Nomanwhohasreflectedmuchupontheannalsofhisracecan，withoutafeelingofawe，comeintothepresenceofsuchclearnessofinsightandboldnessofutterance，andthefirstthoughtofthereaderisthat，ofallmen，FrancisBaconisthemostfreefromtheunfortunatebiashecondemns；thathe，certainly，cannotbedeludedintotheoldpath。ButaswegoonthroughhismainworkwearesurprisedtofindthatthestrongarmofAquinashasbeenstretchedovertheinterveningages，andhaslaidholduponthismaster-thinkeroftheseventeenthcentury；foronlyafewchaptersbeyondthosecontainingthecitationsalreadymadewefindBaconalludingtotherecentvoyageofColumbus，andspeakingoftheprophecyofDanielregardingthelatterdays，that“manyshallruntoandfro，andknowledgebeincreased。”asclearlysignifying“that……thecircumnavigationoftheworldandtheincreaseofscienceshouldhappeninthesameage。”[279]
[279]SeetheNovumOrganon，translatedbytheRev。G。W。
Kitchin，Oxford，1855，chaps。lxvandlxxxix。
InhisgreatworkontheAdvancementofLearningthefirmgraspwhichthemethodshecondemnedhelduponhimisshownyetmoreclearly。Inthefirstbookofitheassertsthat“thatexcellentbookofJob，ifitberevolvedwithdiligence，willbefoundpregnantandswellingwithnaturalphilosophy。”andheendeavourstoshowthatinitthe“roundnessoftheearth。”the“fixingofthestars，everstandingatequaldistances。”the“depressionofthesouthernpole。”the“matterofgeneration。”and“matterofminerals“are“withgreatelegancynoted。”But，curiouslyenough，heusestosupportsomeofthesetruthstheverytextswhichthefathersoftheChurchusedtodestroythem，andthoseforwhichhefindsScripturewarrantmostclearlyaresuchassciencehassincedisproved。So，too，hesaysthatSolomonwasenabledinhisProverbs，“bydonationofGod，tocompileanaturalhistoryofallverdure。”[280]
[280]SeeBacon，AdvancementofLearning，editedbyW。AldisWright，London，1873，pp。47，48。Certainlynomorestrikingexamplesofthestrengthoftheevilwhichhehadallalongbeendenouncingcouldbeexhibitedthattheseinhisownwritings。