perfon, endowed the Church
with prophecy, 237.

Enquiry, power of wife, is the half of knowledge, 195.

Epaminondas, general and {cholar, 15.

Epigetus’ philofophy cenfured, 238; his precept on felf-
government turned into one on felf-advancement, 290.

Epicurus, his manner of death, 173; thought the gods to
be of human fhape, 202; wherein his {chool placed

INDEX. 357

happinefs, 238; held that virtue had much to do with
it, 24.4.
Epifiles are appendices to hiftory, 114.
Epitomes, the moths of hiftory, 112.
Erafmus colloquy of Fuvenis and Echo, 37.
Effays are ruminated hiftory, 120.
Ethics, ill-handled as yet, 231 ; how divided, 233.
Euclid, 46; his propofitions feem ftrange till proven, 48.
Euthanafia, much defired, 173.
Evil, knowledge of, neceflary, 249 ; arts, precepts of, 306.
Exercifes at the Univerfities very defective, 102.
Experiment and inquiry, not futiciently provided for, 99.
Experimental philofophy, 152.
Exftatic vifions, &c., 180.
Extremes of novelty and antiquity to be avoided, 47.
Ezekiel on Pharaoh’s arrogance, 282.

“ Faber quifque fortune fue,” 282, 283.

Fabius Maximus would have carried on his policy too
long, 297.

Fable of Ixion, 19; of the giants, 128; of Jupiter attacked
by the Gods, 76.; of the bringing up of Achilles, 76. ;
expounded, 7b. ; of the horfe-leeches, 277; of the frogs,
304; invented as fubftitutes for hiftorical examples,
280.

“¢ Fa&a non verba,” 278.

Faith, its objeéts, 330.

Fall of Maz, how it came about, 57, 267; of angels, 267.

Fallacies, 199, 200.

Falfity in fubftance a great fault, 38, /9q.

Fame, why created, according to the table, 128.

Fantajiical learning, 35.

Fafcination, 181.

Fafting, retained under the Gofpel, 164.

Felicity, what it is is determined by Chriftianity, 238.

Final caufes, their ftudy mifplaced and mifdirected, 147.

Fire, how generated in the Weft Indies, 187.

Flattery, its groffnefs, 32 ; fome inftances of it, 1—5, 93,
94, 310, 314; mutt be fine, if it is to fucceed, 279.

Forms, effential, their difcovery the object of metaphyfics,

143.
Forms of fubftances are infinite, 144. ,
Formula, or fet paflages, fit for different fubjeéts in rhe-
toric, 226.

358 INDEX.

Fortune, good, hard to be borne wifely, 257; men can
fafhion it for themfelves, 282 ; may be too much def-
pifed, 7b.; rules for making one’s, 284, /gq.; lays as
hard a burden on us as virtue does, 76.; not an end
worthy of man’s being, zb.; falls into fome men’s laps,
305.

Fracaftorius, 159.

Friends, caution in choofing, 278.

Frivolous learning, 35.

Fulfilments of prophecy, gradual, 123.

Fundamental truths, 322.

Galen makes too much of final caufes, 147.

Gallus, 286.

Games, a part of civil life, 178.

Geometry, 151.

Germanicus and Drufus, how commended by Tiberius,
286.

Geffures often ftand inftead of {peech, 207.

Gilbert, on the magnet, 51; revived the views of Keno-
phanes, 159.

GOD, His fecret things not to be reached by the fenfes, 10;
His word and His work both to be ftudied, 11; His
power and wifdom, 55; His providence not impeached
by the ftudy of other than final caufes, 149; to be imi-
tated in His goodnefs and love, 267; His providence
controls and changes evil counfels, 307; He demands
one-tenth of our fubftance, and one-feventh of our time,
308 ; fees all things clearly, 310.

Godline/s ranks before fortune, 309.

Gold, the attempt to make it has caufed many inventions,

45.

Gonfalvo’s {peech to his foldiers at Naples, 239.

Good, nature of, 233; difcuffions as to fummum bonum are
folved by Chriftianity, 2b. ; is either private or relative,
235; active or paffive, 240; that of the mind and that
of the body are analogous, 269.

Goodnature and its contrary, 256.

Gordianus the younger, 16.

Government, carried on by acting on men’s affections, 260;
moves flowly, 270 ; a fecret part of knowledge, 309 ; of
the Church, 332.

Grammar, produced by the requirements of fpeech, 209 ;
endeavours to remedy man’s fecond curfe, 2b,

INDEX. 359

Greece and Rome, the two exemplar ftates, 114.

Gregory, St., his hoftility againft learning, 62 ; his prayers
for Trajan’s foul, 68.

Guife, Henry Duke of, his ambition, 78.

Habituation, difcufled, 261 ; precepts for, 262, /9q.

Hannibal thought little of Phormio’s views on war, 247.

Happine/s, its nature, &c., determined by Chriftianity, 2 38
not to be fo purfued as to deftroy magnanimity, 245.

Heatheni/m has no fixed belief, 317 ; is, like an idol, foul-
lefs, 330.

Heliogabalus, 71.

Henry VII, reign of, 116.

Henry VIII, reign of, 116.

Hephaftion, Alexander’s friend, 77.

Heraclitus, the profound, his lumen ficcum, &c., 10; his
cenfure of intellectualifts, 50.

Hercules defpifed Adonis’ image, 38; his pillars, 94.

Herefies, 333-

Herillus, wherein he placed happinefs, 238.

Hermes Trifmegittus, 5.

Hermogenes, the rhetorician, 37.

Herodicus, blamed by Ariftotle, 239.

Heteroclites, or irregulars of pature, 107.

Hieroglyphics, 127, 208.

Hippocrates, 46; treated of prenotion, 162 ; kept notes of
‘cafes, 171 ; his aphorifm on ferious illnefs, 252.

Hifforians and poets have beft treated of the affections,

259.

Hite. related to memory, 105; divifions of, 106; of
learning, deficient, 7b.; civil, 112 ; perfect, 113; mo-
dern, 114, 115; antiquities of, 2d. ; of England, Tudor
period, 115, 116; ruminated, 120; ecclefiaftical, how
divided, 122; appendices to, 124; true, as compared
with feigned (or poetry), 126.

Holy Spirit, His coming expreffed by the gift of tongues,
61; fin againft, 331.

Homer’s Iliad, viii. 19, alluded to, 12; how eftimated by
Alexander, 74 has given a living to many, 88; his
fame more lafting than that of conquerors, 90; a kind
of {cripture to the later Greeks, 129.

Hope, the portion of all who undertake great things, 78.

Horfe-leeches, fable of the, 277.

Horten/ius, the orator, 292.

360 INDEX.

Human philofophy, or felf-knowledge, 160; or humanity,
161; its divifions, 2b.

Humility, needed, but avoided, in things divine and human,
190.

Idolatry, 333.

“¢ Tdols’’ of the mind, 200; of the tribe, i6.; of the cave,
202; of the market-place, 203.

Images (in the Roman Church), how fuppofed to affeét
worthippers, 181.

Imagination, how it affe&ts the body, 164; its power be-
tween man and man, 181; hath two faces towards
reafon and aétion, 182 ; in religion is above reafon, 183 ;
affects judgment, 200.

Immortality, 91 ; that whereunto man’s nature moft afpires,
89; children are a fort of, 2b.

Impofture akin to credulity, 42; its profeffors intoxicated
by it, 87.

Taprefien a part of the fympathy between body and mind,
163.

InduGion, as in ufe, cannot difcover arts, 188; natural
an{wers better, 189 ; how judgment is applied to it, 196.

Inquifitivenefs, akin to babbling, 42.

Infight into men’s charaéters needful to him who would
make his fortune, 285.

Infpiration, 321.

Inftind of animals, 188.

Invention of arts, 185; of fpeech, 192; placed after judg-
ment by the {choolmen, 193; art of it expands with it,
196.

es honoured by God before the flood, 57; deified
by the ancients, 187.

Italian proverb, 289.

Italians, fafpicious of kind deeds, 287.

Ixion, fable of, 19; interpreted, 153.

James, St., quoted, 29r.

Fames I, his praifes, 1—5, 93, 94, 310, 3143 his fentiment
as to geftures, 162; his book on a king’s duty, 247;
on the true law of free monarchies, 248.

‘Fafon, the Theffalian, 83; his judgment on doing a little
evil to bring about great good, 251.

Fefuits, their wifdom in education, 26; have much pro-
moted learning, 62.

INDEX. 361

Feweller’s kill in grinding precious ftones, 245.

Fob’s queftion to his friends, 12; his learning, 59.

Fournals in hiftory, 119.

Fudge, a corrupt better than a facile, 277.

Fudgment, acts of, 196; defined, 197; methods of, 193;
affeéted by the imagination, 200.

Fulian the emperor, interdigted Chriftians from learning,
61; his book entitled Czfares, 71.

Fupiter, planet of civil fociety and aétion, 53; his chain,

135.
Fuftinian, ultimus Romanorum, 114.

Kalendar. (See Calendar.)

Kindne/s, fometimes affumed to lull fufpicion and create
idlenefs, 287.

Kings, to be regarded reverently, 31; if learned, are beft,
66; their duty, according to James I, 248.

Knowledge, only remembrance, according to Plato, 2; St.
Paul warns againft mifufe of, 6; bounds and limita-
tions of it, 10; does not lead, if found, to atheifm, 11,
12; its ftrength in its connections, 40; hindrances to
its growth, 47—54; miftakes as to the ends of, 52; its
true end, 53; fhould produce fruit, 54; ‘alittle know-
ledge is a dangerous thing,” whence this faying comes
to be attributed to Bacon, 84; it never palls, 89; feems
immortal, even to atheifts, 90; is as a pyramid, 145;
has three ftages, 146; of ourfelves, 160; is continuous
and entire, ib.; is pabulum animi, but till diftafteful to
the carnal mind, 184; rational, 185; arts for attaining
thereto are four, 185, /9q.

Lalius ufed to advife the Romans as to their affairs, 274.

Languages, their ftudy revived at the Reformation, 35, 36;
are vehicula fcientia, 61.

Laws of England, 312; their fubje& hitherto handled only
by philofophers or lawyers, not by ftatefmen, 311 ; how
to be treated, 312; of nature, moral and pofitive, 331.

Lawyers write of law as it is, not as it fhould be, 311.

Learned men, their manners not neceffarily rude, 26, 27 ;
apt to fix too high a ftandard, 27; their follies, 34, /gq.;.
to be cherifhed in a ftate, 95.

Learning, flourifhes beft in company with arms, 15; of ufe
to ftatefmen, 7b. ; does not caufe floth, 19; nor leffen
refpect for law, 21; not really difcredited by learned

362 INDEX.

clowns, 7b. ; teaches men their fmallnefs, 29; its peccant
humours, 47—54; purfued for mean ends, 52; is ac-
quired knowledge, 55; its dignity, 55, /gg. ; cherifhed
by the Church, 61; helps faith, 63; feats of, are faulty
in feveral refpects, 97, /gq.; diftribution of, 105; three
periods of, Greek, Roman, and Xvi—xvil century,
313; divine, 315.

Leéures, but ill provided for in places of learning, 98.

Legends, too readily believed in the Church, 43.

Leprofy, the law refpeéting, applied to morals, 58.

Letters, like fhips, carry wealth from age to age, 90; moft
ufeful to teach wifdom of bufinefs, 281.

Levant, the, 31.

Lex Papia, 48.

Libraries are fhrines of true faints, 96.

Life, how likely to be prolonged, 154.

Light, firtt created, 56; of nature, an infufficient guide, 315,
316; ufed in two fenfes, 317.

Liturgy or fervice, a part of divinity, 332.

Livy, beft of hiftorians, 22 ; makes but little of Alexander,
48; his dictum on behaviour, 271 ; judgment on Cato
the cenfor, 282, 297.

Lodefione, why does it attract iron? 235; has only a limited
power, 7d.

Logic (and Rhetoric) too early ftudied at the Univerfities,
101; difcuffes things in notion, but confufedly, 131;
does not profefs to invent fciences, 186; the fyllogifm,
what, 190; compared with Rhetoric, 223.

Longanimity, 255.

Love, the very bond of all virtues, 266, 267.

Lucian, on the Stoic and the lap-dog, 32 ; his objection to
the gods, who begat no children in his day, 48.

Lucretius (quoted), 89.

Lully, Raymond, his falfe method, 220.

Luther awakened all antiquity to help him, 35.

Lyfander on the art of deceit, 306.

Machiavelli on the poverty of the friars, 23; interprets the
fable of Achilles and Chiron, 128; on the means of
preferving governments, 132; writes what is valuable
as a warning, 249; on queftions of policy fhuts his eyes
to moral good and evil, 264; his form and fubje& of
writing the beft for civil prudence, 280; his note on
the policy of Fabius Maximus, 297; on money as the

INDEX. 363

** finews of war,” 302 ; his precept as to the difadvan-
tage of virtue, &c., 306.

Magic, Natural, 181; related to imagination rather than
reafon, 44; has a noble aim, 45; Perfian, what it was,
132; its true fenfe, 138; prefent degradation, 152.

Magnanimity, 255.

Mahomet’s law regarded diet, &c., 163; interdiéts all ar-
gument and ufe of reafon, 317, 318.

Man, a microcofm, 135, 166.

Manichean here/y, 163.

Manners (mores) in divinity, 331.

Mariner’s compafs, 155, 186.

Mafter of the fentences, 323.

Mathematique, 149; divided into pure and mixed, 150;
handmaid to many {ciences, 15; pure, valuable for
mental training, to fix attention, 228.

Medicine, fcience of, apt to be too empirical, 161; dif-
cuffed, 166; its uncertainty gives room for impofture,
167; is judged by its refults, 26. ; analogous to morality
in order of its inveftigations, 258.

Memorials, or hiftory unfinifhed, 111, 112.

Memory, art of, 205.

Menander on love, 266.

Menenius Agrippa, fable of, 98.

Mental philofophy, how divided, 178.

Metaphyfique, uied in fomewhat a different fenfe from its
ordinary acceptation, 138; how limited, 140, 141;
diftinguifhed from phyfics, 141; its functions, 143 ;
abridges the multitude of particulars, 145 ; enfranchifes
man’s powers, 146.

Metellus, how addrefled by Czfar, 81.

Method, a hindrance to learning, 49.

Method of tradition of arts, 212 ; its place in logic, 2b.; of
probation, 213; magiftral, ib. ; enigmatical, 214 com-
pared with aphorifms, ib., 215; varies according to
different fubjects, 216; ufeful in limiting propofitions,
218; a falfe kind of, 220.

Microcofm, man faid to be a, 135, 166.

Midas judgment, gt.

Mind, its nature, 178 ; funétions, 182; is naturally full of
fuperftition and impofture, 200; Georgics of the, 233.

Mirabilaries, 108.

Miracles, not confidered among marvels, 109 ; not wrought
for atheifts, but for the idolatrous and fuperttitious, 134.

364 INDEX.

Mifitheus, a pedant, ruled wifely, 16.

Mithridatum, 174.

Mixed mathematics will extend as knowledge does, 151.

Modern Hiftory, 114; times are truly the moft ancient, 47.

Momus, wanted a window to look into men’s hearts, 285.

Monaftic life, not good unlefs joined with action, 237.

Money, not merely of gold and filver, 209 ; not the ‘ finews
of war,” 3023 its value for advancement, 7d.

Monodica, many things in nature are fuch, 201.

Monjfirofities, or marvels in nature, not fufficiently noted,

107.

Moral Philofophy, 251, fqq.; a wife handmaid to divinity,
252; muit confider what is poffible, 253; charaéters
mutt be ftudied by it, 254; fhould take note of age,
fex, CSC.5 2503.257-

Mojfes, a learned man, 58; on the mount, 237; a pattern
for controverfialifts, 321; his law regulated queftions
of diet, &c., 163.

Mo/s, between putrefaction and a herb, 60.

Mountebanks, often preferred to phyficians, 168.

Mujfic, 24.5; cadences in, 133.

Mujfician, the, who held the foul to be a harmony, 51.

Mutianus, overreached Antonius, 287; his character in
Tacitus, 294.

Mpyfteries, enveloped in * poefy parabolical,” 127.

Naples, Gonfalvo at, 239.

Narrations of particular a€tions (monographs), 118.

Narrowne/s of mind a hindrance to learning, 50.

Natural Hiftory, 107; philofophy is of the mine and fur-
nace, 137; how fubdivided, 138; magic, 26.; pru-
dence, what, 151, 152.

Nature, book of God’s works, 12, 63; helps us to under-
ftand the Scriptures, 7b.; how divided, 142; her fum-
mary law, 145; refufes to be enchained by fyllogifm,
190; light of, infufficient, 315, 316; ufed in two fenfes,
317.

Negociation, part of civil prudence, 273.

Nero, in his minority governed by Seneca, 16, 28.

Nerva, a good and learned prince, 67.

Nicodemus, his error, 319.

Novelty, to be avoided in extremes, 47; not to be diftrufted,
ib.

Nuncio, the advice of a papal, 289.

INDEX. 365

Olympian games, 177 ; vilited, according to Pythagoras,
for many purpoles, 237.

Orations, appendices to hiftory, 124.

Orators, compared with fophifts, 199 ; ftir the paffions of
republics, as the wind the fea, 258.

Organs of fenfe and reflection akin, 133; of the body, are
they feats of correfponding mental faculties? 165.

Orpheus’ theatre, 65.

Ortelius of Antwerp, 219.

Oforius, his “‘ watery vein,” 37.

Oftenfive reduction, 197.

Offentation, a fault of manners, not of policy, 294.

Ottomans, the Sultan of the, flays his brethren at his accef-
flon, 157.

Papia Lex, 48.

Paracelfus’ philofophy reduced by Severinus, 159; held
that man is a microcofm, 166 ; exalted the imagination,
181; views of his fchool on theology, 326.

Paris, judgment of, gt.

Parmenides, 157 ; his {peculation as to the ultimate unity
of all things, 146.

Parmenio’s advice to Alexander, 77, 78.

Particulars, purfuit of, a hindrance to learning, 49.

Paul, St., a learned man, 61; wifhed himfelf anathema
for his brethren, fo placing focial above perfonal good,
236; judgment on the Cretans, 257; his wifdom,
320.

*¢ Pedantes,” fuccefsful as governors, 16 ; ftyled the “ apes
of tyranny,” 26.

Pedantical knowledge, or how knowledge may be handed
down to youth, 227, 228.

Percennius and Vibulenus, 229.

Periander’s advice as to the preferving a tyranny, 208.

Perfian magic, 133.

Phalynus, brought Artaxerxes’ meflage to the Greeks, 82.

Pharaoh’s arrogance, 282.

Philip of Macedon, how an{wered by a mufician, 69.

Philo-Fudzus, on knowledge, 11.

Philocrates, 268.

Philopeemen, 114.

Philofopher, the, who carried the lap-dog, 32.

Philofophers too cautionary in their precepts, 2445 not wife
writers on laws, being too vifionary, 311.

366 INDEX.

Philofophia prima, 49, 130; its character not fatisfactory,
131; defined, 132.

Philofophy, mental, tends towards degeneracy, 46; related
to reafon, 106 ; threefold—divine, natural, and human,
130; divine, 134; ancient, to be inveftigated, 158 ;
not to be treated asa profeffion, 239 ; moral, 251, /9q. ;
what part is in our power, 253.

Phocion’s obltinacy, 19.

Phormio’s theory of wars, 247.

Phyficians, it wife, will confider the effeét of mind on body,
164; apt to undertake other arts befides medicine, 168 ;
muit not defpair of cure, 173; muft endeavour to leffen
pain, 2b.

Phyfics, diftinguifhed from metaphyfics, 141 ; their funétions
difcuffed, 26. ; limited to the material with which they
have to do, 146.

Phyfiognomy, the only found part of prediéfion, 162.

Pindar on fudden fortune, 257.

Pius Quintus, 17.

Places of learning to be helped by the ftate, 95.

Plato, 46, 58; his doétrine of remembrance, 2 ; would not
bear office, 27; on Socrates, 31; adorned philofophy
with his eloquence, 38; mixed philofophy with theo-
logy, 50, 148; held that kings fhould be philofophers,
or philofophers kings, 66; derides men’s contempt for
common things, 109 ; held that forms are the true ob-
jects of knowledge, 143; his fpeculation as to the ulti-
mate unity of all things, 146 ; makes too much of final
caufes, 147; on the feats of the different faculties in
the body, 165; commends middle propofitions in fei-
ences, as fruitful, 186; his induction vicious, 188, 189;
faw the advantage of well-direéted enquiry, 195; why
he introduced Socrates and the fophifts, 198 ; his fup-
pofition of the cave, 202; defpifed rhetoric, 222 ; his
faying as to the beauty of virtue, 75,

Platonif?s mix philofophy with mathematics, 50.

Plautus, marvels at beneficence in old age, 257; (quoted),
282.

Pleafure, how related to happinefs according to the ancients,
238.

Pliny, too credulous, 43 ; faved the Chriftians from perfe-
cution, 69; his panegyric, 266.

Plutarch, adorned philofophy with his eloquence, 38; has

INDEX. 367

fagotted together the ancient philofophies unfatisfac-
torily, 159.

Poefy related to imagination, 105, 183; is feigned hiftory,
125; compared with hiftory, 126; its effets even on
barbarians, 2b.; its divifions, 127; fables of, have they
an inward meaning? 129; regarded as to its form,
210; called winum demonum by one of the fathers, 263.

Poets and hiftorians have beft handled the affections, 259.

Politicians, why they object to learning, 13; the corrupt
fort of them feek only their own gain, 29.

Pompey, his faying when charged with the relief of Rome
from famine, 236 ; wifely burned Sertorius’ papers, 275 ;
the only great captain when Czefar began his career of
war, 292; erred in following Sylla’s example too far,
293; damaged himfelf by clofenefs, 300.

Pofitive precepts of law and theology, 319.

Poverty, its praifes fit fubject for friars, 23; honoured in
the beft days of Rome, 24; “ paupertas virtutis for-
tuna,”’ 2b.

Power, varies according to the degree and pofition of the
governed, 86.

Preaching, fottered by the Reformation, 36.

Predicaments (or categories), their ufe, 200.

Prediéiion and prenotion, arts referring to the conneétion
between body and mind, 162.

Prenotion, foundation to the art of memory, 206.

Preparation, as an inftrument for invention, 193.

Priefthood, of {ome weight in empire, 88.

Princes, beft feen into by watching their natures, 289.

Proclus and the Platonifts, 50.

Prometheus, his inventions, 187.

Promus and condus in Roman houfekeeping, 240.

Prophecy, is divine hiftory, 106, 122.

Proteus, 111.

Proverb (Spanifh), 288; (Italian), 289.

Providence, hiftory of, 123.

Proxenus, Xenophon’s friend, 82.

Pygmalion’s frenzy, 37.

Pythagoras bafed his philofophy on numbers, 150; his
praife of a contemplative life, 237.

Pythagorean fuperftitions as to diet, &c., 163.

Quantity, the fubje& of mathematics, 150; the moft abftraét
of all forms, 7d.

368 INDEX.

Quicknefs of difpatch moft ufeful for rifing in the world, 275.
Quirites, 80.

Rabbins, their labours in the law, 58 ; their interpretations
to be reftrained, 327.

“* Ragioni di fiato,” 17.

Ramus did well in reviving the rules of propofitions, 218.

Raven, the, his inftinét, 188.

Raymond, Lully, his falfe method, 220.

Readerfhips in {ciences, fhould be fo well endowed as to
get the beft men, 98.

Reajon, fubordinate to divine truth, 135; its exceflive ap-
plication in “ divine philofophy ” likely to beget error,
136; but not to be neglected therein, 317 ; Chriftianity
holds the mean as to it, ib.; ufe of it of two kinds,
318; not yet enough enquired into, 319.

Reduétion in logic, of two kinds, oftenfive and ad abfurdum,
197.

Reformation, the, awakened learning, and a claffical ftyle,
35, 62.

Regifters, 112.

Religion, deals with the imprefflions of body on mind, 163.

Remedies, much confufed, 174.

Republics (like the fea), ftirred by any wind, 258.

Revelation, 315, 316.

Reverence, a hindrance to learning, 50.

Rewards, a chief help to learning, 94.

Rhetoric (and Logic) too early ftudied at the Univerfities, 101;
feparated from philofophy by Socrates, 160; engaged
on imaginative reafon, 1843 requires ftore of places (or
topics), 194.; difcuffed at length, 220; defined, 221 ;
defpifed by Plato, 2b. ; helps to keep the paffions in or-
der, 223; compared with logic, zb.; Ariftotle’s treatife
thereon difcufles the affections, 259.

Rhetorical furprifes, akin to mufical, 133.

Romans, the, were profeflors of a wifdom of bufinefs, 274 ;
their wifeft men ufed to walk in the forum giving ad-
vice to their fellow-citizens, 2b.

Rome and Greece, the two exemplar ftates, 114; under the
fix kings fhe prepared for her greatnefs, 229.

Romulus, 114.

Salluj?, on royal fancies, 257; cenfures Pompey’s referved
and dark ways, 300.

INDEX. 369

Samuel, 189.

Saracens, foes to learning, 62.

Sarah, an image of natural reafon, 315.

Saturn, planet of reft, 53.

Saviour, our, the great phyfician, 170; commends rhe-
torical preparation, 193.

Sayings, or brief {peeches, appendices to hiftory, 124.

Scale or ladder of knowledge, 138.

Sceptic philofophers had good grounds for becoming fuch,

I9I.

Schoolmafters held in too little honour, 25.

Schoolmen, the rudenefs of their ftyle, 36 ; held in contempt
as barbarous, 37; their degenerate or “‘ vermiculate”
learning, 39 ; their ufelefs {ubtilty in matter and man-
ner, 40; drew from their own minds, not from nature,
42; their voluminous writings, 323.

Scornful, the, will not receive correction, 279.

Scotland, hiftory of, ill handled, 115.

Scriptures, the, a well of life, 322 ; how interpreted, 323;
plentifully expounded in England, 329.

Sculptor, the, compared with Nature, 265.

Scylla, a type of fcholaftic learning, 41.

Self-advancement, rules for, 284, /qq.

Seneca governed wifely during Nero’s minority, 16, 28 ;
on weaknefs of character, 20 ; adorned philofophy with
eloquence, 38; his fubtilty of mind, 40; compares fal-
lacies to juggling tricks, 198 ; condemns eloquence for
difplay, 232; feigned too high an elevation for man’s
nature, 234; complains that men care little for reforma-
tion of manners, 252.

Seraphim, angels of love, the higheft order, 56.

Sermons, in King James I.’s time, excellent, 329.

Serpent, his nature, 250.

Sertorius’ papers burnt by Pompey, 275.

Seven Sages, their fayings akin to poefy parabolical, 127.

Severinus the Dane, 159.

Severus (Septimius) hoped to employ well his ill-gotten
fortune, 308.

Sextus Quintus, 17.

Sibyl, the, felling her books to Tarquin, 298.

Sin, its divifions, 331.

Sifyphus, his offence of futility, 310.

Sleep, the gates of, 268.

Sloth, its drawbacks, 276.

BB

370 INDEX.

Small things beft difcover great, 110.

Socrates, accufed of corrupting youth, 14; reaction in his
favour when dead, 22 ; his uglinefs and goodnefs, 31 ;
his irony, 52, 191 ; called philofophy down from heaven,
543 his reply to Hippias, 110; charged with feparating
philofophy and rhetoric, 160; his method of refutation,
198; wherein he placed true felicity, 238 ; difputes with
a fophift, 244; quoted, 231, 249, 272, 320.

Solomon, his learning, 60; his aphorifms on civil wifdom,
2745 /97-

Solon’s Laws, their wifdom, 27; his juft judgment as to
Croefus’ wealth, 302.

Sophifm, the greateft, is equivocation, 199.

Sophifis compared with orators, 199.

Soul, nature of the, 178; not a proper fubjeét for invefti-
gation, 179. =

Spani/h proverb, 288.

Speech, an organ of tradition, 207.

Spirits in divers ranks, 563 evil, not to be dealt with, though
their power may be enquired into, 136.

Standing-point for argument, men defire a, 197.

Statefmen, learned and experienced, compared, 66.

Stoics, their dogmas fitted to the fables of the poets by
Chryfippus, 129; their difpute with the Epicureans as
to felicity fettled by Chriftianity, 238; feem to have
difcuffed the affections well, 259.

Sturmius ftudied Cicero and Hermogenes, 37.

Suetonius not fo credible as Tacitus, 159.

Suffering, when wife, overcomes difficulties, 254.

Suggeftion, an inftrument of invention, 194.

Summaries of theology are bad, 323.

Summary \aw of Nature, 145.

“© Summum bonum,” the, not to be difcuffed by us, 234.

Superfiitious narrations not always defpicable, 108; divi-
nation, 179.

Sun, the, is never defiled, fee what he may, 109.

Sylla, 180, 276; how judged by Cefar, 82; never con-
demned fq many to die as phyficians do in their igno-
rance, 173; a troubler of the world, 242; modeft
towards Fortune, ftyling himfelf Felix, not Maguus,
2833 his aflumed franknefs, 299.

Syllogifm, cannot invent arts, 190; Nature refufes to be en-
chained by it, 26°; ufe of judgment in, 196; in civil
life the “‘ minor premifes” the more important, 285.

INDEX. 371
Sympathies between body and mind difcufled, 161, /7q.

Tacitus, 166, 229; on the eloquence of Auguftus, 3; his
judgment on Nerva, 67; his annals, 119; his note on
the retention of ancient terms and titles, 140; far more
truftworthy than Suetonius, from the form of his nar-
rative, 159; on fudden profperity, 257; obfervation on
Tiberius and Agrippina, 288; on Tiberius’ referved
manners, 292; his judgment on Mutianus, 294; on
Pompey’s dark dealing, 300; on Livia, 301.

Talk, the common, is fometimes wifer than books, 253.

Tantalus, 310.

Tarquin buys the Sibyl’s books, 298.

Telefius, 159.

Tennis gives quick eye and body, 151.

Thales, 110.

Themiffocles, his faying as to mufic and government, 31.

Theology, how divifible, 106 ; difcuffed briefly, 315.

Thefeus, 114.

Thirty Tyrants, the, 22.

Thucydides on Cleon’s hatred of eloquence, 222.

Tiberius concealed his power at firft, 191; jealous of his
heir, 276; clofeft of men, 286, 292; his manner of
fpeech, 26.; quarrels with Agrippina, 288.

Tigellinus intrigues againft Turpilianus, 290.

Time, the author of authors, 46 ; devours his children, 47 ;
as a river, finks things weighty, and carries down what
is light and worthlets, 49.

Timotheus, the Athenian, too arrogant towards fortune,
282.

Topics, not deficiently handled, 195; of two forts, 2b. ; the
‘particular’? ones commended, 196; combine logic
with fubjeét-matter, 2.

Tradition of knowledge, faulty, and a hindrance to learn-
ing, 51; art of, 206.

Trajan, though not learned, a patron of learning, 68;
nicknamed ‘‘ wall-flower” by Conftantine, 75; how
praifed by Pliny, 266.

Travels, much multiplied of late, 121.

Treacle, 174.

Tribonian, 323.

Trifagion of knowledge, 146.

Triumvirs, the, fold their friends to one another, 306.

Trufé and diftruft flowly, if you will make your fortune,
286.

272 INDEX.

Truth of being and of knowing are one, 42; demands
much feverity of inveftigation, 157, 158.

Tudor period of hiftory, 115, 116.

Tumblers and ropedancers can do with the body what
“* memoria technica” enables men to do with their
minds, 206.

Turpilianus deftroyed through Tigellinus’ intrigues, 290.

Ulyffes’ judgment, 92.

Union of England and Scotland, 117.

Univerfal propofitions in f{ciences, 219.

Univer/fities to be cherifhed, 95 ; teach logic and rhetoric
to minds not ftored with {ubjeét-matter (knowledge),
101; their exercifes faulty, 102 ; do not keep up fufh-
cient intercourfe with one another, 76.

Untruth in learning, 42.

Urbanity fometimes too much confidered, 272.

Valentine, Duke (Czefar Borgia), his charagter, 292.

Valour, falfe, lies in the eyes of its beholders, 19.

Varro, belt of antiquaries, 22.

Velleius, the epicurean, his impatience of doubt, 52 ; his
queftion as to the ordering of ftars by God, inconfiftent
with his principles, 202.

Verus, ZElius (fc. Ceionius Commodus), patron of Martial,
71; L. Commodus ({c. Aurelius), a learned prince, 76.

Vibulenus, 229.

Virgil prejudiced againft learning, 13; beft of poets, 22 ;
quoted, 85; lines on Auguftus, 87; got great glory by
finging of humble matters, 233.

Virtue, not to be undervalued, 295 ; is rewarded, 307.

Vifions, prophetic, 180.

Vifitors of colleges, &c., negle&tful, 100.

Vitality, how likely to be increafed, 154.

Voluptuary arts flourith moft in a decaying ftate, 178.

Vulcan, god of alchemifts, 99, 137.

Whitenefs, the caufes of, 144.

Wifdom, an attribute of God, 55; three kinds of, in civil
life, 271, 2733 true, compared with verbal, 279; of
prudence, beft drawn from hiftory, 280; helps much
towards felf-advancement, 282.

Witchcraft, the height of idolatry, 333.

Women judge by fortune rather than excellence, 278.

i]

INDEX. 373

Wonder, feed of knowledge, is broken knowledge, 7.

Word of God, the, 315.

Words, images of matter, 37; tokens of current notions of
things, 190, 209 ; apt to impofe on us, 203; of others,
not to be unnoted, if you will build your fortune, 288.

World, the, wrongly judged to be an image of God, 135.

Writing, art of, 204.

Xenophon, a general and fcholar, 15, 82; adorned philo-

fophy with eloquence, 38 ; on the good effeéts of love,
267.

Young men not fit auditors of queftions of morals or policy,
till their good habits are formed, 263.

Zeno, 237.

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