PREFACE. In a letter dated June 30, 1622, Bacon speaks of the De Augmentis Scientiarum as a work already in the hands of translators, and likely to be finished by the end of the summer. "Librum meum de progressu Scientiarum traducendum commisi. Illa translatio, volente Deo, sub finem æstatis perficietur." 1 Therefore, though it was not published till the autumn of 1623, it may be considered as coming, in order of composition, next among the Philosophical works to the Novum Organum and Parasceve. It was intended to serve for the first part of the Instauratio Magna, according to the plan laid out in the Distributio Operis, -the part which is there entitled Partitiones Scientiarum, and described as exhibiting a complete survey of the world of human knowledge as it then was, "Scientiæ ejus sive doctrinæ in cujus possessione humanum genus hactenus versatur summam sive descriptionem universalem." The relation which it bears to the rest of the work is best explained in the dedicatory letter prefixed to the Dialogue of a Holy War. "And again, for that my book of Advancement of Learning may be some preparative or key for the better opening of the Instauration, because it 1 Letter to Father Redempt. Baranzan. exhibits a mixture of new conceits and old, whereas the Instauration gives the new unmixed, otherwise than with some aspersion of the old for taste's sake, I have thought good to procure a translation of that book into the general language, not without great and ample additions and enrichment thereof, especially in the second book, which handleth the partition of sciences; in such sort as I hold it1 may serve in lieu of the first part of the Instauration, and acquit my promise in that part." But why, when Bacon determined to fit this work for that part, did he not give it the proper title? Curious as he always was in the choice of names, why not call it "Partitiones Scientiarum," which describes the proper business of the first part of the Instauratio, instead of "De dignitate et augmentis Scientiarum," which passes it by? -- The answer, I think, is that he felt it would be inappropriate. The form in which the De Augmentis was cast retained so strong an impress of the original design out of which it grew, a design truly and exactly described in the title, and having no immediate reference to the ultimate plan of the Instauratio, that another title referring to another design would have been manifestly unfit. When he wrote the Advancement of Learning, he was already engaged upon a work concerning the Interpretation of Nature, which (to judge from the fragments and sketches that remain) was meant to begin at once where the Novum Organum 1 That is, the second book; as appears more clearly from the Latin version of this letter, which was written later. "Idque ita cumulate præstiti ut judicem librum illum jam in plures divisum, pro primâ Instaurationis parte haberi posse, quam Partitionum Scientiarum nomine antea insignivi." begins, without any preliminary review of the existing condition of knowledge; a work corresponding to that which in the foregoing extract he calls "the Instauration," as distinguished from the Advancement of Learning, which was to serve as "a preparative or key" to it; and the writing of a book which should exhibit a complete and particular survey of the state of knowledge then extant in the world was, I suspect, a by-thought suggested by a particular accident. However Bacon may have underrated the difficulties of the reform which he proposed, he was well aware that it could not be carried into effect by a private man. A private man might suggest the course, and produce a specimen; but the execution of the work on a scale of adequate magnitude required the means and influence of a King or a Pope. Now it happened, by a very singular accident, that while he was engaged in considering and maturing his plan there succeeded to the throne of England a man whose tastes and previous training qualified him more than most other men to take an earnest, active, and intelligent interest in it. James the First was a man of peace by principle and inclination, of solid, various, and extensive learning, and of great intellectual activity. It is difficult even now to say why he might not have proved, in the province of letters, a great governor. At that time, when his faults were not yet known, he must have appeared like the very man for such an office. To Bacon it would naturally seem an object of the first importance to engage him, if possible, as a patron of the new philosophy; and, as men's minds are most impressible in times of transition, he would wish to lose no time in attempting to give his ambition a turn in that direction, while his fortune was fresh, his course unsettled, his imagination excited and open to great ideas. For this purpose, however, the work on the Interpretation of Nature was not forward enough to be available, nor very fit perhaps in itself, had it been more forward than it was. The idea was too new, the scheme too vast, the end too remote, to engage the serious attention of a king nearly forty years old, who had been bred in the ancient learning and attained a proficiency in it of which he was proud. "Restat unica salus ac sanitas ut opus mentis universum de integro resumatur" was an avowal which might well startle him. Not so a work representing the state of human science as it was, and the means of perfecting and extending it in many new directions. This lay in James's own province; of the review of what had been already done few men of his time were better qualified to judge; few perhaps were more likely to be attracted and excited by the prospect of doing more. Now Bacon's own travels in search of the light he had been looking for had carried him over the whole surface of the intellectual globe; and he was therefore well qualified to report upon the condition of it, to declare how far and in what directions the dominion of knowledge had been already advanced, what regions were still unexplored and unsubdued, and what measures might best be taken to bring them into subjection. Such a representation was likely enough to make an impression on a mind constituted and trained like that of James the First. Possibly it might even rouse him to take up the extension of knowledge as a royal business; in which case the new philosophy would have started with advantages not otherwise to be hoped for. |