a double share in the miseries of this life, I, that Wiltshire, where he finished four books of his am none, ought not to repine at what my wise treatise, which were printed in 1594- Queen Creator hath appointed for me, but labour-as Elizabeth having in the following year presented indeed I do daily to submit mine to His will, him to the rectory of Bishopsbourne, in Kent, and possess my soul in patience and peace.' On he removed to that place, where the remainder of his return to London, Sandys made a strong his life was spent in the faithful discharge of the appeal to his father in behalf of Hooker, the result duties of his office. Here he wrote the fifth book, of which was the appointment of the meek divine, published in 1597; and finished other three, which in 1585, to the office of Master of the Temple. did not appear till 1647. Hooker died in NovemHe accordingly removed to London, and com- ber 1600. A few days previously, his house was menced his labours as forenoon preacher. It robbed, and when the fact was mentioned to him, happened that the office of afternoon lecturer at he anxiously inquired whether his books and the Temple was at this period filled by Walter papers were safe. The answer being in the affirmTravers, a man of great learning and eloquence, ative, he exclaimed: "Then it matters not, for no but a high Calvinist in his opinions, while the other loss can trouble me.' views of Hooker, on the other hand, both on church-government and on points of theology, were moderate. The consequence was, that the doctrines delivered from the pulpit varied very much in their character, according to the preacher from whom they proceeded. Indeed, the two orators sometimes preached avowedly in opposition to each other-a circumstance which gave occasion to the remark, that 'the forenoon sermons spoke Canterbury, and the afternoon Geneva,' This disputation, though conducted with good temper, excited so much attention, that Archbishop Whitgift suspended Travers from preaching. There ensued between him and Hooker a keen controversy, which was found so disagreeable by the latter, that he strongly expressed to the archbishop his wish to retire into the country, where he might be permitted to live in peace, and have leisure to finish his treatise, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, already begun. A letter which he wrote to the archbishop on this occasion deserves to be quoted, as shewing not only that peacefulness of temper which adhered to him through life, but likewise the object that his great work was intended to accomplish :

MY LORD-When I lost the freedom of my cell, which was my college, yet I found some degree of it in my quiet country parsonage. But I am weary of the noise and oppositions of this place; and, indeed, God and nature did not intend me for contentions, but for study and quietness. And, my lord, my particular contests here with Mr Travers have proved the more unpleasant to me, because I believe him to be a good man; and that belief hath occasioned me to examine mine own conscience concerning his opinions. And to satisfy that, I have consulted the holy Scripture, and other laws, both human and divine, whether the conscience of him and others of his judgment ought to be so far complied with by us as to alter our frame of church-government, our manner of God's worship, our praising and praying to him, and our established ceremonies, as often as their tender consciences shall require

us.

And in this examination I have not only satisfied myself, but have begun a treatise in which I intend the satisfaction of others, by a demonstration of the reasonableness of our laws of ecclesiastical polity. But, my lord, I shall never be able to finish what I have begun, unless I be removed into some quiet parsonage, where I may see God's blessings spring out of my motherearth, and eat my own bread in peace and privacy: a place where I may, without disturbance, meditate my approaching mortality, and that great account which all flesh must give at the last day to the God of all

spirits.

Hooker's treatise on Ecclesiastical Polity displays an astonishing amount of learning, sagacity, and industry; and as a master-piece of reasoning and eloquence, is still one of our greatest works. The earlier portion of the treatise, which was the most carefully finished, has never been excelled. 'So stately and graceful is the march of his periods,' says Mr Hallam, 'so various the fall of his musical cadences upon the ear, so rich in images, so condensed in sentences, so grave and noble his diction, so little is there of vulgarity in his racy idiom, of pedantry in his learned phrase, that I know not whether any later writer has more admirably displayed the capacities of our language, or produced passages more worthy of comparison with the splendid monuments of antiquity. If we compare the first book of the Ecclesiastical Polity with what bears perhaps most resemblance to it of anything extant, the treatise of Cicero De Legibus, it will appear somewhat perhaps inferior, through the imperfection of our language, which, with all its force and dignity, does not equal the Latin in either of these qualities, and certainly more diffuse in some of its reasonings, but by no means less high-toned in sentiment, or less bright in fancy, and far more of its philosophy. Similar panegyrics might be comprehensive and profound in the foundations cited from Southey, Mackintosh, and other critical authorities, but Hooker must be studied to be appreciated. His close reasoning and long sentences require careful perusal.

The argument against the Puritans is conducted by Hooker with rare moderation and candour, and on the broad scale of general principles, not detached texts or interpretations of Scripture. 'It was a kind of maxim among the Puritans, that Scripture was so much the exclusive rule of human actions, that whatever, in matters at least concerning religion, could not be found to have its authority, was unlawful. Hooker devoted the whole second book of his work to the refutation of this principle. He proceeded afterwards to attack its application, more particularly to the episcopal scheme of church-government, and to the various ceremonies or usages which those sectaries treated as either absolutely superstitious, or at least as impositions without authority. It was maintained by this great writer, not only that ritual observances are variable, according to the discretion of ecclesiastical rulers, but that no certain form of polity is set down in Scripture as generally indispensable for a Christian church.' * The work is not to be regarded simply as a

* Hallam's Constitutional History, chap. iv.

theological treatise; it is still referred to as a great authority upon the whole range of moral and political principles. It also bears a value as the first publication in the English language which observed a strict methodical arrangement, and presented a train of clear logical reasoning.

Scripture and the Law of Nature.

it choose but vex and amaze them? For in every action of common life, to find out some sentence clearly and infallibly setting before our eyes what we ought to doseem we in Scripture never so expert-would trouble us more than we are aware. In weak and tender minds, we little know what misery this strict opinion would breed, besides the stops it would make in the whole course of all men's lives and actions. Make all things sin which we do by direction of nature's light, and by the rule of common discretion, without thinking at all upon Scripture: admit this position, and parents shall cause their children to sin, as oft as they cause them to do anything, before they come to years of capacity, and be ripe for knowledge in the Scripture. Admit this, and it shall not be with masters as it was with him in the gospel; but servants being commanded to go, shall stand still till they have their errand warranted unto them by Scripture. Which, as it standeth with Christian duty in some cases, so in common affairs to require it were most

Defence of Reason.

But so it is, the name of the light of nature is made hateful with men; the star of reason and learning, and all other such-like helps, beginneth no otherwise to be thought of, than if it were an unlucky comet; or as if God had so accursed it, that it should never shine or give light in things concerning our duty any way towards him, but be esteemed as that star in the Revelation, called Wormwood, which, being fallen from heaven, maketh rivers and waters in which it falleth so bitter, that men tasting them die thereof. A number there are who think they cannot admire as they ought the power and authority of the Word of God, if in things divine they should attribute any force to man's reason; for which cause they never use reason so willingly as to disgrace reason. Their usual and common discourses are unto this effect. First, the natural man perceiveth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,' &c. &c. By these and the like disputes, an opinion hath spread itself very far in the world; as if the way to be ripe in faith were to be raw in wit and judgment; as if reason were an enemy unto religion, childish simplicity the mother of ghostly and divine wisdom.

What the Scripture purposeth, the same in all points it doth perform. Howbeit, that here we swerve not in judgment, one thing especially we must observe; namely, that the absolute perfection of Scripture is seen by relation unto that end whereto it tendeth. And even hereby it cometh to pass, that, first, such as imagine the general and main drift of the body of sacred Scripture not to be so large as it is, nor that God did thereby intend to deliver, as in truth he doth, a full instruction in all things unto salvation necessary, the knowledge | unfit. whereof man by nature could not otherwise in this life attain unto; they are by this very mean induced, either still to look for new revelations from heaven, or else dangerously to add to the Word of God uncertain tradition, that so the doctrine of man's salvation may be complete; which doctrine we constantly hold in all respects, without any such things added, to be so complete, that we utterly refuse as much as once to acquaint ourselves with anything further. Whatsoever, to make up the doctrine of man's salvation, is added as in supply of the Scripture's insufficiency, we reject it; Scripture, purposing this, hath perfectly and fully done it. Again, the scope and purpose of God in delivering the holy Scripture, such as do take more largely than behoveth, they, on the contrary, side-racking and stretching it further than by Him was meant, are drawn into sundry as great inconveniences. They, pretending the Scripture's perfection, infer thereupon, that in Scripture all things lawful to be done must needs be contained. We count those things perfect which want nothing requisite for the end whereto they were instituted. As, therefore, God created every part and particle of man exactly perfect-that is to say, in all points sufficient unto that use for which He appointed it so the Scripture, yea, every sentence thereof, is perfect, and wanteth nothing requisite unto that purpose for which God delivered the same. So that, if hereupon we conclude, that because the Scripture is perfect, therefore all things lawful to be done are comprehended in the Scripture; we may even as well conclude so of every sentence, as of the whole sum and body thereof, unless we first of all prove that it was the drift, scope, and purpose of Almighty God in holy Scripture to comprise all things which man may practise. But admit this, and mark, I beseech you, what would follow. God, in delivering Scripture to His church, should clean have abrogated among them the Law of Nature, which is an infallible knowledge imprinted in the minds of all the children of men, whereby both general principles for directing of human actions are comprehended, and conclusions derived from them; upon which conclusions groweth in particularity the choice of good and evil in the daily affairs of this life. Admit this, and what shall the Scripture be but a snare and a torment to weak consciences, filling them with infinite perplexities, scrupulosities, doubts insoluble, and extreme despairs? Not that the Scripture itself doth cause any such thing-for it tendeth to the clean contrary, and the fruit thereof is resolute assurance and certainty in that it teacheth-but the necessities of this life urging men to do that which the light of nature, common discretion, and judgment of itself directeth them unto; on the other side, this doctrine teaching them that so to do were to sin against their own souls, and that they put forth their hands to iniquity, whatsoever they go about, and have not first the sacred Scripture of God for direction; how can it choose but bring the simple a thousand times to their wits' end; how can

To our purpose, it is sufficient that whosoever doth serve, honour, and obey God, whosoever believeth in Him, that man would no more do this than innocents and infants do, but for the light of natural reason that shineth in him, and maketh him apt to apprehend those things of God, which being by grace discovered, are effectual to persuade reasonable minds, and none other, that honour, obedience, and credit belong aright unto God. No man cometh unto God to offer Him sacrifice, to pour out supplications and prayers before Him, or to do Him any service, which doth not first believe Him both to be, and to be a rewarder of them who in such sort seek unto Him. Let men be taught this, either by revelation from heaven, or by instruction upon earth; by labour, study, and meditation, or by the only secret inspiration of the Holy Ghost; whatsoever the mean be they know it by, if the knowledge thereof were possible without discourse of natural reason, why should none be found capable thereof but only men; nor men till such time as they come unto ripe and full ability to work by reasonable understanding? The whole drift of the Scripture of God, what is it, but only to teach theology? Theology, what is it, but the science of things divine? What science can be attained unto, without the help of natural discourse and reason? 'Judge you of that which I speak,' saith the apostle. In vain it were to speak anything of God, but that by reason men are able somewhat to judge of that they hear, and by discourse to discern how consonant it is to truth. Scripture, indeed, teacheth things above nature, things which our reason by itself could not reach unto. Yet those also we believe,

scruple to lend himself to the most arbitrary measures of the court, and even assisted in an attempt to extort from an old clergyman, of the name of Peacham, a confession of treason, by torturing him on the rack.

resided about three years, chiefly at Poitiers, pursuing closely his studies. His observations on foreign affairs were afterwards published in a work, entitled Of the State of Europe. By the sudden death of his father in 1579, he was compelled to return hastily to England, and engage in some Although his income had now been greatly enprofession. After in vain soliciting his uncle, Lord larged by the emoluments of office and a marriage Burleigh, to procure for him such a provision from with the daughter of a wealthy alderman, his extragovernment as might allow him to devote his time vagance and that of his servants, which he seems to literature and philosophy, he spent several years to have been too good-natured to check, continued in the study of the law. While engaged in prac- to keep him in difficulties. He cringed before the tice as a barrister, however, he did not forget phil- king and his favourite Villiers; and at length, on osophy, as it appears that he sketched at an early the 4th of January 1618-19, he attained the summit period of life his great work, called The Instau- of his ambition, by being created Lord High ration of the Sciences. In 1590, he obtained the Chancellor of England, and Baron Verulam. This post of counsel-extraordinary to the queen; and latter title gave place in the following year to that three years afterwards, sat in parliament for the of Viscount St Albans. As chancellor, it cannot county of Middlesex. As an orator, he is highly be concealed that, both in his political and judiextolled by Ben Jonson. In one of his speeches, cial capacities, he grossly deserted his duty. Not he distinguished himself by taking the popular only did he suffer Villiers to interfere with his side in a question respecting some large subsidies decisions as a judge, but, by accepting numerous demanded by the court; but finding that he had presents or bribes from suitors, gave occasion, in given great offence to her majesty, he at once 1621, to a parliamentary inquiry, which ended in altered his tone, and condescended to apologise his condemnation and disgrace. He fully conwith that servility which unhappily appeared in too fessed the twenty-three articles of corruption which many of his subsequent actions. To Lord Burleigh were laid to his charge; and when waited on by and his son, Robert Cecil, Bacon continued to a committee of the House of Lords, appointed to pay court, in hope of advancement, till at length, inquire whether the confession was subscribed by finding himself disappointed in that quarter, he himself, he answered: 'It is my act, my hand, attached himself to Burleigh's rival, Essex, who, my heart: I beseech your lordships to be merciwith all the ardour of a generous friendship, en- ful to a broken reed.' Banished from public life, deavoured to procure for him, in 1594, the vacant he had now ample leisure to attend to his philooffice of solicitor-general. In this attempt he was sophical and literary pursuits. Yet, even while defeated, through the influence of the Cecils, he was engaged in business, these had not been who were jealous of both him and his friend; neglected. In 1597, he published Meditationes but Essex in some degree soothed Bacon's dis- Sacræ, a Table of the Colours of Good and Evil, appointment by presenting him with an estate at and ten Essays. In 1612, he reprinted the Essays, Twickenham, which he afterwards sold for £1800. increased to thirty-eight; and finally, in 1625, he It is painful to relate in what manner Bacon repaid again issued them, 'newly written,' and now fiftysuch benefits. When Essex was brought to trial eight in number. These, as he himself says of for a conspiracy against the queen, the friend them, 'come home to men's business and bosoms; whom he had so greatly obliged and confided in and, like the late new halfpence, the pieces are not only deserted him in the hour of need, but un- small, and the silver is good.' From the generally necessarily appeared as counsel against him, and interesting nature of the subjects of the Essays, by every art and ingenuity of a pleader, endeav- and their intrinsic excellence, the work immeoured to magnify his offence. He complied, more-diately acquired great popularity, and to the present over, after the earl's execution, with the queen's request that he should write A Declaration of the Practices and Treasons attempted and committed by Robert, Earl of Essex, which was printed by authority. Into this conduct, which indicates a lamentable want of high moral principle, courage, and self-respect, Bacon was in some measure led by pecuniary difficulties, into which his improvident and ostentatious habits, coupled with the relative inadequacy of his income, had plunged him. By maintaining himself in the good graces of the court, he hoped to secure that professional advancement which would at once improve his fortune and gratify his ambition. Such moral obliquity justified the antithesis which charac

terises him as

The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind. After the accession of James, the fortunes of Bacon began to improve. He was knighted in 1603, and, in subsequent years, obtained successively the offices of king's counsel, solicitor-general, judge of the Marshalsea Court, and attorneygeneral. This last appointment he received in 1613. In the execution of his duties, he did not

day continues to be the chosen companion of all
students and thinkers. 'It is,' to use the words
of Dugald Stewart, 'one of those where the supe-
riority of his genius appears to the greatest ad-
vantage, the novelty and depth of his reflections
often receiving a strong relief from the triteness of
his subject. It may be read from beginning to
end in a few hours, and yet, after the twentieth
perusal, one seldom fails to remark in it something
overlooked before. This, indeed, is a character-
istic of all Bacon's writings, and is only to be
accounted for by the inexhaustible aliment they
furnish to our own thoughts, and the sympathetic
activity they impart to our torpid faculties.'*
1605, he published another work, which still con-
tinues to be extensively perused; it is entitled Of
the Proficience and Advancement of Learning,
Divine and Human. This volume, which was
afterwards enlarged and published in the Latin
language, with the title De Augmentis Scienti-
arum, constitutes the first part of his great work,
Instauratio Scientiarum, or the Instauration of
the Sciences. The second part, entitled Novum

In

* First Preliminary Dissertation to Encyclopædia Britannica.