NOTES TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.
f> conducted without the iniluenre of this mi. live, he will find the subject most ably invesiiLMtecl in the i li.ipi.-r mi Vanit) in Tucker s Liuht nf Nature : and if he iin;ti:ine th it this doctrine is injurious, he may be saliMied lli.il lliere never will be wanting men to fill up the niches of society. "These things will continue as they have been : but so will that also continue whereupon learning hath ever relied, and which tuiletli not: Justilicata est sapientia a liliis suis. " And if he imagine that this doctrine will deter elevation of mind from engaging in worldly pursuit, let him read Bacon s refu tation of the conceit that learning should dispose men to leisure and privateness,* and his admonition that we should direct our strength against nature herself, and take her high towers and dismantle her fortified holds, and thus enlarge the borders of man s dominion as far as Almighty God of his goodness shall permit. NOTE I. Referring to page 140. In page 207 of this work may be found Bacon s observa tions upon the importance of invention : upon which the con siderations seem to be : . The utility of inventions. "Let anyone consider what a difference there is betwixt the life led in any polite province of Europe, and in the savage and barbarous parts of the world ; and he will find it so great that one man may deservedly seem a god to another, not only on account of greater helps and advantages, but also upon a comparison of the two conditions; and this difference is not owing to the soil, the air, or bodily constitution, but to arts." . Utility of an art of invention. "If some large obelisk were to be raised, would it not seem a kind of madness for men to set about it with their naked hands? and would it not be greater madness still to increase the number of such naked labourers, in confidence of effecting the thing? and were it not a further step in lunacy, to pick out the weaker bodied, and use only the robust and strong; as if they would certainly do! but if, not content with this, recourse should be had to anointing the limbs, according to the art of the ancient wrestlers, and then all begin afresh, would not this be raving with reason 1 Yet this is but like the wild and fruitless procedure of mankind in intellectuals ; whilst they expect great things from multi tude and consent; or the excellence and penetration of ca pacity ; or strengthen, as it were, the sinews of the mind with logic. And yet, for all this absurd bustle and struggle, men still continue to work with their naked understandings." The object of the Novum Organum is to explain the nature of the art of invention. . The high estimation of inventors. In addition to the passage to which this note is appended there is another similar passage, I believe, in the Novun Organum. "The introduction of noble inventions seems to hold by far the most excellent place among all human actions. And this was the judgment of antiquity, which attributed divine honours to inventors, but conferred only heroical honours upon those who deserved well in civil affairs, such as tl: founders of empires, legislators, and deliverers of their cou try. And whoever rightly considers it, will find this a judi cious custom in former ages, since the b nefits of inventors may extend to all mankind, but civil benefits oidy to particu lar countries, or seats of men ; and these civil benefits seldo descend to more than a few ages, whereas inventions ai perpetuated through the course of time. Besides, a state is seldom amended in its civil affairs, without force and pertur bation, whilst inventions spread their advantage, without doing injury or causing disturbance." See also in page 269 of this volume, where Bacon speaks in his New Atlantis of the respect due to inventors: the pas sage beginning with the words, "we have two very long and fair galleries." . The art of inventing arts and sciences is deficient. See page 207 of this volume. NOTE L. Referring to page 141. The power of man is his means to attain any end. " Archi medes by his knowledge of optics was enabled to burn "~
- See page 165 of this volume.
Roman fleet before Syracuse, and bafll.-d th.- unceasing H urtt* (if .Marcellus to lake the town. An Athrnian admiral ifl:i i-il (ill fvi-niiiL in attack, on the coast of Attica, a Lace- iiiiriii HIM-I. whirh was disposed in a circle, because he knew that an evening breeze always sprung up from the and. The breeze arose, the circle was disordered, and at hat instant he made his onset. Tin- Athrni ,m raptiv-n, l.y epeating the strains of Euripides, were enabled to tharm their masters into a grant of their liberty." NOTE M. Referring to page 142. See page 2C8 of this volume, relating to the houses of expe riments in the New Atlantis. At the time I am writing this note, a proposal has just been published for the formation of a university in York shire, and another proposal for the formation of a university n London : and I please myself with the consciousness of he good which must result from the agitation of this ques tion, in the age in which we are so fortunate to live. London .s, perhaps, except Madrid, the only capital in Europe, with out an university. Why is such an institution expedient in Edinburgh and Dublin, and inexpedient in the capital in England? Lord Bacon thought, in the year 1620, that fr.mi he constitution of our universities, they opposed the ad vancement of learning. He says, " In the customs and insii- utions of schools, universities, colleges, and the like conven tions, destined for the seats of learned men and the promo tion of knowledge, all things are found opposite to the ad vancement of the sciences; for the readings and exercises are here so managed, that it cannot easily come into any one s mind to think of things out of the common road. Or if here and there one should venture to use a liberty of judg- ig, he can only impose the task upon himself, without ob- lining, assistance from his fellows ; and if he could dispense with this, he will still find his industry and resolution a great hinderance to the raising of his fortune. For the studies of ien in such places are confined, and pinned down to the writings of certain authors ; from which, if any man happens differ, he is presently reprehended as a disturber and inno vator. But there is surely a great difference between arts nd civil affairs; for the danger is not the same from new light, as from new commotions. In civil affairs, it is true, a Mange even for the better is suspected, through fear of dis turbance; because these affairs depend upon authority, con sent, reputation, and opinion, and not upon demonstration : but arts and sciences should be like mines, resounding on all sides with new works, and farther progress. And thus it ought to be, according to right reason ; but the case, in fact, is quite otherwise. For the above-mentioned administration and policy of schools and universities, generally opposes and greatly prevents the improvement of the sciences." Whether these observations made by Bacon, in 1620, are to any and what extent applicable to the year 1820, 1 know not : but I have been informed, that the anxiety for improvement, for which this age is distinguished, has extended to the uni versity of Cambridge : that it has already beautified the buildings ; and that an inquirer may now safely consider whether the compendia and calculations of moral and politi cal philosophy which are to be found in the university manu als, are best calculated to form high national sentiments. There is scarcely any subject of more importance than the subject of universities. So Bacon thought. In this note, I had intended to have collected his scattered opinions, and to have investigated various questions respecting universities ; but I must reserve these considerations for the same passage in the treatise "De Augmentis," where I hope f examine . The uses of universities. . The preservation and propagation of existing knowledge. . The formation of virtuous habits in youth . The discovery of unexplored truths . The situation of universities. . The buildings. . Libraries. . General. . Particular. . Law. . Medical. 4,c.
