Sir Francis Bacon
(1561–1626). Historians have found Francis Bacon a fascinating subject. He gained fame as a speaker in Parliament and as a lawyer in some famous trials. He also served as lord chancellor of England under King James I. As a philosopher and writer, Bacon attempted to explain the principles of acquiring knowledge. Because he tried to write while holding public office that demanded much time and attention, many of his works remained fragments. The writings that have been preserved have marked him as an innovative thinker.
In all, Bacon wrote more than 30 philosophical works and many legal, popular, scientific, historical, and other books and essays. His popular literature is noted most for the worldly wisdom of a few dozen essays. He laid out a plan for the reorganization of knowledge into categories in his Novum Organum (1620), the second volume of an ambitious six-part series. But he never finished the Novum Organum or his larger project, though parts of four of the other books have survived. Among the latter is The Advancement of Learning (1605), considered with ‘Novum Organum’ as Bacon’s main philosophical work.
Francis Bacon was born on Jan. 22, 1561, in London. The second son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, keeper of the royal seal, Bacon grew up familiar with the royal court. His mother, Ann Cooke, was famous for her learning. Bacon went to study at Trinity College, Cambridge, at the age of 12. He lived in Paris, France, from 1576 until his father’s death in 1579.
Bacon embarked on a legal education on his return to London in 1579. He was admitted to the bar as a barrister in 1582 and later became a reader or lecturer at Gray’s Inn, a London institution for legal education. But the law failed to satisfy his desire to follow a political and intellectual career.
His skill as a public speaker served Bacon well when he took a seat in the House of Commons in 1584. He found it difficult to gain political influence even though his uncle was Lord Burghley, first minister to Queen Elizabeth I. He wrote a “Letter of Advice” to Queen Elizabeth in 1584 or 1585, recommending ways to deal with Roman Catholic subjects, and “An Advertisement Touching the Controversies of the Church of England” (1589) in which he attacked what he saw as religious abuses.
Bacon was becoming famous but still wanted higher offices. With the accession of James I to the English throne in 1603, Bacon’s fortunes improved. He held a succession of posts, including those of solicitor general and attorney general. In the growing controversies between James and Parliament, Bacon defended the rights of the monarchy. He was knighted in 1603 and became lord chancellor and Baron Verulam in 1618 and Viscount St. Albans in 1621.
His political enemies brought about his downfall, charging him with bribery and other offenses. He was fined and imprisoned briefly in the Tower of London. Barred from public office, he retired to his estate at Gorhambury. He died at Highgate on April 9, 1626.
A fine writer, Bacon contributed to the scientific revolution of the 17th century. He neglected the role of mathematics in science, but advised students of nature to follow the rule that “whatever the mind seizes and dwells upon with particular satisfaction is to be held in suspicion.” He felt deeply that science held the key to technological progress.
Bacon holds a prominent place in literature and philosophy. But the fragmentary nature of his writings makes it difficult to assess his stature. He often attempted more than he could finish. In addition to his uncompleted Novum Organum, he planned six volumes of natural history, but completed only two. In 1610 he published The New Atlantis, a fiction work on the ideal state. But his great effort, the plan for the renewal of knowledge that was entitled ‘Instauratio Magna’ (Great Renewal), was also left incomplete.