The works of Francis Bacon, lord chancellor of England.

LIFE OF BACON. ciii
sixty years of age, and if, after the vexations that tower, that he did acknowledge to have reand labours of a professional and political life, covered that kingdom by the help of the Althe varieties and sprightliness of youthful ima- mighty; nor would he stir from his camp till he
ginationr are not to be found, yet the peculiar pro- had seen a little army of martyrs, to the number
perties of his mind may easily be traced, and the of seven hundred and more Christians, that had
stateliness of the edifice be seen in the magnifi- lived in bonds and servitude, as slaves to the
cence of the ruins. Moors, pass before his eyes, singing a psalm for
His vigilance in recording every fact tending to i their redemption."
alleviate misery, or to promote happiness, is The work was published in folio, in 1622: and
noticed by Bishop Sprat, in his History of the is dedicated to Prince Charles. Copies were
Royal Society, where he says, ",I shall instance presented to the king, to Buckingham, to the
in the sweating sickness. The medicine for it Queen of Bohemia, and to the lord keeper.
was almost infallible: but, before that could be It had scarcely been published when he felt
generally published, it had almost dispeopled and expressed anxiety that it should be translated
whole towns. If the same disease should have into Latin, "' as these modern languages will, at
returned, it mighlt have been again as destructive, one time or other, play the bankrupts with books;
had not the Lord Bacon taken care to set down and, since I have lost much time with this age, I
the particular course of physic for it in his History would be glad, as God shall give me leave, to
of Henry the Seventh, and so put it beyond the recover it with posterity:" a wish which was
possibility of any private man's invading it." more than gratified, as it was published, not only
One of his maxims of government for the en- in various editions, in England, but was soon
largement of the bounds of the empire is to be translated into French and into Latin.
found in his comment upon the ordinance, stated Such was the nature of his literary occupations
in the treatise " De Augmentis." ", Let states and in the first year after his retirement, during which
kingdoms that aim at greatness by all means take he corresponded with different learned foreigners
heed how the nobility, and grandees, and those upon his works; and great zeal having been
which we call gentlemen, multiply too fast; for shown for his majesty's service, he composed a
that makes the common subject grow to be a treatise entitled, "An Advertisement touching a
peasant and base swain, driven out of heart, and Holy War," which he inscribed to the Bishop of
in effect nothing else but the nobleman's bond- Winchester.
slaves and labourers. Even as you may see in In the beginning of this year, (1623,) a vacancy
coppice-wood, if you leave your studdles too occurred in the Provostship of Eton college,
thick, you shall never have clean underwood, but where, in earlier years, he had passed some days
shrubs and bushes: so in a country, if the no- with Sir Henry Savile, pleasant to himself
bility be too many, the commons will be base and and profitable to society. His love of knowledge
heartless, and you will bring it to that, that not again manifested itself.
the hundredth poll will be fit for a helmet, espe- Having, in the spirit of his father, unfortunately
cially as to the infantry, which is the nerve of an engaged, in his youth, in active life, he now, in
army; and so there will be great population, and the spirit of his grandfather, the learned and conlittle strength." templative Sir Anthony Cooke, who took more
His love of familiar illustration is to be found pleasure to breed up statesmen than to be one,
in various parts of the history: as when speaking offered himself to succeed the provost: as a fit
of the commotion by the Cornish men, on behalf occupation for him in the spent hour-glass of his
of the impostor Perkin Warbeck: " The king life, and a retreat near London to a place of
judged it his best and surest way to keep his study.
strength together in the seat and centre of his The objection which would, of course, be made
kingdom; according to the ancient Indian em- from what we, in our importance, look down
blem, in such a swelling season, to hold the hand upon as beneath his dignity, he had many years
upon the middle of the bladder, that no side before anticipated in the Advancement of Learnmight rise." ing, when investigating the objections to learning
And his kind nature and holy feeling appear in from the errors of learned men, from their forhis account of the conquest of Granada. "1 Some- tunes; their manners; and the meanness of their
what about this time came letters from Ferdinan- employments: upon which he says, "As for
do and Isabella, king and queen of Spain, signi- meanness of employment, that which is most trafying the final conquest of Granada from the duced to contempt is, that the government of
Moors; but the. king would not by any means in youth is commonly allotted to thelm; which age,
person enter the city until he had first aloof seen because it is the age of least authority, it is transthe cross set up upon the great tower of Granada, ferred to the disesteeming of those employments
whereby it became Christian ground; and, before wherein youth is conversant, and which are conhe would enter, he did homage to God above, versant about youth. But how unjust this trapronouncing by a herald from the height of ducement is, if you will rerduce things from