The works of Francis Bacon, lord chancellor of England.

82 ON THE INTERPRETATION OF NATURE.
God, no knowledge, but wonder; which is nothing lineages and propagations, yet nevertheless honour
else but contemplation broken off, or losing itself. the remembrance of the inventor both of music
Nay further, as it was aptly said by one of Plato's and works in metal. Moses again, who was the
school, "the sense of man resembles the sun, reporter, is said to have been seen in all the Egypwhich openeth and revealeth the terrestrial globe, tian learning, which nation was early and leoading
but obscureth and concealeth the celestial;" so in matter of knowledge. And Solomon the king,
doth the sense discover natural things, but darken as out of a branch of his wisdom extraordinarily
and shutup divine. And this appeareth sufficient- petitioned and granted from God, is said to have
ly in that there is no proceeding in invention of written a natural history of all that is green, from
knowledge, but by similitude; and God is only the cedar to the moss, which is but a rudiment beself-like, having nothing in common with any tween putrefaction and an herb, and also of all
creature, otherwise as in shadow and trope. There- that liveth and moveth. And if the book of Job
fore attend his will as himself openeth it, and be turned over, it will be found to have much asgive unto faith that which unto faith belongeth; persion of natural philosophy. Nay, the same
for more worthy it is to believe than to think or Solomon the kingaffirmeth directly, that the glory
know, considering that in knowledge, as we now of God, is to conceal a thing, but the glory of
are capable of it, the mind suffereth from inferior the king is to find it out," as if, according to the
natures; but in all belief it suffereth from a spirit, innocent play of children, the Divine Majesty
which it holdeth superior, and more authorized took delight to hide his works, to the end to have
than itself. them found out; for in naming the king he intendTo conclude; the prejudice hath been infinite, eth man, taking such a condition of man as hath
that both divine and human knowledge hath re- most excellency and greatest commandments of
ceived by the intermingling and tempering of the wits and means, alluding also to his own person,
one with the other: as that which hath filled the being truly one of those clearest burning lamps,
one full of heresies, and the other full of specula- whereof himself speaketh in another place, when
tive fictions and vanities. he saith, " The spirit of man is as the lamp of God,
But now there are again, which, in a contrary wherewith he searcheth all inwardness;" which
extremity to those which give to contemplation nature of the soul the same Solomon, holding prean over-large scope, do offer too great a restraint cious and inestimable, and therein conspiring with
to natural and lawful knowledge; being unjustly the affection of Socrates, who scorned the pretendjealous that every reach and depth of knowledge ed learned men of his time for raising great benefit
wherewith their conceits have not been acquaint- of their learning, whereas Anaxagoras contraried, should be too high an elevation of man's wit, wise, and divers others, being born to ample patriand a searching and ravelling too far into God's monies, decayed them in contemplation, delivereth
secrets; an opinion that ariseth either of envy, it in precept yet remaining, 1" Buy the truth and
which is proud weakness, and to be censured and sell it not; and so of wisdom and knowledge."
not confuted, or else of a deceitful simplicity. And lest any man should retain a scruple, as if
For if they mean that the ignorance of a second this thirst of knowledge were rather an humour of
cause doth make men more devoutly to depend the mind, than an emptiness or want in nature,
upon the providence of God, as supposing the ef- and an instinct from God; the same author defineth
fects to come immediately from his hand; I de- of it fully, saying,,, God hath made every thing
mand of them, as Job demanded of his friends, in beauty according to season; also he hath set
", Will you lie for God, as man will for man the world in man's heart, yet can he not find out
to gratify him!" But if any man, without any the work which God worketh from the beginning
sinister humour, doth indeed make doubt that to the end:" declaring not obscurely that God hath
this digging further and further into the mine of framed the mind of man as a glass, capable of the
natural knowledge, is a thing without example, image of the universal world, joying to receive the
and uncommended in the Scriptures, or fruitless; signature thereof, as the eye is of light; yea, not
let him remember and be instructed: for behold only satisfied in beholding the variety of things,
it was not that pure light of natural knowledge, and vicissitude of-times, but raised also to find out
whereby man in paradise was able to give unto and discern those ordinances and decrees, which
every living creature a name according to his pro- throughout all these changes are infallibly
priety, which gave occasion to the fall; but it was observed. And although the highest generality
an aspiring desire to attain to that part of moral of motion, or summary law of nature, God should
knowledge, which defineth of good and evil, still reserve within his own curtain; yet many
whereby to dispute God's commandments, and and noble are the inferior and secondary operations
not to depend upon the revelation of his will, which are within man's sounding. This is a thing
which was the original temptation. And the first which I cannot tell whether I may so plainly speak
holy records, which within those brief memorials as truly conceive, that as all knowledge appeareth
of things which passed before the flood, entered to be a plant of God's own planting, so it may seem
few things as worthy to be registered, but only the spreading and flourishing, or at least the bear