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notions and blind experiments; and what the posterity and issue of so honourable a match may be, it is not hard to consider.

Printing, a gross' invention; artillery, a thing that lay not far out of the way; the needle, a thing partly known before: what a change have these three made in the world in these times; the one in state of learning, the other in state of the war, the third in the state of treasure, commodities, and navigation! And those, I say, were but stumbled upon and lighted upon by chance. Therefore, no doubt, the sovereignty of Man lieth hid in knowledge; wherein many things are reserved, which kings with their treasure cannot buy, nor with their force command; their spials and intelligencers can give no news of them, their seamen and discoverers cannot sail where they grow; now we govern nature in opinions, but we are thrall' unto her in necessity; but if we would be led by her in invention, we should command her in action.

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1 Gross. Probably palpably obvious; which it was (as has been above remarked) as soon as a cheap paper was invented.

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'For he by faithful spials was assur'd

That Egypt's king was forward on his way.'-Fairfax.

3 Thrall. Slave.

'No thralls like them that inward bondage have.'

ANNOTATIONS.

No better annotation can be given than in Bacon's own words,—The mistaking or misplacing of the last or farthest end of knowledge, is the greatest error of all the rest: For, men have entered into a desire of learning and knowledge, sometimes upon a natural curiosity, and inquisitive appetite; sometimes to entertain their minds with variety and delight; sometimes for ornament and reputation; and sometimes to enable them to victory of wit and contradiction; and most times for lucre and profession;-but seldom sincerely to give a true account of their gift of reason, to the benefit and use of men: As if there were sought in knowledge, a couch whereupon to rest a searching and restless spirit; or a terras for a wandering and variable mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect; or a tower of state for a proud mind to raise itself upon; or a fort or commanding ground for strife and contention; or a shop for profit or sale; and not a rich store-house for the glory of the Creator, and the relief of man's estate."1

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1 Advancement of Learning.

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