BACON, Sir Nicholas (1509-79). A dis- tinguished English statesman, father of Francis Bacon. He was born at Chiselhurst, gradu- ated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1527, and was called to the bar in 1533. He held several royal appointments under Henry VIII. and Edward VI., and although a Protes- tant, escaped persecution under Mary, and was even allowed to retain his office in the Court of Wards and Liveries. After the accession of Eliza- beth, he was Lord High Chancellor and Keeper of the Great Seal from 1558 to his death. Sir Nicholas was one of those solid and stately Englishmen to whose sagacity, high principles, and firm demeanor his country owed its safety in that critical period when Elizabeth mounted the throne.
BACON, Roger (c. 1214-94). An English
monk and philosopher. He was descended from
a respectable family, and born at Ilchester, in
Somersetshire, about 1214. Through the force
of his intellect he raised himself far above his
age, made remarkable discoveries in several
branches of science, and contributed much to
e-xtend the then scanty knowledge of nature.
The facts of his life, in the main, must be gath-
ered from tradition and from references in va-
rious works. He studied at Oxford and then
at Paris, where he received the degree of doctor
of theology; and soon after his return to Eng-
land, he entered the Order of the Franciscans and
settled at Oxford. He carried on active studies
and experimental researches, this latter work
being done mainly in alchemy and optics. He
was so far advanced in his discoveries as not
only to arouse the jealousy of his associates
and to create doubts as to his orthodoxy, but
also to occasion his being accused of dealing
in the black art of magic. In 1257, when Bona-
ventura was General of the Franciscan Order,
Bacon was removed from Oxford, and for ten
years confined at Paris without writing mate-
rials, books, or instruments. Among those who
had heard of Bacon was Guy de Foulques, the
Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina, at that time (1264)
Papal legate in England, and later Pope Clement
IV. He desired to see Bacon's writings, but the
interdiction of the Franciscans prevented a com-
pliance with his wish. On his accession to
the Papacy as Clement IV., Bacon wrote to
him, expressing his readiness to furnish him
with whatever he desired, and Clement in reply
repeated his request to see Bacon's works, despite
the Franciscan prohibition. Bacon accordingly
prepared his Opus Majus (edited by Jebb, 1733),
which he sent to the Pope, it is said, by his
favorite pupil, John of London, and in which he
represented the necessity of a reformation in the
sciences through different methods of studying
the languages and of nature.
The Opus Majus was an encyclopædia of all science, embracing grammar and logic, mathematics, physics, experimental research, and moral philosophy, many of these branches being discussed at length in other works. How Clement received these books is not known, as they could only have reached him about the time he was seized with his last illness. For ten years after Clement's death, Bacon was free from open persecution at least. But in 1278, the General of the Franciscan Order, Jerome of Ascoli (later Pope Nicholas III.), declared himself against Bacon, forbade the reading of his books, and issued an order for his imprisonment, which was sanctioned by the Pope. This new imprisonment lasted ten years, and at its conclusion Bacon returned to Oxford. He wrote a Compendium Studii Theologiæ (1292), and shortly after died — probably in 1294.
Bacon, although an extraordinary genius, could not rid himself of all the beliefs and errors of his times. He believed in the 'philoso- pher's stone' and in astrology. Many inventions have been credited to him, but some of them were doubtless derived from the study of Ara- bian scientists. There are in his writings new and ingenious views on optics; e.g. on refrac- tion, on the apparent magnitude of objects, on the great increase in the size of the sun and moon in the horizon. On other subjects, how- ever, he fell into the greatest errors. He made several chemical discoveries, which were wonder- ful for that time. He knew, for instance, that with sulphur, saltpetre, and charcoal, we may produce a substance that would imitate light- ning, and cause explosions, — in other words, gun- powder, — but its previous use by the Arabs has since been shown. Mathematics, applied to ob- servation, he considered to be the only means of arriving at a knowledge of nature. He studied several languages, and wrote Latin with great elegance and clearness. Deserving of honorable mention are his discoveries of the errors that prevailed in the calendar. He prepared a recti- fied calendar (1263), of which a copy is pre- served in the library of University College, Ox- ford. On account of his extensive knowledge, he received the name of "Doctor Admirabilis.' Six of his works were printed between 1485 and 1614, and in 1733 S. Jebb edited the Opus Majus. Professor Brewer edited the Opus Tertium, Opus Minus, and Compendium Philosophiæ, published at London in 1859, under the title of Opera Inedita. Consult: Charles, Bacon, sa vie, ses ouvrages, ses doctrines (Paris, 1861); and the German works of Siebert (Marburg, 1861) and Held (Jena, 1881).
BACON BEE'TLE. A small dermestoid beetle (Dermestes lardarius), whose whitish-brown, hairy grub devours lard, leather, furs, etc., and is a pest in museums of stuffed animals.
BACON'GO. An African tribe inhabiting the upper Congo Valley. They are of fair stature. Their religion is a curious mixture of paganism with Christian customs, introduced by the Portuguese, their chief deity being feminine, and known as Nzambi, i.e. 'all-earth mother.' They have an apparently lax social organization, with an order of popular guardians of justice analogous to the secret orders of many primitive tribes. Consult Deniker, The Races of Man (London, 1900).
BACO'NIAN CON'TROVER'SY. See Bacon, Delia; and Shakespeare, William.
BA'CON'S REBEL'LION. An uprising of the Virginia colonists, particularly of the lower classes, under the leadership of Nathaniel Bacon (q.v.) against the colonial authorities, represented by Governor William Berkeley, in 1676. For some time before, taxes had been excessive and unfairly distributed, and colonial commerce had been greatly hampered and restricted (see Navigation Acts, The); the Assembly, since 1661, had been overbearing and wholly subservient to the Governor; and Governor Berkeley
