Majus to pope Clement IV. A. D. 1266, that pontiff procured him some. mitigation of his sufferings, if not his full liberty. But he did not very long enjoy that relaxation, as he was again imprisoned by Jerom de Esculo, general of the Franciscan order, A. D. 1278, because his works, it was pretended, contained some suspected novelties. In this second confinement Bacon continued about eleven or twelve years, when he was set at liberty by pope Nicholas IV. at the earnest request of several noblemen. Though he was now old, and no doubt much broken by his long and cruel sufferings, he still continued to prosecute his studies, by polishing his former works, and composing new ones, till death put an end to all his calamities, and all his labours, at Oxford, June 11, 1292. • We cannot but lament that friar Bacon met with so many discouragements in the pursuit of useful knowledge. If he had lived in better times, or if he had even been permitted to prosecute that course of inquiries and experiments in which he engaged after his return from Paris, it is highly probable that the world would have had many valuable discoveries that are still unknown. An excellent modern writer having enumerated some of Bacon's discoveries, viz.-his discovery of the exact length of the solar year, and a method of correcting all the errors in the calendar-his discoveries of the art of making reading-glasses, the camera obscura, microscopes, telescopes, and various other mathematical and astronomical instruments ;-his discovery of gunpowder, of the method of making elixirs, tinctures, solutions, and of performing all the chemical operations that are now in use; -his discoveries of the nature of the mechanical powers; and of the best methods of applying and combining them in the construction of machines for performing many useful and surprising operations ;-his discoveries in medicine, for curing diseases, and prolonging life:-this writer, I say, having enumerated these discoveries, proceeds in the following manner:-" These are wonderful discoveries for a man to make, in so ignorant an age, who had no master to teach him, but struck it all out of his own brain: but it is still more wonderful, that such discoveries should lie so long concealed, till in the next succeeding centuries other people should start up, and lay claim to the merit of these very inventions, to which Bacon alone had a right."

According to Leland, Bayle, and other literary historians, the writings of friar Bacon were very numerous. But it plainly appears, that these writers have divided one work into many, and, by multiplying titles, have represented them as much more numerous than they really were. The supreme authority which Aristotle obtained in the schools of theology, as well as of philosophy, in the course of the thirteenth century, had considerable influence on the state of learning, and even of religion, in

this period. The name, and some parts of the writings, of Aristotle, were known in England, and other countries of Europe, long before this time. But it was not till about the middle of the thirteenth century that he obtained that dictatorial authority among learned men, and in the most famous seats of learning, that he so long maintained. About that time he began to be called the philosopher, by way of eminence. "He is preferred (says Bacon) before all other philosophers, in the opinion of all men of learning; whatever he hath affirmed is received by them as true and sound philosophy; and, in a word, he hath the same authority in philosophy that the Apostle Paul hath in divinity." To such an extravagant height was this veneration for Aristotle carried before the middle of the fourteenth century, in some of the most famous universities, particularly in that of Paris, that students were obliged to take a solemn oath, to defend the opinions of Aristotle, of his commentator Averrois, and of his other ancient commentators.

It must be obvious, that this extravagant veneration of Aristotle, and blind submission to his opinions, could not but obstruct the progress of real knowledge; especially as very few of his admirers, in this period, were capable of reading his works in their original language. We are assured by Bacon, that there were not above four persons among the Latins in his time who understood Greek; and we have good reason to believe, that even Thomas Aquinas, the most admired of all Aristotle's commentators, did not understand that language. The very translators of Aristotle's works appear to have been a kind of impostors. Bacon affirms, that Michael Scot borrowed all that he published in his own name from one Andrew a Jew; " and as for William Fleming (says he), every body at Paris knows, that he doth not understand the Greek language, though he pretends to it; and therefore he translates every thing safely, and corrupts the learning of the Latins." It is no wonder, therefore, that the same learned person declared," that the time and labour employed in reading these wretched translations were lost; and that if he could have got all the Latin translations of Aristotle's works into his hands, he would have thrown them all into the fire, as they were the great cause of the increase of ignorance and error."

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Geometry, and other branches of mathematical learning, were much neglected in this period. Of this circumstance Bacon frequently complains. The neglect of mathematics (says he) for these thirty or forty years past, hath done great harm to learning among the Latins." This neglect was so great, as he assures us, that very few students proceeded further than to the fifth proposition of the first book of Euclid's Elements; and there were not above five or six persons then alive, who had made considerable progress in mathematical learning. The truth is, that ma

thematical studies, in those times brought neither honour nor profit to those who engaged in them. On the contrary, those few who prosecuted them with ardour and success, were strongly suspected of holding a criminal correspondence with infernal spirits, and on that account were hated and persecuted as magicians.

Arithmetic is so useful and necessary in the common affairs of life, as well as in all other arts and sciences, that the attention paid to it is generally proportioned to the necessities of society, and the state of the other sciences. The Arabian numerals were known and used in Britain in this period, and the use of them contributed very much to improve and facilitate arithmetical operations. These operations are thus described by Roger Bacon: "It is necessary that a theologian excel in the knowledge of numbers, and understand all arithmetical operations, viz. numeration, addition, subtraction, mediation, multiplication, division, extraction of the roots, both integers and fractions. He must not only understand vulgar fractions, as halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, &c. &c. but he must also understand astronomical fractions, as minutes, seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, &c. &c. because in chronological calculations he must have recourse to the motion of the sun and moon, in which such fractions are of capital consideration. He must not only understand the fractions of the Latins and Arabians, but also of the Hebrews, who divide an hour into one thousand and eighty parts. Besides, it is necessary for him to understand the reduction of fractions of different kinds into those of one kind. For if it happens that among integers there are fractions of different kinds, as, ,, &c. &c. he will not be able to manage these numbers properly, unless he understand how to reduce these different fractions into one kind of fraction, and so into integers." The above description, it is probable, - contains a system of the arithmetic of the thirteenth century, when Bacon flourished.

From conversing with travellers, and from reading every thing that had been written on the subject, the indefatigable friar Bacon composed a description of all the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa, that were known in the thirteenth century; and whoever will give himself the trouble to peruse that description, will find it both more extensive and more correct than he could have imagined. It appears that this extraordinary person had adorned and illustrated his description by a map, in which the latitude and longitude of places were ascertained by meridian and parallel lines, as in our present maps. But unfortunately this map is not to be found in any of the copies of our author's Opus Majus yet discovered. It is still more remarkable, that Bacon laboured with great earnestness to prove, that a much greater proportion of our terraqueous globe was dry land, and habitable, especially in the southern hemisphere, than was com

monly believed; and that he endeavoured to prove this by the very same arguments which determined Columbus, two centuries after, to go in quest of the new world.

His last work, written in his old age, after his long imprisonment, was his Body of Divinity. In this work he comments with his usual good intelligence on the new method of preaching, which was introduced about the beginning of the thirteenth century. The preacher, at the beginning of his discourse, read a text out of some book and chapter of the Old or New Testament (which had lately been divided into chapters and verses by cardinal Langton), as the theme or subject of his sermon. This text he divided into several parts, by the help of that subtile logic and divinity, which were then so much in vogue; and the greater dexterity he discovered in splitting his text into many parts, he was esteemed the greater divine and the better preacher. Having thus divided his text, he formed several heads of discourse on each of these divisions; on which heads he descanted, one after the other, subdividing them again into many particulars. Of this new and artificial method of preaching, Bacon speaks with great contempt and aversion: "The greatest part of our prelates (says he), having but little knowledge in divinity, and having been little used to preaching in their youth, when they become bishops, and are sometimes obliged to preach, are under a necessity of begging and borrowing the sermons of certain novices, who have invented a new way of preaching, by endless divisions and quibblings; in which there is neither sublimity of style nor depth of wisdom, but much childish trifling and folly, unsuitable to the dignity of the pulpit. May God (adds the zealous Bacon) banish this conceited and artificial way of preaching out of his church; for it will never do any good, nor elevate the hearts of the hearers to any thing that is great or excellent."

When he had been ten years in prison, Jerom de Ascoli, who had condemned his doctrine, was chosen Pope and assumed the name of Nicholas IV. As he was the first of the Franciscan order that had ever arrived at this dignity, was reputed a person of much probity and great learning, Bacon, notwithstanding what had before happened, resolved to apply to him for his discharge; and in order to pacify his resentment, and at the same time to show both the innocence and usefulness of his studies, he addressed to him a very learned and curious treatise, On the Means of avoiding the Infirmities of Old Age. In this treatise he indicates the following medicines to his holiness.-As for my own part, says he, being hindered partly by the change, partly by impatience, and partly by the rumours of the vulgar, I was not willing to make experiment of all things, which may be easily tried by others, but have resolved to express those things, in obscure and difficult terms, which I judge necessary for the conservation of health, least they should fall into the hands of the infidels,

One of which lies in the bowels of the earth;* another in the sea; the third creeps upon the earth; the fourth lives in the air; the fifth is likened to the medicine which comes out of the mine of the noble animal ;|] the sixth cometh out of the long-lived animal; the seventh is that whose mine is the plant of India ;** I have resolved to mention these things openly, imitating the precept of the prince of the philosophers, to Alexander, who said that he is a transgressor of the divine law, who discovers the hidden secrets of nature and the properties of things.

Possessed of such extraordinary merit, it is deeply to be lamented that he was the dupe of the pretensions of the Alchemists, and that much of his chemical knowledge was applied in the vain pursuit of the art of transmuting metals, or in endeavouring to discover the philosopher's stone.

Another of his weaknesses was his celebrated invention of a tincture or elixir of gold for the prolongation of life to indefinite old age.

But the greatest waste of his talents, was in the pursuit of astrology, to illustrate which he wrote five treatises, and he also dabbled in all the arts of divination and prognostication, as appears by the list of his works. Bacon either did not think deeply enough on these subjects, or he wanted courage to assail prejudices, or his understanding was overwhelmed by the imposing machinery and dogmatism of false science. For one of these reasons he pursued and taught astrology, magic, and alchemy; just as Lord Bacon believed in Witchcraft, Shakspeare in ghosts, and Newton in attraction and repulsion. These were the vices and predominating follies of their ages, and they either yielded to them or did not examine them with doubt. In each case, it required no new facts to discover the absurdity but the honest energy of sound logic. The position of the planets and heavens merely indicated certain varieties of events all of which must come to pass in certain ratios of probability, often 10 to 1 in favour, and if 10 to 1 against, still coming true in 1 individual out of 10. Marbles knocked against a wall are, therefore, as efficient prognostics as planets, and celestial changes. Just so Bacon ought to have felt, that old women could not change that course of nature which for thousands of years had been working out phenomena; Shakspeare ought to have been aware that the mind alone creates ghosts, and he should not have made them speak and raised them by a wizard's wand; and Newton ought to have been sensible that bodies cannot act in power upon the opposite sides of other bodies, so as to produce mutual approach; nor increase their mutual distance, when each is in power, only in the contrary direction. Either we must conclude that these great men did not reason on these subjects, or that they succombed to prejudices, or that they set at nought the intelligence of posterity. Be it how it may, the error or weakness is

Gold.

Coral.

The Viper. Rosemary. Some Astrological allusions to the name of a metal. ¶ The bone of a stag's heart. ** Lignum Aloes.