Bacon: His Writings, and His Philosophy, Volume 3

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C. Knight & Company, 1847

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Page 132 - The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes and secret motions of things, and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible.
Page 136 - We have also divers strange and artificial echoes, reflecting the voice many times, and as it were tossing it : and some that give back the voice louder than it came, some shriller, and some deeper ; yea, some rendering the voice, differing in the letters or articulate sound, from that they receive. We have also means to convey sounds in trunks and pipes, in strange lines and distances.
Page 135 - We procure means of seeing objects afar off, as in the heaven and remote places ; and represent things near as afar off, and things afar off as near ; making feigned distances. We have also helps for the sight, far above spectacles and glasses in use. We have also glasses and means to see small and minute bodies, perfectly and distinctly ; as the shapes and colours of small flies and worms, grains, and flaws in gems which cannot otherwise be seen, observations in urine and blood not otherwise to...
Page 214 - Bacon, the queen hath denied me the place for you, and hath placed another ; I know you are the least part of your own matter, but you fare ill because you have chosen me for your mean and dependence ; you have spent your time and thoughts in my matters ; I die," these were his very words, " if I do not somewhat towards your fortune : you shall not deny to accept a piece of land which I will bestow upon you.
Page 152 - ... or the wisest for the multitude's sake, were not ready to give passage rather to that which is popular and superficial than to that which is substantial and profound; for the truth is, that time seemeth to be of the nature of a river or stream, which carrieth down to us that which is light and blown up, and sinketh and drowneth that which is weighty and solid.
Page 135 - We have also perspective houses, where we make demonstrations of all lights and radiations ; and of all colours; and out of things uncoloured and transparent, we can represent unto you all several colours: not in rainbows, as it is in gems and prisms, but of themselves single.
Page 124 - House, but the records write it as it is spoken. So as I take it to be denominate of the king of the Hebrews, which is famous with you and no stranger to us, for we have some parts of his works which with you are lost; namely, that Natural History which he wrote of all Plants, from the cedar of Libanus to the moss that groweth out of the wall, and of all things that have life and motion.
Page 139 - AND when he had said this, he stood up ; and I, as I had been taught, kneeled down ; and he laid his right hand upon my head, and said ; " God bless " thee, my son, and God bless this relation which I " have made. I give thee leave to publish it for the " good of other nations ; for we here are in God's
Page 138 - We have three others that do execute the experiments so directed, and report them. These we call inoculators. " Lastly, we have three that raise the former discoveries by experiments into greater observations, axioms, and aphorisms. These we call interpreters of nature.
Page 172 - Are we the richer by one poor invention, by reason of all the learning that hath been these many hundred years ? The industry of artificers maketh some small improvement of things invented ; and chance sometimes in experimenting, maketh us to stumble upon somewhat which is new : but all the disputation of the learned never brought to light one effect of nature before unknown.

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